This Day In Buffalo Sabres History

[bob_sauve28]

As requested by PA, I'll start this thread, but I do feel guilty because I'm basically stealing the info from the twitter account, but I guess anyone can post from whatever source including personal remembrances. Feel free to post other Buffalo sports history, I'm just starting it to focus on Sabres, but no problem expanding it.

 

Guess we won this trade! Love the cartoon, too!  

 

[French Collection]

2 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

As requested by PA, I'll start this thread, but I do feel guilty because I'm basically stealing the info from the twitter account, but I guess anyone can post from whatever source including personal remembrances. Feel free to post other Buffalo sports history, I'm just starting it to focus on Sabres, but no problem expanding it.

 

Guess we won this trade! Love the cartoon, too!  

 

Look at the prices for the booze.

[Stoner]

Take a bow, @Pimlach.

[Pimlach]

3 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Take a bow, @Pimlach.

That team was built as much with great trades as it was with drafting.  
 

Maybe Adams should read up.  

[Doohicksie]

5 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said:

As requested by PA, I'll start this thread, but I do feel guilty because I'm basically stealing the info from the twitter account, but I guess anyone can post from whatever source including personal remembrances. Feel free to post other Buffalo sports history, I'm just starting it to focus on Sabres, but no problem expanding it.

 

Guess we won this trade! Love the cartoon, too!  

 

No wonder everyone grew up a drunk in Buffalo:  Champagne for only $1.39???

[nfreeman]

9 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said:

As requested by PA, I'll start this thread, but I do feel guilty because I'm basically stealing the info from the twitter account, but I guess anyone can post from whatever source including personal remembrances. Feel free to post other Buffalo sports history, I'm just starting it to focus on Sabres, but no problem expanding it.

 

Guess we won this trade! Love the cartoon, too!  

 

I never knew about this trade.  Pretty interesting -- after their 1st season in the NHL, they traded a goalie for 2 guys who became mainstays.

[Pimlach]

33 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

I never knew about this trade.  Pretty interesting -- after their 1st season in the NHL, they traded a goalie for 2 guys who became mainstays.

Luce was the throw in, and ended up the best player in the deal, up to then a good  prospect that needed an opportunity.   

Robey only played a few years and then was sent to Vancouver (along with Tracy Pratt) for Josh Guevremont.  They added a strong puck mover with a hard low shot from the point.

Robey also played briefly for the Calder Cup winning Buffalo Bisons in their last season, he was brought in for the playoffs from the Central League.  Good player.  Liked to throw hip checks in open ice.  

[Doohicksie]

50 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Luce was the throw in, and ended up the best player in the deal, up to then a good  prospect that needed an opportunity.   

Robey only played a few years and then was sent to Vancouver (along with Tracy Pratt) for Josh Guevremont.  They added a strong puck mover with a hard low shot from the point.

Robey also played briefly for the Calder Cup winning Buffalo Bisons in their last season, he was brought in for the playoffs from the Central League.  Good player.  Liked to throw hip checks in open ice.  

Also turned into a great color analyst.

[KC Scouts]

12 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said:

As requested by PA, I'll start this thread, but I do feel guilty because I'm basically stealing the info from the twitter account, but I guess anyone can post from whatever source including personal remembrances. Feel free to post other Buffalo sports history, I'm just starting it to focus on Sabres, but no problem expanding it.

 

Guess we won this trade! Love the cartoon, too!  

 

Couldn't help but notice the Ad.....Southgate Liquors still there 53 year later........prices have changed a bit 🥃

[PerreaultForever]

5 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Luce was the throw in, and ended up the best player in the deal, up to then a good  prospect that needed an opportunity.   

Imlach certainly knew how to evaluate talent though and he had a way of finding diamonds in the rough. I mean, the greatest trade in history maybe Robert for Shack. 

[Pimlach]

4 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Imlach certainly knew how to evaluate talent though and he had a way of finding diamonds in the rough. I mean, the greatest trade in history maybe Robert for Shack. 

He picked up lot of useful players in the early years that helped get them competitive.   
 

Jim Lorentz was another steal, got him in trade for a draft pick that never played.  

[bob_sauve28]

 

[Stoner]

The Sabres will probably hire someone with no NHL coaching experience, have another great regular season then flame out in the playoffs again.

[bob_sauve28]

Smith grew up in Galt, Ontario, playing junior hockey with the Galt Black Hawks. He made his National Hockey League debut for the Boston Bruins, playing 3 games with the team in 1955, but he was mostly mired in the minors during the early portion of his career. He played 23 games with Boston over the next two seasons, while serving as a significant contributor[citation needed] on the Hershey Bears club. Smith then spent five years with the New York Rangers organization, reaching the NHL for a 29-game stint in 1961. During this period, he was a dominant force with the Springfield Indians, scoring 82 points in 71 games in 1960.[2]

In 1963, Smith finally earned a chance to become an NHL regular after being acquired by the Detroit Red Wings. He scored an NHL career-high 49 points during the 1965–66 season. He was part of a six-player blockbuster transaction in which he was traded along with Norm Ullman and Paul Henderson from the Red Wings to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Frank Mahovlich, Pete Stemkowski and Garry Unger on March 4, 1968. The Maple Leafs and Red Wings were in fifth and sixth place respectively at the bottom of the East Division standings at the time of the deal.[3] He was selected by the Buffalo Sabres during the 1970 expansion draft and served as the team's first captain.[4]

Smith became an assistant coach with the Sabres in 1972. The next year, he was hired as head coach of the team's top farm club, the AHL's Cincinnati Swords. He won a Calder Cup in the first of his two years with the team. In 1974, he became Buffalo's head coach, leading the team to a loss in the Stanley Cup Finals in his first year. However, the Sabres were eliminated in the second round the next two years, and he was fired at the end of the 1976-77 season.

