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AMP ENERGY NHL WINTER CLASSICDecember 31, 2007Ryan MillerLindy RuffORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Ruff. Q. How unique was that to go out there? It looked like everyone was smiling, firing pucks over the glass. COACH LINDY RUFF: That was awesome, it really was. I just said it kind of brings you back to your roots. It really felt like you could stay out there a couple hours, one of those ones where you could scrimmage all day long. But you could see it in the players' faces. You guys even looked cheerful out there, so... (laughter) Q. Players are creatures of habit. This game pretty much takes them out of their preparation routine. Do you worry about that? Do you like the idea of something different in the middle of the season? COACH LINDY RUFF: You know what, I think the idea is absolutely fabulous. I think, yes, we are, as players, creatures of habit. But to get out of the routine for a game like this, I'm just telling you, it was just so cool to be out there. So, I mean, I thought it was unbelievable and I'm not even playing, so... For them, I think it's a thrill of a lifetime to play a game like this, center stage in a great facility. The ice was awesome. A little snow flying, which made it even better. Buffalo weather, again, was beautiful. Q. How long do you think it will take for the players to get into the game itself after all the hype? After the first shift or couple of shifts? Do you think you can get them focused right away? COACH LINDY RUFF: I think we'll have good focus. I mean, we've talked about - first and foremost I told them, I want you to have fun today. We'll have fun with practice. Then we got to focus on winning a game, you know, in a different venue. But obviously it's important for us to win a hockey game. You know, that falls on my shoulders, to make sure they're focused when the game starts. But to that point, I really want them to enjoy - enjoy the day, enjoy the preparation for tomorrow. You know, this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity to play in a game, you know, that is this special. Q. Can you talk a little bit about how it was on the bench? Some players were saying it was like a sauna. COACH LINDY RUFF: I did go on the bench after practice and sat on there, and I actually felt it was too hot. But I think you can turn those benches down. If they're going to complain, they can stand behind the bench and I'll sit down for a while. We'll see how that works out. But it did. You didn't feel the cold at all when you were sitting on those football benches. Q. Obviously you would have liked the team to come in playing a little better. Is this something you think that is going to help that situation? Would you rather have a more normal type atmosphere for the way the team is playing right now? COACH LINDY RUFF: We'd like to have won those games. You know, if you look at the big picture we've been playing good hockey. We went through a pretty tough stretch. We lost a tough game right after Christmas. We lost in the shootout in a real tough game. Then we lost another real tight game. You know, it's not that we're playing terrible hockey. We just haven't played good enough to win them. You know, we're focusing in on getting back on track and winning the game tomorrow and taking a look at the big picture of where we came from a long way back in the standings to get where we're at. It just seems every night in this league the parity is so prevalent that you can win or you can lose. We made one big mistake. We had a fabulous night in goal, but ended up losing the game. Q. Quite a transformation for Spacek from end of the playoffs last year. Not sure if you could really trust him now being the captain for one of the biggest games of the year? COACH LINDY RUFF: Well, you know what, stay true to my word. We were going to have a new captain every month. It's very well-deserved on his part. He's played very well. He's played very hard. I think of any guy on the team he's having the most fun playing and is probably playing, on our team right now, probably playing as hard or maybe harder than anybody else. I mean, we've got guys that are playing hard, but he is really committed to playing hard hockey. From a physical standpoint, to an offensive standpoint, you know, when I say "hard," he's playing a tough game. You wouldn't want to play against him because, you know, it's four or five hits a night; it's two or three really hard hits. His competitive battles below the circle have been really good. I'm really impressed with the way he's been playing. Q. Stafford was out there today practicing. Is he possible for tomorrow? COACH LINDY RUFF: No, no. I mean, obviously he's doing some light exercise now. I think being out there was more for the photo and just getting a little piece of it. I mean, who wouldn't want to be? I think if you broke your leg you'd still try to get out there. It was an opportunity I don't think he wanted to miss. Q. Looking at the players as they stepped onto the ice today, you get the sense they were having a real good time being out there, soaking in that atmosphere. What was that