The Dallas Stars have agreed to terms with coach Lindy Ruff, according to Dallas Morning News writer Mike Heika’s source.
Updated: The team has made Ruff’s hiring official.
This follows an interesting day in the Stars’ quest to find a bench boss to replace former head coach Glen Gulutzan.
Stars president and CEO Jim Lites asserted on Thursday that Ruff would be hired barring “unforeseen circumstances,” according to the Dallas Morning News. However, he later said that Stars GM Jim Nill hadn’t completed his process.
“I said it is Jim’s call, and I stick by that,” Lites said, referring to Nill. He later added, “I think [Ruff’s] an incredible guy, a great candidate, and I think we would be very happy if he is the next coach of the Dallas Stars. But that’s not my call.”
Well, Nill has made the call and it matches up with Lites’ earlier assertion.
Ruff has a 571-432-78-84 regular season coaching record and he’s made it to the Stanley Cup Final once before, when his 1998-99 Buffalo Sabres were eliminated by the Stars in six games.