Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Buffalo Sabres forward Tage Thompson was selected to the United States' Olympic roster this past Friday, but winger Alex Tuch was not.
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Tuch was in camp over the summer with USA Hockey, but despite his excellent two-way game, they couldn’t find a role for him. If there is some good news is he could still make the team if there are injuries.
"It was something I was shooting for this year, I came up short," said Tuch on Monday after practice. "But I’m just going to use it as motivation to come in and work really hard each and every day, and I just want to try to be better for myself, for my teammates."
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made Team Finland for the 4 Nations Face-Off, but didn’t play a single game. He has, again, made the team for the Olympics, and is very happy to represent his country once again.
"It’s a huge honor. It’s what you dream of, and when it happens, it feels surreal," said Luukkonen following Monday's practice. "You know it’s there, you know it’s coming, but when you get the call, it’s an unbelievable feeling."
This has been a dream for the Sabres goaltender since he was a little boy.
"Back in the day. we looked up to the NHL players, but what we really watched was the World Championships and the Olympics. That always was on the TV," Luukkonen said. "So playing for the national team at any stage was always a dream of min,e and there’s no bigger stage than the Olympics. It’s a great honor."
Luukkonen’s idol growing up was former Boston Bruins star goalie Tuukka Rask.
In these Olympics, Luukkonen will be competing with Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators) and Kevin Lankinen (Vancouver Canucks) for playing time. He says he would love to get the opportunity to get into the crease.
"Everyone wants to go there and play, but in the end, it’s about winning," he acknowledged. "It’s about doing it as a team. and to win for your country. It’s bringing whatever you can to help the team win."
Now that the Sabres' 10-game winning streak is over, Jason Zucker will be back in the lineup on Tuesday against the Canucks. He’s been ready for awhile, and was not in any mood to talk about sitting longer than he needed to.
"You’ve got to ask Lindy that. I don’t have an answer for you," Zucker curtly said after practice.
Most coaches aren’t going to break up a lineup that has won 10-straight games. Ruff says there were other reasons too.
"I think the little extra time helped him too. He came off an upper-body and a lower-body at the same time, and I think he was a little frustrated that he wasn’t put back in earlier. But I think he can help us," Ruff said following Monday's practice.
As far as other reasons, he adds part of it is how well other individuals are playing in the lineup.
"It wasn’t like you could look at it and say, ‘Boy, this guy’s struggling.’ When we sit as coaches, and even Jarmo [Kekalainen] sitting in on some of our meetings and we’re talking about lineup, you’re talking about does he deserve to come out?"
Zucker is not shy, and he did express his frustration to Ruff.
"I talked to him before that Dallas game and he was anxious to get back in, which he should be. Any player that sits out shouldn’t be happy. If he’s happy, he’s in the wrong business," Ruff said. "As a veteran, 'Put me in the lineup.' He wanted to play. He wanted to be back in the lineup, and I respect that. I want him to be unhappy, I want him to be upset with not being in the lineup."
On the injury front, defenseman Michael Kesselring and goalie Alex Lyon were both still out of practice on Monday.
"Kesselring saw the doctor again, and I hope to see him skate probably by the end of the week here," Ruff said.
As far as Lyon goes, Ruff says he'll probably remain day-to-day for now.
"The good news with it is he’ll miss a little bit of time, but it doesn’t look like anything too major," he said.
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