Who is Lindy Ruff? Stan Fischler Surveys the Hockey World

If experience is the best teacher, the Devils did well naming Lindy Ruff as their new head coach.
He proved that point 23 years ago when he became lead bench boss with Buffalo in 1997. Remarkably, he secured that job for no less than sixteen years.
"Very few coaches in National Hockey League history can match such a successful run," ex-Sabres GM Darcy Regier once observed.
Actually, Ruff is one of only four NHL coaches to coach 1,000 games for a single team. The others include Al Arbour (Islanders), Billy Reay (Blackhawks) and Barry Trotz (Nashville.) He couldn't be in better company.
"I still have the same fire," said Ruff several years ago. "I want to win a Cup."

FULL COVERAGE
PRESS RELEASES
Devils Hire Tom Fitzgerald as EVP/General Manager
Devils Hire Lindy Ruff as Head Coach
VIDEO
DEVILS NOW | A Big Day for Fitzgerald and Ruff
Full Press Conference Introducing Ruff, Fitzgerald
Welcome, Lindy Ruff!
1-on-1 with Jake Reynolds
1-on-1 with Martin Brodeur
1-on-1 with Lindy Ruff
Zajac on the Coaching Hire
Zacha on the Coaching Hire
ARTICLES
BIG READ: The Path Forward
About Lindy Ruff
Who is Lindy Ruff? Stan Fischler Surveys the Hockey World
The History of Devils Coaches, From Stan Fischler
Stan Fischler Gets Thoughts from Scott Bowman, Chico Resch and Others on the Hire
QUICK HITS
Three Things on Lindy Ruff, presented by Wawa
Lindy Ruff Fast Facts
Stan Fischler's Coaching Sidebar
BLOGS
Ruff Ready to Develop Young Devils Team
Fitzgerald Reaches Post Playing Days Dream with GM Title
Blitzer Discusses Devils GM and Coach Hirings
Credited to Brett Hull of the Stars, the goal appeared -- to many observers -- to be illegally scored but Ruff's protests went unheeded and Lindy never got as close to hockey's Promised Land after that.
But his admirable string of successes -- as both player and coach -- far overshadowed that classic goal controversy.
After three impressive years of Junior hockey (Lethbridge Broncos), the Warburg, Alberta native was drafted in 1979 by Buffalo during the second round as a defenseman. He went 32nd overall.
"Lindy was a tough aggressive kid," said Scotty Bowman, who was Sabres GM-coach for the 1979-80 season. "We liked his smarts and determination on defense."
Those very qualities enabled Lindy to make a successful leap from Junior to The Show. Ruff repaid Bowman's faith even without hefty numbers. When regulars Jerry Korab and Jim Schoenfeld were injured Darcy got his chance.
"Ruff never was the most talented player in the world," historian Andrew Podnieks wrote in "Players," Podnieks' definitive who's who of hockey. "He got by on determination and a modicum of skill."
Add some fire to that blend. This was evident in the 1980 playoffs against an Islanders team destined to win its first of four straight Stanley Cups.
In a game at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on May 10, 1980, Ruff collided with Isles belligerent goalie Battlin' Bill Smith in a goalmouth scramble.
"Smitty's stick caught Lindy in the eye," Action Sports Hockey publisher Bob Stampleman remembered, "and he went down to the ice in pain. But he didn't stay there long. He got up and tackled Smitty to the ice."
Bowman was so impressed with Lindy's versatility that in 1983 he moved him from the blue line to the front line. Ruff made the move seamlessly and played left wing for three years while also being team captain.
Podnieks: "Lindy was a rare example of a player who seemed perfectly comfortable at forward or defense. Injuries eventually slowed him down after a while and he was traded to the Rangers."
The Blueshirts acquired Lindy at the 1990 trade deadline for a draft pick. He gave the New Yorkers a couple of seasons more of three-quarter speed hockey before finishing his lengthy playing career in the minors,
After a final season (1992-93) with the San Diego Gulls, he smoothly segued behind the bench as an assistant coach with the Florida Panthers for the 1993-94 season. Lindy worked the bench with head coach Roger Neilson.
Astonishingly, Ruff helped lead the wildly underdog Cats to the 1996 Stanley Cup Final before being taken out in a sweep by the potent Colorado Avalanche.
After Lindy's four years of basic coach-training in the Sunshine State, he was ready to move north. He got his first head coaching gig in 1997 when the Sabres took a gamble on a green leader and gave Ruff a shot at the job.
"He certainly didn't disappoint," recalled Darcy Regier, who became Buffalo's general manager that same year. "Lindy took us to the Eastern Conference Finals and a year later to the Final Round for the Cup."
Within two wins of winning his first NHL title as well as the first Stanley Cup for Buffalo, the Sabres battled hard in Game Six at home; so hard that it appeared they just might upset the Stars.
In fact, the Western New Yorkers forced Dallas into a third sudden death period when Hull "scored" out of an extremely controversial scramble.
It can be debated until the cows come home whether the goal was legal or not; the point is nobody in command over-ruled it and the Texans had the Cup. All Lindy had was headaches and negative memories.

With 20-20 hindsight two decades later, Ruff said that the play was "still vivid" in his mind. "I protested, hoping that it would be reviewed," he told a TV interviewer. "I wanted it to be disallowed so we'd still have a shot at the Cup."
Lindy even tried to make his case with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman who was there to present the silver to Dallas.
Ruff: "I was caught in the moment. After all, you don't have that many opportunities to win the Cup."
It would not be Lindy's last such intense eruption. During the 2005-06 season he verbally ripped Toronto's Darcy Tucker after the pugnacious Leaf forward put Buffalo's Jochen Hecht out of action for two weeks with a nasty (dirty) hit.
"I want Tucker suspended," Ruff told the assembled media in his post-game scrum. "I'll call the NHL office ten times tomorrow."
Lindy didn't get any satisfaction from the league until after the season when he was presented with the Adams Award as the NHL's best coach.
During the 2006-2007 season, Lindy led the Sabres to Buffalo's best regular campaign with 53 wins and 113 points (53-22-70). Only this time he was runner-up for the Adams prize to Vancouver's Alain Vigneault in a close vote.
On January 8, 2011, Ruff reached yet another pleasant plateau. His 501st victory made him the winningest mentor who only coached one team. That put him one "W" ahead of Montreal's legendary Hall of Famer Toe Blake.
Despite some setbacks over the years, Ruff never softened his work ethic nor his toughness of character. When he became head coach of Dallas in 2013, he immediately turned a losing team into a post-season threat.
That explains, in part, why the Rangers eventually signed him as an assistant coach on July 10, 2017. He retained that role until the Devils came knocking and welcomed Lindy to New Jersey.
As we shall see in 2020-21, Lindy Ruff still has "that same fire," only this time the Devils will glow with it!