The Coaching Career of Lindy Ruff

[@bdonaghu]

Lindy will always be a legend in Western NY, and always gets an ovation whenever he's back in town. It helps that Ruff is still a huge Bills fan.

[@JPS47]

He really needs the Stanley Cup. I don't care if it's in New Jersey. It need to happen

[@liampett1313]

Lindy is my fav coach ever as a Sabres fan. His blue line entry was iconic at the time.

[@MegaFX_]

Sens fan here. Those early 2000s Buffalo teams were good. I remember being at the game when Pominville skated around Alfie for a series-clinching shorthanded overtime goal in Game 5 of the 2006 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Much respect for Lindy Ruff for making Buffalo so fast, high scoring and fun to watch

[@ryansabre]

buf ott rivalry still most enjoyable times as a sabres diehard. fun matchups!

[@TRZN91]

Much respect from a Sabres fan & Buffalonian. Hope you guys can make something happen while you have Tkachuk. Loved that kid since the World Jrs that was held at the Bills stadium when team USA were wearing basically Bills jerseys for their uni & he yelled "BILLS MAFIA" coming down the tunnel after the win. I mean I love his game & him for other reasons. But that definitely helped. If we could have figured out a way to get Dahlin & Tkachuk out of that draft.......well one can only dream lol.

[@billyp8675]

Lindys a Legend. Great to see him succeed. Would be great to see a career video of his playing career.

[@borisvandruff7532]

Buffalo fan here. I miss Lindy. We stopped being good when he left.

[@Buffalosabskis]

I loved Lindy and he will always be the the classic Sabres coach, but 15 seasons is too long for anyone and the team was playing terrible that season. So they attempted making a spark by firing the coach (Fans demanded it for the most part). He was behind the bench from when I was in 2nd grade until I was in grad school. It was time for a change. Don and Adams are best now.

[@JPS47]

I miss Lindy too but I have a good feeling about Don right now. Especially with how TNT has been performing lately.

[@borisvandruff7532]

@@Buffalosabskis I agree but the problem was the front office, not Lindy.

[@kelowatt]

Great video. I loved Lindy as a coach in Buffalo. He also had a few amazing goaltenders with Hasek and Miller. Him telling the team to "run em" after Drury took an elbow to the head in Ottawa made him a legend

[@Buffalosabskis]

It was in Buffalo, but I know what you meant

[@thepennant3297]

"You don't go after my fucking captain!"

[@thepennant3297]

@@danevertt3210 Mair, Kaleta and Petey played the most important face-off in franchise history

[@Buffalosabskis]

@@danevertt3210 The Sabres have an Embedded series that goes in depth on that. Ruff is in it. Really good if you have not seen it

[@TRZN91]

I'm biased as a Sabres fan who grew up during the 90s. But Lindy is easily one of my favorite coaches. Love seeing him have success in NJ. I know he still loves Buffalo, and we still love him.

[@jeffreyg4626]

Buffalo fan since the early 70's here- I think I'm speaking for most Sabre fans: We love Lindy Ruff! We loved Nolan too but that's another video. Lindy is a great guy and coach. Great to see him get some more success. Go Sabres! Go Jersey!

[@joemcardle7728]

Long time Devs fan here ( like the retro jersey Hockey Guy) & gotta laugh at all the insane young fans at the Rock that were calling for Lindy's dismissal last year- and then apologized to him during the current winning streak. He 's a great old school hockey guy who fits perfectly to provide the right tutelage to a young NJ team. Lou Lamariello would've have fired him by now.

[@FGHY8]

The first two losses looked exactly like how the prior seasons under Ruff went, I can understand the chants. I turned the second game off disgusted, thinking it could be another season down the drain. Then the team made 5 years of progress in span of 10 games.

[@neilflood6508]

Lindy & Darcy Regier produced two of the best teams in Sabres history between 98-01 & 05-07 both backstopped by great goalies..

[@dnasty312]

Regier blew it with the 05-07 teams. Not keeping Briere or Drury and I think he was a bit of a pushover

[@angushiltz4880]

Got to give a lot of respect to Ruff with his coaching career. I never liked him as a player and I wasn't to fond of him when he coached the Sabers but he is a very good coach. He did and still does get a lot of blame for things he shouldn't. In Dallas he couldn't hop on the ice and play goalie for them (although he's tough enough to have tried). After he took over for Nolan the Sabers were one of the toughest teams to play against every night. This is a great idea this coaching career videos. I'd be very interested in seeing more. May I suggest Pat Burns to be at the top of the list?

