The Associated Press

BUFFALO - B. Thomas Golisano cracked a wide smile making his way through the gloom of the Buffalo Sabres' locker room shortly after the team's remarkable playoff run had ended.

Amid the players' tears, banged-up bodies and the subdued packing of bags, the Sabres owner saw something that few in the room had yet realized: A bright future.

“I'm proud of them,” Golisano said Thursday night after Buffalo's 4-2 loss to Carolina in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final at Raleigh, N.C. “They should be walking around with their heads up high. They did a lot and they did it fast. They turned this thing around in three years.”

In three years, the Sabres erased the memories of the franchise declaring bankruptcy in 2003, made their first playoff appearance since 2001 and emerged as a model franchise in the post-lockout NHL.

Co-captain Chris Drury, although slouched at his stall, was one of the few to detect the same silver lining as his boss.

“A lot of young, great players in this room,” Drury said. “We've got a good foundation and a taste of a good playoff run. And hopefully, that leads to bigger things down the road.”

And why not?

The Sabres were a speedy, young team that capitalized on the league's new rules that emphasized increased offense. They were also cost-efficient, finishing a win short of reaching the Stanley Cup final with a payroll of about $31 million, some $8 million short of the league's newly imposed salary cap.

In comparison, the high-priced and defensively plodding Philadelphia Flyers were dispatched by Buffalo in a six-game first-round series. Buffalo's other playoff opponent, the top-seeded and talent-laden Ottawa Senators, was eliminated in five games, proving to be more flash than grit.

The Sabres' success was enough for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman to take notice when attending a recent playoff game in Buffalo.

“Teams that have adapted to the game best are the ones that are still playing,” Bettman said. “Buffalo's a good example of being a team. I don't think anyone on the team makes more than $3 million. There's some other teams that have large portions of their cap committed to a handful of players.”

The Sabres model worked this year and there's a good chance this group will stay together for some time.

Veteran defensemen Jay McKee and Teppo Numminen and forward Mike Grier are the only regulars eligible to be unrestricted free agents in July. The rest of Buffalo's core players - including Drury, Daniel Briere and goaltender Ryan Miller - are either under contract or the team has the option to retain their rights.

The challenge facing general manager Darcy Regier is to delicately keep his salary structure in line while also keeping this group intact for the long term.

What's clear is the Sabres will no longer be discounted for being too young or lacking marquee names as they were in October.

The Sabres (52-24-6) finished tied with Ottawa and Carolina for the most wins in the East. Only Detroit (58) and Dallas (53) had more victories - and both were dispatched in the first round of the playoffs.

The Sabres had a good chance of advancing if they hadn't been dismantled by injuries, losing five regulars - including four of their top five defensemen - over the final month. The last was McKee - a leg infection forced him to miss Game 7.

“Every time we got going a little bit, there was something on the outside pulling the legs out from someone else,” Briere said. “I think, emotionally, it got to us.”

Of Buffalo's 25 skaters, 21 had at least one playoff point. The team had eight players score game-winning goals, and went 8-4 in one-goal games, including 5-1 in overtime.

If the Sabres left Raleigh not realizing what they had accomplished, they got a glimpse when arriving in Buffalo early Friday morning.

Hundreds of fans were there to greet them at the airport, chanting: “Thank you, Sabres.”