From Today's News & Observer

[The Goat]

In the Letters to the Sports Editor section of today's N & O:

 

Simply put, Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff is an idiot. Anyone who refuses the traditional after-game handshake tells a lot about his character. A lot has been made of the barbs traded between coaches this series. "It's supposed to be fun," I believe Ruff was quoted as saying.

Go back to the frozen nether regions and don't pollute our state again.

 

Bob Rankl

Cary

 

Did Lindy refuse the postgame handshake? And please, no responses to the effect of "good for him, the Canes don't deserve a handshake"etc...

Either you know he shook the hands of the Canes' trainers and coaching staff or you don't, just curious as to what happened.

 

Thanks

 

The Goat

[jad1]

In the Letters to the Sports Editor section of today's N & O:

 

Simply put, Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff is an idiot. Anyone who refuses the traditional after-game handshake tells a lot about his character. A lot has been made of the barbs traded between coaches this series. "It's supposed to be fun," I believe Ruff was quoted as saying.

Go back to the frozen nether regions and don't pollute our state again.

 

Bob Rankl

Cary

 

Did Lindy refuse the postgame handshake? And please, no responses to the effect of "good for him, the Canes don't deserve a handshake"etc...

Either you know he shook the hands of the Canes' trainers and coaching staff or you don't, just curious as to what happened.

 

Thanks

 

The Goat

 

Lindy did not refuse the handshake. The tail-end of the coaches handshake was caught on OLN. It happened on the benches, immediately after the teams vacated them to congratulate their goalies.

 

The coaches handshake occured the same way that it did after the Sabres Ottawa series, but OLN was able to capture the entire event.

 

Not that I would expect any Carolina fans to catch this, because according to OLN's ratings, along with not attending the games, Carolina fans weren't watching them either.

 

Buffalo's viewers bettered Carolina's by 2-1. Buffalo posted Super-Bowl like ratings for both OLN and NBC, and that's without the CBC Buffalo rating factored in.

 

To continue to criticize Ruff as the Carolina fans do shows that their knowledge of the game is as weak as the support of it.

 

Lindy Ruff was a heart and soul player who played under coaching legends such as Scotty Bowman and Roger Nielsen. He worked his way through the coaching ranks working under Al Arbour. He is currently the longest tenured coach in the NHL. He has 300 NHL wins with the same team. He is ranked in the top 5 for playoff win percentage. He has been to the conference finals three times during those eight years, and the Stanley Cup finals once.

 

During his reign here, Ruff has been the epitome of a players coach. He has never taken personal disagreements with his players public, and has never backstabbed a player. Players who match his desire to win are given the utmost respect. He continues to find ways to challenge his team. During the lockout, he spent his time working with the young players in the system, and then rewarded those players with extended ice time. He confidence in these players knows no limit.

 

He's also been a stalwart in the Buffalo community. This season, doctors found a mass on her daughter's brain. He handled the situation brillantly, and never used it as an excuse for team losses, and never played the why-me card. In all phases of his profession and personal life, Lindy Ruff is a class guy.

 

Lindy is the consumate team-first guy. As a player and coach, he defends those around them. So when Laviolette accused the Sabres of diving, Ruff defended his team. When Doug Weight disrepected one of Lindy's hard-working rookies and accused him of diving, Lindy responded. When the team lost 3 defensemen and was staring at elimination in game 6, Lindy pulled out the tricks that the legends used to rally his team.

 

But why should we expect Carolinians to understand this when it's so obvious that they have no understanding of hockey's history, legends, or gamesmanship? After having a team for 10 years, they're still writing articles in their papers about rules like offside.

 

The southern hillbilly hick thing is definitely overplayed. But this mass hysteria over Ruffs comments is just proof that when it comes to the hockey world, Hurricane fans are nothing more than ignorant hockey hicks.

 

So go enjoy what you don't deserve. For some reason the hockey gods put a pretty good team in the land of hockey rubes. Enjoy it before the league wises up an move your team to someplace more deserving like Quebec, who watched Michel Bergereon put on the same show as Lindy did 20 years ago.

