By Jordan Long
On Monday, the Dallas Stars made the decision not to renew Head Coach Lindy Ruff’s contract. He had been the coach of the Stars for the last four years. Was this the right decision?
Ruff was hired by the Dallas Stars on June 21st, 2013. This was after 15 years in Buffalo. Ruff lasted only 17 games with the Sabers in 2013. They went 6-10-1. The Stars were hoping he could bring a Stanley Cup to the city for the first time since 1999.
In his first season in Dallas the team went 40-31-11 with a total of 91 points. They made the NHL Playoffs as the Wild Card team. Dallas lost to the Anaheim Ducks in the first-round in 6 games. 2015, Dallas was hoping to not only make the playoffs but make it past the first-round. They failed to make the playoffs by 7 points with a record of 41-31-10 for 92 points.
Last year was a dream season for the Stars, going 50-23-9 for 109 points. They won the Central Division and had the best record in the Western Conference. Dallas beat Minnesota 4 games to 2 in the first-round. In the second-round they fell to the St. Louis Blues in 7 games. This season the goal was to go further in the playoffs and make the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. The Stars ended the season at 34-37-11 with 79 points missing the playoffs.
According to Yahoosports.com, General Manager Jim Nill said, “I want to personally thank Lindy for his commitment and professionalism over the four years that he served as our head coach in Dallas. Lindy is not only a highly respected coach, he more importantly is a great person and an outstanding family man whom I have the utmost respect for on and off the ice.”
What cost Ruff his job was the play of his team. They allowed the opposing teams to dictate the pace of play. The Stars gave up 3.17 goals per game which was second worse, only the Colorado Avalanche allowed more. On the power play kill, they couldn’t stop the opposing team from scoring. They killed off 73.9% of their penalties. t was time to move on. Dallas made the right decision.
Ruff is a decent NHL Head Coach. He has 736 wins in 19 years behind the bench. Teams will want him because of his ability to coach a team to the playoffs. He may not win a Cup but at least his teams will play decent hockey .
How do you feel about Dallas not renewing Lindy Ruff’s contract? Where do you think Ruff will coach next season?
Leave a Reply