Sabres announce Lindy Ruff signed to a two year extension

[SabreFinn]

Happy with having Ruff for two more years. I really hope we have assistants who can challenge him and players to develop the way we play further. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

13 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Ask Lindy. Wouldn't he have final say?

Maybe, depends on how he delegated to Appert.  My guess is Lindy eventually demanded the changes after Appert kept going to the same well without success.

[PromoTheRobot]

1 minute ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Maybe, depends on how he delegated to Appert.  My guess is Lindy eventually demanded the changes after Appert kept going to the same well without success.

I think you are selling Lindy very short. He's the boss of the coaching room. If there is something he doesn't like, he changes it. If he thought like some fans that Appert was a liability, he would have been replaced.

That said, I expect to see some new faces on the bench. Vinnie Prospal had success with the Amerks power play. He might get promoted.

[French Collection]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

That said, I expect to see some new faces on the bench. Vinnie Prospal had success with the Amerks power play. He might get promoted.

I could get behind this move.

[Pimlach]

19 hours ago, SabresSnowStorm said:

The same guy that own the Bills owns the Sabres, my theory is both teams are going to be run along the same trajectory...draw your own conclusions.

While the Sabre problems go beyond one guy, Ruff should probably be parted with, he's been around 18 seasons.

He isn't going to bring anything different after almost two decades. 

I feel the Pegula era is tainted by "personal relationships" and not who is best to get the job done.

Seen similar on the Bills end. Man, I don't know, maybe this is pure entertainment or I hate to use the term comedy.

Well Hockey Pegula got off to a very bad start and Football Pegula got a great start. 

The reason in both cases were directly related to the people he hired to run things.   McD and Beane were more than solid.   The Sabres were of dumpster fire of GM and Coaches.  

Pegula was criticized around the hockey world for making too many changes too fast.  So he slowed it down with Adams.   Imagine the buzz if he fired Ruff after one of the most successful seasons in team history?  That

It's a 2 year contract.  If Ruff falters badly he is gone after 1, but I think Ruff will be good next year and he earned the opportunity to coach again.  

Coaches can win championships after a long career of misses.   

NFL - Andy Reid missed for 21 years.   

MLB - Dusty Baker and Joe Torre each took 25 years to win their first  

NBA - Larry Brown missed for 21 years and then won one.  

NHL - Paul Maurice missed for 26 years and then won 2 straight.  

 

[dudacek]

Remember the embarrassing national broadcast after Adams was let go when they treated Lindy like a dead man walking and publicly anointed Torts as his successor?

Couple that with the juvenile mocking PK Subban made of UPL’s name?

Don’t watch much ESPN north of the border, but what a shameful, classless organization.

 

Edited May 21 by dudacek

[pi2000]

Ruff isn't replacing any assistants.

They won the Atlantic and were a goal away from the ECF.   He won't be changing a thing behind the bench.

I'm sure they'll deep dive on the power play issues, but IMO schematically it's fine.   Once they get setup they're generating chances.  The players are just failing execute simple zone entries and face offs.

Norris and McLeod are fine at the dot, both above 50% in the playoffs.  However, Tage was only 35%... back issues definitely had an impact, but regular season he was still only 45%.   That's unacceptable for a man his size with the leverage he can create. 

Do better.

[PromoTheRobot]

5 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Well Hockey Pegula got off to a very bad start and Football Pegula got a great start. 

The reason in both cases were directly related to the people he hired to run things.   McD and Beane were more than solid.   The Sabres were of dumpster fire of GM and Coaches.  

Pegula was criticized around the hockey world for making too many changes too fast.  So he slowed it down with Adams.   Imagine the buzz if he fired Ruff after one of the most successful seasons in team history?  That

It's a 2 year contract.  If Ruff falters badly he is gone after 1, but I think Ruff will be good next year and he earned the opportunity to coach again.  

Coaches can win championships after a long career of misses.   

NFL - Andy Reid missed for 21 years.   

MLB - Dusty Baker and Joe Torre each took 25 years to win their first  

NBA - Larry Brown missed for 21 years and then won one.  

NHL - Paul Maurice missed for 26 years and then won 2 straight.  

 

Football was rather lost until McDermott & Beane showed up.

