Month: August 2021

     Jim Schoenfeld became one of the most popular of Sabres as he played and then coached Buffalo as well as creating two albums in his first few years with the Sabres called “Schony” and “The Key is Love” with some assistance from John Valby on the latter album.

     When he stopped playing Mr. Schoenfeld did local television mattress commercials for years and even some broadcasting which Mr. Schoenfeld said he was not suited for and his bar “Schony’s” was a popular watering hole with live music.

As a bartender in my city I would tell my customers that I only ever cheered for one Boston NHL player. People invariably would shout out “Orr” or “Esposito” and although I highly appreciate these players and their accomplishments the response was always “nope”.

     I would inform my customers that it was “Jim Schoenfeld” and about Mr. Schoenfeld’s 39 regular season games for Boston during the 83-84 NHL season.

     We all have a sicken memory of Malarchuk’s life bleeding away in front of us and gratefully he physically survived the ordeal.

     But how many remember Mr. Schoenfeld bent over on his hands and knees blood pouring from his face from another blocked shot? Or who remembers how Tim Horton was Mr. Schoenfeld’s mentor and friend, so much so Jim cried on the ice when the announcer asked for a moment of silence before the next game after Mr. Horton’s fatal crash.

     I know Mr. Schoenfeld would have been an outstanding defenseman for the Sabres but the mentoring of Mr. Horton assisted his development into one of our best defenseman ever to wear the Blue & Gold.

     In Mr. Schoenfeld’s best offensive season 79-80 he scored 36 points and was a plus 60, and he was the third runner-up in the Norris Trophy behind only Larry Robinson and Borje Salming, while earning a roster spot on the All-Star team.

      In Mr. Schoenfeld’s first season he was fourth in the Rookie of the Year, Calder Trophy voting, and in his third season, he Captains Buffalo’s advance to the Cup Finals.

     There have been flashy scoring defensemen and even a rookie of the year defensemen in Campbell and Myers for Buffalo but in my heart, (and ears), there is no other defenseman quite like Jim “Schony” Schoenfeld.

From 1972-73 until 1981-82  Mr. Schoenfeld scored 45 goals for the Buffalo Sabres and during the 1980-81 campaign in the middle of March Mr. Schoenfeld registered his lone career NHL Hat Trick in a four point game against the Winnipeg Jets.

     In the opening period with 90 seconds remaining Mr. Schoenfeld earns the primary assist on Danny Gare’s goal to give Buffalo the 1-0 lead.

     Winnipeg ties the game early in the Second Period but Mr. Schoenfeld scores his sixth goal of the season on the PP with less than five minutes remaining in the period.

     Buffalo and Winnipeg trade goals in the next 88 seconds for a Buffalo 3-2 lead heading into the final period.

     Winnipeg’s cross-checking penalty called with seven seconds remaining in the Second Period carrying over into the Third afforded Mr. Schoenfeld an opportunity to score his second PP of the game and seventh of the year with 22 seconds remaining on the PP.

     Half way through the period Mr. Schoenfeld hooks one of the Jets but the Sabres defense and goalie are up to the task and Winnipeg fails to score.

     With Buffalo maintaining a 4-2 lead on Winnipeg Mr. Schoenfeld with approximately three and half minutes remaining scores his eighth of the season to complete his one and only NHL Hat Trick.

     When Mr. Schoenfeld was on a popular online video interview/talk show hosted by two former Sabres a couple of Halloweens ago,  he talked about one year there was like nine players wives expecting and they were a tight knit group of young players that spent significant time together with each other’s families away from the rink. Mr. Schoenfeld said it was the closest team he ever belonged to.

     Mr. Schoenfeld related the unwritten rule that the young single players had to throw the Halloween party and that they did a tremendous job. When pressed for information   Mr. Schoenfeld could not remember the specific costumes but commented that the parties were terrific.  

