Gilbert Perreault — The Original Sabre

Elvis Presley shook his hips. Frank Sinatra crooned. Bruce Springsteen sang his working class anthems. Barnum and Bailey pitched their big tops. Olympic gold medalists Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill performed their figure skating artistry and basketball Hall of Famers Bob McAdoo, Bob Lanier, and Calvin Murphy buried jump shots at Memorial Auditorium. But for those who saw Gilbert Perreault play night after night for more than 16 years as a member of the Buffalo Sabres, he was possibly the greatest act to ever perform in the old downtown arena.

Perreault was the original Sabre, the very first player drafted in 1970 when the NHL granted Buffalo an expansion franchise. From the moment he jumped over the boards, you got the feeling that something remarkable might happen — a sentiment that was shared by his teammates, opponents, and fans alike.

"Gilbert Perreault, when he went behind the net and took that puck, we stood up on the bench half the time, this guy was so thrilling," said Craig Ramsay, Perreault's teammate for 14 years and his coach for about two weeks in November of 1986.

It would begin with Perreault wheeling through the Sabres zone, gathering speed with every mighty stride as his skates cut into the ice like miniature chain saws. It was usually in the neutral zone where he'd meet his first resistance. At that point the level of excitement jumped a few notches and fans' rear ends crept closer to the edge of their seats as he maneuvered his way through the opposition like a skier negotiating a slalom course.

With the first wave of defenders drowning in his wake, Perreault would cross the enemy blue line with the puck seemingly glued to his stick, his hair blowing in a gusty breeze of his own creation, and the muscles of those watching got tense with anticipation. One defenseman would try to make a play, and Perreault would zoom past him the way Jimmie Johnson dusts his NASCAR pursuers. As another defender approached, Perreault would corkscrew him into the ice, and the fans would rise to their feet, thinking the same thing as the panicked goaltender: he had no chance. A deke to the left, another to the right, maybe a third just for the hell of it, and when the carnage was over, the puck was in the net, Perreault was being hugged by his teammates, the fans' eyes were bulging from their sockets, and you couldn't wait to get home and watch the replay on the 11:00 news.

"To this day, there isn't anybody that I talk about — even Bobby Orr, with the great speed he had — there's nobody who gave me more trouble than Gilbert," said Denis Potvin, former Islander defenseman and Perreault's fellow Hockey Hall of Famer. "He was an outstanding athlete and with that wide stride and the way he handled the puck, he was the toughest one-on-one player I ever had to deal with."

The late Rick Martin, Perreault's longtime linemate in what was known as the French Connection (the Perreault, Martin, and Rene Robert line), admitted there were times when he was guilty of getting caught up watching Perreault work his magic. "He'd come down and make a move and you'd say, 'How the hell did he do that?'" Martin said. "The toughest part about playing with Gilbert is that you had to guard against just standing there watching him. But you had to keep in motion and make sure you were in position because eventually he'd decide that he was tired enough and now he was going to make a play."

Perreault was born in Victoriaville, Quebec, the town where Victoriaville hockey sticks are made, and he had one of those sticks in his hands at a very early age. He was a child prodigy; in fact, by the time he joined the Montreal Junior Canadiens, he was a can't-miss NHL prospect. During his last season as a junior, 1969–1970, Perreault was named MVP of the Ontario Hockey Association with 51 goals and 70 assists for 121 points in 54 games. Combined with his output of 37–60–97 in 54 games the year before, that added up to 88–130–218 in 108 games.

When a carnival-style wheel spin gave Buffalo the first pick in the 1970 NHL Draft, Perreault was set in place as the franchise cornerstone. "I wanted Gilbert Perreault as I had never wanted a hockey player before," Punch Imlach once said. "The hair just stood up on my neck at what he could do. He was a superstar in the making, the man the...