Shocking: Lindy Ruff isn’t a good coach, and the owner is the problem in Buffalo

Buff15Sabres

Registered User
Mar 23, 2017
379
436
I became a bit of a Sabres fan back in the Briere/Drury days. I'd really like for them to be good again.

Maybe Kevyn Adams is the wrong GM again. But you can't fire the GM every 2 or 3 years, or no plan ever gets implemented. And they've gone through a number of coaches with similar results. The only coach I think was a real dud was Ralph Kreuger. Ruff is a bit of a dinosaur, but he's also had a great history in Buffalo.

Can Sabres fans enlighten me a bit on the Pegula situation. I always hear that they meddle in the process, or that Adams is just a yes man. But what meddling/forced-decisions have actually happened? Aside from the Eichel drama, that was poorly handled by everyone involved, I don't know of anything Terry Pegula has done to interfere.

You're probably never going to get a GM to go on the record saying "The owner forced me to make that bad move", but there's been a few bad decisions that owner interference seems highly likely.

1) Trading Ryan O'Reilly for scraps a few hours before he was due to be paid a $7 million bonus

2) Jeff Skinner 8x10 full NMC contract

In addition to meddling, he's also been quite cheap since covid hit in 2020. Fired almost the entire scouting department and we're routinely at the bottom of the league in terms of salary cap. Two different seasons we had to acquire a guy on LTIRetirement just to hit the cap floor.
 
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Yatzhee

Registered User
Aug 5, 2010
8,883
2,365
Lindy had taken teams to the playoffs, teams without star players, but made star players, the 05 to.07 Sabres for example.
Lindy's not the issue.

The owner however, ya, he's a HUGE problem. The one constant through it all.
 

5 Minute Major

Sabres Fan
Sponsor
Dec 4, 2010
7,503
4,650
Vestal, NY
Lindy Ruff is a good coach. A week ago the team was in 3rd place and playing their best hockey since the last time Ruff was in Buffalo. (Not saying a lot but still true none the less)

At some point the focus has to be on how the franchise is being ran into the ground by Terry Pegula.
 

Miri

Lavinengefahr!
Aug 13, 2013
2,008
807
Slovakia
I've seen teams come back from 5-0 as well.

It happens, although rare.
Yes, and that team was…. avalanche😛
In 1999 against Florida.

You're probably never going to get a GM to go on the record saying "The owner forced me to make that bad move", but there's been a few bad decisions that owner interference seems highly likely.

1) Trading Ryan O'Reilly for scraps a few hours before he was due to be paid a $7 million bonus

2) Jeff Skinner 8x10 full NMC contract

In addition to meddling, he's also been quite cheap since covid hit in 2020. Fired almost the entire scouting department and we're routinely at the bottom of the league in terms of salary cap. Two different seasons we had to acquire a guy on LTIRetirement just to hit the cap floor.
Wasnt one of those scraps Tage Thompson?
 

LEAFANFORLIFE23

Registered User
Jun 17, 2010
47,669
16,235
The problem with the Sabres, is the same issue the Red Wings have.

Beyond their top picks they can't draft, the reason they can't draft is because they don't have credibility in the GM chair and they haven't had credibility in the GM chair since the playoff drought started.

That's why the drought is as long as it is because they have had Tim Murray, Jason Botterlli and now Addams and there is no experienced guy working with those guys.

Look at Vancouver sure they have Patrick Alvin, but next to him is Jim Rutherford.

Buffalo doesn't have that.

I've never been sold on UPL as a goalie either.

But the real issue is the people running the team have no credibility
 

randywoodsghost

Registered User
Jul 13, 2022
150
289
Ruff may not be the only problem but he is certainly is a problem.

When this team misses the post season this year, he’ll have had more seasons where he missed the playoffs than he made it, and that is awful when you have coached as long as he has.
 

Byron Bitz

Registered User
Apr 6, 2010
7,945
4,283
Does a core of Eichel, Reinhart, Dahlin, Power, Cozens, ROR and Peterka make the playoffs?
 

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