Lindy Ruff breaks silence on returning to Sabres as head coach

Lindy Ruff has found success in recent years. In fact, he helped the Devils claim their best regular season finish in franchise history in 2022-23. New Jersey finished the year with 112 points and made the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, the team had a disappointing season, leading to Ruff’s firing.

He now leads a Sabres team that is in a somewhat similar situation. Under Don Granato, Buffalo nearly ended their brutal playoff drought. They finished just a single point outside of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But they did not have similar success in 2023-24, missing the playoffs after entering the year as potential Atlantic Division contenders.

Ruff understands where the team is at, and he is not going to downplay the pressure. “It is not a job that I take lightly,” the returning Sabres head coach said, via NHL.com. “It is my goal to ensure that players believe in each other, play for each other and love being a Buffalo Sabre. There is no doubt that we all need to embrace the challenge ahead of us. The work starts today, and I could not be more excited.”

Not a nostalgia move

One early criticism of this move is that it is simply a move for nostalgia purposes. It’s a way to signal that the good times are back because one of the most successful coaches in franchise history is back. However, general manager Keyvn Adams pushed back on that idea when speaking with reporters.

“I want to be clear though that this hire was not made with nostalgia in mind,” Adams said, via NHL.com. “Lindy is the right person for the job now and any history with our organization and community is simply an added bonus. I believe wholeheartedly that Lindy can help our team reach their goals and am excited to get to work with him.”

Lindy Ruff can get teams to respond to his coaching style. It isn’t too long ago that he helped the Devils become one of the best teams in the league. However, this is a rather surprising move from the Sabres. In any event, it’ll be interesting to see how Ruff goes about replacing Don Granato behind the Buffalo bench.