Lindy Ruff was officially introduced as the new head coach of the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday afternoon. You can watch the full, 46-minute long press conference through Sabres.com, but in case you missed it, here’s a quick recap of some of the highlights.
This was the first time we’ve publicly heard from Sabres owner Terry Pegula in a long time.
Kevyn Adams spoke last week and said that Pegula had been very engaged, but it’s good to see him finally step in front of the media for the first time in too long. While I understand that team owners by & large aren’t the faces of any franchise, they do need to be held accountable, especially when things go rough (see: Alex Meruelo in Arizona) and should be around more often. Pegula & Kevyn Adams quickly reaffirmed their belief in and support of Ruff, with Adams confirming that he feels Ruff is the right person for this job.
“Lindy knows how to win, and he knows how to take a team to another level.”
Terry Pegula
On Ruff’s coaching style & beliefs
“If you’re going to be a successful hockey club, there’s gotta be alignment between players, coaches, and an understanding of how we need to play. The last part of that is being consistent with that play, night in and night out.”
Lindy Ruff
Ruff spoke about how he uses ice time as his biggest indicator of a player’s performance. If a player is doing well, he’ll get more ice time. If a player isn’t playing well, he’ll get less. “Your best players should be on the ice at all key moments,” he added.
“I love analytics,” Ruff said. It was great to hear him talk about his use of analytics, and how he combines things like xGF and xGA with the eye test. For instance, if a defensive pairing doesn’t seem to be working well together, you can use the numbers to back that up. I’m sure you wouldn’t have to think too hard to come up with a Sabres pairing from this season that fits that bill.
Ruff also spoke about accountability – to themselves, to each other, to the coaches. He touched briefly on some of the players, saying that Rasmus Dahlin “is the guy that you look at, and you marvel at the way he plays.”
“I’ve got it down to three letters: U P L.”
Lindy Ruff, when asked who his goaltender is
On coming back to Buffalo
Ruff admitted that he didn’t immediately say yes when he got the offer from Kevyn Adams, but now that he’s here, he certainly seems to be happy with the decision. He initially asked himself – why would I do this? – and eventually came around to – why wouldn’t I?
He spoke Tuesday about wanting the team’s current players to get to experience what he did, both as a player and as a coach, when things were going well for the team. Ruff knows the city, the community and the fanbase, and he knows the energy that comes in when the Sabres are succeeding.
“I want them to love playing here. I want them to love playing for each other, and I want them to love being a Buffalo Sabre, for Sabres fans that I think are some of the greatest in the league.”
Lindy Ruff
Other miscellaneous tidbits
Kevyn Adams said that he spoke to “double digit” candidates around the clock, but kept coming back to Lindy Ruff. Now, we’ll never know who those other candidates were or how detailed any of their conversations were, or the exact minute details of how Ruff got involved, but Adams repeatedly stressed that this was not a quick decision, even though it took only a week.
Adams also reiterated that this isn’t about the nostalgia. “The past is the past. That’s great, but this is about now. This is about the players in that locker room now. This is about the fans that come in here and can believe in something great.”
Watch the full press conference here: