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.
Writing about my love and understanding about Hockey began with the Press Box, the Owners, and then the first GM/HC, now I will write about the players, and of course the very first player I want to write about is Gilbert Perreault.
To me Gilbert “Bert” Perreault truly is the face of the Buffalo Sabres and he has since day one through all of Buffalo’s timeline and great players been the one player to represent the Buffalo Sabres.
There are younger Hockey fans that see this player as ancient history, not the face, I have heard and read about LaFontaine or Hasek, and now with Captain Jack the waters are muddied.
As a teenager in the 1970s I witnessed Mr. Perreault in his prime, one of the most breathtaking danglers of a generation. Gilbert could just take over possession of the puck behind his own goal line and literally skate through every player through the length of the ice to get a shot on net or a deft pass to another scorer on the team.
In 1970 Gilbert Perreault was drafted first overall in the amateur draft for one of the two newest NHL franchises, the Buffalo Sabres. For the next 17 seasons, number “11” would be on the ice for the Buffalo Sabres.
In his Rookie season Mr. Perreault would score an amazing 38 goals for 72 points and be awarded the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year and was considered and voted on for the Hart Trophy that season as well.
The Sabres as a team experienced the “sophomore jinx” but Mr. Perreault did not, he increased his point total by two over his Rookie of the Year performance, on the strength of 48 assists.
In between his second and third season Mr. Perreault had the honor of playing for Canada in the Canada – USSR series, later referred to as the “Summit Series”. In only two games of play Mr. Perreault scored an unassisted spectacular end to end goal and had an assist.
In his third NHL season Mr. Perreault was even better with 60 assists and his point production went up over a dozen points, The French Connection was flying, he is awarded the Lady Byng trophy, comes fifth in voting for the Hart trophy, and the Sabres make the playoffs.
Against a first place Montreal team Mr. Perreault gets 10 points in six games in his and the Sabres very first NHL Stanley Cup playoff series.
During his fourth NHL season Mr. Perreault breaks his leg and he plays only 55 games but gets 51 points and the Sabres do not qualify for the playoffs.
Then the Sabres magical fifth season saw number “11” lead the Sabres to the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals.
The Buffalo Sabres earned the right to skip the preliminary round and in the 1974-75 Stanley Cup Quarter Finals Buffalo ousted the Blackhawks in five games. Mr. Perreault led the team with eight points against a Chicago team led by none other than Stan Mikita, Dennis Hull, and Tony Esposito.
As good as the Sabres and Mr. Perreault played against an aging Blackhawks squad no one was able to predict what was about to happen next during the 1974-75 Stanley Cup Semi-Finals against the Mighty Montreal Canadiens.
The series opened in Buffalo and Mr. Perreault scored and had two assists during the victory in game one, and then in the all important game five with the series tied at two, Mr. Perreault does it again. Number “11” scores in the first period and then gets the lone assist for the GWG in OT to be able to take the 3-2 lead into Montreal where the Sabres finish off the Canadiens in game six to advance to the 1974-75 Stanley Cup Finals.
During the 1975-76 NHL season, Mr. Perreault once again is pitted against the Soviets as the Buffalo Sabres become the first NHL team to defeat one of the USSR’s supposedly superior Hockey teams. In a raucous 12-6 old fashion butt kicking Mr. Perreault scored and had two assists in a contest that seemed surreal with the Sabres seemingly scoring all game long.
The 31st NHL All Star game was held January 24th 1978 in Buffalo’s Memorial Auditorium in what can only be described as Hollywood perfect. In a game where the Wales Conference outshot the Campbell Conference 40-12 in regulation the contest ended tied at two. The NHL had its first ever Sudden Death Over-Time All Star game in history.
The hometown crowd of well over 16,000 witnessed the Buffalo Sabres Richard Martin tie the game with less than two minutes remaining to send the contest to over-time. Then Mr. Perreault with just five seconds shy of four minutes into OT scores and wins the All Star game sending the already giddy crowd into pure jubilation.
As the stats and his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame bear out, Gilbert Perreault was an exceptional player who led very good and competitive Buffalo Sabres teams throughout the Seventies and into the early Eighties.
One of the few players to play for only one NHL team, one man, one team, one city, Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the one and only Gilbert Perreault.
I have always enjoyed the goaltender position either playing in net or watching spectacular saves and shut-outs in a well played defensive contest.
The goaltender position does get respect but compared to goal scorers in the NHL “goalies” take a back seat in most highlight videos.
When I initially took interest in Hockey as a child in the late Sixties it was during Tony Esposito’s first season in the NHL and he won a Stanley Cup with the Montreal Canadiens.
Oddly enough, for the next NHL season Tony Esposito gets selected in the NHL intra-league draft by the Chicago Blackhawks and goes on to win the Calder Memorial and Vezina Trophies.
The oddity is that a player in the NHL who was already wearing a Stanley Cup Championship ring from the last season with one team has the opportunity to earn and did capture rookie of the year honors by winning the Calder Memorial Trophy with another team in the next season.
Some of my earliest memories of Tony Esposito were in the 1975 Stanley Cup Quarter Finals between my boys and the Blackhawks. All one can say is that this particular series was not Mr. Esposito’s finest moments played for his Chicago Blackhawks.
I have weaned myself off of morbid curiosity and by this I mean I do not celebrate “death dates” of people and players I admire, instead I have been celebrating their “birth dates”.
For example with Tony Esposito I will mark my Hockey calendar April 23rd his birthday to remember his NHL achievements and to take note of such an incredible career.
Buffalo Winter 