Dallas Stars Part Ways With Lindy Ruff After Four Seasons
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars announced this afternoon that they officially parted ways with head coach Lindy Ruff, whose contract expired this coming offseason, and will begin searching for a new head coach immediately.
It’s the end of yet another coaching era in Dallas. On Sunday afternoon, the Dallas Stars organization announced that they have officially parted ways with head coach Lindy Ruff.
Ruff just completed his fourth season with the Stars and was in need of a new contract going into the offseason. After an ugly 34-37-11 record this year that will go down as the second worst season in Dallas Stars history, the decision was made for both sides to part ways and get a fresh start.
It’s almost impossible to look back four years in the Dallas Stars franchise and try to comprehend all that has happened since Ruff was hired. Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, and Patrick Sharp arrived via trade. Johnny Oduya, Patrick Eaves, and Ales Hemsky all made their way through Dallas via free agency. A mass of new rookies have been developed under Ruff and established in the system.
Not to mention the Stars’ progression as a team. They hit all four spectrums under Ruff: barely making the playoffs (2013-14, 91 points), barely missing the playoffs (2014-15, 92 points), clinching the first seed in the Western Conference and winning the Central Division (2015-16, 109 points), and most recently falling hard from their past and ending up in 11th place in the West. (2016-17, 79 points).
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It’s been quite the journey since he was hired in June 2013 as the first big move under general manager Jim Nill. Ruff ended his tenure in Dallas with a record of 165-122-41.
This was the second stop on Ruff’s journey as a head coach. Before Dallas, Ruff manned the bench for the Buffalo Sabres for 16 seasons. His first big encounter with Dallas was when the Sabres faced off against the Stars in the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals and lost in six games.
It’s been a long while since then, hasn’t it?
The Dallas Stars have now made the first big step in what looks to be a long and eventful offseason filled with change. A new direction is required along with new pieces, and they are on the right path to completing both of those in the 2017 offseason.
Next: Who Should Stars Fans Root For In 2016-17 Playoffs?
It will definitely be an eventful one to follow, so make sure to keep up.