New York Rangers assistant coach Lindy Ruff is going to be named the new top man of the New Jersey Devils, in news first reported Wednesday night by former NHL goalie and current NHL Network analyst Kevin Weekes.
Lindy Ruff will be hired as coach of the Devils, NHL Network reported Wednesday.https://t.co/tvEL8e1Yaf
— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) July 9, 2020
Ruff has spent the last three years as the defensive assistant for the Rangers under Alain Vigneault and David Quinn, as the Blueshirts are preparing to meet Carolina in a play-in series next month. Ruff was fired by the Dallas Stars in 2017 after four seasons that saw him win just one playoff series.
The 60-year-old is best known for his 17-year run in Buffalo that stretched from 1997-2013 and included four trips to the Eastern Conference Final and a run to the 1999 Stanley Cup Final that was famously dubbed the “No Goal” series after Ruff’s Niagara Square proclamation over Brett Hull’s series-ending goal in triple overtime.
Ruff is sixth all-time in NHL history in victories with 736, with former New York Islanders legend Al Arbour next on the list at 782. Ruff is thus 64 wins shy of becoming the fifth coach in history to 800 wins and is seven games shy of becoming the seventh in history to coach 1,500 games.
The veteran head coach was a surprise candidate in New Jersey, which finished the season with interim coach Alain Nasreddine after the December firing of John Hynes. The Devils reportedly had been considering former Nashville boss Peter Laviolette and ex-Vegas coach Gerard Gallant before settling on Ruff, who has been a lightning rod for Rangers’ fans in the past few years.
Ruff has NHL experience as a player and was chosen in the second round, 32nd overall, of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, by the Buffalo Sabres. He played for both the Sabres and Rangers. Ruff gained a reputation as a player for his toughness, character, and hard work on the ice. An illustration of this came in a May 10, 1980, playoff game against the New York Islanders, when opposing goaltender and frequent instigator Billy Smith struck Ruff with his stick as he passed in front of his net. Ruff got up, skated back to the goaltender and tackled him, cementing his legacy as a no-nonsense player.
Weekes’ report also stated that the Devils are going to remove the interim tag from General Manager Tom Fitzgerald and give him the job on a permanent basis. Fitzgerald, the father of Sabres prospect Casey Fitzgerald, was a player and Ruff was an assistant coach on the 1995-96 Florida Panthers who advanced to the Stanley Cup Final before losing to Colorado.