[@markbanek1955]

I would love to see a player career video on Lindy Ruff!

[@mariovaccarella6854]

That Was Funny. A Goaltender With The Name, Lettin It In. LOL

[@mattlabrecque7842]

I have always liked Lindy. His Sabre and Stars teams were a lot of fun to watch.

[@JohnnyBuschi]

Great idea for a series. May I nominate Ted Nolan as a potential candidate?

[@luongorocks1010]

Great idea for a new series, Shannon! Would be great to hear of your perspective of Pat Quinn or Pat Burns were coaches! They both both made their positive in Leafs Nation!

[@kylestoddart]

I litterally should have scrolled comments before commenting. My bad. LOL. Happy Holidays

[@edwardsmith6609]

Ill eat crow on this one. When Jersey hired him I thought it was hilarious, and even expressed that opinion here. Thanks for putting his career into a better perspective. He sure seems to have gotten his boys turned around from their game against my Wings earlier this year. Sheesh....even Mickey Redmond wasn't happy with the calls to fire him at a home game....that was rough.

[@Man-dl9ml]

One of the greatest coaches of all time! He did so much with Sabres teams that didnt have much scoring talent in the late 90s and early 2000s. He turned a young Sabres team in 05-06 that missed the playoffs before the lockout into arguably the best team in the league for 2 years. We were picked to be one of the worst teams in the league that year and went on a crazy run that will live in the hearts of Sabres fans forever. Did it again with NJ. I think theyll be right in the conversation for best team in the league next year.

[@JWex-jy7sk]

Finally a coaching review of the Lindy Ruff era in Buffalo! Whenever anyone asks me about his time there I usually respond with… “Well led them to a Stanley Cup appearance in his 2nd year. But I don’t know, after that it kinda felt like they hung onto him for the next 13+ years hoping that ‘99 playoff run would comeback any day now.”

[@borisvandruff7532]

It should have in ‘06. That delay of game penalty to Campbell was such a bs call.

[@JWex-jy7sk]

@@borisvandruff7532 I mean the 2005-06 and 2006-07 teams were pretty nice. I started following hockey as a kid like around 2006-2007 and so I remember looking at those Sabres his final 5-6 years there and was always just like…”It’s just seriously time for y’all move on from the guy.”

[@borisvandruff7532]

@@JWex-jy7sk It’s not his fault that Briere and Drury were not retained. That was a day that would live in in infamy in Sabres history. Darcy Regier made a big mistake letting them go.

[@LordMilenial]

@@borisvandruff7532 This is an underrated comment. If Darcy Regier and Ownership didn’t let them walk I think the team could have pulled through in the following years. Briere and Drury had chemistry which allowed them to shine

[@borisvandruff7532]

@@LordMilenial I will say though that it’s on Lindy for hitching his wagon to Darcy Regier…

[@lesabre04]

Great video! But his career is more than just the numbers. He really deserves a deeper dive by someone on the more storied moments of his coaching career. Including general things like his overall coaching style and philosophy, and his demanding relationship with certain young players, and his relationship with ownership and the community, to specific stories like "no goal", the brawl game, etc. Also not mentioned was his tenure as assistant with the Rangers, and the fact that Lindy's first playoff mini-drought coincided with Hasek getting traded away for Viktor Kozlov. Also, you didn't really get into the disaster of the Devils this year.

[@BlackIjs]

Under-rated coach. One of his greatest strengths in Buffalo was his ability to change coaching styles to match his teams.

[@randomcrap763]

I like Lindy as a coach, sometimes there are things he does that baffle me, (Changing lines that work during a game LOL) but then again I am not an NHL coach. Fingers crossed for NJ :)

[@goovibesonly1339]

The devils have never been swept! How dare you Shannon! Haha 😊

[@norristhom]

I don't think many fans look in to the detail as much as they could

[@sweatvvs]

coach gretzky next

[@bigjohn08865]

His coaching career was unremarkable

[@bartsanders1553]

Lindy shutting up the "Fire Lindy" chants this year has been epic.

[@Buffalosabskis]

In Buffalo fans wanted a billboard, but the second he left they just looked at the next person to blame and so on and so on and so on. Then after 11 seasons of watching bad hockey they sold 30 year old season tickets out of "protest" now they are talking about how exciting this team is. I was on a $600 a year waiting list for season tickets. THANK YOU!!!!

