Lindy Ruff officially hired as Sabres HC

[TRIP65]

On 4/22/2024 at 10:44 PM, inkman said:

Well guess we will see if Adams has what it takes to Rebuild this Roster to a Playoff Team. He has Failed with the most Talented Prospect Pool in the League. He now has a Winning Coach who has won here before, even going to a Cup.

I don't think Adams can make the Correct trades to make us better. He likes his Drafts better, won't do what it takes to get the Veteran Talent needed to get Sabres to Playoffs. Getting in 1 year 8th spot isn't what we should be shooting for.

[7+6=13]

I don't know what the answers are but the reason we're in this situation isn't all on Adams.  He's done some decent things and most of my frustration with him is inactivity.

He's loaded with picks, prospects and cap space.  We have a decent amount of NHL players, a reasonable goalie situation and a proven vet head coach.

It is absolutely time to aggressively build out the roster.

[GoPuckYourself]

1 hour ago, TRIP65 said:

So you are saying Ruff's hiring will lead to 17 years or more of losing, you a Bruins Fan?

One of the most Winning Coaches ever, Top 5.

Best Coach Sabres ever had and damn good player who played both sides of the Line.

Every Vet Coach available got fired from LAST Team.

 

The HC that just Won the Cup never did for 28 years previous!

You’re a little late to the party Francis.

[TRIP65]

2 hours ago, GoPuckYourself said:

You’re a little late to the party Francis.

Stanley Cup just finished so if they were to wait maybe cause they like an Assistant HC on a Stanley Cup team, Ruff may NOT be there.

 

Your statement back then was about Ruff and tieing The Bills losing Record. Now you don't want to own that Statement.

 

As everything turned out, I love Ruff hire and some other HC would not give me more Optimism.

 

[TRIP65]

3 hours ago, 7+6=13 said:

I don't know what the answers are but the reason we're in this situation isn't all on Adams.  He's done some decent things and most of my frustration with him is inactivity.

He's loaded with picks, prospects and cap space.  We have a decent amount of NHL players, a reasonable goalie situation and a proven vet head coach.

It is absolutely time to aggressively build out the roster.

Yes, but the Time was last year too. Maybe we wouldn't have Regressed on the Scoring side. When we lost Quinn, Adams definitely needed a proven replacement.

Adams has done a great job with Prospects but you can't load a NHL Roster with Prospects all at once!

[7+6=13]

27 minutes ago, TRIP65 said:

Yes, but the Time was last year too. Maybe we wouldn't have Regressed on the Scoring side. When we lost Quinn, Adams definitely needed a proven replacement.

Adams has done a great job with Prospects but you can't load a NHL Roster with Prospects all at once!

That's why I mentioned my frustration has been his inactivity.  My point is, he can't do that again or he's got to go, IMO.  I can understand last years inactivity as there's outside reasons.  

For example; FA's weren't what we wanted, etc.

2 years of not liking any and the benefit of doubt is gone for me.

[GoPuckYourself]

2 hours ago, TRIP65 said:

Stanley Cup just finished so if they were to wait maybe cause they like an Assistant HC on a Stanley Cup team, Ruff may NOT be there.

 

Your statement back then was about Ruff and tieing The Bills losing Record. Now you don't want to own that Statement.

 

As everything turned out, I love Ruff hire and some other HC would not give me more Optimism.

 

What is this kid rambling on about?

[triumph_communes]

Lindy is doing a good job and getting buy in. The focus on blocked shots being something I don’t think we’ve had since he left. I think his change in age has come from being more calm about communication this expectation of the little stuff and that being what gets his approval.  The prior approaches of giving players confidence and hoping it all would just come together missed the centralizing tenet needed to get players to go the extra mile for each other. They were just doing it for themselves before. Lindy simply commands respect and the players seem to be falling in line. Does this style of coaching have a timeline?  Maybe, but who cares, get results 
 

Still surprised to see Samuelsson play as much as he has with the amount of bone headed plays. 
 

Cozens is lost, but there’s a glimmer of finding himself. Quinn is totally lost, who knows there. But I’ll take those two losses over the rest of the team stepping up. And this is with our fourth line being injured and rotating. 
 

Tage and Tuch took a few games, but they’re in full confidence mode now and playing aggressive and that’s the only way they can play well. Whenever they get passive they overthink and fall apart and it’s great to see that disappear.  This is tricky because Lindy loves the Alamo, but I don’t think these players can do that well. We need to adjust. 
 

