Lindy Ruff officially hired as Sabres HC

[Doohickie]

37 minutes ago, MattPie said:

Maybe it was video coach scouting.

[Archie Lee]

12 hours ago, dudacek said:

I’m sure Adams wasn’t lying when he said he talked to double digit people during his coaching “search”

Im also sure those conversations weren’t serious job interviews.

Before speaking to anyone, Adams felt the team needed specific qualities and he felt Ruff - who he knows very well - was the perfect fit.

The “search” was basically confirming Ruff was the fit he thought he was and due diligence around that.

It was pretty easy to connect the dots in between the two pressers and figure out what happened.

I think it is possible that the double-digit number of people who he spoke to, were people he spoke to about the idea of hiring Ruff. In other words: he did due diligence on Ruff by having many discussions with many people about Ruff before he hired him. 

Adams got a lot of praise for how he handled the press conference where he addressed firing Donnie. I’ve read that some think his demeanour on that day and on the day of the Ruff press conference was the most confident he has been since he became GM. I see the opposite. I see a guy whose plan failed and who is now scrambling. I see a guy who knows his options to move this forward with the speed needed to save his job are extremely limited. 

[Weave]

I don’t have any strong emotions regarding KA pretty much lying to us, but it has altered my perception of him.  It’s hard for me to not see him as a bit of snake.

Maybe they all are.  No idea.  Don’t really care. I do know that what he says from here is not taken at face value any longer.  Transparency is no longer assumed from my chair.

[Pimlach]

8 hours ago, Doohickie said:

I think Bill Belichick is a royal butthead, but if he coached hockey, at this point I'd be in favor of hiring him if he could bring some Ws to the Sabres.  At this point that's about all I care about.

So you will hire a “royal butthead”, and you will settle for Lindy - who you already said you did not care for, but you don’t care that Adams exhaustive and detailed coach search never happened?  
 

You don’t care that he didn’t do the work he said he would do?   Does honesty and credibility matter anymore?  
 

[Doohickie]

Can't do nothing about it unless I want to leave them and start following another team.

Winning matters.  That's all I care about.

[Pimlach]

4 hours ago, Sabres73 said:

Why work yourself up like this over speculation? You and I have no idea who KA talked to. Nor do I really care either, we got the right man for the job IMO.

I am a huge Lindy fan.  He will soothe the casual fans that have left this team - fans like my daughter and my wife.   Neither has watched a game in many years because this team stinks, and they have for a very long time.  Fans are excited to have him back.  Lindy will help on the hockey side too.  We can only hope he has strong input on which NHL players to go get, because Adams needs help.  
 

Adam’s is becoming a farce.  He didn’t even talk to a Stanley Cup winning coach that took a team from last to first.  Ever.  He probably never interviewed Gallant either.  
 

So the guy that gave Adams a start in the NHL becomes available, it’s a perfect opportunity for Lindy to give it one more shot.  Why not hire his friend and neighbor in Clarence.  It could work?  
 

Maybe being in the right place at the right time is Adams true skill?  

[Archie Lee]

1 minute ago, Pimlach said:

I am a huge Lindy fan.  He will soothe the casual fans that have left this team - fans like my daughter and my wife.   Neither has watched a game in many years because this team stinks, and they have for a very long time.  Fans are excited to have him back.  Lindy will help on the hockey side too.  We can only hope he has strong input on which NHL players to go get, because Adams needs help.  
 

Adam’s is becoming a farce.  He didn’t even talk to a Stanley Cup winning coach that took a team from last to first.  Ever.  He probably never interviewed Gallant either.  
 

So the guy that gave Adams a start in the NHL becomes available, it’s a perfect opportunity for Lindy to give it one more shot.  Why not hire his friend and neighbor in Clarence.  It could work?  
 

Maybe being in the right place at the right time is Adams true skill?  

In my view Ruff has largely been a coach who gets as much out of his team as could reasonably be expected. That’s good.  He is not a coach whose system or intellect or force of determination will push a team to be more than the sum of its parts. I don’t think that changes for the better at this point of his career. 

The 23-24 Sabres are maybe marginally better with Ruff than Granato, but they are not a playoff team. I would argue that the outlier from the Granato era is that he somehow dragged the 22-23 team to within a point of the playoffs;  that was a greater coaching achievement than the 23-24 season was a failure. 
 

We will be as good as the team that Ruff is provided to coach. Great roster improvement is needed for us to be in playoff contention. 

[Rasmus_]

Adams is a mouthpiece perpetually glued to Terry's sphincter.  I believe nothing coming out of this sheep's mouth.

[Sabre The Cup]

5 minutes ago, Rasmus_ said:

Adams is a mouthpiece perpetually glued to Terry's sphincter.  I believe nothing coming out of this sheep's mouth.

His smile bothers me too. 
 

A puppet with no individual agency. I’m amazed when anybody speaks about him as if he is making any of his own decisions. 

[dudacek]

“Double-digits” offends me about as much as:

“We have no interest in firing…” “we are not shopping…” ”we couldn’t believe he was still available” and “we like the team we have”

It’s pretty much a job requirement that a GM has to spin certain situations certain ways in front of the cameras.

