Sabres HC Lindy Ruff Lays Path to Playoffs, Highlights Norris Addition | The Jeremy and Joe Show

All right, good morning everybody. Jeremy and Joe. Happy Tuesday. Rained out there a little bit. Going to rain a little more throughout the day. Cooler temperatures as well. And uh tonight, the start of the NHL season. The Sabres have their home opener Thursday night at Key Bank Center against the Rangers. And uh we welcome in once again for a uh you generally a weekly appearance throughout the season as hockey season’s upon us. Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff joins us on the Western Hotline. Lindy, good morning. Welcome back. Morning, gentlemen. Uh how we doing? We’re doing all right. Are you are you excited to uh have hockey back in general? And do you wish that you guys had a game tonight like to open up the season with the first slate of games or you are you happy to kind of get uh a night to just sit back and maybe watch some hockey? Well, I think where we’re at even a couple more days could make a difference for us with several players. So, I’m actually happy that we get an extra couple days uh uh just for body purposes. Yeah, let’s get to some of those those injuries because there’s uh you know significant injuries uh in goal UPL you know he he left the preseason game. What’s the latest on Lucin right now? Uh feeling better um but won’t be involved in our practices yet. Uh you know we’ll we’ll see how today goes but he had a he had a good day yesterday and just keep progressing. And on the blue line Kessle Ring Power Samuelson you’re kind of patching things together back there. Yeah, if you look at it, Samson joined us yesterday in a a non-cont sense. Um he’ll be uh it looks like he’ll be back. Power should join us for practice today. Um so he’s he’s starting to feel real good. Um I wouldn’t even rule him out for Thursday, so that’s good news. Kessle Ring looks like he’s just a little bit longer, but um he’s feeling better, too. Is there anybody else Greenway maybe at this point that you would think definitely not for Thursday? Yeah, Greenway definitely not. Um he’s I mean just coming off you know the surgery he had uh in late July so the u it probably looks like he’s be a little bit more time he’s been skating but uh isn’t quite there yet. With regard to Kessle Ring, Lindy, like he’s a new player. You guys acquire him via trade, and as we get set to start this season and see how this team is going to be built differently, look different. How does he change what you can do on the blue line? Where does he, you know, kind of fit into the group, and how do you feel like it’ll ultimately lead to better results? Well, look that, you know, you’ve got a a a big man that’s a right-handed defenseman that moves the puck well, skates really well, uh, and really liked his camp and and had liked what he had done in in the preseason. But I think you’re you’re you’re looking at a guy that I I thought even playing with power could really give us u, you know, a three, four pair that that could be really strong for. So, uh, I I don’t think it’s going to be real long. I I think we know what we got. We got a a big guy that can play physical. It uh shoots the puck really well. U so just got got to get him back in. Yeah. What What does he do for power specifically if they are to play together a lot this year? We talking a lot with you last year about power and getting better at shutting plays down. Does he free up power maybe though to do more offensively with the puck, be more aggressive? Do you think power plays any different if him and castle can really build chemistry? You know, it’s a great question. I you know, I think we need consistency, you know, out of our our play in the back end. We need consistency out of own power in defensive play and u Kering is in in the same category. I think from a puck moving sense when you got a lefty readyy um moving pucks inside the offensive zone when pucks go low to high is a lot easier. Um you know I think the transition game again when you’re you’re not playing that offside there are times where that part of the game is better. I think they can complement each other. Uh but just looking for, you know, two guys that can get accustomed to to playing with each other and and and building from there. The the blue line in general, I think, kind of leads this that the theme of the offseason, Lindy, seem to be getting better defensively, keeping pucks out of your own net. Some moves on the forward group do that, too. Um, I guess how equipped do you feel like you are at the beginning of the season with these injuries to be that team right away that is an improved unit at keeping pucks out of your own end in your own zone and shutting plays down? Well, I think we’ve been better for sure. Um, I guess the one area that uh still hurt us is even as recent as last game is, you know, a couple special teams goals that that got by us. Um just re just trying to be a lot more consistent team away from the puck which I thought we saw some really good stuff in the first couple games. Uh if you look at the six games overall I thought four of them you know we kept the high percentage chances down and and still played a good brand of offensive hockey. Uh, last game I thought 45 minutes might have played our best game in camp with, you know, a lot of our defenseman out against a pretty strong Pittsburgh team and and gave up those those two special teams goals that hurt us in the third period. Um, so I think we’re in a better place. I think we understand that we have to be a better defensive team. We have to cut the goals against down. Um and and that’s a team project that it’s not just defenseman. That’s forwards tracking hard, not giving up situations that uh lead to our defenseman facing oddnumbered rushes and stuff like that. You know, on special teams, Lindy, last year it’s 24th on the power play, 23rd on the penalty kill. How much of what you think you need to do to kind of, you know, finish the job to get this team into a playoff spot is correcting things on the special teams? Yeah, I I think that’s a big part. special teams is is going to be a big part of our and I looked at the last, you know, really looked hard at the last 50 games when we got into a lot better place, especially with the power play. Uh, you know, power play, I think, in the last 50 games was around 22%. I think we’ve come out of camp with the power play around 24%. Um, I think the the guy that really intrigues me that we didn’t have last year that can help us in both categories is Norris. Um, you know, Norris, good power play guy and and we really feel that he can be a top penalty killer for us just with he’s got length, he can skate, he’s good on draws. You win a face off penalty killing, you you’re probably killed off 20 plus seconds. So, it’s a guy that I think could help us in both categories that we didn’t have last year. How about him overall as a fit? You know, Lindy Savers fans would of course remember the trade he’s brought in last year in the Dylan Cousins trade and Norris doesn’t really play that much. I’d kind of I would joke to Joe in the offseason like remember Josh Norris like he he is on this team. So I almost feel like every time we we start to talk about him, we have to remember what kind of player he is. So how has he fit in? And you know there’s there’s the faceoff stuff you’re mentioning on penalty kill and power play stuff like that. But what what has he done? What does he fit in with Tae Thompson with this group of forwards as you’re looking to, you know, get everything you can out of his game? Yeah, you know, I think you’re looking at a guy that’s a dynamic skater. Uh, we saw that in the preseason. I think the chemistry with with him and Tom, you know, has been good. Um, you know, pointwise, he had a nice preseason. U, you know, both Thompson and himself. Uh, and I think he’s just, you know, kind of touching the tip of the iceberg because, uh, it was the first full summer he’s been able to train that he wasn’t dealing with injuries. He got himself into, you know, fantastic condition. I think we’ve seen that in the way he skated, a couple of the goals he scored, um, and the pace he plays at. So, uh, you know, it was a guy we didn’t get to see much of, uh, late last year, and now we’re getting him on a on a daily basis, and I think he’s going to be a big part of our club. Those two playing together a lot throughout the preseason. Zack Benson had a bit of an injury throughout, but he was with them as well. What have you liked about Benson that has you putting him on the top line kind of to start the year here? Well, when you look at where we finished last year and Benson and Khik were playing with Thompson and I, you know, I thought Benson is great below the goal line, hanging on the pucks and and making plays and uh saw that again in the preseason. I think Benson’s skating uh is even better. Uh his tenacity though on the puck I think is a good compliment for those guys. a guy that uh is tough to corral down low so he can find he can find Norris or find Thompson. Uh and and I think he’s he’s a guy that uh you know Tommer likes playing with him. I think that you know you find guys that kind of work off each other and we think we found a guy we found a guy that can fit in nicely. Uh so he’ll be back. Uh you know he was at practice yesterday. It looks like he’ll be able to play Thursday. So, uh it it’ll be good to have him back, too. Yeah. I know you got this question when the team showed up to camp about like will this team be able to score goals and who might replace the production that JJ Purk has had the last couple of years. And looking at the lineup right now, I would figure that I mean Benson would be on this list, but him, Yuri Koulik, like some of these young guys you would be expecting to take a step from last year to this year. For sure. You know, I think you look at the two guys you mentioned. Kulie, you know, had a year that I thought the second half of the year really established himself as a as a as a strong centerman and a guy that can score goals. So, he’s got unbelievable shot. I think another guy that, you know, I think he scored 15 or 16 last year was Quinn that, you know, we think there’s still upside uh to his game. So, uh, when you’re looking at our lineup, uh, and you put Norris in there and what what he can do and then a couple of our younger guys, uh, you know, we’re hoping that these guys can continue to to be better players for us. I think we’ve seen some of that in the preseason. It, uh, it hasn’t that been that we haven’t been able to score. I think the last game in Pittsburgh, Kique got a couple. Yeah. I think another guy that kind of intrigues me that just started to, you know, get comfortable with his dome. He’s he’s around he’s around the net. He’s getting some good opportunities. You know, I think we can easily get some goals uh from him that can help replace some of the goals that went out. Lindy, on the season at large and kind of looking for, you know, the finish line that you’re trying to get to, have you set with with the team monthly goals? Is it weekly? I mean, at the end of last season, it was out of every 10 games, you know, you’d shoot for this. Um, h how have you decided to keep the big picture in picture, but also in the moment? Well, just the realization that, uh, you know, if you go three and two and three and two, and if you’re looking at a five game segment and you get, you know, you get uh, six points every five games, you’re going to be a playoff team. I uh the the thing we’re trying to hammer home is, you know, our defensive play has to be consistent. We got to be consistent from night to night. I think if we’re consistent with that, um you know, and just you don’t too spend too many times or too much time uh laboring on a tough loss, whether you’ve been beat by a goalender or maybe it’s a special teams night, you didn’t get it done. But if you look at the trying to get that six points, six or seven points, a a fivegame segment, um it’ll put you in position where you get to you get to be in the playoffs. Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff, it’ll be Thursday night, Key Bank Center, Sabres and Rangers. And lastly, Lindy, on on the goalending, we talked about the Lucin injury right now. How imperative is it for that plan being better defensively going on stretches like that to get saves this year? And how do you feel about the current trio? The team claims Colton Ellis yesterday. I don’t know how much you know about him. You you have experience with Alex Georg. You have Lions the signing in the offseason. So, how do you feel about your goalie room going into the year right now? Well, you know, again, it’s it’s the fact that we have UPL hurt right now. I thought the period that he play he he looked really good inside that. I think there’s two things that go hand in hand here, Jeremy, is the the fact that if we’re better defensively, and we’re giving up less of the high quality opportunities, it it should be better for our goalenders. Uh, and so those two things go hand in hand. And then I thought in, you know, probably four of the six games, I thought we we did a pretty good job. We had, you know, maybe had lighter lineup in the Detroit game. uh that put us in a little bit of chaos, but uh I think that uh that group of uh defense and and forwards that are playing in front of our goalenders have to be better on a nightly basis. Lindy Ruff on the Western Hotline. Lindy, thanks. We’ll chat next week and uh best of luck to open the season. Thanks, gentlemen. Looking forward to it. Savers and Rangers Thursday at Key Bank Center. The Savers also announced uh for those of you going to these games, some food options, and Joe, they’re bringing us some food options to talk about more tomorrow.

Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase are joined by Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff for his first weekly appearance of this NHL season! The guys start things off by discussing the injuries the Sabres are facing as the season begins. The guys then turn to some of the additions to the team, specifically on the blueline with Michael Kesselring. Ruff explains what he thinks these additions will bring, and why the team wants to focus on keeping the puck out of their net more consistently. Lindy also touches on the Sabres special teams, goaltending, Josh Norris, and the teams path to the playoffs.

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11 comments

  7. how lucky are we another year begins and we get to see Samuelsson show off his incredible skills notably the #1 skill poke checking if only the NHL kept stats on that but just think we get to experience this for 5 more years

  10. All the things coach describes to win consistently would happen if Adams and Pegula brought in players who refuse to lose, & have b@lls. PLUS get rid of the pampered doooshes #22, #23, #25. Those entitled losers bring their team mates DOWN

  11. The Sabres genuinely have talent. What else in new? The problem is that perennially they have a glaring need somewhere, whether it be depth or especially goaltending. The only reason the Sabres won in the past was having arguably the greatest player I've ever seen in Dominik Hasek and later with Ryan Miller. However, if Dom even had THIS roster of talent, we'd have won the Stanley Cup! What I'm saying is that that first line has serious potential with Benson-Norris-Thompson and we actually do have a very solid defensive core. We do have decent lines – save for that last line! Why Helenius didn't make the roster, nor Mrtka, hurts me. For Bryson and Geertson??? If not for an insane losing streak during the last few years, the Sabres actually do have strong starts and finishes. If they ever were to be consistent, we'd be somewhere. That "if" is now lasting near what the Bills were…that's the problem…that we'll see if some AHL goalie can help….smh. Until then Sabres' fans, we will do the ceremony of watching very good players on a complete shit franchise go somewhere good and hoist the Cup. (Again, it's not the talent).

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