For the first time since the 2012-2013 season, Lindy Ruff was behind the bench as the Sabres head coach. However, it's been an interesting season, to say the least, for the legendary coach, as his first season back has been a shaky one.
The Sabres currently hold a 30-35-6 record this season after suffering a 7-4 loss to the Flyers today. But Ruff’s season has been summed up by one streak, the 13-game losing streak that the Sabres had during November and December.
That cemented them in last place, and they have been there ever since. They went on a six-game win streak starting before the long break, and just after. It seemed they were turning their season around, but the Sabres immediately went on a six-game losing streak right after.
How can Ruff turn things around?
Ruff will likely be back as the Sabres coach next year. Over the years, he has built a great relationship with Kevyn Adams, and Adams believes he is the man for the job.
During the offseason, a few discussions will need to be had about how Ruff can keep these guys focused through a full season.
Unlike most seasons recently, many guys on the team have wanted to stay in Buffalo and build around this young core. This team has the pieces in place to be a contender, they just need to get the vets around them to make them elite. That starts with players like Jason Zucker, Alex Tuch, Ryan McLeod, and Tage Thompson.
Ruff said in an NBC Sports article, “This year has been a disappointment for me, I feel personally responsible that there were games that were right there that could’ve turned it and got it the other way. And we didn’t get it done.”
The 65-year-old Ruff got his second chance to coach the Sabres in April after Don Granato was fired following three-plus seasons. The mindset is to fix the mistakes from this year and win those kinds of games next year.
As Ruff said, have to finish the winnable games. The Sabres have the second most blown leads in the NHL still. Just winning half of those games puts the Sabres just a point or two out of playoffs.
Look for Ruff to come back with some fire next season as he looks to get the Sabres to the playoffs and contend for a cup.