Lindy Ruff Is Ready To Make The Sabres Competitive Again

Sabres fans are hungry for wins now.  They're tired of waiting for some time down the road to get them to the next level.  Today, Lindy Ruff promised that and more.

Unfortunately, teams don't get points for their coaches saying the right things.  They get points for scoring goals and winning games.  But if anyone was going to win for the things that they said today, it would be Lindy Ruff.  Today was his welcome back press conference and he certainly said everything right to the fans.

This is about now

This Sabres team is young.  They've been developing.  They're very talented.  They just need to put it together and Ruff took it upon himself to put them in the right position to do that.  The fans are tired of waiting for wins somewhere down the road.  They want wins now.

He still wants players who want to be here

A couple of years ago, the Sabres made a decision that they wanted to have players on their team that love being here.  They seem to have gotten a group that fits that mold.  Today Ruff added that he wanted them to not only love being here, but to love being Buffalo Sabres, and love playing for each other.

He didn't say yes right away

Ruff wanted to make sure that this was the right fit for him.  He didn't want to just come back because he's been here before, he's familiar with the team and the area.  He took some time to decide and required conversations about discipline from the organization and the players.

His former players convinced him he was right for the job

Ruff mentioned that some of his former players like Ryan Miller, Thomas Vanek, and Jason Pominville all encouraged him with phone calls to get back at it in Buffalo.  They all said he was the "right guy for the job" to get them where they need to be.

We are still months away from seeing any action from the Sabres again, but it's hard not to be excited.  It feels like there is structure and leadership back in that building and according to the players, it is accountability and discipline that they felt they were lacking.  We can't wait to see what Ruff is able to do with this young group in the fall.