3 reasons why bringing back Lindy Ruff makes perfect sense for the Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres were looking to bring in a near-perfect head coach. And in reality, there was no one else better suited than Lindy Ruff.
Well, that didn’t take long now, did it? Go back to when the New Jersey Devils let Lindy Ruff go in March, and there was an inkling that the Buffalo Sabres would bring back one of the most familiar names in franchise history.
There were pros and cons to hiring Ruff for a second stint as the franchise’s head coach, but after the way things turned out this season in Buffalo, you can argue the pros outweigh the cons. Sure, Ruff’s former team, the New Jersey Devils, took a major step back this season. However, it shouldn’t define his abilities to be a head coach in today’s game, something we’ll dive into later.
Yes, he’s 64, meaning there’s a good chance that his second stint with the Sabres won’t even last a decade, and there’s no way he’ll be here for over a decade-and-a-half this time. The drawbacks are clear. But for a group that showed us in 2022-23 that it could be a playoff team, they needed someone who could walk right in with a plan in mind and give them that much-needed boost former head coach Don Granato never offered.
Buffalo Sabres made a genius move hiring Lindy Ruff
Someone who could bring more structure and, when needed, accountability. Ruff is more than capable of giving this still very young Sabres team both, or else he wasn’t getting the job.
Unpopular opinion to some, but when the Sabres fired Don Granato, John Tortorella was a coach that came to mind. Obviously, that wasn’t going to work since he’s with the Philadelphia Flyers, but you get the gist - he’s someone who would have brought much-needed discipline to a team that had little.
Sure, Ruff was there for the taking, but he was just one of many coaches for the job. While hiring him, as the title of this article implies, made “perfect sense,” one major concern - also implied earlier - was whether general manager Kevyn Adams would be keen to bring in the 64-year-old Ruff, who isn’t far off from career twilight?
Ruff’s age didn’t faze Adams, and in the end, we should be grateful. Let’s talk about why bringing the seasoned veteran on for a second stint in Buffalo looks like a very, very good idea.
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Few, if any, coaches have Lindy Ruff’s experience
We know Kevyn Adams wanted a coach with years of experience in the big league, and he got one. There was no way the Blue and Gold was taking another risk on hiring a head coach with zero on-the-job experience, as was the case with Granato when they tasked him as head coach in 2021.
Not to say doing so may not have been a bad idea in hindsight, but that’s the keyword - it would be a few years before we knew what would exactly lay in retrospect with an inexperienced coach. We don’t know the same regarding Ruff’s second stint with the Sabres, and it could end up being abysmal for all we know.
But probability-wise, there’s way more reassurance in a veteran like Ruff than there would be with someone who's never coached in the NHL. There were other solid potential candidates out there, but neither matched Ruff in experience, making him a 180-degree opposite from Granato.
As implied earlier, Ruff is older, and there’s a good chance he’s not the long-term solution. But when you have a 13-year playoff drought going on, you need a coach who can figure out how to get you back to the postseason. So, is there anyone better to turn to than a coach who has seen almost everything there is to see behind the bench?
Ruff proved he was still an excellent coach while in New Jersey
It wasn’t a good year for Ruff in Newark, and the New Jersey Devils felt it was wise to get rid of him in favor of a fresh face who, at the time of this writing, has yet to be announced as his successor. But we also need to remember that Ruff’s star player, Jack Hughes, never seemed to be completely healthy, while their top blueliner, Dougie Hamilton, was finished after 20 games.
In 2022-23, Hamilton put up forward numbers and finished sixth in Norris Trophy votes, so losing him for an entire year would have been akin to Buffalo losing Rasmus Dahlin for a season. There was no way the Devils were reaching 112 points again, a number that is now a franchise record in the regular season.
And in case you’re wondering, the 2022-23 Devils finished the year as the second-youngest team in hockey. That mark alone shows you what Lindy Ruff can do with a young group, and the Blue and Gold still happen to be one.
They must find a way to stay healthy, something that hurt them earlier in the 2023-24 season, but if they can stay out of the trainer’s room, Ruff will have this team winning early and often. This isn’t saying he will lead Buffalo to an Atlantic Division crown - though that would be cool - but he’ll have them in contention all season if they can stay at full strength.
Ruff will bring structure Don Granato rarely brought
Remember in that first slide when I mentioned someone like John Tortorella would have been great for the Sabres? It’s because I was thinking of a coach who would bring structure and a no-nonsense approach while setting the bar high.
The minute the Sabres introduce Lindy Ruff as head coach, expect a similar outcome. He’s setting the standard here in April, and he will demand for each player to reach that standard. While Granato, like any NHL head coach, would hold players to a standard, you can’t help but think he wavered on it one too many times, something Lance Lysowski of Buffalo News implied.
Ensuing statements from players like Tage Thompson and Connor Clifton only add fuel to the thought that Granato didn’t always bring that structure. Yeah, Granato was a good guy, and he deserves a ton of credit for helping develop this team. But when you’re a head coach, you must consistently send a message that you’re in charge, and it wasn’t always the case for Granato.
Ruff won’t let that happen, and it’s why he’s seen continued success regardless of where he coaches in the NHL. If you don’t give young teams guidance, they will go astray, and that’s what happened to the Sabres this past season. Give them the kind of structure they need, and watch them supersede expectations. It’s why Lindy Ruff is back in town, and rightfully so.
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