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Sabres’ Ruff: “No talk” of Leino (hip) needing surgery

Buffalo Sabres v New York Islanders

UNIONDALE, NY - FEBRUARY 04: Ville Leino #23 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against the New York Islanders at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on February 4, 2012 in Uniondale, New York. The Sabres defeated the Islanders 4-3 in the shootout. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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Ville Leino is on IR and hasn’t played a game this season due to a right hip injury -- but it’s not going to require surgery, according to Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff.

Not going to require surgery right away, that is.

“There’s no talk about surgery right now. We might as well just squash that,” Ruff told the Buffalo News. “Maybe down the road it happens. I don’t know. But right now there’s some other treatment options that are possible.

“We had an MRI on it and it looked OK. These hip things are things that can go a lot of different directions.”

Earlier this week, CSN Philly’s Tim Panaccio reported that Leino would require offseason surgery. He spent two seasons with Philadelphia and had surgery on his left hip while there, and reportedly felt like he should’ve had double hip surgery at the time.

Leino didn’t play during the lockout, so the hip problem appears to be a lingering issue.

“We’ve been doing rehab trying to get the discomfort away,” he explained. “Today it felt a lot better. Hopefully it will feel better in the long run too. I felt really good today for 20-25 minutes.

“Then it got a little tired and it’s the best so far.”

The 29-year-old Finn is coming off a disappointing first campaign in Buffalo after signing a six-year, $27 million deal in July 2011.

He only scored eight goals in 71 games and finished with a minus-2 rating.