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Devils’ Website Gives Insight into Ruff

In an interesting article posted yesterday on the Devils’ official website, writer Peter Robinson spoke to two of Lindy Ruff’s former NHL players and discussed what he brings to the Devils’ bench. The interviews appeared in an article entitled “Reflections on Ruff.”

The two players Robinson spoke to via text were Jay McKee, who played under Ruff with the Buffalo Sabres, and Dave Lowry, who played under Ruff when the latter was an assistant coach with the Florida Panthers. One of Ruff’s players at that time and Lowry’s teammate? None other than current Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald.

Both men have gone into coaching at the junior level. McKee was “most recently the head coach of the Kitchener Rangers” of the Ontario Hockey League, where, Robinson points out, he coached Devils prospect Michael Vukojevic.

Lowry is the coach of the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League and his son, Adam, currently is playing for the Winnipeg Jets.

Both men had fond memories of Ruff as a coach, with McKee telling Robinson that “Lindy is a great communicator and his Xs and Os are great too.”

Lowry said “Lindy came along for us at a time when coaches didn’t really associate (off-ice) with the players. Lindy would play golf with us and take part in the occasional card game… that was unheard of at the time.”

But despite that, McKee told Robinson that he didn’t “want to call him a players’ coach (necessarily), because he was never afraid to crack the whip. What he is, is he’s an excellent person, just a good human and he can connect with guys, especially young players.” This is especially appealing to Devils fans’ ears with their core of good, young players and system of prospects.

Another interesting wrinkle that Robinson explores is that McKee played for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009-10, a year following their Stanley Cup win in 2009. That was the year that Fitzgerald moved “into a player development role” for the Pens “after serving an assistant to Dan Bylsma on the Cup-winning squad in 2009.”

McKee said: “I don’t really know Fitzy other than as a player, I played against him a lot, but I will say this, that it’s usually guys like him who make the best GMs.”

McKee also makes mention of Ruff’s ability to adapt, citing the Sabres major playoff runs while Ruff was there. He told Robinson: “the first time, 1999, we got to the Final and really only had one star player and that was our goalie, (Dominik) Hasek. Then in 2006 we had Max (Afinogenov), Chris Drury, Danny Briere, Derek Roy…had we not had four defensemen injured (in the playoffs) and Tim Connolly the (outcome) could have been different (than losing in the Eastern Conference Final). That was all Lindy being able to adjust like he did as a head coach (and have success) with different teams and (installing) two completely different systems.”

Lowry likened it to technology, saying “you need to know the latest, greatest (piece), but sometimes you pick it up just by watching your own kids.”

This information bodes well for fans who were skeptical of this hiring, myself included. Ruff seems, from what his former players say, to be able to connect with the younger players while still maintaining discipline and adapting his coaching as the league changes. You do not last as long as Ruff has in the NHL as a coach – almost 26 straight seasons – and not be good at your craft. This perspective makes things a little more exciting.

In other Devils news, Amanda Stein is reporting on her “Inside the Devils” blog on NewJerseyDevils.com, that Nico Hischier is skating with the Swiss National Team this week.

Starting today (Wednesday), Nico and “Devils goaltending prospect Gilles Senn will join a group of 22 for the” summer Prospects Camp being run by the Swiss National Team.

There are “strict social distancing and sanitation guidelines” being adhered to and “all players involved will be tested for COVID-19 and asked to respect a 1.5-meter distance whenever possible.”

The camp will be bringing in “the best young players in the Swiss player pool, 25 and under, as well as young players from the junior teams.” Hischier, while an NHL player, has competed at the IIHF World Championships with Switzerland and will “help integrate the younger generation” along with Senn and Pius Suter, who recently signed with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Stein said that “the camp will mostly involve practice sessions, as well as a scrimmage at the end of camp.”

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Ruff Named Head Coach, Fitzgerald Official GM

Today, the New Jersey Devils made their decision on a new head coach and confirmed an old face as general manager.

Lindy Ruff, most recently an assistant coach with the New York Rangers, will serve as the Devils’ new bench boss – the 19th in team history. The announcement was made official this morning after a day of speculation from NHL insiders on Twitter and other media.

Ruff comes into the job with 736 regular season wins as an NHL head coach. He won the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year in 2005-06 while serving as coach of the Buffalo Sabres and won Olympic gold twice as an associate coach with Team Canada in 2010 and 2014.

