LEWISTON - Folks in Sabreland have been worriedly and angrily wringing their hands the last couple of weeks. They've watched teams throughout the NHL make changes to their rosters and can't figure out why the Buffalo Sabres are sticking with what they have.

Lindy Ruff, however, isn't worried.

"I like what we have here as a team, and these guys can continue to grow," the coach said Friday.

Ruff closed the Sabres' development camp at Niagara University with a steadfast endorsement of his players and the organization. The Sabres, as of now, are sticking with the core of players who failed to make the postseason the past two years. Ruff has no problem with that.

"I'm OK going in," said Ruff, whose team finished two points out of a playoff spot. "We were pretty close to being where we wanted to be, and a couple disappointing things happened, and we ended up not getting there. The fact that we were able to put on a strong finish [7-2-1

in the final 10 games] was something that I really felt was important for our team."

Unlike a vocal portion of the fan base, Ruff doesn't see the need for a roster shake-up. He feels the Sabres will return to the postseason if his players merely fulfill their potential and stay healthy.

"I expect more to come from within," he said. "I think that we have more there. We've got a [Jason] Pominville that can have a better year. We've got a [Drew] Stafford that can continue to grow, and I think with Timmy [Connolly] healthy he can make some players around him better.

I think we've got some young guys that can step in and make a difference.

"We were knocking on the middle of the Eastern Conference when Ryan [Miller] got hurt. We can't stand around and make excuses, but you can explain sometimes why you didn't get there, and I think that's one explanation.

"The disappointment of missing the playoffs is something that we really have to feed off of. It's not acceptable, and I think it's a challenge for us as a team and an organization to make sure that we get there."

A few of the young guys Ruff expects to make a difference participated in the development camp. The coach liked the effort and skill showed by defenseman Chris Butler. He's impressed by the development of forwards Tim Kennedy and Nathan Gerbe.

"It's got to continue to grow over these next six weeks [before training camp starts]," Ruff said. "These next six weeks are important for them. I think both players will be NHL players. They will be NHL players. It's a situation where you're going to end up battling for

spots."

The Sabres suffered a significant loss in free agency as defenseman Jaroslav Spacek took his blue line-best 45 points to Montreal. Ruff acknowledged finding an offensive replacement is one of the Sabres' biggest unknowns heading into next season.

"If you watched the way Butler moved out there today, you wonder if he can step in and fill part of that offensive role because he did have some offense," Ruff said. "You look at [Andrej] Sekera. We really feel that Sekera needs to be cast in a little bit more of that

offensive situation. At times he was, at times he wasn't.

"When you take [Spacek] out, you often find out a lot more about other players. The one thing you get concerned with is you don't know for sure. Until you put somebody in that situation, you're not going to find out."

Ruff is extremely eager to get the season started, and he was also happy with how the developmental camp ended.

"It's been a good week," he said. "You can see the development of the kids that have been here for a couple years, and you see the young guys compared to them. Overall, I've liked camp.

"The margin between players now really isn't that great. There's no bad skaters out there. You can't point at anybody and say, "Boy, they've got really bad hands.' All the kids that come now, the training is so much better, the skill is so much better that you look those type

players and you really feel they can play."