Gee, Lindy, do you think that some of your decisions had something to do with the end result?
Wow, if it hadn't happened already (earlier in the season, last year, etc.), I'm betting he lost a lot of the guys today. If I was Ennis, Poms, Regehr, Foligno (not there obviously), Kaleta, Sekera and Miller standing there, having worked my ass off for 2 months on this run, I would have been thinking ef you buddy, we players made this work in spite of you.
The rest of the core probably took it all in stride (Stafford, Roy, Boyes,Vanek).
Hodgson and Sulzer (if he was there) were probably thinking WTF is this?
If Ruff gets fired, Even though I doubt that Ruff will get fired, who would you want to replace him?
I personally dont think it should be any of the assistants because Ruff would be fired and they are part of his crew. The only way an assistant should take over is if the head coach retires.
I think we should take a look at Ron Wilson (if he still wants to coach) because at this point judging by the way the Leafs were after he was fired it is apparent that he wasnt the problem there and he is one of the most experienced coaches out there and one of the winning-est coaches out there with the only thing missing is a Stanley cup.
If you were to ask me before this season I would have said to get rid of Regier before Ruff but now I have changed my mind. Ehrhoff has been nothing short of amazing, while he doesnt have the offensive number he had with the nucks I feel he is a more complete defenseman and a unbelievable bargain at 4 million a year. Regher, while I am slightly disappointed in him I still feel it was a good move. Leino is a bit tricky, while I feel he is overpaid at the moment I feel that we should give him more time because he put together some stretches of play this season that if done over a whole season would make him worth 4.5 a year and they seemed to be happening more frequently as the season progressed. The trade deadline was amazing, it appeared like some old school gangster just toying with kids and ripping them off.
The team is interesting, when healthy the D is amazing, actually I think Miller's numbers down the stretch have more to do with the D than with the goalie himself, but without Ehrhoff and Myers the rest seem to forget how to play and I would like for Mcnabb and Brennan to have another year in the AHL before we bring them up for good.
The Offense, Ennistaffoligno needs to stick together. Pomminville is the Captain and there is no one on the offense I trust more than him. Roy should go but I would wait because next year is a contract year and I have a feeling he will be good so I would wait to either the trade deadline or the draft to trade him depending on how the team does. Kaleta needs to stay, first he costs us basically nothing on the cap hit, he is effective at his job and this year actually seemed to be pretty good on the penalty kill. Boyes just let him go unless he wants to comeback with a cheap contract (1.5 mil a year or less). Gerbe, even though he wasnt as good as last year I still want to hang on to him (and not just because im waiting for Chara to retire so we can have the tallest and shortest player in the league). Hecht for the sake of your own health just retire dude. Vanek I feel we can trade because while at first he streakiness was just him I feel as he gets older and gets more clout in the locker room I believe it is starting to affect the other guys.
If Vanek is traded than that frees up a "A" which should got to Myers or Ehrhoff. With no big centers hitting the free agent market this year I think we hang on to the top 3 we got (Ennis, Roy, Hodgson) unless just a cant miss opportunity comes up. I think we should pick up a vocal veteran winger because I feel we missed not having one this year where as last year we had at least two in Niedermayer and Grier (come on who didn't enjoy his cruise aways), and if we had a player like that on offense I think we sneak into the playoffs this year.
When removing the tainted core we don't want to blow up the team because we have solid stuff here. The process had already begun with the removal of Gaustad then we move Vanek this summer and Roy after next year. Stafford I dont believe is part of that core because he is a few couple years younger than the others and he seems to gel well with Ennis.
Wow, if it hadn't happened already (earlier in the season, last year, etc.), I'm betting he lost a lot of the guys today. If I was Ennis, Poms, Regehr, Foligno (not there obviously), Kaleta, Sekera and Miller standing there, having worked my ass off for 2 months on this run, I would have been thinking ef you buddy, we players made this work in spite of you. Hey lindy, remember when they turned it around? Oh right, the PLAYERS ONLY meeting. you weren't there, dude.
The rest of the core probably took it all in stride (Stafford, Roy, Boyes,Vanek).
Hodgson and Sulzer (if he was there) were probably thinking WTF is this?
Agreed, I'd be beyond pissed at that. they know it wasn't good enough, but to have your coach come out and say that and (at least based on what the article said) not really call himself out for some of the problems is ridiculous.
Gerbe, even though he wasnt as good as last year I still want to hang on to him (and not just because im waiting for Chara to retire so we can have the tallest and shortest player in the league).
