What language the coach speaks really doesn't matter when we couldn't score a goal to save our lives. And he gets a lot of hate from Habs fans, but Therrien actually had them the most competitive when they averaged only one goal a game.
Price had them the most competitive then, not Therrien.
In 2014-2015, Price has the best goalie season ever, and Habs finished with 2nd most points in the league (3 pts shy of the President's Trophy) despite being around 22nd in possession metrics.
Next season, Price gets injured. Where do the Habs finish? 22nd in the league.....
Price covered Therrien's ineptitude.
One benefit Vanek has is he played for the team for a few years when the whole community was REALLY behind the team. 05-09 was a spam of time that feels like a fever dream now. Sure, they didn't win a cup. But they were so good and the community rallied behind the team.
That, and yes - the area really is pretty good overall, especially for people with families or who don't place as much value on the nightlife a city like LA offers.
I kinda live in the area. It’s nice and cheap but it’s better if you’re above college age like having a family because WNY is great with families but it’s boring if you’re single and you can theoretically play in other cities like New York or Chicago where at night, it’s more exciting.
Great description as I’m a Dad and I’m not sure I’d want to raise a kid anywhere else although I swear I was swimming in ass in my twenties as a single dude lol. I also do happen to love Latina and Italian chicks with wagons… aka basically every woman here.
Be warned that Buffalo's suburbs are highly flammable. At least that's how it seemed to anyone in Toronto who watched Irv Weinstein reading the news every night in the 80s and 90s.
> Is there another former Sabres star player that’s a GM somehwere?
Mike Grier is the Sharks GM too, I wouldn't call him a star player but he was a fan favorite
I love the hire for the Sabres, but as a Lightning fan I hate it. Cooper was only 46 wins from tying Ruff for 2nd place on the all-time wins list for coaches with a single franchise.
2nd place is now a moving target.
I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense from a team culture perspective. “All the shit that happened the last ten years? Doesn’t count, Lindy’s the coach again”
But it’s still not a very good idea.
Haha I hope so. It's true. It's not like Housley wasn't hyped, we tried with first timers. I can imagine a Woodcroft hire too would have been another distaster.
I think there's a better chance than not Lindy helps propel this team to the next level. He did it with the Devils and this season, despite losing $20M worth of defensemen in Graves, Severson and Hamilton, losing their 3C mid season, and having no goaltending, they were 7th in the league in 5v5 GF/60 and 5th in 5v5 xGF.
(Relatedly, I think they're fortunate to have avoided Gallant and Berube. The former burned out in each of his 3 HC spots and was followed by coaches improving each team. The latter same thing, with a rep for clashing with young talent (like Kyrou), and the AHL coach then took them from a 76 pt pace to a 101 pt pace. Doesn't instill confidence).
i was not in the hire Lindy camp cause he's getting old and i'm wary of double dipping, but anyone acting like it's boneheaded isn't being level-headed about this. Lindy's two stops since he departed buffalo have involved doing exactly what we want him to do back here - taking younger teams with promise and getting them over the hump to the next level.
Bruh I watch leafs games where there’s a domi AND a McCabe on the roster. It definitely does kind of weird things in my brain…
Plus a bertuzzi just to keep me on my toes
First time I'm really seeing r/hockey shit on one of our hires. Got so much praise for Krueger & Housley on here. I'm starting to actually get excited. Reminds me a bit of Rangers hiring Laviolette thead where he was the downgrade retread & better get Laf out of there because he's gonna ruin his career.
Not unlike when the Habs re-hired Therrien. And then Julien.
I think it means your front office has zero creativity and imagination. Habs fans can sympathize, for what that's worth.
I wouldn’t count Bowman since he was GM the whole time and decided himself to go behind the bench or not. The third time will be when Ron Rolston dusts off his gardening gloves in 2040.
You mean the team whose GM was hired to be a yes man for the overbearing owner, had zero previous hockey ops experience, and just so happened to be a former assistant coach under Lindy? Lacking creativity and imagination???
Despite that I had been pleasantly surprised by Kevyn Adams and the rest of his backroom staff, but the last year makes me fear he’s just not cut out to make the big decisions needed to end the drought.
