The most compelling question as the longest-tenured NHL coach’s long tenure came to an end this week is not “Who will replace Lindy Ruff in Buffalo?” (replacement Ron Rolston has been saddled with the “interim” tag) but rather “Who will Lindy Ruff replace?”
After 16 years at the helm of the Buffalo Sabres, Ruff had a shot at becoming the longest-tenured coach in all of North America’s pro sports if only Gregg Popovich’s San Antonio Spurs remembered what a sub-.600 record was. But just because the 53-year-old Ruff wore out his welcome on a 13th-place Sabres squad doesn’t mean he won’t be coveted elsewhere.
Ruff wasted no time expressing his desire to get back behind a bench.
“I miss it already,” he told reporters Friday in Buffalo.
Vanek on Ruff: “He’s a top free agent out there right now and any organization that’s going to get him is going to get a great coach.”
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 20, 2013
Deep resumes, years of player respect (by most if not all accounts) and more than 100 games of playoff coaching experience (with a .564 winning percentage) are not easy to come by. So if any general managers are growing impatient and thinking of pulling the trigger on a coaching change, well, the NHL’s best candidate could well be the Alberta native holding a fresh pink slip.
Think of Bruce Boudreau last season, who was dropped by the Washington Capitals on Nov. 28, 2011, then hired by the Anaheim Ducks two days later. Boudreau, the fastest coach to amount 200 victories in the modern era, has the Ducks flying high this season; Anaheim (12-2-1) sits second overall.
At the time, Boudreau replaced exiled Ducks coach Randy Carlyle, another midseason firing who found work before the season ended. Now with the Toronto Maple Leafs (11-7-0), Carlyle has guided the team with the NHL’s longest playoff drought into playoff position (for now), despite a slew of injuries to key players.
So despite the brevity of the 2012-13 season, don’t be shocked to see Ruff back behind an NHL bench within weeks. Here are six teams who might race to make a coaching change now that Ruff is on the market:
New York Islanders
Despite guiding the dynamic duo of John Tavares and Matt Moulson, coach Jack Capuano is on target to miss the playoffs and finish last in the Atlantic for the third consecutive season behind the Isles’ bench. Capuano, who came into his job with no previous NHL head-coaching experience, was originally hired as an interim replacement when GM Garth Snow fired Scott Gordon in November 2010. You’ve got to think Ruff would be an upgrade over someone with a 67-75-22 all-time record, plus a move to Long Island keeps him in-state.
Winnipeg Jets
Another coach who has never tasted the playoffs and is relatively new to the job, Winnipeg’s Claude Noel spent some time with the Blue Jackets before getting the job when the Atlanta Thrashers became the Jets. (Fun side note: Ruff lasted longer in Buffalo than the Thrashers did in the NHL.) Although they did defeat the Sabres in Buffalo on Tuesday (Ruff’s final game), the Jets (7-8-1 with a minus-nine goal differential) are an average team that has underperformed — and Noel has publicly questioned his team’s level of play. We think Noel has a longer leash than Capuano, but he needs to keep this winning streak going to aid his cause.
Washington Capitals
Newbie Adam Oates deserves more time to find his stride as an NHL head coach, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be afforded an entire season if a team as stacked as the Caps — Ovechkin, Backstrom, Ribiero — continues to flounder in the NHL’s softest division. Washington, winners of one out of every three games they’ve played this season — is getting impatient, and rightfully so. Remember when this team was growing towards Cup contention?
Columbus Blue Jackets
Not that anyone believed interim-turned-permanent head coach Todd Richards would have the Jackets contending in a vicious Central Division, especially with star forward Rick Nash no longer at his disposal, but with Columbus dead-last again in the West and Richards having never guided a team to the postseason, a change is possible. New Columbus president John Davidson wasted no time bringing in a GM. Could a new coach complete the overhaul?
Florida Panthers
A rookie coach in 2011-12, Kevin Dineen impressed the hockey world by leading the Panthers (38-26-18) to their first Southeast Division title in franchise history, snapping the club’s 12-year playoff drought in the process (despite Florida losing more games than it won). But the 2012-13 Panthers (5-7-4) couldn’t be off to a worse start unless they were the Capitals. Florida just surfaced from a five-game losing skid and is getting some uninspired performances from the usually steady Stephen Weiss, Filip Kuba and Kris Versteeg.
Tampa Bay Lightning
After leading the Lightning to the seventh game of the Eastern Conference finals in his first campaign as a head coach, Guy Boucher did not wow anybody last season, as the offensively loaded Lightning whiffed on the playoffs despite having a 60-goal scorer at their disposal. One wonders how much rope GM Steve Yzerman (read: a winner) will give Boucher if the Lightning fail to make the playoffs again, especially after the club was so active in upgrading its goaltender and defence corps during the offseason.