The Buffalo Sabres look like they are finally getting things right in the NHL Draft. However, none compare to the first pick in team history.
Nearly 52 years ago, the expansion Buffalo Sabres were awarded with the second overall pick in the 1970 NHL Draft. However, head coach/general manager Punch Imlach told NHL President Clarence Campbell to double-check the number on which the pointer that determined the first overall pick that season landed.
Turns out, the pointer landed on 11, Imlach’s favorite number, which awarded the Sabres, and not their expansion brethren Vancouver Canucks, the first pick. Fate smiled upon the Sabres that season, as it was the first year that Québécois players were not prioritized to the Montreal Canadiens.
As a result, the Sabres selected Perreault, and he became the first piece on the legendary French Connection that also included Rene Robert and Rick Martin. Perreault decided to don Imlach’s favorite number and he quickly became an NHL legend.
Gilbert Perreault is still the best draft pick in Buffalo Sabres history
A 1990 inductee of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Perreault’s unforgettable NHL career started with a bang when he won the Calder Memorial Trophy to cap off a 72-point rookie season. And he never looked back.
Throughout his career, Perreault earned trips to six All-Star Games, made two All-Star Teams, and he was also the 1972-73 recipient of the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. Perreault spent 17 seasons in the NHL, all with the Sabres. And throughout his career, he gave fans plenty to cheer for.
He once accumulated seven points in a single game, a Sabres record that still stands. Perreault also scored the first power play goal and hat trick in Sabres history, and he sunk a game-winner at the 1978 NHL All-Star Game in front of a capacity crowd at the old Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
He played in 1,191 NHL games, scoring 1,326 points in that span, good for 1.11 points per game. Of his 512 goals scored, 134 came on the power play and 81 were game-winners. Perreault finished his career with 3,077 shots on goal with a career shooting percentage of 16.6. Meaning one in every six shots found twine.
The only Sabre to wear #11, and he was the first Sabre to have his number retired in a ceremony that occurred in 1990, coinciding with his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The year prior, the Sabres inducted Perreault and his French Connection line mates into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)