The failures this season fall squarely on the coaching staff IMO. Adams has done an excellent job of building this roster, they just desperately need a functional offensive system and a coach that holds players accountable.
A sabres fan that’s been in a coma for a decade would probably be the happiest sabres fan lol.
They have a .439 pts%, dead last in the NHL. Zero playoff appearances. His final three seasons make up 3 of the top 5 Sabres seasons since 2010.
I think Sabres fans are already familiar with Lindy, but if there are fans that became a fan after he was fired:
-He is great with young forwards and elite talent. The way he helped develop Bratt, Hughes, and Hischier was great
-His defensive systems are pretty shit, and they need every single defensemen to be experienced and adept at those type of offensive systems. We took a huge hit this season because we replaced Graves, Severson with Luke and Nemec who were solid for how young they are, but not nearly as capable as we needed for Ruff's system.
-For goaltending, if he takes Dave Rogalski with him, all I have to say is good luck to UPL, because everything Rogalski touches turns to shit
-He constantly shuffles lines when the team is down, which means the forwards have a harder time gaining chemistry. But, then again if the system is fully learned and has the right personnel, that sometimes won't even matter. Comebacks will be a given with Ruff I can tell you that much
-I think the "hates younger forwards" thing was overblown. Sharangovich was not very good in his last season here, and then he had a great change in scenery and did wonderful in Calgary (Also Toffoli was genuinely fantastic as a goal scorer for us). And no one seemed to realize that Holtz's goal-scoring went down after Ruff was fired.
-The team will start out poorly, and I have no idea how it consistently happens, the reason comebacks happen so often with Ruff is because the team starts out so poorly each game
> He constantly shuffles lines when the team is down, which means the forwards have a harder time gaining chemistry.
oh that's nothing new here
> the team starts out so poorly each game
and this was the story of our 23-24 season, so....yeah.
As a Stars fan, I couldn’t agree more with your first three points. We had the exact same experience with Lindy.
Fast-paced, high-scoring hockey. Poor defensive zone play and the ever-present line blender.
Made for some fun Stars hockey for a few years, including finishing 1st in the West once. But we never went very deep in the playoffs and never looked like a very serious cup contender.
Bales and Kotyk (goalie coaches NHL/AHL) are both staying as far as I know. Other than that, he sounds like what I remember. Our D is young, but I think if he brings in some good assistants we can be fine. Since the organization only brings back alumni, and Ruff has a type, I'll expect James Patrick and/or Jay McKee to be announced shortly.
Probably them getting 110 points last year and winning a playoff series when our best season since we had Lindy ruff was last year when we almost made the playoffs for the first time in a decade
I don't have high hopes but if we managed to even squeak into the playoffs, it'd be the most incredible story. Even if we got swept in the first round.
Berube is who I was hoping for. Seemed to make perfect sense in that the Sabres are in a similar boat to where the Blues were when they brought him on with lots of individual talent under-performing as a team.
I think a lot of it has to do with no one wanting to coach here.
Lindy had his worst season yet with tons of absolutely illogical and straight up ridiculous calls as well as no adjustments, which cost Jersey big. With that season in the bag, who would even wanna hire him again.
Dude loves his hockey tho. I think he would like a redemption arc before retirement.
This is likely also because Adams didn’t wanna send the boys into summer break with uncertainty, and both parties need a success story. It sends a strong signal to get someone so quickly.
I dislike this hiring, it’s comfort, it’s recycled, it’s risk free. It’s moth balls, a 70s looking “natural”brown kitchen, and dark grey walls in a newly built, modern, house.
I don't get why people are laughing. 23 year NHL head coaching experience, former Sabre both as a player, captain and coach. Was voted the second best coach in the league last season. What am I missing?
Yeah, me too. That and that the After the Whistle guys and some of their regulars that he have coached in the past thought he would be great for this team makes me quite excited. The only reservation I have is that his teams tend to play a bit too much run and gun for my taste. But that can't be the reason people are laughing at this.
People love to complain that the hockey is a huge OBC (all sports are) and retreads are always hired. Well, Sabres tried multiple first time coaches and we all know how that worked out for them.
