	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

AMP ENERGY NHL WINTER CLASSIC

January 1, 2008

Lindy Ruff

ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK

Q. With the way the game was played, was it almost a shame somebody had to lose?
LINDY RUFF: Yeah, it was a tough game, until that last shot. It was a lot of fun and the players and both teams worked hard. Had to battle through some elements but it was all part of the program today.

Q. What does it say about Buffalo that you had 71,000 fans there and no one left and most of them were standing?
LINDY RUFF: On breaks I looked around and it was incredible. We've got some of the greatest fans.
I don't know if it would have been more than a few hundred people had left. When I looked around, there didn't seem to be an empty seat in the building which was incredible.
It was a great day that I think everybody kind of enjoyed.

Q. Was it a challenge to coach in that? You don't really have to coach against players stick handling in snow and Zambonis coming out; was that a tough game to coach, because you don't coach in that stuff.
LINDY RUFF: No, it was, and I think it was tough for the players. Because we even got our first goal against was because that pass was too slow. On normal ice, it was a good pass. But on that ice, it wasn't.
Even some of our strong side chips were too soft. You know, we're saying soft chip, but chip it hard, which doesn't make a lot of sense.
You know, there was times you had to adjust and you know, if you tried that long, horizontal pass, we got picked off a few times because you just kind of saw a rooster tail coming up over the top of the puck most times.

Q. (Indiscernible) -- switching centers, got a lot of pressure after you did that?
LINDY RUFF: I thought we would give Paul the matchup against Crosby and try to free Tim up a little bit. I thought we played a tremendous second period. They may have got only one of their two shots late in the period maybe with a minute or two minutes left. Roy had a couple cross bars.
But we had some opportunities. We knew it wasn't going to be a lot and there wasn't. We had four or five good looks in the second period and a couple two or three in the third. It was pretty even after that.

Q. Would you want to do this again?
LINDY RUFF: I'd love to do it again. I thought it was -- I thought it was awesome. I would have loved to have done it -- yesterday's weather was perfect. Even like light snow before the game would have been good and shut her down. (Laughter).
You know, the analogy we used at the start of the third was the ice was a little bit like curling ice; they pebble it. If any of you are curlers, they pebble the ice to make it keener, and it had that pebble effect to it because the snow coming down was real sticky. It was bumpy; guys were going, "this is bumpy." The snow coming down was freezing right on the ice at the start of the first period.

Q. Everybody wants to know about the jacket; what's the thing with the jacket?
LINDY RUFF: I thought the jackets fit the game, you know, fit the uniforms, fit the game. It was fun.
You know, it's always good to put the blue and gold on when you wore it for as long as I wore it. I put that jacket on with pride today.

Q. Were you at all afraid in the shootout that you guys were going to overskate the puck because of the snow?
LINDY RUFF: Definitely. Definitely. And even warned -- even warned max before he went that, you know, I think if you would have went too fast, could have easily overskated, because it almost looked like Ales was going to overskate his, and I think Pittsburgh adjusted a little bit quicker. They came in real slow and decided, let's not take a chance. But there was concern with that.

Q. Were you aware they were not going to shave the ice before the shootout, or was that discussed in the meetings about the game or what was the situation?
LINDY RUFF: No, I wasn't aware of that, and I don't -- I don't have an explanation. Maybe Michel has one.
We have the option of keeping both goalies so the snow wouldn't have been blowing in one goalie's face, so, that I thought that was fair.

Q. How hard is it to get the team back on focus, and how long do you think it will take to get back into the standard routine?
LINDY RUFF: Well, we are going to start tomorrow at noon right back at it. You know, we need to, you know, obviously we are in a little bit of a funk here with scoring goals. We played some decent hockey, but I think it's important. We have a tough January with a tough road schedule that we get back on track and start winning games.

Q. Right before overtime, suddenly the goalies switched. Did you want that advantage of your bench towards the offensive zone?
LINDY RUFF: No. There was always an understanding that the goalies would switch in overtime halfway. But I guess it was, you stay in the first two minutes and 30 seconds in your own end and then switch after that.

Q. What are your thoughts on how well Ty Conklin is playing? Are you surprised at how well he's doing?
LINDY RUFF: I think when you get an opportunity to settle in and get in that regular rhythm, Ty would have a starting role in other places. I think sometimes it's tough to come in and just be a backup.
Ty was great for us. He's a great guy. I'm happy for him. I'm not happy when he did to us the last couple games. But I'm not surprised because he's had -- he had a history of playing some good hockey. And I think he had added incentive, let's not kid ourselves.

Q. Up in Canada, some cynics have dismissed that game as almost a stunt, as something that changes the way hockey is supposed to be played in the NHL. Do you think this kind of spectacle is good for the game, and why?
LINDY RUFF: I thought it was very good for the game. I think it really brings you back to the roots, and I know that there's a lot more involved than just playing an outdoor game. I mean, you know, with the TV and broadcasting now, it makes it a lot bigger spectacle. But for most players, it's where it all started. I may be dating myself a little bit, but for most, it is.
I think it was good for the game. You know, it may not be the best hockey game because of the situation, because of the weather, because of the snow, but the atmosphere was incredible. It was incredible.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297