Dallas Stars head coach Lindy Ruff spoke to the media on Monday morning during the Stars’ exit interview day. This is the last day that the media would be able to freely talk to the players and coaching staff until training camp in September.
Here is coverage of Lindy Ruff’s entire interview:
The message in their final meeting together:
The message is all about next year, which is a tough place to be. But I’m making sure that we don’t end up in the same place. There were a couple teams that were a couple wins below us and pushed by us, and now we’re on the other end of it and we’re going to have to be better. So you talk about what needs to be done.
About the difficulty of making the playoffs at the moment in the NHL:
It’s hard. I think the realization is that you have to put together a good and consistent year. You have to go on real good runs and you have to eliminate that one real bad one. We had that one real tough stretch where we didn’t win in seven, and that’s probably the run that did us in. We got into December and we were pretty consistent from that point on.
On improving in point total from last season and comparing the two:
It really just tells you that points are important, even if it’s a single point. We spent a lot of time talking about those games with two goal leads where we at least gave away a point and sometimes it was two, where you end up losing the game. Those are the points that at the end make the difference. We took a step sideways. We had one point more and in some ways we were a better team. But we still didn’t lock into a good enough style early on that allowed us to win some games that I think we should’ve won.
On Benn’s moment winning the Art Ross Trophy and what it meant for the team:
Some say it’s bittersweet and it was. To have somebody win the Art Ross is special, and it’s tough to enjoy when you’re not making the playoffs. I got caught up in it for about a minute after it happened and it’s something I had never been around, when somebody’s won it. To win it in that fashion, again, was bittersweet. We wanted to be walking in that building again and playing another game. We finished off bittersweet the year before in our building in the playoffs. For me, it is the one thing we want to change. We want that impression, that last game, to be something different the next time we’re in that building next year.
Next: Jamie Benn Wins Art Ross In Most Dramatic Fashion Possible
On if he knows why the home record and away record ended up like they did:
I’m pretty convinced that at home we got on the wrong side of the puck too often. We cheated on the offensive side and looked for offense in some situations where we didn’t need to be looking for offense. Some games it didn’t hurt us, but there were some games where it really hurt us. We were better in the last 30-40 games. We had some misfortune at home in the last few games. We put ourselves in a position where we gave them a few good opportunities.
On Jamie Benn’s career year even with nagging injuries:
He had a hell of a year. He was hurting and got through it. He was hurting for most of the year, and that will be dealt with. But he really grew as a captain. From a guy that wouldn’t say too much, his leadership on the team really grew and I think that’s a big positive for him this year. He felt pain being captain of this team a few times this year, and that wasn’t physical pain, it was mental pain. He represented this group as good as any captain in the league did.
On Kari Lehtonen’s season:
Kari’s season was an up and down year. He had moments in the season where it looked like he was going to catch some traction. I thought he did and had a real good push. But late he had a couple tough games that hurt us. He kind of mirrored our season where it was inconsistent and he never really got quite on that role that he needed to get on that we were hoping our goaltender could do for us.
On if he thinks Kari’s season as a fluke:
I think part of it is a mental approach and that’s what he fights as a goaltender. He admittedly said that he has had a tough time getting over those tough goals and it’s affected his game and it affected the next game sometimes. That’s the part he is going to work on and try and improve.
Editor In Leaf
His assessment of the coaching staff this year:
I’m not into a grading system, it’s either we make it or we don’t make it and we didn’t make it. Is there areas we improved in? Yeah. Is there areas that we are going to improve in? Definitely. I know that as a staff we worked extremely hard at it. The guys I work with are a tireless group and I like to work with them. Did the young D come along? Yes they did. For me that is a big deal. I said that three months ago, that it’s my obligation to get these young players in the right place and that is probably the thing that impressed me most. It was probably the biggest difference-maker in our game, the way they played. It made us more mobile, it made us better defenders, it changed the complexion of our team, and it is the one thing that put a smile on my face.
On the importance of size on the team:
It’s a big deal. Even at the end when Ritchie and McKenzie weren’t producing offensively, the puck possession part where they were really hard to play against was a big deal. I think that size alone, and the size of Jokipakka on the back end and the skill of Klingberg with the half year of Oleksiak, it was a big deal.
On if there was more frustration this season:
Yeah, definitely. There were more games this year that when I’ve digested the season, there were more games that we dominated and didn’t win. Last year we found ways to win games. The games were a lot more even stat-wise but the schedule was so compressed that you saw a lot of tired hockey. I think with the extra game in there with 8 in 11 , I saw a lot of what I would describe as bad hockey. It was hard to evaluate what was inside those games. This year, I can reference the Winnipeg game at home which was flat out domination and you get nothing for it. We had some games on the road that we lost and dominated. We had more games where we dominated than we did the year before and I think the frustration there is knowing that we really played well enough to win a game and didn’t win.
On if gaining a better defense will make Kari a playoff-caliber goalie:
If Kari can sort out some of the demons he had this year, yeah. He proved that he could get us there on an unbelievable run the year before, and when you ask for that there is going to have to be an improvement. But I think he’s got the skillset to get it done.
We will have complete coverage of the exit interview day as the week goes on. Continue to check back to Blackout Dallas for interviews with players and staff as we make them accessible!
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