Sabres name Lindy Ruff head coach

Lindy Ruff (Arnold C, Wikimedia Commons)

According to the Associated Press on Monday, the Buffalo Sabres named Lindy Ruff of Warburg, Alberta as their new head coach. This will be the second time Ruff has been coaching the Sabres as he previously coached them from 1997 to 2013. He also coached the Dallas Stars from 2013 to 2017, and the New Jersey Devils from 2020 to 2024.

Ruff has a regular season record of 864 wins, 679 regulation losses, 78 ties and 153 losses in extra time. That is a winning percentage of .552. In the playoffs, Ruff has a record of 71 wins and 61 losses for a winning percentage of .538.

Ruff is still looking for his first Stanley Cup as a head coach. He guided the Sabres to the 1999 Stanley Cup Final, but Buffalo lost in six games to the Stars. Ruff also won the Jack Adams Trophy with the Sabres in 2005-06.

As a player, Ruff actually played defense and left wing. He played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League with the Sabres and New York Rangers from 1979 to 1991. In 691 games, Ruff had 105 goals and 195 assists for 300 points. He was a -15 with 1266 penalty minutes, 64 power play points, five shorthanded points, 22 game-winning goals, two hat tricks and 1151 shots on goal. The hat tricks came in a 5-2 Sabres win over the New York Islanders on November 29, 1981, and in a 6-2 Sabres win over the Quebec Nordiques on December 15, 1985. In the Sabres win over the Nordiques, Ruff scored four times.

 

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