[Taro T]

In the Letters to the Sports Editor section of today's N & O:

 

Simply put, Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff is an idiot. Anyone who refuses the traditional after-game handshake tells a lot about his character. A lot has been made of the barbs traded between coaches this series. "It's supposed to be fun," I believe Ruff was quoted as saying.

Go back to the frozen nether regions and don't pollute our state again.

 

Bob Rankl

Cary

 

Did Lindy refuse the postgame handshake? And please, no responses to the effect of "good for him, the Canes don't deserve a handshake"etc...

Either you know he shook the hands of the Canes' trainers and coaching staff or you don't, just curious as to what happened.

 

Thanks

 

The Goat

That is f***ing bulls***.

 

You can watch Lindy shake hands with the assistant coaches on the tape of the OLN broadcast. He had already passed the beginning of the bench when the cameras caught the handshake so they only caught him shaking assistant coaches' hands, but he did in fact shake hands.

 

I appreciate your trying to confirm this rumor before wildly believing it yourself. I would have expected this story to have had more traction than just one paper's "letters to the editor" had it been true, and it appears that you did as well.

 

I am so tired of hearing other team "fans" make up lies about the Sabres, their organization, and yes the fans as well (as I am one of them, I take shots against the mass of us personally) and then have the accusations published by theoretically respected organizations. Some of these lies include stuff like: "Uh, the jumbotron showed the Umberger hit multiple times while he was still lying on the ice and the Sabres fans cheered about it each time while he was lying on the ice". "Uh, the Sabres fans were starting tons of fights at RBC Center". "Uh, Lindy Ruff didn't shake hands". Lies, lies, all friggin' lies.

[PASabreFan]

I guess what goes around comes around. Lindy told a whopper about the champagne, and now someone has planted the idea he didn't shake hands. He most certainly did. I'm not sure how anyone could have missed it. I agree 100%, or almost 100%, with what jad brilliantly wrote. I won't quibble about a point here or there. But, make no mistake, if Lindy Ruff were coaching the Canes in this series and said some of those things about the Sabres, he'd be public enemy number one in Buffalo! :)

 

About the fans... I don't think the Canes fans deserve to be painted with such a broad brush. They have earned their nickname of "Caniacs." Seems to be they were as loud and enthusiastic as Sabre fans. Fans are fans. There are just more Sabre fans, but that's to be expected in a hockey town like Buffalo. I don't know, I'd be careful about calling out any team's fans when Buffalo's support for the Sabres certainly depends on whether the team is winning or losing. Anyone remember the 9 and 10 thousand attendance nights before the lockout?

 

Let's call off the dogs. The battle is over, and the good guys lost. That's life. If I hear another word about hockey hicks and how ugly Brind'Amour is...

[deluca67]

It's nice to see Bob Rankl take time away from celebrating on, oops, I mean with his sister to write ;)

[jad1]

I guess what goes around comes around. Lindy told a whopper about the champagne, and now someone has planted the idea he didn't shake hands. He most certainly did. I'm not sure how anyone could have missed it. I agree 100%, or almost 100%, with what jad brilliantly wrote. I won't quibble about a point here or there. But, make no mistake, if Lindy Ruff were coaching the Canes in this series and said some of those things about the Sabres, he'd be public enemy number one in Buffalo! :)

 

About the fans... I don't think the Canes fans deserve to be painted with such a broad brush. They have earned their nickname of "Caniacs." Seems to be they were as loud and enthusiastic as Sabre fans. Fans are fans. There are just more Sabre fans, but that's to be expected in a hockey town like Buffalo. I don't know, I'd be careful about calling out any team's fans when Buffalo's support for the Sabres certainly depends on whether the team is winning or losing. Anyone remember the 9 and 10 thousand attendance nights before the lockout?

 

Let's call off the dogs. The battle is over, and the good guys lost. That's life. If I hear another word about hockey hicks and how ugly Brind'Amour is...

