BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Sabres Head Coach Ralph Krueger has been relieved of his duties, the team announced Wednesday. The team also parted ways with Assistant Coach Steve Smith.

Don Granato will serve as Interim Head Coach. 

During a press conference Wednesday, General Manager Kevyn Adams said the search for a new coach will begin "immediately," but declined to state what attributes he has in mind for the next head coach. He added that he plans to interview "a lot" of candidates.

"It felt right, that it needed to be done now," Adams said. "We can talk about 'could've done before.' For me, the results haven't been good enough. I look and evaluate everything." 

Krueger's firing follows a string of 12 straight losses. The most recent being a loss to the Devils Tuesday night. 

"There has to be a pride that goes with putting on a Buffalo Sabres jersey," Adams said. "That has to be something that is just inside you and drives you to be better every single day."

"We have to be better in every single area of this organization," Adams continued. "I need to be better in every way. We need to coach better. We need to develop players better. We need to practice better. You name it we need to do it better. It's unacceptable in every area."

Krueger was in the middle of his second season as Sabres head coach. He finished his tenure with a record of 36-49-12. The Sabres are 6-18-4 this season and 0-10-2 over their last 12 games.

This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.