Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres have been away from NHL action for two weeks due to the ongoing 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.
This is the first international best-on-best tournament in the hockey world since the 2016 World Cup Of Hockey, and it has certainly lived up to the bill. The tournament has featured the best players in the NHL from the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland competing in both Montreal and Boston.
The 4 Nations Face-Off will conclude on Thursday night with a rematch between the United States and Canada at TD Garden in Boston. The first matchup in the tournament on Saturday was a physical affair, with the U.S. coming away with a 3-1 win on Canadian soil in Montreal.
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Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff was a member of the coaching staff for Team Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver when the Canadians famously defeated the United States in overtime in the Gold Medal Game.
He knows in a game like this on Thursday, those players on the ice will be as dialed in as a player can ever get.
"You're taking all the best players that are used to playing all the top ice time, and all the top positions and power play guys become penalty killing guys. It's not about the individual anymore. It's just about playing for your country, and for that moment in time, that couple weeks," said Ruff on Wednesday during his weekly appearance on the "Jeremy and Joe Show" on WGR. "You've got to give the players a lot of credit for buying in, especially as a coaching staff, into what you're trying to sell, and the amount of work that's got to go into that short period of time to win a championship."
Ruff agrees that the added physical flare Saturday night between the U.S. and Canada has made this tournament that much more significance for both countries.
"The way that game started, it put a smile on my face," Ruff said with Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase. "It makes me kind of ponder, what is Canada thinking at the start of this game that's going to start tomorrow night? What are their thoughts? What is in their mind as they drop the puck to start the second battle, and who's going to win the truculence battle?"
A total of three Sabres players took part in the 4 Nations Face-Off, but all three of them did not manage to make it to the championship game of the tournament: Rasmus Dahlin with Team Sweden, and defenseman Henri Jokiharju and goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with Team Finland.
The one Sabres player that was a surprising omission from the 4 Nations tournament was forward Tage Thompson, who was left off the United States' roster.
Ruff certainly feels Thompson would have been a great fit for a stacked U.S. roster.
"I think, really, what hurt Tage was the fact that he got hurt and ended up being passed by. I think they had a tough decision to make, where he was at at the time, when that roster had to go in," Ruff acknowledged. "But I think when you look at all these players, I think what gives him a road to get in is he can play in the middle, he can play the wing. I think right now, the success he's having playing on the wing and being able to score with the rate he's been able to score, I think it gives him an advantage. But again, it's taking these players, and he may not be a first power play guy, he might not be a second power play guy, but maybe he's one of those guys the U.S. would look at and go, 'OK, we're gonna add some little more truculence here, and we got another guy that's 6-foot-6 that can go in and help us."
Prior to the February break, the Sabres had several injury issues arise.
Forward Jordan Greenway had been out since mid-December, but has just started to practice again. Forward Beck Malenstyn missed the team's last game before the break in Nashville due to back spasms, while defenseman Mattias Samuelsson missed the last two games with a broken bone in his foot.
Ruff provided some good news on all three injury fronts on Wednesday.
"Greenway was skating with the team before the break, continued that throughout, had a great practice. He's cleared to go," he said. "When you look at Samuelsson, yesterday was his first day back. Had a good day. Today, we'll have Malenstyn report back in the practice and see how he looks from his injury that had him out of the lineup at the end. So we're pretty well 100% to go with almost every one of our players."
The 4 Nations Face-Off final on Thursday night is set for an 8 p.m. faceoff in Boston.
As for the Sabres, they're back in action on Saturday when they host the New York Rangers at KeyBank Center. Faceoff is slated for 5:30 p.m., with pregame coverage starting at 4:30 p.m. on the radio home of the Sabres - WGR Sports Radio 550.