I went back to the Press Conference when the Sabres brought back Lindy and Darcy

[BillsSabresB.C.T. Fan]

and something has been nagging at me all day when Lindy said this:

Q: Coach, where do you see your team needing improvement, just to get to that other level?

Ruff: I think there are some areas defensively that we can be better (in). When you go through it, we were a very good offensive team. When we played teams that were very good playoff teams, even down the stretch in the regular season, we had to make adjustments, knowing that this is probably the way you're going to have to win games. I'm mentioning a (New) Jersey-like team - even an Ottawa is the type of team that played a very tight defensive style. We saw it in the first two rounds. It wasn't about offense. Playing the Islanders wasn't about offense and playing New York (Rangers) wasn't about offense. The playoffs, for the most part, were low-scoring playoffs. Teams defended and played defense harder than they tried to score. You can't try to counter that with just keep trying to score and give the other team opportunities. It's being a little bit more responsible.

I think, from that standpoint, maybe (if) we shore up the number of goals that we gave up during the regular season, I think that's an area we need improvement (in). I think that will help us down the road.
http://eod.liquidviewer.com/wgr-od/wgr/20070614_sabres.wma

Now what if they're saving up this money to sign Souray or a big stay at home defenseman they don't come cheap

[Ebenezer]

they are going back to mediocre and boring...Max, Kotalik and a few others to keep the young girls buying merchandise and trying to win games 3-2 or 2-1...:boring:

[Michael82]

yup....and if they think that is going to keep the place packed...they are crazy! Part of the reason for the Sabres mania was that they were exciting to watch, just like the old West Coast offense with the Buffalo Bills. We love high scoring, fast paced sports. The low scoring 2-1 games, are boring as ever. :ill:

[Earthquake Enyart]

I think he was talking about having more defensive forwards.

[SabreEleven]

they are going back to mediocre and boring...Max, Kotalik and a few others to keep the young girls buying merchandise and trying to win games 3-2 or 2-1...:boring:

It's called "playoff hockey"

[snow1989]

perhaps I'm confused.....do we want fast-paced, exciting LOSING play-off hockey?...or do we want to win the cup?

[Ebenezer]

perhaps I'm confused.....do we want fast-paced, exciting LOSING play-off hockey?...or do we want to win the cup?
Regardless the presence of Briere, without Drury this team won't make the playoffs.

[Philagape]

Regardless the presence of Briere, without Drury this team won't make the playoffs.

BS! The Drury worship around here is just insane.

If he's such a great leader, why did this team tank the playoffs? They melted like butter. Whatever Drury has, it had zero effect on this team when it counted most.

Zero influence = worthless leadership. Being the leader of an underachieving team of headless chickens is no credit at all.

Look what happened when Drury left the last team he was on. The one year he played in Calgary, they had 75 points and missed the playoffs. The very next year, after Drury left, they improved to 94 points and went to the Stanley Cup finals.

Drury is a great player. Good defensively, good finisher, clutch performer, a leader and a warrior. But he is not a savior and he is not the god some here make him out to be. He won one Cup on a loaded team with 4-5 sure Hall of Famers (which Drury is not, at the very least until he leads a team to a Cup).

Players like Vanek, Connolly, Afinogenov, Miller, Campbell, Tallinder, etc., do not owe their accomplishments to anyone but themselves. They've all had two deep playoff runs. To say losing one player will devastate them that much, no matter who it is, is out-of-your-skull insane. I don't think they're a Cup team anymore, but miss the playoffs? Garbage.

[BillsSabresB.C.T. Fan]

BS! The Drury worship around here is just insane.

If he's such a great leader, why did this team tank the playoffs? They melted like butter. Whatever Drury has, it had zero effect on this team when it counted most.

Zero influence = worthless leadership. Being the leader of an underachieving team of headless chickens is no credit at all.

Look what happened when Drury left the last team he was on. The one year he played in Calgary, they had 75 points and missed the playoffs. The very next year, after Drury left, they improved to 94 points and went to the Stanley Cup finals.

Drury is a great player. Good defensively, good finisher, clutch performer, a leader and a warrior. But he is not a savior and he is not the god some here make him out to be. He won one Cup on a loaded team with 4-5 sure Hall of Famers (which Drury is not, at the very least until he leads a team to a Cup).

Players like Vanek, Connolly, Afinogenov, Miller, Campbell, Tallinder, etc., do not owe their accomplishments to anyone but themselves. They've all had two deep playoff runs. To say losing one player will devastate them that much, no matter who it is, is out-of-your-skull insane. I don't think they're a Cup team anymore, but miss the playoffs? Garbage.

Let them go, we have Stafford who's been waiting his whole life to play in the NHL. We have kids down in Rochester like MacAurthur, Hunter, (son of Dale Hunter and if he's anything like his dad was were going to be in for a show) Kaletta (Buffalo kid who grew up in Angola, NY and went to St. Francis H.S.)Sekera wanting a chance to play to prove themselves that they can play in the NHL.