     He then told a story about a costume he does remember… someone was dressed as an “old man” and he was making passes at all the women and if they had on a skirt he used his cane to try and look up the their skirts and he would attempt to look down their tops and all night long during the party the players were trying to figure out who it was.

     Well as it turns out that it was one of the player’s wives…too funny…an absolute hysterical Halloween costume and prank on the players by their wives.

      A Family man that was an outstanding defenseman, Captain, combative coach, excellent executive, spokesperson, tavern owner with a musical career who is admired and respected by NHLers and fans alike, ladies and gentlemen I give you…Jim “Schony” Schoenfeld.  

     Hockey Enthusiasts basically approach the Draft in one of three ways since most drafts began hosting online and they are Snake, Linear, and Automatic along with mock and ordered drafts as options.

     For the ESPN Fantasy Hockey League the concentration will be on the top three ways to draft “your team”.

The Automatic draft is a good team saver for those participants who cannot attend the live draft for any reason.

     For the complete neophyte do not be overwhelmed by the 90 second clock and pressure to know who you need to select for each round and go ahead with the Automatic draft and prompts that will ensure that your turn and selection will be the highest ranked player available to fill your roster needs.

Most Leagues utilize the Snake draft which allows for the most equitable distribution of talented players each round for every Team.

    The Snake draft “flips” the order so that the last team to select in one round gets to select first in the next round and then the next to the last player will be last and then first and so on until all the rounds are completed.  

     The Linear draft is a rigid order of team selection that gives an inequitable distribution of talented players so that team ten in a Ten Team League will select tenth overall each round.

      Being required to select last each round is something no Team Manager should endure to build their team so turn a careful eye to the settings of a League you are considering before committing.

In 1948 Fort St. James officially becomes a National Historic Site of Canada and one year later one of Fort St. James citizens was born. And 20 years later that citizen Brian Spencer is drafted in the fifth round, 55th overall in the NHL 1969 Amateur Draft.

The pride of north-central British Columbia, (where the community today still is around 1700 population), Mr. Spencer makes it to the NHL and bounces back and forth in the NHL and the CHL for five seasons before being acquired by Buffalo.

The season before the Cup Finals run the Sabres traded for LW Brian Spencer from the Islanders for C Doug Rombough.

Mr. Spencer does not have the accolades like other Sabres but he did have spirit, and a style of play that earned him the nickname “Spinner”. He scored three times in 13 games totaling five points for the Sabres after the trade.

Mr. Spencer’s first full season with Buffalo was his best point production totals during the regular season and playoffs for his career.

Overshadowed by a team full of offensive players, Mr. Spencer made the most of his minutes and the fan base here in Buffalo embraced him.

An NHL career that began in pain and tragedy and a life that ended the same way, a player whose contributions to a team that had endeared him to a city clear across a continent from where he was born. Ladies and Gentlemen I give you Brian “Spinner” Spencer.

In continuing with my love and understanding of Hockey when I was an older boy, young teen, one of my favorite players was Rick Dudley. There was an amazingly talented player who could score 30 or more goals and collect fighting penalties as if it were a side hustle.

He is a Hall of Famer, earned multiple Championships, and Coach of the Year, has played successfully in the NHL as well as the WHA, became an NHL HC, Mr. Dudley continues today in an Executive NHL career.

Mr. Dudley is one of only three players to don the number 99 while playing Hockey in the NHL which is just one of many experiences of someone who can literally say they have been there and done that.

At 19 years of age in 1968-69 Mr. Dudley played for the St. Catharines Black Hawks of the OHL with teammate 17 year old Marcel Dionne and 19 year old Dick Redmond.

After his last season in the OHL Mr. Dudley was not drafted by the NHL yet was able to eventually play and be the only LW considered and voted on for the Hart Trophy in the 1974-75 NHL season where he amassed 70 points in 78 games.

Even after watching the Buffalo Sabres let Mr. Dudley walk to the WHA I followed his career, and to my happy surprise Buffalo had brought him back after four seasons had passed by.

