Buffalo, NY (My Sportsbook) - The Buffalo Sabres re-signed head coach Lindy Ruff to a reported three-year contract Wednesday and announced that general manager Darcy Regier will be retained.

The announcement marks the first major move by B. Thomas Golisano, the Rochester billionaire who purchased the team last month.

Ruff's current contract was due to expire at the end of June after he spent the past six seasons in Buffalo, the climax of which came in the spring of 1999 when the Sabres reached the Stanley Cup Finals.

Although Regier had four years left on a six-year deal, there were public questions surrounding his future with the team before Wednesday's endorsement from Golisano and managing partner Larry Quinn.

The Sabres finished the 2002-03 campaign with a 27-37-10-8 mark and had the fourth fewest wins in franchise history. Ruff's career record while behind the bench with Buffalo is 216-205-71.

The move brings some stability at the top of the organization for Buffalo, which has been in steady decline since the departure of Dominik Hasek. Since then, the club has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while operational control of the team had to be taken over by the NHL last June after former team owner John Rigas resigned as chairman of Adelphia Communications.