Gilbert Perreault

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Gilbert Perreault (born November 13, 1950 in Victoriaville, Quebec) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for seventeen seasons with the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL. Blessed with an uncanny ability to stickhandle in close quarters, he was one of the slickest playmaking centres ever to play the game.

Contents

1 Playing career
2 Retirement
3 Career achievements and facts
4 Career statistics
5 See also
6 External link

Playing career

In 1969 and 1970, Perreault was on the Memorial Cup-winning Montreal Junior Canadiens, which provoked a change in Memorial Cup eligibility rules. Previously, all Junior Clubs in Canada were eligible for the cup but the Junior Canadiens beat a club from Prince Edward Island so badly in the playoffs that Junior A was split into Major Junior and Junior A, with only the Major Junior clubs eligible for the trophy. The Junior Canadiens were so powerful that, astonishingly, they beat the Soviet national ice hockey team, 9-3 in an exhibition game in 1970.

In 1970 two new franchises were awarded in the NHL - Buffalo and the Vancouver Canucks. Buffalo, by the luck of the draw chosen by a roulette wheel, in which the number "11" came up for the Sabres, won the right to the first choice in the amateur draft. This was the first year that the Montreal Canadiens did not have a priority right to draft Quebecois junior players. Consequently, Perreault was available and taken first overall by the Sabres.

Because the Sabres were a new team in 1970, the broadcast crew was also inexperienced, and famously the television broadcast cut away one night as Perreault picked up the puck behind the net. They had incorrectly assumed that the whistle would blow for an icing infraction, only to have Ted Darling, the team's broadcaster, screaming into the microphone as they returned from the commercial describing Perreault's brilliant end to end rush and goal that the viewers had missed.

Perreault, wearing number #11 in honor of the roulette wheel's choice, became an immediate star, leading the Sabres in scoring -- a feat he would never fail to accomplish in any season in which he did not miss significant time to injury, before his penultimate year -- and winning rookie of the year honors. The line he famously played on for much of his career was known as The French Connection with Rene Robert on right wing and Rick Martin on left wing, and was one of the most renowned offensive combinations of the 1970s.

He was named to Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union but only saw activity in two games (4&5) and left the team before the series ended. In 1976, Canada hosted the first Canada Cup series and boasted what many believe is the greatest Canadian team ever assembled. Perreault played with superstars like Bobby Orr, Bobby Hull, Guy Lafleur, and Marcel Dionne. Perreault often played with Lafleur and Dionne, and the three formed a spectacular offensive unit. Canada won the series after beating Czechoslovakia in a best out of three. He later played in the 1981 Canada Cup on a line with Wayne Gretzky and Guy Lafleur. He was playing some of the best hockey of his career, leading all scorers with nine points in four games, when he was forced out of the tournament with a broken ankle. Team Canada lost the final to the USSR 8-1.

Perreault retired at the end of the 1986 season. Thereafter, pension changes came into effect significantly boosting the pensions of retired players who played at least twenty games in the 1987 season. He duly came out of retirement, and still played effectively, retiring for good after his twentieth game.

Retirement

He finished his career scoring 512 goals and 814 assists for 1326 points in 1191 games. At the time of his retirement, Perreault was the sixth leading scorer in NHL history. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990.

Since his retirement from hockey, Perreault has remained active in the game, coaching Junior teams in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Career achievements and facts

Tied with Marc Bergevin for 69th for most games played with 1191.
Currently 30th in all-time goals scored.
Currently 23rd in all-time assists scored.
Currently 26th in all-time points scored.
Won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1970.
Won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1973.
Named an NHL Second Team All-Star in 1976 and 1977.

Career statistics

Regular Season            Playoffs

Season Team Lge GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM

1970-71 Buffalo Sabres NHL 78 38 34 72 19 -- -- -- -- -- 1971-72 Buffalo Sabres NHL 76 26 48 74 24 -- -- -- -- -- 1972-73 Buffalo Sabres NHL 78 28 60 88 10 6 3 7 10 2 1973-74 Buffalo Sabres NHL 55 18 33 51 10 -- -- -- -- -- 1974-75 Buffalo Sabres NHL 68 39 57 96 36 17 6 9 15 10 1975-76 Buffalo Sabres NHL 80 44 69 113 45 9 4 4 8 4 1976-77 Buffalo Sabres NHL 80 39 56 95 30 6 1 8 9 4 1977-78 Buffalo Sabres NHL 79 41 48 89 20 8 3 2 5 0 1978-79 Buffalo Sabres NHL 79 27 58 85 20 3 1 0 1 2 1979-80 Buffalo Sabres NHL 80 40 66 106 57 14 10 11 21 8 1980-81 Buffalo Sabres NHL 56 20 39 59 56 8 2 10 12 2 1981-82 Buffalo Sabres NHL 62 31 42 73 40 4 0 7 7 0 1982-83 Buffalo Sabres NHL 77 30 46 76 34 10 0 7 7 8 1983-84 Buffalo Sabres NHL 73 31 59 90 32 -- -- -- -- -- 1984-85 Buffalo Sabres NHL 78 30 53 83 42 5 3 5 8 4 1985-86 Buffalo Sabres NHL 72 21 39 60 28 -- -- -- -- -- 1986-87 Buffalo Sabres NHL 20 9 7 16 6 -- -- -- -- --

NHL Totals      1191 512 814 1326  500  90  33 70 103 44

External link

Gilbert Perreault's stats at [hockeydb.com]

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