Charles Krupa
Lindy Ruff tried a little gamesmanship the other day, saying that Boston Bruins centre Vladimir Sobotka became gun-shy thanks to a continued pounding from one of his Buffalo Sabres forwards.
The coach was trying to find some positives for his team in the 3-1 lead the Bruins hold in their first-round NHL playoff series. The Sabres' top six forwards have been invisible so far, so Ruff praised the physical game played by some of his foot soldiers like Cody McCormick, Patrick Kaleta and Tyler Ennis.
"There are some players you need to feed off," Ruff said. "The energy of the Kaletas and the McCormicks, even the energy Tyler Ennis brought.
"You've got that little Sobotka who's ducking now. He doesn't want to get hit by us."
Ruff probably fired the arrow at Sobotka because the 22-year-old Czech has been a prickly presence in the series. The only trouble was that Ruff's shot missed its target because Sobotka does not make a habit of reading the Buffalo newspapers.
When the shot was brought up to him at the Bruins' game-day skate on Friday, he looked puzzled.
"No, I like it when someone hits me," Sobotka said. "I try to hit back. That's hockey."
Well, someone persisted, weren't you offended by Ruff's remark?
"I have nothing to say," Sobotka said. "Just on the ice. I will show him."
Centre Marc Savard skated with the Bruins but head coach Claude Julien said no one should expect him to return from a concussion yet. Julien said Savard's return is not up to the Bruins.
"He's cleared to skate, practice and for light contact, nothing more than that," Julien said. "He is going through the protocol. Medically he's not cleared yet [to play.]He still has to go through some stages. It's out of our hands."