t was a great day of practice, we had a great meeting as a team,Russell Wilson Jersey, I met with some of the leaders that morning. It was just dead silent on the bus. I walked off and the players walked off and said goodbye."Ruff viewed being allowed to say a final goodbye to his team as one final classy move by Regier."To Darcy, to whom I'm indebted as a head coach because I know through 16 years, there's probably 99 percent of the GMs in the League who would have whacked the coach at a certain time. We went through some tough stretches where you believed in me and said you can get these guys through it," Ruff said. "He's a good friend, he's a great hockey man. We went through a lot together. I'm indebted to him for entrusting me in a lot of tough situations."But the final tough situation was one Ruff couldn't work his way out of."I've gone over every game,Russell Wilson Youth Jersey," he said. "I cleaned out my office, I grabbed all my notes, I grabbed all the game notes, I looked at all the games, I looked at the chances, looked at how we lost. I'm driving myself crazy. When I was done, I said we gave three games away. We could have been at 9-7 and in a good place and instead we're at 6-10. And that falls with me. We weren't good enough to get through a couple of those games."However, Ruff said he sees a bright future for the current players -- even though he could only bring himself to watch one period of Thursday's loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, saying he "found it incredibly strange and I had to turn it off.""It's a united group," Ruff said of his now-former players. "Sometimes you [the media] think it's been divided, but they're a very united group. They're in a place where they're trying to support each other, push each other. It's been hard. It's been painful. They're working hard at it. The leadership from Jason Pominville, Ryan Miller,Russell Wilson White Jersey, Thomas Vanek down, I know how they feel. I feel their pain at the same time. It's hard. It's hard right now. But I think better days are right around the corner."---
OTTAWA – Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson spoke to the media for the first time Friday morning since his season was ended nine days ago when his left Achilles tendon was cut in a collision with Pittsburgh Penguin forward Matt Cooke.Karlsson said he believes Cooke, who was not penalized on the play, could have prevented the outcome."The puck came around the corner, and I was going to get it," Karlsson said. "I had a [Pittsburgh] player behind me and I knew exactly who it was. I was taking a bit of caution. He missed the hit but he still got me somehow. It could have been prevented. I don't think it would have happened if it was another type of player. But I don't think his intention was to cut me with the skate. I refuse to believe that anyone would do that."Ever since I got into the League he's been one of the guys you're always aware of when you're playing against him. It's a freak incident,Russell Wilson Authentic Jersey, but I still think it's an injury that shouldn't have happened." --Erik Karlsson on Matt Cooke"As soon as I saw it was [Cooke], I knew what was going on. I've played long enough to know who's going to hit you and who's not. As I always do, I moved at the last second and he missed me, but he still went for me. I lost the strap on my helmet and his hands were high. He reached out his leg, which I don't think he had any reason to do. I don't understand why it happened. He had full control of his body,Russell Wilson Super Bowl Jersey, and he knows exactly what he's doing out there. That's why I'm sitting here with my leg in a cast."The play happened late in the second period of a game Feb. 13 between the Senators and Penguins. Karlsson, who won the Norris Trophy last season, had surgery to repair the tendon and general manager Bryan Murray expects his star defenseman to need at least three-to-four months to recover.Cooke reached out to Karlsson after the incident, but the defenseman brushed off any attempt at an apology."I received a text from [Cooke]," he said. "I didn't