|
|
|
Mark Mulville/Buffalo News
|
At that moment, Lindy Ruff would have said it was the most
important game he ever played. It didn't happen in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
It wasn't the night the former Buffalo Sabres captain scored four goals
against the Quebec Nordiques.
"I got
dumped hard, and my short fuse fizzled," Ruff recalled, a sinister smile
crossing his lips. "I kind of got an accidental slewfoot, and I went
down really hard. I thought, "Game on!' "
Ruff got up
and tore down the ice in search of revenge. He had one target in his sights,
and as soon as he crushed that poor soul he charged after more familiar prey,
the type of adversary you gloat about decking. Ruff homed in and delivered an
elbow.
It was a
vintage Ruff play, the kind of effort that endeared him to Sabres fans back
in the day.
The only
problem is it happened two months ago in a no-contact beer league in the
Amherst Pepsi Center - and he hit the wrong guy.
Ruff isn't on
the ice as much as he normally would be because of the NHL lockout. That's
why the Sabres' coach has been getting his jollies one night a week in the
Performax senior league.
Ruff, a la
his NHL playing days, skates at both forward and defense and wears No. 22 for
Cutting Edge, a team anchored by a crew of doctors that have been known to
provide cortisone injections in the dressing room and stitches at postgame
barbecues.
Cutting Edge
won the championship last year. So imagine how the other teams reacted when
they added not only a veteran of 702 NHL games, but also a former East Coast
Hockey League forward named Jimmy McCarthy, who might be the best player in
the circuit.
"I'm
sure our team and every other team in the division would add somebody like
that if they could," said Michael Gilbert, a defenseman for Performax
mainstay Robo, a squad that used to feature ex-Sabres defenseman Richie Dunn.
"It's great having Lindy out there, but I just look at him as another
guy on the team - but you have to watch where he is."
Performax is
a league with a salary cap set firmly at zero. In fact, the players fork over
$330 to play. It's a 19-and-older league, but the average age is closer to
30. Gilbert pegged Robo's average at closer to 40, but it's clear after
watching a game that the competitive juices don't slow down with age. In
fact, they flow as freely as the beer afterward.
"I play
for two reasons," said Robo defenseman Pat Fisher, who spent four pro
seasons in the Colonial Hockey League, now known as the United Hockey League.
"First,you miss playing, you miss the game itself, you miss the
competitiveness. You might think it's crazy to play at 10:30 at night, but
once you get to the rink and put on the pads it all comes back.
"The
other reason is the guys, the camaraderie, the shucking and jiving. When you
stop playing, you miss those things as much as playing the game itself.
"That's
why all these players come back to it. You get guys from every level, guys
like Lindy and guys who look like they've only been on skates a few
years."
The lockout
has Ruff in a sort of hockey purgatory. He and his assistants were forced to
take 50 percent pay cuts, and he can only spend so much time working with the
Rochester Americans without becoming redundant.
He has
enjoyed the opportunity to get more involved in his children's winter sports,
but Dr. Frank Luzi, who manages Cutting Edge, figured his old friend could
use an additional hockey outlet.
"Somebody
fresh out of the NHL would think this is like sissy hockey based on what
they're used to," Luzi said.
They might be
surprised at how spirited a no-check league can be.
"You
wouldn't believe how competitive guys are," said Ruff, the NHL's
longest-tenured coach after seven seasons with Buffalo. "It's like a
real game. I mean real, like we're playing for keeps. They're yelling
and screaming at each other, at the refs."
Robo and Cutting
Edge have developed quite a rivalry. They're two of the oldest teams in their
division, and it's not uncommon to see them square off for the title. Ruff's
presence adds to the intrigue because three Robo players also are Sabres
front office employees: Gilbert is director of public relations, Fisher runs
the youth hockey program and Bill Wippert is the team photographer.
Gilbert was
the aforementioned player Ruff was headhunting - good-naturedly, of course - back
in December. Except Ruff tagged the wrong fellow.
"Going
into the last game he wanted to get me," Gilbert said. "He slashed
me a few times, then he took a run at a guy who he thought was me, and he hit
the guy who was probably our weakest skater. He hit him pretty good. My
brother (teammate Dennis Gilbert) went over to Lindy, and they started
jawing. That's when Lindy realized he got the wrong guy."
Said Ruff,
who will turn 45 next week: "I found out the guy I hit was the oldest
guy on the team. I felt shame."
The game
deteriorated even though Ruff apologized upon leaving the penalty box. A rash
of roughing penalties led to two ejections in the third period. Ruff wasn't
involved in those transgressions, but he has gained a reputation as a dirty
player - although he probably would call it gamesmanship.
"Lindy
has a tendency to resort to NHL hockey," Luzi said. "In this type
of league you use stickhandling and positioning to get the puck from a
player, whereas in the NHL you really ride the body off the puck.
"Sometimes
he'll take it to that NHL level and end up on the ice with the guy, and the
refs won't call it. He'll get up with a big smile on his face because he
knows he got away with something."
Ruff absorbs
his fair share of hits. He wears a pitiful-looking helmet that once belonged
to former New York Rangers mate Jan Erixon but goes without shoulder pads
despite numerous surgeries.
"For
some guys, that's their meal ticket the day at work, to be able to say they
ran the coach," Ruff said.
Ruff,
however, doesn't view himself as the heavy. In his mind, at least for an
hour, he can be Pat LaFontaine.
"What I
get to do is try things that I never got to try as a player," Ruff said.
"Some of the moves I pull off I could never dream of in a real game. I
get a kick out of trying to set up guys that don't normally score. If I can
get the puck to somebody who doesn't have a lot of goals, that's fun."
Robo and
Cutting Edge met again late Monday night. Cutting Edge was undefeated heading
into last week, while Robo was hoping to even its record.
Robo won,
7-4, thanks to its deep bench and timely goaltending. Not even a late
five-on-three power play and a timeout to maximize the benefit of 606 games
of NHL head coaching experience could make a difference, even though Ruff
earlier had a goal and two assists.
"For us
that was a big win," Gilbert said. "We were in last place, and we
beat the first-place team. We were one happy group, and when we lose we're
one upset group. Most guys, by nature, are like that."
Ruff
included.
"I don't like to lose," he said. "Now, it
doesn't bother me for more than a day, but I'd be lying to you if I told you
it didn't bother me at all."
|
