Lindy Ruff focused on 'win-now mode' for the Sabres

After speaking to the media and fans, Lindy Ruff has set the tone for his second tenure as Sabres head coach. Sneaky Joe breaks down Lindy's comments, including his comments about the team being in 'win-now mode'. Plus, what Lindy had to say about his style of play, and comparisons to his teams of the past.
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[@itsrickus3582]

Also Joe, just some constructive feedback. Your audio drowns out at the end with each podcast as soon as you play the music overlay. Might want to check out a solution because it sounds like your talking into a tube as soon as the closing music starts.

[@_JamesBrown]

You didn't miss anything

[@KetoFitChef]

Why would Adams talking to candidates for the coaching position before firing Granato be crappy? Let’s be honest, would you quit your job before at least looking to see what your option were if you knew you were leaving? This is no different if Adams already had it in his head that he was replacing Granato.

[@Helord1]

Would love to hear your thoughts on analytics. He went in depth WAY more than I thought and I couldn't love his comments more.

[@joellachance7335]

I like how Lindy said he likes to have a line that leans on people👍.

[@neilkennington2397]

Now with Lindy here lets hope Adams sticks to his word and makes the bottom 6 forward group more"abrasive" Im assuming its bye bye to Olofsson , Girgenson , Jost and possibly Krebs . Speaking of Adams word, he said he talked to a double digit amount of candidates last week before settling on Ruff. Not that it matters but sorry there arent 10 veteran coaches who are looking for working now . Unless im missing someone but i could only list 8 and that didnt include Quennville since he hasnt been cleared to return to the NHL. Mcellan , Berube, Gallant, Jullien, Boudreau, Evason, Eakins, & Woodcroft is who could think of. In the end Adams knows next year if he doesnt make the playoffs next spring , he is gone so he figures if you are going down you grab onto someone who you know and trust and thats why he hired Lindy Ruff. Thanks for the video

[@richardkammerer2814]

Shedding two left wingers and bringing in two centers makes a lot of sense.

[@BlackIjs]

I'm only guessing, but I'm thinking some of those coaches/agents called him, and Adams politely declined. So with the 2-3 he might have been interested in, detailed conversations, and the 'unqualified' guys calling, 'thanks but no,' he could have talked to 10. Key word is 'talked'. He didn't say he interviewed 10 coaches.

[@valeriafitzgibbon3879]

KA said he was going to hire an experienced coach but I’m sure he did his due diligence and talked to a few newer/less experienced coaches. Kris Baker mentioned in his podcast that it only helps you by talking to coaches around the league about what your team needs and the direction it needs to go in.

[@kevinpagano7245]

I love the confidence Ruff already has in the goalies especially one. UPL. 3 letters. That’s his guy. Mine too. He proved it. No more of this carry 3 goalies.

[@nestoriancalvin4071]

This isn’t just about Lindy. KA needs to step up and round out the bottom 6

[@valeriafitzgibbon3879]

KA should be able to attract a few players that wouldn’t have considered Buffalo before Lindy got re-hired.

[@nestoriancalvin4071]

@@valeriafitzgibbon3879 let’s hope so. Go sabres!

[@ronaldburse7610]

It's about LINDY alright❤❤....whole nother world 😂😂😂😂😂 them boys better be ready😂😂😂

[@nestoriancalvin4071]

@@ronaldburse7610 I love Lindy as much as anyone...Kevyn underachieved last summer and deserves some of the blame for another lost season.

[@tomhull1276]

@@nestoriancalvin4071 Yep. Going into the season with UPL, Levi and Comrie was a big mistake, especially expecting Levi, fresh out of college with only 7 NHL games under his belt, Comrie who is a marginal career backup, and UPL who hadn't exactly played like a No. 1 or 2 goalie for extended stretches of time, to backstop the team. Might have had a different outcome (playoffs??) if he had signed someone like John Gibson to be the No. 1 goalie out of camp with Oopie backing him up and getting about 30-35 starts, and Levi spending the entire season with the Amerks. It's just a thought but when you look back, given the goaltending situation, GMKA dug the Sabres playoff grave before the season even started.

[@buddylucky14]

I love that he wants to reward players with ice time, you play the right way you’ll get key faceoffs, you’ll be on the ice for empty nets you’ll get rewarded, no more of the bs okposo 4th line taking key draws and loosing them or having the wrong lines out

[@Newworldman76]

they need to figure out how to protect their net , they’ve been lost in their own zone past few years, Lindy should be able to fix that and the power play

[@Gravytrain1996]

I believe Lindy will serve 3 to 4 years then become something in the front office

[@ronaldburse7610]

Here comes lord stanley.

[@louscannon7493]

The writing on the wall for Granato goes back to the trade deadline at least; maybe further, by the trade of team captain, Okposo.

[@puma7727]

Yeah, that part of the 90 that goes by the arena downtown. Just don't forget the binoculars

[@kriyashivajiva]

lindy better win the cup eh! sabres need ogie ogalthorpe and some foil

[@christianwagner4506]

Cozens and Krebs need to become our a couple of our Hanson brothers.

[@ScottSwedish]

When he takes this team to the playoffs next season, he'll add to his buffa-love. The man can approach RJ status if he turns this around. That's hollowed ground.

[@rbjeans007]

Cozens needs to clear his head over the summer.. He wasn't the same after he got his @$$ handed to him early in the season and he missed a couple games. Not sure if he was silently battling concussion issues or if that incident just knocked him back a peg and he lost his youthful cockiness.

[@rods3275]

I think they buy out Skinner this year

[@kw6713a]

It's a credible move either way, but knowing Lindy is just going to hate the guy, they may as well avoid all that mess.

