My Cozen Dylan
Registered User
Mods, feel free to relocate if need be. This is just something I word vomited onto my notes app after the press conference today and wanted to share. Enjoy.
****
“It’s gonna be Lindy.”
That was the first thing I said to my dad when we spoke on the phone following the news of Don Granato’s departure. The news, which was surprising but certainly warranted, only needed to permeate in my head for a few moments before I came to that conclusion. It made all the sense in the world, and after hearing Kevyn Adams speak at his press conference following the firing, my confidence in my prediction only grew.
Why was I so sure it would be Lindy? The answer is not simple; it starts in 1979 and ends on the ice forty-five years later.
At his press conference, Adams spoke of his intention to hire someone with “NHL experience” because the franchise needed to take the next step. I think this was something even the most casual Sabres fan was able to see. Don Granato undoubtedly made this team better; he instilled confidence in young players who desperately needed it and helped some of them blossom into versions of themselves nobody thought possible. However, it was abundantly clear by December of 2023 that he had reached the ceiling of his capabilities with this team, and as we are painfully aware, that ceiling did not involve postseason games.
Lindy Ruff is by no means a perfect choice, but he was discounted by so many fans merely because he previously coached here. If you replaced “Lindy Ruff” with any other name, and read off his resume to some of those same naysayers, they would have been thrilled to hire such an accomplished candidate.
Beyond the experience, though, lies something much more intangible: hiring Lindy Ruff gives a large chunk of this fanbase a reason to feel something again.
“There is no coach out there who would care as much about turning this thing around as Lindy Ruff would,” I said to my dad when he asked why I felt the way I did. A quick YouTube search would yield dozens of clips of Lindy Ruff bringing passion to his job, both during and after games. In the background of the in-game clips, the viewer can hear a rabid Buffalo Sabres fanbase roaring in excitement.
That is the fanbase that this team once had; the same fanbase that has been worn down into anger, resignation, or perhaps worst of all, apathy, by thirteen years without the playoffs.
Speaking for myself, I was still locked in through some of the worst times. Actively rooting against my team was one of the most bizarre experiences I have ever had, but I still FELT. Cam Atkinson and Jonathan Toews created moments of incredible excitement by helping us lock up a chance to draft a franchise-changing center. Unfortunately, we then watched an increasingly incompetent franchise squander his time here through not just stagnancy, but regression. But, even through all of that, I had not lost my passion for this team, and with every October came excitement for a new season and clean slate.
That is until the 18-game losing streak.
That streak broke me as a fan. It was the first time I found myself not planning my life schedule around Sabres games, and even actively tuning them out for the remainder of the season, starting somewhere in the middle of that streak but before Ralph Krueger was let go. I could not bring myself to care when everything felt so hopeless.
Then Don Granato came in, as did phone calls with my dad where he would tell me that Tage Thompson was playing center and actually looked like an NHL-caliber player. I was skeptical, but fall came and I tuned in again.
Fast forward to December 19, 2023. The team once again found itself floundering after missing the playoffs by one point. So far, they had routinely not showed up to play and had strung two consecutive wins together just once. A 9-4 loss to the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets sealed the deal for me - it was time to move on from the coach. But it was also clear that that would not happen.
The organization had not done itself any favors. Constantly hiring the wrong coach and the wrong GM does not exactly instill much confidence, and the most recent GM hire was a guy who was not even working in professional hockey when he got the job. That guy then failed to capitalize on a team that missed the playoffs by one point, when every other team around them was trying to improve. Why should we believe he would make the right decision now?
And we waited, again. And the season fell away, again. And, just three years removed from the 18-game losing streak, the light inside me that fueled my love for this team, and for hockey as a whole, seemed to go out once again. I once again found myself not caring to watch the Buffalo Sabres. I once again found myself not engaging in the online discussion about how to turn the ship around, or just trying to put together an offseason plan on my own. I even found myself less excited when attending our local ECHL team’s games.
