Confirmed with Link: Lindy Ruff named Head Coach, Press Conference at 1:00 PM EDT

[Ace]

I just assume Adams has been talking to people since whenever he knew Don was getting sacked. You put out feelers so you know what will be available. I mean…jeez…we see good teams fire coaches midseason and bring in a vet coach the same day sometimes. Where was their extensive search in the zero minutes between fire and hire? When you think you’re going to make a move you call around and see what’s out there and who is interested and what the fit is. They could have made this move the day Granato was fired and still have talked to the people they wanted to talk to.

Did he know it was Lindy as week? Probably. Did he talk to other people who would be of interest to what he was looking for before and even after that? Probably.

 

[joshjull]

 

[Dingo44]

That wasn't him though, that was after he'd left and Murray was making up rules on the fly. I often wonder what Murray's diagnosis would be - some level of spectrum mixed with ADHD is my guess.

I knew it wasn't Ruff - just that it wasn't one of the good benchings in Sabres history.

 

[TehDoak]

Double digit interviews in a week? Really Adams?

Adams spoke to "double digit" folks? Hmmm... well... name and shame, Kevyn.

I don't doubt he talked to some other candidates.

But the fact that he essentially described Lindy Ruff last week

Hired Lindy Ruff this week.

It'd be like me telling my wife "I'm going to get an electric truck with a unique triangle aesthetic that looks like a toddler designed' and then coming home with a Cybertruck and then telling her I did an extensive search for triangle electric trucks designed by toddlers, i must have test drove dozens!

Just really feels like he was told "we're hiring Lindy" and did some phone calls to cover his own ass so he doesn't just have to say "yeah I did what terry told me to do"

It's been one of the most annoying this about Adams, he constantly has to weave a BS narrative whenever the Pegulas tell him to eat a shit sandwich.

 

[Diaspora]

The trick with spending any kind of advanced time on the internet is to learn who is and isn't acting.

The people who still think Adams didn't do a coaching search, genuinely, can be ignored, because they'll never talk to you in good faith about anything else either.

Good tip. Tx.

 

[Dingo44]

That's similar to what Granato said in his interview with Fairburn. But I think Ruff will have the respect and the gravitas to get that done. Or they'll sit on the bench.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Can anyone remember Ruff's whipping boys during his tenure? Meier seemed to be his whipping boy in NJ. I've heard from a few fans that he did not get the most out of him, and actually hampered his performance, which definitely is backed up by Meier's stats pre and post Ruff's firing (at least last I checked).

Meier is such a weird player for Ruff to hold back. He seems like the type of player Ruff would love.

 

[joshjull]

That's similar to what Granato said in his interview with Fairburn. But I think Ruff will have the respect and the gravitas to get that done. Or they'll sit on the bench.

He didn’t end there though. He said thats the first level of accountability. Then its are the players holding each other accountable. Then its the coach holding them accountable.

Ruff said something along the lines of, you have to be accountable to yourself before you start asking for it from others. I believe it was in response to a question about the players comments around wanting accountability.

 

[CowbellConray]

He is going to love Krebs isnt he.... lol

 

[Ace]

Marty mentioned talking to Toffoli this year about Lindy and him saying you have to have a high hockey IQ to play for Lindy because he will change systems during games based on what is and isn’t working and game situation.

Granato wasn’t even playing checkers

Great. Now i have to wait four hours to see if I need to consult my doctor.

 

[vcv]

Still have to go back and watch the full thing, but based on the clips I’ve watched and quotes I read…

Lindy understands coaching better than anyone else we’ve had since his last tenure.

I work for a company that does professional coaching (not sports, business oriented). I’m getting coaching myself. I’ve had to learn a lot about coaching frameworks. Sure it’s not exactly the same as sports coaching, but there is still a ton of overlap.

Lindy is saying things that show he fundamentally understands what it means to coach. I hope that still translates to this team.

Of course that’s only part of the equation. He needs to get trust and he needs to still understand the game and be a great game manager.

 

[old kummelweck]

Kreb's and Ruff's home towns are 3 hours away from one another. Both Alberta boys.

 

[Gabrielor]

He is going to love Krebs isnt he.... lol

I hope so. I love Krebs too.

It's time to someone to give Krebs a permanent role and get the most out of him.

 

[Dubi Doo]

I hope so. I love Krebs too.

It's time to someone to give Krebs a permanent role and get the most out of him.

That honeymoon phase will end quickly if Krebs doesn't simplify his game. No way Ruff puts up with Krebs blindly passing the push to la la land.

 

[vcv]

That honeymoon phase will end quickly if Krebs doesn't simplify his game. No way Ruff puts up with Krebs blindly passing the push to la la land.

