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Jeff Seide
The Hockey Writers
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Sabres with 100-Point Seasons
Reaching the 100-point mark is a special feat for NHL players. It’s an outstanding offensive achievement that speaks to talent, consistency and determination.
The century club has long been the gold standard for scoring. It’s an exclusive club, started by Boston Bruins’ forward Phil Esposito who scored 126 points (49 goals and 77 assists) during the 1968-69 season. Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe also registered 100 points that season, but Esposito was the first to reach 100-points.
This article recounts all of the Buffalo Sabres players who are members of the NHL’s 100-point club.
Honorable Mention
Dale Hawerchuk nearly hit the 100-point plateau during the 1991-92 season, leading the Sabres with 98 points (23 goals and 75 assists). Hawerchuk was a consistent point producer during his entire career. He had six 100-point seasons with the Winnipeg Jets and hit the 80-point mark in the first 13 seasons of his 16-season career.
Related: Jets with 100-Point Seasons
Hawerchuk was inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame in 2012.
Rene Robert
Member of the Sabres 100-Point Club
Recorded 100 points (40 goals, 60 assists) in 74 games in 1974-75.
Rene Robert was the first Sabre to hit the 100-point mark. The undrafted native from Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, was the right winger on one of the greatest scoring lines in the history of professional hockey–the fabled “French Connection.”
Related: The French Connection
Robert was traded by the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Sabres for Eddie Shack. “I came to Buffalo and [head coach Punch Imlach] told me I was going to be playing on the right side with Perreault and Martin,” said a shrugging Robert. “I said, I really don’t know what to do. He said, ‘Just be a garbage collector.'”
From 1972-79, Robert along with Gilbert Perreault and Richard Martin formed the French Connection. They tormented goalies with their playmaking, speed and natural talent. Robert was a great playmaker, routinely dishing the puck to Martin and Perreault for goals. The moment defenders began overplaying Martin and Perreault, they’d simply feed the puck back to Robert. Their unselfishness made for a line that had no weakness.
Robert, a right winger, was the first player in Sabres history to score more than 100 points in a season. In 1974-75, he had a career year scoring 40 goals (10th most in the NHL) and 60 assists (also 10th most in the NHL) for 100 points (seventh in the race for the Art Ross Trophy). Of his 100 points, 26 goals and 33 assists came at even strength.
Robert was selected to his second All-Star game of his career that season, being named a Second Team All-Star Left Wing, behind Guy Lafleur of the Montreal Canadiens. That season, the Sabres reached the Stanley Cup finals before losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games.
In just eight seasons, Robert amassed 222 goals and 330 assists, a total of 552 points, including 32 game-winners in 524 games and scored 22 goals and had 39 points in playoff games. In 1975, he was voted team MVP. Today, he ranks sixth on the Sabres all-time points list and ninth on the their all-time goal scoring list.
Robert didn’t get as much of the spotlight as his linemates, but he was fine with that. His quiet, giving and humble play was for the greater good. A tremendous teammate on the ice, Robert was also a sincere community guy as well, quick to partake in benefits and fundraisers for worthwhile causes.
Robert was inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame in 1989. His No. 14 was retired by the franchise in 1995.
Gilbert Perreault
Two-time Member of the Sabres 100-Point Club
Recorded 113 points (44 goals, 69 assists) in 80 games in 1975-76.
Recorded 106 points (40 goals, 66 assists) in 80 games in 1979-80.
Perreault broke the 100 point barrier twice. In 1975-76, he scored 44 goals and assisted on 69 for 113 points in 80 games, good for third most points in the league. Of his 113 points, 30 goals and 40 points came at even strength.
In 1979-80, Perreault finished with 106 points on 40 goals and 66 assists in 80 games, ranking fourth in the league. Of his 106 points, 30 goals and 38 assists came at even strength.
“I saw this guy coming down the ice, his feet were 15 feet apart and he’s pulling all these kind of moves in between the legs of these guys,” said Montreal Canadiens Hall of Famer, Larry Robinson. “Probably one of the most beautiful skaters that you’ll ever see. He was a nightmare to play against.”
Perreault was the first player ever drafted by the franchise as well as its heart and soul. The 1970 first-overall pick wore No. 11 and played his entire career–1191 games–with the Sabres. The smooth skating center still holds nearly every major offensive record for the Buffalo Sabres – most goals (512), most assists (814) and most points (1,326).
The Victoriaville, Quebec native was the center for the French Connection. The trio was as close off the ice as they were on the ice and their chemistry translated directly into points. In the 1974-75 season, the line vaulted the Sabres into the playoffs. Robert collected 100 points, Martin 95 points and Perreault contributed 96 points. They each finished in the top ten NHL points for the season.
