Winnipeg native Krueger, 52, who served as associate coach for two seasons before his ascendance to head coach, was unceremoniously let go during the chat session with manager Craig MacTavish while on vacation with his family.
MacTavish had requested Krueger accept him as a contact on Skype, the program that allows you to make face-to-face calls from anywhere in the world, so that he could call Krueger while he vacationed in Davos, Switzerland.
When the conversation began he got right to the message that he felt it was necessary to hire a new head coach. That’s the way it went. The conversation was short,' Krueger said.
Krueger, a motivational speaker whose book, 'Team Life: Over Setbacks to Success' found success in Germany, is philosophical about the situation.
'I need to very quickly find another hard road. I took this one and it was worth it. I need to not burn any cells trying to analyze why this happened. I wasn’t told why and why should I think why?'
The 2012/13 season Ralph Krueger was given to prove himself as head coach was a truncated season, with only 48 games instead of the usual 82 due to a labor dispute. Edmonton finished 12th in the Western Conference and missed the play-offs for the seventh straight year.
'Until three days ago, I was 100 per cent an Oiler and was fully engaged in doing the off- and on-ice planning for the season,' Krueger told the Edmonton Journal.
'I can move forward as quickly as anybody, but I would be kidding you if I said it doesn’t sting. It definitely stings.'
General manager Craig MacTavish has admitted the Skype dismissal was harsh.
'I don't think this was in any way fair to Ralph. This wasn't about being fair to Ralph,' he told the Edmonton Journal.
Writer Joe Yerdon for NBC's ProHockeyTalk tweeted, 'Well, that seems cruel' in response to the news.
'Better than via message in game of Words with Friends?' suggested @davidgisaac.
'Firing someone by Skype lets everyone in organization & NHL community know what a classless organization Edmonton has become,' said @joefrohlinger.
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