Lindy Ruff officially hired as Sabres HC

[#freejame]

7 minutes ago, MISabresFan said:

864 wins and 1774 games as a coach.

 

Where I work it takes a month just to find an administrative assistant.

I can’t tell if you mean this positively or negatively and that’s the problem. 

[MISabresFan]

Just now, #freejame said:

I can’t tell if you mean this positively or negatively and that’s the problem. 

I can go both ways.

[kas23]

Adams has robbed us of about a month of reading rumors and speculating who the next coach would be. 

[#freejame]

Just now, MISabresFan said:

I can go both ways.

[PromoTheRobot]

9 hours ago, inkman said:

Seth Appert, much like every coach in the history of coaches, is good because he’s had good players. The Amerks have a better roster this year than the decade of 2010-2020 combined. 

Is this a backhanded compliment of Kevyn Adams?

Edited April 23 by PromoTheRobot

[#freejame]

7 minutes ago, inkman said:

But there isn’t any certainty with coaches. You can’t just plug in coach X into any team and make the playoffs because he made the playoffs 5 out of the last 7 years with team Y.  It just doesn’t work like that.  These things are fluid. Ultimately, as I’ve pounded my self anointed podium, it comes down to the players.  I don’t think the current mix is anywhere near a cup contender.  Lindy could probably get these guys into the postseason but they need to mix up their lineup.  Too many danglers, not enough other aspects to the game. 

At the end of the day, I’d be surprised if we didn’t more or less agree with our views. I know it’s on the players as well. The frustration is that they made the predictable move when there were arguably better options out there. Ruff can certainly be the man for the job and I will celebrate his success if that’s the case. But the Sabres organization doesn’t look thorough and serious here imo. 

[MISabresFan]

4 minutes ago, #freejame said:

At the end of the day, I’d be surprised if we didn’t more or less agree with our views. I know it’s on the players as well. The frustration is that they made the predictable move when there were arguably better options out there. Ruff can certainly be the man for the job and I will celebrate his success if that’s the case. But the Sabres organization doesn’t look thorough and serious here imo. 

I hope so too.  One reference that gives us fans a glimmer is Ruff took a rebuilding New Jersey Devils team to a 112-point season in 2022-2023.

[JohnC]

I'm hoping that Ruff will turn out to be the right coach at the right time. But what I can say is that this so-called "coaching search" process was amateurish and third-rate. It's very likely that the clueless owner who has already bungled this franchise was the driving force for this hire. It makes no sense to me. Not because of the end result but because it ended with a decision before a legitimate process could be activated. The extended length of Lindy's contract also makes absolutely no sense. If we were bidding for Brind'Amour, the length of contract would be understandable. But that wasn't the case here.  Ruff was not a prized catch that a lot of other organizations were pursuing. The reality was no other organization was interested in this recently fired coach. 

Our owner has this inexplicable reflex that when stumped resort to nostalgia for a solution in this modern world of analytics. The way this hiring process has been handled goes beyond being inept. It has gotten to the point of being weird. How this hire was done makes no sense to me. 

[inkman]

47 minutes ago, MISabresFan said:

I can go both ways.

So I’ve heard

 

41 minutes ago, #freejame said:

At the end of the day, I’d be surprised if we didn’t more or less agree with our views. I know it’s on the players as well. The frustration is that they made the predictable move when there were arguably better options out there. Ruff can certainly be the man for the job and I will celebrate his success if that’s the case. But the Sabres organization doesn’t look thorough and serious here imo. 

Well the optics at certainly sus as the kids say 

[_Q_]

16 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I'm hoping that Ruff will turn out to be the right coach at the right time. But what I can say is that this so-called "coaching search" process was amateurish and third-rate. It's very likely that the clueless owner who has already bungled this franchise was the driving force for this hire. It makes no sense to me. Not because of the end result but because it ended with a decision before a legitimate process could be activated. The extended length of Lindy's contract also makes absolutely no sense. If we were bidding for Brind'Amour, the length of contract would be understandable. But that wasn't the case here.  Ruff was not a prized catch that a lot of other organizations were pursuing. The reality was no other organization was interested in this recently fired coach. 

Our owner has this inexplicable reflex that when stumped resort to nostalgia for a solution in this modern world of analytics. The way this hiring process has been handled goes beyond being inept. It has gotten to the point of being weird. How this hire was done makes no sense to me. 

It is entirely possible that following the lack of leadership when the players protested the fans, the decision on Granato was made.

That leaves a couple month vetting process for potential candidates, both employed and unemployed.  To say that a legitimate process can only happen after a firing is folly.  Most companies have a succession plan in place before letting its CEO go, either internal or external.

If we were to take Ruff's name off the hire, people would be talking about how he just took a young team in NJ to 110+ points and was let go after crappy goal tending (still a winning record), and how the Devils fell apart after he left. 

[HOUSE]

Lindy has arrived

Edited April 23 by Shoot da Puck

[_Q_]

1 minute ago, Shoot da Puck said:

Haha, so this is why there is no escalator up to AF1!

[Doohicksie]

55 minutes ago, kas23 said:

Adams has robbed us of about a month of reading rumors and speculating who the next coach would be. 