[@dennisstone6845]

coach of the year with nj

[@bigjohn08865]

Good video Shannon

[@klax2919]

i live in western n.y. & i grew up a devils fan. to me the biggest problem with the devils is ( i could be wrong) the goal tending. blackwood is not consistent enough to be a starter & vanecek might develop into a starter but it will take time. that being said is their a way i can find out lindy ruff's overall record with the sabres when neither ryan miller or dominik hasek were in net?

[@razorreacts1723]

Lindy is that guy here in buffalo

[@LateCloser]

I missed this video when it came out 2 weeks ago. As someone who watched all of his playing and coaching career, I can easily agree he's a Hall of Fame coach. There is no need to cheapen his accomplishments with statements like "Well, he had Hasek and Miller". He won in Buffalo. A LOT. Just try to name a quality center he had. Go ahead. I'll wait. Oh yeah, Briere, wow that guy was incredible. So much so, almost no one wanted him. Drury, I forgot, a third line center on a cup winner. Right. Never has a coach made something out of nothing, like Ruff down the center in his coaching career. HE HAD NOTHING. He had to win with guys like Derek Roy. Fifteen years and almost nothing offensively. His best player was Vanek. At least now in Jersey he has some high draft picks at center. I'm not convinced they're as elite as how high they were drafted, but they seem to have some talent. A lot more than he's ever had before down the middle. Give him a couple more years and they'll be making significant runs in the playoffs. Good luck Lindy. Wish you were still coaching the Sabres. Although, the guy we got now appears to be pretty damn good too.

[@luisvaldes1568]

Please do coaches of the past. Bowman, and of course Mike Keenan.

[@tehbeernerd]

Almost back to square one on Lindy. Call me a fatalist but I fully expect a lengthy losing streak soon

[@timar6868]

as a sabres fan from wny i can tell you we lost briaire and drury b.c the owners did not want to spend money. the salary cap helped teams like buffalo not get strongarmed by cheapass management

[@SupaBuma]

I miss Lindy and his coke bottle bottom glasses when he was a assailant coach for the Florida Panthers

[@northeastoutrider2124]

Ruff was great for buffalo. I understood the argument about Nolan but never agreed with it. I see the same sort of thing in Granato as with Nolan. They are great in developing younger talent, but they do not have what it takes to make the tough decisions to make a cup chase happen. Ruff was far better.

[@joshuaguste6883]

No goal!!! Spoiler warning* It was a legal goal.

[@jyoung304]

thats a long time as a sabre

[@kylestoddart]

Dude you have a great idea here. As time goes on this playlist will serve you well, so many Coaches I would enjoy you rambling about. Honestly so many Coaches I know nothing about, if you asked me what's every teams Coach?. I would fail. I would love to see my fav Coach Pat Burns video. I was a big Pat Quinn fan as well. As I say I will learn so much with whomever you choose. This is a good idea.

[@jeffanderson3962]

Interesting how he got hired by the team that beat him for the cup and then by the team that beat that team the next year.

[@jasonbornne7767]

Ruff didn’t hear no bell.

[@jahimjauh-hey5653]

I'm really liking Don Granato as head coach for the Sabres but I know Lindy would never let Buffalo stay out of the playoffs for so long had he never been fired.

[@jessiegandhi4340]

watching this on the day he was fired!

[@jeffbrylinski4147]

Hate to do this but fact check. There wasn’t bankruptcy in the 2010s at all. That was early 2000s with the owners previous to Tom golosano

[@ollisund1012]

Fire Lindy!! 🙊

[@serfindukdb1776]

too bad you didn't include the fact that Ruff was an assistant coach for the Panthers before he became the HC in Buffalo. pretty sure he was in charge of the defense & penalty kill for them during his tenure there, including the Panthers finals run in '96

[@sportsrook8282]

I guess you could say every time he was fired, it was a Ruff time for Lindy.

[@louscannon7493]

Ruff is (or was) a tyrant, And THG said it best. A good goalie can make a good coach, and he had two of the best in Buffalo...

[@xlr0gd205]

42 seconds in there IS audio

[@NARISHMA42]

Sens fan. I like DJ. Please don't tell the others I said so.

[@ogreman-lll-957]

That’s a joke.

[@pauldanich2775]

Tried watching Wild on Hulu , but have both announcers women , had to shut it off, I wish the girls would stick to women’s hockey !