Lindy Ruff Quotations

We're in no hurry to get them in the lineup to sacrifice their health. We're gonna work our way through this, and if we have to endure a little more pain we'll endure a little more pain.

When you take what was your best player out of the lineup for a long time, you start to wonder how it's going to work when he comes back. I think we've seen a good indication what it's done for our team, offensively ... He's small in stature, but big when it comes to the role he plays on the team.

We're not going to play out of fear. Those guys can make a difference, and they've made a difference all year.

We benched him and his stick at the same time. Everybody on our bench saw it. You can't hide that.

We're fortunate to come out of here with two points, but it's a game we found a way to win. That room always responds. You know when you push them what you're going to get.

With the new rules he's going to score. Still, I'll take some of the grind and some of the front-of-the-net play that we have in our guys, and I think it's just made us a deeper, stronger team in that sense.

We're still debating a massive shake-up on all lines. We're looking to change probably all of them the next two games.

We're running out of forwards to stick back there.

We're not happy with the way we've played against them, there's no disguising that. We need to make a statement.

We've warned our guys. He's a guy that you can burn, but he can hurt you if you don't have your wits about you when he's on the ice because he's going to come running, and if you're not ready for it . . . I've seen some tremendous hits out of him this year.

When you see a guy hit his head that hard, you're worried about one thing: a concussion. But he had nothing along that line.

We were a shadow of ourselves. I couldn't find one forward I liked tonight.

This was as good a game as I've seen us put together from an offensive standpoint and defensive standpoint.

We really feel we've got a hidden gem if we can get him back to that level that he was at the end of '03-04. I'm confident that we can get him there.

We've shown a ton of grit, a ton of character. We didn't have a lot of quality chances, but we got in control play. We sent a message that we were going to come, we were going to be relentless.

We've won three of our last five now. They've kind of turned the corner. Our play, our tempo, our offensive zone play is back.

We made a lot of things happen real slow. We always took the extra second to shoot.

We're concerned. The first thing is his health.

Several of those players had very good camps, but we're limited on room. They're not easy decisions. When usually you go through the first round of cuts you're looking at second-tier guys. Some of these guys will definitely play (in the NHL).

She's very positive about the whole thing. It's incredible. Every child you have is different. They deal with things differently. She's a special child.

Miller made the key saves when we needed him. That's all you can ask of him.

No, no. We haven't talked about that. Until you're in, you're not in.

My family and myself would like to say a big thanks. We really expect her to have a full recovery.

Maybe Jochen needed to be carried off the ice, and then that's a suspension. That's sad, but maybe that's what it is.

Maybe another player would have called it a day already, but he worked hard and had no qualms about getting back in there again. Some players, it would be an easy scenario to pull back. He's not that cautious guy.

If this was a playoff game he would probably play. But with the three days, maybe the smart thing to do would be patient.

I didn't like it. I have no respect for a guy when he goes after a knee. If he wants to play like that, he'd better be ready to respond.

I don't believe it was inadvertent. But he definitely got him with his stick.

But it's knowing that we have a job to do every day and this business is all about winning.

I can tell you to a man nobody's satisfied with stopping there. We want to keep this thing rolling.

From my understanding, nobody in our organization is involved. I haven't been given a lot of information, but there has been no indication that someone on our team is involved.

From a work ethic standpoint and skating, we did a lot of great things in the game. To bounce back after the dismal 30 minutes we played against Montreal, we did a lot of good things.

I don't think we're going to blow anyone out of the water, but I think we can hang tough with the best of them.

I don't think one game would make that much difference. We've had points in eight straight games. We've been on a tear, and I'm not going to change anything.

If it's positive, we want to get it done ASAP. The diagnosis looks like it's leaning toward sports hernia, and it should be confirmed (today). If that's the case we get him back to Montreal and have (the surgery) done.

He was determined to make players pay the price. He used his size extremely well. We look for that type of leadership from him. ... It's developing into a little bit of a war, which is OK with our team.

He scored a great goal at a key time for us.

He had a whole year that tested his mentality playing the game. He decided he needed to work out hard and become stronger.

He improved throughout the whole year and was a gamebreaker for them.

He finished the game with it, but after the game it started to swell up, and yesterday it got even worse.

He drove on Hecht, took out his knee, went after his head. It's a joke, an absolute joke. Watch the video and you'll see it.

He gave our club a lot of confidence.

We totally dominated the game. If it wasn't for their goaltending in the first period they should have been down 5-0.

We took the penalties that allowed them to have the five-on-three.

We took advantage of every break we got. We took advantage of our odd-numbered situations that we haven't previously taken advantage of in Game 3 and Game 4. The good chances they gave us, we made sure we finished. We made sure that we got them down when we had the opportunity.

We took advantage of every break we got.

He's a fantastic player. You allow him to bomb us from where he was bombing them, he should have had four or five.

He said it actually caught him where they reduced the size of the blocker, where they took some of the padding away. It's just unfortunate.

He's got good size and good speed, but he's got to do something with it,

He's been put on the concussion program again, but the first one was so severe I think the program may go longer. There's no set time on when he can be back or when he can even resume practice. Symptom-free for a week doesn't necessarily mean he can have contact again. That could take weeks.

He's doing better. He's on his way back to Buffalo, and he feels better. We had contact with him yesterday, and he wants to see our doctors to see when he can get back skating. That's a big change from last week where he wasn't doing so well.