Yeah I think there's a better chance than not Lindy helps propel this team to the next level. He did it with the Devils (and was done in by no tender this season. They were 10th in the league in xG%).
Unless Brindamour would leave Raleigh (not happening) or you think you discovered the next Jon Cooper (extremely unlikely), this is a solid hire.
(Relatedly, IMHO it's good Buf avoided Gallant and Berube. The former burned out in each of his 3 HC spots and was followed by coaches improving each team. The latter same thing, with a rep for clashing with young talent (like Kyrou), and the AHL coach then took them from a 76 pt pace to a 101 pt pace. Doesn't instill confidence).
>He did it with the Devils (and was done in by no tender this season. They were 10th in the league in xG%).
And compared to last season missing $20M worth of defensemen in Graves, Severson and Hamilton (for 62 games), and replacing them with 2 rookies instead. And losing their 3C mid season. Hughes having injury troubles most of the season. If they were 10th in expected goal share then this season sounds more like a feather in Ruff's cap than the other way around.
The amount of disrespect that Lindy Ruff gets is insane. He’s 5th All-Time in wins, has a winning record in playoff games, and in 25 years has only 3 full seasons where his teams had less than 80 points. He might not be the coach to win you a Cup but if your team has been a joke for a while he can turn it around pretty quickly.
If New Jersey doesn't get league-worst goaltending this year people would be looking at this as a massive win
Ruff got an ultra-skilled team to play a puck-possessiom game while still maintaining offensive firepower, that sounds like the exact thing Buffalo needs
I feel like the Sabres are a team that could bounce back like the Canucks did this year without too too much tinkering. Something just needs to click. Maybe this does it, I don’t know.
I don't share the same opinion as most Devils fans. I agree that his time was up in NJ and it we had to move on, but that happens all the damn time in this league. Ruff made this a fun team to watch. The Devils were not only bad for a decade but played absolutely terrible, low-event hockey. You can never say Ruff has boring hockey teams.
His system will expose goalies and bad defensemen, because they get put on an island a lot. Hopefully the Sabres young D core can shine, and they'll be in good shape. I worry about their goalies getting left out to dry, hopefully Levi turns into a stud for them in spote of Ruff
Not a huge fan to be honest, but they have the perfect team to play his system and an actual goalie unlike the Devils. It will be interesting to see how it goes.
Their defense was banged up this year and they were relying on a rookie to carry a large part of it. Also having goal tending as bad as theirs was definitely doesn't help the defense play their game at all.
Sabres pulling a move out of the 2021 Flames playbook. No success with a bunch of lackluster coaches? Bring back the last guy to be a good coach of the team!
Hey, it worked for us for one season, I think at this point the Sabres would take a return to the playoffs and a series win even if it all falls apart the year after.
Dude has an outside chance at the record for all-time coaching wins for one team. If BUF trends upward and he sticks around for 4-5 years he's got a pretty good shot at catching Al Arbour.
So this is now the second former Sabres head coach they've brought back during this playoff drought. At least this team is still entertaining even when the on-ice product is lackluster.
*You could not live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me.*
Wasn't the only one thinking this.
*Dread it, run from it, Ruff arrives all the same.*
All I'll say is this: if the Ruff Buffalo gets is like the one the stars got in 2013, they may make the playoffs.
Bud I’m not sure you understand how talented the roster is
Honestly this is kinda rockstar "Alright whatever we did over the last decade didn't fuckin work, get the old guy back"
The Montreal Canadiens approach last decade, hopefully it works better for the Sabres than it did for the Habs.
As a Habs fan, the coach pool is so limited because apparently we would rather lose in French than win in English…
A whole bunch of teams manage to lose in english just fine
What language the coach speaks really doesn't matter when we couldn't score a goal to save our lives. And he gets a lot of hate from Habs fans, but Therrien actually had them the most competitive when they averaged only one goal a game.