Edited May 2 by dudacek

[That Aud Smell]

I understand folks not liking that Adams was real loose with the truth when he said he talked to "double digits" people in connection with this search for a HC.

I think it's @LGR4GM who'd been saying it from the start: It was always Lindy. Always.

I think it's clear that there was no "search," per se. Adams "spoke to" a dozen or so people (and, again, we will include his family's dog, Tinsel, in that count) about the vacancy. We may safely infer that he was asking people who were not candidates about their thoughts on people who were candidates. Moreover, it sounds like Adams, in speaking to those people, was looking for confirmation that he was poised to make a good hire in Ruff. That's all.

"Hey, Danny [Briere]. It's Kevyn. ... Kevyn Adams ... the GM of the Buffalo Sabres. Yeah! Yeah. How ya doin'? Yeah, okay here. Oh, a little gloomy. Waiting on spring to finally arrive. ... Hey, listen, I need you to keep this between you and me, but I'm thinking about bringing Lindy back as our coach. What do you think. Good idea?"

[Pimlach]

3 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

I understand folks not liking that Adams was real loose with the truth when he said he talked to "double digits" people in connection with this search for a HC.

I think it's @LGR4GM who'd been saying it from the start: It was always Lindy. Always.

I think it's clear that there was no "search," per se. Adams "spoke to" a dozen or so people (and, again, we will include his family's dog, Tinsel, in that count) about the vacancy. We may safely infer that he was asking people who were not candidates about their thoughts on people who were candidates. Moreover, it sounds like Adams, in speaking to those people, was looking for confirmation that he was poised to make a good hire in Ruff. That's all.

"Hey, Danny [Briere]. It's Kevyn. ... Kevyn Adams ... the GM of the Buffalo Sabres. Yeah! Yeah. How ya doin'? Yeah, okay here. Oh, a little gloomy. Waiting on spring to finally arrive. ... Hey, listen, I need you to keep this between you and me, but I'm thinking about bringing Lindy back as our coach. What do you think. Good idea?"

If he needs to call rival GMs to get input on hiring Lindy then he is way over his head.  

This is another lost opportunity.  When you do conduct professional and fair job interviews you learn a lot.  For example, you learn who the other good candidates are, which helps in the future.   You learn that maybe a person you thought you could work with is no longer an option.   You might even learn of a few sleepers that are intriguing candidates for other positions.   All he did by not seriously interviewing veteran candidates is lose the opportunity to learn, and to gain credibility, and to be  honest with a long suffering fanbase about his effort.  

The fact that other GMs might do the same thing is immaterial.  There is a right way and a wrong way.  

It is no wonder this organization is where it is.  

[dudacek]

As far as the hiring process goes, I don’t know that the “how” matters nearly as much as the “who.”

• Last time, Adams took weeks and ended up coming back to the guy already on staff.
• Adams was hired from in-house with no search at all.
• Botterill left no stone unturned and got taken in by a smooth-talking outsider named Ralph.
• Housley was a hot league commodity who seemed to be their target from the beginning; they talked to many others, let those guys take other jobs, and waited until Nashville was done and hired him quickly afterward.
• Botterill was the result of a thorough review of an industry approved short list.
• Babcock wasn’t the result of a search, he was targeted because of his resume. When he jilted them, they did exactly the same thing with Bylsma, the next guy on their list.
• Nolan was Pat Lafontaine giving an old crony a 2nd chance
• Tim Murray was picked after a long-drawn-out interview process with the pick of the league’s assistant GMs where Lafontaine was accused of using the process to steal secrets from other organizations.
• Lafontaine was the romantic whim of a star-struck owner.

This time was a bit of Babcock, a bit of Nolan and a bit of Adams.

Honestly, they’ve followed pretty much every process known to mankind and blown it every time. I don’t think it’s the process that’s the problem.

All we can do is hope they finally get it right.

[bunomatic]

Everything Pegula touches…

[Pimlach]

10 minutes ago, dudacek said:

As far as the hiring process goes, I don’t know that the “how” matters nearly as much as the “who.”

• Last time, Adams took weeks and ended up coming back to the guy already on staff.
• Adams was hired from in-house with no search at all.
• Botterill left no stone unturned and got taken in by a smooth-talking outsider named Ralph.
• Housley was a hot league commodity who seemed to be their target from the beginning; they talked to many others, let those guys take other jobs, and waited until Nashville was done and hired him quickly afterward.
• Botterill was the result of a thorough review of an industry approved short list.
• Babcock wasn’t the result of a search, he was targeted because of his resume. When he jilted them, they did exactly the same thing with Bylsma, the next guy on their list.
• Nolan was Pat Lafontaine giving an old crony a 2nd chance
• Tim Murray was picked after a long-drawn-out interview process with the pick of the league’s assistant GMs where Lafontaine was accused of using the process to steal secrets from other organizations.
• Lafontaine was the romantic whim of a star-struck owner.

This time was a bit of Babcock, a bit of Nolan and a bit of Adams.

