Sabres hire Lindy Ruff as coach. He guided Buffalo to the playoffs in 2011 WFTV [Video]

BUFFALO, N.Y. — (AP) — Lindy Ruff has some unfinished business in Buffalo.

Some 11 years after being fired as the Sabres’ winningest coach, and following head-coaching stops in Dallas and New Jersey, the 64-year-old Ruff is getting his old job back after being hired by the Sabres on Monday. He takes over a team in the midst of an NHL-record 13-season playoff drought, replacing Don Granato, who was fired last week after three-plus seasons behind the bench.

For Ruff, the hiring marks a homecoming. The former Sabres defenseman and captain went on to spend 14-plus seasons coaching the team, including its final postseason appearance — a seven-game, first-round loss to Philadelphia in 2011.

His return also revives the memory of Ruff’s bid to defend his job in Buffalo a week before he was fired when he said: “It’s on me to clean up this mess. … And I’m not done trying.”

The mess has grown substantially since he departed a month into the NHL’s lockout-shortened 2013 season.

During that 11-year …