Speaking of wins…
In addition to longevity as a coach in the NHL, Ruff has racked up the sixth-most wins in league history with 736. He also has the 15th most playoff victories of any coach in NHL history, just two behind Philadelphia's Alain Vigneault.
As the Buffalo's franchise leader in wins with 571, Ruff led the Sabres to some fantastic seasons. They advanced to the Eastern Conference Final in his first season and then went to the Stanley Cup Final in his second.
We did some digging into his career points percentage to see where it ranked in NHL history. Among all NHL coaches, no matter if they coached one game or 2,000, Ruff ranks 76th (.561). But looking at the list there is not much separating Ruff from coaches who are currently steering their teams to the playoffs.
Dave Tippett in Edmonton sits just .003 above Ruff at .564, while Trotz with the Islanders is .007 ahead of Ruff. Former Devils Head Coach and now Vegas bench boss Peter DeBoer trails Ruff with a career points percentage of .555. John Tortorella is at .553. And just for some more context with recent NHL coaches, Gerard Gallant is at .550.
Taking a look at his win-loss percentage in the postseason and Ruff sits in an even more favorable position. He's 32nd all-time at .550, which only sees two active coaches better (Craig Berube and Mike Sullivan). It's a log jam of great NHL coaches right behind him in this category. 33rd through 36th are Quenneville, Mike Babcock, Claude Julien, and DeBoer.
And here's a random fact that really doesn't mean anything but is interesting: The Devils franchise has only had one season with 50 or more wins. Ruff has had three at the helm. He had 52 with Buffalo in 2005-06, 53 in 2006-07, and 50 with Dallas in 2015-16.
