Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The return of hockey in Western New York is finally here!
The Buffalo Sabres are set to kick off their 2024-25 regular season this weekend, as they take on the New Jersey Devils in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday in Prague, Czechia as part of the NHL Global Series.
This upcoming season has already been looked at with great anticipation from a fan's standpoint for a number of different reasons. Perhaps the one aspect fans are eager for is the return of Lindy Ruff behind the bench as head coach of the Sabres.
After playing with the Sabres from 1979-to-1989, and then coaching the team between 1997 and 2013, Ruff is making his return to Buffalo to serve as bench boss. What Sabres fans are even more hopeful for is Ruff to help lead Buffalo back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons, a feat he last accomplished with the team in 2011.
As the Sabres get ready for the season-opening games this weekend in Prague, the main roster departed from Buffalo over a week ago to continue preparations in Europe, while also taking part in an exhibition game in Germany against EHC Red Bull München.
Given the complexity of the preseason and starting the year overseas, it was certainly a different training camp for Buffalo than it has been in past years.
"I look at this camp, we were able to get two real good practice days in before we left for Munich, and the practice and the system stuff we went through on Day 1 and Day 2. I think it's gone over well with both groups," said Ruff as he joined the "Jeremy and Joe Show" for the first of his weekly appearances this season on WGR. "The group that's been playing back there and the group that's been playing here, practices have been really upbeat, the tempo has been great. I really liked what I've seen so far."
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While Ruff got the chance to get to know his team and who will make up his group in Buffalo during the offseason, he needed to figure out the drive of the team and other elements quickly before ramping up into the regular season. So far, he has liked what he has seen from the players on and off the ice.
"We've gone through some very challenging practices, drills that have challenged them physically, up and down the ice, that pushed them to their max in maybe a 50-55-minute type of practice. I think the response was real good. I think that we're able to finish all those drills with energy, and then look at the areas that we needed to improve in," Ruff said with Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase. "I think the guys have wrapped their arms around the opportunity to be better defensively, take away more rush chances. We identified five, six areas that we really think we can continue to get better through practice and through every game we play."
On top of all of the other changes the Sabres have gone through on and off the ice this season, they also recently named defenseman Rasmus Dahlin as the 21st captain in franchise history.
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"For me, actions speak volumes when I'm around Rasmus," Ruff said of the 24-year-old. "The way he prepares, the way he practices, the way he gets involved in meetings, the questions he asks about, 'What are we going to do in this situation, that situation?' And then lastly, the amount he cares about the team and his teammates. Not knowing him probably as well as people in the organization, but my short time with him and all the people around him, it seemed like a really easy choice to have him lead this group. I think if you asked a teammate, they would all agree."
Friday's puck drop at O2 Arena in Prague is set for 1 p.m. ET. Hear all of the play-by-play action this season on the radio home of the Sabres - WGR Sports Radio 550.