Ralph says Team needs to Physically Respond Against Pittsburgh

[Fallsnative01]

After the Sabre's loss to Pitt on Thursday night and some cheap hits along the way, Coach Ralph Krueger stated in his after-game presser that the "team needs to respond physically on Saturday" for some of the hits during the game. Now, exactly what players on this team does he think can or will respond? We know Collin Miller will respond. Who can go after Chad Ruhwedel after his dirty knee hit? Tagging Aston-Resse again would be nice. Sending someone after Crosby would send a message. But this team lacks size, grit and at times heart. Not sure who the Sabres can find on this team to do the dirty work. 

[Amaru523]

I'll believe it when I see it. Ralph seems like a pacifist to me, I still can't believe last year against the Lightning when Dalton Smith was called up, we all assumed it was to crack some skulls, but then RK gives him 2 shifts, 1:30, and the only fight we see is McCabe getting smashed by Sergachev.  Ralph is all talk.

[Scottysabres]

John Scott could use a contract about now, no? 😄

[#freejame]

I expect to see Captain Sam lay a body or two. Im not sure we have any other hockey players on our team. Maybe Lazar?

[Cal Naughton Jr]

We have nobody on the roster that can send that message. It’s been one the glaring issues with this team for years

[inkman]

4 minutes ago, Cal Naughton Jr said:

We have nobody on the roster that can send that message. It’s been one the glaring issues with this team for years

Borgen certainly would have fit the bill.  McCabe, when healthy, steps up when needed.  We don’t need a Rob Ray type pugilist but a few more Western Canadian boys that were brought up throwing hands would be nice.  Cozens was a nice start.  Let’s get a few more.  Just use your late round picks to find some guys that like to hit and won’t shy away from a fight. 

[IvanPutski]

We have nobody to fill that role.  This is a very soft team with little heart.

 

[LabattBlue]

I've said for many years and several GM's, that this team never replaced the grit/toughness of Foligno, Carrier, Kane & Deslauriers.  Not saying you need a roster full of gritty players, but anyone who believes you can go anywhere in the playoffs(assuming you can qualify for the playoffs) with a team like this is delusional.

 

Laughable that Ralph brings it up now.  Why wasn't it addressed last game, when the game was out of hand.  He is a joke, and so is the makeup of this team.

Edited March 12, 2021 by LabattBlue

[Weave]

Ralph is asking the players to step out of their comfort zone.  Its not about sending a message to Pittsburgh, its about sending a message the the Sabres and getting them looking out for each other.

This may be the watershed moment.  They either step up and build from it, or its the bellweather to make big changes.

[LabattBlue]

4 minutes ago, Weave said:

Ralph is asking the players to step out of their comfort zone.  Its not about sending a message to Pittsburgh, its about sending a message the the Sabres and getting them looking out for each other.

This may be the watershed moment.  They either step up and build from it, or its the bellweather to make big changes.

A leopard doesn't change its spots.  Whoop de do if someone out of character drops the gloves tonight.  A couple games from now, all will be forgotten, and they will go back to their Ice Capades routine.

[Thorner]

1 minute ago, LabattBlue said:

A leopard doesn't change its spots.  Whoop de do if someone out of character drops the gloves tonight.  A couple games from now, all will be forgotten, and they will go back to their Ice Capades routine.

Ralph is going to continue to throw up those hail marys in conferences in the hopes someone takes him up on it and saves his job

[DarthEbriate]

4 minutes ago, Weave said:

Ralph is asking the players to step out of their comfort zone.  Its not about sending a message to Pittsburgh, its about sending a message the the Sabres and getting them looking out for each other.

This may be the watershed moment.  They either step up and build from it, or its the bellweather to make big changes.

They won't do anything. They're not going to line-brawl-jump the entire Penguins lineup at the opening faceoff. HCRK will tell them before the game not to get too riled up and to stick to the game plan, and we'll get through it just dandy. Then, he'll put his BS hat on. On ice, Ristolainen will throw a good check on the opening shift and each player will finish a basic check in the first 5 minutes of the game. Then they'll all think, "Yup, that should take care of that." Afterward, HCRK will talk about tooth and fight and how impressed he was with the physical response. Nevermind they'll trail 5-1 until a late goal for.

3 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

A leopard doesn't change its spots.  Whoop de do if someone out of character drops the gloves tonight.  A couple games from now, all will be forgotten, and they will go back to their Ice Capades routine.

Not a couple games... a couple shifts into this game.

[freester]

I hear Adams is putting out a call to the Hanson brothers on the Charlestown Chiefs.

[Kruppstahl]

55 minutes ago, Cal Naughton Jr said:

We have nobody on the roster that can send that message. It’s been one the glaring issues with this team for years

There are a few guys on the team who will step up and fight when necessary.  Jake McCabe comes to mind, though he's out now.