Mr. Dudley had played out his prime in Cincinnati and after a few seasons back in the fold on the Sabres it was apparent he was no longer the player we hoped he would be.

Again I was forced to watch one of my favorite players walk and play for another team, this time the Winnipeg Jets.

At 32 years of age Mr. Dudley played his last seven professional Hockey games for the 1981-82 Jacques Demers coached Fredericton Express of the AHL.

I still followed Mr. Dudley’s career and again to my happy surprise he was brought back this time around to be the Buffalo Sabres Head Coach. Not being able to get past the first round in two seasons followed by an abysmal start and being replaced in the third season ended Mr. Dudley’s Sabres career for the third time.

Mr. Dudley has been hired by multiple teams in the NHL for a variety of Executive positions, including GM, Assistant GM, Director of Player Personnel, Hockey consultant, and Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations.

Rick Dudley won me over as a player when I was a young Sabres Fanaticus watching Buffalo march their way to their first Stanley Cup Finals.

I started out as a fan of Rick Dudley the player, now I admire Mr. Dudley as one of the most experienced and knowledgeable Hockey people I have witnessed and read about.

In continuing on with writing about my love and understanding of Hockey I am going to keep writing about the players that have donned a Buffalo Sabres Hockey sweater since 1970 in no particular order, after Mr. Martin of course.

The Buffalo Sabres in 1971 selected in the first round, fifth overall, in their second amateur NHL draft, Montreal Junior Canadiens stand out Richard Martin.

As a rookie Mr. Martin scored an unheard of 44 goals which the NHL never before seen a rookie even touch 40 goals much less eclipse that amount. Mr. Martin averaged a point per game in his rookie season with 74 points in 73 games. It was at the end of his rookie season when the Buffalo Sabres traded for a player that would compliment and benefit from Mr. Martin, and help form and create the French Connection line.

Mr. Martin was one of the greatest natural goal scorers in the NHL during the 1970s that had put in back to back 52 goal campaigns in only his third and fourth season in the NHL. During his fourth season Mr. Martin played only 68 regular season games but had 95 points, the French Connection was flying, the Buffalo Sabres more than qualified for the 1974-75 playoffs and earned a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals.

In January of 1976 the Buffalo Sabres became the first NHL team to beat one of the USSR’s allegedly superior Hockey teams. During the offensive onslaught that was a 12-6 Buffalo Sabres victory, Mr. Martin scored unassisted in the first period, had two primary assists in the second, and one more primary assist in the third period.

The 1976 Canada Cup team is considered one of the greatest National teams put together to represent Canada in international play that saw for the first time professional Hockey players participate in a best-on-best tournament. Mr. Martin played four games for victorious Team Canada and had five points with three goals.

In 1978 the 31st NHL All Star Game was held in Buffalo at Memorial Auditorium and had two of the Buffalo Sabres best offensive players on the roster, Rick Martin and his French Connection center. In an incredible game I witnessed as a teenager Mr. Martin with less than two minutes remaining in the contest scored and sent the All Stars into their very first Sudden Death overtime game in NHL history.

On November 8th 1980 a controversial trip and kicked knee caused an injury that saw Mr. Martin play only 14 more NHL games. Mr. Martin reportedly never forgave the goalie who came way out of his net to purposely kick Mr. Martin’s knee to knock him back down causing an injury that resulted in the demise of a great career.

Then on March 10, 1981, one of the worst trades the Buffalo Sabres ever made by their worst GM ever (who was named in a 10 million dollar malpractice lawsuit settled out of court in Mr. Martin’s favor approximately 10 years later) was completed sending French Connection star Rick Martin and beloved Don Luce to the Kings for a pair of draft picks.

Sadly on a Sunday March afternoon in 2011 Mr. Martin’s heart condition caused him to have a single vehicle accident, valiant efforts to keep Mr. Martin with us was not to be as he was pronounced gone upon arrival at the Hospital.