tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Lindy Ruff’s Culture Of Whining

After Tuesday night's 2-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres Head Coach Lindy Ruff was lamenting the charging call against Patrick Kaleta which resulted in Nikolai Kulemin's power play goal that gave the Leafs a 1-0 lead. Ruff complained that Kaleta was a marked man by NHL referees and that he doesn't think Kaleta can hit anybody now because the refs are looking to penalize him which could result in Kaleta being suspended. Really???? The NHL is targeting a slug like Patrick Kaleta. Please???

But this is the type of stuff that you would expect from Lindy Ruff and explains why he has been perfect for the Buffalo Sabres. You see Ruff plays right into the inferiority complex that Buffalo sports fans have had for years. Remember when the Miami Dolphins dominated the Bills in the 70's and early 80's??? It was because Dolphin Head Coach Don Shula was on the NFL's Rules Committee and that's why the Dolphins received all the favorable calls.

Sometimes a coach says things in order to get a favorable call the next time around but Ruff's assertion that Kaleta is being targeted is a big joke. Kaleta is not even considered a top ten agitator, let alone a top ten fighter. On Wednesday, Schopp & The Bulldog made the point that Kaleta has been totally ineffective and brought up the game on November 12th against the Bruins when Milan Lucic ran Ryan Miller. Bulldog made the point that Kaleta had an opportunity to run Tim Thomas and didn't. If he had there is no doubt a brawl would have ensued but at least the Sabres would have showed a willingness to stand up to the Bruins and showed the rest of the league that they were not going to back down to anyone.

Ruff's whining about referees and other teams' players is nothing new. But the damage is that it creates a culture of whining and no accountability and that is what's wrong with the Sabres. I have to laugh when I hear Sabre fans complain that the players are complacent because Terry Pegula upgraded the team's locker room. Really??? The reason why this team is complacent is because the players have tuned out Ruff. It's either that or they are simply not good enough. To use injuries as an excuse is nonsense. Every team goes through that but the key is whether or not the veterans can respond and whether the coach can hold things together. In the Sabres case, it appears that Ruff wants to make excuses. The refs are targeting Kaleta. Injuries are killing us.

Terry Pegula spent a considerable amount of money in the off season bringing in high priced free agents. Optimism abounded throughout Western New York. But since the Lucic hit on Miller, the Sabres have been in a tailspin and neither the players nor their head coach have been able to turn things around. Where is the accountability??? Instead Ruff whines that the NHL is targeting Patrick Kaleta. The question becomes: how long will Terry Pegula put up with this???