Bill Brasky
05-31-2006, 02:44 PM
BUFFALO, N.Y. (CP) - The head games were in overtime on the eve of Thursday's seventh and deciding game in the NHL's Eastern Conference final. <!-- CPPara1End--><!-- CPPara2-->
Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff described the Carolina Hurricanes as an "arrogant" team that thought, wrongly, the Sabres would roll over and die after losing 4-0 in Game 4 last Friday night.
<!-- CPPara2End-->
<!-- CPPara3-->"I think we sensed that as a team, some of the arrogance on the ice, some of their comments," Ruff said Wednesday before his team departed for Raleigh, N.C. <!-- CPPara3End-->
"They were laughing in the 4-0 game," he later added. "They felt like it was going to be over, we were done, we had another injury, we lost another player. There's a fine line. They had a right to laugh, they had a pretty good game going. But I think that our guys are the type that would take it personally and wanted to prove that we're not done yet."
The kicker, Ruff claimed, was hearing that the Hurricanes supposedly had champagne on ice in the visitors' dressing room before Game 6 on Tuesday night.
Fact or fiction, Ruff used that to get his team going.
"They are an arrogant group," said Sabres winger Jason Pominville. "Then again, that's normal for a team that's had as much success as they've had this year. But to have champagne in the room . . . we found out before the game and it certainly motivated us."
Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford refuted the champagne story.
"That's baloney," he said Wednesday from Raleigh, N.C. "We wouldn't even have champagne there even if by chance we'd had won. Lindy just can't stop his tongue from wagging.
"I now understand why in previous series some of the other coaches responded in the manner they did to him."
That would be a reference to Philadelphia coach Ken Hitchcock in the first round telling a reporter to send a message to Ruff for him with the first word starting with the letter 'f.'
http://www.cp.org/premium/ONLINE/member/hockey/060531/h053121A.html
Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff described the Carolina Hurricanes as an "arrogant" team that thought, wrongly, the Sabres would roll over and die after losing 4-0 in Game 4 last Friday night.
<!-- CPPara2End-->
<!-- CPPara3-->"I think we sensed that as a team, some of the arrogance on the ice, some of their comments," Ruff said Wednesday before his team departed for Raleigh, N.C. <!-- CPPara3End-->
"They were laughing in the 4-0 game," he later added. "They felt like it was going to be over, we were done, we had another injury, we lost another player. There's a fine line. They had a right to laugh, they had a pretty good game going. But I think that our guys are the type that would take it personally and wanted to prove that we're not done yet."
The kicker, Ruff claimed, was hearing that the Hurricanes supposedly had champagne on ice in the visitors' dressing room before Game 6 on Tuesday night.
Fact or fiction, Ruff used that to get his team going.
"They are an arrogant group," said Sabres winger Jason Pominville. "Then again, that's normal for a team that's had as much success as they've had this year. But to have champagne in the room . . . we found out before the game and it certainly motivated us."
Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford refuted the champagne story.
"That's baloney," he said Wednesday from Raleigh, N.C. "We wouldn't even have champagne there even if by chance we'd had won. Lindy just can't stop his tongue from wagging.
"I now understand why in previous series some of the other coaches responded in the manner they did to him."
That would be a reference to Philadelphia coach Ken Hitchcock in the first round telling a reporter to send a message to Ruff for him with the first word starting with the letter 'f.'
http://www.cp.org/premium/ONLINE/member/hockey/060531/h053121A.html