Lindy Ruff officially joins Rangers as assistant coach

Dallas-Stars-head-coach-Lindy-Ruff-watches-play-against-the-Minnesota-Wild-in-the-first-period-of-an-NHL-hockey-game-in-Dallas,-Saturday-Jan.-14,-2017.-(LM-Otero/AP)

New York Rangers assistant coach Lindy Ruff. (LM Otero/AP)

NEW YORK — The New York Rangers have hired longtime NHL head coach Lindy Ruff as an assistant to Alain Vigneault.

The Rangers announced the hire Monday. The 57-year-old Ruff was a head coach for almost 19 seasons, compiling a record of 736-554-78-125.

He ranks fourth among head coaches in regular-season games coached, trailing Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour and Joel Quenneville.

Ruff coached the Buffalo Sabres for parts of 15 seasons (1997-98 to 2012-13). He led the Sabres to the Stanley Cup Final in 1998-99 and won the Jack Adams Award in 2005-06.

Ruff also coached the Dallas Stars for four seasons (2013-14 to 2016-17).

He played in 691 NHL games over parts of 12 seasons in the league (1979-80 to 1990-91), with 105 goals and 195 assists, along with 1,264 penalty minutes. He played parts of three seasons with the Rangers (1988-89 to 1990-91) and had 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) in 83 games.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.