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Sabres’ Lindy Ruff sends heartbreaking message after Game 7 loss
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- Sabres’ Lindy Ruff sends heartbreaking message after Game 7 loss
Sabres' Lindy Ruff sends heartbreaking message after Game 7 loss appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Buffalo Sabres have been eliminated by the Montreal Canadiens after a heartbreaking Game 7 overtime loss. Lindy Ruff and his team had an incredible season. Unfortunately, they were not able to make the Eastern Conference Finals. And the veteran head coach offered words of wisdom to his team immediately following Game 7.
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"It hurts, I told the team it hurts. That pain will go away. But I won't let this one game define the season we had. I told them how proud of was of them," Ruff said on Monday night, via team radio host Brian Koziol.
Ruff and the Sabres won the Atlantic Division in 2025-26 . They ended a brutal 14-year postseason drought in 2026, and won their first playoff series since 2007. All in all, it was a very successful season for the Sabres.
Ruff has been apart of all that success. He was the head coach of Buffalo from 1997 to 2013. In that time, he helped the franchise make its first Stanley Cup Final appearance in 1999. Additionally, he oversaw three additional trips to the Eastern Conference Finals (1998, 2006, and 2007).
The Sabres re-hired Ruff before the 2024-25 campaign. He had stops with the Dallas Stars, New York Rangers, and New Jersey Devils prior to his return to Buffalo. With those teams, he made four more postseason appearances, with three coming as a head coach.
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Buffalo will eventually be able to look back on this season with some pride. For now, only disappointment and pain are setting in. Ruff will look to rally the troops and go again next season as the Sabres look to win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
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