[Pimlach]

18 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

So, who does design and run the PP? That's my biggest question, and that guy needs to be replaced. 

Sabres Space Lore says it’s Appert.

Hey Jarmo, spend some Pegula bucks and add a guy to help with the man advantage play.  

[Punch]

12 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Hockey isn't football with called plays with X's and O's. You start with an initial structure but it's up to the players to respond to the situations and improvise. 

You've posted this several times recently but its flatly incorrect. 

[PromoTheRobot]

5 minutes ago, Punch said:

You've posted this several times recently but its flatly incorrect. 

Okay. So how much X's and O's go into the power play, and how does it relate to the Sabres woes? Are the turnovers part of the strategy?

[Punch]

25 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Okay. So how much X's and O's go into the power play, and how does it relate to the Sabres woes? Are the turnovers part of the strategy?

I don't disagree the players often struggle at execution, I'm admittedly only stating the obvious: hockey has Xs and Os.

The deep drop pass is clearly a planned strategic move and its not always failing due to execution, IMHO. The zone entries are predictable, and that drop pass is part of it. It can be effective depending on the PK structure but more often than not, it halts all momentum for the Sabres' skaters since they stop skating at the line. This isnt a Sabres PP only flaw, I see other teams do it and struggle the same way and its because the strategy isn’t mapped correctly to the defense. If the PK is stacking the blue line, its easy to deny the entry.

The Xs and Os of the drop pass entry may be designed just fine, but reading the defense and calling it at the wrong time is on the coaches. Thats just my opinion.

To the last part, its highly unlikely the turnovers are part of the strategy. 

[PerreaultForever]

13 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Maybe you need to replace the players on the power play?

Hockey isn't football with called plays with X's and O's. You start with an initial structure but it's up to the players to respond to the situations and improvise. 

And think about what killed our power plays. Losing faceoffs, failed zone entries, turning the puck over once in the zone, not finding shooting lanes and having shots blocked. That all falls on player's decisions. 

And again, the Sabres were the 16th ranked power play over the course of the season. It could have been better but it was not the worst. Ironically the Avalanche were the worst for most of the year.

yes but replacing the players on the PP is on the coaches too. The whole thing needs a rethink, and yes, a face off guy would help. 

[PerreaultForever]

54 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Sabres Space Lore says it’s Appert.

Hey Jarmo, spend some Pegula bucks and add a guy to help with the man advantage play.  

Jarmo hinted about adding people to the staff. I don't know if that will mean another assistant coach or not. I suspect they might add to their pro scouting. They are probably happy with their amateur scouting but the need for NHL players to add now increases and pro scouting has been minimal in the Adams era. But a new additional PP specialist coach would be nice. 

[PromoTheRobot]

8 minutes ago, Punch said:

I don't disagree the players often struggle at execution, I'm admittedly only stating the obvious: hockey has Xs and Os.

The deep drop pass is clearly a planned strategic move and its not always failing due to execution, IMHO. The zone entries are predictable, and that drop pass is part of it. It can be effective depending on the PK structure but more often than not, it halts all momentum for the Sabres' skaters since they stop skating at the line. This isnt a Sabres PP only flaw, I see other teams do it and struggle the same way and its because the strategy isn’t mapped correctly to the defense. If the PK is stacking the blue line, its easy to deny the entry.

The Xs and Os of the drop pass entry may be designed just fine, but reading the defense and calling it at the wrong time is on the coaches. Thats just my opinion.

To the last part, its highly unlikely the turnovers are part of the strategy. 

You and I are saying the same thing. You're just taking my "no X's and O's" comment literally. I did say they start with a structure/plan/play drawn up by a coach, but once the puck drops they have to react to what is happening around them. And I also said errors are what kill our power plays, including lost faceoffs, turnovers and bad passes. So whatever Seth Appert is drawing up, it's hard to know if it's good or bad if the players keep screwing up.

5 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

yes but replacing the players on the PP is on the coaches too. The whole thing needs a rethink, and yes, a face off guy would help. 

And we saw that happen against Montreal. And none of this happens outside of Lindy's control.

