Ruff discusses coaching staff roles and Appert’s promotion on ‘Sabres Live’

Lindy Ruff detailed how duties will be divided among her coaching staff during an appearance on “Sabres Live” with Brian Duff and Martin Biron.

Ruff’s staff was rounded out Monday with the promotions of Seth Appert to assistant coach and Amir Gulati to video coordinator. Appert and Gulati join returning assistants Mike Bales, Matt Ellis and Marty Wilford; video trainer Justin White; and ice rehabilitation and skating instructor Mike Ansell.

Appert spent the last four seasons as head coach of the Rochester Americans, where he compiled a 123-94-22-10 record and led the team to three consecutive playoff berths. Gulati, a Buffalo native, spent the last two seasons as a video coach for Rochester.

Appert will handle the forward group and coach the power play, Ruff said. Wilford will continue to coach defense and the penalty kill and Bales will continue to work with the goaltenders. Ellis will be an “eye in the sky” for the staff during games and will work closely with the team’s centers, with Ruff citing improvement in the faceoff circle as an area of ​​focus.

“I’m excited about where we have all the guys,” Ruff said.

Ruff said the decision to promote Appert to his team was a “no-brainer” following their conversations, which revealed a shared vision for how the Sabers can play in the future. Ruff also cited Appert’s established relationships with players — many of whom he coached at Rochester — as an advantage.

Ruff said he and Appert will work closely together on the power play and have already discussed tactics to improve on last season, which saw the Sabers rank tied for 28th in the NHL with a 16.6 percent success rate. .

“(We) really talked about the NHL power play situation and the movements within the NHL power plays,” Ruff said. “And, more so, the way most teams start killing now where they’re set up in a diamond, they’re set up where they’re taking away flanking fire, you’ve got to get some movement, you’ve got to get that your bumper player almost be the important player on the ice to support wherever the pressure is coming from in order to relieve that pressure and create 2-on-1s down low… There are ways to move and create a little more. of deception, I think we can be more effective.

Watch Ruff’s full interview with “Sabres Live” below: