Who will be the next Head Coach of the Buffalo Sabres?

[CallawaySabres]

I am worried that Berubes success that year was solely due to Binnington having an abnormally superhuman year.

[TRIP65]

10 hours ago, GoPuckYourself said:

This is the exact opposite of what I'm looking for, this to me would show that they couldn't care less about winning NHL games, this would be nothing more than to get fans in seats to make Pegula money, nothing more and nothing less. Ruff has failed at evey gig he was given since being let go as the HC of the Buffalo Sabres and most notably with a young team like us in the new Jersey Devils.

For me to take this organization seriously it has to hire a proven winning head coach, I don't care what it costs, I don't care who has to sell their soul to get him here but there are only 32 HC gigs in the NHL, I'm sure you can find someone whether that's Brindamour, Berube, Gallant or another then you go out and get said coach. If he's a winner than you don't have to worry about his assistants because he'll pick people who he thinks will help him win once again. I want to have our owner live up to that Stanley Cup hype train when he 1st got here, drill another well Terry and get a proven winner here so you can have 2 franchises who adore you and are filling up the seats.

You're a Bright one!

Defamation of a Winning Coach of 864 wins

One of the most Accomplished Coaches in Sabres History

Last Year, The Devils ultimately finished third in the NHL, and second in their division, with a 52–22–8 record. Ruff was again named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award. Ruff did this bringing NJ from the dredges for 3 years.

In 2014, Ruff led the Dallas Stars to their first playoff appearance since 2008. Another team he brought back from the dredges!!!!

In Ruff's second season as coach, the Sabres reached the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals before losing to the Dallas Stars in six games

 

 

That is the Coach I want to LEAD the Sabres from a 13 years missing from the Playoff streak

 

 

 

 

 

[Dr. Who]

27 minutes ago, TRIP65 said:

You're a Bright one!

Defamation of a Winning Coach of 864 wins

One of the most Accomplished Coaches in Sabres History

Last Year, The Devils ultimately finished third in the NHL, and second in their division, with a 52–22–8 record. Ruff was again named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award. Ruff did this bringing NJ from the dredges for 3 years.

In 2014, Ruff led the Dallas Stars to their first playoff appearance since 2008. Another team he brought back from the dredges!!!!

In Ruff's second season as coach, the Sabres reached the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals before losing to the Dallas Stars in six games

 

 

That is the Coach I want to LEAD the Sabres from a 13 years missing from the Playoff streak

 

 

 

 

 

You will likely be accused of nostalgia and Boomerism, I dunno, but you could do a lot worse. I love the guy. Maybe bring back Peca as an assistant.

[bunomatic]

No hope in hell that Terry Pegula would sign off on Quenville what with the whole family values, my kind of people, coombayeah thing he apparently espouses.

[Happy Days]

Craig Berube

[Sabre The Cup]

Quenneville is the best choice by far. 
 

If that turns people off then the next best choice is Gallant. 
 

Ruff will break our playoff drought but we’ll peak in the first round. Berube would be similar. 
 

Peca looks and talks good but I don’t know if he’d even be better than Appert would be. 
 

Brind’amour held prime Lindros out a car window. He’s a bad ass and would be a great coach here. But likely unavailable. 

[PerreaultForever]

2 hours ago, CallawaySabres said:

I am worried that Berubes success that year was solely due to Binnington having an abnormally superhuman year.

No, they played a physical dominating style in the playoffs. They were solid all over and it was true "playoff hockey". 

[Joe mucci]

17 hours ago, Night Train said:

So there's an upside !   Go Lindy ! 

Bob Hartley or Michel Therrien or Joel qeunville these are hard nose coaches and that’s what this team needs and get a player to defend these youngsters so the don’t get pushed around

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

19 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Who will be the next coach of the Buffalo Sabres?

[WhenWillItEnd66]

8 hours ago, TRIP65 said:

You're a Bright one!

