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And this is my problem with Ruff...


Tarrytown

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Marty gives up another 6 goals last night - no sign of Mika...why even bother to dress him if you'd rather not give him a chance? He's never had a fair shot like Biron - and Biron has shown us that he is a third tier goalie...time and time again.

 

He might have played a decent game against the Leaves the other night...but even the TSN commentators said it "Biron plays lazy with the puck" hell he plays lazy with his entire game.

 

Yet Ruff stays the course and our GM sits on his ass.

 

This is why the games don't sell out - people are frustrated and fed up.

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Marty gives up another 6 goals last night - no sign of Mika...why even bother to dress him if you'd rather not give him a chance? He's never had a fair shot like Biron - and Biron has shown us that he is a third tier goalie...time and time again.

 

He might have played a decent game against the Leaves the other night...but even the TSN commentators said it "Biron plays lazy with the puck" hell he plays lazy with his entire game.

 

Yet Ruff stays the course and our GM sits on his ass.

 

This is why the games don't sell out - people are frustrated and fed up.

Mika has always been in Lindy's doghouse. I don't know why, but it is clear by his lack of playing time that he is not a favorite of Lindy's. This is why I'd be shocked if they traded Biron because then Lindy would be stuck with Mika as his #2 goalie for this year.

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Once upon a time I was a fan of Lindy the coach - I haven't been for awhile now. The goalie situation is a sympton of a much bigger disease - bad management/coaching.

I do still like Ruff overall as I think he gets more out of the skaters than should reasonably be expected. That being said, I have been unhappy with the way he handles goalies ever since he benched Hasek in October '97, IIRC against Dallas.

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Mika has always been in Lindy's doghouse.  I don't know why, but it is clear by his lack of playing time that he is not a favorite of Lindy's.  This is why I'd be shocked if they traded Biron because then Lindy would be stuck with Mika as his #2 goalie for this year.

Agreed. Although I still think Mika has more upside than Marty, I just don't think he will ever reach his full potential playing here.

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This is why the games don't sell out - people are frustrated and fed up.

Staus Quo thinks they're smarter then everyone else. Remember, we "need to be educated"? I think Regier is getting the education now. You can't fool the fans. Hopefully his days of fooling Tommy G. are coming to an end. :angry:

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Besides having no "feel" for goaltending decisions, some of the other problems I have with Ruff are:

 

1. Powerplay - more often than not is terrible. Shoot the puck instead of this wasteful passing and trying to "surprise" the opposition with a perfect backdoor pass to the weak side. What about camping somebody in front of the net? There has been enough decent talent on this team over the years for a coach to develop a decent powerplay. Ruff and Co. do not seem to have the ability to develop a consistent powerplay that can actually instill some fear in the opposition.

 

2. Cut-off Marty from handling the puck. Whenever he leaves the crease, he puts the team at risk with his puck-handling miscues.

 

3. Penalty-Kill - team is too passive. They try to play a zone defense by cutting off passing and shooting lanes vs. pressuring the puck and forcing teams to make perfect passes. Statistically not as weak as our powerplay, but still not great.

 

4. Line changes - How many times do the Sabres get called for "too many men" on the ice. I know he has assistant coaches, but still it is his responsibility.

 

5. Line combinations - here again Ruff does not seem to have a good feel for line combinations that were working. Why was Vanek separated from Briere despite the fact that he was generating a good assist tally?

 

6. If you were a free-agent semi-talented offensive player, would you want to come to Buffalo and play for Ruff where you are likely to see your offensive statistics drop thanks to the ho-hum dump & chase style of play?

 

The Sabres seem to be the only franchise that rewards a coach for not making the playoffs.

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The Sabres seem to be the only franchise that rewards a coach for not making the playoffs.

yep thats correct unfortunatly... i mean whats the big deal with just trying a new head coach... why must they keep this guy... if you don't like the new one just fire him and get ruff back... even though i don't know why you'd want him... the guy is just brutal... ah well... im young i can wait till he's dead or retired... can't speak for some of the older guys though :( sorry guys might be a long haul.