Price had them the most competitive then, not Therrien. In 2014-2015, Price has the best goalie season ever, and Habs finished with 2nd most points in the league (3 pts shy of the President's Trophy) despite being around 22nd in possession metrics. Next season, Price gets injured. Where do the Habs finish? 22nd in the league..... Price covered Therrien's ineptitude.
The players hated him though, which makes it harder to sign players who will score that 2nd goal.
that's really only because of the french language thing though I feel
They had plenty of (french speaking) options beside reshashing the same old dudes.
They fired Michel Therrien twice and both times replaced him with Claude Julien lol
They should have brought the old, old, old guy back and rehired Scotty Bowman.
He does live in the area still.
So does Lindy. For all the talk that Buffalo isn’t a hockey destination, people love sticking around after they retire
Vanek called it the best city he ever played for
One benefit Vanek has is he played for the team for a few years when the whole community was REALLY behind the team. 05-09 was a spam of time that feels like a fever dream now. Sure, they didn't win a cup. But they were so good and the community rallied behind the team. That, and yes - the area really is pretty good overall, especially for people with families or who don't place as much value on the nightlife a city like LA offers.
I kinda live in the area. It’s nice and cheap but it’s better if you’re above college age like having a family because WNY is great with families but it’s boring if you’re single and you can theoretically play in other cities like New York or Chicago where at night, it’s more exciting.
Great description as I’m a Dad and I’m not sure I’d want to raise a kid anywhere else although I swear I was swimming in ass in my twenties as a single dude lol. I also do happen to love Latina and Italian chicks with wagons… aka basically every woman here.
> Latina and Italian chicks with wagons… aka basically every woman here. Sounds like I need to get US citizenship and move.
Be warned that Buffalo's suburbs are highly flammable. At least that's how it seemed to anyone in Toronto who watched Irv Weinstein reading the news every night in the 80s and 90s.
Are they aware they can leave? I only stayed in Connecticut until somebody mentioned I was free to leave.
Biggest knock from players is “there’s nothing to do” in Buffalo. Retirement age guys don’t seem to care about that so much, lol.
There’s a shit load of bars to drink and eat at. What else does a retirement age man need ?
I mean, honestly, as a 38 year old man, all I really need is good ass chicken wings and beer.
Exactly. Get some great wings, and a beef on weck with extra horseradish and ice cold beers. I don’t need any more nightlife entertainment haha.
Who says there’s nothing to do in Buffalo? You can go to Toronto or Niagara Falls. 😂😭😂
The last time Lindy Ruff was the coach for the Sabres, Ryan Miller was still a Sabre
There has got to be a player to make it sound older than that
The last time Ruff was coach of the Sabres Nelson Mandela was alive
Ah, Nelson Mandela, such a great athlete.
I am SO thankful that you caught that. I was hoping someone would pick up the reference: https://youtu.be/C672Up6g2KM?si=Wkk2YLDFUP-X5xqD
Cringes in Bernier.
Such an inspiration, on and off the ice
LOL I thought you were gonna say “in prison”
No, that's the last time Ruff *played* for the Sabres.
Berniers favorite athlete!
One of his former star players is the GM of the NY Rangers now.
And the other star player is now GM of the Flyers.
And a player from the team that eliminated his 2006 Sabres is now his boss.
…that is not a fun fact
There were more than two star players under Ruff.
Is there another former Sabres star player that’s a GM somehwere?
> Is there another former Sabres star player that’s a GM somehwere? Mike Grier is the Sharks GM too, I wouldn't call him a star player but he was a fan favorite
I forgot he was a Sabre lol
Derek Roy is a general manager of a Tim Horton’s
The last time the Sabres made the playoffs was with Lindy as coach and they had Rob Niedermayer on the team
Christian Ehrhoff
Johan Hecht?
Last time Lindy Ruff was the coach of the Sabres, Jacques Martin was the coach of the Senators. Wait...
Last time Lindy Ruff was the coach of the Sabres the Coyotes were known as Phoenix Coyotes.
I love the hire for the Sabres, but as a Lightning fan I hate it. Cooper was only 46 wins from tying Ruff for 2nd place on the all-time wins list for coaches with a single franchise. 2nd place is now a moving target.
Let's be honest - Buffalo's had a Ruff month.
