BLOG: Ruff on Ice Times and Managing Workload

There are a lot of quirks to the NHL schedule this season and a handful of them point to success being player ice time management.
In particular, the compressed schedule and the fact that so many matchups happen in two-game sets such as the recently completed Islanders series and the upcoming one with the Flyers this Tuesday and Thursday at Prudential Center.
"It's like a playoff matchup, you're playing back-to-back a few times. You make adjustments, they make adjustments and even after a few periods, you make adjustments there, too," said Devils head coach Lindy Ruff.
Tuesday marks the start of seven games in 12 days and 15 in 29. Ruff welcomed the challenge.
"It's a great test to see where we can be at game after game," he stated. "My job in this five-game segment was to manage practice time, manage ice time. I thought we were able to get a very balanced ice time for 11 of our 12 forwards yesterday which will help us long term."
Ruff has talked often about keeping a very close tab on player ice times, including checking mid-game to see where he was at. It's no coincidence that a majority of his forwards are within five minutes of one another when it comes to time on ice.
"Trying to evaluate where our players are at. If they're playing lighter minutes, give them reps to keep them ready," Ruff noted.
He was also asked about situations where his top players may not end up with the most ice time. For instance, last night Dmitry Kulikov led all skaters at 24:06 despite being second pairing.