The Sabres and their ineptitude had broken me, again.
That is until today, the day Lindy Ruff was reintroduced as Head Coach of the Buffalo Sabres. Driving into work and listening to WGR 550, they started the show with a clip of some highlights of Lindy Ruff’s time in Buffalo. I found myself reminiscing on the fun times - when the weight of a thirteen-year playoff drought did not loom like the world’s worst fun police.
When the press conference came around, hearing Lindy Ruff’s voice once again as he talked about coming back, I began to tear up. This team means so much to me and to tens of thousands of others, and for the first time since he walked out the doors at what was then called First Niagara Center, I was confident that the Head Coach cared as much about the success of the team as the fans do.
For every coach since Lindy’s departure, this has most likely been just a job. I do not say that to mean they did not put in their best effort, but I think it is fair to say that they did not bring the same enthusiasm to the arena that the fans did, and I do know, even from Don Granato’s own comments, that they did not appreciate the thousand pound gorilla that was on the back of Sabres fans in the form of a teenaged playoff drought.
Contrast that with Bills coach Sean McDermott, who at his introductory press conference said that he inherited the seventeen-year drought when he took the job. Nobody in the Sabres organization, until today, has shown that they truly appreciate the fans here and what we have been through. And to further that, they have not shown a desire to do whatever it takes to make it back to the postseason.
I believe with all my heart that Lindy Ruff gets it. And I believe he will get the job done.
It was nice to feel something again, and I think most people would agree that apathy is the worst phase of fandom. Being mad at the team means you still care. Being dejected when your team misses the playoffs by one point means you still care. I want to continue to feel something, and today was a start. But it will take more than that. I want to feel the excitement of a big trade, like I did in 2015 when the Sabres acquired Ryan O’Reilly. This team is ready for that, and this team is ready to be pushed to the next level.
Continue to make me feel something, Lindy. Continue to make me feel something, Kevyn. Because when October comes, I want to be ready to be hurt again. Because that means there’s something worth caring about.
Let’s Go Buffalo.
****
“It’s gonna be Lindy.”
That was the first thing I said to my dad when we spoke on the phone following the news of Don Granato’s departure. The news, which was surprising but certainly warranted, only needed to permeate in my head for a few moments before I came to that conclusion. It made all the sense in the world, and after hearing Kevyn Adams speak at his press conference following the firing, my confidence in my prediction only grew.
Why was I so sure it would be Lindy? The answer is not simple; it starts in 1979 and ends on the ice forty-five years later.
At his press conference, Adams spoke of his intention to hire someone with “NHL experience” because the franchise needed to take the next step. I think this was something even the most casual Sabres fan was able to see. Don Granato undoubtedly made this team better; he instilled confidence in young players who desperately needed it and helped some of them blossom into versions of themselves nobody thought possible. However, it was abundantly clear by December of 2023 that he had reached the ceiling of his capabilities with this team, and as we are painfully aware, that ceiling did not involve postseason games.
Lindy Ruff is by no means a perfect choice, but he was discounted by so many fans merely because he previously coached here. If you replaced “Lindy Ruff” with any other name, and read off his resume to some of those same naysayers, they would have been thrilled to hire such an accomplished candidate.
Beyond the experience, though, lies something much more intangible: hiring Lindy Ruff gives a large chunk of this fanbase a reason to feel something again.
“There is no coach out there who would care as much about turning this thing around as Lindy Ruff would,” I said to my dad when he asked why I felt the way I did. A quick YouTube search would yield dozens of clips of Lindy Ruff bringing passion to his job, both during and after games. In the background of the in-game clips, the viewer can hear a rabid Buffalo Sabres fanbase roaring in excitement.
That is the fanbase that this team once had; the same fanbase that has been worn down into anger, resignation, or perhaps worst of all, apathy, by thirteen years without the playoffs.