Defamation of a Winning Coach of 864 wins

One of the most Accomplished Coaches in Sabres History

Last Year, The Devils ultimately finished third in the NHL, and second in their division, with a 52–22–8 record. Ruff was again named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award. Ruff did this bringing NJ from the dredges for 3 years.

In 2014, Ruff led the Dallas Stars to their first playoff appearance since 2008. Another team he brought back from the dredges!!!!

In Ruff's second season as coach, the Sabres reached the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals before losing to the Dallas Stars in six games

 

That is the Coach I want to LEAD the Sabres from a 13 years missing from the Playoff streak

 

 

First off, Ruff was most likely not responsible for the Devils last year. Andrew Brunette was most likely responsible. Once he left, the Devils went to straight garbage. Ruff although could be a decent choice as he is a hard nose coach, is not the Sabres Savior. 

Edited April 17 by WhenWillItEnd66

[Doohicksie]

19 minutes ago, \GoBillsInDallas/ said:

Daltry's power play will be unstoppable.

[WhenWillItEnd66]

So, in order (Experienced coaches only):

 

Brindy - Not leaving the lames though

Q - Not coming back to the NHL, be very shocked if they do.

Berube - Most likely the most available choice

Gallant - Just slightly ahead of Ruff

Lindy - As much as i like him, prefer not to retread. Do not believe he was responsible for the Devils being good last year. 

Edited April 17 by WhenWillItEnd66

[RochesterExpat]

20 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

They need to sell the fans on someone. It can't be a rookie coach. Not even Peca. It just can't be.

The failure to promote Peca internally is one of the biggest “little” failures of this organization recently.

For what it’s worth, Gallant was my choice for coach when DG was hired as the full-time HC. He is still my choice today. I’m not against Lindy and I don’t see Rod “the Bod” Brind-mi-amor as available.

Gallant and Peca behind the bench would be my dream scenario. Gallant gets his run and then the reigns get passed to Peca eventually once Gallant leaves.

[Carmel Corn]

Somebody else that might be worth a look is Todd McLellan.  He said "no thanks" before, so maybe not a possibility, but he's out there.
 

[LTS]

9 hours ago, TRIP65 said:

You're a Bright one!

Defamation of a Winning Coach of 864 wins

One of the most Accomplished Coaches in Sabres History

Last Year, The Devils ultimately finished third in the NHL, and second in their division, with a 52–22–8 record. Ruff was again named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award. Ruff did this bringing NJ from the dredges for 3 years.

In 2014, Ruff led the Dallas Stars to their first playoff appearance since 2008. Another team he brought back from the dredges!!!!

In Ruff's second season as coach, the Sabres reached the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals before losing to the Dallas Stars in six games

That is the Coach I want to LEAD the Sabres from a 13 years missing from the Playoff streak

 

Thank you for pointing out the Devils record last year... its important to note because....

57 minutes ago, WhenWillItEnd66 said:

First off, Ruff was most likely not responsible for the Devils last year. Andrew Brunette was most likely responsible. Once he left, the Devils went to straight garbage. Ruff although could be a decent choice as he is a hard nose coach, is not the Sabres Savior. 

This.  As I posted elsewhere.

Ruff with the Devils: 128-125-28

Granato with Sabres: 122-125-27

When you factor in that Ruff's only good season with the Devils was with Brunette and that netted them a +30 W differential I would say its easy to see that Ruff is not what people think he is.  He's not the Ruff from so long ago.

I like Lindy, but he should not be the coach.

[mjd1001]

The biggest problem I have with Ruff is not that he is not good, but rather if he is here it is likely something that Pegula wants....and to me the biggest problem with this team is Pegula having input on coaches, staff, draft, trades, FA, and he isn't good at that. To me Ruff being here is not getting the BEST guy, but the guy Pegula wants.

