Sabers HC’s Lindy Ruff among Buffalo sports legends at Bills minicamp

Just weeks after KeyBank Center welcomed Buffalo Sabers head coach Lindy Ruff with open arms, One Bills Drive did the same.

The veteran hockey mind was on hand alongside Sabers general manager Kevyn Adams and owner Terry Pegula at the Buffalo Bills minicamp practice Wednesday afternoon. Ruff, a regional legend who was rehired as head coach of the Sabers in late April, was featured at One Bills Drive and had the opportunity to wax lyrical about Buffalo sports with Bills general manager Brandon Beane and coach -chief Sean McDermott.

The Bills and Sabers posted photos of Ruff’s visit on their social media accounts.

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It would be difficult to find a more beloved figure among the Buffalo faithful than Ruff. The fifth winningest head coach in NHL history, Ruff played for the Sabers from 1979 to 1989, serving as team captain from 1986 until his departure. He was hired as the team’s head coach in 1997, kicking off a nearly 16-year tenure in which he won a franchise record 571 games. He led the Sabers to a Stanley Cup Final appearance and a Presidents’ Trophy throughout his time with the club, winning the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top head coach following the 2006 season- 2007.

Buffalo fired Ruff midway through the 2012-13 campaign, beginning a rebuild that is always incomplete. Ruff would go on to coach the Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils after his firing, while the Sabers have yet to qualify for the playoffs since his firing. The team – now a young group in need of a veteran leader who will hold them accountable – is hoping the reintroduction of Ruff behind the bench will be the catalyst that returns them to NHL relevance.

Having lived in Buffalo for extended periods of his adult life (even maintaining a residence in Clarence, NY after initially leaving the Sabres), Ruff has long been a Bills fan. He remained a Buffalo fan even as his work took him elsewhere; After a Jan. 22, 2023, win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the then-Devils boss humorously told reporters to keep questions to a minimum because he wanted to watch the Bills’ divisional-round game with the Bengals of Cincinnati.

Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly was also in attendance at One Bills Drive on Wednesday. The legendary signal-caller led Buffalo to four straight Super Bowl appearances in the early 1990s and still ranks as the team’s all-time leading passer. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002.