• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

MayorsManor.com

NHL blog, LA Kings hockey news and interviews from The Mayor

  • Radio Replay
  • Prospect Rankings
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / hockey / Buffalo’s Lindy Ruff the original Rob Blake?

Buffalo’s Lindy Ruff the original Rob Blake?

November 20, 2010 By John Hoven

Relax, this isn’t an article designed to bash Rob Blake.

Nor is it a story about the Kings 4-2 loss in Buffalo last night.

It is about the Sabres though. More specifically, their coach and his parallel to Blake.

Let’s begin with a preamble…

Rob Blake was a great player for the Kings for more than a decade during his first stint in Los Angeles. He was part of the NHL All-Rookie Team, won the Norris Trophy and put up numbers that make him one of the best defenseman in the history of the franchise. He went on to win a Stanley Cup and is without a doubt a first ballot hall of famer.

Now, that said, there was one move that will forever cause some controversy in LA. Prior to the Kings first pre-season game in September 2000, mired in a contract dispute, Blake resigned the captaincy after receiving what he believed to be a take it or leave it offer from the organization.

After giving up the ‘C’ Blake told the LA Times “I take a lot of pride and responsibility in being the captain, and when you are told you might not be around for the whole season, it’s extremely difficult to do the job. Rather than it being a distraction later on in the season, it’s best that someone take it on now.”

That’s not exactly how I’d put it. And that’s not what I expect from a captain. But, maybe that’s just me. Different conversation for a different day.

With that quick back story in place, here’s the connection…

Just a few weeks ago Sabres coach Lindy Ruff was the toast of the league. In fact, prior to their game on Wednesday, November 10th an NHL.com article noted “Ruff, currently the longest-tenured coach in the NHL, not only will become the 18th coach in NHL history to reach 1,000 games, but only the third (coach) in League history to reach that milestone with the same team. Only Billy Reay (1,012 with Chicago) and Al Arbour (1,500 with the New York Islanders) have coached one team more often; Ruff will be the first man to coach 1,000 games in the NHL with only one team.”

Sure, Lindy Ruff is Mr. Sabre. Agreed.

However, what the article failed to note was one other key piece of Ruff’s history in Buffalo.

After being drafted in the second round by the team in 1979 he patrolled their blueline for more than 600 games over a ten year span. Then, in February 1989 he resigned the captaincy of the Buffalo Sabres following a game in which he was benched.

A few days later he was traded to the New York Rangers and just 83 games later his NHL playing days were over.

So, yes, their careers took different roads post giving up the ‘C’. Yet, it is interesting to think about…

Should highly respected leaders be so quick to take their ball and go home when things don’t go their way?

The Mayor
www.twitter.com/Mayor119
www.facebook.com/MayorsManor

RELATED ARTICLES:

Interview with Rob Blake – includes his thoughts on resigning the captaincy in LA

Interview with Luc Robitaille

Interview with Andy Murray
.

Filed Under: hockey, Kings, NHL, Rangers, Sabres Tagged With: Blake, Buffalo, captain, hockey

About John Hoven

John Hoven is a former member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and co-hosts Kings of the Podcast. He's also the founder and editor of MayorsManor.com, which has been named Best Sports Blog in Los Angeles and Hockey Blog of the Year. Click "ABOUT OUR TEAM" below for a full bio.

Primary Sidebar

Kings Of The Podcast

Kings Of The Podcast: Ep. 132 – Mark Yannetti, 2022 NHL Draft Review

There’s no introduction or fancy setup needed on this one… Our guest is Mark Yannetti. Listen to this episode for free using the audio player below or check us out on all the major podcast platforms, including: Spotify, iHeart Radio, Apple Podcast, Tune In, Radio.com, and many more. Follow @mayorNHL Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping […]

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • Kings Of The Podcast: Ep. 133 – Jack Hughes; Vin Scully, True-False
  • Round 2: LA Kings Reverse Retro 2.0 Jersey Mock-Ups
  • Kings Opening Night Roster Coming Together; Updates on Durzi and Anderson Contracts
  • NHL RADIO REPLAY: Mayor’s Minutes – LA Kings Summer Report Card, Grading Rob Blake
  • Mike Donnelly on Standouts at LA Kings Dev Camp and Other Impressions
  • LA Kings 2022 Dev Camp Notebook: Day 3 Notes and Scrimmage Highlights
  • LA Kings 2022 Dev Camp Notebook: Day 2 Notes and Quotes
  • REPORT: LA Kings to Hire Jim Hiller as Assistant Coach
  • LA Kings 2022 Dev Camp Notebook: Day 1 Scrimmage, Quotes, and Observations
  • NHL Rookie Faceoff: Schedule Released for September Tournament; Three Kings Games

Tweets by mayorNHL

Footer

Archives

Tags

AHL Blackhawks Brown camp Carter Clifford coach comments Doughty draft Ducks history hockey interview Kings Kopitar lineup Lombardi Los Angeles Manchester Mayor MayorsManor Monarchs Murray NHL Ontario Penner Playoffs Prospect Quick quote Radio Reign Richards roster Sharks Stanley Cup Stoll Sutter Toffoli trade video WCB West Coast Bias Williams

MayorsManor

  • About Our Team
  • Contact Us
  • Store

© 2022 MayorsManor.com