BUFFALO, N.Y. — You can take the man out of Buffalo, but you can't take Buffalo out of the man.
Current New Jersey Devils head coach, and former Sabres head coach and player Lindy Ruff, told 2 On Your Side's Julianne Pelusi about his unwavering passion for the Buffalo Bills ahead of his return this weekend for back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday against the Sabres.
"I've always been a fan ... a Canadian kid, as a CFL fan. Buffalo was my first team that I really cheered for in the NFL, and they had some, some really great years there in the late 80s while I was playing," Ruff said Friday.
Ruff played for the Sabres from 1979 to 1989 before becoming the team's winningest head coach. He was at the helm of the organization from 1997 to 2013.
He still has a home in Western New York, and he sported a Bills face mask to a practice in January before the Bills played the Indianapolis Colts in an AFC Wild Card matchup earlier this month.
Ruff even came up with a friendly wager for his players: "I told the players at one of our skates, if you're not a Bills fan you have to go up and back," in reference to extra skating in practice.
"I think some guys lied to tell you the truth, but we had some fun with the Bills. I took some ribbing though, after they lost and that was hurtful."
Saturday will not be the first time Ruff returns to KeyBank Center on the other bench against his former team, after coaching the Dallas Stars from 2013 to 2017.
The Sabres and Devils play at 1 p.m., both Saturday and Sunday, in Buffalo.