 

Guess I'll have to disagree with you here. No doubt the Sabres relationship with their fans has been rocky lately. The legal troubles with ownership, the shaft from no-goal, the fallout from Hasek/Peca, Bettman's favoring of Hammister over Golisano, the lockout, not signing our perceived 'two' best players, and then the lack of signing big name free agents all hung over the team during last off-season.

 

When it comes to sports, all Buffalo fans ask is that the owners, coaches, and players care about winning as much as the fans do. I can honestly say that Buffalonians want the city's name on the Cup as much as each NHL player want s his own name on the Cup. Show us you're serious about accomplishing that, and we open our hearts and wallets.

 

But when the team showed its talent and heart, people in the city jumped on board. A winning streak here and there exorcised the Rigas/Hasak/Peca/Satan/Bettman demons. That's all it really took. There were numerous sellouts down the stretch and playoff tickets were bought in record time. TV ratings for the playoff series were Super-Bowl like in the WNY region. The team sold 3,000 season tickets for next season during the playoff stretch, and will turn a profit.

 

And we've been living with the Buffalo\Carolina war-of-words for a while, but the banter really represents a bigger-picture question. Are these 'new,' big markets sustainable in the NHL? Is the NHL better with these southern markets than more traditional, small markets?

 

Personally, I don't think they are. It's impossible for the NHL to continue to grow if teams can't generate full houses in the playoffs and reasonable local ratings on TV.

 

Why should the national audience care about the finals if one of the teams, Carolina, can't sell out their own house? Why should OLN or any national network carry a sport that can't generate TV ratings in its own market?

 

I don't think the NHL can afford to give the so-called "Caniacs" a pass on their non-support. It's costing the league too much money to do so.

[X. Benedict]

In the Letters to the Sports Editor section of today's N & O:

 

Simply put, Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff is an idiot. Anyone who refuses the traditional after-game handshake tells a lot about his character. A lot has been made of the barbs traded between coaches this series. "It's supposed to be fun," I believe Ruff was quoted as saying.

Go back to the frozen nether regions and don't pollute our state again.

 

Bob Rankl

Cary

 

In other local news, the crack epidemic has reached Cary, NC.

[MBD]

What's truly classless is for a coach to claim that a team who has suffered a load of injuries and is relying on a bunch of AHL'ers and rookies, is winning ONLY because of the officiating.

 

Labialette is a tool, but you don't hear Sabres fans continuing to talk about him unprovoked, much less in the newspaper. All this shows is that Ruff left a lasting impression on the Hurricanes, and despite what they may claim, it has NOTHING to do with class.

[The Goat]

Guess I'll have to disagree with you here. No doubt the Sabres relationship with their fans has been rocky lately. The legal troubles with ownership, the shaft from no-goal, the fallout from Hasek/Peca, Bettman's favoring of Hammister over Golisano, the lockout, not signing our perceived 'two' best players, and then the lack of signing big name free agents all hung over the team during last off-season.

 

When it comes to sports, all Buffalo fans ask is that the owners, coaches, and players care about winning as much as the fans do. I can honestly say that Buffalonians want the city's name on the Cup as much as each NHL player want s his own name on the Cup. Show us you're serious about accomplishing that, and we open our hearts and wallets.

 

But when the team showed its talent and heart, people in the city jumped on board. A winning streak here and there exorcised the Rigas/Hasak/Peca/Satan/Bettman demons. That's all it really took. There were numerous sellouts down the stretch and playoff tickets were bought in record time. TV ratings for the playoff series were Super-Bowl like in the WNY region. The team sold 3,000 season tickets for next season during the playoff stretch, and will turn a profit.

 

And we've been living with the Buffalo\Carolina war-of-words for a while, but the banter really represents a bigger-picture question. Are these 'new,' big markets sustainable in the NHL? Is the NHL better with these southern markets than more traditional, small markets?

 

Personally, I don't think they are. It's impossible for the NHL to continue to grow if teams can't generate full houses in the playoffs and reasonable local ratings on TV.

