The coach obviously was disappointed that the Flyers-series "slipped away" and spent some time looking at both Game 6 and Game 7.
Some of the themes were familiar like turnovers, and the inability to finish. He also pointed out that one of the aspects that carried the team in the series--the "ability to get the puck up the ice"--wasn't there for Game 7. Consequently, the team did not spend much time in the offensive zone and dropping the game, and the series, in Philly.
Looking forward, you could say the team took a step forward, winning one more game than the previous post-season while taking the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference to seven games. But there's a dissatisfaction with the way the season ended, especially after that great run in the 2011 calender year which propelled them into the playoffs.
Simon's side-kick, Jeremy White, got right to the point with Ruff, "what does this team need?" The coach, not surprisingly went right to the defense.
"We learned a lot of things about our defense. We just went through talking about the defending part, we would like to shore that part of our game up. We had the type of defensmen that were great at being involved offensively and we had to play to that strength," he said, adding "If we could shore up that defending part and have a defense pair that could [be] lockdown in certain situations, I think that's where we'd want to improve."
During the stretch-drive towards the playoffs, Ruff used a myriad of combinations at the end of games to hold the lead, and it worked out pretty well. From Mike Weber/Andrej Sekera to Steve Montador/Chris Butler to Tyler Myers/Butler to Montador/Sekera, the coach seemed to be priming his defensemen for pressure situations--which are the playoffs as a whole.
But nothing during the regular season could prepare them for the intensity of the playoffs, especially the relentless Flyer forecheck.
When asked by Simon if he thought that the Sabres had a defenseman within the organization to use as a lockdown-pair, or whether they need to look outside, Ruff talked about Myers being "the closest thing we have to a lockdown defenseman." As for another defenseman joining him on that pairing he talked about Sekera and Butler having some great moments, but falling to injury and/or inconsistencies.
The Sabres are still in their "evaluation period" when it comes to piecing together the team for next season including the aforementioned defense. Since Terry Pegula took over the ownership of the team, there's been a heightened sense of excitement and expectation come July 1 (the beginning of free-agency) and Ruff shared those sentiments. "I think right now it does feel different," he said.
Their "build from the goal out" philosophy remains intact and, not surprisingly, Ruff points to Nashville goalie Pekke Rinne and Boston's Tim Thomas when talking about team-building and where Buffalo stands.
Although other teams like the Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks spent much less in goal and had much success putting nearly all of their money in skaters, Ruff is steadfast in Ryan Miller and his salary anchoring the Buffalo Sabres. "There are teams trying to do it a different way," he said, "there's three or four teams in the playoffs that fit the model we have, there's three or four teams that maybe fit a little bit different model. I don't think that every team has the luxury that we've had with our goalie."
Ruff brings up Vancouver's similar philosophy of strong goaltending with Roberto Luongo in net. Luongo and Miller are both considered the leaders on the team with the former actually being officially named captain a year ago (which was against NHL rules, and eventually abandoned.)
There's no question that Ryan Miller is one of the leaders on this team, if not the leader. But there hasn't been a player with the "C" on his sweater since Craig Rivet was waived. In fact, there hasn't been a captain on the ice since the 2010 calendar year considering Rivet was a healthy scratch for nearly all of 2011.
Ruff has used a number of different avenues concerning the captaincy--rotating captains, co-captains, no captain--and as they looked forward he was asked about the role. "I think it's important to the team, I'm not trying to downplay that at all," he said. "When you put the "C" on a player the players walk in and recognize the leader of the team. You wanna make the right decisions. We wanna make sure that the captain is a captain here for a long time."
With the post-mortem of a playoff exit over, the team is looking towards next season. At the time of the interview Ruff and GM Darcy Regier were in Binghamton evaluating the Portland Pirates in their playoff series. Forwards Luke Adam and Zack Kassian--who just came up from junior--were talked about.
The team is keeping a close eye on Adam, who scored a near end-to-end, highlight-reel goal in that game (the Pirates only goal which tied the game in a 6-1 loss,) with Ruff going as far to say that the big center "is going to be a good two-way centerman that could possibly push up into a one-two role."
Although the boys on the show never brought up Ruff's recent contract extension, they'll have him again next season as the Sabres look to build upon the positives and correct the negatives of a very interesting 2010/11 season.
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