Ruff - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres notes: Will Lindy Ruff have input in trades, other roster decisions?

BUFFALO – It’s no secret Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams leaned heavily on former coach Don Granato for roster decisions.

Adams regularly signed or traded for players Granato had connections to, often from his days coaching junior with the US National Team Development Program.

When the Sabres acquired winger Jordan Greenway prior to the trade deadline in 2023, Adams said Granato pounded the table for him. Adams made similar comments after they signed defenseman Connor ... Read the full article

Ex-Sabres Jason Pominville, Ryan Miller know Lindy Ruff can succeed in Buffalo

BUFFALO – Before the Sabres re-hired Lindy Ruff, one of the coach’s prominent former players, Jason Pominville, said he texted some friends and told them, “It has to be him. They have to bring him back.”

“Like, this is the time to bring him back,” Pominville wrote to them.

He had no inside information during the Sabres’ search for Don Granato’s replacement. The former winger simply knew Ruff could help a young, talented ... Read the full article

In current Sabres, coach Lindy Ruff sees similarities to special 2005-06 team

BUFFALO – As general manager Kevyn Adams searched for the Sabres’ next head coach, he said he kept thinking back to his conversations with Lindy Ruff.

Ruff, of course, was a strong candidate from the get-go. Adams wanted a coaching veteran capable of holding players accountable and pushing the Sabres to the next level, and Ruff, having led Buffalo to the playoffs eight times during his first stint here, certainly fit his criteria.

As Adams ... Read the full article

What will Sabres’ Lindy Ruff do with his assistant coaches?

BUFFALO – During Lindy Ruff’s re-introduction as Sabres coach, the assistant coaches he inherited from his predecessor, Don Granato, sat in the front row watching their new boss speak.

Ruff said he spent “what seemed like a couple hours” talking with the coaches Tuesday morning prior to his news conference.

Right now, Ruff has one open spot on his staff. The Sabres also fired assistant coach Jason Christie when they dismissed Granato.... Read the full article

He’s back in Buffalo: Sabres name Lindy Ruff coach

BUFFALO – When he addressed the media after firing Don Granato, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said he knew the exact type of head coach he wanted to hire.

Adams coveted experience. His new coach would be an NHL veteran capable of pushing the Sabres, who own an NHL-record 13-year playoff drought, to the next level.

It wasn’t hard to tell who he was talking about.

Late Monday afternoon, the Sabres made it official, naming ... Read the full article

Sabres want more accountability from new coach: ‘A little too comfortable’

BUFFALO – Well, now we know. As expected, Sabres players praised Don Granato, their former coach, crediting him for boosting their careers and acknowledging they could’ve done more to help him.

Still, they clearly wanted a different type of leader.

In discussing Granato’s dismissal, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said his players “are craving accountability, structure,” a sentiment they echoed Wednesday as they held exit meetings in KeyBank Center following a disappointing 84-point finish.

While ... Read the full article

After firing coach Don Granato, Sabres GM Kevyn Adams begins search for experienced replacement

BUFFALO – In firing coach Don Granato following a disappointing season in which the Sabres missed the playoffs for an NHL-record 13th consecutive year, general manager Kevyn Adams has shifted the onus to himself.

Adams has always accepted blame for the Sabres’ troubles, and in discussing Tuesday’s dismissal of Granato and the state of his team for 45 minutes in KeyBank Center, he again shouldered his share of the responsibility for an 84-point campaign.

But ... Read the full article

13 years ago today, the Buffalo Sabres clinched their last playoff spot

It feels like a lifetime ago. In reality, 13 years have passed since the Buffalo Sabres clinched their last playoff berth.

On April 8, 2011, the Sabres completed a stunning turnaround by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 in overtime and securing a spot in the postseason.

Barely five months earlier, they had ranked dead last in the NHL.

Read about the Sabres’ wild win that night – they sat on the puck at the end ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Connor Clifton knows why hit earned him two-game suspension

BUFFALO – Sabres defenseman Connor Clifton said he has watched the replay of the hit he laid on New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier over and over.

Clifton, who on Saturday was suspended two games by the NHL for an illegal check to the head, wishes he had approached the hit differently.

As the puck moved toward Hischier, Clifton figured the center would grab it and carry it into the Buffalo zone. When he let ... Read the full article

Sabres celebrate life of Rick Jeanneret: ‘Greatest artist I have ever known’

BUFFALO – No one, Rebecca Way said, believes her story of Sabres fandom.

Growing up in Pittsburgh, she rooted for the Penguins. When they lost in the playoffs in 2007, she said she “bandwagoned” for the Sabres. She quickly fell in love with them, in part, through legendary play-by-play man’s Rick Jeanneret’s colorful broadcasting.

Way said Jeanneret, who died August 17 of multi-organ failure at 81, “made me feel like I was a part ... Read the full article