The Buffalo Sabres’ remarkable season is no fluke at this point. The insane hot streak earlier in the year did not fade. If anything, it turned into a consistent work ethic that’s lasted the entire season. The club is now on track to become a serious playoff contender.
Amid the justifiable hubbub surrounding the Sabres, one thing comes to mind. Coach Lindy Ruff seems like a natural pick for the Jack Adams Award. There’s plenty of good reason for the tenured bench boss earning the NHL’s Coach of the Year Award.
But if Ruff were to land the Jack Adams in 2026, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d earned the award. And it certainly wouldn’t be the first time he’d earn it with the Sabres.
Back in 2006, Ruff landed the Jack Adams. That season, Ruff led the Sabres to a 110-point season, finishing second in the defunct Northeast Division. The Sabres made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final, losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes in a tough seven-game series.
This time around, Ruff’s squad could win the Atlantic Division. If that were the case, it would actually be an improvement over the 2006 finish. For Sabres fans, it would be a long time coming for such a regular-season outcome.
Ruff Part of Crucial Organizational Shift
The Sabres’ ridiculously good season could culminate in the club taking over the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
Who would have thought that could happen at the outset of the season?
It’s even more remarkable when considering how the season started for Buffalo. But the Sabres turned things around when Jarmo Kekalainen took over. And, well, no one could have predicted that a GM change would have had the impact that it did.
That said, Ruff deserves a ton of credit. He didn’t really change anything in his approach to coaching the team. The game plan pretty much stayed the same. What shifted was the organizational mindset. That shift prompted everyone to feel more confident and secure in their efforts.
Ultimately, the Sabres banded together and strung one solid effort after another. Those efforts translated into a run that has now essentially made the Sabres a team of destiny.
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Sabres Captain Reveals the Turning Point
Changes almost always require a crucial inflexion point. For some, it has to be a drastic event that rocks the core of whatever funk the organization is in.
That was the case when Stefen Noesen of the New Jersey Devils rocked Tage Thompson towards the end of last season. As Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin stated, the team vowed not to let something like that happen.
Thompson had to wait about nine months to get his revenge on Noesen. But he got it. That situation also served another purpose. It helped the Sabres band together and stick by one another. The promise transformed the team. Their commitment to standing together became the turning point that has transformed the Sabres into an elite team.
It may seem implausible to even think those words. Nevertheless, it’s amazing how things can change so quickly in such a short time.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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