The Buffalo Sabres’ playoff season was ended abruptly with a 4 games to 2 opening round elimination by a lower-seeded team, the Boston Bruins. A lot of disgruntled Sabres fans are calling for the firing of coach Lindy Ruff after the disappointing series. There are cases to be made on both sides of this issue. The case for firing Ruff starts with the fact that since he has been the Sabres’ head coach, a lot of other coaches in the NHL, including coaches who have won multiple Stanley Cups, have been fired. The Sabres organization has shown unbelievable patience with Ruff, including putting up with two straight non-playoff seasons before this year. The only other situation comparable to Ruff’s term with the Sabres would be Jerry Sloan’s tenure with the NBA’s Utah Jazz. Both teams are considered to be annual “bridesmaids” in their respective leagues. Here are some specific reasons why Ruff and his coaching staff deserve some blame for this season’s playoff failure – first of all, the Bruins came into the series with a specific game plan and executed it well. They were extremely physical throughout the series and seemed to keep the pressure on the Sabres in every game, even when they were behind on the scoreboard. The Sabres staff never adjusted at all, except maybe for calling up Cody McCormick from Portland, which really appeared to be a panic move. Secondly, when your team is 30-0 in the regular season when leading after 2 periods and blows 2 leads in the playoffs, and your power play is 0-for-the-series and looks worse as the series plays out (they were totally dysfunctional in game 6), then the coaching staff has to be accountable. Here is the case for keeping Ruff – he has a track record, other than this season, of taking his club deep into the playoffs, usually with less talented teams than his opponents. His team at this point is in the same position as the Bruins were last year – division champion and high playoff seed. Hopefully they use the next regular season to tweek the roster to add some physical presence and scoring, maybe finish a little lower in the standings but are better prepared for the playoffs.
