BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Having transformed the Buffalo Sabres into contenders again, Lindy Ruff will have the opportunity to build on the team’s breakthrough season by continuing his second stint as coach.
The Sabres on Wednesday announced signing Ruff to a two-year contract extension in a move coming two days after Buffalo’s 3-2 loss to Montreal in Game 7 of a second-round playoff series. Ruff was completing the second and final season of the contract he signed upon returning to Buffalo, where he spent 10 years as a player and has since become the franchise’s winningest coach.
The 66-year-old Ruff is a Jack Adams NHL coach of the year finalist following a season in which the Sabres ended a league-record 14-season playoff drought and won their first Atlantic Division title. In beating Boston in six games of a first-round series, Buffalo also advanced in the playoffs for the first time since the Ruff-coached team reached the Eastern Conference Final in 2007.
The re-signing was expected, with both sides reaching the parameters of an agreement over the past few weeks. The only delay was not to distract from the playoffs.
Ruff’s first coaching stint in Buffalo spanned 17 seasons, which included a six-game loss to Dallas in the 1999 Stanley Cup Final, and him winning coach of the year honors in 2006. His tenure ended when he was fired two months into 2013 campaign.
After head-coaching stops in Dallas and New Jersey, Ruff was brought back by the Sabres to replace Don Granato, who was fired following the 2023-24 season.
Ruff’s return bookended Buffalo’s playoff drought in a span that featured seven coaching changes.
With an overall career coaching record of 950-741-169 and 78 ties, Ruff ranks fourth on the NHL list in wins, second in losses and fourth in games coached. In Buffalo, he’s gone 657-494-100 with 78 ties, which ranks second on the list in wins and games coached with one franchise behind Al Arbour’s 1,500-game tenure with the New York Islanders.
This year was among Ruff’s finest seasons, and came a year after he vowed to improve upon last year’s finish of 36-39-7. Buffalo tumbled out of contention during an 0-10-3 skid spanning November and December.
This time, the Sabres caught fire in early December and went 39-9-5 over their final 53 games to vault from last in the Eastern Conference standings to finish second. Buffalo’s 50 wins and 109 points were the Sabres' most since the Ruff-coached team in 2006-07 won a franchise-record 53 games and matched a team record with 113 points.
Ruff credited the keys to this year’s turnaround to the team getting healthier and captain Rasmus Dahlin’s presence — the defenseman spent the first two months of the season dealing with his fiancée recovering from heart transplant surgery in Europe.
Another factor in the surge was promoting Jarmo Kekalainen as GM to replace Kevyn Adams, who was fired in mid-December. Kekalainen’s presence restored a level of confidence in the players by instilling belief the franchise had a clearer vision to succeed.
Though Kekalainen initially backed Ruff upon taking over, he provided no assurances regarding the coach’s future beyond this season. The two, who had never previously worked together, eventually built a mutual bond of trust and respect.
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John Wawrow, The Associated Press
