Should Lindy Ruff be named the winner of the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year, the honor still would not serve to represent all that he has endured and accomplished regardless of whether his team gets to hoist the Stanley Cup.

Ruff, who was hired as Buffalo's bench boss in July 1997 and is the league's longest tenured coach, guided the Sabres to team records of 52 wins and 110 points this season, and has his club knotted with Carolina in the Eastern Conference finals. Nobody had a right to expect anything resembling such success. In fact, many prognosticators picked the Sabres to miss the playoffs. Some ranked them down around 12th or 13th in the conference.

But why sweat the smallish details? After all, the Buffalo Sabres were an organization that filed Chapter 11 during a miserable 2003-04. When something like that happens, there's always a chance that a new ownership group will relocate the club, never mind bringing back the coach. Fortunately, ownership issues were resolved for the better, and Ruff had a new contract.

Following the lockout, the 46-year-old embarked on the considerable task of massaging a roster that had some promising young players, but little star power and the lack of a clear-cut No. 1 goalie. But Ruff knew that his team and the new rules could work well together. The players were on board from the get-go and the coach was able to spread the wealth with ice time and keep confidence high despite an injury bug that bit hard all season.

In March, with Ruff and the Sabres humming along toward their first postseason appearance since 2001, the coach was dealt a major obstacle far greater than any ownership uncertainties could provide. A mass was discovered on the brain of his 11-year-old daughter, Madeleine. The tumor was thankfully removed without complication.

As if to underscore how much Ruff means to his players, Buffalo lost six in a row at that time, including a listless 5-0 drubbing at the hands of the Thrashers with Ruff at home with his daughter. The team he molded, guided and encouraged felt his pain, but picked up the pace when the news about Madeleine became brighter and it went on to win seven of its last eight to clinch home ice.

Here it is the end of May and Ruff's team is still alive. No matter what happens from here on out, if there were such an award as NHL Man of the Year, Lindy Ruff, I'm sure, would be at the top of most every ballot.