 

Why should the national audience care about the finals if one of the teams, Carolina, can't sell out their own house? Why should OLN or any national network carry a sport that can't generate TV ratings in its own market?

 

I don't think the NHL can afford to give the so-called "Caniacs" a pass on their non-support. It's costing the league too much money to do so.

 

Jad,

 

It was a chore to make it through your response...too long and too much of the same tripe. I asked a simple question about the Sabres coach and I get another pathetic, rambling rant.

"Canes fans don't deserve it, blah, blah, blah".

By the way, for a fan of a team that was just three years ago bankrupt and on the brink of financial implosion to be calling for the demise/relocation of a profitable fanchise is remarkably hypocritical and only serves to point out that you have no interest in facts but would rather perpetuate falsehoods.

I am not sure what school of economics you buy into but businesses operate for profit. According to their most recent reports, the Canes are a profitable business ergo the team will be here for a few more years. (Do you know something that the Hurricanes' accountants don't? If so, please produce this evidence. If not, then you are, once again, just talking out of your ass with no evidence to back it up.)

 

Hate the Canes all you want...but hate them for the right reasons...not ones you've created to serve your own needs and compensate for your gross lack of any credible insight.

Or go on like you have and feed the lie...but don't wast my time writing about it when I asked a completely unrelated question...save yourself the embarrassment and keep it to yourself.

 

Now to my original quesition, my DVR of the game does not show Ruff shaking hands that's why I asked the question...not sure what feed you guys got but mine does not show it. Glad to hear the writer to the N&O was wrong and that Lindy did the classy thing - despite the bad blood I am not surprised to hear that he did.

Thanks for the info guys.

 

The Goat

[ncsabre]

He did shake hands with all the coaches and trainers. I was at the game and saw it. My family and I were in one of the corporate boxes. As soon as they scored thier 4th goal I got up from the seats and went into the middle of the box and watched the final seconds on the big screen TV. I dont know what feed or if it was the in house feed but the first thing it showed was all the coaches shaking hands. Maybe Bob of Cary just doesn't get it, which would'nt surprise me at all. I'm only a few miles from his house and I will go bitch slap him a handshake or two.

[PASabreFan]

jad, Buffalo is clearly a fair weather town when it comes to the Sabres. For a so called hockey town, hockey sure is a tough sell. The two years before the lockout, the Sabres were 27th and 20th in attendance, and improved to only 14th this year, and it took a franchise record for wins to get that high. You can justify it any way you want, but when the Sabres don't win, a lot of people who had Sabre flags on their cars this spring don't even know the team exists. It can't be the economy, because once the Sabres start winning, enormous sums of money suddenly appear. The big test will be next season. Let's so how many of those 3,000 folks who bought season tickets so they could get cheap playoff tickets stick around if the team goes .500 and misses the playoffs. It would be great if the Sabres could "slump-proof" themselves like the Bills have managed to do. Lose every year, and sell out every game, that's a pretty cool trick they are doing out in Orchard Park.

 

P.S. I don't see how you can blame the Caniacs for the "non support" of the Carolina franchise. Those are the fans. It's all the other people of the region who don't care.

 

Goat, what network were you watching? It would have to be OLN, I think, so it's the same broadcast we all saw. How you are missing it, I don't know.

 

NCSabre, I think that's a really bad idea to give the guy's address and phone number. Please consider removing that. If not, I think the moderator should.

[McD]

 

By the way, for a fan of a team that was just three years ago bankrupt and on the brink of financial implosion to be calling for the demise/relocation of a profitable fanchise is remarkably hypocritical and only serves to point out that you have no interest in facts but would rather perpetuate falsehoods.

