Just an update on Ruff's frame of mind following yesterday's practice (as reported in the Buffalo News):

"The Grigorenko question is a daily one in Sabreland. Ruff gave it a new twist Saturday by admitting he probably erred by playing the rookie on the fourth line with John Scott and Nathan Gerbe in Friday’s game. The coach said he was trying to get a better matchup against Carolina center Eric Staal and it left Grigorenko on the outside looking in.

“It’s like burning a game,” Ruff said forlornly. “For the most part, having the Hecht line against Staal was working pretty good for us. Ninety percent of the time, we wanted a tougher guy on faceoffs against him. Then I got to a point where [Grigorenko] hadn’t played for so long, I didn’t think it was fair to throw him in a tough situation. Your legs aren’t going and I burned up a game really is what I did.”

Ruff said he didn’t want to make the same mistake today and that’s why scratching Grigorenko might be a choice."


“I like where this kid is going,” Ruff said. “I like where his game has been. Even his early shifts [Friday] I thought were good shifts. They had the makings of doing something good. That part and where the game plan ended up was tough on him.”

__________________
14 Team H2H Dynasty League (14 keepers, 21-man roster, no farm)
G, A, PPP, SOG, BS, +/-, GAA, W, SV%

C: Giroux/B.Richards/Ennis/Cullen/Grigorenko
W: Ovechkin/Neal/Nash/Skinner/Eriksson/Silfverberg/Samuelsson(IR)
D: Doughty/Boyle/Faulk/Seabrook/Martin(IR)/Seidenberg/Brodin
G: Fleury/Markstrom/Lehner/Khudobin