Sabres’ collapse looks like trouble for Regier, Ruff
Sabres minority owner Larry Quinn made it clear a week ago that he wasn’t firing General Manager Darcy Regier or coach Lindy Ruff, and he wasn’t having second thoughts after another loss Friday night. He’s going to sit down with both after the season and see if they’re still leading them in the right direction.
You can’t help but wonder if Regier and Ruff are inching closer to the door with every loss the Sabres suffer down the stretch. Something needs to give. That much was obvious after watching the Sabres mope through the final 25 minutes Friday night in a 6-4 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Have the players quit on their coach?
It sure looked that way after Daniel Briere scored two goals in a two minute, six second span in the second period. It was the start of four straight Philly goals, but it was nothing new in these parts. The Sabres have either imploded or failed to show up for several weeks now as they stumble toward the finish line.
Folks, it’s getting ugly, and it can only end one of two ways. Regier can either make significant changes to his roster during the offseason or Quinn and majority owner Tom Golisano will need to make major changes within the hockey department. The current setup isn’t working, plain and simple.
Regier has two seasons remaining on his contract. Ruff is signed through next season. They are the longest-tenured GM-coach combination in the NHL. Quinn reiterated Friday night that his first instinct is to keep both, but he wanted to wait until the offseason. He’ll huddle with Golisano before making a final decision.
Ruff looked like a beaten man Friday in his post-game news conference, and you couldn’t blame him. His message clearly isn’t getting through to a collection of players who have either tuned out the coach or stopped competing. It looked like a combination of both against the Flyers in the biggest game of the year.
There have been 129 coaching changes since Regier and Ruff took over in 1997, an average of more than four per team. Ottawa has had four coaches since the beginning of last season, if you count GM Bryan Murray twice. Ruff is a terrific coach, but he’s not immune to suffering stiff consequences of another poor season. At some point, the time will come for him to move in a different direction.
If there’s a reason to fire Ruff, it’s to put the poor guy out his misery. Ruff didn’t wake up one day this season and become a bad coach. Firing him would be a short-term solution to a bigger problem. I’ll say it again: It makes more sense to change the players.
It says plenty about their competitiveness if they need a coach to motivate them at this time of year. They shouldn’t need their fans booing them off the ice, but you couldn’t blame them. They’re 28-29-6 after a 6-0-2 start this season. It falls mostly on the players, a growing number of whom should be shipped out regardless of who is running the show.
They can start with Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman. Both are good guys, but their kindness extends to the ice. Mike Richards slipped between them for the first goal. They welcomed Simon Gagne into the slot for the second goal. Lydman watched Briere score his first goal just outside the crease. Jochen Hecht has been brutal. Tim Connolly should have never been given an extension, let alone a $1 million raise.
Say what you will about Briere, but he showed up when he was here. He came back again Friday night with two quick goals to give the Flyers a 4-3 lead, reminding fans how he has a knack for coming up big when his team needed him most.
That’s what has been missing from this team. Fourteen players from their conference finals teams are still hanging around, so you would think someone would have the backbone or credibility to shake things into place.
Ultimately, Buffalo backed down Friday night. The Sabres’ response to a 3-2 lead was predictable. Philly scored four straight goals and split town with a season sweep. The Sabres didn’t have anybody playing out of character, as Ruff says, and it’s been the same way all year.
Now what?
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