Lindy Ruff

Lindy Cameron Ruff (born February 17, 1960) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player who most recently served as the head coach of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Ruff was chosen in the second round, 32nd overall, of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, by the Buffalo Sabres.

He played for the 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 May 10, 1980, playoff game against the New York Islanders, when opposing goaltender Billy Smith struck Ruff with his stick as he passed in front of his net.

Ruff got up, skated back to the goaltender and tackled him.

Ruff played most of his NHL career for the Sabres, serving as captain of the team for nearly three years, but he was traded to the Rangers at the 1989 NHL trade deadline in exchange for a draft pick.

The Sabres would use that pick to select Richard Šmehlík, who would later play for several years under Ruff.

Ruff played in 691 NHL games, scoring 105 goals and adding 195 assists for a total of 300 points.

He also recorded 1,264 penalty minutes.

In 52 playoff games, Ruff recorded 11 goals and 13 assists while accumulating 193 penalty minutes.

Ruff became assistant coach of the Florida Panthers for the 1993–94 season until the 1996–97 season.

His greatest success as an assistant coach was with the 1995–96 Florida Panthers, who made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, but lost to the Colorado Avalanche in a four game sweep.

Ruff was previously the head coach of the Dallas Stars of the NHL, and also the head coach of the Buffalo Sabres from 1997 to 2013, with whom he won the Jack Adams Award in 2006.

During his playing career, Ruff played in the NHL for the Sabres and New York Rangers, the former of which he captained.

Ruff was named the 15th head coach of the Buffalo Sabres on July 21, 1997.

He joined a long list of former Sabres players who eventually became Sabres head coaches: Floyd Smith, Bill Inglis, Craig Ramsay, Jim Schoenfeld and Rick Dudley.

He had immediate success in Buffalo, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals in the 1997–98 season.

In Ruff's second season as coach, the Sabres reached the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals before losing to the Dallas Stars in six games.

The Stars' Brett Hull scored a goal deep into the third overtime.

The following two seasons saw Ruff's Sabres lose in the first round to the Philadelphia Flyers and the second round to the Pittsburgh Penguins, respectively.

Buffalo missed the playoffs in the three seasons preceding the 2004–05 NHL lockout amidst the team's bankruptcy and financial problems caused by the Adelphia Communications corporate scandal.

In his post-game interview following a questionable hit on Jochen Hecht, that knocked the Sabres centre out of the lineup for two weeks with a sprained ACL in the 2005–06 season, 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 "an absolute joke".

Ruff was the winner of the 2005–06 Jack Adams Award for coach of the year in the NHL.

Tom Renney of the New York Rangers and Peter Laviolette of the Carolina Hurricanes were also nominated.

After the lockout, Ruff led the Sabres to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals appearances only to lose to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and the Ottawa Senators in 2007.

Ruff was the longest-tenured coach in the NHL and was rewarded with a three-year contract extension that had an option for a fourth season.

Ruff is known for being blunt with the media.

A well-known example of his bluntness were his comments regarding Toronto Maple Leafs player Darcy Tucker.

On April 5, 2006, Ruff became the 31st coach in NHL history to win 300 games, and just the 16th to do so with only one team.

Ruff led the Sabres to their most successful regular season ever in 2006–07 with a 53–22–7 record for a total of 113 points.

Ruff was again nominated for the Jack Adams Award in 2006–07.

His nomination was the second time he has been a finalist for coach of the year.

Alain Vigneault of the Vancouver Canucks won the honour; Ruff placed second in voting with 126 points to Vigneault's 134.

In February 2007, Ruff was fined US$10,000 by the NHL after a brawl with the Ottawa Senators.

The NHL said Ruff precipitated the brawl following a questionable hit on then co-captain Chris Drury by the Senators' Chris Neil.

Because the hit to Drury did not result in a penalty, Ruff sent out Andrew Peters, Patrick Kaleta and Adam Mair, the team's "enforcers".

Ruff was an assistant coach for the Canadian national team at the 2014 Winter Olympics.