Honestly, they’ve followed pretty much every process known to mankind and blown it every time. I don’t think it’s the process that’s the problem.

All we can do is hope they finally get it right.

Yes, of course, ultimately "who" is far more important than "how".  

The process defining "the how", when done correctly by competent people, should help you find several good candidates and increase your chances of success.    You cannot be successful in a competitive league like the NHL by counting on good luck. 

Luck could happen, and some luck is needed, but you cannot count on it or plan for it.  

[...]

1 hour ago, Doohickie said:

Can't do nothing about it unless I want to leave them and start following another team.

Winning matters.  That's all I care about.

Shall we then drop the discussion and discuss only things that doohickie cares about? WTF, how many times do you need to interject into an active conversation that you don't care about the topic of the conversation? Do you go to parties and tell people they're not partying correctly if they're doing something you don't like?

[PASabreFan]

56 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

I understand folks not liking that Adams was real loose with the truth when he said he talked to "double digits" people in connection with this search for a HC.

I think it's @LGR4GM who'd been saying it from the start: It was always Lindy. Always.

I think it's clear that there was no "search," per se. Adams "spoke to" a dozen or so people (and, again, we will include his family's dog, Tinsel, in that count) about the vacancy. We may safely infer that he was asking people who were not candidates about their thoughts on people who were candidates. Moreover, it sounds like Adams, in speaking to those people, was looking for confirmation that he was poised to make a good hire in Ruff. That's all.

"Hey, Danny [Briere]. It's Kevyn. ... Kevyn Adams ... the GM of the Buffalo Sabres. Yeah! Yeah. How ya doin'? Yeah, okay here. Oh, a little gloomy. Waiting on spring to finally arrive. ... Hey, listen, I need you to keep this between you and me, but I'm thinking about bringing Lindy back as our coach. What do you think. Good idea?"

I'm not sure who is more obsessed with a dog's name, Smell (Tinsel Adams) or PA (Sidney Pegula).

[Flashsabre]

If he wanted Lindy and hired Lindy I have no problem with that.

But to make a public statement that you talked to all these people make you look like a moron. You know reporters and insiders are going to ask available coaches if they talked to Buffalo. Just makes the whole operation look like a joke.

Instead just say “Lindy was the guy I was focused on. From past history together I knew he had every attribute I was looking for and knew we could work together to right the ship.”

[...]

On 4/22/2024 at 6:32 PM, ... said:

Given the parameters Adams laid out and given the available coaches, how long do you think such a search would take...weeks? It's more likely Adams (Terry) had Lindy in mind since Lindy was let go by NJ. Still, all Adams had to do was make two or three calls that all went like "hey, XXXXX, I'm sure you heard the news. Interested? Yeah. No. Okay, thanks, see you around."

"Looks like Lindy is our guy, Terry."

That would take all of a morning before leaving for an early lunch.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, That Aud Smell said:

I think it's @LGR4GM who'd been saying it from the start: It was always Lindy. Always.

I feel as though I post into a vacuum.

[That Aud Smell]

3 minutes ago, ... said:

 

I feel as though I post into a vacuum.

Sorry. You don’t. I’m just bad at noticing and remembering. (It was Liger as well, though, right?)

11 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

I'm not sure who is more obsessed with a dog's name, Smell (Tinsel Adams) or PA (Sidney Pegula).

To be clear: Tinsel Adams is 💯 a product of my imagination.

52 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

This is another lost opportunity.  When you do conduct professional and fair job interviews you learn a lot. 

Such an important point.

[dudacek]

9 minutes ago, ... said:

 

I feel as though I post into a vacuum.

Why? 😁

 

[PASabreFan]

18 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

Sorry. You don’t. I’m just bad at noticing and remembering. (It was Liger as well, though, right?)

To be clear: Tinsel Adams is 💯 a product of my imagination.

Such an important point.

You are such an aud man.

[...]

16 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

Sorry. You don’t. I’m just bad at noticing and remembering. (It was Liger as well, though, right?)

To be clear: Tinsel Adams is 💯 a product of my imagination.

No, he was lamenting the weakness of the process at the beginning. I mean I'm not keeping a score or anything, just that I happen to remember this because the first thing I thought of was that Lindy was probably called by Adams (at Pegula's insistence) the day Lindy was let go in NJ.

Anyway, yes, Tinsel Adams® is definitely ©2024 @That Aud Smell.

[That Aud Smell]

42 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

You are such an aud man.

You know I prefer to be thought of as smelly.

[That Aud Smell]

40 minutes ago, ... said:

No, he was lamenting the weakness of the process at the beginning. I mean I'm not keeping a score or anything, just that I happen to remember this because the first thing I thought of was that Lindy was probably called by Adams (at Pegula's insistence) the day Lindy was let go in NJ.

Gotcha. Lgr definitely made sort of a post-mortem post to the effect of "it was always Lindy" (YOU BROKE MY HEART, KEVYN). And I clearly failed to pick up what you were puttin' down earlier on. In my defence, my consumption here (like my fandom) has been spotty of late. (Also: Agreed that Terry was like "go get Lindy" as soon as the guy was fired.)