"For too long," Sullivan writes early, "Darcy Regier and Lindy Ruff have had a built-in excuse for failing to win. It became convenient to hide behind miserly, dysfunctional or simply non-existent ownership. When they lost in the playoffs, they didn't have the tools. When Regier came up small at the trade deadline, his hands were tied. When Ruff's power play sputtered in big games, or when he abandoned his backup goaltender, it was because the owner wouldn't pay what it took to put them over the top."
True enough. Mmmmm, generally speaking.
Now that the Pegula era is in full swing with unprecedented moves from the draft through the beginning of free agency on July 1, Sullivan has a point when he says, "on paper, Regier may have assembled the best team in his 14 years on the job as Buffalo's GM."
Fair Enough. Mmmmmmaybe.
This year, "the pressure," as Sullivan states, "falls squarely (up)on Ruff, who will be expected to make it work."
And, there's the rub.
Well, at least from the media.
Ruff has had Sabres Owner Terry Pegula's backing from day one mainly because Ruff has made it work under the aforementioned conditions. And Pegula continued his support of Ruff in a recent Bucky Gleason piece with a little shot at Sullivan, "I've heard some comments, 'It's time to put up or shut up. You say you want to win and all this stuff,'" he said. "Well, isn't that why every team should exist?"
The Pressure Is Always On the Coach
The pressure of coaching and winning in the NHL doesn't seem to bother Ruff that much. Hell, he knows the expectations that are upon him, his staff and his team. In the Gleason piece Pegula was tempering immediate expectations when Ruff interrupted, "No, Terry, we do have to win now. You know what? Winning now is good. That's not bad, Terry, that's good. And we need to know that."
Ruff's a pro and has been on the hot seat before, most recently last October as his team slumped to the bottom of the standings.
During his weekly appearance on WGR's Howard Simon Show at the time, Ruff was asked the tough questions about where the blame lies, about the players possibly "tuning him out," about his job security, etc...and he was pretty straightforward.
Two lines stand out from the appearance, "we're digging in," he said during one question and, "we'll find ways to win," was the other (click here for access to the Ruff interview on WGR.) Oddly enough, those words rang true.
The team eventually dug in and found ways to win enough games to make it into the playoffs as a #7-seed in the Eastern Conference. Just what got them there--a harmonic convergence that included coaching, the Pegula-effect, divine intervention at the insistence of the late "Rico" Martin, the Derek Roy injury, the play of Jhonas Enroth, the Myers turn-around, the emergence of Thomas Vanek as a leader, among other things--is a matter for endless discussion. But, the fact is, the Sabres pulled off a minor miracle to get into the playoffs. And they almost pulled off an upset in the first round.
The argument as to how much influence Ruff had on the turn-around makes for great blog-fodder as well. And the debate as to whether or not Ruff is a top-notch coach, which has gone back and forth for years, will continue.
On the one side (my preferred side,) he's done well and adapted his approach to the players he's had. During his tenure, the team never had a top-three draft pick, never traded for a top-notch player in his prime and never landed any of the top free agents July 1. Yet, he was able to get the most out of what he was given, taking his teams farther than they should have gone.
On the other side, he's never coached the team to a Stanley Cup in 13 seasons behind the bench, although he has had some pretty good teams.
Follow the money
If you're going to judge Ruff (or any coach,) one interesting way to do it is to look at what his former players have done once they moved on to greener pastures via unrestricted free agency. Namely what they did as Sabres, what they received contract-wise upon leaving and how their production fared away from Lindy Ruff and his coaching staff.
Although I'm not a reader of Sports Illustrated, a fan on another site--one who happens to think that the smallest Sabre, Gerbe, will get 75pts--posted the following link which leads to Sports Illustrated's Free Agent Busts.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0906/nhl.free.agent.busts/
The impetus behind his post was the constant talk of free agent over payments and, specifically, the Sabres' giving UFA, Ville Lieno, $27M for a career high 19-goal season.
What SI did was compile a list of the top-26 (kind of an odd number, eh?) free agent busts.
(The fact that the NY Rangers have signed the most free agent busts, eight, is irrelevant here. Just wanted to point it out.)
Of note, though, is the fact that former Sabres successfully coached by Lindy Ruff took three of the top 13 spots:
- #3--Brian Campbell
- #7--Chris Drury
- #13--Jay Mckee
Brian Campbell
Chicago Blackhawks, 2008
An All-Star in Buffalo and noted 2008 deadline trade to San Jose, the 29-year old blueliner got an eight-year, $56.8 million deal from the 'Hawks. Campbell became an onerous $7 million cap hit who logged just 20:28 of ice time in the playoffs while Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith became the No. 1 pair in Chicago. The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2010, but were caught in a salary cap squeeze so tight they had to trade off valuable support players. In June 2011, Campbell waived his no-trade clause and was dealt to Florida, which needed his paycheck to reach the cap floor.
Chris Drury
New York Rangers, 2007
Hardly a bad player, but the Rangers gave too much (5 years, $35.25 million) to a center who brought little more than intangibles to their mix. Drury scored 47 goals during his first two seasons with New York, but was a bust as the pivot on Jaromir Jagr's top line in 2007-08. In June 2011, the Rangers bought out the final year of Drury's contract in order to free up $3.3 million worth of cap space. He was to receive $3.35 million from New York over the next two years.
Jay McKee
St. Louis Blues, 2006
The shot-blocking blueliner out of Buffalo got a four-year, $16 million deal from St. Louis where his stay was marred by injuries and low productivity, prompting the Blues to buy out the final year of his deal.
We all rememember what those three brought to the team--Campbell's hit on RJ Umberger as well as his offensive accumen. Drury's leadership and scoring ability (30-plus goals twice with Buffalo.) McKee's stay-at-home, shot-blocking toughness and leadership.
In retrospect they all went from a situation that brought out the best in their games to ones that showed a signifcant reduction in production.
Not every player, though, faltered after leaving the Sabres, some continued their success:
- Daniel Briere plays as well as he's ever played since his career took off in Buffalo.
- JP Dumont, part of the 2000 Gilmor/Grosek deal, excelled once he arrived in Buffalo and continued that trend well into his career in Nashville.
- Clarke MacArthur had a career year last year in Toronto exceeding expectations.
- Toni Lydman lead he NHL in +/- with Anaheim last year.
The Sabres Are In Good Hands
The frustration that the media and fans have stems from the lack of a Stanley Cup during Ruff's tenure. They'll point to the Hasek years, and the two years post-lockout as teams that, maybe, should have won the cup. And many, like Sullivan, are ready to say that there are no excues now, even though the team still has some holes that were not properly filled by Regier's spending spree.
When you look at the team as it is right now, with strong goaltending, a solid, veteran d-corp with mobility and grit, strength on the wings, and (hopefully) adequate centers, most of the pieces seem to be in place for a good playoff run.
Back in 2005/06 and 2006/07, when the Sabres were on a level playing field financially with the rest of the league because of the cap, the Sabres went deep into the playoffs. And Pegula has put this team on a level playing field once again.
A good touch from Ruff and his staff should be enough to get the team that far this season. And with some timely bounces and a little luck, the team just might fullfill Pegula's stated desire to see a parade down Delaware Avenue within the next three years.
If it's all in Lindy Ruff's hands for that duration, I think the Sabres are in good hands. And if the team can pull off a championship under Lindy Ruff maybe it will be Sullivan who will be the one to finally shut up.
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