Speaking for myself, I was still locked in through some of the worst times. Actively rooting against my team was one of the most bizarre experiences I have ever had, but I still FELT. Cam Atkinson and Jonathan Toews created moments of incredible excitement by helping us lock up a chance to draft a franchise-changing center. Unfortunately, we then watched an increasingly incompetent franchise squander his time here through not just stagnancy, but regression. But, even through all of that, I had not lost my passion for this team, and with every October came excitement for a new season and clean slate.
That is until the 18-game losing streak.
That streak broke me as a fan. It was the first time I found myself not planning my life schedule around Sabres games, and even actively tuning them out for the remainder of the season, starting somewhere in the middle of that streak but before Ralph Krueger was let go. I could not bring myself to care when everything felt so hopeless.
Then Don Granato came in, as did phone calls with my dad where he would tell me that Tage Thompson was playing center and actually looked like an NHL-caliber player. I was skeptical, but fall came and I tuned in again.
Fast forward to December 19, 2023. The team once again found itself floundering after missing the playoffs by one point. So far, they had routinely not showed up to play and had strung two consecutive wins together just once. A 9-4 loss to the last-place Columbus Blue Jackets sealed the deal for me - it was time to move on from the coach. But it was also clear that that would not happen.
The organization had not done itself any favors. Constantly hiring the wrong coach and the wrong GM does not exactly instill much confidence, and the most recent GM hire was a guy who was not even working in professional hockey when he got the job. That guy then failed to capitalize on a team that missed the playoffs by one point, when every other team around them was trying to improve. Why should we believe he would make the right decision now?
And we waited, again. And the season fell away, again. And, just three years removed from the 18-game losing streak, the light inside me that fueled my love for this team, and for hockey as a whole, seemed to go out once again. I once again found myself not caring to watch the Buffalo Sabres. I once again found myself not engaging in the online discussion about how to turn the ship around, or just trying to put together an offseason plan on my own. I even found myself less excited when attending our local ECHL team’s games.
The Sabres and their ineptitude had broken me, again.
That is until today, the day Lindy Ruff was reintroduced as Head Coach of the Buffalo Sabres. Driving into work and listening to WGR 550, they started the show with a clip of some highlights of Lindy Ruff’s time in Buffalo. I found myself reminiscing on the fun times - when the weight of a thirteen-year playoff drought did not loom like the world’s worst fun police.
When the press conference came around, hearing Lindy Ruff’s voice once again as he talked about coming back, I began to tear up. This team means so much to me and to tens of thousands of others, and for the first time since he walked out the doors at what was then called First Niagara Center, I was confident that the Head Coach cared as much about the success of the team as the fans do.
For every coach since Lindy’s departure, this has most likely been just a job. I do not say that to mean they did not put in their best effort, but I think it is fair to say that they did not bring the same enthusiasm to the arena that the fans did, and I do know, even from Don Granato’s own comments, that they did not appreciate the thousand pound gorilla that was on the back of Sabres fans in the form of a teenaged playoff drought.
Contrast that with Bills coach Sean McDermott, who at his introductory press conference said that he inherited the seventeen-year drought when he took the job. Nobody in the Sabres organization, until today, has shown that they truly appreciate the fans here and what we have been through. And to further that, they have not shown a desire to do whatever it takes to make it back to the postseason.
I believe with all my heart that Lindy Ruff gets it. And I believe he will get the job done.
It was nice to feel something again, and I think most people would agree that apathy is the worst phase of fandom. Being mad at the team means you still care. Being dejected when your team misses the playoffs by one point means you still care. I want to continue to feel something, and today was a start. But it will take more than that. I want to feel the excitement of a big trade, like I did in 2015 when the Sabres acquired Ryan O’Reilly. This team is ready for that, and this team is ready to be pushed to the next level.
Continue to make me feel something, Lindy. Continue to make me feel something, Kevyn. Because when October comes, I want to be ready to be hurt again. Because that means there’s something worth caring about.
Let’s Go Buffalo.
