Head coach Lindy Ruff isn’t too happy with the effort he is seeing from the Dallas Stars. Following a loss to the Colorado Avalanche, Ruff unloaded on his team and called them out for their embarrassing and pathetic effort.
Here’s what Ruff had to say, as seen in the Dallas News:
“I don’t buy that on back-to-back games our energy was low, I’m tired of that one. Our effort wasn’t good enough. We got outworked, and I’m not buying any back-to-back crap. We just didn’t get enough out of a lot of guys, and it cost us.”
Back-to-back games are no easy task, but it’s obvious Ruff isn’t the mood for that excuse. Ruff’s comments likely stem from the fact that the Stars have struggled to find their identity this season and have rattled off a rather unimpressive 4-5-5 record at home and an equally mediocre 5-5-0 record on the road. Consistent, 60-minute efforts have been lacking.
Ruff later added that he wasn’t blaming his netminder, but was instead more displeased with how his team moved the puck.
“I thought we were embarrassed tonight. What we did with the puck tonight, and how many turnovers we had, that was pathetic.”
Blunt but factual words from Ruff. With 24 games in the books, the Stars are currently outside of the playoff picture. Most analysts, including some of the PDL crew, believed the Stars would be a team to watch in 2014-15. The talent appeared to be in place, but to date, the team hasn’t been able to put all of the pieces together to rattle off a lengthy streak which propels them back into the playoff picture. Is poor effort and intensity to blame? Maybe, but it’s an area Ruff wants to see improved.