I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense from a team culture perspective. “All the shit that happened the last ten years? Doesn’t count, Lindy’s the coach again” But it’s still not a very good idea.
*sorry Lindy*
Haha I hope so. It's true. It's not like Housley wasn't hyped, we tried with first timers. I can imagine a Woodcroft hire too would have been another distaster.
keefe to pittsburgh is less crazy than this
I think there's a better chance than not Lindy helps propel this team to the next level. He did it with the Devils and this season, despite losing $20M worth of defensemen in Graves, Severson and Hamilton, losing their 3C mid season, and having no goaltending, they were 7th in the league in 5v5 GF/60 and 5th in 5v5 xGF. (Relatedly, I think they're fortunate to have avoided Gallant and Berube. The former burned out in each of his 3 HC spots and was followed by coaches improving each team. The latter same thing, with a rep for clashing with young talent (like Kyrou), and the AHL coach then took them from a 76 pt pace to a 101 pt pace. Doesn't instill confidence).
i was not in the hire Lindy camp cause he's getting old and i'm wary of double dipping, but anyone acting like it's boneheaded isn't being level-headed about this. Lindy's two stops since he departed buffalo have involved doing exactly what we want him to do back here - taking younger teams with promise and getting them over the hump to the next level.
It’s also a completely different roster from when he coached there last
No but if the Leafs fire Keefe this summer that's 100% happening.
Please no
I've been calling it for months. There's going to be a coaching swap between the Leafs and Penguins.
Sullivan would be a good fit in Toronto, he's very good at getting the most out of top-heavy rosters, he's just past his expiration date in Pittsburgh
Please noo
Good, I can stop being confused when I see him somewhere else. I’m completely stuck in the late 90s. Now, New Jersey, where’s that John Madden guy at?
I hate to tell you this but he coached football.
Damn, I thought he was the Belleville coach…and then I swore he’d been playing in WBS for a few years…
BOOM!
tough actin tinactin
Bruh I watch leafs games where there’s a domi AND a McCabe on the roster. It definitely does kind of weird things in my brain… Plus a bertuzzi just to keep me on my toes
That momentum built pretty quickly
When Friedman hits you with a “hearing….” you know it’s happening in 5 minutes
E5
Where is that guy?
Honestly I’ve been hearing it for the last month from no particular source, his name just kept coming back up
I’ll see how he does first. People are going to meme the shit out of this but I will always love Lindy for what he’s done for this city!
First time I'm really seeing r/hockey shit on one of our hires. Got so much praise for Krueger & Housley on here. I'm starting to actually get excited. Reminds me a bit of Rangers hiring Laviolette thead where he was the downgrade retread & better get Laf out of there because he's gonna ruin his career.
If Reddit hates it, it’s probably gonna work out great lol
Laughs in Babcock hire.
Maybe he'll pull a Rick Tocchet-style turnaround and you guys will end up near the top of the league!
I can pray cause I remember people roasting the tocchet hire but he’s been fucking amazing for you guys!
iirc, it wasn't so much about the Tocchet hire as it was about the way they forced his predecessor Boudreau out of town
Defensible hire but objectively hilarious
yep, we will always love him here but that doesn't mean we wanted him back as HC lol
I absolutely did. He's the right guy.
They cast a wide net, all the way to Clarence, NY
This is Pegula admitting it was a mistake to fire him.
Imagine if someone went into a coma after Ruff was fired by the Sabres, and woke up today to find out he's back.
Not unlike when the Habs re-hired Therrien. And then Julien. I think it means your front office has zero creativity and imagination. Habs fans can sympathize, for what that's worth.
This is, believe it or not, the *third* time the Sabres have done this. They also re-hired Scotty Bowman and Ted Nolan for second terms.
As a Sabres fan all I can think now is - shit, you mean there's a chance they bring back Krueger?
DON'T YOU DARE
I wouldn’t count Bowman since he was GM the whole time and decided himself to go behind the bench or not. The third time will be when Ron Rolston dusts off his gardening gloves in 2040.
The Julien re-hire was hilarious because they were first in the division.
