Ruff " Its a little bit of a gamble but we all liked what we saw"
 

http://www.wgr550.com/topic/play_win...udioId=5933756

Ruff was on Hockey Hotline today talking about various topics. The quote in the thread title was about Ennis taking over Roy's minutes.


- The plan is for Ennis to take over Roy's role as the top minutes, all situations center.

Ruff also touched on

-Loves how Foligno opened up space for Ennis and Stafford. They were a great compliment of skills as a line. He also wants what Foligno brings on every line and feels thats a formula for success. Unrealistic to expect the same level of production from Marcus but they're hoping for something close.

-Hopes to keep to Hodgson's ice time in the 16-17mins range

-then said -> "Where we fit in Ott in that whole thing is going to determine some of the other guys ice time".

Sounds like Ruff hasn't decided if Ott will be a center or wing yet.

- They felt Ennis took great strides as a center, even though its a little bit of a gamble (taking over Roy's role), but they all liked what they saw in Ennis at center.





I have to say I'm a bit surprised they are handing over the top line to two kids and Stafford. I'm excited and nervous about it.

Well, we all wanted change.....

I'm not sure how he can even dictate that yet. Ennis would have to have his ES/PP time increased by 4 minutes per game to match what Roy had. If Vanek-Hodgson-Pominville play extremely well together, isn't that going to make Hodgson the minute eater? Roy played with Vanek and Pominville for long stretches of his time here, so I doubt Ruff is going to take away time from them just to force feed Ennis. He's also not the defensive player Roy is (not that Roy's anything super special), so I doubt he'll be closing out periods/games.

:facepalm:

hopefully missing the playoffs gets lindy fired

I'm guessing because he is the head coach :laugh:

You're also assuming that Vanek/Hodgson/Pommer will be a line. It sounded very much like he wanted the same skill mix that Foligno/Ennis/Stafford has on every line. So that would make it unlikely they would be a line.

out of curiosity, what kind of dialogue were you expecting?

"Steve was brought in to center our top line, we expect Marcus to score a point per game, but we don't want any players like him on any other lines, as that's not how you play successful team hockey (hitting, forechecking, crashing the net, getting under skin, etc.)...and we're going to give Hodgson 21+ per night"

I don't get it. Anything he says is immediately wrong because it came out from under the blondestache

the gamble of handing roy;s role to ennis is stupid. that's the :facepalm:.... it should so clearly go to Hodgson/Pommer line if someone else doesn't get brought in.

seriously... Ennis + Defensive Zone draws/shifts is ****ing idiotic.

Ennis is the worst defensive zone player on the entire team (ok, john scott is probably worse... probably :lol:)

Not to mention the kid was just starting to scratch the surface of success at center.... so i think it's double :facepalm: to try and change that role so soon.

lindy is an idiot... everything about his decisions regarding lineups over the years makes this annoying, but by no means surprising

Yeah, eventually Ennis will improve but I think doing this now is basically throwing him to the wolves, not only hurting his confidence when Ruff inevitably rips him a new one, but hurting the team as well.

I feel like everytime Darcy/Lindy come and and say something before the season starts (Leino is a center!) they end up looking foolish. Here's hoping this turns out differently.

stupid

smart

stupid

makes sense (hopefully relates to his 2nd statement)

stupid

I am a little confused as well because it appeared that some of the FES lines success came from playing against favorable match-ups and protected shifts. By making them the top line you can say good-bye to that advantage.

EDIT: Let's say that Lindy is trying to bring grit to each line to open up the ice. What does the 2nd line look like?

Vanek - Ott - Hodgson

Pommers on 3rd line?

I'm confused. I like the concept, but with the current players I am not sure. Tropp?

So? I didn't say he couldn't do it, I just don't know why the hell he would. It's hardly a secret he likes to reward players with ice time, so why is he all of a sudden going to force feed a center time? It makes no sense.

And it makes no difference what line Hodgson is on. If he outplays Ennis, why would he not be the all-purpose center?

My mind ran to...

"Gamesmanship? Looking to spark Vanek and Hodgson? Hiding what Regier is up to? Maybe he's serious...."

Folks need to remember who gets the tougher defensive matchups is determined by the other team's coach.

So basically you're mad about Hodgson's potential ice time.


Also its called having a plan for how you want to build the team.

I love hearing this about Ennis. Ennis brings offensive skill, speed, compete, and a lot of heart.

If this guy is leading the Sabres forwards in minutes it will be a fun team to watch play.

True, but as a habs fan if Roy and Vanek were together I'd want the shutdown line out against them other than Ennis-Foligno-Stafford. If this line clicks and does well, teams will probably lay off Vanek. Though, to start the season I'd still want the shutdown pair against Vanek.

Foligno is a beast of a player. You can put him anywhere and that line just works.

I guess it depends on how Roy's role is defined. I think Ruff's was just refering to his ice time and that Ennis could handle it and woudn't be protected. Not that Ennis will be sent out to try and stop anyone defensively.

Not sure why it would be viewed as a way to spark Hodgson. Before becoming a Sabre he was playing less than 13mins a night and never PKed.

True true. I guess I just worry that Lindy will stick to the norm and give FES their fair share of starts in the D/O zones. Meaning, more chances for the line to go stale and have Ennis separated from Mecha-Gerbe. :(

If they were to focus FES on primarily offensive zone starts they we might actually keep a scoring line together for an entire season.

What is the problem here? If team focus on Foligno - Ennis - Stafford that means our best goal scorer is playing vs weaker competition, our captain is playing vs weaker competition.

As for the lines I could see something like this..

Foligno - Ennis - Stafford
Leino - Ott - Pominville
Vanek - Hodgson - Tropp
Gerbe - McCormick - Kaleta

Not sure what your point is.

Does it really matter what Lindy says now?

The roster isnt set

I particularly like those lines. You could move Gerbe/Tropp/Kaleta around if needed. Then give Van extra PP time. But now were dreaming huh. Lindy will be playing musical lines on opening night.

When they signed Leino, they said that in Philly's system, he essentially played center. Maybe they expect Ott to face then switch with Leino playing on the third line?

True. :)

Gives me a chance to waste time @ work :laugh: