It's not tough love, it's Ruff love
NHL
by MATT KRUEGER Reporter

The Buffalo Sabres would like to avoid an angry Lindy Ruff as much as possible, but with the team's struggles this year and the possibility of not qualifying for the playoffs, Ruff has been unleashing his ire on players, refs and reporters. Photo by Patrick McPartland

Don't make Lindy Ruff angry. You wouldn't like him when he's angry.

Just ask Dmitri Kalinin, who suffered the wrath of Ruff in front of all his Buffalo Sabres teammates at practice last week. While Kalinin skated around the ice at HSBC Arena, Ruff stayed with him, stride for stride, the whole time yelling obscenities in the defenseman's ear. That's what you get for crossing the boss.

Ruff's belief was that Kalinin wasn't playing with enough passion in games, that he wasn't working hard enough.

By dishing out that kind of discipline in front of the entire team, Ruff made sure his message of playing hard every second got through to everyone in the locker room.

"Everybody has a tough game once in a while, said winger Jason Pominville, who admitted to receiving some Ruff tirades in the past. "I think everyone is able to take the criticism and live with it. But most times, you hope you make the play he wants."

Then there was Ruff's abbreviated press conference following Saturday's 4-3 overtime loss in Carolina. After a reporter asked Ruff about a lack of production on the power play, Ruff shot back "we scored a goal." The fiery Ruff then chastised the reporter for not knowing his facts and stormed away from the media circle after less than a minute.

Ruff is generally good with the media, albeit not as verbose as some others. He'll joke around after wins or during practice, but ask him the wrong question at the wrong time and he'll let you hear it, like he did Saturday.

Even superstars feel the cold shoulder of Ruff if they don't play the way he likes. Take a look at Thomas Vanek, who sat out much of the Carolina game because Ruff was displeased with Vanek's effort. Vanek had just 11 minutes, 47 seconds of ice time Saturday. His season average is 16:50.

And that came after Vanek was one of the hottest players in the league throughout February. Vanek had 13 goals and seven assists in February, including a five-game point streak, during which he scored six goals and three assists. But in the first four games in March, Vanek didn't have any goals or assists and was a minus-five on the ice. Buffalo lost all four of those games.

Vanek responded to his benching with a goal and 22:07 of ice time in Monday's shootout loss to the New York Rangers.

"Whenever we see that emotion and how much coach cares, it obviously brings passion to the team," said defenseman Nathan Paetsch. "When you see a coach that cares that much for you guys to win, you feel that much more passionate to play hard for him. He's just doing what he's got to do to keep us going. The guys have to respond."

And if you think Ruff is hard on his own players, you should see how he gets when the opposing team gets under his skin. Like a big brother, he's there to stand up for his guys and join the fight if necessary.

Nobody can forget the image of a red-faced Ruff climbing over the partition into the media zone between the benches at HSBC Arena last year, screaming at Ottawa Senators coach Bryan Murray after then Sabres co-captain Chris Drury was knocked out of the game by what Ruff thought was a cheap shot. So incensed by Chris Neil's questionable hit that knocked Drury to the ice and gave him a cut on the face, Ruff looked ready to start throwing down with Murray just as the players engaged in a 12-man brawl on the ice.

For his actions, which included sending the bruiser line of Andrew Peters, Adam Mair and Patrick Kaleta onto the ice to avenge the hit on Drury, Ruff was levied with a $10,000 fine by the NHL. That only endeared the coach even more to the crowd. Sabres fans began a campaign to pay the fine for Ruff, but the coach graciously declined and paid it himself.

"It definitely shows within the room when he juggles the lines or gets emotional behind the bench," Pominville said. "He's an emotional guy, and it's fun to see his enthusiasm back there. I think it's something we have to build off. It's his way of coaching, and it's not going to change."