The French Connection is easily the most prolific line in the franchise’s history.

After drafting Perreault and then Martin the following year, new coach Joe Crozier knew he wanted a winger who could complement them. All but four games of his injury-shortened 11-season career were played with the Sabres.

In his NHL debut, the opening game of the 1971-72 season, Martin fired a slap shot that literally tore the glove off the hand of Penguins goaltender Jim Rutherford. In 1990, Perreault’s No. They launched one of the most exciting eras in Sabres history.When billionaire Terry Pegula bought the Sabres, the three players greeted him with a surprise welcome at center ice. “Very few players in hockey over the years will bring the fans off their seats. Perreault led the team in assists four times and Robert did so twice.All three members of the French Connection were selected for multiple All-Star games; Perreault in nine (1970-71, 1971-72, 1973-74, 1974-75, 1976-77, 1977-78, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1983-84), Martin in seven consecutive All-Star games (1971-72 through 1977-78) and Robert was selected to two All-Star games (1972-73, 1974-75). Martin played with the Sabres from 1971-72 to 1980-81. The card is number 214 in both the O-Pee-Chee set and Topps set, valued at three times that of a … In that game, each player scored a goal against the Philadelphia Flyers. “His one-on-one skills and stickhandling skills and his speed and how he went from one end to the other. They each have had the honor of having their jersey numbers retired; Perreault’s No. The talented Victoriaville native was capable of making an end-to-end rush at any time.“From pee wee to junior and even the first two or three years in the league, I tried to beat everybody by myself,” “He carried the teams on his shoulders for many nights,” Demers was a huge fan of Perreault. It was Coppola, an esteemed city reporter for the then-Buffalo Evening News, who coined the name "The French Connection" for the top line of Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin and Rene Robert. 11 was raised to the rafters of the Memorial Auditorium. He played twelve games for the Sabres during the in the 1971-72 season. The French Connection (ice hockey) The French Connection was the nickname of a forward line that played for the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League from 1972 until 1979.The line consisted of Hall of Famer Gilbert Perreault at centre and All-Stars Rick Martin and Rene Robert at left wing and right wing, respectively. Electifying. Then you get this big man who’s so elegant and he’s wide and thick and can just fly on the ice,” “Every kid in Canada wanted to be Gilbert Perreault,” said six-time Stanley Cup Champion Bryan Trottier. 1 overall pick, he wasted no time choosing Perreault. In 1974-75 they led the upstart Sabres to the Stanley Cup Final, the franchise’s first appearance.The French Connection line was the league’s most electrifying and explosive combination of the era and one of the last great lines in the history of the game. Perreault was the one who wanted to take charge.

With roughly a minute remaining in overtime, Martin picked up a loose puck along the boards and fed it to Perreault. History Early years and the French Connection (1970–1981) The Sabres, along with the Vancouver Canucks, joined the NHL in the 1970–71 season.Their first owners were Seymour H. Knox III and Northrup Knox, scions of a family long prominent in Western New York and grandsons of the co-founders of the Woolworth's variety store chain; along with Robert O. Swados, a Buffalo attorney. He raised his family in the area was proud to call Buffalo his home, becoming In a horrible sequence of events, Robert had just lost an older brother that morning to a heart attack. The puck was cleared out of play, but the oohs and aahs that filled the Aud were only foreshadowing for the excitement that remarkable career that “Rico” would have. The puck was cleared out of play, but the oohs and aahs that filled the Aud were only foreshadowing for the excitement that remarkable career that “Rico” would have. Over 2 million monthly readers now come to THW for their hockey fix.

The Vancouver Canucks missed out, choosing Dale Tallon with the next pick.In Perreault’s first season, he scored 38 goals and added 34 assists and was named the NHL’s Calder Trophy winner as rookie of the year. Former Sabres coach Floyd Smith once described Perreault as a blur. The five-time 40-goal scorer and two-time 50-goal scorer finished with 701 points in 685 career NHL games.In addition to a passion for scoring, Rico had an affinity for pranks and jokes.

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