[@mortal_gaming89]

Adams has always done his homework. Even though everyone figured he ran with Ruff since day one (even I assumed he had him pegged since the Granato dismissal), he confirmed to the speculation that he did talk a lot of coaches. I like he is now going to push these players to play to their strength. In a way, that is a scary prospect with the likes of Skinner in that he never skates defensively so "playing to their strengths" means Skinner won't be asked to change at all. I hope he doesn't allow the players to keep the same, otherwise Powers is still gonna be a big non-hitting Dman. Ted Nolan is still my #1 favorite Sabres coach, but then Lindy Ruff is my #2.

[@petererckert165]

We gotta buy out skinner

[@rjohn3471]

​@petererckert165 Maybe trade Power too, cut our losses

[@petererckert165]

@@rjohn3471 open to that idea

[@charlieb308]

@@rjohn3471why would you ditch Power when he’s solid in his own zone, he’s never been a minus in any season? Hedman from Tampa was nothing until year 5…Tage and Casey Mittfat was nothing until year 5-6. Big D men take longer to develop and he’s already one of the best guys in own zone, Lindy will get him to body chevk

[@rjohn3471]

@@charlieb308 Hope so and don't regret him in hindsight. Thought he had potential to be an overgrown Bobby Orr.

[@zippydayglow]

end the drought. For sure! A first round win, second. Set up for the future... ie, consistent playoff appearances... third. And groom the NEXT head coach if Lindy is only sticking around 3-4 years. A transition from Lindy to someone on his staff would be better (IMO) then bringing in a whole new group.

[@markski813]

This will all just be for show unless Adams remakes the bottom 6 and introduces some VETERANS with talent. No more recycled Girgs and Josts.

[@charlieb308]

I’m an Amerks fan and watching Jost score only 4 goals in 25 Amerks games playing on the top line thinking he was something special made me sick

[@itsrickus3582]

Yeah, not too thrilled if I'm Kevyn and I'm spewing out that this isn't a nostalgia hire and then the owner goes on a 5 minute speech about 99 and 05,06.

[@valeriafitzgibbon3879]

Hiring Lindy because he’s the right man for the job and talking about the good old days can coexist. Be honest, you would have torn Lindy apart if he refused to take questions on the past.

[@dandylion188]

yeah, "double digits" was bs, but whatever.

[@daveallentown6868]

If Lindy coaches 10 years till he's 74, he'll be almost old enough to run for president.

[@valeriafitzgibbon3879]

The president is a brainless puppet used by people behind the scenes to push a radical agenda. I get what you’re saying, though.

[@chrisribble]

The sabres have to absolutely get rid of dump and chase for the skinny guys. We give up so many possessions.

[@chrismdb5686]

Dump and chase can work depending on your opponent, but you have to be a fast team that can play physical hockey on the boards to make it work. They were anything but physical last season. Heck, the last time the Sabres played the Wings in Buffalo this past season Krebs got punched in the back of his head and didn't react at all. Just sat there and let it happen, and yes it was a very intentional hard hit from the looks of it. Granato made this one of the softest groups in the league.

[@chrisribble]

@chrismdb5686 I'd say peterka is probably the only one skating around the defense to recover the chase. Very soft I agree.

[@TheDarthmalstrom]

Lol but he was here before so he's back and no matter what Adams says this was clearly a move to get fans back into the arena and hit nostalgia notes and let's not forget save his job. And I highly doubt Adams called that many people in 6 days. That's a lie Adams knew he was hiring Lindy when he started making all those promises during the press conference when they fired Granato. And when it blows up in his face and he's outed as a fraud I'll be damn happy to bid him farewell as the GM.

[@Flux06-dy3ru]

lol are you even a sabres fan, by your previous comments im guesing not... why even watch or be involved when you have nothing good to say in any of your comments.

[@TheDarthmalstrom]

@Flux06-dy3ru I've been a sabres fan since I was a kid (that's in the 90's) and there was bullshit and mismanagement but nowhere near as bad as it is now. You have a clueless Fanboy owner who hired a rookie GM who's shown he's in over his head and can't get the job done. Adams did a shit job building this roster and failed to address this team's needs last off-season. If you have hope in him Good for you. Don't question my Fandom I don't accept the Mediocrity. But I'm more of a fan than you know. I won't watch the playoffs until the Sabres are in.

[@Flux06-dy3ru]

@@TheDarthmalstrom Same as far as being a fan, and I cant lie saying that its been disappointing not going to the playoffs in 13 years. However people talk about it like its something they wanted or like we can go back and change it. We cant they cant. People also talk about the sabres like we didnt just go from a last place team to one point out of the playoffs. The sabres have vastly improved. This move to lindy was a great decision. The point though for both of us is our opinions dont change what they just did. What lindy said is 100% correct, They need to win now thats it. What they did in 88, 06, 07, 2010 doesnt matter. All that matters is lindy comes in gets these kids to preform on a level higher than they are. But on questioning your fandom, I wouldnt have guessed you were that big of a fan from your comments.

[@Flux06-dy3ru]

but hey heres hoping for a playoff run and a cup, i think we have the talent to do it. Team needs to stay healthy, strong, get a few more pieces that this team needs to push to that next level.

[@TheDarthmalstrom]

It's just that I'm tired of the Sabres Status Quo. Sabres didn't meet expectations? Fans are pissed? Fire the coach and reach into the big bag of nostalgia and bring back player/coach the fans love/want/clamor for. But then you find out Lindy will be here for two years to get Seth Appert ready to take over a team that's ready to win. Look I hope it works out Hell I want it to work out but I don't get my hopes up anymore for this reason. I truly believe the only way things get better is if the owner sells to someone who not only keeps the team here but cares enough about the franchise to hire the right people who were never a part of the problem in the first place.