If Vanek is traded than that frees up a "A" which should got to Myers or Ehrhoff. With no big centers hitting the free agent market this year I think we hang on to the top 3 we got (Ennis, Roy, Hodgson) unless just a cant miss opportunity comes up. I think we should pick up a vocal veteran winger because I feel we missed not having one this year where as last year we had at least two in Niedermayer and Grier (come on who didn't enjoy his cruise aways), and if we had a player like that on offense I think we sneak into the playoffs this year.
at the Gerbe comment
As for Vanek's A, it should go to no one if he's dealt and removed if he stays. I'd strip Roy's A too and probably give it to Ehrhoff or Myers, but it might give a bad taste right before his contract year. I don't anticipate Roy being moved over the summer, due to his relatively modest cap hit.
1 Captain, 2 Alternates. As it should be. I hated the rotating captaincy after Barnes left, didn't like the Drury/Briere co-captaincy setup (Drury should've had the C alone), and I don't like the alternating alternates (x'ing x makes for a good indie band name though...like pretentiously pretentious ).
As for Vanek's A, it should go to no one if he's dealt and removed if he stays. I'd strip Roy's A too and probably give it to Ehrhoff or Myers, but it might give a bad taste right before his contract year. I don't anticipate Roy being moved over the summer, due to his relatively modest cap hit.
1 Captain, 2 Alternates. As it should be. I hated the rotating captaincy after Barnes left, didn't like the Drury/Briere co-captaincy setup (Drury should've had the C alone), and I don't like the alternating alternates (x'ing x makes for a good indie band name though...like pretentiously pretentious ).
We've also found that Gerbe is valuable in piloting the Mecha-Foligno, so we should keep him around.
As for Vanek's A, it should go to no one if he's dealt and removed if he stays. I'd strip Roy's A too and probably give it to Ehrhoff or Myers, but it might give a bad taste right before his contract year. I don't anticipate Roy being moved over the summer, due to his relatively modest cap hit.
1 Captain, 2 Alternates. As it should be. I hated the rotating captaincy after Barnes left, didn't like the Drury/Briere co-captaincy setup (Drury should've had the C alone), and I don't like the alternating alternates (x'ing x makes for a good indie band name though...like pretentiously pretentious ).
A's and C's rarely, yes rarely get stripped off of players, and those players stay on the team. Vanek, Roy, Stafford, and Pominville won't lose their letters while they remain Sabres. You may not like it, but it's probably the way it will remain.
For two guys that have been working together for like, 100 years, they seem to lack communication.
They had a center in Ennis...the WHOLE TIME. If the coach played him there last season they would know that already. Or, if they took the chance and tried him there during the pre-season, they would have known. But, since they didn't try, they went out and signed a career winger to play center. Which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And he scored 8 goals, playing mostly wing. So then they traded for a center, giving up one of their best prospects, and he looks okay. A below average 2nd line center or a good 3rd line center, but definitely a center. And then they finally discover that Ennis is a better center than either of them.
So I mean. I hope they are least laughing over this entire thing over some cold beers.
Kassian is a career fourth liner that doesn't play as advertised. Just like Hodgson, he won't improve or increase his current point totals. He's a 30 point fourth liner who plays with no emotion. Just my opinion. Hey look, I can play this dumb game too.
Damn.... Ruff getting flamed for not using the "injury excuse" and holding his players accountable.
What an *******.
man oh man.
Any of the players offended by what he said should pack their bags and join Icecapades.
My reaction is based what I read about the players only meeting called after the St. Louis game by Poms and everyone buying into the system and making it work for 2 months. There ain't no "I" in TEAM but the word applies to both players and coaches. Seemed like Ruff's reaction was this defeat was your doing, not mine and it struck me as arrogant....
I wasn't on the ice nor in earshot so it's quite likely there could be a media agenda here or complete mis-interpretation. I'm fine with coaches calling out players as long as the one doing the calling is held accountable as well. This was reported as being pretty one sided and that pisses me off if it is true.
Sorry, the team failed last night because they failed most of the season and it was a shared responsibility. Who'se frikin players are they anyways? Who selected them, prepared them and governed their playing time?
Ruff is the guy who had NO ANSWERS back in Dec/Jan if you'll remember Harrington's post game questions ("You coach the team John...") and it seems like it was the players who turned it around as much as any coach.
Kassian is a career fourth liner that doesn't play as advertised. Just like Hodgson, he won't improve or increase his current point totals. He's a 30 point fourth liner who plays with no emotion. Just my opinion. Hey look, I can play this dumb game too.
You're actually not very good at this, game, or whatever. Because 30 points on a 4th line is quite awesome. I mean holly **** NOBODY scores 30 with 7 minutes a night!
And no matter what the point outcome he's still a harder player than half the Sabres current forwards, CoHo included. His potential for dominating on the forecheck is unearthly. He's too much man for Gary Roberts camp. lol
Ruff, Ruff, Ruff and some more Ruff. His system can't even be defined due to it having absolutely no identity. He cannot manage goalies, and the dude never shows emotion. He has no balls.