According to the press release put out by the Devils, Ruff has been a head coach in the NHL for 19 seasons with the Sabres and the Dallas Stars.

His resume is impressive on its own, as he ranks seventh in NHL history among head coaches in games coached with 1,493. He trails some iconic names: Scotty Bowman, Joel Quenneville, Al Arbour, Barry Trotz and Ken Hitchcock.

In the playoffs, he “ranks sixth all-time in regular-season wins as a head coach in the NHL” with 736. He is 66-54 in 120 games for a .550 winning percentage. He took the Sabres to the Stanley Cup Final in 1999 where they lost to the Stars.

As the Devils’ press release mentioned, Ruff brought some stability to the Sabres as they have not qualified for the playoffs since he left the organization in 2013. With Buffalo, the Sabres won 50-games in back-to-back seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07.

Ruff’s association with the Sabres goes back to his playing days as he played the majority of his 691 games (over 12 NHL seasons) with Buffalo. He was “selected by Buffalo in the second round of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft” and recorded 105 goals and 195 assists in the NHL totaling a nice round 300 points. He also racked up 1,264 penalty minutes over his playing career with the Sabres and Rangers.

In 2013, Ruff moved on to the Dallas Stars, whom he coached from 2013-14 to 2016-17. The Devils’ press release notes that he was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award again in 2015-16. That season, the Stars finished first overall in the Central Division and Western Conference with a 50-23-9 record.

Internationally, he has helped Canada to several tournament medals. He won a silver medal in 2009 with Canada at the IIHF World Championship. He was Canada’s head coach in 2013 at the same tournament. As mentioned, he won gold with Canada at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia as an associate coach. He was also an assistant coach for Canada at the 2019 World Championship, where he coached Devils defenseman Damon Severson and goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood.

The press release pumps up some of Ruff’s coaching strengths, noting that when he was the head coach in Dallas for four seasons, the Stars “ranked second in the NHL in goals per game (2.97)” over that time.

Ruff is a good choice as head coach, but is kind of a head scratcher when guys like Peter Laviolette and Gerard Gallant were out there. Reportedly, Gallant did not want the job so there is that. Hopefully, Ruff is the guy these players need and he can get them going.

He told the Devils’ official website: “I am excited to get back in the lead chair and guide the future of this team. This is a fantastic opportunity to lead a group of great young talent and strong leadership to the next level. Tom and I will sit down together and build a plan for the coaching staff and I will start to get to work on familiarizing myself with the players and staff. I look forward to bringing this core together, developing our players and putting us on a trajectory that can lead to sustained success in a timely manner. It’s an exciting time to be a part of the Devils’ organization, and I have the desire and fire to get us on the road towards the Stanley Cup Playoffs and beyond.”

In another move today, the Devils took the interim tag off of Tom Fitzgerald and named him Executive Vice President and General Manager of the team. The announcement was made official by managing partners Josh Harris and David Blitzer.

Fitzgerald was made interim GM when Ray Shero was fired in January of 2020.

Harris and Blitzer said that they went “through the process of interviewing various candidates, including Tom, and reviewing his work in the interim.” They said “we feel that he is the best fit for the New Jersey Devils moving forward. Our decision was solidified by his ability to stabilize the organization, get solid returns at the trade deadline, make impressive plans for player development and hire a new coach in Lindy Ruff.” They continued that “we are very optimistic about our future and know we have great deal of talent, both on and off the ice. Together, we are excited to start a new chapter and are committed to becoming a consistent contender, which our fans deserve.”

One thing is very certain with this hiring/promotion: at least the Devils will be prepared for the Draft and to move forward from there. In any other season, this would have seemed a haphazard way to do all of this. But not this year. With the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc on the NHL landscape, what is up is down and the Devils did what they could. I think Lindy Ruff could do a very good job with the Devils’ roster. I do not know what kind of a coach he is in terms of a “player’s coach” or what, but he has a very talented roster who needs guidance in front of him. We will also see what kind of staff he surrounds himself with.

As for Fitzgerald, I am inclined to agree with Harris and Blitzer here. He showed he could do a good job at the trade deadline. Getting Nolan Foote for a soon-to-be free agent Blake Coleman was a great move and one that Devils fans should be very excited about.

Overall, the results will do the talking. If and when the 2020-21 season gets started, we will see how the hiring/promotion pan out. Until then, it’s on to the Draft to find out who the next piece of the Devils’ future is.