He shouldn't have to make a second save. They shouldn't have another opportunity. I'm more upset about the people who didn't come back.

He should be fine. He got hit right on the laces, but I don't suspect it will keep him out.

His mark is he's a hard hitter and runs over people. He's just been out there doing it, and you have to give him credit.

He's going to be a tremendous asset. He's well-respected. He's passionate about the game. From his practice habits to his workout habits to his preparation for the game, both on the ice and off the ice, no player can question his opinion.

He's built for the game. He's got good tools at the back end and he's a very good defender. We've never given him a set role. He began to play well on the power play and he gained a lot of confidence from that. That confidence came from him knowing that he would be in the lineup night after night.

He's been a main cog for us. When he's on the ice he makes things happen. He keeps getting better, and we need him to get better.

We mentioned that it looked like he was rattled and that we should get more pucks to the net.

We may, in the long run, get a lot more out of this stretch than you can imagine. And it may be the best thing going into the playoffs.

We may be developing some players that end up being good players on other teams because we just have too many right now.

He wasn't quite there. We were working hard, and every guy was pressing. ... I need Marty to press, too.

He wasn't out, but he wasn't there. I had a conversation with him and it was more like a conversation with myself.

He was good tonight. He looked very confident after missing most of training camp.

He was strong for us, and looked comfortable.

He was solid. He saw everything and was totally under control. He gave us momentum.

He was noticed. He ran over a few bodies. He knocked Fitzpatrick down a couple times.

He didn't get the quality ice time of some of our players, but he made the best of the ice time he did get. I thought he was our best player on the ice in the first period.

He can win a game by himself. They got a couple of lucky bounces, but he made the difference.

He just got a free ride on the whole play. I can't explain it and nobody's going to be able to explain it to me.

He just doesn't feel right. Until we get him through that, he won't be skating.

Just to go in there and hack away at it is the key to that goal. And we stayed with it. It was easy to get frustrated after missing the amount of chances we missed. ... Just keep grinding, keep working.

J.P.'s looking real good. I like the way he's skating. We're going to start pushing him harder and harder, get him involved in more stuff.

J.P. returned but he has significant upper body discomfort. Both refs said they didn't see it.

I think it's a heck of an accomplishment. It's a mark nobody would have expected at the start of the year. ... It's something they should be proud of.

I think in the end, the right owner got the team. Somewhere in there, you've got to call it lucky.

It came down to the guys that are going the hardest. We had a five-on-three where I didn't like the determination. We had a three-on-one where we don't get a shot, and part of that was our decision making wasn't very good.

I thought when the game was on the line we were the better team on a night when a lot of weird things happened.

It is a big game and it would be a big win for us. The message is, we've got to give them the biggest battle we can give them.

I thought Danny was OK. Compared to practice, things are happening faster out there. As the game went on he got better, but he still has a ways to go.

I thought coming out in the third period we really set the tone. We made a statement that we were trying to go after it. We went after it hard. We got some key saves, some key defensive plays that allowed our power play to win the game.

I thought both of them were very good. I thought Marty had a very sound game, made a lot of big saves. Ryan had one screen shot beat him that he didn't see at all, and then a huge scrum in front of the net, where the puck ended up getting pushed over. He was very good.

I thought about giving him another start, but I thought there was fatigue in Marty's game and, with fatigue, you worry about getting hurt.

I think you adjust with the players you have. I think we're a talented group that's surprised a lot of people. For myself, I just let those guys play - not worry so much about the little mistakes in the game, more worried about the things that are happening all the time.

I thought we did a hell of a job. From the start of the game to the bitter end, the desperation was there.

I thought we got what we needed. We've gotten scoring chances out of them, they haven't been a liability when they've been on the ice, and they've had some punishing hits. Those guys have really served their purpose the last two games.

I thought they were our best line. I tried to get them more ice time. I thought they came out at the start of the third period and set the tone. They did what they needed to do. They put in a very determined effort and played a pretty smart, physical game for us.

I thought that chance was going to come back to bite us, but it didn't.

I think we've seen the benefit of how we play, and the fans have come back. They like how we play and how hard we work, and it's just something you want to keep going.

I think this is the most talented team that I've coached here.

I think that we're getting there, ... Those are two lines that could stick for a while.

I think we're going to rebound. Will it be Friday? I hope, but it's a monumental task against a team that's going really well.

I think every guy in that room believes we can beat them.

Our guys have done an unbelievable job. To get 16 of our last 18 points is something to be proud of. Their heads should be held high.

Our guys upstairs said right away that it looked like he punched it in but I still think you have to sweat it out because you never know what's going to happen.

Our game was back where we needed it. We really skated well. They had trouble with our speed.

Playing our own end, we've been flat-out sloppy.

Part of it is, you look at who's playing goal now. I think their problems have stemmed . . . Theodore's had a tough time. Everybody realizes he is a heck of a goalie, but he has struggled. It starts there. If you're not getting key saves or if you're not just getting the saves that allow you to win hockey games, it makes it tough on the team.

Our opponent who is coming in here next has been very tough on us. We're going to rebound. Is it going to be Friday? I hope, but that's a monumental task against a team that's been going really well.

Suspend him. Get him out of the game. He went after his head. He took his knee out. I've seen enough of him. It's a joke.

That energy from having the building full is a tremendous advantage. Players get jacked up. The energy in the building is like a playoff game for the most part. They like the way we're playing.