like for you and for them? COACH LINDY RUFF: Again, I can only say it was awesome. I mean, it's so cool to be out here, to be in such a big stadium. I can only imagine what it's going to be like tomorrow. To be on the ice, I said halfway through practice, I looked at our practice sheet, I said, We got to get rid of the last couple drills and let them scrimmage, get back to playing a little pond hockey for 10 minutes, let them enjoy it, you know, don't worry about the structure of the practice. If somebody gives the puck away, let's just let them play. I think part of that, it felt like the right thing to do. They were having a great time with it. Q. Were you satisfied with the quality of the ice? COACH LINDY RUFF: I thought the ice was very good. I've got no complaints. You know, a long ways through practice, with a little bit of snow that was flying, there got to be quite a bit of snow on it, but that's just normal. But the actual quality of the ice I thought was very good. Q. From a tactical standpoint, anything you tell them in terms of the approach to this game that you want different? COACH LINDY RUFF: We're trying to figure that out right now in a serious fashion, about the wind, because it really affects you skating one way. I mean, obviously it's going -- 'cause we're going to get a period with the wind, they're going to get a period with the wind, then we're going to split a period. But we've been talking about that. Even talking with Ryan, you know, his experience, we are trying to figure out if we can find some little edge. But I don't know. I don't know if that's there. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Lindy. We'll now take questions for Ryan Miller. Q. (Question regarding Michigan/Michigan State game and weather conditions.) RYAN MILLER: It actually felt very nice out there. The ice was good. The weather cooperated. A little bit overcast is actually a lot better than a sunny sky for us out there. It was actually a little brighter than I thought. So maybe just take that into account tomorrow. We just had a lot of fun out there. It was a good time, messing around. The guys were all upbeat, having fun. As far as dressing, the wind is really what gets you. I think the only thing I'll do, I wear kind of a skull cap thing and a helmet as well as a tuque on the helmet just to keep all the heat in. That kind of gets the back of your neck, too, to help anything from escaping. I had a turtleneck on. It's a little tighter. It's waterproof, and I wore a cotton T-shirt over it to absorb, pull it away, keep the water off. That helped quite a bit. Did the same kind of thing with the pants. Just doubled up for a tight waterproof and my regular cotton pants. Q. Did you have any glare at all, it being the time of day, that you noticed as you were going through practice? RYAN MILLER: There were some little small ones, but overall the lighting was actually pretty good. You know, at Michigan State the problem was we played later in the day and they had some temporary lights brought in. It really had a big impact on glare. Today, you know, the ice felt good, it looked good. The only thing that affected vision was, you know, sometimes the wind got going, trying to keep your eyes open wide, waiting for a puck, you got some snow flurries kind of going around. That was kind of it. Kind of sitting there squinting a little bit, waiting till I needed to focus. Q. Is this game at a good moment with the teams not coming in with some wins as of late? Do you think this will be a good way to change the focus, or do you think it will be tougher, realizing there's two points up for grabs? RYAN MILLER: No, it's a good interruption. I think if we're somehow on a winning streak and you come in, it's a big interruption. You might argue, Okay, you had something good rolling. We had a good run. We had a few tough losses the last few games in tight games. I think it's good to have some fun in the locker room, have an upbeat attitude. This is kind of the place for it. It provides that environment. The guys were having a lot of fun today. We introduced our new captain. It was a lot of fun. A good day. Q. Any concern that a shootout might break out tomorrow night in terms of a wide-open game? RYAN MILLER: That would favor us, because Lindy has been all over the guys to stay tight on defense. You know, I think for the most part we've been pretty responsible. There's been a few mistakes like there is in any game. If they want to run-and-gun, I think we've got the team for it. Q. Can you talk about balancing the wonder of the event with the fact you're obviously playing for two important points? RYAN MILLER: It makes a lot better memory, knowing that you did it the best you could to win the game, I think. An NHL game, you're representing the National Hockey League in a lot of homes that don't often pay attention. So we want to be on our best, not only for the sport, but, you know, team reputation. We want to keep trending upwards in Buffalo. We've had two good seasons behind us. We didn't reach our goals. We've got to really work hard this year to stay in the mix. You know, that's where you get your motivation from. Otherwise, it's a good time. Today was a lot of fun. Practice was a lot more playful than it's been in a while. It was good to get out and kind of, you know, with the new uniforms on for the team picture. Everybody looked sharp. A couple good pranks early on in the day. It just felt like old -- if they're trying to get throw-back hockey going, that's how it is when you're kids: Throwing tape balls, screwing around, just pranking on guys and you're goofing off. It felt a lot more like that. Q. Because the game is outdoors and maybe the ice might be a little slower, how much different do you expect this game to be, whether it be slower, more wide open, than a game played at the arena? RYAN MILLER: It's gonna be different. I don't know what direction it's going to go yet. Just weather conditions could prompt more bouncing pucks. The fact that the ice is built up and it's a little more hollow underneath, I don't know how that is going to react with the puck. Guys are going to be pumped up. Guys are going to be excited. There's a lot of variables that can come in. But the things that we can control, that we've been trying to control: Our system we've been trying to control, you know, working together with the puck. All the things we've been working on lately are things that we can, you know, go out there and take control of. Things that we can't control: The weather. We can adjust for it, but it's going to do what it's going to do. I guess we're hearing it's going to be a little chilly and a little windy. Both teams are going to have to contend with either going with the wind when they're skating or they're going to have it at their back and feel like they're flying. Both teams are going to get equal time with the ends, so I think it will be interesting to see how they use it. Q. Was there any point during practice, you talked about all the pranks the team played this morning, but at any point was there a feeling during practice that you guys all forgot about the industry and the professional sport, the fact you are paid athletes and you guys were just boys playing out on a pond? RYAN MILLER: We feel like that every day. I don't know, you guys ask us the tough questions, and sometimes that's the time it comes out is because we're getting the tough questions. But when you get out with the team - no offense - but when we don't have to see you guys, there's usually no real questions out there. Sometimes you bring your hardships to the rink, but most of the time you leave them at the door and you can pick them up when you leave. That's the sign of a good hockey player, when you can go out there and be in the moment and play. Today really felt that way. It was a lot of fun. Hopefully tomorrow again, you know, we'll have roughly 80,000 people here, and hopefully a lot of people watching on TV. But hopefully we're all just kind of not aware of what's going on. There's a puck on the ice and you get to play. Q. You talked about trying to have to keep your eyes open. I've been in here when there's been sideways precipitation. That could that get dangerous. RYAN MILLER: I got rung in the head pretty good today, I don't know if you guys saw that. I'm still sitting here. I'm not too worried about it. It's part of the sport. It's something we'll deal with. I'm sure they're not going to let us play in blizzard-like conditions. The little flurries like you saw today, I'm sure they'll let us play. I don't think it's going to be a big issue, I really don't. If it starts to play a big factor, I think, you know, if it's something I'm concerned about, I can pass it along to Lindy, and he can pass it along, if it's that big of a concern. For the most part, I'm going to go out there and contend with whatever the conditions bring and try and get in the way of the puck. Q. You talked about all of those homes that are going to be watching that don't normally watch these games. What are you hoping they will see that will keep them hooked beyond just this game and what feeling would you like them to take away from this throw-back hockey? RYAN MILLER: I hope they see a nice, fast game. I think that other sports are built for that replay kind of mentality. I hope they get the sense of excitement. You know, football, you have a play, and you can replay it three times before they start the next one. North America has really taken that culture, where they want to see exactly what happened. Football, throwing from the sidelines, dragging your foot, it's exciting. Did he get it? Didn't he get it? Is it a first down? Isn't it? You know, when I watch football, that's what I'm excited about, you know, how did he make that play, let's see it again. Hockey I think is a game you have to come to to appreciate. So we're going to have not only more people here, but hopefully they get a sense that it's a very traditional game. It's been around a long, long time. It can be exciting. We have two young teams with a lot of talent. You know, hopefully everybody gets to showcase a little bit of their talent, and the Penguins not so much. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Ryan. End of FastScripts |
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