Edited May 22 by PromoTheRobot

[PerreaultForever]

Just now, PromoTheRobot said:

You and I are saying the same thing. You're just taking my "no X's and O's" comment literally. I did say they start with a structure/plan/play drawn up by a coach, but once the puck drops they have to react to what is happening around them. And I also said errors are what kill our power plays, including lost faceoffs, turnovers and bad passes. So whatever Seth Appert is drawing up, it's hard to know if it's good or bad if the players keep screwing up.

And we saw that happen against Montreal.

Yes and there was some improvement but it needs more work. It has to become a playoff strength if we want to go all the way. 

[Punch]

1 minute ago, PromoTheRobot said:

You and I are saying the same thing. You're just taking my "no X's and O's" comment literally. I did say they start with a structure/plan/play drawn up by a coach, but once the puck drops they have to react to what is happening around them. And I also said errors are what kill our power plays, including lost faceoffs, turnovers and bad passes. So whatever Seth Appert is drawing up, it's hard to know if it's good or bad if the players keep screwing up.

I'm not sure we're saying the same thing. In football, players also react and adjust to the defense within the context of the offensive playcall. Hockey plays are quicker but theyre still sending skaters to specific areas with timing to intentionally create passing lanes and shooting lanes, often a set play like a snap shot from the slot or a one timer from the low circle. Its true theyre reading the PK structure while they try to break it down through cycling the puck. 

I will agree if the Sabres successfully take the zone or win a face off, they've looked dangerous cycling. I suppose I'll also agree that they need players to drive play with ease, which is why Östlund looked so good on the PP against Boston. This is all coaching decisions though, assuming the right personnel is on the roster. 

[pi2000]

35 minutes ago, Punch said:

You've posted this several times recently but its flatly incorrect. 

There are set plays in every area of the ice...  breakouts, zone entries, neutral zone regroups, etc... especially on the power play where you have more time and space.

That said, set plays in hockey are rarely executed exactly as they're drawn up, which to Promo's point, is different from football.

[Taro T]

3 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

yes but replacing the players on the PP is on the coaches too. The whole thing needs a rethink, and yes, a face off guy would help. 

No, if the players don't execute for literally an entire month, that's on them.  The coaches bear no responsibility for it at all.  What ever could the coaches have possibly even done?

The coaches design the bestest PP eveh, but those dumb players just refuse to execute it properly.  And the coaches have no other options than the players they put on the ice.  The players stand around on the PP because that's what they inately do.  None of these guys were parts of successful PPs in the past.

OK, sarcasm off.

Of the 8 teams that made the 2nd round, the Sabres had the 6th best net PP.  And that includes the game they went 4 for 6 (though they gave up a shortie in those 6 as well).

They were 21st in the league in the regular season.  They also were horrible 5v3 and at 6v5.  They weren't horrible just at 5v4.  They were awesome 5v5 and still quite good down a man.

Ruff is on record as saying he LIKES what they do on the PP.  He's talked about how good their entries are and also how they always generate a chance or 2 each PP.  Have no idea what he's watching, but things must look an awful lot different from ice level; because they don't look good from the TV nor the cheap seats.  The fact that they alter the personnel so seldom also says, counter to the points some here like to bring up, that the players are doing what they're coached to do.  If they weren't they wouldn't get rewarded with PP time.

[Punch]

3 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

There are set plays in every area of the ice...  breakouts, zone entries, neutral zone regroups, etc... especially on the power play where you have more time and space.

That said, set plays in hockey are rarely executed exactly as they're drawn up, which to Promo's point, is different from football.

I obviously agree there are set plays in all zones and sutuations. Setting up a specific play such as a shot that doesn't directly result in a goal only means the offense reverts to puck retrieval to reload a new set play. A goal could also be scored off the rebound. The cycle of set and reset is in and of itself the nature of Xs and Os, it does not require perfect execution to be true. 

I disagree this was his point, fwiw.

[Porous Five Hole]

11 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

That said, I expect to see some new faces on the bench. Vinnie Prospal had success with the Amerks power play. He might get promoted.

 

10 hours ago, French Collection said:

I could get behind this move.

Appert was the Prospal of a couple years ago. The Amerks PP was great under Seth. 
 