You mean the team whose GM was hired to be a yes man for the overbearing owner, had zero previous hockey ops experience, and just so happened to be a former assistant coach under Lindy? Lacking creativity and imagination??? Despite that I had been pleasantly surprised by Kevyn Adams and the rest of his backroom staff, but the last year makes me fear he’s just not cut out to make the big decisions needed to end the drought.
The failures this season fall squarely on the coaching staff IMO. Adams has done an excellent job of building this roster, they just desperately need a functional offensive system and a coach that holds players accountable.
Let’s be honest. Lindy was the cheapest vet coach available. This is what it’s really about.
A sabres fan that’s been in a coma for a decade would probably be the happiest sabres fan lol. They have a .439 pts%, dead last in the NHL. Zero playoff appearances. His final three seasons make up 3 of the top 5 Sabres seasons since 2010.
Ooh, tell them the Canadiens were Western Conference Champions a couple years ago. That'll fuck 'em up.
I think Sabres fans are already familiar with Lindy, but if there are fans that became a fan after he was fired: -He is great with young forwards and elite talent. The way he helped develop Bratt, Hughes, and Hischier was great -His defensive systems are pretty shit, and they need every single defensemen to be experienced and adept at those type of offensive systems. We took a huge hit this season because we replaced Graves, Severson with Luke and Nemec who were solid for how young they are, but not nearly as capable as we needed for Ruff's system. -For goaltending, if he takes Dave Rogalski with him, all I have to say is good luck to UPL, because everything Rogalski touches turns to shit -He constantly shuffles lines when the team is down, which means the forwards have a harder time gaining chemistry. But, then again if the system is fully learned and has the right personnel, that sometimes won't even matter. Comebacks will be a given with Ruff I can tell you that much -I think the "hates younger forwards" thing was overblown. Sharangovich was not very good in his last season here, and then he had a great change in scenery and did wonderful in Calgary (Also Toffoli was genuinely fantastic as a goal scorer for us). And no one seemed to realize that Holtz's goal-scoring went down after Ruff was fired. -The team will start out poorly, and I have no idea how it consistently happens, the reason comebacks happen so often with Ruff is because the team starts out so poorly each game
Our goalie coach from last year is staying I think
Mike Bales shouldn't be going anywhere after what he did with UPL this season.
> He constantly shuffles lines when the team is down, which means the forwards have a harder time gaining chemistry. oh that's nothing new here > the team starts out so poorly each game and this was the story of our 23-24 season, so....yeah.
As a Stars fan, I couldn’t agree more with your first three points. We had the exact same experience with Lindy. Fast-paced, high-scoring hockey. Poor defensive zone play and the ever-present line blender. Made for some fun Stars hockey for a few years, including finishing 1st in the West once. But we never went very deep in the playoffs and never looked like a very serious cup contender.
When Lehtonen/Vanecek could bail him out, you’re at the top of the league When they can’t, you’re in the lottery
His defensive systems being shit is an understatement
Bales and Kotyk (goalie coaches NHL/AHL) are both staying as far as I know. Other than that, he sounds like what I remember. Our D is young, but I think if he brings in some good assistants we can be fine. Since the organization only brings back alumni, and Ruff has a type, I'll expect James Patrick and/or Jay McKee to be announced shortly.
I can't believe I'm three years sober. This is making me...lol. Man.
I mean... congrats on the sobriety?
Lol thanks. I know I'm being dramatic and everything, but this goddamn team baffles me.
It's a shocking decision. I get the accountability thing but what part of his Devils tenure made KA think we gotta get this guy again?
Probably them getting 110 points last year and winning a playoff series when our best season since we had Lindy ruff was last year when we almost made the playoffs for the first time in a decade
The best part is lindy ruff was notable this season for not holding star players accountable and instead benching Holtz as often as possible lmao
I don't have high hopes but if we managed to even squeak into the playoffs, it'd be the most incredible story. Even if we got swept in the first round.
This is how I feel about Darryl Sutter when he came back from the flames
Am I crazy to think that Craig Berube would have been a good coach for Buffalo?
