"Enough time's past, just to get a chance to talk to him would be great.". They call me every year, and just the tone of my mom's voice . So for me, it really is just trying to understand what each players role will be because every player is going to bring something a little different, so just looking for role and responsibility.. "Smitty's stick caught Lindy in the eye," Action Sports Hockey publisher Bob Stampleman remembered, "and he went down to the ice in pain. Thats usually a one- or two-fish day, he said. Lindy played the crap out of us, so that was great. This was also on the anniversary of the controversial defeat of the Sabres in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1999. Lindy Ruff has been behind the bench in Buffalo for the last 14 season. Lindy Cameron Ruff (born February 17, 1960) is a Canadian assistant coach for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Against the Montreal Canadiens, he got the opposing team going by chirping Max Pacioretty. Sakic, born seven months before Brent Ruff, still is playing at an All-Star level. Fitzgerald and the other six GMs of the teams that missed out on the NHLs return-to-play tournament have lobbied the league for extra time to practice before the start of training camp. What is he looking for? During a summer that didnt include travel restrictions amid a pandemic, Ruff might have traveled to Michigan to meet with Jack Hughes, to Switzerland for lunch on Nico Hischiers terrace or to Thunder Bay, Ont. Just as we thought that the Sabres were going to begin a mighty playoff push by winning two last week, they went on to lose against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Brent was gleaming about that. He was one of four Swift Current players to die when their team bus skidded off an icy Alberta highway on Dec. 30, 1986. Instead, a celebration of life is inextricably melded to an unspoken reminder of thieving death, and Lindy Ruff feels that robbery most of all when he hears his mother's wistful voice. Then Lindy watched Sakic through the eyes of a coach, but always as a remorseful brother. "I wanted it to be disallowed so we'd still have a shot at the Cup.". Ruff played in 691 NHL games, scoring 105 goals and adding 195 assists for a total of 300 points. In particular, they view any possession, no matter how benign, as an opportunity to create havoc. This post goes into detail with . One of the themes from Ruffs first press conference was his desire to mold the team into one that plays at a fast pace and with the puck. He went 32nd overall. They hung out together, went to school together, went to the rink together. Well, the Sabres faced the Bruins and they won. It's hard to put it into words," Lindy said. Lindy landed on his arm and ended up breaking three ribs. , money, salary, income, and assets. He had immediate success in Buffalo, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals in the 199798 season. As coach of the Buffalo Sabres since 1997, Ruff was the longest-tenured . Use arrows to navigate between autocomplete results. [17], In 2014, Ruff led the Stars to their first playoff appearance since 2008, but lost in the opening round to the Anaheim Ducks in six games. On February 20, 2013, the Sabres announced Ruff had been relieved of his coaching duties, ending his tenure as the NHL's longest active-serving coach with one team and second only to Gregg Popovich in the four major sports in North America. Then, he also worked with the Dallas Stars and New York Rangers. The winter before Brent joined Swift Current, Leeson Ruff recalled his youngest boy scoring 110 goals and adding 100 or so assists to lead his bantam major team to the Alberta title. In 52 playoff games, Ruff recorded 11 goals and 13 assists while accumulating 193 penalty minutes. He excelled at baseball, as did Lindy, once hitting four home runs in one game as a 15-year-old in a senior league. The next thing you hear are people screaming at the back of the bus.". Ruff noted that Seversons performance in Slovakia improved as the tournament progressed and that momentum seemed to carry into his 2019-20 campaign, which included a career-high in ice time per game. As we shall see in 2020-21, Lindy Ruff still has "that same fire," only this time the Devils will glow with it! Usually there is an opportunity to be around some of the players, and even to be around your own personnel that work for the team, Ruff said. Sakic has been skating in the NHL since 1988, overlapping Lindy's career by three years. Instead, Ruff spent the first few days after he was named head coach of the Devils on a steady stream of phone calls. Ruff was named the 15th head coach of the Buffalo Sabres on July 21, 1997. A few weeks later, the normally eloquent coach struggled to explain their encounter. On January 8, 2011, Ruff became the winningest coach who only coached for one team in NHL history when the Sabres defeated the Phoenix Coyotes 21 in overtime. "It was kind of strange. Craven is his neighbor and Foleys place is at the end of the lake., Geoff Sanderson, whose son (Jake) is going to be a pretty high pick in the draft, is about 15 or 20 good casts from my house, Ruff said. I specifically remember him telling me [the day Brent died] something that Lindy had done in practice. Foley owns Whitefish Mountain Resort and a cluster of the restaurants in town. But I know Brent would have been one constant friend I always would have had.". Good, bad, and neutral: Breaking down Devils hiring Lindy Ruff as head coach. Defenseman Bob Wilkie's first concern was finding his shoes before climbing out. Ruff has since been a part of 157 regular season games with the Rangers, and so judgment is now more than fair. Actually, Ruff is one of only four NHL coaches to coach 1,000 games for a single team. "Brent was just a great guy, and you could tell he was going to be an awesome player," said Colorado Avalanche captain Joe Sakic, a teammate on that Swift Current bus. As already mentioned, Gaye and her husband have been together since the mid 1980s. . Earlier this week Lindy Ruff was injured in the Buffalo Sabres' practice, after Jordan Leopold lost his balance on a battle drill and took his feet off. He looked up to Lindy. Bellissimo is old enough to remember when a young Ruff was butt-ended in the eye . He also said, "I have not called the NHL office all year and I will call them ten times tomorrow." While he might opt for some of Montanas famous fly fishing in a river nearby, most days hes content to fish from his dock with the hope of snagging some lake trout. [24] The Devils had been engaged in a rebuilding phase in the