Hitchcock: 'Lindy Loves to Compete' | FEATURE

Lindy Ruff and Ken Hitchcock go back a long way. They grew up not too far from one another, Ruff in the village of Warburg, Alberta, and Hitchcock in the city of Edmonton.

Although taking different paths from Alberta, their roads would intersect once again, first behind NHL benches. Hitchcock began his NHL head coaching career during the 1995-96 NHL season with the Dallas Stars, two years before Ruff took over the Buffalo Sabres bench at the age of 37. For years their careers intersected at the National Hockey League level, famously including a heated Stanley Cup Final series between the Sabres and Stars, that involved a controversial triple overtime series win for Dallas.

When Hitchcock last coached in 2019, his career concluded with 849 wins, the fourth most in NHL history. Now his esteemed colleague, Ruff, already the wins leader among active NHL coaches, has tied the Hockey Hall of Famer's 849 victories all-time.

There is little surprise from Hitchcock that Ruff has both coached in the league for 22 years and counting and that Ruff has tied his record.

“He loves to compete,” the recent Hall of Fame inductee, Hitchcock, said in conversation just ahead of Ruff tying his record. “He just loves to compete.”

Of their coaching battles against one another, there are a few things in particular Hitchcock knew he had to always prepare for.

“I would say this, that No. 1 is his team played with passion because he had passion,” Hitchcock shared. “And No. 2 was they played a system that was, I always call him high event. He played almost like a full-court press system, where he put so much pressure on you on the forecheck and you had to be ready, because every team that I coached against Lindy, they always started fast.

“We played against each other quite a bit in the playoffs and his team always started fast and with a lot of pressure,” he continued. “If you weren't ready for the pressure, you could get overwhelmed and I just remember that his team played with such passion and tempo that if you didn't match it, you were going to get swamped.”

It is those fundamentals, Hitchcock said, that Ruff's teams continue to play with to this day.

It's not only about the X’s and O’s of a game, Hitchcock noted. It's also about his interpersonal skills, and how he treats those around him which is an essential part of his long-term success: 15 seasons at the helm of the Buffalo Sabres, another four with the Dallas Stars, and now in his fourth season with the New Jersey Devils. The athlete is different than when he first started, their personalities and expectations on how they're coached have changed. Ruff, Hitchcock explained, has that malleability to adjust to get the best out of everyone and himself.

Ruff has often talked about this shift in dynamics between players and coaches, and how it has developed more into a partnership between the two parties. It's something Ruff has taken to heart. But, as Hitchcock explains, it is nothing new for the 61-year-old coach.

"I think he's gotten really good at forming partnerships with the players," Hitchcock said. "He has things that he wants, and he's willing to embrace some of their ideas and thoughts. I think he's done a really good job. So, when people say has the coach changed? I don't think Lindy's changed, but what he's done is adjusted, the smart coaches adjust. He's adjusted in the elements that you need to do in order to be successful in this day and age, and that is form partnerships with the players individually so you can then form it with a group."

There is no clearer indication of that than the relationship Ruff has with Devils superstar Jack Hughes. Hughes, 22, has spoken at length through the years about his partnership with Ruff and how his coach gets the best out of him by investing in that partnership. Ruff is always the coach, Hughes the player, but there is an essence of equality in kinship. Hughes has expressed Ruff allowing him to "be himself" as a player, with a long leash. When Hitchcock was presented with that scenario, again, there was little surprise in the dynamic and a star player putting his faith in Ruff.

“Lindy is one of those guys, that he shows trust and gives trust before he expects to get it back, which is a great quality,” Hitchcock remarked. “And he doesn't expect it back until he shows it. So, he's the first guy out of the gate showing belief and trust in the players and then he hopes that he gets it back, but he's not sold on having to get it back right away. He's very patient with that, but he shows a lot of faith and a lot of trust right out of the gate.”

Ruff and Hitchcock have gone through the battles as opponents, but also as counterparts. In 2010 and 2014 they shared in the glory together as assistant coaches for Team Canada at the Olympic Winter Games. In 2010 they won gold on home ice in Vancouver and again in 2014, they were on the gold medal-winning Olympic staff.

“We really got to know each other in the two Olympics,” Hitchcock said. “We were together a lot because we were roommates both times. And you know, we just had a lot of laughs together.”

There is arguably no greater pressure than representing your country at an Olympic Games and Hitchcock saw first-hand how Ruff’s personality helped manage and ease the pressure of the moment.

“More than anything, I just remember how calm he was in the heat of battle at the Olympics,” Hitchcock reminisced. “He was very calm and that was a good feeling because he was a guy that you could, obviously, when you're coaching for Canada, it means everything to everybody, and he was a guy that could find the humor in every situation. As a staff, we all really appreciated his sense of humor."

“In an atmosphere like that," Hitchcock added, "Lindy was so good for us because he's got a great sense of humor. And the stress and pressure was at its highest and he did a great job making it fun for everybody.”

What is clear is Lindy Ruff the man, even before the coach, has been very much the reason his career has spanned as many years as it has and counting, climbing his way up the NHL's all-time wins list. Hitchcock says the second he left coaching, he no longer thought about his record, that's all in the past, he's moved on to other things now, he calls it 'ancient history' and is happy to see Lindy Ruff reach such continued success.

Not that there was any doubt.

“If you to get where he's at, you’re going to have to get the trust of a lot of people, especially your general manager,” Hitchcock said. “He's had great working relationships with management, and that's the key of coaching. You're not going to have green light days every day and Lindy works really hard at building relationships. And this (record) is to me, is just the payback for building great relationships.”