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Sabres Make Lindy Ruff Announcement After Senators Game

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Rexwell Villas | Last updated Mar 26, 2025 9:08 AM ET

The first season of Lindy Ruff's second stint with the Buffalo Sabres has been a rough one. Buffalo only has 64 points to show in the standings through 70 games in the 2024-25 NHL regular season.

But on Tuesday night, the Atlantic Division franchise had more than one reason to celebrate. Apart from scoring a 3-2 victory at KeyBank Center in Buffalo against the Ottawa Senators, the Sabres also witnessed Ruff secure a historic milestone.

“600 Sabres regular-season wins for Coach Lindy Ruff,” the Sabres posted on X following the victory against the Senators.

Ruff collected the bulk of his 893 career wins as an NHL head coach during his first tenure with the Sabres from the 1997-98 season to the 2012-13 campaign. Over that stretch, he was behind the bench for 571 wins by Buffalo.

The Sabres fired him in 2013 before he found coaching gigs with the Dallas Stars, New York Rangers nad New Jersey Devils. After the Devils handed Ruff his walking papers in 2024, the Sabres decided to give Ruff another chance to coach the club.

"I really wasn't aware of it,” the 65-year-old Ruff said about his latest coaching milestone, per ESPN. “But obviously, it feels good. Just to get the win tonight, it felt good. ... I've been fortunate, a lot of good people around me that have helped throughout the years. And [there's been] unbelievable fan support here in this building."

Ruff is just the second coach in NHL history to rack up at least 600 wins with a single franchise. Only Al Arbour had more wins with one team than Ruff. The former New York Islanders head coach steered the Isles to 740 victories.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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