Day 1 Notebook | Sabres set tone with competitive practice on Ruff's first day

Lindy Ruff left no room for nostalgia when he returned to the KeyBank Center ice for the start of training camp on Wednesday, back in the logo he represented for more than two decades as a player and a coach.

This day was not about his previous tenure. It wasn't about flashbacks to Dominik Hasek or memories of spring 2006. It was, however, a nod to one of Ruff’s trademarks from the past – a quality he displayed during his own hardnosed playing career and imparted on previous teams he coached.

“It’s just work right now,” Ruff said.

The Sabres went to work with a long, demanding practice session to open camp, making good on the message Ruff and general manager Kevyn Adams imparted on players when they reported for physicals and their first day of meetings on Tuesday. Players were told to view the first days of practice not as the start of camp, but as the start of the season.

Part of that directive is the result of urgency brought on by the team’s inclusion in the NHL Global Series, with just four practice days and two game days ahead of the Sabres’ departure for Munich, Germany next Tuesday. With that in mind, the Sabres practiced with a group resembling their NHL roster rather than keep with the tradition of splitting veterans into various groups throughout the day.

But beyond getting ready for Germany, the day represented an opportunity for the Sabres to set the tone for what will be their standard moving forward.

“Today is Day 1 on our step to try to do something special,” Adams said. “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.”

The skate on Wednesday was heavy with physical, competitive battle drills, which will be a staple of Ruff’s practices, and length-of-the-ice backchecking. The team’s agreed upon “non-negotiables” – executing details like placing the puck deep and tracking up the ice as a prerequisite for ice time – were enforced. Early on, Ruff halted a drill for an offside entry.

All of it was done methodically. Ruff pointed to areas the Sabres already started to work toward addressing, such as defensive-zone tracking and eliminating the first man in along the boards when the opposing team is on the forecheck. The team was working toward the latter objective during the second drill of the morning, when Tage Thompson took a hard hit from Peyton Krebs.

“You need the physicality,” Thompson said. “Obviously, in games it’s going to happen. That needs to be an element and a staple of our team this year, is the physicality. I think that’s something we tried to add to our team. I think we’ve done a good job of it over the offseason and just adding pieces that are going to be physical, tough to play against.

“It starts in practice. If you’re tough in practice, then when it happens in games, they’re ready for it. So that’s a good indicator, Day 1. When you see guys bumping and running into each other, that’s usually a good sign.”

Thompson was among the several players who said at the end of last season that the team was ready for another level of accountability. Ruff gave it to them on Wednesday, and they were ready for it.

“I thought they worked incredibly hard today,” Ruff said. “We had a meeting before we went out, I thought they gave me everything they had.”

Here are more notes from Day 1 of Sabres camp.

Dahlin exits with injury

Rasmus Dahlin sustained what Ruff described as a “mid-body” injury early in practice and did not return. Dahlin was still being evaluated when Ruff met with the media following the skate.

“It was just one of those things, he was passing the puck and something happened,” Ruff said. “So, you know, [as] precaution, got him off. He’s going to get looked at and then we’ll find out what’s going on.”

Wednesday’s practice groups

The Sabres held three practice sessions, the first of which comprised of 24 players who are in the mix for the opening-night roster:

Forwards (14) – Zach Benson, Jordan Greenway, Jason Zucker, Peyton Krebs, Jiri Kulich, Jack Quinn, Dylan Cozens, Beck Malenstyn, Ryan McLeod, Tage Thompson, JJ Peterka, Sam Lafferty, Alex Tuch, Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Defensemen (8) – Bowen Byram, Dennis Gilbert, Henri Jokiharju, Mattias Samuelsson, Owen Power, Rasmus Dahlin, Connor Clifton, Jacob Bryson

Goalies (2) – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Devon Levi

The Sabres mixed and matched their forward lines and defense pairs within that group, although some patterns did emerge. Thompson centered JJ Peterka and Alex Tuch, a trio that had success last season, while Dylan Cozens skated most drills alongside Jack Quinn.

The latter two practice groups consisted of a mix of prospects and players on AHL contracts.

Kulich earns chance with top group

Perhaps the most notable inclusion in the NHL group was forward Jiri Kulich, who is coming off a dominant showing at the Prospects Challenge this past weekend.

Kulich scored five goals in those three games, showing off the elite shot that allowed him to post team-leading goal totals in Rochester each of the past two seasons. But it was his added strength and tenacious work ethic that drew the most praise from incoming Amerks coach Michael Leone during the Prospects Challenge, comments that Adams and Ruff echoed on Wednesday.

“I thought he dominated,” Adams said. “To say it mildly, I thought he was the best player on the ice in the games he played in. I have been telling you for two years, I think this kid's going to be a special player in the NHL. And I still do.”

Kulich scored 27 goals last season and was named to the AHL’s Top Prospects Team for the second straight year but pointed to a 12-game stretch without a goal from December to January and a challenging playoff loss to Syracuse as motivators going into the offseason, which he spent adding strength in the weight room.

Kulich took some of his practice repetitions on Wednesday alongside Cozens and Quinn. While he will play the entirety of this season at 20 years old and thus has time to develop, Adams made it clear that the door is open for him to start the season in the NHL.

“I think we've backed this up, when a player kicks door open and belongs, we make sure they're here,” Adams said. “And this is all about winning, so if we feel right now he's going to help our team, then he's going to be here. And if he's not right (away)… it's just a matter of time until he is.”

Thompson, Tuch discuss expectations

Thompson and Tuch both dealt with injuries last season and took statistical steps back after enjoying career years in 2022-23. Both players spoke Wednesday about their high personal standards entering this season.

Thompson, who played much of his 71 games through injuries, had 29 goals and 56 points after scoring 47 goals and 94 points the season prior.

“For me, I’ve already set a standard that is better than what I did last year,” Thompson said. “So, anything short of that is just not good enough. And I’m always trying to exceed those personal expectations and goals. And I didn’t really come close to those.

“So, statistics or whatever weren’t good enough. And other aspects of my game that you can’t put a finger on as a far as statistics. Just the consistent compete, it just needs to be way better. So those are things that I really looked at over the summer, watched a lot of the games back, and just areas that I can improve on the game and just try to learn and grow.”

Tuch tied for the team lead with 59 points but had 79 the season prior.

“First and foremost, I need to be better,” he said. “Myself personally, I came in with a chip on my shoulder this summer and I tried to work, I skated earlier than I usually do. … I think a lot of the guys on the team will say it, but I know I personally underachieved. Most of all, our team underachieved, and I take that personally and I look forward to the future and what we can do as a group.”