Why not. Roy loved to do that too and it never left his game.

 

[TehDoak]

Can anyone remember Ruff's whipping boys during his tenure? Meier seemed to be his whipping boy in NJ. I've heard from a few fans that he did not get the most out of him, and actually hampered his performance, which definitely is backed up by Meier's stats pre and post Ruff's firing (at least last I checked).

Meier is such a weird player for Ruff to hold back. He seems like the type of player Ruff would love.

Ruff's whipping boys often rotated. Typically players would get some rope with him and eventually just end up being benched. It was often times European forwards, Grosek, Satan (on and off), Afinogenov, Kotalik, etc. Gratton was there towards the end of his stint here as well.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

I think Lindy Ruff has a high chance of success but I heard a ton of BS in that press conference from Kevyn Adams that doesn't fill me with confidence. But Ruff is already putting pressure on the team by singling out out UPL as his goalie. I like that. Love the fact he mentioned faceoffs. Ruff is 64 with no much to lose and could be key in influencing Pegula which could mean Terry just signing a couple more checks here and there. Go Lindy.

 

[Fezzy126]

That honeymoon phase will end quickly if Krebs doesn't simplify his game. No way Ruff puts up with Krebs blindly passing the push to la la land.

I'll just say that most people could probably live with the dumb Krebs moments if there were (way) more smart moments.

 

[joshjull]

I'll just say that most people could probably live with the dumb Krebs moments if there were (way) more smart moments.

We need his xSmartPlays to be 3x greater than his xStupidPlays

 

[Ace]

Maybe part of it for me is that I believe Lindy was the right fit for the moment…but I’m just never going to care how extensive the search was. The specificity of how Adams talked about the kind of coach he wanted limited the scope down to a small handful already. I don’t think anyone who didn’t fit the mold was going to talk Adams out of a guy he worked with and trusts who fits the criteria when he knows he’s making the last hire he will if it goes wrong.

So do it fast. Present it with confidence. Stand in front of the world and say this is what I want and I got it and let’s go.

 

[Diaspora]

. . . . But Ruff is already putting pressure on the team by singling out out UPL as his goalie. I like that . . . .

UPL extension incoming: 4 x 4.5

 

[Fezzy126]

The problem is there is a group of people who just believe he is bold face lying. Which, if that's the case, means these people wouldn't have been happy no matter what happened because they are already just going to believe what they want to regardless of the information. If the question wasn't asked they'd be mad and if Adams straight said, "yea I only talked to Ruff" they also would have been mad.

The problem here is that this isn't the type of management team or ownership group that would just conduct a bunch of brief Zoom interviews. Kevin himself said that he doesn't do anything by himself, and relies heavily on a team-based approach to everything. If they did an earnest coaching search, then people would have flown in, been interviewed by a team of people (not just Adams), given a tour of the facilities and met with a bunch of the staff.

Logistically, it's not possible that any of that happened in the last 6-7 days. At the end of the day I don't care, I'm happy with Ruff and honestly I like him better than the alternatives that have been mentioned. But there's no way Kevin was burning up the phone lines frantically trying to find a replacement. Ruff was the answer and he knew it all along. He said that he talked to double digit candidates strictly from a PR / CYA standpoint.

 

[truthbluth]

Maybe part of it for me is that I believe Lindy was the right fit for the moment…but I’m just never going to care how extensive the search was. The specificity of how Adams talked about the kind of coach he wanted limited the scope down to a small handful already. I don’t think anyone who didn’t fit the mold was going to talk Adams out of a guy he worked with and trusts who fits the criteria when he knows he’s making the last hire he will if it goes wrong.

So do it fast. Present it with confidence. Stand in front of the world and say this is what I want and I got it and let’s go.

Agreed. This is basically the first Sabres addition I've agreed with whole heartedly since we got Ryan O'Reilly. I hope this works out better.

 

[vcv]

The problem here is that this isn't the type of management team or ownership group that would just conduct a bunch of brief Zoom interviews. Kevin himself said that he doesn't do anything by himself, and relies heavily on a team-based approach to everything. If they did an earnest coaching search, then people would have flown in, been interviewed by a team of people (not just Adams), given a tour of the facilities and met with a bunch of the staff.

Logistically, it's not possible that any of that happened in the last 6-7 days. At the end of the day I don't care, I'm happy with Ruff and honestly I like him better than the alternatives that have been mentioned. But there's no way Kevin was burning up the phone lines frantically trying to find a replacement. Ruff was the answer and he knew it all along. He said that he talked to double digit candidates strictly from a PR / CYA standpoint.

Just be concise and say got think he’s straight up trying. It’s fine.

 

[Jim Bob]