Lindy Ruff lamented the fact that his lack of success as coach of the Buffalo Sabres in the last 20 months contributed to the organization's firing of general manager Kevyn Adams.
Two days after the announcement that Jarmo Kekalainen would replace Adams as general manager, the resignation in Ruff’s voice was obvious as he spoke at the podium after practice Wednesday afternoon at KeyBank Center.
“I’ve been through them; they’re not easy days,” Ruff said of the turnover. “There are days that it’s a part of this business. I felt sad. I felt like I let my GM down and that I didn’t get the job done.”
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff, back, directs his players during a timeout in the first period Thursday against the Avalanche in Denver.
David Zalubowski, Associated Press
Ruff also confronted the question of whether his job security is in jeopardy, given the change of general manager and the fact that the Sabres are last in the Atlantic Division (32 points) and last in the 16-team Eastern Conference as they prepare to host the Philadelphia Flyers at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at KeyBank Center.
Ruff is the Sabres’ all-time winningest coach (621-485-78-95), but since his hire as coach by Adams in April 2024, he is just 50-53-11, including 14-14-4 this season, and the Sabres did not make the playoffs last season.
Here are three takeaways from Ruff, post-practice:
Ruff’s relationship with Kekalainen
Ruff said he did not know Kekalainen before he joined the Sabres as a senior advisor to Adams in May, but quickly found he was a voice of reason with whom Adams and Ruff constantly communicated.“You had a set of eyes from the outside that didn’t have a history with a lot of the players. What he saw inside the game and what he saw from some of our players, and every time he spent watching Rochester play, he spent almost every day with us in the coaches' office, and I feel I got to know him really well.”
Kekalainen said Tuesday, without offering specifics, that everything and everybody is under evaluation at this point, whether it’s the scouting staff, management or coaches, a point that Ruff is keenly aware of.
“I know I have a job to do,” Ruff said. “The job is to win hockey games. I had a discussion with Jarmo and he just said, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing. We have to win games. We’re on a three-game winning streak. Just keep trying to get better.’ ”
Ruff’s relationship with Adams
Ruff and Adams had a long working relationship in the sport, particularly in the last 15 years with the Sabres. Ruff hired Adams as associate coach in August 2011, about a year and a half after he joined the Sabres as a player development coach. Adams then hired Ruff as the Sabres’ coach about 20 months ago to replace Don Granato.“We spent a lot of time together,” Ruff said. “We spent every day talking about our players and where we're at and where we thought we needed to go. There wasn't a day that we didn't discuss our lineup, from who was playing to who was out to whatever you think could make us better.”
The problem was the Sabres haven’t improved enough to make the playoffs for the first time since 2011, including the five seasons Adams was general manager and Ruff’s second stint as head coach.
From the owner
Adding to the swirl of the transition? Sabres and Bills owner Terry Pegula and his daughter, Laura, a Sabres alternate governor, were on the bench for practice Wednesday at KeyBank Center.“It was great,” Ruff said. “He’s the owner of our team, and for him to be here and for him to be watching practice, I think it was an awesome thing."
“I hope he wasn’t evaluating my skating,” Ruff added, wryly.
Ruff said when he spoke with Pegula about the GM change earlier this week, they didn't talk about Ruff's immediate future with the Sabres.
"We talked about continuing to win hockey games,” Ruff said.
Ruff, though, focused on the immediate future, even as his team has endured 157 man-games lost due to illnesses and injuries, a nine-game stretch in which they won only one game and lost four games in regulation and four games in overtime (from Oct. 25 to Nov. 13), and the recent administrative turnover.
“I’m focused on finishing the job,” Ruff said. “Like I said, I’m disappointed that we’ve dealt with a lot this year, but we’ve got ourselves in position here, where we can really push ahead. The players, with (Josh) Norris coming back in the lineup and now (defenseman Michael) Kesselring coming back in the lineup, getting healthier is the part that excites me. We’re starting to see the team that we envision it to be.”