NONE of them are actually good at it.

Over the last many years, the league has gone from lots of fighters to few fighters; then for a while you had to be a good fighter but also a pretty decent hockey player to see a roster.  That was sort of the Adam Mair type players.  The hybrids.  

Now they're pretty much all gone too.

This is why when teams actually get pissed off at each other and pair up, *nothing* happens! LOL!  The people to do something about it just aren't on the ice anymore.

It was no different in the '80s, if the wrong guys were caught on the ice at the wrong time.

The difference being that the mistake could be corrected next shift or whenever the coach wanted to do it...the personnel was on the bench, somewhere.

Now it's just gone for the most part.

Not all teams are as soft as the Sabres right now, however.

 

 

 

[Kruppstahl]

9 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

A leopard doesn't change its spots.  Whoop de do if someone out of character drops the gloves tonight.  A couple games from now, all will be forgotten, and they will go back to their Ice Capades routine.

You don't get "do overs" with this type of thing!  Either you show up when its unexpected and you are called to do something, or you don't.

Last night, Miller stepped up and showed up when he had to.

But after Ruhwedel's cheap shot on Dahlin, no one did a thing, and that was the cheaper of the 2 hits by a mile IMO.

This is the Lucic incident in Boston all over again.

Maybe next game we can send Paul Gaustad out there to crack some skulls like we did last time.

LOL

 

 

[Cal Naughton Jr]

10 minutes ago, Kruppstahl said:

There are a few guys on the team who will step up and fight when necessary.  Jake McCabe comes to mind, though he's out now.

NONE of them are actually good at it.

Over the last many years, the league has gone from lots of fighters to few fighters; then for a while you had to be a good fighter but also a pretty decent hockey player to see a roster.  That was sort of the Adam Mair type players.  The hybrids.  

Now they're pretty much all gone too.

This is why when teams actually get pissed off at each other and pair up, *nothing* happens! LOL!  The people to do something about it just aren't on the ice anymore.

It was no different in the '80s, if the wrong guys were caught on the ice at the wrong time.

The difference being that the mistake could be corrected next shift or whenever the coach wanted to do it...the personnel was on the bench, somewhere.

Now it's just gone for the most part.

Not all teams are as soft as the Sabres right now, however.

 

 

 

The Sabres are softer than 2 ply toilet paper. I know it’s a different time but there are still legitimate tough guys in the league. We don’t have any. It’s been going on for years. Eichel or Skinner or Dahlin will take a dirty hit and nobody steps up. Miller did last night and it was great. He’s not a tough guy though. The closest player we’ve had in recent memory was probably Evander Kane. I remember when a beat the same dude up 3 times in one game

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Fallsnative01 said:

After the Sabre's loss to Pitt on Thursday night and some cheap hits along the way, Coach Ralph Krueger stated in his after-game presser that the "team needs to respond physically on Saturday" for some of the hits during the game. Now, exactly what players on this team does he think can or will respond? We know Collin Miller will respond. Who can go after Chad Ruhwedel after his dirty knee hit? Tagging Aston-Resse again would be nice. Sending someone after Crosby would send a message. But this team lacks size, grit and at times heart. Not sure who the Sabres can find on this team to do the dirty work. 

This team does not lack size. 

They do lack heart. 

[IKnowPhysics]

2 minutes ago, Cal Naughton Jr said:

The Sabres are softer than 2 ply toilet paper. I know it’s a different time but there are still legitimate tough guys ***** that that throw dirty hits and need correction in the league. 

FTFY

Original point stands, however.

[Thorner]

37 minutes ago, freester said:

I hear Adams is putting out a call to the Hanson brothers on the Charlestown Chiefs.

what we'll actually get

 

Edited March 12, 2021 by Thorny

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, inkman said:

Just use your late round picks to find some guys that like to hit and won’t shy away from a fight. 

Late round? To stock the ECHL club? Sheeyit - these kinds of NHL players are commonly targeted in round 1 (maybe outside the top-5, but still).

45 minutes ago, Weave said:

This may be the watershed moment. 

[Figster]

I think the team needs to get physical with Ralph

[LGR4GM]

 

[DarthEbriate]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

 

I was ready to copy/paste the link in... and....    bless you @LGR4GM

^ If I'm in charge of the music at tomorrow's home game, I play this song to troll the team. I mean, they did the NHL on ESPN theme on the organ to start last night. Play this! Play it!

[freester]

11 minutes ago, Thorny said:

what we'll actually get

 

I think that's our 3rd line

[bunomatic]

No push back on this team. A few push up bras is about it. Thats not the players fault. If you’re not built that way it is what it is. Draft better and be aware of how the better teams are getting it done. Most successful teams understand that in this game you need a fair amount of grit in your lineup.