Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres announced on Wednesday the signing of head coach Lindy Ruff to a two-year contract extension. Ruff was working this past season on the final year of his current contract with the team.
Ruff led the Sabres to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in 15 years this season, taking the team to Game 7 of the second round against the Montreal Canadiens. Ruff spoke about the new contract on Wednesday. I want to give you most of what he said,
"I'm not really happy to be here today, I'd rather be somewhere else (Eastern Conference Final) but really excited with the opportunity to carry on here and help lead this team to a championship."
He thanked the Pegula's, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and others. he went on to say,
"I'm really excited about what our group did this year, the energy that our fans brought, the energy in the city, where we got to in the second half of the year, the playoffs with a group that had never been before, I felt really proud of the battle in our team and I'm humbled again for the opportunity."
There was one other person that Ruff wanted to thank,
"One of the biggest decisions was talking to my assistant coach which is my wife because there's a lot of nights you go home and question whether you should still be coaching and she's the one I would go home and talk to and part of the decision to carry on is that my assistant coach was good with this too and unbelievable support through all these years and probably wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't for her at the same time.
"It's something we were talking about throughout the year as we were going along and yes, she's totally on board she said, 'You've got the disease, you've got to continue, you've got a sickness."
Kekalainen called the decision to offer Ruff a contract extension "A no brainer." He also said,
"I think he has a real good feel on the pulse of the team, but I think he listens, so he has a good relationship with the strength and conditioning staff, and there's a lot of data involved in today's world on where we're at and what we need to do to prepare for the next game, and he's very open to that, to listening.
"Some coaches can be stubborn that this is the way I've done it, but he's not like that at all and to me that shows a coach that still wants to get better and believes in the new technology, the science behind that, he's always willing to listen and personally I've really enjoyed the relationship with him."
Before Buffalo went on its historic run starting on Dec. 9, they were in last place in the Eastern Conference. From that point on, they were the best team in the NHL, going 39-9-5. That finish helped the Sabres to a second-place finish in the conference, and first place in the Atlantic Division.
Buffalo then beat the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs in six games, before losing to Montreal in overtime of Game 7.
Ruff has also been named a 2026 finalist for the Jack Adams Award for Coach of the Year in the NHL. He won that award in 2006 during his first tenure as head coach of the Sabres.
This year’s team reached the 50 wins mark for only the third time in franchise history.
In this year’s playoffs, it seemed like every move Ruff made to his roster was the right one. That included inserting Noah Ostlund, Konsta Helenius, Luke Schenn and Zach Metsa into the lineup at different points of the postseason. He also had to make tough decisions on goalies, which, again, usually worked out.
Entering the 2026-27 season, his 26th season as a head coach in the league, Ruff is fourth all-time in wins (950) among coaches, trailing only Paul Maurice (956 - active), Joel Quenneville (1,012 - active) and Scotty Bowman (1,244).
Ruff and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen will be speaking Wednesday around 4:00, which you can hear live during “Schopp and the Bulldog” on WGR.