 

The Goat

 

 

Goat,

You seem like a pretty knowledgeable guy, so I trust you'll agree that the Sabres fans were not to blame for the bankruptcy a few years back. John Rigas the owner at the time, and the lead mogul of Adelphia Cable, was busy running the Sabres into the ground with his illegal financial dealings. All this was done behind the scenes and by the time it became public it was too little too late. Fact is the Sabres have been a popular ticket in this region since it's inception, the fans here are knowledgeable and extremely loyal. I am not saying the core group of Canes fans are not, that's not a debate for me, but I do have a problem with a region that cannot sell out a game 7 of a conference final until the day of the game (and that was with the help of hundreds or more Sabres fans making a 13 hour trip). Again, I understand the Canes have only been in Carolina for about ten years, but that seems like a long enough time to have a healthy fan base especially since they've already competed in a Cup Final just a few years back.

 

McD

[The Goat]

Goat,

You seem like a pretty knowledgeable guy, so I trust you'll agree that the Sabres fans were not to blame for the bankruptcy a few years back. John Rigas the owner at the time, and the lead mogul of Adelphia Cable, was busy running the Sabres into the ground with his illegal financial dealings. All this was done behind the scenes and by the time it became public it was too little too late. Fact is the Sabres have been a popular ticket in this region since it's inception, the fans here are knowledgeable and extremely loyal. I am not saying the core group of Canes fans are not, that's not a debate for me, but I do have a problem with a region that cannot sell out a game 7 of a conference final until the day of the game (and that was with the help of hundreds or more Sabres fans making a 13 hour trip). Again, I understand the Canes have only been in Carolina for about ten years, but that seems like a long enough time to have a healthy fan base especially since they've already competed in a Cup Final just a few years back.

 

McD

 

McD,

 

I was not taking a shot at the bankruptcy...just pointing out the hypocrisy at play in Jad's response. There's not a whole lot fans can do to prevent white collar crime.

As to your other observations about the Canes, well all I can say is that I wish there were more passionate fans here.

Thanks for the reasoned response.

By the way, congrats on the team bringing back the blue and gold next year...I wish the Canes would bring back the green, blue and grey of the Whale.

 

The Goat

[Corp000085]

Well, this seals the deal...

 

SAT Question time:

 

Q: The Buffalo Sabres are to the Carolina Hurricanes as the __________ Maple _________ are to the Buffalo Sabres.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's going to be some BAD BAD blood the next time the sabres come to raleigh... I think us fans who will be attending (you know damn well i'll be there) will have to check our innocence at the door and bring our fists.

[bills_fan_in_raleigh]

Well, this seals the deal...

 

SAT Question time:

 

Q: The Buffalo Sabres are to the Carolina Hurricanes as the __________ Maple _________ are to the Buffalo Sabres.

There's going to be some BAD BAD blood the next time the sabres come to raleigh... I think us fans who will be attending (you know damn well i'll be there) will have to check our innocence at the door and bring our fists.

This would be a good test for Canes fans I bet most wont be able to even figure this one out :D :D :D :D

[jad1]

Jad,

 

It was a chore to make it through your response...too long and too much of the same tripe. I asked a simple question about the Sabres coach and I get another pathetic, rambling rant.

"Canes fans don't deserve it, blah, blah, blah".

By the way, for a fan of a team that was just three years ago bankrupt and on the brink of financial implosion to be calling for the demise/relocation of a profitable fanchise is remarkably hypocritical and only serves to point out that you have no interest in facts but would rather perpetuate falsehoods.

I am not sure what school of economics you buy into but businesses operate for profit. According to their most recent reports, the Canes are a profitable business ergo the team will be here for a few more years. (Do you know something that the Hurricanes' accountants don't? If so, please produce this evidence. If not, then you are, once again, just talking out of your ass with no evidence to back it up.)

 

Hate the Canes all you want...but hate them for the right reasons...not ones you've created to serve your own needs and compensate for your gross lack of any credible insight.

Or go on like you have and feed the lie...but don't wast my time writing about it when I asked a completely unrelated question...save yourself the embarrassment and keep it to yourself.

 

Now to my original quesition, my DVR of the game does not show Ruff shaking hands that's why I asked the question...not sure what feed you guys got but mine does not show it. Glad to hear the writer to the N&O was wrong and that Lindy did the classy thing - despite the bad blood I am not surprised to hear that he did.

