The year is 2024, and Lindy Ruff is head coach of the Buffalo Sabres.
Wait… what?
Terry Pegula, Kevyn Adams & co. have chosen Lindy Ruff, the beloved former coach of the Sabres, to lead the team as we head toward the 2024-2025 season, as announced on Monday.
While it’s been made clear that this is not a nostalgia hire, and that the team inherently believes in Ruff’s value now, it’s easy to get caught up in the nostalgia of it all. After all, for many of us (especially of a certain age), Lindy’s initial run as head coach of the Sabres filled some of our most formative years as hockey fans. He is the most successful coach in franchise history, and now he’ll get a chance to add to that legacy with an exciting crop of young talent in guys like Zach Benson, Dylan Cozens, Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin.
How can we not get nostalgic, thinking about the ’99 Cup run, or the ’06-’07 Presidents’ Trophy caliber team? With that said, it’s clear that the Sabres want to focus on the present and the future, but I say: let’s give ourselves a moment or two to reminisce. Before we go full steam ahead into the coming season, the NHL Draft and all that lies ahead, including thinking too much about Ruff’s staff and who could be hired as an assistant coach, let’s allow ourselves to wade into the memories of the past and remember some of the best moments of Lindy Ruff’s first tenure here. Although the ending to that first tenure wasn’t great (as no ending is, really), many of us have a lot of fond memories of those years before.
What are some of your favorite memories and moments from Lindy Ruff’s initial tenure as head coach? Share them in the comments!