Darn that Kevyn Adams to heck!

54 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Is this a backhanded compliment of Kevyn Adams?

No.  Complimenting Kevyn Adams is verboten.

[LGR4GM]

BTW, I do hope Ruff succeeds. You know how cool it would be after 13 years of pointless stupidity to have Lindy Ruff come in and get us not only back in the playoffs but to have us win a round or two? That would be epic. 

I am going to tell my kids this is Lindy Ruff. 

 

[Skibum]

I guess if you look at it objectively (ie, imagine his previous Sabres stint was with some other team), it looks a lot like any other retread coaching hire. Not that I think Lindy is a bad coach, its just a boring hire the way hiring Laviolette, Hitchcock, Babcock, etc. would be. 

I didn't realize Ruff was so high on the career coaching wins list. But still no cups, and I don't see him bringing one to Buffalo at this stage of his career, nor with this particular team. 

[SabresVet]

14 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Ol' Mattie got in too many fights. Can't think straight 😛

Maybe he's looking for a job. 

13 hours ago, Mango said:

I will say it for the 100th time, but any hire for HC has to meet the center of a venn diagram between 1. Best candidate 2. Willing to take the job 3. Terry is willing to offer the job. And under that criteria I think Lindy is likely in the top tier of candidates available. 

What I am upset about is that there seemed to be no legitimate coaching search. Granato was fired 6 days ago. It feels like Adams didn't even effing try and put together a stack of candidates. Either that or nobody wants to work here. Probably a little bit of both. 

I am resigned to the fact Terry goes with the limited number of people he knows in management positions and that lucking into something working out is all we've got now.  The Venn Diagram thing is spot-on. 

Terry doesn't know people around the league, doesn't trust anyone outside his people post-Botterill and it will always be this way. 

Only hope is, Terry trusts/permits Adams and Ruff do what they need and isn't cutting them off at the knees.  And that the plan in personnel is better than just going with what they've got like last season banking on improvement. 

Edited April 23 by SabresVet

[dudacek]

I think it’s kinda interesting that career winning percentage is being used as a mark against Lindy. Here are 10 of his peers:

• Darryl Sutter .498
• Pat Burns .492
• Pat Quinn .489
• Jacques Lemaire .489
• Lindy Ruff .487
• Al Arbour .487
• Mike Keenan .485
• John Torterella .480
• Dick Irvin .477
• Paul Maurice .470

And for fun:

• Punch Imlach .452

[triumph_communes]

47 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

BTW, I do hope Ruff succeeds. You know how cool it would be after 13 years of pointless stupidity to have Lindy Ruff come in and get us not only back in the playoffs but to have us win a round or two? That would be epic. 

I am going to tell my kids this is Lindy Ruff. 

 

That’s how curses work. Hockey players are the most superstitious of them all. 
 

It’s not been a talent problem it’s been a mental one. Players have been leaving Buffalo and lighting it up elsewhere for a decade now. And overlooking the power of superstition is a rookie mistake. Statisticians be damned 

Edited April 23 by triumph_communes

[LGR4GM]

I disagree. Buffalo has a talent problem as well as a heart problem. 

[LGR4GM]

Okay, I smiled while watching this. I've said my piece why I am concerned with bringing him back but all ahead full now. 

 

[Cascade Youth]

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

Okay, I smiled while watching this. I've said my piece why I am concerned with bringing him back but all ahead full now. 

 

Cocoon, Part 3.

But whatever.  I’m with you.  Let’s go to work and do this thing, Lindy.

[triumph_communes]

7 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I disagree. Buffalo has a talent problem as well as a heart problem. 

They weren’t playing for the fans. They were playing for the coach that would tell them encouraging things and not push them too hard. That’s fixed by coaching 

[inkman]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Is this a backhanded compliment of Kevyn Adams?

Or Karmanos.

[bunomatic]

Like I said 
Ruff is a retread and wasn’t my choice but it could be so much worse. It could be meatballs or Ellis or Appert etc etc. Ruff brings legitimacy to the position in Buffalo that we haven’t had in a long time. Damn , we hired Krueger. 

 

 

[apuszczalowski]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I disagree. Buffalo has a talent problem as well as a heart problem. 

They should really get that looked at soon, after whats happened to Kim & Damar, you would think they would be on top of these kind of things.......

j/k

 

As for Ruff, atleast they went back to someone with a successful track record for them, they could have always decided to go back to Botterill (Hey he has a cup win!) or even Kreuger (to help motivate the young team!). Atleast Ruff has still been in the league coaching since leaving here and has had some success making the playoffs (baby steps for the Sabres). I wouldn't start planning the Cup parade just because of this hire, but I'm a little more confident with this hire that they might be a playoff team next year.

Of course this isn't the big hire like Brindamour (who is still coaching a playoff team and doubtful he isn't retained, or some of the other names like Gallant or Boudreau who haven't been coaching since being let go. i think what makes this look worse is that it was done quickly after saying they would leave no stone unturned. It makes this look like they made a couple calls, but had this decision made a while ago unless he turned them down