I'm not 100% in on Ruff, but he's not as bad as some are making him out to be.  The arguments against him I keep reading are his good year last year was a result of Brunette, and without him this year the team wasn't as good. Maybe that is part of it, but this year is not all on Lindy, in fact, there are points to say he did a decent job this year with some really bad circumstances in Jersey:

This year, He had that team in contention (near .500 and in the race) with his Stars either not playing or coming back from injuries.  Hughes, Timo Meier and Hischier missed games, their best D-man was out just about the entire year (Hamilton). If you look at the production of Hughes, Hischier, and Timo Meier, they have been more productive than the Sabres top 3 guys (Tage, and whoever other 2 you want), yet those NJ guys missed more games due to injury than any of the Sabres top guys (those top guys missed over 100 games combined, with Hughes, the most important, missing 20)

They fired Ruff as a way to see if they could salvage the season, got most of their key injured forwards back and playing after he was gone,  and they performed  worse after he got fired.  Yes, with Lindy as coach, the team was better with no credible goaltender, ravaged by key injuries, than they were AFTER he left when they got healthier.

  And all of this was with his GM not getting him a goaltender, their goaltending is worse than what Granato had with the Sabres.  Give Ruff UPL level goaltending and that team is SO much better, possibly in the playoffs even with them being wrecked by injuries.

I don't think they are going to go with Ruff, but I don't think hes as bad as some here are saying as if the game has 'totally passed him by'

Lindy may not be the BEST choice, but if he were hired its no a disaster.  The key would be his assistants. Let him bring in who he wants, and let Pegula PAY for who he wants.  If he (or ANYONE else) has to bring on a staff on a tight budget or is given this years staff, anyone is in trouble.

Edited April 17 by mjd1001

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Voted Gallant.

He is available and is the best shot at getting the Sabres into the playoff next season, IMHO.

Right now all they need to worry about is making it.  Once they do that will make a world of difference for this team.

Once they start making the playoff regularly and Gallant wears out his welcome bring in someone to get them over the top.

[nfreeman]

I think it will be Berube or Gallant, and that it will happen within the next week or so.

[Flashsabre]

There is no perfect candidate. Any name brought up can easily be torn down by someone who doesn’t care for them.

Gallant: doesn’t play a structured system. Rangers players asked for a change to a more structured coach. Known as a players coach

Berube: only win a Cup because Bennington stood on his head.

Boudreau: not a hard ass, flames out in the playoffs

Woodcroft: couldn’t get his team to buy in defensively, Knoblouch took over and did

McLellan: has flamed out numerous places. Turned down an opportunity here

Quenneville: not allowed to coach by the league for. obvious reasons

Lindy: NJ was only good because of another coach

Babcock: Yikes

etc etc

going just by Adams words you would think Lindy and Berube would be the coaches of interest.

another name of interest to me is Guy Boucher who has done a great job on the bench with the Leafs, especially the PP.

Everyone today would take Rick Tocchet in a heartbeat. But look at his coaching record before this season. Only made the playoffs once and was ousted in the first round.

Edited April 17 by Flashsabre

[dudacek]

Why does everyone point to Brunette as the main reason for the rise and fall of the Devils?

Didn’t exchanging 3 veteran defencemen (Hamilton, Graves, Severson) for 3 rookies (Hughes, Nemec Bahl) in their starting 6 play a huge role?

I mean, those are talented kids but we know 1st-hand about having too many young D. The vets were +66, the kids -31.

 

[dudacek]

Just read Fariburn's rundown of the candidates and walked away almost certain it's going to be Lindy.

Adams had a plan in place and 4 watchwords: experienced, structured, accountable, immediately available.

Of the candidates he listed: Woodcraft and Evason aren't that experienced, Boudreau and Gallant aren't that structured, Brind'Amour and Quenville (probably, for well-known reasons) aren't immediately available.

That leaves Ruff and Berube.

I don't know of any connection between Kevyn and Berube, or anything to feed the sense that he's a target Kevyn feels he can speak about with the kind of directness and certainty that Kevyn used yesterday.

Lindy, on the other hand, is someone he knows well and has worked together with.

Lindy is also someone who can not only fire up the players, he can fire up a moribund fan base.

He's also won with youngsters and plays the uptempo style Adams prefers.

