When, in a fit of fury, Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff sent three of his toughest players off the bench and onto the ice, all hell broke loose. Now he's $10,000 in the hole.
After a cheap shot delivered by Ottawa Senators' Chris Neil on Sabres' Chris Drury at last Thursday's game, Ruff waged all out war against the unnecessarily aggressive Ottawa team.
Ruff's reasoning behind sending out the Sabres' Andrew Peters, Adam Mair and Patrick Kaleta was to show that his team is a force to be reckoned with. The three players began a brawl that eventually consumed all players on the ice - even the goalies exchanged fisticuffs.
Outraged over the incident, NHL officials slapped Ruff with a hefty fine for issuing the directives that led to the clash, scrap and tussle of Buffalo muscle.
It's about time the Sabres stood up for themselves on their way to the cup.
Crippling injuries thwart the momentum of any team, but it seems that Buffalo is exceptionally susceptible. Just last year the Sabres were booted out of the playoffs after key players endured season-ending injuries.
It's bad enough losing stars to accidental mishaps - intentional blows automatically land below the belt.
News of the brawl spread fast on sports radio and television programming across the US and Canada, and in retrospect, the $10,000 fine for the showering of attention is worth every penny.
The gratuitous blow inflected on Drury resulted in a concussion that may keep him out of the lineup for the remainder of the season, but if Ruff's plan works, Drury's severe injury may be the last one Buffalo sees for a while.
Ruff put his foot down and got results. His actions spoke louder than words, and now every NHL player knows that if you mess with Buffalo, you're gonna get an ass whooping.
It was definitely $10,000 well spent.
A crowd-pleasing headliner
Soulive puts SA Small Concert Series in the groove
It's not often that hot bands nowadays diverge from the sea of stale pop culture material, but in their quest to fill a void in the music world, Soulive does it with style. Their performance last Friday for the Student Association's Small Concert Series was a pick of genius - hot, popular and an all-around good time.
While this doesn't make up for all of the mediocre musicians SA has forced upon us in the past for Fall and Spring Fests, Soulive's tight, crisp and clean sound is a refreshing alternative to the usual suspects.
What's more is that the concert highlighted two homegrown Buffalonians, Soulive's Neal and Alan Evans - brothers and graduates of Buffalo's nationally recognized public high school, City Honors.
Seldom do such awesome artists grace a stage sporting the Student Association logo as its backdrop. Props to whoever decided on Soulive - now we only hope that the still-secret picks for this year's Spring Fest bring more of the same.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
