Rene Robert is best known in hockey for his time with the Buffalo Sabers, where he was a member of the famed “French Connection” Line with Gilbert Perreault and Rick Martin.  Robert helped Buffalo reach the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals (they would lose to Philadelphia), and that was the season where he would be chosen to be a Second Team All-Star.  A two-time All-Star, Robert averaged nearly a Point per Game over his career, scoring 702 Points over 744 Games.

A lot of the success of the Buffalo Sabres can be claimed by their netminder, Don Edwards.  Edwards was twice named a Second Team All Star (1978 & 1980), the second of which was a Vezina Trophy winning campaign (along with Bob Sauve). 

A member of the famed United States “Miracle on Ice” team, Mike Ramsey, continued his run as a defensive anchor in an over 1,000-game career in the National Hockey League.  Ramsey played most of his career with the Buffalo Sabers, where his well-above-average defensive skill was complemented by five seasons of 30 or more Points.  A four-time All-Star, Ramsey received votes for the Norris Trophy (finishing as high as seventh) four times and would represent the U.S. in two Canada Cups.

It has been speculated for some time that Daniel Briere would be retiring this off season.  That has apparently come to fruition as the 37 year old forward has announced that he is officially retiring from the game from hockey. 

An undersized Centre, Briere would break in to league with the Phoenix Coyotes, but it was his season with the Buffalo Sabres in the 2006-07 season where he really turned heads, finishing with 95 Points and securing his first All Star Game appearance.  Statistically, that would be his best season, but it would be with his next team, the Philadelphia Flyers, that he would have greater success. 

Briere would lead everyone in scoring in the 2010 Playoffs in Philadelphia’s failed Stanley Cup run and two years later would lead the league in Playoff Goals.  His overall playoff production saw him net 116 Points in 124 Games.

Daniel Briere retires with 696 Points and two All Star Game appearances.  This is not likely to be a good enough career for the Hockey Hall of Fame, but probably for the back end of our list once eligible.



We have moved Briere to the 2018 Hockey Futures accordingly.

As part of Buffalo’s vaunted “French Connection” line, Rick Martin was part of the most exciting lines in hockey in the 1970s. Martin was a lethal sniper and once he mastered his defensive skills was one of the better two-way players in hockey. With two 50 goal seasons (not exactly easy in the ’70s) and as a perennial All-Star, Martin should have enjoyed some success in the ’80s and have a steady decline into his 30’s the way most star players do. Sadly, a brutal injury in November of 1980 essentially put an end to his career, and he only played a handful of games after. Had Rick Martin made it through at least a few of the free-wheeling 80’s, his career stats would have likely been padded sufficiently to make the Hall. Currently, he remains one of the top stars of the 70’s on the outside looking in.

Though the focus on the 1970s Buffalo Sabers lay with the French Connection line, Danny Gare showcased a few seasons that matched what any sniper was doing at the time. Gare enjoyed a pair of 50-goal seasons and was even the co-goal-scoring champion in the 1979-1980 campaign. The scrappy star’s game tailed off after being traded to Detroit, but Gare had enough impact to have his jersey retired in Buffalo. It is unlikely, though, that he can receive a similar accolade in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

It took a while before Miroslav Satan found his groove in pro hockey, but once he did, he emerged as one of the scoring stars for the Buffalo Sabres in the late ’90s. Satan was good, but leading Buffalo in scoring still did not place him among the NHL's elite in that category. Possibly his most significant highlight in hockey was leading Slovakia to the World Championship in 2002. He also got a Stanley Cup Ring with the Penguins, but was not among the team leaders.  Satan would finish his career playing in Europe, and he represented Slovakia in the World Hockey Championships an astronomical 14 times.