Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - About a week ago, the thought of getting a chance to play under the direction of Lindy Ruff in Buffalo was something that put a smile on the face of Sabres winger Alex Tuch.
The 27-year-old spoke openly during his end-of-season press conference about the idea of Ruff as head coach of the Sabres once again, saying it would be a cool experience to be led by the coach he watched as a kid growing up a fan of the team in Syracuse.
That idea became a reality for Tuch on Monday when the Sabres formally announced that Ruff was returning to the Buffalo bench to serve as head coach going forward.
Related
"I'm really excited. I'm still around town, so I was able to come in and see the press conference in person. It's exciting," said Tuch on Tuesday after the team introduced Ruff as head coach again at KeyBank Center downtown. "I think growing up being a Sabres fan and watching Lindy behind the bench all those years, it's very nostalgic. Just super excited for the opportunity to be coached by such a legend. It's gonna be a lot of fun."
During Tuesday's press conference, Ruff felt this group of players currently in Buffalo is similar to the team he had in the 2005-06 season that far exceeded expectations league-wide, and went on to make the Eastern Conference Final. He's hoping this group of players now in Buffalo will buy in just as much as that young group did not just for the organization, but for the community as a whole.
"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 Sabre fans, that I think are some of the greatest in the league," said Ruff. "How are we going to get there? We're going to have to earn it. From Day 1, the work is going to have to start now, we're going to have to earn it. We're going to have to step on the ice when the seasons start, and earn the respect of everybody and get to that next level."
Those words from Ruff rang true in the mind of Tuch, as the veteran Sabres winger is well aware of what's at stake heading into the 2024-25 season in Buffalo.
"We're gonna all have really good summers, coming into camp Day 1 and be ready to go," Tuch said. "He talked about accountability, and accountability is looking at yourself, knowing what you can be doing to be better not only for your own personal success, but for the success of the team and each teammate that you're with."
Tuch feels many of the players in the locker room that he's spoken with already are pumped with the hire of Ruff behind the bench. He feels Ruff fits the mold of what the team is looking for going forward, with getting individual guys and the rest of the group to that next level.
"I think guys know he was a serious candidate, and so we were talking about it. I've only talked to a couple guys since it happened, but we all think it's going to work out for us," Tuch said. "Obviously not everyone's gonna love them, and at times we're all gonna hate them. That's what happens when you have a coach that asks a lot of you, and with that, it's gonna come with a lot of success. So we're ready for him, and we're ready for the opportunity."
As for Ruff, he's heard the comments from his players, including Tuch, about having a coach on-hand that will hold the players accountable and looking to get more out of them to get them to the next level. It felt good to him knowing the players were ready to embrace that mindset heading into the future.
"We all want to win, and this is a 'we' thing, this is really what I'm going to emphasize," Ruff said. "This will be a coaching staff, 'we' thing. We will have to be successful. We have to earn the players' respect, and this is the level of accountability we'll hold you to, knowing that if we're going to be the team that we want to be, this is the way we have to play the game. This is the way we're going to operate from Day 1 moving forward."
For many of the players currently in the Sabres locker room, they hear about the stories of how bought in and passionate the Buffalo fanbase was during the 2005-06 season when Ruff was here coaching the team. As a group, Tuch says they sometimes talk about how the team can get to that next level here, and how they can find ways to bring out that same energy the fanbase brought to the arena on a nightly basis back then.
"We do talk about how, 'Man, it'd be really cool to get back to those winning ways. Have the fans back in the building, pack the house, and see what the City of Buffalo could bring to the hockey world, and as a team what we could bring to the hockey world.' There are talks about that, and like I said, we've just got to come ready Day 1 of camp, and that's where it all begins," he said. "It's not looking too far ahead. It's worrying about what you're doing in this exact moment of this exact day, and go from there."
As for Tuch, he remembers the countless nights of watching the Sabres with his dad in his living room as a kid. One of his more favorite memories of Ruff is during the 2006-07 season and the Sabres' line brawl with the Ottawa Senators after Buffalo captain Chris Drury was taken out of the game after a dirty hit from Chris Neil.
"He almost fell over top of the guy between the glass and the bench opened up, and then he was yelling at [Senators coach Bryan Murray]. That's one of them," Tuch recalled. "I mean, that's the passion he has. But it's not only the passion of just getting into it with the coach, it's going to bat for your players and your guys, and for the City of Buffalo. So he really takes great pride in his coaching, and also takes great pride in backing his guys."
While Tuch has expressed his excitement to play under Ruff in Buffalo, he admits he's likely going to do some deeper digging with getting to know his new head coach better, and what to expect from an on-ice perspective.
"I do have a couple of former teammates, a guy like Erik Haula I'll probably reach out to in New Jersey. And honestly, I know a few of the guys from the '05-06 team that I've been able to get to know, talking to guys like that, I think I'm gonna probably pick their brains. And even before we knew the coach, they had reached out, a couple of them and said, 'Oh, yeah, Lindy would be great, Lindy would be perfect for it.' So I'm really excited," Tuch said.
And as it turns out, Tuch and Ruff happen to live not too far away from one another, which could mean some additional time this summer to get a better understanding of each other.
"I think we live about three quarters a mile away from each other. And I think we might belong to the same golf course as well, so we might run into each other," Tuch said with a laugh. "I would love to sit down and meet with him on a more serious note, to kind of see where he's coming from, and to learn about him going into this season hitting the ground running."
