The French Connection. Those three words bring back a wonderful wave of memories for longtime Buffalo Sabres fans, especially those who were around for the franchise's founding in 1970. Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin and Rene Robert gave life to hockey in the City of Good Neighbors.
Now, as the organization tries to wrestle out of a 14-year playoff drought, it's easy to look back fondly at those high-flying forwards and wonder whether the Sabres will ever create a line that can revitalize a somewhat dormant, but still extremely passionate, fanbase in the 716.
One thing's for sure: The French Connection era in Buffalo is going to stand the test of time as one of the most unforgettable periods in the history of Sabres hockey right there with the Dominik Hasek and Chris Drury-Daniel Briere eras.
How the Sabres acquired The French Connection
As the old saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Buffalo knocked its first order of business out of the park by choosing Perreault with the first overall pick in the 1970 NHL draft, a selection it won over the Vancouver Canucks, a fellow expansion franchise.
Perreault's instant success — the centerman scored 72 points (38 goals and 34 assists) in 78 games as a rookie in 1970-71 — ensured the Sabres had a strong foundation as they began the process of trying to fortify the roster. A No. 1 center has always been hockey's ultimate building block.
Buffalo followed that up by grabbing Martin with the No. 5 overall selection in 1971. It's impossible to overstate the importance of those first few draft classes for an expansion franchise. The Sabres couldn't have done much better than Perreault and Martin as cornerstones.
Robert was the group's final arrival. He was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in a March 1972 trade in exchange for Eddie Shack. It was an absolute steal for Buffalo, which completed its top line, while Shack proceeded to score just 59 points across two years in Pittsburgh.
The French Connection took the NHL by storm starting with the 1972-73 season.
The statistical dominance of Perreault, Martin and Robert
The French Connection spent seven seasons together in Buffalo before Robert was traded to the Colorado Rockies shortly before the 1979-80 campaign.
Martin was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings in March 1981 after suffering a serious knee injury during his final season with the Sabres. Meanwhile, Perreault spent his entire 17-year NHL career with the organization before his retirement amid the 1986-87 campaign.
Here's a look at the eye-popping numbers they each produced during their extraordinary seven-year run on Buffalo's top line, though there were moments they split up in the final few seasons:
Perreault: 617 points (236 goals and 381 assists) in 519 games
Robert: 543 points (216 goals and 327 assists) in 512 games
Martin: 521 points (286 goals and 235 assists) in 505 games
The Sabres qualified for the playoffs in six of those seven seasons. The run of success included the franchise's first trip to the Stanley Cup Final, a loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1975. It remains one of just two Cup appearances in team history (1999 loss to the Dallas Stars).
In May, Jeff Seide of The Hockey Writers chose The French Connection as one of the 10 best lines in NHL history, saying the group was a "mix of speed, finesse and sheer talent."
How Buffalo continues to honor the franchise legends
It doesn't take long to see how important The French Connection is to Sabres history. A bronze statue of the three French Canadians stands prominently in Alumni Plaza outside the team's home arena, the KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo (shown in the main article image above).
In addition, all three players had their jersey numbers — No. 7 for Martin, No. 11 for Perreault and No. 14 for Robert — retired by the franchise. Only five other players in team history have received that high honor (No. 2 for Tim Horton, No. 16 for Pat LaFontaine, No. 18 for Danny Gare, No. 30 for Ryan Miller and No. 39 for the aforementioned Hasek).
Sabres owner Terry Pegula even referenced a member of the French Connection in the crowd during his introductory press conference after buying the team in 2011.
"Where's Perreault? You're my hero," Pegula said at the time, per Bill Hoppe of Buffalo Hockey Beat.
All told, The French Connection made it incredibly easy to become a Sabres fan in the early days. Scoring lots of goals and winning a bunch of games will do that.
Now the question is, when will that type of hockey return to Buffalo?