Thanks for the info guys.

 

The Goat

 

I understand, you're too slow to read more than a paragraph or two. Cliff notes version:

 

1. OLN showed Scott Arniel, Sabres assistant shaking hands with members of the Carolina staff. It was quick, but it was there. Judging by your idiotic hockey analysis, you miss a lot during games, so I'm not suprised you missed this too.

 

2. Carolina can't sell out the ECF or generate acceptable local TV ratings. How does this help the league? Because of Carolina's lousy support of their team (Buffalo viewers outnumbered Carolina's 2 to 1), national ratings for OLN and NBC suffer. Lousy ratings are the reason the NHL can't establish a national TV presence. You're not too thick to get that, are you?

 

3. The response you quoted was NOT my original repsonse to you. You responded to my post to PASabresFan. If you think I'm wasting your valuable time, why are you responding to my responses to other posters? In my book, only a troll would do that.

 

4. My original post TO YOU regarded your posting of a Caniac's moronic letter labeling Lindy Ruff classless. In an effort to silence a troll who is posting insults about a guy we all respect , I posted why Ruff was not classless. If you couldn't get through it, well I'll refrain from insulting your comprehension "skills" yet again.

[jad1]

jad, Buffalo is clearly a fair weather town when it comes to the Sabres. For a so called hockey town, hockey sure is a tough sell. The two years before the lockout, the Sabres were 27th and 20th in attendance, and improved to only 14th this year, and it took a franchise record for wins to get that high. You can justify it any way you want, but when the Sabres don't win, a lot of people who had Sabre flags on their cars this spring don't even know the team exists. It can't be the economy, because once the Sabres start winning, enormous sums of money suddenly appear. The big test will be next season. Let's so how many of those 3,000 folks who bought season tickets so they could get cheap playoff tickets stick around if the team goes .500 and misses the playoffs. It would be great if the Sabres could "slump-proof" themselves like the Bills have managed to do. Lose every year, and sell out every game, that's a pretty cool trick they are doing out in Orchard Park.

 

P.S. I don't see how you can blame the Caniacs for the "non support" of the Carolina franchise. Those are the fans. It's all the other people of the region who don't care.

 

Goat, what network were you watching? It would have to be OLN, I think, so it's the same broadcast we all saw. How you are missing it, I don't know.

 

NCSabre, I think that's a really bad idea to give the guy's address and phone number. Please consider removing that. If not, I think the moderator should.

 

PASabresFan, I'll stick to my original response. Buffalo fans want to their teams match their desire to win. The factors surrounding the attendence drop off would challenge any fan or city's loyalties.

 

Rigas not only screwed Buffalo fans, but he screwed the city. Fans were enraged with the way Hasek and Peca left the team. The front office and media basically told the fans that the Sabres couldn't compete under the current system. How many people are going to drop hard-earned cash on a team that has no chance of competing?

 

Most of us fans accepted the lockout because the system had to be fixed. But when the lockout and ended and the Sabres had a net loss of Zhitnik and Satan, the fans had the feeling of here we go again. Once the product proved that Darcy and Lindy knew what they were doing, the fans flooded back.

 

Buffalo will continue to fill the arena as long as the fans believe that team is doing all it can to field a comptetitive team. And that's the way it should be.

 

As for Carolina, I've always been talking about the region, not the 14 or 15 thousand 'real' fans that show up for the game. Raleigh, the Triangle, or the entire state of North Carolina, whatever the team is named for, is a poor to luke-warm hockey market. If you have evidence to counter the non-playoff-sellouts or poor TV ratings, I'd like to hear them. However, I think, thanks to expansion, that there are too many 'luke warm' regions in the NHL, and it's hurting the league's growth.

[jad1]

McD,

 

I was not taking a shot at the bankruptcy...just pointing out the hypocrisy at play in Jad's response. There's not a whole lot fans can do to prevent white collar crime.

As to your other observations about the Canes, well all I can say is that I wish there were more passionate fans here.