What has Kevyn preached from day one? Passion for the jersey and for the city, people who want to be here and to win for the people of Buffalo.

Nobody epitomizes the Adams checklist like Lindy Ruff, it's not even close.

It's coming.

Edited April 17 by dudacek

[Flashsabre]

51 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Why does everyone point to Brunette as the main reason for the rise and fall of the Devils?

Didn’t exchanging 3 veteran defencemen (Hamilton, Graves, Severson) for 3 rookies (Hughes, Nemec Bahl) in their starting 6 play a huge role?

I mean, those are talented kids but we know 1st-hand about having too many young D. The vets were +66, the kids -31.

 

As I said if you don’t like a candidate you can knock them down.

I mean Brunette went to Nashville and fell on his face to the point the GM stepped in and took away their trip and galvanized them and they went on a big run to get them into the playoffs. They sputtered  down the stretch so we will see how the playoff go for Nashville.

I like Brunette but he was not the sole reason for NJ’s success. This year NJ had major injuries Hamilton) and god awful goaltending. They didn’t improve when Green took over.

Do I think it should be Lindy, no. Do I think it will be Lindy, probably. If it is him then they need really good assistants. Would love Jeep to join him and get a really good offensive mind as the other assistant.

Edited April 17 by Flashsabre

[Brawndo]

47 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Why does everyone point to Brunette as the main reason for the rise and fall of the Devils?

Didn’t exchanging 3 veteran defencemen (Hamilton, Graves, Severson) for 3 rookies (Hughes, Nemec Bahl) in their starting 6 play a huge role?

I mean, those are talented kids but we know 1st-hand about having too many young D. The vets were +66, the kids -31.

 

All this and the fact his goaltenders could not stop a beach ball 

 

8 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Just read Fariburn's rundown of the candidates and walked away almost certain it's going to be Lindy.

Adams had a plan in place and 4 watchwords: experienced, structured, accountable, immediately available.

Of the candidates he listed: Woodcraft and Evason aren't that experienced, Boudreau and Gallant aren't that structured, Brind'Amour and Quenville (probably, for well-known reasons) aren't immediately available.

That leaves Ruff and Berube.

I don't know of any connection between Kevyn and Berube, or anything to feed the sense that he's a target Kevyn feels he can speak about with the kind of directness and certainty that Kevyn used yesterday.

Lindy, on the other hand, is someone he knows well and has worked together with.

Lindy is also someone who can not only fire up the players, he can fire up a moribund fan base.

What has Kevyn preached from day one? Passion for the jersey and for the city, people who want to be here and to win for the people of Buffalo.

Nobody epitomizes the Adams checklist like Lindy Ruff, it's not even close.

It's coming.

I would add Mike Sullivan onto the list of possibilities if he gets fired. 
 

Has a relationship with Jason Karmanos and Sam Ventura.  His 3 year contract extension starts next season with a 5.5 million dollar AAV. The Sabres and Penguins could split that 50/50 while the Sabres give him a 3 year deal.

[WhenWillItEnd66]

55 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Why does everyone point to Brunette as the main reason for the rise and fall of the Devils?

Didn’t exchanging 3 veteran defencemen (Hamilton, Graves, Severson) for 3 rookies (Hughes, Nemec Bahl) in their starting 6 play a huge role?

I mean, those are talented kids but we know 1st-hand about having too many young D. The vets were +66, the kids -31.

 

Because here in the NJ market, it has been said that the winning system was Brunette's system. As you see, he took it to the Preds and it is working wonders.

[Doohicksie]

2 hours ago, RochesterExpat said:

The failure to promote Peca internally is one of the biggest “little” failures of this organization recently.

For what it’s worth, Gallant was my choice for coach when DG was hired as the full-time HC. He is still my choice today. I’m not against Lindy and I don’t see Rod “the Bod” Brind-mi-amor as available.

Gallant and Peca behind the bench would be my dream scenario. Gallant gets his run and then the reigns get passed to Peca eventually once Gallant is abandoned on the side of the road after an away game.

fify 😉