joshjull
Registered User
I’m not really interested in Ruff as head coach either but this is pretty poor reasoning. The talent a coach works with has an impact on what they can do. None of those teams were expected to be division champs.Since the cocaptins left, he’s coached 10 seasons as a head coach. In those 10, he’s won just 2 division titles and gotten last the first round of the playoffs just once. He also only made the playoffs 4 of those 10 years (in a league where over half the teams make it). Aside from a couple nice runs, his career as a coach has been a seminar in mediocrity. Add in that he’s been out of the game for a couple years, and there were questions about the game passing him by when he left Dallas...
I love ruff. I grew up with him as our coach. I’ll always have fond memories. But him as our coach just doesn’t interest me at all. President? Sure. Coach? Not at all. It would feel like a plea to be average.
Why would you expect Lindy to have the same level of success with the roster that was left after the co-captains were gone as he did with them (and others) still in the lineup). He basically had the core leadership as well as his far and away best two players leave for nothing. Were those post captain teams supposed to win division titles and he couldn’t get them there? I don’t think so. After the captains left we were a bubble team that finished with 90,91,100,96 and 89 points under Lindy.
As for his team in Dallas, the Stars had missed the playoffs for 5 straight years before he got hired. He got them to the playoffs his first season and was out in round 1. Missed the next season with I only 1point less than the Stars team that made it this year (92pts to 93pts). Made 2nd round the year after. Then missed again leading to his firing. Hitch took over and also missed the playoffs last year. I’m not sure I’d put their struggles on Lindy. Especially with their terrible goaltending that was finally addressed with Bishop after Lindy left.
Hard to argue his results were under achieving in either case as opposed to get roughly what you should expect from what he was working with. His last season as a head coach (16-17) was his only sub .500 season in those years. Stars had 79pts that year which, for context, is the Disco era Sabres level of points. Much of that season was a goaltending fiasco for the Stars.
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