Life was never this difficult for Lindy Ruff in Buffalo.
All he had to do was pencil Hall of Famer Dominik Hasek into his lineup card in net on opening night and leave him there all season long for the Sabres. He was an iron man in goal, routinely playing 60-plus games, winning Vezina Trophies and Hart Trophies and carrying the Sabres as far as the Stanley Cup finals.
When Hasek moved on, Ruff could pencil in All-Star Ryan Miller, another iron man with 60-plus starts annually. He won a Vezina for himself, a Presidents' Trophy for his team and twice took the Sabres to the Eastern Conference finals.