BUFFALO – In his introductory remarks as Sabres general manager in mid-December, Jarmo Kekalainen stressed how much he values character.
Before he fielded a question, he said he wanted a talented team to develop a competitive and relentless identity.
Today, the Sabres rank among the NHL’s elite, having enjoyed a torrid four-month run and clinched the Atlantic Division. They’ve showcased remarkable consistency, adding tenacity to complement their skill.
They’re fast, relentless on pucks and attack opponents in waves. Players up and down the lineup focus on small details and sacrifice their bodies.
“I believe in character and hard work,” Kekalainen said prior to Wednesday’s regular-season finale against the Dallas Stars in KeyBank Center. “And that’s something that we’ve talked about, and I think we have a lot of it on this team. There’s a lot a skill, obviously, but the hard work and the compete is really showing right now. The never-say-die attitude, we’ve been down in the games, but we’ve never really thought that we couldn’t come back.”
That mindset, of course, illustrates supreme confidence.
“We believe in what the coaching staff is telling them to do and asking from them,” Kekalainen said. “So whether we’re down by two goals or three goals or one goal, they keep playing the same way and always believe that they’re in the game.”
Kekalainen likes what he sees. When he replaced Kevyn Adams on Dec. 15, the Sabres had won three straight games but still faced long odds to end their NHL-record 14-year playoff drought. Coach Lindy Ruff’s future seemed iffy.
Now, as the Sabres prepare to face the Boston Bruins in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they’re a legitimate championship contender. Ruff is a favorite to win the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year.
“I think the whole coaching staff has done a great job,” Kekalainen said. “The message has been the same, they’ve been emphasizing it. it takes a lot of repetitions and a little bit of success to have the buy-in.
“And once they started seeing the success, I think their confidence grew and the belief in what we’re doing, that it’s working. And it’s been snowballing ever since.”
Some other thoughts from the GM are below.
– Kekalainen said he has told 6-foot-6, 220-pound center Tage Thompson, who hit the 40-goal mark for the third time in four years in Monday’s 5-1 road win over the Chicago Blackhawks, “that he’s a very unique player.”
“I don’t think there’s anybody in the world with that kind of skill but also that kind size,” he said. “If there’s anything that I’d like to see more from him, is just also use the size and be a power forward. But he’s doing a pretty darn good job with all of his tools.”
Kekalainen said Thompson, 28, still has “room to grow.”
“I think he can be a dominant player in this league for a long time,” he said.
– He said it’s “pretty easy to see” what the Sabres’ success means to the rabid fan base.
“It’s been incredible to experience for me, even just like thinking of the April 6 game against Tampa (a 4-2 win),” he said. “That felt like a playoff game already. So I can’t wait to see if that can be even elevated for the playoffs because it surely felt like playoff game already.”
– Having clinched, the Sabres rested several of their regulars against the Stars.
Thompson, captain Rasmus Dahlin, defenseman Mattias Samuelsson and forwards Ryan McLeod and Jason Zucker were all scratched.
McLeod and Thompson played the first 81 games.
Goalie Colten Ellis started and was backed up by Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
The Sabres dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
Forwards Josh Dunne and Tanner Pearson and defensemen Michael Kesselring, Zach Metsa and Luke Schenn moved into the lineup.
The game, of course, had no impact on the standings for either team.
Ruff did not want to subject some players to injury.
“The part about accidental injury is real,” he said. “I mean, Dallas last year lost one of their top players (Jason Robertson) in the last game of the year.
“So there’s (an) example of why take a chance when you have nothing to gain, and how bad you could look if you put somebody in jeopardy that you didn’t need.”
Before the Sabres faced the Stars, they began preparing for the Bruins.
“Really, our whole focus right now is just on Boston,” Ruff said. “I’m not doing a lot of work on Dallas, I’ll be honest with you, and nor should I.”
A schedule for the series, which will start this weekend in Buffalo, is expected to be announced later this week.
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Ruff said forward Noah Ostlund, who has missed the last 10 games with an upper-body injury, “is really close.” However, he said the rookie’s “doubtful” for the start of the postseason.
Meanwhile, Ruff said goalie Alex Lyon, who has missed the last five games with a muscle strain, “feels a lot better.”