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Besides having no "feel" for goaltending decisions, some of the other problems I have with Ruff are:

 

1. Powerplay - more often than not is terrible. Shoot the puck instead of this wasteful passing and trying to "surprise" the opposition with a perfect backdoor pass to the weak side. What about camping somebody in front of the net? There has been enough decent talent on this team over the years for a coach to develop a decent powerplay. Ruff and Co. do not seem to have the ability to develop a consistent powerplay that can actually instill some fear in the opposition.

 

2. Cut-off Marty from handling the puck. Whenever he leaves the crease, he puts the team at risk with his puck-handling miscues.

 

3. Penalty-Kill - team is too passive. They try to play a zone defense by cutting off passing and shooting lanes vs. pressuring the puck and forcing teams to make perfect passes. Statistically not as weak as our powerplay, but still not great.

 

4. Line changes - How many times do the Sabres get called for "too many men" on the ice. I know he has assistant coaches, but still it is his responsibility.

I think I have to disagree with some of what you said.

 

1. While other years I might agree with you, our powerplay is 4th in the league right now. Not bad, especially considering the fact that they had a huge drought in the beginning of the season.

 

While I know it can be frustrating watching them pass around the outside, and you just want them to shoot it, if they take a bad shot from the point that gets blocked, it often turns into a scoring chance the other way (which has happened more than once this year). This is especially dangerous when you have forwards on the point. Maybe they need to shoot a little more often, but sometimes the penalty killers just have it covered and there's nothing you can do but keep passing.

 

2. I agree Marty can't handle the puck, but you can't completely cut him off from playing it. Work on it in practice, and tell him to stay in net unless it's necessary.

 

3. I agree the penalty kill needs improvement, especially in important situations.

 

4. Couldn't agree more.

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I think I have to disagree with some of what you said.

 

1. While other years I might agree with you, our powerplay is 4th in the league right now. Not bad, especially considering the fact that they had a huge drought in the beginning of the season.

 

While I know it can be frustrating watching them pass around the outside, and you just want them to shoot it, if they take a bad shot from the point that gets blocked, it often turns into a scoring chance the other way (which has happened more than once this year). This is especially dangerous when you have forwards on the point. Maybe they need to shoot a little more often, but sometimes the penalty killers just have it covered and there's nothing you can do but keep passing.

 

2. I agree Marty can't handle the puck, but you can't completely cut him off from playing it. Work on it in practice, and tell him to stay in net unless it's necessary.

 

3. I agree the penalty kill needs improvement, especially in important situations.

 

4. Couldn't agree more.

Good point on the current PP%. Perhaps I am too blinded by previous year rankings (27th, 20th, 18th for the previous 3 seasons). However, I would like to see more one-timer's or even snapper's from the point vs. taking longer with the big wind-ups (giving defenders time to block, etc.). Kotalik has a great shot from the point, but you're right in that he looked horrible as a defender when Ottawa would break out during the PP.

 

As far as Marty is concerned, IMO this isn't something new for him. They've had to reign him in before and apparently he hasn't learned. I am biased in that I wish Noranen would get the same opportunity to show whether he belongs in the league or not. I'm not saying I know he's superior, but I am saying he's not had the same opportunity to demonstrate what he can/can't do in GAME situations.

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Good point on the current PP%. Perhaps I am too blinded by previous year rankings (27th, 20th, 18th for the previous 3 seasons). However, I would like to see more one-timer's or even snapper's from the point vs. taking longer with the big wind-ups (giving defenders time to block, etc.). Kotalik has a great shot from the point, but you're right in that he looked horrible as a defender when Ottawa would break out during the PP.

 

As far as Marty is concerned, IMO this isn't something new for him. They've had to reign him in before and apparently he hasn't learned. I am biased in that I wish Noranen would get the same opportunity to show whether he belongs in the league or not. I'm not saying I know he's superior, but I am saying he's not had the same opportunity to demonstrate what he can/can't do in GAME situations.

Can't argue with asking for quicker shots from the point. Then we'd both be happy, they'd take more shots and there would be less of a chance for blocked shots.

 

As for Kotalik on the point...in general I do not like putting forwards on the point (except when Pittsburgh put Kovalev and Straka out there in the 2001 playoffs, because we got a bunch of short handed goals), but with Kotalik's production back there, not to mention how hard his shot is I tolerate it.

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