leadup to Ruff's hiring, with the expectation that they would soon compete for the playoffs again, but the team continued to struggle during his first two seasons with the team, finishing near the bottom of the standings in each. You have permission to edit this article. "He got by on determination and a modicum of skill.". Brett is working as the Coordinator of the Hockey Administration for Buffalo Sabres. Ruffs coaching resume ranks him sixth on the NHLs all-time wins list and seventh in games coached. "He was still pretty slight and hadn't grown or filled in yet," Lindy said. (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). Presently, the former Sabres head coach is guiding the New Jersey Devils. Ruff is a very emotional person as seen on the Jordin Tootoo incident, and the Sabres now need someone to fill that void on the ice. Sadly, the coach lost his dad on January 28, 2022, at 88, . Ruff was the winner of the 200506 Jack Adams Award for coach of the year in the NHL. Maybe he would've been a captain like Lindy. Alain Vigneault of the Vancouver Canucks won the honour; Ruff placed second in voting with 126 points to Vigneault's 134. But you can still get a great burger at The Bulldog Saloon and theres a collection of dive bars on Central Avenue, where residents can enjoy an escape from the commotion. What followed was one of the 200607 season's most memorable hockey brawls. "I don't know if Lindy even knows that. Ruff was an assistant coach for the Canadian national team at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Eventually they bought the house on Whitefish Lake, and it has become a gathering place for both sides of their family. You won't believe what happened next Tags: feature anniversary Sabres TV Sabres Memories: Lindy Ruff's. He is the present head coach of the New Jersey Devils in the NHL. Lindy played for the WHL team in Lethbridge and also started joining Gayes family during vacations in Montana. So, how much is Lindy Ruff worth at the age of 62 years old? He also recorded 1,264 penalty minutes. If not for a telephone interview with a Medicine Hat reporter, Lindy said the milestone might not have dawned on even him. (Top photo of Ruff fishing in Montana: Lindy Ruff). Try a week on us. The bus went airborne and crashed onto its right side. Ruff declined the fans' offer and had the money raised donated to charity. The Dallas Stars fired Ruff after they failed to make the playoffs in the 2016-17 season, but Alain Vigneault, the Rangers former head coach, added him to his staff to focus on the teams young defensive corps. If you are experiencing difficulties logging in or are a subscriber getting a paywall, please try one or more of the following steps. If I would have lost one of my children . Rick Stewart. Ruff was the longest-tenured coach in the NHL and was rewarded with a three-year contract extension that had an option for a fourth season. Lindy Ruffis a professional ice hockey coach of Canadian nationality. Lindy Ruffs children are Brett Ruff, Eryn Ruff,Madeleine Ruff, and Brian Ruff. It's always tough to relive something like that.". Every time I had a conversation with Lindy or we watched video or anything like that, I thought he was really solid, Severson said. The two-week minicamp theyre requesting would give Ruff the critical in-person time to build relationships with his players and to start to make his mark on his new team. Enter Search Term. Ruffs youngest daughter earned her doctorate from Belmont University in Nashville this year but didnt have a graduation ceremony, so she invited a few friends from grad school to come celebrate in Montana. Nonetheless, Lindy seems to be doing well professionally and in his personal life. Brent was 16 years old and a junior rookie with the Swift Current Broncos when he began to generate buzz as a potential first-round pick in the 1988 NHL draft. [3], Ruff is known for being blunt with the media. During the 2006-2007 season, Lindy led the Sabres to Buffalo's best regular campaign with 53 wins and 113 points (53-22-70). View this post on Instagram. He guided Team Canada to a silver medal at the IIHF World Hockey Championships in Switzerland for the 2008-09 season. The 2021-22 New Jersey Devils are bad and are on pace for being the worst team in franchise history during the salary cap era. On July 9, 2020, the teams Executive Vice President/General Manager, Tom Fitzgerald announced him the teams head coach. Scoring six goals against the Stanley Cup Champions shows what this team can do, but it also shows that this team needs motivation. Weve been coming here a long time, Ruff said. The bus fishtailed, dipped into a ditch and slammed into an elevated farm access road. . "Lindy should know how much his little brother looked up to him," Egeland said. Travis Zajac played for Ruff at the 2009 world championships. If I get more than that, its a banner day for me., The Ruff family boat, docked on Whitefish Lake. An illustration of this came in a May 10, 1980, playoff game against the New York Islanders, when opposing goaltender Billy Smith struck Ruff with his stick as he passed in front of his net. 11, half of Lindy's No. The position of those picks will be determined in a second draft lottery held between the play-in and first rounds of the postseason. He quickly endeared himself to the team's veterans. Brent Ruff is forever 16 in his brother's head, where mental movies play in an endless loop of scenes and story lines that will never be. My negative on Tom was that he didnt win the lottery, David Blitzer, one of the teams owners, said jokingly. "We don't bring it up. I would consider that a big deal, instead of just coming into the main camp cold, Ruff said. Severson, in particular, spent a lot of time with Ruff because the coach was in charge of the defense corps and the penalty kill. Obviously when were playing with the puck a little bit more, the chances will go up and you can be a little better offensively. In 2014, Ruff led the Stars to their first playoff appearance since 2008, but lost in the opening round to the Anaheim Ducks in six games. Ruff got up, skated back to the goaltender and tackled him.[1]. In the second period of New Jersey's game vs. the Arizona Coyotes, Devils fans passionately chanted, "sorry Lindy!" thanks to Ruff's impressive winning recent resume. Bowman was so impressed with Lindy's versatility that in 1983 he moved him from the blue line to the front line. Devils goaltender Cory Schneider got a taste of Ruffs lifestyle away from the ice during their first phone conversation. [citation needed]. 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