Thanks for the reasoned response.

By the way, congrats on the team bringing back the blue and gold next year...I wish the Canes would bring back the green, blue and grey of the Whale.

 

The Goat

 

So where's the hypocrisy in my statement? How do fans pissed off with a white-collar criminal owner who drove their team from the Cup Finals to the bottom of the league equate to fans who refuse to pay for playoff tickets or watch the playoffs on TV?

[Sound_n_Fury]

To continue to criticize Ruff as the Carolina fans do shows that their knowledge of the game is as weak as the support of it.

 

The definitive statement about this series...and all that needs to be said to the Redneck segment of 'Canes "fans."

[Swedesessed]

In the Letters to the Sports Editor section of today's N & O:

 

Simply put, Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff is an idiot. Anyone who refuses the traditional after-game handshake tells a lot about his character. A lot has been made of the barbs traded between coaches this series. "It's supposed to be fun," I believe Ruff was quoted as saying.

Go back to the frozen nether regions and don't pollute our state again.

 

Bob Rankl

Cary

 

Did Lindy refuse the postgame handshake? And please, no responses to the effect of "good for him, the Canes don't deserve a handshake"etc...

Either you know he shook the hands of the Canes' trainers and coaching staff or you don't, just curious as to what happened.

 

Thanks

 

The Goat

 

 

Don't you have an Edmonton board to go lurk on now?

 

You got a nice Christmas gift early from the Sabres. Congrats to Carolina. Move on to other things now.

[MartyHavlatismyGOD]

I think Lindy Ruff is a good coach, but i don't think he is a classy coach, or a classless coach. See Patrick Roy for details.

[dundy249]

Jad,

 

It was a chore to make it through your response...too long and too much of the same tripe. I asked a simple question about the Sabres coach and I get another pathetic, rambling rant.

"Canes fans don't deserve it, blah, blah, blah".

By the way, for a fan of a team that was just three years ago bankrupt and on the brink of financial implosion to be calling for the demise/relocation of a profitable fanchise is remarkably hypocritical and only serves to point out that you have no interest in facts but would rather perpetuate falsehoods.

I am not sure what school of economics you buy into but businesses operate for profit. According to their most recent reports, the Canes are a profitable business ergo the team will be here for a few more years. (Do you know something that the Hurricanes' accountants don't? If so, please produce this evidence. If not, then you are, once again, just talking out of your ass with no evidence to back it up.)

 

Hate the Canes all you want...but hate them for the right reasons...not ones you've created to serve your own needs and compensate for your gross lack of any credible insight.

Or go on like you have and feed the lie...but don't wast my time writing about it when I asked a completely unrelated question...save yourself the embarrassment and keep it to yourself.

 

Now to my original quesition, my DVR of the game does not show Ruff shaking hands that's why I asked the question...not sure what feed you guys got but mine does not show it. Glad to hear the writer to the N&O was wrong and that Lindy did the classy thing - despite the bad blood I am not surprised to hear that he did.

Thanks for the info guys.

 

The Goat

 

 

 

 

 

Shocked you know how to spell DVR :)

 

 

 

 

The Dork

[MBD]

I think Lindy Ruff is a good coach, but i don't think he is a classy coach, or a classless coach. See Patrick Roy for details.

No one ever claimed he was classy. Not many former players-turned-coaches ARE.

[Bmwolf21]

The whole concept of a classy coach is one I can't seem to figure out - are we talking about one who displays good sportsmanship? Or is a classy coach one who doesn't complain about things out of his control, such as injuries, officials, ice quality, scheduling, etc.? Or is there some other definition? Is this idea of a classy coach an abstract idea, sort of like the definition of obscenity (i.e. - I know it when I see it) I know, for instance, that Captain Kangaroo and Patrick Roy have both displayed some classless moves this postseason, but what sort of coaching gestures would make a coach classy? (These are serious questions, and if anyone has any answers, I would love to hear them...)

