Sabres respond to Bruins coach saying team is ‘bigger, stronger and more physical’
The Stanley Cup playoffs are underway, and one of the most intriguing first-round matchups is between the Buffalo Sabers and Boston Bruins.
The Sabers are making their first playoff appearance since 2011, and despite being the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Division, the Bruins come into the series with their chests a bit puffed out.
Bruins coach Marco Sturm was asked about the series and talked about his team’s size and physicality compared to the Sabres.
Buffalo Sabers right winger Josh Doan (91) celebrates a goal on March 8 in Buffalo, New York. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
He may seem a little cocky, but he might be onto something. Considering Boston won the season series 3-1, the B’s were not the team the Sabers wanted to open their playoff push with.
But even though the Sabers’ roster is sorely lacking in playoff experience, they won’t be shaken by Sturm’s morale boost.
“You know, that’s his perspective on his team,” Sabers coach Lindy Ruff said. “I have a lot of respect for what our team does, how we play, the pace at which we play the game, and they have a good team. They know who they are, we know who we are.”
“Yeah, I think we all saw that,” Sabers forward Josh Doan said. “It’s all over the place right now, but at the end of the day I think our group has confidence in what we’re doing here and we’re going to let that continue throughout the series and stick to our game plan.
“So it’s one of those things that you see, but at the end of the day, there’s no real response from us in this room.”
There’s no real answer, right?
Maybe an answer will come when the two teams take the ice for Game 1 on Sunday, because Sturm certainly may have given a hungry Sabers team a little bulletin board material.
