Ruff and (especially) Regier take a lot of flak for just bout everything bad that has ever happened to the Sabres. If you really think about it, though, our teams were never that great under them. The fact that they still managed to bring the team as far as they did says a lot about Ruff’s competence, and the ability to add quality players for cheap is something underrated in Regier. The things they get the most heat for were largely out of their control. I feel that the end result (this year’s team) is a testament to both Regier’s signings (and the ones he passed on) and Ruff’s system of play. Put some long-term faith in these guys because they are definitely moving in the right direction and picking up speed.

However, Larry Quinn is another story. Someone else can maybe elaborate that for me.

I’m glad someone brought this up b/c I think these guys have done a heck of a job. First, Lindy’s name is found in Coach-of-the-Year talk all too often. His players respond to him, they play his system and play it well, and he’s generally a well-liked guy. Second, Lindy & Darcy have worked together for over a decade now. It’s quite easy to see how well they work with one another. The disputes us fans have regarding players can all but be squashed now that we’ve seen their plan unfold before our eyes.

Most fans were calling for their heads after they let Dumont, Grier & McKee skip town. Seems it worked out just fine for the Sabres – Dumont would have been an overpaid 3rd liner for us, Grier didn’t want to stay or he would have been here & McKee cashed in on a career year. Now, I enjoyed each of these players while they were here, and I’m ecstatic to have Grier back; however I respect the decision that was made to let them walk. Look, I want a Cup as bad as anyone, but I want the Sabres to stay in Buffalo, and this is a business first. If Darcy overpaid these guys to stick around like some of the fans were crying for, then it would have put pressure on the overall budget, and it would have never allowed for some of our young guns to develop as quickly (General Mac, Staff, etc.).

The following years we were waving goodbye to Briere, Drury, Marty, Campbell. Again, who wanted any of these guys to leave? Nobody! But at the end of the day you have to look at the picture through Darcy & Lindy’s eyes -

1. It didn’t make sense financially for Buffalo to match or beat the contracts these guys were going to get in the open market. Briere, Dru & Campbell are vastly overpaid, and Marty would have been a costly backup at the time. If anything (IMO), my only issue with this situation was the lack of foresight on Darcy’s part. Specifcally, they should have locked Drury up the summer before, and they were unable to do so. But giving Drury a 5 yr – $25MM deal the summer before might have tied their hands on some players coming in the near future; which is tough to swallow when you think by the 3rd year he may be centering the 3rd line. So, at the end of the day it was tough to see O’ Captain go, but I understand why.

2. This team is built with youth, and much of the core of that youth is locked up – Vanek, Miller, Poms, Roy, Gaustad. And you have some serious youth yet to find a fulltime spot – Weber, Gragnani, Gerbe, Ennis, Enroth, etc. Just to mention a few…..exciting to think about the next 5 years ahead of us!

3. Acquisitions & role players – Montador & Grier have brought the much needed grit & leadership needed to help Rivet out both on the ice & in the locker room. Weren’t you sick of seeing Peters stumble out there once every 3 months (hell of a guy, not the best hockey player)? And the not-so-often-mentioned Ellis. He is the epidomy of the term grinder. He plays the boards as well as anyone, plays strong D, and can help out on both ends of the ice. I’m pretty sure these are conversations Darcy & Lindy have had. Lock in a core & build around based on the team strategy identified by Lindy & his staff. It’s nice to see how good they can be when they buy into Lindy’s system, and I think these types of players have helped relay that message in the locker room. (I also want to mentioned how much I love the Paille trade – as we are a team built from the farm, we freed up some salary & a spot on the roster for an extra pick in this year’s draft – good work again Darcy!).

I could go on for hours about this, but I’ll leave it be. I’m excited to see this team grow & watch as the farm keeps sending more youth. These guys are quite talented & with the right direction (which we appear to have), there’s no reason to belief there isn’t another cup run in them.

I agree about Regier getting a lot of flak over the years but not so with Ruff. He seems to have a spell over hockey fans here and rarely gets criticized. Look at the posts above; they deal mostly with Regier. He appears to be the more controversial of the two.

I think both guys are very capable and they’ve shown they usually provide Buffalo with a competitive team – almost every year. For that, in a parity-driven salary-cap league like the NHL, they are to be commended. Most other teams are way up and then way down and so forth.

Ruff reminds me of the NFL’s Marty Shottenheimer; a coach good enough to keep his team steady over the years but never good enough to win anything big. That’s a fact, not an opinion. The best we’ve done in 13 seasons of Regier-Ruff is make it to the finals once, and that was with the best goaltender on the planet, (and we still lost playing “Marty Ball” ).

The future of these two probably depends on what happens this year and next.