When Scotty Bowman was relieved of his duties as Sabres general manager on Dec. 22, 1986, the team was in absolute turmoil. Gone was Bowman without a real sniff of the Cup despite doing well in St. Louis and Montreal beforehand. Team legend Gilbert Perreault scored nine goals in his first 14 games only to retire with the team off to a horrid start. The young team was struggling and one of the last decisions made on Bowman’s watch was Perreault’s successor as captain: Lindy Ruff.’