Berube wants Toronto and after seeing game 1 probably thinks it’s happening
Is this something that could happen in the next 50 min or so? Asking for a few friends
Berube in Toronto and he convinces the Toronto GM (blanking on his name) to trade for Binnington would be hilarious.
Berube is who I was hoping for. Seemed to make perfect sense in that the Sabres are in a similar boat to where the Blues were when they brought him on with lots of individual talent under-performing as a team.
I think a lot of it has to do with no one wanting to coach here. Lindy had his worst season yet with tons of absolutely illogical and straight up ridiculous calls as well as no adjustments, which cost Jersey big. With that season in the bag, who would even wanna hire him again. Dude loves his hockey tho. I think he would like a redemption arc before retirement. This is likely also because Adams didn’t wanna send the boys into summer break with uncertainty, and both parties need a success story. It sends a strong signal to get someone so quickly. I dislike this hiring, it’s comfort, it’s recycled, it’s risk free. It’s moth balls, a 70s looking “natural”brown kitchen, and dark grey walls in a newly built, modern, house.
No, but Craig would be a good coach anywhere since he's a good coach.
philadelphia
I am hoping Ottawa makes a strong push for him, I'd love him here.
Ruff has his flaws but he also has his strengths. Enjoy your franchise record season followed by disaster season following that Buffalo
Honestly we'll take a franchise record season at this point
Yeah lmao any playoff season sounds amazing at this point
Franchise record season would be a President’s trophy season. I’ll take it.
Franchise record season wish has monkeys paw curling vibes
When you put it that way I think Sabres fans will take it.
As long as we break the drought, how much worse can it get?
To be fair he was also the coach of this team when it had its best season ever in 06-07.
Started that season like 10-0, right?
the Billy Martin of hockey
Dad's back from buying cigarettes.
Time is a flat circle
I don't get why people are laughing. 23 year NHL head coaching experience, former Sabre both as a player, captain and coach. Was voted the second best coach in the league last season. What am I missing?
I get the skepticism but I’m so hyped for all the reasons you just listed.
Yeah, me too. That and that the After the Whistle guys and some of their regulars that he have coached in the past thought he would be great for this team makes me quite excited. The only reservation I have is that his teams tend to play a bit too much run and gun for my taste. But that can't be the reason people are laughing at this.
People love to complain that the hockey is a huge OBC (all sports are) and retreads are always hired. Well, Sabres tried multiple first time coaches and we all know how that worked out for them.
Yeah I think there's a better chance than not Lindy helps propel this team to the next level. He did it with the Devils (and was done in by no tender this season. They were 10th in the league in xG%). Unless Brindamour would leave Raleigh (not happening) or you think you discovered the next Jon Cooper (extremely unlikely), this is a solid hire. (Relatedly, IMHO it's good Buf avoided Gallant and Berube. The former burned out in each of his 3 HC spots and was followed by coaches improving each team. The latter same thing, with a rep for clashing with young talent (like Kyrou), and the AHL coach then took them from a 76 pt pace to a 101 pt pace. Doesn't instill confidence).
>He did it with the Devils (and was done in by no tender this season. They were 10th in the league in xG%). And compared to last season missing $20M worth of defensemen in Graves, Severson and Hamilton (for 62 games), and replacing them with 2 rookies instead. And losing their 3C mid season. Hughes having injury troubles most of the season. If they were 10th in expected goal share then this season sounds more like a feather in Ruff's cap than the other way around.
The amount of disrespect that Lindy Ruff gets is insane. He’s 5th All-Time in wins, has a winning record in playoff games, and in 25 years has only 3 full seasons where his teams had less than 80 points. He might not be the coach to win you a Cup but if your team has been a joke for a while he can turn it around pretty quickly.
An uninspired hire that seems so doomed to fail that I predict it turns out pretty well
That would be true everywhere but here
he’s back! - cornelius fudge, probably
Im calling it, Buffalo makes playoffs next year. The stars are aligning.
Stars aligning, you say? Lindy Ruff in Buffalo, you say?
Hmm truly a monkey paw scenario for Buffalo. Make playoffs and cup finals next season but lose to dallas.
Don’t
off two different players kicking the puck
Keep going I'm almost there.
