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Buffalo, NY (WGR 550) -- Lindy Ruff had been through a lot of tough times during his tenure as head coach of the Buffalo Sabres, but the night before he was let go by the team, things were different, they weren’t right.
Ruff spoke for the first time Friday which you heard live on WGR Sports Radio 550. He felt it too, “I felt and I think you guys sensed that after Winnipeg the frustration and I answered those questions honestly. I was embarrassed, I did see apprehension. I saw us going in the right direction against Boston, against Pittsburgh and to take that step back against Winnipeg was like a kick in the gut for me. You guys saw it, I felt it.”
With that in mind, it didn’t surprise Ruff when Darcy Regier showed up at his house on Wednesday. As the GM walked in the door Ruff said, “I know. Don’t say you’re sorry, you’ve been my biggest backer all these years.” Ruff went on to say Regier has always had his back, “I’m indebted as a head coach because I know through 16 years there’s probably 99% of the GM’s in the league would’ve whacked the coach at a certain time. We went through some tough stretches where he believed in me and said you can get these guys through it, he’s a good friend, he’s a great hockey man, we went through a lot together and I’m indebted to him for trusting me in a lot of tough situations.”
The former head coach just had one request. He said, “I asked him, I said I’d like to go see the team and thank them, give them the news. He said he was fine with it so I drove to the bus. Nobody knew, no coaches no anybody and I stepped on the bus and thanked them and it was just deadly silent on the bus and I walked off and the players walked off to say good bye.”
Even though the team seemed to have tuned their head coach out and didn’t perform the way he was teaching them to play, he still thinks they have it in them, “They gave what I asked. We had come to an agreement on how we were going to approach the season and they gave me all they had. The communication and the input from them to the coaches was awesome. I’ve gone over every game and I cleaned out my office. I grabbed all my notes, I grabbed game notes, I’ve looked at all the games, I looked at the chances, I looked how we lost, it’s like I’m driving myself crazy, but when I was done I thought we gave three games away. We could’ve been at 9-7 and in a pretty good place and instead we’re at 6-10. I’ve said it, that falls with me. We weren’t good enough to get through a few of those games and some of it was system related, some of it was mistake related.”
Ruff is still a hockey coach and although he’s always going to call Western New York home, he’s not done. He’d like to continue coaching, “Oh yes, I miss it already. It’s hard, it’s a tough feeling but I gotta keep going, I love the game.”
Being a coach he’s watched some hockey since Wednesday, but he couldn’t bear to turn on the Sabres quite yet, “I watched one period and I found it incredibly strange and I had to turn it off. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. The night before I watched hockey, I’m going to watch (Sabre games) but I couldn’t get through last night, it was incredibly strange.”
Ruff opened by thanking the Knox family, the Rigas family, Tom Golisano, Larry Quinn, Darcy Regier, Rip Simonik and the Pegula family calling them the best owners in the league. Ruff wishes he could’ve done more for them, “Washing through the last 24 hours I think that’s the biggest disappointment I have is not getting it done for them. They’ll get it right here, you’ve got to trust them and it’ll get done right. I know it’s painful right now, but it’ll get done.”
To wrap up, Ruff really loves the fans of Western New York. He said, “The people that have made this place real special for myself, my family. The fans of Western New York are number one. They really came to the forefront when I dealt with my daughter’s medical condition. They got us through a real tough time in our lives. I know there’s a thank you outside in the fence and I’d like to put my thank you right next to it because it’s a special group. It’s a place I call home, always will call home. I don’t feel like I have anything to be ashamed of or any regrets and I love Western New York.”
I think right there is the proper place to close the Buffalo Sabres coaching book on Lindy Ruff.
Ruff spoke for the first time Friday which you heard live on WGR Sports Radio 550. He felt it too, “I felt and I think you guys sensed that after Winnipeg the frustration and I answered those questions honestly. I was embarrassed, I did see apprehension. I saw us going in the right direction against Boston, against Pittsburgh and to take that step back against Winnipeg was like a kick in the gut for me. You guys saw it, I felt it.”
With that in mind, it didn’t surprise Ruff when Darcy Regier showed up at his house on Wednesday. As the GM walked in the door Ruff said, “I know. Don’t say you’re sorry, you’ve been my biggest backer all these years.” Ruff went on to say Regier has always had his back, “I’m indebted as a head coach because I know through 16 years there’s probably 99% of the GM’s in the league would’ve whacked the coach at a certain time. We went through some tough stretches where he believed in me and said you can get these guys through it, he’s a good friend, he’s a great hockey man, we went through a lot together and I’m indebted to him for trusting me in a lot of tough situations.”
The former head coach just had one request. He said, “I asked him, I said I’d like to go see the team and thank them, give them the news. He said he was fine with it so I drove to the bus. Nobody knew, no coaches no anybody and I stepped on the bus and thanked them and it was just deadly silent on the bus and I walked off and the players walked off to say good bye.”
Even though the team seemed to have tuned their head coach out and didn’t perform the way he was teaching them to play, he still thinks they have it in them, “They gave what I asked. We had come to an agreement on how we were going to approach the season and they gave me all they had. The communication and the input from them to the coaches was awesome. I’ve gone over every game and I cleaned out my office. I grabbed all my notes, I grabbed game notes, I’ve looked at all the games, I looked at the chances, I looked how we lost, it’s like I’m driving myself crazy, but when I was done I thought we gave three games away. We could’ve been at 9-7 and in a pretty good place and instead we’re at 6-10. I’ve said it, that falls with me. We weren’t good enough to get through a few of those games and some of it was system related, some of it was mistake related.”
Ruff is still a hockey coach and although he’s always going to call Western New York home, he’s not done. He’d like to continue coaching, “Oh yes, I miss it already. It’s hard, it’s a tough feeling but I gotta keep going, I love the game.”
Being a coach he’s watched some hockey since Wednesday, but he couldn’t bear to turn on the Sabres quite yet, “I watched one period and I found it incredibly strange and I had to turn it off. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. The night before I watched hockey, I’m going to watch (Sabre games) but I couldn’t get through last night, it was incredibly strange.”
Ruff opened by thanking the Knox family, the Rigas family, Tom Golisano, Larry Quinn, Darcy Regier, Rip Simonik and the Pegula family calling them the best owners in the league. Ruff wishes he could’ve done more for them, “Washing through the last 24 hours I think that’s the biggest disappointment I have is not getting it done for them. They’ll get it right here, you’ve got to trust them and it’ll get done right. I know it’s painful right now, but it’ll get done.”
To wrap up, Ruff really loves the fans of Western New York. He said, “The people that have made this place real special for myself, my family. The fans of Western New York are number one. They really came to the forefront when I dealt with my daughter’s medical condition. They got us through a real tough time in our lives. I know there’s a thank you outside in the fence and I’d like to put my thank you right next to it because it’s a special group. It’s a place I call home, always will call home. I don’t feel like I have anything to be ashamed of or any regrets and I love Western New York.”
I think right there is the proper place to close the Buffalo Sabres coaching book on Lindy Ruff.