Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres are set to leave their mark on Thanksgiving celebrations across Western New York by virtue of a unique fan giveaway at an upcoming game.

On Wednesday, the Sabres posted a teaser video for a gravy boat giveaway in conjunction with their Nov. 27 home game against the Minnesota Wild:

The game is taking place the night before Thanksgiving, and the first 10,000 fans in attendance at KeyBank Center will get their hands on a gravy boat made to look like a Sabres Zamboni.

As part of the video, the Sabres got into the Thanksgiving spirit by giving some of their players Thanksgiving-themed nicknames, such as JJ Peterka as JJ Pe-Turkey, Jordan Greenway as Jordan Green Bean Casserole and Alex Tuch as Alex Tuchy Leg.

The night before Thanksgiving is typically a huge night out in Buffalo, and the quirky gravy boat gimmick may compel more Western New Yorkers to spend the night enjoying a Sabres game.

It has been a rough go for the Sabres over the past several years, as they are in the midst of the longest playoff drought in NHL history, having missed out on the postseason in 13 consecutive campaigns.

In an effort to bust out of the slump, the Sabres brought back the last head coach to lead them to the playoffs in Lindy Ruff.

Ruff is the winningest head coach in Sabres history with 579 regular-season victories. He also won 57 playoff games in eight playoff appearances.

Overall, Ruff has 872 regular-season wins as an NHL head coach with the Sabres, Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils, placing him fifth on the all-time list behind only Scotty Bowman, Joel Quenneville, Barry Trotz and Paul Maurice.

Ruff is the only coach in the top five in wins who has yet to win a Stanley Cup, though, the Sabres are one of only 10 NHL franchises without a Stanley Cup triumph.

The Sabres are off to an up-and-down start so far this season at 8-9-1, but Ruff at least has them in the playoff mix, which is more than can be said for most of the Sabres' coaches during their lengthy drought.

There will be no dry spell for the first 10,000 fans in attendance at next Wednesday's game, though, as the Sabres gravy boat will undoubtedly be the perfect vessel with which to ensure moist and delicious turkey and fixings on Thanksgiving.

The Buffalo Sabres have hired Lindy Ruff for a second stint as head coach, the team announced Monday.

Ruff previously coached the Sabres from 1997 to 2013.

Ruff most recently coached the New Jersey Devils, where he was fired in March after leading the Devils to a 30-27-4 record during his fourth season with the team.

He boasts an 864-679-78 regular-season record as head coach, including a 571-432-78 mark in 15 seasons with the Sabres.

The Devils were unable to turn their season around after dismissing Ruff. New Jersey finished the season with a 8-12-1 record and missed the playoffs under interim head coach Travis Green.

The season prior, Ruff had coached the Devils to one of the team's best-ever regular seasons as New Jersey won 52 games for the first time in franchise history.

Ruff's March firing marks the second time in his career he has been dismissed mid-season.

During Ruff's last stint in Buffalo, the Sabres parted ways with their longtime head coach after a 6-10-1 start to the 2012-13 season.

At the time of Ruff's 2013 firing, the Sabres were frustrated with the team's lack of progress in the playoffs. After losing 4-2 to the Dallas Stars in the 1999 Stanley Cup Final, the Sabres never made it back to the Final despite three trips to the third round.

Since then, the Sabres have gone through six coaches without any further playoff progress while setting an NHL record with 13 straight missed postseasons.

Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams stressed that the hiring of Ruff, 64, was "not made with nostalgia in mind," according to Jourdon LaBarber of Sabres.com.

Adams instead cited Ruff's experience coaching the Devils, one of the youngest teams in the NHL during his tenure, as a reason he might succeed in leading a Sabres rebuild.

"He has experience, a proven track record, familiarity with young players, and so much more... Lindy is the right person for the job now and any history with our organization and community is simply an added bonus," Adams said, per LaBarber.

Prior to his coaching career, Ruff was selected by the Sabres in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft. He played 608 games for Buffalo over 10 seasons.

Ruff will be re-introduced to Buffalo during a press conference scheduled for Tuesday at 1 p.m., LaBarber reported.

The Buffalo Sabres announced the firing of head coach Don Granato on Tuesday on the heels of missing the playoffs for an NHL-high 13th consecutive season.

Granato had been the Sabres' head coach for parts of the past four seasons, posting a 122-125-27 record during that time, including a 39-37-6 mark in 2023-24.

Despite the Sabres' inability to reach the playoffs, Granato was the NHL's sixth-longest-tenured head coach prior to his firing.

Along with Granato, Buffalo announced that it has also parted ways with assistant coach Jason Christie and video coordinator Matt Smith.

Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams released a statement on the organization's decision to move on from the 56-year-old Granato, saying:

"I would like to thank Don for his time in Buffalo and commitment to the Sabres organization. He has been integral in the development of many of our players and has undoubtedly been the right coach to bring us to where we are now, but I felt it was necessary to move in a different direction at this point in time. My expectation is to be a consistent contender and unfortunately that goal has not been met."

In 2022-23, the Sabres took a big leap forward, going 42-33-7 for 91 points, which was a significant improvement from the 75 points they posted in 2021-22.

Buffalo came agonizingly close to ending its playoff drought, but it finished one point out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

While it was a disappointing end to the season, expectations were high entering the 2023-24 campaign, especially after the Sabres' young and talented roster finished third in the NHL in goals for with 296.

Buffalo took a major step back in the goal-scoring department this season, though, scoring just 246 times. The Sabres also didn't have any player reach the 60-point or 30-goal mark after five players had at least 60 points and four players had at least 30 goals in 2022-23.

The Sabres did improve significantly from a defensive perspective, however, surrendering 244 goals compared to 300 last season.

Still, it wasn't enough to push the Sabres into the playoffs, as their 84 points are five behind the Washington Capitals, who currently own the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with one game left to play.

Buffalo closed out its season Monday with a 4-2 road win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in what proved to be Granato's final game as head coach.

Despite the Sabres having the longest playoff drought in NHL history, their head coaching job figures to be an attractive one due to the amount of young talent they possess.

Forwards Tage Thompson, JJ Peterka, Dylan Cozens, Zach Benson and Jack Quinn are all 26 years of age or younger, while defensemen Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power and Bowen Byram are all 24 or younger.

Also, 25-year-old goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukonen is coming off a breakout season, having gone 27-22-4 with a 2.57 goals-against average, .910 save percentage and five shutouts.

It is unclear who the Sabres may be targeting to replace Granato, but an intriguing candidate emerged when the New Jersey Devils fired Lindy Ruff last month.

Ruff has the fifth-most coaching wins in NHL history with 864, and the bulk of them came as head coach of the Sabres from 1997 to 2013.

He went 571-432-78-84 as the Sabres' head coach and led them to eight playoff appearances, including a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 1999.

Seth Appert, who coaches the Sabres' AHL affiliate in the Rochester Americans, could also be a candidate after he filled in for Granato as head coach of the Sabres for one game this season while Granato was sick.