Ruff Lifts Up Sabres After Another Brutal Finish

Lindy Ruff is doing what veteran coaches do after the room empties out - he is finding the positives before the season’s sting fully settles in. The Sabres’ elimination leaves plenty to unpack, but Ruff is spotlighting the players who kept grinding when the margins tightened. That kind of public backing matters in a market that has heard every version of “next year” for too long. The real question now is whether the praise becomes a foundation or just another postmortem sound bite.