The inevitability of Lindy Ruff

The Buffalo Sabres named their longtime former head coach as head coach once again and it always felt like this was the path forward

When the Buffalo Sabres fired Lindy Ruff in February of 2013, it felt like it was time for it to happen. He’d been the coach since 1997 and led the team to the Stanley Cup Final in 1999 and to the Eastern Conference Final three other times in 1998, 2006, and 2007. He was their head coach the last time the Sabres made the playoffs in 2011, but the years that followed .

When general manager Kevyn Adams spoke last Tuesday following the dismissal of head coach Don Granato, assistant coach Jason Christie, and video coordinator Matt Smith, the parameters Adams put in place for what he was looking for from his choice for the next coach all seemed to describe Ruff to a “T.” Even colleague Matthew Fairburn made sure to pointedly ask him if Ruff was the guy he wanted, only to be rebuffed brusquely saying, “I think what you need to know is that as I walk out of here, know I have a plan.”

That plan was to bring back Lindy Ruff.