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Jeep 4 Wheelin In Dallas

July 24, 2013, 10:25 AM ET [60 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Updated 11:35am EDT

Congrats to "Jeep". Great man. Great coach. He and Lindy will make believers out of skeptics in Dallas.









Earlier this week, Team Canada surprised no one in the hockey world by officially naming its men's hockey coaching staff for the 2014 Winter Olympics at Sochi, Russia. Mike Babcock will once again serve as the head coach of the squad, while Lindy Ruff will run the D and the PP for Canada. Babcock and Ruff worked well together in Vancouver in 2010, and earned themselves gold medals as a result. Boston Bruins head man Claude Julien and St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock will round out the Team Canada coaching staff.

Ruff told the Dallas Morning News this week that after he was fired by the Sabres in February, he reflected upon his coaching career and pondered his role as a coach. Ruff said that he will approach the Team Canada assistant coaching opportunity with zeal, and he will also be a more hands-on head coach this season with the Dallas Stars.

“I’m definitely comfortable with defense, and I think getting back and being an assistant coach is always helpful,” Ruff said of the appointment to Team Canada.

“It’s funny, when you have time to think about your career and things you’ve done like I have had, you do wonder about changes. I look back and think that I do need to be more hands on as a head coach. I think it’s important that you spread your voice around a little, and that you also get direct feedback from the players. That’s something I intend to do more (with the Stars).”


Ruff has never been a micro-manager. He trusts his assistant coaches to prepare their respective D and forwards for the in-game and practice assignments. In Buffalo, Ruff would oversee all areas of operation, however, he chose to delegate authority concerning such matters as PP, PK and even strength play to his trusted assistant coaches. It comes as no surprise that the Dallas Stars are expected to name James Patrick as the assistant coach in charge of defense. It's not official yet, however, a Ruff-Jeep reunion is less than a week away from being announced. Patrick has served as Ruff's right hand man in Buffalo for the past seven seasons, however, the hold up with him being added to the Stars coaching staff is that he is still is under contract to the Buffalo Sabres. Patrick was released from the Sabres coaching staff along with Kevyn Adams by new head coach Ron Rolston. The Sabres have replaced "Jeep" with Teppo Numminen and have replaced Adams with former Colorado Avs head coach Joe Sacco. The Sabres must grant Patrick his official release in order for him to join up with Ruff in Dallas so that the two men can do what they do best: to deny shots on goal and to have their D become more stingy in all three zones on the ice. Looking at the 2013 Dallas Stars, its easy to see why GM Jim Nill wanted Ruff as his head coach. Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen saw more rubber than the Indy 500 last season. The Dallas D and forwards were like a screen door. Enemy forwards were given shot after shot after shot with very little resistance from the Stars D. The Stars ranked 25th in the NHL with a blotaed 3.06 goals against average in in 2013. In 36 games played (48 game seasons), Lehtonen faced 1,050 shots on goal. He allowed 88 pucks to cross his goal line. Despite being a clay pigeon at a gun range, Lehtonen was able to salvage a respectable season with a 2.66 GAA and .916 save %. His back-up Richard Bachman allowed 33 goals against on just 288 shots and posted a dismal .885 save % and 3.25 GAA. In 5 games started, Chris Nilstorp allowed 15 goals on just 146 shots ( .897 save %, 3.09 GAA).

Stars fans can expect the shots and chances against to be dramatically reduced by Ruff's system which calls for tighter gap play by his D, and the forwards coming back to help protect the fort each and every shift.

In 2010, Ruff took all of the tricks of the trade that he could from the Team Canada experience and he brought them home to Buffalo where his Sabres compiled an impressive 45-27-10 record, and they won the Northeast Division. They were dumped in round one by Boston that season.

In 2010, Ruff was heard quoting Babcock in many a post game presser. I suspect he'll have his ears open this time around when Julien and Hitchcock are diagramming plays and protection schemes on the dry erase boards in practice and in games at the Sichi Ilympics.

“It (the Olympics experience) opens the pipeline,” said Ruff.

“I think we’re already pretty open, but you get in there and spend some time together, and you definitely learn new things.”



The Stars hired a great head coach when they snatched up Lindy Ruff. He'll borrow what he learned over 15 years in Buffalo and that which he learned in Vancouver in 2010 to a young
Stars team who are looking to make the playoffs for the first time in five seasons.

I like their chances with Lindy and Jeep at the helm.
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