Ruff, Ruff, Ruff and some more Ruff. His system can't even be defined due to it having absolutely no identity. He cannot manage goalies, and the dude never shows emotion. He has no balls.
He never unfolds his arms!!!! CLOCK!!!!!!!!!!!
Give them both one more year with some summertime roster adjustments. No playoff success next year and they both get booted. This is a process, and a tad bit of patience under Pegula is required.
No....I want Regier back. I don't care either way about ruff. But I want to see what Darcy can do for a little more time under Pegula. Great deadline, Ehrhoff deal worked out, Regehr trade worked, Gaustad robbery.... I expect some changes to the roster this offseason, let's see what happens.
No....I want Regier back. I don't care either way about ruff. But I want to see what Darcy can do for a little more time under Pegula. Great deadline, Ehrhoff deal worked out, Regehr trade worked, Gaustad robbery.... I expect some changes to the roster this offseason, let's see what happens.
I agree with that thought.
I just have zero confidence that Regier WILL get rid of Ruff. I think he is "married" to him. Like a captain that goes down with the ship. Can you imagine Regier firing Ruff, and hiring someone else? I can't imagine that.
I just have zero confidence that Regier WILL get rid of Ruff. I think he is "married" to him. Like a captain that goes down with the ship. Can you imagine Regier firing Ruff, and hiring someone else? I can't imagine that.
Wow, if it hadn't happened already (earlier in the season, last year, etc.), I'm betting he lost a lot of the guys today. If I was Ennis, Poms, Regehr, Foligno (not there obviously), Kaleta, Sekera and Miller standing there, having worked my ass off for 2 months on this run, I would have been thinking ef you buddy, we players made this work in spite of you.
The rest of the core probably took it all in stride (Stafford, Roy, Boyes,Vanek).
Hodgson and Sulzer (if he was there) were probably thinking WTF is this?
Quote:
Originally Posted by sba
What a self-important windbag he is...no wonder they don't show up to play for him.
It gets better - according to WGR, Ruff went ballistic:
Quote:
Lindy Ruff made no bones about how he feels about this season, his core group and a missed opportunity, “Oh for sure. I think you’ve got to look at it that way. We can’t look at it any other way, we put it on the core group of players and for me it’s a tough situation to be in because we battled hard to get back, but we didn’t get there.” Ruff added, “Guys had chances to make a difference and didn’t make a difference. When you get an opportunity, you get paid to score goals or prevent them if you’re a defender. We had 2-on-1’s we didn’t score, we had a 2-on-1 we went offside, that’s unacceptable, it’s Game-On time, it’s difference time. For a good period of time we had guys push through and make a difference and in the biggest game we didn’t push through.”
Quote:
“You’re damn right that was my message. I don’t care about the missed opportunities, I mean I care about them, but I want those put into situations that put the other team away. The play that lost us the game is a play that can’t be made. And you can’t accept that, can’t like it, can’t accept it.” The head coach added, “You can sit on the injury factor, but you’ve got to get by that. I thought our young players played well and I thought some of our veteran players didn’t get the job done in Philly for us.”
So why have a hard one hour practice with one meaningless game to go? Ruff said, “Today was full practice. Today was the longest practice we had. Today was about as simple as the 1-on-1’s are, I talked about the 1-on-1’s. I talked about the 2-on-1’s we do every day in practice, that those two or three skill chances you get that you either read that the D is going or you’ve got to read that you’ve got to shoot and I thought our reads were a little bit slow. We’ve been good at them, but we skipped a beat last night.”
Apparently, what Ruff gets paid for as an NHL coach who's had 15 years on the job doesn't matter.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bosswally
If Ruff gets fired, Even though I doubt that Ruff will get fired, who would you want to replace him?
Barry Smith. Proven winner with Cup-winning experience, who learned from the best; understands what makes a successful power play; has extensive experience coaching in Europe and dealing with European players; and has roots in the Buffalo community.
Of those qualities, the only one Ruff can claim is a fondness for the city.
Apparently, what Ruff gets paid for as an NHL coach who's had 15 years on the job doesn't matter.
Barry Smith. Proven winner with Cup-winning experience, who learned from the best; understands what makes a successful power play; has extensive experience coaching in Europe and dealing with European players; and has roots in the Buffalo community.
Of those qualities, the only one Ruff can claim is a fondness for the city.
It's fairly obvious Ruff is talking about Vanek (among others) in these comments.
I mention this simply because I don't think Ruff singles him out as much as he obviously did if Vanek is in fact nursing some sort of chronic injury.
I can't wait for someone to flat out ask Ruff that question after the Boston game. Is he hurt or not? If there is no obviously crippling festering injury to point at, Vanek's stock just dropped to close to zero in my book.
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