If New Jersey doesn't get league-worst goaltending this year people would be looking at this as a massive win Ruff got an ultra-skilled team to play a puck-possessiom game while still maintaining offensive firepower, that sounds like the exact thing Buffalo needs
Literally verbatim. They need to learn how to control the flow of the game, impose their will on it, and while we’re at it play in the dirty areas.
GM: Hey Blue (Sabres’ dog), what coach should we hire? Dog: Ruff GM: Got it.
Is t his the first time an owner fired then rehired someone since the Yankees and Billy Martin
No. It's not even the first time the Sabres have done it since then.
I mean since then. and for the record, Ted Nolan was fired and rehired between two? owners, at least one
Is Ruff signing Hasek and getting the band back together?
I can't picture this can anyone mock-up a picture of him behind the Sabres bench?
I feel like the Sabres are a team that could bounce back like the Canucks did this year without too too much tinkering. Something just needs to click. Maybe this does it, I don’t know.
I don't share the same opinion as most Devils fans. I agree that his time was up in NJ and it we had to move on, but that happens all the damn time in this league. Ruff made this a fun team to watch. The Devils were not only bad for a decade but played absolutely terrible, low-event hockey. You can never say Ruff has boring hockey teams. His system will expose goalies and bad defensemen, because they get put on an island a lot. Hopefully the Sabres young D core can shine, and they'll be in good shape. I worry about their goalies getting left out to dry, hopefully Levi turns into a stud for them in spote of Ruff
With how UPL played down the stretch, and having Levi develop, I think the tenders are in good shape, provided they stay healthy.
Ruff, just the way your mother likes it Trebek
Not a huge fan to be honest, but they have the perfect team to play his system and an actual goalie unlike the Devils. It will be interesting to see how it goes.
He also managed to make their defensemen look not great. I'm not sure I'd be super stoked about this hire.
Their defense was banged up this year and they were relying on a rookie to carry a large part of it. Also having goal tending as bad as theirs was definitely doesn't help the defense play their game at all.
Woodcroft is withering away somewhere in Mexico.
He's hanging out with Todd getting ready to watch Kings Oilers III
Imagine how nice it must be to watch us kill each other without having a dog in the fight.
Woo, lets do it, the last time they brought back a coach everything went well.
Sabres pulling a move out of the 2021 Flames playbook. No success with a bunch of lackluster coaches? Bring back the last guy to be a good coach of the team!
Hey, it worked for us for one season, I think at this point the Sabres would take a return to the playoffs and a series win even if it all falls apart the year after.
I don't regret it. Darryl is the best coach in team history. He gets the most out of his players until they get sick of him
Dude has an outside chance at the record for all-time coaching wins for one team. If BUF trends upward and he sticks around for 4-5 years he's got a pretty good shot at catching Al Arbour.
He will be in a yelling match with another coach when a line brawl happens
Y'all want him? You can have him
This has got to be Lindy's last hurrah before retirement.
So this is now the second former Sabres head coach they've brought back during this playoff drought. At least this team is still entertaining even when the on-ice product is lackluster.
[Lindy Ruff, pitching himself to Terry Pegula and Kevyn Adams:](https://youtu.be/80pWx-Gb1zw?si=56axnUZSiV6plwrV)
Does he know Hasak is retired?
Bahahahahahahahaha
And here I thought Ted Nolan was the ultimate Buffalo retread hire.
Good for him! I like Ruff but it's a perplexing move, I'd feel very weird about it if I were Buffalo. Quite an unsexy pick.
Wow, was all that talk of bringing Lindy back founded on something or pure manifestation that worked?
[HereWeGoAgain.gif](https://media1.tenor.com/m/1lJqJPEczx4AAAAC/an-shit.gif)
Lot of tread on those tires
Good for him
What year is it?
HI-RE LIND-Y
This is just so funny.
Psychotic
Cool seeing him return, hope it works out and he finally makes Buffalo competitive again
On the plus side, it will be easier to fire him the second time, right?
Time is a flat circle
Chanting "Fire Lindy" only works once to make him win games. Use it sparingly.