Lindy Ruff
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| Position | Forward Defenseman |
| Shoots | Left |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) |
| NHL Team F. Teams |
retired Buffalo Sabres New York Rangers |
| Nationality |  Canada |
| Born | February 17, 1960, Warburg, Alberta, Canada |
| NHL Draft | 32nd overall, 1979 Buffalo Sabres |
| Pro Career | 1979 – 1991 |
Lindy Cameron Ruff (Born: February 17, 1960 in Warburg, Alberta, Canada) is head coach of the Buffalo Sabres and former left winger in the National Hockey League. As a player, he was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the second round, 32nd overall of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. He played for the Buffalo Sabres and New York Rangers. Ruff gained a reputation as a player for his toughness, character and hard work on the ice. An illustration of this came in a game where opposing goaltender Billy Smith struck Ruff with is his stick as he passed in front of his net. Ruff got up, skated back to the goaltender and tackled him.
He became assistant coach of the Florida Panthers for the 1993-94 NHL season until the 1996-97 NHL season. His best success then was with the 1996 Florida Panthers, who made the Stanley Cup Finals. He then became head coach of the Buffalo Sabres before the 1997-98 NHL season where he has been since. In Ruff's second season as coach, the Sabres reached the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals before finally losing to the Dallas Stars in six games. Ruff is currently the longest-tenured coach in the NHL.
On April 5, 2006, Ruff became the 31st coach in NHL history to win 300 games, and just the 16th to do it with only one team. Ruff led the Sabres to their most successful regular season ever in 2005-2006.
Ruff was the winner of the 2005-06 Jack Adams Award for coach of the year in the National Hockey League. Tom Renney of the New York Rangers and Peter Laviolette of the Carolina Hurricanes were also nominated.
Ruff is known for being blunt with the media. One well-known example of his bluntness is his comments on Leafs player Darcy Tucker. In his postgame comments following a questionable hit on Jochen Hecht that knocked the Sabres centre out of the lineup for two weeks with a sprained ACL, Ruff said, "I want him [Tucker] suspended." He also said, "I have not called the NHL office all year and I will call them ten times tomorrow." He called Tucker's hit "a definition of a joke."[1]
Ruff's bluntness was softened early in the 2005/2006 season. He knew that one of the Sabres' captains, Daniel Brière, was out for 34 games during the regular season, due to recovery from a serious abdominal tear. Also, his daughter had a brain tumour, after which she made a full recovery.
Lindy and his wife Gaye have 4 children.
| Buffalo Sabres Head Coaches |
|---|
| Imlach • Smith • Crozier • Pronovost • Inglis • Bowman • Neilson • Roberts • Schoenfeld • Ramsay • Sator • Dudley • Muckler • Nolan • Ruff |
| Current National Hockey League head coaches |
|---|
| Babcock • Carbonneau • Carlyle • Crawford • Gretzky • Hanlon • Hartley • Hitchcock • Julien • Laviolette • Lemaire • Lewis • MacTavish • Martin • Maurice • A.Murray • B.Murray • Nolan • Playfair • Quenneville • Renney • Ruff • Savard • Stevens • Therrien • Tippett • Tortorella • Trotz • Vigneault • Wilson |
| Preceded by: Ted Nolan |
Head Coaches of the Buffalo Sabres 1997- |
Succeeded by: incumbent |
| Preceded by: Gilbert Perreault |
Buffalo Sabres captains 1986-89 |
Succeeded by: Mike Foligno |
| Preceded by: John Tortorella |
Jack Adams Award Winners 2006 |
Succeeded by: most recent |
