BUFFALO – Before Lindy Ruff could accept a two-year contract extension from the Sabres, he had to consult with someone he called his assistant coach – his wife, Gaye.
The wife of an NHL coach has many duties, including being a sounding board when her husband returns home on those difficult nights.
Gaye has been doing it since 1997, when Ruff, 66, began his first stint with the Sabres.
“She’s the one that I would go home and talk to, and part of the decision to carry on is that my assistant coach was good with this, too,” Ruff said Wednesday in KeyBank Center shortly after the Sabres announced his new contract. “(She’s given) unbelievable support through all these years, and (I) probably wouldn’t be sitting here if it wasn’t for her.”
Ruff said Gaye always reinforces he’s a good coach.
“(She) just kept saying, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll get them to the right place,’” he said.
Ruff certainly did, as the Sabres notched 50 victories, earned 109 points, won the ultra-competitive Atlantic Division while ending their NHL-record 14-year postseason drought. Their six-game victory over the Boston Bruins in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs marked the first time they won a series since 2007.
As the Sabres improved morphed into one of the NHL’s elite teams as the season progressed, Gaye knew her husband had to keep going.
“She’s totally on board,” he said. “She said, ‘You’ve got the disease, you’ve got to continue.’”
As Ruff spoke, he clearly hadn’t gotten over Monday’s emotional 3-2 overtime home loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 7 of their second-round series.
After erasing an early 2-0 deficit, Ruff said he believed the Sabres would win and advance to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final.
“I still have this vision, we’re going in on the two-on-one (in overtime), the game’s over, that we’re winning the game,” he said. “And that was our big opportunity, and I get to go back to Carolina.”
Ruff sorely wanted another crack at Carolina. In 2006, the Hurricanes won a wild seven-game Eastern Conference final over the Sabres.
Twenty years later, it clearly still gnaws at Ruff that the Hurricanes cost him a trip to the Stanley Cup final.
“Against a team that is always been one of the best teams in the East, it’s a measuring point,” he said. “I was looking forward to having a chance at that series.”
Perhaps he will earn that opportunity next season. The Sabres certainly seem built to be a contender for a long time.
Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, who replaced Kevyn Adams on Dec. 15, said extending Ruff was “a no-brainer.”
Kekalainen said he first discussed an extension with Ruff in late March in Los Angeles. Ruff wanted to pause the talks to focus on the playoffs.
“But once we got to it in the end, it was pretty quick and straightforward talk,” he said. “I think we’ve always wanted the same things, so it was easy. Just real proud of the whole group and what we went through, how much we learned.
“Obviously, we’re not where we want to be right now, and the disappointment will take a little while, but we did the exit meetings with Lindy together, and I just can’t emphasize enough to them and to everybody how excited I am about the future of this group and the potential that we have.”
Kekalainen, who joined the Sabres almost one year ago as a senior advisor, said he has developed a strong relationship with Ruff.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with Lindy, I’ve enjoyed his sense of humor, his experience, his passion for the game, his details and how he’s still involved as a coach,” he said. “He’s not a spring chicken anymore but he’s a student of the game. I view it the same way. I feel like I’ve got to be a better manager.”
Ruff said his entire staff of assistant coaches will be returning.
“I can tell you right now that I’ve got an incredibly hard-working staff,” he said. “I talked about continuity last year. I’ve talked about the ability to keep more moving forward. I really like my staff. Of all the staffs I’ve had on the teams I’ve coached, these guys have dug in day and day, night after night from nearly 6:30 in the morning every day, seven days a week to when playoffs ended.
“We’ve battled through tough, tough weeks. We’ve been able to keep a level head, even when things were going real good.”
Ruff, who previously coached the Sabres from 1997 to 2013, is the Sabres’ all-time wins leader. He has registered a 657-494-178 career record with the franchise.
He coached the Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils following his first stint in Buffalo.
He ranks third in NHL history in games coached (1,938), trailing only Scotty Bowman (2,141) and Paul Maurice (2,012). He ranks fourth in wins (950), trailing only Bowman (1,244), Quenneville (1,012) and Maurice (956).
Ruff, 66, is the NHL’s third-oldest coach.