Confirmed with Link: Lindy Ruff hired as head coach of NJD

NYR Viper

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Sep 9, 2007
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Ruff is getting a lot of mileage out of a couple very good seasons with Buffalo and Dallas. He's a .500 coach when you don't put OT losses in a special category. And he showed me nothing as an assistant coach here.

In absolute fairness to Ruff, he took a small market team in Buffalo and cultivated one of the most exciting teams the league has seen without significant star-power.
 

NYRFANMANI

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Apr 21, 2007
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yo old soorbrockon
lmao, finally some hockey news. Are Debbies planning on getting more top 3 picks these coming years?

There are couple of "franchise" type talents out there ...
 

will1066

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Anyone check out Bryce Salvador's Twitter yet? Has he called this the greatest coaching coup in history yet?
 

GoAwayPanarin

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In absolute fairness to Ruff, he took a small market team in Buffalo and cultivated one of the most exciting teams the league has seen without significant star-power.

That was 13 years ago. The game has changed and unless he does (hes shown no signs of doing so either) this is going to end hilariously bad for NJ.

You're underselling how talented those teams were though. Their top 7 or 8 forwards were really, really good. Vanek and Briere were 100% stars at that point and Drury was a beast when he was there.

I can buy the argument that Laviolette wasn't really a fit for them (too intense for a team that has been caught in what seems like a perpetual rebuild) but Ruff isn't that guy either. I for one am more thrilled that it was NJ who hired him more so than I am that he is gone. We have problems on D which extend beyond him but also I'm damn happy that Gallant wasn't the guy they hired.
 

Adam Fox Time

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Jan 1, 2020
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lmao, finally some hockey news. Are Debbies planning on getting more top 3 picks these coming years?

There are couple of "franchise" type talents out there ...

Lindy Ruff is the Jeff Fisher of NHL coaches, I don't think they'll be getting any Top 3 picks with him.
 

NYR Viper

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Sep 9, 2007
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That was 13 years ago. The game has changed and unless he does (hes shown no signs of doing so either) this is going to end hilariously bad for NJ.

You're underselling how talented those teams were though. Their top 7 or 8 forwards were really, really good. Vanek and Briere were 100% stars at that point and Drury was a beast when he was there.

I can buy the argument that Laviolette wasn't really a fit for them (too intense for a team that has been caught in what seems like a perpetual rebuild) but Ruff isn't that guy either. I for one am more thrilled that it was NJ who hired him more so than I am that he is gone. We have problems on D which extend beyond him but also I'm damn happy that Gallant wasn't the guy they hired.

To be more clear, I am not saying Ruff is a good coach now, just that we are underselling his past success if we think he was a mediocre coach. Those players you mentioned developed under Ruff. Briere specifically.
 

nyrage

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Aug 2, 2005
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2 fans so they could double their fanbase.

They were pretty insistent on @bernmeister but we were able to talk them off of him thankfully.

Thank God we kept Bern.

What Ruff needs is a warrior like Staal, a veteran that could be a good mentor to the kids in jersey. I'm willing to pay the same compensation as above and maybe even kick in a $1,000 to help make it happen.
 

broadwayblue

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Not that I'm upset about this...but how do you hire a head coach who is working as a coach for a team who is still in the middle of their season?
 

Kakko Schmakko

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Feb 24, 2018
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Not that I'm upset about this...but how do you hire a head coach who is working as a coach for a team who is still in the middle of their season?

my guess is his contract was going to end and Rangers told him they will not renew so he started looking and got the job with the Devils. To him job security was more important than a playoff and being used as a scapegoat.
 
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Chalfdiggity3

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In absolute fairness to Ruff, he took a small market team in Buffalo and cultivated one of the most exciting teams the league has seen without significant star-power.

In absolute fairness, the only reason that happened was bc of one man. And his name is certainly not Ruff.

Ill give you a hint. His nickname is the dominator, has a slinky for a spine. In my opinion the greatest goalie ever
 

bobbop

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he wanted too much money/term
Doubt it. For starters, Laviolette had a year left on his Nashville contract. Ruff isn’t giving the Devils a blue plate special. I posted a month ago that Ruff and Laviolette were the front runners and once Fitzgerald was confirmed as the GM, he went with his friend. Makes sense on one level but I thought the match between Lavy and the Devils roster was really good.
 

bobbop

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And he didn’t leave because he saw any writing in the wall or he was afraid to enter the COVID-19 bubble. He left simply because he got an opportunity to get one of the 31 coaching jobs available in the league. And I am quite sure the message from the Rangers was not ‘don’t let the door hit you in the ass’.

It’s like some of the other whipping boys on this board. A few haters whip up the mob and dominate the conversation.

There are some things I don’t like about Ruff but that’s probably true of 80% of the coaches in the league. I think he did a pretty good job with what he was given to work with. The biggest defensive problem the Rangers have (and have had) is a lack of commitment to team defense from the entire roster. That’s not on Ruff.
 

broadwayblue

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my guess is his contract was going to end and Rangers told him they will not renew so he started looking and got the job with the Devils. To him job security was more important than a playoff and being used as a scapegoat.

Because Ruff likely had a clause in his contract that stated he was free to leave if he got a head coaching offer.

Thanks. Could totally be a clause in the contract. It just seems a bit strange to me, but I'm totally fine moving in a new direction.
 

rangers1314

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May 9, 2007
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FWIW, Wysh on puck soup is saying it simply came down to Lav pricing himself out and Gallant wanted total control of his coaching staff, so they were left with Ruff.

It also didn't hurt that Ruff came much cheaper.
 

Kakko Schmakko

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Feb 24, 2018
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Doubt it. For starters, Laviolette had a year left on his Nashville contract. Ruff isn’t giving the Devils a blue plate special. I posted a month ago that Ruff and Laviolette were the front runners and once Fitzgerald was confirmed as the GM, he went with his friend. Makes sense on one level but I thought the match between Lavy and the Devils roster was really good.

I read somewhere that Laviolette wanted 5 mil per and it was too much for them, and that Gallant refused that job.
 

Chalfdiggity3

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Feb 4, 2010
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NJ
FWIW, Wysh on puck soup is saying it simply came down to Lav pricing himself out and Gallant wanted total control of his coaching staff, so they were left with Ruff.

It also didn't hurt that Ruff came much cheaper.

Or it could just be that those coaches DONT want to coach the devs.
They will have much better opportunities to coach in the offseason
 

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