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Should Lindy Ruff be Fired?

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Lindy Ruff has had many opportunities to take the Sabres to a higher level. He has failed at almost every turn. I understand he loses many players to a poorly run front office - but none-the-less this most recent loss to a 6th seed has me thinking.

I think that when they blew the second 2-goal lead and lost he should have lit a fire under his team saying they need to play more responsibly and hold a lead.

Instead he blamed the refs - stating it was bad calls that cost them the game. This gave the team nothing to respond to and the lackluster play continued.

Ruff has been a whiner for years now, constantly making excuses to why they lose. At what point is it finally his fault they are losing and not somebody elses?

IMO the Buffalo Sabres could use a change up behind the bench. What do other people think?

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If you do the same thing over and over, don't expect a different result. He's been there forever, they need a shakeup. Look at what Dave Tippett did with Phoenix.

Completely agree.

Annoying to see these failtastic teams just keep running headfirst into walls and then wondering what's wrong.

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If you do the same thing over and over, don't expect a different result. He's been there forever, they need a shakeup. Look at what Dave Tippett did with Phoenix.

Agreed - he hasn't done a horrible job, but there are a lot of sticking points

- The way he handled the Afinaganov situation

- Poor line management

- Inability to get them over the hump

All and all, what it comes down to is that in this league, if you don't win it all, it's time to chance and like you said he's been there for a LONG time and won nothing... time for a change.

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Completely random, but kinda funny that the longest serving head coach in the NHL is only 2 years older than Chris Chelios.

He's been the Sabres coach for the past 13 years, perhaps it is time for a change. Although, I think he has done a great job. I know most would say that he hasn't been able to get them over the hump, but I'm not sure they'd even get near that hump if they didn't have a great coach.

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Lindy Ruff is Buffalo's quieter version of Ron Wilson. He'll make a team better to a degree or three in the regular season, but when it gets to anything worth winning, he is all smoke and mirrors.

Buffalo needs to go in a different direction for sure, there are a lot of good coaches out there and as others have said, Ruff will be able to find a job elsewhere almost immediately.

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I don't catch any Sabres games so I can't really comment on them or their coach, but if you're going to make the argument that Ruff can't get it done come playoff time and this makes him a poor coach- well what about Barry Trotz? He's been there in Nashville forever, and has won squat. Generally I think coach Trotz puts a good effort in and becomes a victim of circumstance year after year. So, what's the difference between Ruff and Trotz?

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I also think you can make the argument that he hasn't always had the players to go farther in the playoffs, they had to let go of a lot of talent over the years, also for Trotz, but sometimes you just have to change the plan.

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I don't catch any Sabres games so I can't really comment on them or their coach, but if you're going to make the argument that Ruff can't get it done come playoff time and this makes him a poor coach- well what about Barry Trotz? He's been there in Nashville forever, and has won squat. Generally I think coach Trotz puts a good effort in and becomes a victim of circumstance year after year. So, what's the difference between Ruff and Trotz?

Trotz has had a lot less to work with year in and year out... he is finally starting to get some solid talent and they are finally starting to become competitive annually...

Now, if the Preds can't get past the 1st round next year, then it might be time to start evaluating him as well...

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I don't catch any Sabres games so I can't really comment on them or their coach, but if you're going to make the argument that Ruff can't get it done come playoff time and this makes him a poor coach- well what about Barry Trotz? He's been there in Nashville forever, and has won squat. Generally I think coach Trotz puts a good effort in and becomes a victim of circumstance year after year. So, what's the difference between Ruff and Trotz?

The difference for Trotz is that other than having Forsberg and Karyia a couple years, he's hasn't had any star players. Nashville has one of the lowest budgets in the league. If you were a casual fan of the game, you probably couldn't name more than two people on the team. On the other hand, Ruff has had a hand full of good players and hasn't done anything. At one time they had Miller, Briere, Drury, Afineginov and Campbell and they still couldn't win. The Sabres missed the playoffs the last two years and lost the first round this year. It's time for a change. Ruff will get a job five minutes after he's fired.

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I catch a lot of Sabres games living out in Rochester, NY. I think it might be a mistake to fire Ruff. Ruff is a quality coach, and I think it would be a mistake to fire him unless you have a better coach out there to replace him with... and I'm not sure if any of those are available. The bigger issue with the team is the GM, and the players he brought in.

Look at their usual top forwards in the playoffs:

- Vanek was hurt

- Pomminville had 2 goals, 2 assists

- Roy had 2 assists

- Connelly had 1 assist

- Stafford had no points

There was just no production out of their top players. This team does not have enough talent. Their Top 6 is pathetic and they lack depth on defense. This team was Miller playing out of his mind and a great Bottom 6 carrying this team.

If I was the Sabres, I'd get rid of Darcy Reiger (the GM) and let a new GM decide Ruff's fate. But I think it would be a HUGE mistake to fire the coach and stick with these players.

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Due to bad contracts they are stuck with those players. Roy for 4 million and Connolly for 4.5 million aren't going anywhere...nobody would take them.

They have 12 million in cap to sign 2 d-men 4 forwards and a backup goalie...not enough money to bring in much quality with their other needs...Could MAYBE get 1 top-line player.

Though I agree the GM Regeir should also be fired I think that there comes a time when a team needs a shake up.

Ruff has had poor line management for the last feww years, and he makes excuses about loses instead of using them to motivate the team.

After the "kick-in" no goal Vigneault didn't carry on about bad reffing as much as Ruff did for a few bad penalties...

The Canucks rallied to win...Buffalo did not.

The attitude in that locker room needs to be mixed up. A new coach could do it.

Ruff is a good coach and would easily find work. But I think he has maxed out how he will do in Buffalo.

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