Perreault was inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame in 1989, into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990, and his No. 11 was retired by the franchise in 1995.
Pierre Turgeon
Member of the Sabres and Islanders 100-Point Club
Recorded 106 points (40 goals, 66 assists) in 80 games in 1989-90.
Turgeon was taken with the first overall pick by the Sabres at the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. He arrived in Buffalo as a kid unable to speak a word of English.
By 1989-90, in just his third season in the NHL, he tallied 106 points, good for seventh in the NHL in scoring and a trip to the All-Star Game. Of his 106 points, 22 goals and 36 assists came at even strength.
The 1989-90 season was also a significant one for the Sabres. They finished third overall in the NHL with 98 points, before suffering a six-game playoff elimination at the hands of Montreal. Three years previous, Buffalo had placed last overall with just 64 points, a finish that put them in position to select Turgeon first overall in the entry draft.
After playing 322 games for the Sabres, Turgeon was dealt to the New York Islanders in a blockbuster deal. On Oct. 25, 1991, the Sabres acquired Pat LaFontaine, Randy Wood and Randy Hillier from New York while sending Turgeon to the Island along with Benoit Hogue, Dave McIlwain and Uwe Krupp.
With the Isles, Turgeon also had an incredible 132-point season (58 goals, 74 assists) in 1992-93. In 1,294 games over 19 seasons, Turgeon scored 515 goals and 1,327 points. He ranks 38th all-time in goals and 32nd in points.
Alexander Mogilny
Member of the Sabres and Canucks 100-Point Club
Recorded 127 points (76 goals, 51 assists) in 77 games in 1992-93.
Mogilny had two 100-point seasons, one with the Sabres and one with the Canucks in 1995-96 (a 107-point season with 55 goals and 52 assists.
Mogilny was a fifth round pick by the Sabres in 1988. The fourth of his six seasons with the Sabres, 1992-93, was beyond special. He poured in 127 points with an incredible 76-goal performance in only 77 games. With his 51 assists, he ranked seventh in the race for the Art Ross Trophy. Astonishingly, the Russian didn’t win the NHL goal-scoring lead that season. He shared it with Teemu Selanne, who also potted 76 goals.
The chemistry between Mogilny and Pat LaFontaine was like no other, they were on the same wavelength and a force every game. Mogilny was a rocket, blazing with speed. LaFontaine had the softest hands and a skill for finding open ice.
Mogilny finished the season with seven hat-tricks including three in four games, two four-goal games and a stretch where he scored 23 goals in 13 games. Of his 127 points, 49 goals and 29 assists came at even strength.
His 76 goals and 127 points set the highest season totals ever for a Russian NHL player until fellow countryman Nikita Kucherov scored 128 points in the 2018-19 season. It remains the highest goal total in Sabres franchise history.
Mogilny retired in 2006 and returned to Russia. In 2011 he was inducted in the Sabres’ Hall of Fame.
Pat LaFontaine
Member of the Sabres and Islanders 100-Point Club
Recorded 148 points (53 goals, 95 assists) in 84 games in 1992-93.
LaFontaine had his first 100-point season with the New York Islanders in 1989-90, a 105-point season (54 goals, 51 assists). But during the 1991-92 season, the Sabres acquired their future captain along with Randy Wood and Randy Hillier in exchange for Turgeon, Benoit Hogue, Dave McIlwain and Uwe Krupp.
In 1992, his second season with the Sabres, LaFontaine scored 53 goals with 95 assists for a career-best 148 points. It still stands as a single-season Sabres franchise record and at the time was the most by an American-born player. The 27-year-old center was a finalist for the Hart Trophy and finished second in the league scoring race behind Pittsburgh Penguins center Mario Lemieux.
During the unbelievable season LaFontaine had 24 multi-point games, including a stretch in which he had 11 points in three games over a four-day span. He had a season-high five assists during an 11-6 win over the New York Rangers. Of his 148 points, 31 goals and 52 assists came at even strength.
Due to a string of concussions, LaFontaine only played one more full season (and several shortened seasons) in the NHL after his incredible 92-93 campaign. Although he played for three teams in his career, he never left the state of New York (having played for the Rangers, the Islanders, and the Sabres). And after retiring he remained in the state, serving as an executive for Buffalo. However, he didn’t stay long in the position, as he soon resigned so as to return to his previous job, serving as the Vice President of development and community affairs for the NHL.
“He made everybody around him so much better,” said legendary broadcaster Rick Jeanneret. “LaFontaine set up Mogilny left and right.”
LaFontaine was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003, was inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame in 2005, and his No. 16 was retired by the franchise in 2006.
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