I am not advocating for zero change, but promoting Appert in 2024 is the 2026 version of promoting Prospal. 
 

The PP will ultimately fall on Lindy. He’s the head coach. To me, the heat should fall on Lindy and not his assistant(s).

[PerreaultForever]

52 minutes ago, Taro T said:

No, if the players don't execute for literally an entire month, that's on them.  The coaches bear no responsibility for it at all.  What ever could the coaches have possibly even done?

The coaches design the bestest PP eveh, but those dumb players just refuse to execute it properly.  And the coaches have no other options than the players they put on the ice.  The players stand around on the PP because that's what they inately do.  None of these guys were parts of successful PPs in the past.

OK, sarcasm off.

Of the 8 teams that made the 2nd round, the Sabres had the 6th best net PP.  And that includes the game they went 4 for 6 (though they gave up a shortie in those 6 as well).

They were 21st in the league in the regular season.  They also were horrible 5v3 and at 6v5.  They weren't horrible just at 5v4.  They were awesome 5v5 and still quite good down a man.

Ruff is on record as saying he LIKES what they do on the PP.  He's talked about how good their entries are and also how they always generate a chance or 2 each PP.  Have no idea what he's watching, but things must look an awful lot different from ice level; because they don't look good from the TV nor the cheap seats.  The fact that they alter the personnel so seldom also says, counter to the points some here like to bring up, that the players are doing what they're coached to do.  If they weren't they wouldn't get rewarded with PP time.

Well I think Ruff is just BSing for the media. I doubt he really believed that. The problem for me is they seem to just think you choose who you think are your 5 best guys and you put them out there and keep trying to do the same thing. The idea of complimentary parts and how things fit didn't seem to enter into it. 

I am hopeful that next year they realize it will take different people and a different alignment. PP2 in many ways was actually better than PP1 at times. Most of all they have to rework how they use Thompson. 

[dudacek]

I think the elephant in the PP room is whether Tage is a good PP player, at least in the way he's being utilized.

I'm going to say 'he can be", since he was used there in the Olympics and he scored 20 PPG four years ago.

But he's only had 22 combined in the 3 years since.

He's not good at entries or retrievals, he tends to overhandle the puck and turn it over, and he rarely finds the open man. He's a helluva shooter, but doesn't seem to get enough open looks. I'd like to see his role distilled into simply getting open and pulling the trigger.

Meanwhile, another playmaker should added to Dahlin to create puck movement and open ice. I've long thought that player should be Byram.

Doan and Benson both offer better passing and retrieval skills than Zucker while being nearly as good around the net, and create more chaos than Tuch. I like that move and think it was overdue.

[PromoTheRobot]

12 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

 

Appert was the Prospal of a couple years ago. The Amerks PP was great under Seth. 
 

I am not advocating for zero change, but promoting Appert in 2024 is the 2026 version of promoting Prospal. 
 

The PP will ultimately fall on Lindy. He’s the head coach. To me, the heat should fall on Lindy and not his assistant(s).

Appert was the Amerks head coach as well, before Leone/Prospal took over.

9 hours ago, dudacek said:

I think the elephant in the PP room is whether Tage is a good PP player, at least in the way he's being utilized.

I'm going to say 'he can be", since he was used there in the Olympics and he scored 20 PPG four years ago.

But he's only had 22 combined in the 3 years since.

He's not good at entries or retrievals, he tends to overhandle the puck and turn it over, and he rarely finds the open man. He's a helluva shooter, but doesn't seem to get enough open looks. I'd like to see his role distilled into simply getting open and pulling the trigger.

Meanwhile, another playmaker should added to Dahlin to create puck movement and open ice. I've long thought that player should be Byram.

Doan and Benson both offer better passing and retrieval skills than Zucker while being nearly as good around the net, and create more chaos than Tuch. I like that move and think it was overdue.

I don't think he is. Yes, he has that cannon blast of a shot but he's too easily checked off the puck. 

[Nacho Libre]

On 5/21/2026 at 8:15 PM, Punch said:

You've posted this several times recently but it’s flatly incorrect. 

That’s not a bug with promo it’s a feature 

23 hours ago, Taro T said:

What ever could the coaches have possibly even done?

This cadence is my legacy