Not so long ago, our popular Sabres fan wondered aloud when the struggling Sabres would make a move vis-a-vis relieving either long-time GM Darcy Regier, coach Lindy Ruff or both after the Sabres started veering off-course to a second straight dissapointing season.  Barely a week after Brian’s blog, the other shoe finally dropped in Buffalo after nearly fifteen years of stability as Regier relieved Ruff of his coaching duties with the Sabres sitting in last place (6-10-1) in the Northeast – going 4-10-1 after winning their opening two games of the season.  With Ruff’s tenure as a coach as well as a player in Buffalo (having played the better part of ten seasons there), an era has surely come to an end now.

One casual look at Ruff’s overall record – six playoff misses and three first-round losses – might have you wondering why Buffalo kept their coach around as long as they did.  Make no mistake about it though, he could coach – Brian I’m sure would agree with that.  Given Buffalo’s financial problems for a decade which had them going through owner after owner, the fact that Ruff and goaltender Dominik Hasek even kept them competitive most years was remarkable, and his tenure provided a measure of stability when almost everything else around him kept changing on a routine basis.

In his first two years as head coach a decade after taking over for the popular Ted Nolan, Ruff led the team to the Conference Finals his first season and then the Stanley Cup Finals in his second.  For Ruff and the Sabres, this would be their best chance for ultimate glory in franchise history to date.  Unfortunately it ended under shabby circumstances with Brett Hull‘s infamous (and illegal in 1999) ‘toe-in-the crease’ goal in triple OT of Game 6 that won Dallas its only Stanley Cup.  After two more playoff seasons, including a 46-win campaign in ’00-01, the Sabres had three playoff-less seasons before the lockout.

After the lockout, the Sabres emerged reborn with a dynamic team led by Chris Drury and offensive stars such as Daniel Briere, Thomas Vanek and Maxim Afinogenov with Brian Campbell heading the defense and a then-young Ryan Miller in goal.  Two straight fifty-win seasons and Conference Finals appearances again put the Sabres on the brink of hockey greatness.  However, in 2006 the Sabres got dealt more ‘Sabres luck’ when practically their entire defensive core was laid up for Game 7 in Raleigh against the Hurricanes.  Gamely, the Sabres held a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes but gave up three third-period goals, with the winner coming after a delay-of-game penalty by Henrik Tallinder (one of their few regulars in the lineup, ironically enough).  They would not get nearly that close the next season, losing in five to Ottawa and then enduring the double-barreled losses of Drury and Briere to FA in the 2007 offseason.

Arguably Buffalo has still not recovered from that ill-fated day, at least on the ice.  Buffalo missed the playoffs the next two seasons, then made it in ’09-10 and ’10-11 losing each time in the first round.  After a spending spree under new owner Terry Pegula, big things were expected last year but the Sabres fell flat, coming apart after Miller was bowled over by Milan Lucic in Boston.  Even the acquisition of gritty Steve Ott this offseason hasn’t sparked the Sabres back to being a playoff team this year.  Perhaps it was finally inevitable that after so many player changes, the coach would get changed.  I don’t expect this to be the last we hear of Lindy, since the recent past is littered with recycled coaches who’ve made good including Randy Carlyle in Toronto and Bruce Boudreau in Anaheim, among others.

Where the Sabres go from here is anyone’s guess, especially since there hasn’t been a replacement named as of yet.