A Buffalo Tale (and How Incredibly Hard it is to Win a Stanley Cup)

This is going to seem like a bizarre article to post on a blog devoted to our Penguins. But I’ve been thinking a lot about the Buffalo Sabres lately and one thought led to another.

After losing 13 games in a row (0-10-3) in mostly inglorious fashion, I was heartened to see the Sabres won their second-straight game last night, a 6-2 thrashing of the Blackhawks. I would guess the recent return from IR of team captain and stud defenseman Rasmus Dahlin has and will continue to greatly help their cause moving forward.

I stated in a recent article I would gladly swap rosters with the Sabres. They possess a ton of talented young players, many age 25 or under, but for whatever reasons struggle to turn the corner.

In some ways the Sabres and Penguins fortunes are linked. During the NHL’s epic 1967 expansion, Buffalo was supposed to get the franchise that wound up going to Pittsburgh, thanks in no small part to an 11^th-hour intervention by Steelers owner Art Rooney, Sr.

Buffalo would have to wait four years before being granted an NHL franchise, entering the league in 1970-71 along with Vancouver.

As for those links I referred to? No fewer than six former Pens skated for the inaugural Sabres squad, including Paul Andrea, Doug Barrie, Joe Daley, Jean-Guy Lagace, Mike McMahon and rugged defenseman Tracy Pratt.

With his faltering club lagging in the chase for a playoff spot in the spring of 1972, Pens GM Jack Riley famously acquired veteran winger Eddie “the Entertainer” Shack from the Sabres for promising up-and-comer René Robert.

The swap had the desired effect, albeit only in the short-run. Shack heated up and was a driving force in the Pens’ playoff push, which was aided by a last-second Sabres victory over the Flyers on the final day of the regular season. One that allowed us to squeak into the playoffs.

However, the 23-year-old Robert had enormous potential. While the aging Shack faded out, Robert struck for 40 goals in ’72-73 and helped pace the Sabres to their first winning season. Thanks to some incredibly astute trades and drafting by then-GM Punch Imlach, almost overnight the Sabres became a powerhouse.

By ’74-75 they were arguably the best team in the league. Certainly the most dynamic. The famed French Connection Line (pictured) of Rick Martin, Robert and Gilbert Perreault combined for a staggering 131 goals and 291 points.

Talk about firepower! The team boasted three other 30-goal men, center Don Luce, and rugged wingers Rick Dudley and hot-shot rookie Danny Gare. Jim Lorenz, Craig Ramsay and hulking Peter McNab scored 20 or better. All told a dozen players, including future Pen Brian Spencer, reached double-figures in goals.

On defense, the Sabres featured smooth-skating Jocelyn Guevremont and rock-steady Bill Hajt, aided and abetted by the nasty and very capable “Muscle Beach” tandem of Jerry “King Kong” Korab and Jim Schoenfeld.

In the playoffs, the Sabres blew past Chicago in the opening round and bested Montréal in six games in the Semi-Finals, the last team to beat the Canadiens before they embarked on their dynastic run of four Cups.

Unfortunately for the Sabres, their storybook season ended in the Final. While their heretofore potent forwards struggled to solve Flyers Hall-of-Famer Bernie Parent, Buffalo’s Achilles heel…so-so goaltending…was exposed.

Arguably one of the best teams never to win a Stanley Cup, certainly of that era, fell to Philly in six games.

Although the Sabres remained one of the league’s premier teams for several seasons, they couldn’t get past their own version of Kryptonite, the rising New York Islanders. They wouldn’t return to the Final until the late ‘90s, ironically, thanks to the exploits of all-world goalie Dominik Hašek.

The point I’m trying to make?

Despite icing some very talented teams like the ’74-75 juggernaut, 55 years since their inception the Sabres have yet to win a Stanley Cup, nor are they likely to in the foreseeable future. Which serves to underscore just how extraordinarily difficult a feat it is.

Everything, and I mean everything, has to fall into place.

On the flip side, how blessed we are as Penguins fans to have celebrated five Cups!

Cherish the memories and the accomplishment. Winning a Cup is truly an exceptional event. One that might not happen again in these parts for a very long time.

If ever.