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Buffalo Sabres sign head coach Lindy Ruff to 2-year contract extension

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BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres have signed Lindy Ruff to a two-year contract extension, the team announced on Wednesday.

Ruff, 66, is a finalist for the Jack Adams Award after leading the Sabres back to the playoffs for the first time in 15 years. After a 15-plus season run as the team’s head coach from 1997-2013, Ruff returned for a second stint as the team’s coach ahead of the 2024-25 season. That season was a trying one, as the team finished seventh in the Atlantic Division with 79 points.

Just one year later, the Sabres improved their point total to 109 points and won the division. In early December, the Sabres were in last place in the Eastern Conference and fired general manager Kevyn Adams, replacing him with Jarmo Kekäläinen. Ruff remained as the head coach and led the Sabres to the best record in the NHL over the next five months. Buffalo’s season ended on Monday with an overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the playoffs. Not even 48 hours later, the Sabres answered one of the biggest questions of their offseason.

“He is so good at pushing us,” Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin said. “That’s the main thing. There’s no time for effing around; you have to be uncomfortable every day. I think that’s what really helped us as a group. We took care of the other stuff, but he made sure he pushed us every day, and I think that brought us a lot of success for sure.”

Ruff, who spent a decade with the Sabres as a player, is the winningest coach in Sabres history and ranks fourth all-time among NHL coaches with 950 wins. This season, he managed to blend the Sabres’ rush-heavy offensive style with a more detailed approach to the defensive side of the game. And in the process, he did what he set out to do in bringing playoff hockey back to Buffalo.

“When I took the job, I thought, number one, I wanted these guys to like being a Buffalo Sabre,” Ruff said. “I think they like being a Sabre, and I think they made our city proud. It wasn’t the result we wanted, and to a man, they’re all disappointed. But they gave them everything they had in the can.”

The Sabres still have some questions to answer about the rest of the coaching staff. Buffalo’s power play was an issue all season, so time will tell if Ruff makes any adjustments to his bench. But when he was nominated for the Jack Adams Award, he was quick to deflect credit to his staff, saying the award was a reflection of the team effort behind the bench.

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Ryder Cup 2027: Captain Jim Furyk says USA will be ‘underdogs’ at Adare Manor

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In 2018, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas – two of the three youngest players on Furyk’s team – starred as they won three out of four points as a foursomes and fourballs pairing.

With 21-year-old Jackson Koivun having impressed during an unbeaten Presidents Cup debut in last month’s comeback victory over the Internationals in Chicago, Furyk says he is excited to inject more youth into the US side.

“I really love the guys who have played for us in the past few years,” the 56-year-old, who played in nine consecutive Ryder Cups between 1997 and 2014, told the BBC.

“We have tough, gritty veterans who have been around the block, and I’m excited, we have a lot of great, young talent who have yet to play in this cup and I’d bet two or three of them will be at Adare.”

During the news conference, Furyk said he will ask his team to “do more than any American team has in the past” to seal an elusive away win and vowed to address his side’s dismal recent record in foursomes.

The US won just three points from a possible 16 in the alternate-shot format over the past two Ryder Cups.

“I know those numbers very well. I’ve lived them the last four,” said Furyk.

“It’s not an anomaly. There’s some issues. We understand that. Not something I’m very happy with. I plan on making some changes.

“As captains we need to do a better job – not only putting the folks into good pairings in good positions, but I don’t think we are preparing for those matches in a proper way.”

The 2027 Ryder Cup – the second to be staged in Ireland after the K Club in 2006 – will take place on 17-19 September.

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Martin O’Neill ‘as determined as ever’ to lead Celtic

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Martin O’Neill insists he is the man to lead Celtic forward after a “time of reflection” during the ongoing international break.

The 74-year-old signed a one-year deal to stay at Parkhead after two interim spells last season culminated in a league and Scottish Cup double.

Following two defeats by Rangers last month – either side of a 3-1 home defeat by Ferencvaros in the Europa League – O’Neill said “it might be time to wrap it up”, in reference to his managerial career.

However, Celtic rallied around their legendary boss, with chief executive Michael Nicholson publicly backing the Northern Irishman.

And two weeks on, O’Neill himself has now stated he has the drive to stay on.

“I am extremely prepared now for it,” O’Neill said in a club interview. “We had a difficult week. That can happen. You can lose to your arch-rivals, you can lose the European game.

“It’s certainly not the end of the world as it seemed to be described as. I thought I would take a bit of time, and it didn’t take me that much time to think about it.

“I want to lead the club, I want to try to win the league and I’m just as determined now than ever before.

“It was a time of reflection for a moment or two, but overall, I’m back, I’m raring to go and the team’s ready.”

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China Open: Novak Djokovic wins 102nd title after Alex De Minaur retires in final

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Novak Djokovic wins the China Open for a seventh time after Alex de Minaur retires in the final in Beijing, as the Serb wins the 102nd title of his career, in the 21st year in a row that Djokovic has won at least one singles title.

READ MORE: ‘Means more than just a trophy’ – Djokovic claims 102nd title of career

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