Ruff = Houdini

[deluca67]

Come one, Come all! See the Magical Lindy Ruff escape any real criticism while his team performs the trademark Lindy Ruff team no-show.

 

This team falls deeper into the abyss of yet another year without the playoffs. As much as I think the talent level on this team is low that is no excuse for not being ready to play an important home game. The first 20 minutes last night where horrifying. A team that is teetering on the edge of not even being considered a contender for the eighth playoff spot comes out with zero passion, intensity or desperation. Talent has nothing to do with effort.

[SwampD]

Come one, Come all! See the Magical Lindy Ruff escape any real criticism while his team performs the trademark Lindy Ruff team no-show.

 

This team falls deeper into the abyss of yet another year without the playoffs. As much as I think the talent level on this team is low that is no excuse for not being ready to play an important home game. The first 20 minutes last night where horrifying. A team that is teetering on the edge of not even being considered a contender for the eighth playoff spot comes out with zero passion, intensity or desperation. Talent has nothing to do with effort.

He actually said,"they weren't ready to play," in his press conference. He actually said it. I wonder how many times we've heard those very words after a game. Does he even realize that that reflects poorly on himself?

 

But, hey, we won the division last year. As bad as it gets this year, I can always look back fondly on that.

[Kristian]

I couldn't agree more.

 

The roster is weak on talent and heart, but I've seen Lindy's teams come out like this since October 1999 now.

 

Teams that a had a lot more heart than this sorry bunch too.

 

It's obvious he's doing something wrong.

 

If Miller is the most overrated player in the league, then surely Ruff is the most overrated coach.

[bob_sauve28]

155 coaching changes since Ruff was hired. Something like that. Mike Schoop said it was like five coaching changes per team in that time period.

[RazielSabre]

He actually said,"they weren't ready to play," in his press conference. He actually said it. I wonder how many times we've heard those very words after a game. Does he even realize that that reflects poorly on himself?

 

But, hey, we won the division last year. As bad as it gets this year, I can always look back fondly on that.

 

Even if he does why would he care? Short of a change of ownership management have stated his essentially immune. The Sabres are more about front office success than rink success at the moment.

[carpandean]

The Sabres are more about front office success than rink success at the moment.

You say this like they are mutually exclusive. It's not like Ruff (or the organization, as a whole) is thinking that they can save money by not motivating the team. To the contrary, motivation is a zero-cost way to all but guarantee more revenue (more motivation -> more wins -> increased merchandise sales, no empty seats, playoff ticket sales, etc.), so it's nothing but profit.

[RazielSabre]

You say this like they are mutually exclusive. It's not like Ruff (or the organization, as a whole) is thinking that they can save money by not motivating the team. To the contrary, motivation is a zero-cost way to all but guarantee more revenue (more motivation -> more wins -> increased merchandise sales, no empty seats, playoff ticket sales, etc.), so it's nothing but profit.

 

Yep I see what you mean and agree but I mainly meant that the Sabres seem to be more interested in saving than pure hockey success, hence the reason for not changing Ruff or always saving a few bucks by ditching players, no matter the success. Again not phrased particularly well but I hope you get my meaning. It seems to me much like what the government is doing over here at the moment, but thats a different subject.