Giving Lindy til Thanksgiving until truly drawing any opinions, but I like what I see so far and I think it would’ve been naive to expect it overnight. He was a little defensive when asked about their pre season, but regardless it’s coming together and we aren’t miles out of the standings. 

Edited October 23 by triumph_communes

[EM88]

I think Lindy is a net positive for the team.

[Pimlach]

I am sticking to looking closer at Lindy and the team after 20-25 games.  

Yesterday they showed they can play NHL hockey, now it is a matter of being consistent and hard nosed about it.  

[Taro T]

33 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I am sticking to looking closer at Lindy and the team after 20-25 games.  

Yesterday they showed they can play NHL hockey, now it is a matter of being consistent and hard nosed about it.  

Definitely look at where they're at after 1/4 of the season.  But right now, taking away the Eurogames, Ruff has them playing 0.500 on the road and 0.67 at home and win the game against Detroit on Saturday and they're at 0.75 at home.

Go the full 80 NA games at those 0.500 and 0.750 paces and you end up with 100 points and a playoff berth.

They're in a place where they're essentially where they need to be and that's with their best player injured and the PP acting like it's in mourning for Ellis getting removed as its architect.  Get Dahlin back to 85-90% vs the 75% he's currently at and get the PP back to top 20 (still bad, but not dead) and if the GTing continues to hold up, those paces are sustainable.

[Doohicksie]

One thing that comes up in a lot of interviews is the sense that the team has an identity of being hard to play against, staying above the puck defensively, getting greasy goals but also using skill.  I think Granato was all about the skill and it was important to develop that, but Lindy gives them more tools to employ, and like I said, they're getting a sense of the identity of the team. 

I think Granato tried to instill an identity but there wasn't enough substance to his game style... it was just kill with skill and if the opponents could neurtalize/slow down the skill they were left with nothing. 

[PerreaultForever]

2 hours ago, Doohicksie said:

One thing that comes up in a lot of interviews is the sense that the team has an identity of being hard to play against, staying above the puck defensively, getting greasy goals but also using skill.  I think Granato was all about the skill and it was important to develop that, but Lindy gives them more tools to employ, and like I said, they're getting a sense of the identity of the team. 

I think Granato tried to instill an identity but there wasn't enough substance to his game style... it was just kill with skill and if the opponents could neurtalize/slow down the skill they were left with nothing. 

My view is different. I don't actually see an "identity" yet and I don't see enough "greasy goals". Ruff talks about that but that's pretty much standard by the book hockey talk for most teams and coaches. I don't think there's anybody who says don't "go to the net". 

What I see possibly developing with Ruff is an attention to details and structure. Team play is stronger and positional play is getting stronger. The little things that add up. Sorely missing from this team for years. 

[matter2003]

7 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

My view is different. I don't actually see an "identity" yet and I don't see enough "greasy goals". Ruff talks about that but that's pretty much standard by the book hockey talk for most teams and coaches. I don't think there's anybody who says don't "go to the net". 

What I see possibly developing with Ruff is an attention to details and structure. Team play is stronger and positional play is getting stronger. The little things that add up. Sorely missing from this team for years. 

Things are starting to come together it seems like...

I think by mid season this team could really start finding it's groove if they can keep building and get the special teams at least middle of the road.

Looking forward to getting NAK back in the lineup as well, I think he adds more toughness and physicality we have been missing and can help shut down other teams top lines defensively.

Edited October 24 by matter2003

[PerreaultForever]

6 hours ago, matter2003 said:

Things are starting to come together it seems like...

I think by mid season this team could really start finding it's groove if they can keep building and get the special teams at least middle of the road.

Looking forward to getting NAK back in the lineup as well, I think he adds more toughness and physicality we have been missing and can help shut down other teams top lines defensively.

Specialty teams are definitely a concern and the lack of a PP hampers them for sure. The PK has shown signs of being an aggressive counter attack unit but they still need to be better and stronger around the net. The PP is too predictable, too reliant on the point. It doesn't have enough bodies in front obviously but it also doesn't move the puck around fast enough across ice. It's pretty much high shot or drop puck back to Dahlin at the point and let him decide. We don't use the bumper well or mix things up well so PK units can cheat on us and shutdown the predictable elements (Dahlin at the point and Tage's high slot shot). It needs work.

Structure, layers, and a commitment to details will take us further than we have gone before though that's for sure. They might be learning to play the right way finally.

[Demoted]

Things started out a little "Ruff" I must admit there.

[Doohicksie]

9 hours ago, Demoted said:

Things started out a little "Ruff" I must admit there.