 

As for the handshake in question, I, like others here, saw the OLN footage of all the coaches shaking hands. IIRC, OLN had cut to the coverage of the coaches' handshakes as Arniel and McCutch were finishing their congrats to the Canes coaches. I seriously think that if Lindy had blown it off, we would have heard about it right away from some blowhard columnist who had nothing else to bitch about at the end of the series.

 

FWIW - the idea of posting the original letter writer's address & phone seems classless to me (there I go, using that term...) In my eyes, the issue lies with the News & Observer - they could have researched whether or not the two did shake hands, and added an editor's note, could have turned the writer's "tip" into a full-blown article/column about the gamesmanship of NHL coaches during the playoffs, or, realizing the shake took place and no one on the Canes staff is upset about it (unless Lindy made some smart-ass comment during the meeting) they could have taken the high road and not printed the letter. I would implore any level-headed Sabres fans to do the "Classy" thing and not call or write this idiot - the actions of a few can impact the entire Sabres Nation... we travelled well during the playoffs and represented our city and team well, and I would hate for Sabres fans to start getting rep of Filly or Toronto fans.

 

Jst my two cents worth...

[Taro T]

The whole concept of a classy coach is one I can't seem to figure out - are we talking about one who displays good sportsmanship? Or is a classy coach one who doesn't complain about things out of his control, such as injuries, officials, ice quality, scheduling, etc.? Or is there some other definition? Is this idea of a classy coach an abstract idea, sort of like the definition of obscenity (i.e. - I know it when I see it) I know, for instance, that Captain Kangaroo and Patrick Roy have both displayed some classless moves this postseason, but what sort of coaching gestures would make a coach classy? (These are serious questions, and if anyone has any answers, I would love to hear them...)

 

As for the handshake in question, I, like others here, saw the OLN footage of all the coaches shaking hands. IIRC, OLN had cut to the coverage of the coaches' handshakes as Arniel and McCutch were finishing their congrats to the Canes coaches. I seriously think that if Lindy had blown it off, we would have heard about it right away from some blowhard columnist who had nothing else to bitch about at the end of the series.

 

FWIW - the idea of posting the original letter writer's address & phone seems classless to me (there I go, using that term...) In my eyes, the issue lies with the News & Observer - they could have researched whether or not the two did shake hands, and added an editor's note, could have turned the writer's "tip" into a full-blown article/column about the gamesmanship of NHL coaches during the playoffs, or, realizing the shake took place and no one on the Canes staff is upset about it (unless Lindy made some smart-ass comment during the meeting) they could have taken the high road and not printed the letter. I would implore any level-headed Sabres fans to do the "Classy" thing and not call or write this idiot - the actions of a few can impact the entire Sabres Nation... we travelled well during the playoffs and represented our city and team well, and I would hate for Sabres fans to start getting rep of Filly or Toronto fans.

 

Jst my two cents worth...

I rewatched the post game stuff to attempt to verify whether Lindy did or did not shake hands. While the camera panned over and initially focused on Scott and Brian who were shaking the head coach's hand, it then panned forward to show Lindy at the front of the line shaking hands with the last Canes Assistant Coach. Which is why I went into my little tirade about this particular issue in my response to the original post. (If the guy crying about Lindy not shaking hands was a REAL fan, he'd have taped or TIVO'd this particular game or had a fellow Caniac do it for him. I know I've taped EVERY playoff game since '98 and most all of them since ~'93. (Didn't own a VCR until the Eve of the Greatest Football Game Ever Played.)

 

If Goat is still tracking this silly thread, it occurred after Carolina had their group hug and prior to the players handshake line.

 

Bmwolf, I agree with you wholeheartedly that the poster who posted the bandwagon Caniac's address was totally out of line and I hope that it gets removed by a moderator (if it hasn't already). I'm not worried about any harm coming to him from anyone that posts regularly on this board, but doing something like that is simply asking for trouble (who knows, maybe some deranged Loaf or Phlyer fan lurks here and wants to cause trouble. Lord knows, it wouldn't be the 1st time. ;))