Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Just one day after being named the next head coach of the Sabres, Lindy Ruff was re-introduced on Tuesday as the new leader behind the bench in Buffalo.
Sabres owner Terry Pegula spoke during Tuesday's press conference, but didn’t take any questions from the present media. What he did say, though, was Ruff knows how to win, and knows how to get a team to the next level.
General manager Kevyn Adams says he spoke with many different candidates in the six days leading up to Ruff’s hiring, clarifying it was 10 or more potential candidates to be the next head coach of the Sabres.
Ruff talked a lot about getting this current group of players in Buffalo to the next level, and says the team is about "now".
"It’ll be my opportunity to put these guys in the right position using their strengths to get them to that next level," said Ruff on Tuesday.
Ruff declared the team is going to be committed right from the start.
"They’re going to be connected, and there’s going to be an understanding of how they need to play," he said.
Ruff was candid on Tuesday, saying he is going to be clear to the team when they’re together.
"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. But we’re going to have to earn it," Ruff acknowledged.
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Ruff admitted on Tuesday he didn’t jump at the job when he was initially contacted by Adams.
"When Kevyn contacted me, I didn’t say yes right away. We had a lot of discussions," Ruff detailed. "Just coming off being let go by [New] Jersey and seeing a coach get let go here, I was questioning myself. 'Why would I do this?' And then I came to a point, 'Why wouldn’t I?' Because I’m a risk taker, and I think if there’s no risk, there’s no reward."
After it was announced Monday that Ruff was returning to Buffalo as head coach, Ruff says he heard from a number of former player, including Ryan Miller, Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek.
"They all said, 'You’re the guy that can get them there,'" he recalled. "I think if you remember, I was pretty hard on Thomas Vanek, and we’ve had lots of great conversations. This team is so similar to where we were at back then, deep with talent, but we needed to play the game the right way.
"We were deep, like three lines deep, and then I had useful tools you could lean on people with. From Rob Ray to Andrew Peters and Adam Mair."
The last part is what Ruff doesn’t have at all right now in Buffalo, and something Adams needs to address in the offseason.
Even former Sabres winger Matt Barnaby chimed in with his support of Ruff returning behind the Buffalo bench:
Ruff has spent several years in Buffalo not just as a coach, but also a player, even serving as team captain for a few season. He knows what it’s like to be in front of the fans, and wants the current group to experience that.
"I’ve lived in this city since 1979, so I think I understand how great this city is when you have a successful hockey club. It would mean a lot to have this group of players experience what I was able to experience," Ruff said. "I mean, this building shook in some of the playoff series I was involved with."
When reflecting on the recent years of coaching across the NHL, Ruff feels he is a much better coach now than he was before in Buffalo.
"I actually laugh at some of my coaching style when I left here, because a lot of things have changed," he said.
During the end-of-season press conferences last week with the players and Adams, we heard plenty about the players having more "accountability". Ruff has a clear idea of what that means.
"The first thing a person does is hold himself accountable. Did I do enough to get this team to where it needed to go? The next level of accountability when you become a good team is the players, themselves, will hold each other accountable. And the last part of it is the coach who can’t just yell and scream at players anymore," Ruff explained. "The way we grow is believing in the way we play, and if we don’t, my biggest tool is to take ice time away. My greatest tool is, 'You’re playing well, so you get more ice time. You’re going to be that guy I’m going to count on.'"
When it comes to his coaching staff in Buffalo, Ruff says he plans to add ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Before eventually becoming the general manager of the Sabres, Adams spent four years on Ruff’s staff in a player development role, and also as an assistant coach. He admits it all played a role in Ruff's hiring.
"That’s four years of learning of seeing Lindy day-in and day-out," Adams said. "The way he leads and challenges to be the best version of yourself, but also he cares about them. Another thing I learned is he was very good with non-negotiables, because we’re going to talk about it, but when we agree, then we’re doing that and we’ll hold you to it. I had that trust and that relationship, so it matters, but that isn’t the reason. It ultimately just came back to me that this is the right coach for this team to win now."
So what is the plan going forward? What is Ruff’s plan to get to this group of players to the next level?
"It’s they understand that if we get a little bit better in this area, like our faceoff percentage gets a little bit better, and we have the puck a little bit more, we’re a little bit more willing to get inside on shot lanes and a few more pucks don’t get to the net, all those little one or two percenters make a huge difference," Ruff said. "The simplest stuff keeps adding up - sticks on pucks, don’t let him make that play, turn your feet sideways. These are just a lot of one percenters that keep adding up."
Among some of the current players on the roster in attendance for Tuesday's press conference included forwards Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs, as well as defensemen Connor Clifton and Jacob Bryson.
