Top quotes from Day 1 of Sabres training camp

The Buffalo Sabres kicked off training camp on Wednesday morning at KeyBank Center with the first day of on-ice sessions.

General manager Kevyn Adams, head coach Lindy Ruff and forwards Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson spoke to the media following practice.

See below for the full interviews and top quotes following Day 1 of training camp.

KEVYN ADAMS

On the first day of training camp:

“Well, yeah, it’s a unique training camp. When you hit the ice this morning in an hour, you’re looking for attention to detail, pace, execution. The days are over of it takes a few days to get into this. Players train so hard now, they’ve been going at it pretty good, and now it kicks it off officially. Yeah, right into it.

“Today is Day 1 on our step to try to do something special. It’s an opportunity and that’s what I talked to the players about yesterday. It’s an opportunity to raise our standard. Every one of us in this organization has to raise our personal standard and that’s what I challenged the group on yesterday and Lindy did as well.”

On the pressure heading into the season:

“I think what I’d say gives me confidence is the amount of conversations I’ve had with the players throughout the offseason. It started right after the season with individual meetings and then I had some time where it was some small groups early on in the offseason, then continuous conversations throughout the summer.

"You put that together and I think we have a hungry group. I think we have a group that’s hungry to be challenged and pushed. I reminded them yesterday that when you use words like accountability, structure, looking for clarity and looking for more competitive, hard practices, they’re going to get it. It’s one thing to say it, now we have to back it up and do it.”

On playing in a talented Eastern Conference:

“I don’t spend a ton of time in terms of thinking about other teams. Obviously, you’re studying what they do or how they built their teams, but I like to focus more on us being the best version of ourselves, I think, puts us in position to compete with those teams. I really do, I believe that. They’re excellent teams, and they’ve been there year after year, and they’ve proven that.

“But when I look at our team, and I look at where we are and the opportunity and some of the talent and now the identity that we’re starting to have as a team that hopefully you’ll start to see right away, I believe we can be right there with that group.”

LINDY RUFF

On how it felt to be back coaching a Sabres practice:

“Felt good to get out there. We’ve put a lot of work in and finally was just an opportunity to get out with the group and watch the different drills, the compete drills, and just see these guys operate at ice level.”

On how he pushed the players on Day 1:

“I think the focus on today was high compete, real high compete. A lot of individual battles, a lot of physicality. There were a couple drills that pushed them to the limit. Some of the details inside, we have to slow up a little bit which made the practice a little longer, but we wanted to see the compete first. I think you can build your quickness in those compete with some of those up-and-down the ice for five minutes. That’s a tough skate for them. I was impressed. I liked the day. I liked the practice. I liked what the group did.”

On getting the basics right on the first day:

“There are no bad habits. Whether that’s using your hand in some of the D-zone or hooking. I mean the obvious is, if I see a penalty, I’m going to stop the play. I’m not going to have it. The one thing I don’t like is I don’t like careless penalties. It’s one thing we get to control so whether it’s a free hand or whether it’s tugging when you’re hooking. You have to use your legs to backcheck, don’t use your stick.”

TAGE THOMPSON

On holding each other accountable:

“There’s a really tight group in that locker room, and if someone says something to you, it’s not because they don’t like you, they think you’re a bad player. It’s because they want the best for you, and they want the best for the team. And I think it’s all coming from a good place, and I think everyone in there knows that.”

On committing to the standard Ruff is setting:

“I think it’s just about commitment. If everyone commits to what he’s throwing out there and everybody is on the same page, I think we are going to have success. So, it just has to be everyone buying in and a lot of selflessness. It’s got to be things that are not fun to do that are going to get the job done.”

On holding themselves accountable:

“You’re always hungry to get better. For me, I’ve already set a standard that is better than what I did last year. So, anything short of that is just not good enough. And I’m always trying to exceed those personal expectations and goals.”

ALEX TUCH

On the team's identity:

“The guys that they brought in, like I said, a very different style and have a lot of compete and have a lot of different experiences. So, I think that’s going to be really good for our group. But yeah, I don’t think we’ve ever played looking over our shoulder or anything like that. I think we’re going to go in and we have a group that’s going to play fast and physical, and we’re going to try to step on teams’ throats each day, day in and day out. So, that’s the type of hockey that we’re going to try to play, and it’s going to be good.”

On the training camp competition:

“The little cliché there is you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable. I think that’s what Lindy’s going to bring in. I think that’s what Kevyn is trying to do, bringing in a lot of different guys with a lot of different skill sets. We have guys that can move up and down the lineup that are going to put pressure on the top guys, that are going to put pressure on the guys that have been here for a while. It’s going to be a lot of compete.

"We got guys that are going to be pushing for spots and looking to get in the lineup, and that’s what you need to have. If you’re going to make it to the playoffs or a deep run, you’re going to need to have 23 guys that can come in, sometimes 26, 27 after that trade deadline. So, that’s what you need. You need guys that are ready to step up and willing to do a job, and I think that’s what we have in this locker room.”

On the Global Series:

"To get the group together and to be on the plane together for that nine-hour flight and the travel together and practice right away and have that team camaraderie. It’s awesome. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I think we’re going to make the most of it. But that being said, once that puck drops in Prague, we have a job to do and it’s Game 1 of the season. It’s not preseason, it’s not just go out for a skate and enjoy it because we’re in Prague, we’re in Europe. It’s time to win.”