He also coached the World Hockey Association's Cincinnati Stingers for the 1976–77 season and was Toronto Maple Leafs coach for the first 68 games of 1979–80 until being injured in a car accident on March 14, 1980, rendering him unable to fulfill his duties as coach for the remainder of the season. He remained with the Leafs as a scout until being promoted to general manager, a position he held for the 1989–90 and 1990–91 seasons.[1]

Smith resides in southern Erie County, New York.[5]

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Smith

[mphs mike]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

The Sabres will probably hire someone with no NHL coaching experience, have another great regular season then flame out in the playoffs again.

I believe it'll be Punch's last hire of a coach for the organization

[PerreaultForever]

On 5/26/2024 at 3:45 AM, Pimlach said:

He picked up lot of useful players in the early years that helped get them competitive.   
 

Jim Lorentz was another steal, got him in trade for a draft pick that never played.  

Excellent draft picks too. Once Taro Tsujimoto finally gets his green card he can play 3C for us. 

[dudacek]

In the 4th year of the Punch Imlach build - with a roster including Martin, Perreault, Robert, Schoenfeld, Luce, Ramsay, Dudley, Korab and Robitaille - the Sabres finished with just 76 points, after a feel-good 88 points (up from just 51) the year before.

I wonder what Sabrespace was saying.

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, dudacek said:

In the 4th year of the Punch Imlach build - with a roster including Martin, Perreault, Robert, Schoenfeld, Luce, Ramsay, Dudley, Korab and Robitaille - the Sabres finished with just 76 points, after a feel-good 88 points (up from just 51) the year before.

I wonder what Sabrespace was saying.

Pretty sure it was: losing Perreault, Schoeny, & Mickey to injury, Crozier to pancreatiitis, and the death of Horton was just too much to overcome and really messed up a promising year.

[dudacek]

35 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Pretty sure it was: losing Perreault, Schoeny, & Mickey to injury, Crozier to pancreatiitis, and the death of Horton was just too much to overcome and really messed up a promising year.

I tend to agree.

Not only were there legitimate reasons for the stall, but the fanbase was still in the honeymoon phase, not beaten down by a decade of constant disappointment and losing.

Oh for the misery of the late 70s again, when we wanted the GM fired because he wasn’t winning the cup.

Expectations.

Edited May 28 by dudacek

[bob_sauve28]

 

[Pimlach]

13 hours ago, dudacek said:

I tend to agree.

Not only were there legitimate reasons for the stall, but the fanbase was still in the honeymoon phase, not beaten down by a decade of constant disappointment and losing.

Oh for the misery of the late 70s again, when we wanted the GM fired because he wasn’t winning the cup.

Expectations.

Are you talking about season 4?  The fan base was still in love with the team.  The team was hit hard with injuries in season 4.   HC Joe Crozier paid the price though.   I thought replacing him with Floyd Smith and then Marcel Pronovost were both steps down.   

No one wanted the GM fired either.   By the late 70's it was a mild shocker when Imlach was removed, but replacing him with Bowman was re-energizing for the fan base (but not for many of the players).  

[Stoner]

8 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Are you talking about season 4?  The fan base was still in love with the team.  The team was hit hard with injuries in season 4.   HC Joe Crozier paid the price though.   I thought replacing him with Floyd Smith and then Marcel Pronovost were both steps down.   

No one wanted the GM fired either.   By the late 70's it was a mild shocker when Imlach was removed, but replacing him with Bowman was re-energizing for the fan base (but not for many of the players).  

Punch, did you love your flawed core too much? Seems 1976 or 1977 would have been a good time to shake things up. In my mind's eye I see you taking your cap off and wiping your glistening, never ending forehead with the back of your hand before answering.

79-80 was quite a comeback year for the team though.

Edited May 28 by PASabreFan

[Pimlach]

6 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Punch, did you love your flawed core too much? Seems 1976 or 1977 would have been a good time to shake things up. In my mind's eye I see you taking your cap off and wiping your glistening, never ending forehead with the back of your hand before answering.

79-80 was quite a comeback year for the team though.

No.  I tried to add more two way players, but the other GMs reluctant to deal.  

Drafting Seiling over Bossy - We knew Bossy was going to score goals, but we needed more two way players.  This was a mistake drafting for need, not BPA.  

Trading McNabb for Savard - I hated him spouting off about the fans.  Only I can be outspoken like that.  I sent Mahovlich packing, so why not this kid?  Savard had the checking game we needed, but I should have sent McNabb to rot out on the West Coast.  

The only thing wrong with my core was finding a healthy goalie to withstand the playoffs.  That was the difference in the Cup series and afterwards.  Edwards and Sauve took a little time and Bowman benefited from them more than I did.  

[Stoner]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

No.  I tried to add more two way players, but the other GMs reluctant to deal.  

Drafting Seiling over Bossy - We knew Bossy was going to score goals, but we needed more two way players.  This was a mistake drafting for need, not BPA.  

Trading McNabb for Savard - I hated him spouting off about the fans.  Only I can be outspoken like that.  I sent Mahovlich packing, so why not this kid?  Savard had the checking game we needed, but I should have sent McNabb to rot out on the West Coast.  

The only thing wrong with my core was finding a healthy goalie to withstand the playoffs.  That was the difference in the Cup series and afterwards.  Edwards and Sauve took a little time and Bowman benefited from them more than I did.  

Yes yes. But did Dodo cut the crust off your sammy?

[bob_sauve28]