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New Sabres’ owner Terry Pegula with the famed French Connection line – from left – Rene Robert, Rick Martin and Gilbert Perreault.

Sunday was a sad day for Buffalo Sabres’ fans, and the organization, as the news of the passing of French Connection legend Rick Martin became public. Martin was a bonafide superstar in the earliest years of the franchise, and a key player in the club’s quick rise from an expansion team in 1970 to playoff team in 1973, and Stanley Cup contender in ’74-75, when they lost to Philadelphia in the Finals. When the Knox brothers were awarded the franchise prior to 1970 they made the wise decision to hire Punch Imlach as coach and general manager, and Imlach’s first two number one draft choices were brilliant, as he picked 2 players who would help form one of hockey’s most famous lines ever – Gilbert Perreault and Martin. At the time, when professional sports added expansion franchises, they did little to help those teams. They would usually get to pick old, washed-up players in an expansion draft and take a decade or more to develop into competent teams (baseball’s New York Mets and Houston Colts/Astros, added in 1962, are good examples). But Imlach did what was considered impossible back then – he built a team that qualified for the playoffs by their third season. The Sabres were beaten in six games by a powerhouse Montreal Canadiens club but in the waning moments of the deciding game, they were chanted with “Thank you, Sabres” by an appreciative home crowd. The team took a bigger step forward the following season when they advanced to the Cup Finals, losing to the defending champion Philadelphia Flyers in 6 games. The Flyers had an intimidating, stifling team and much superior goaltending, with Bernie Parent, probably the best in the NHL at the time, matched up against Gerry DesJardins, who had been signed at midseason, and an aging Roger Crozier. Martin was a standout in the ’73 series loss to the Canadiens, totaling 5 points (3 goals) in the 6 games. Martin was just as good in the 1974 run to the Finals, racking up 7 goals and 8 assists for a total of 15 points, in 17 total playoff games. The Sabres this time eliminated the vaunted Canadiens in the semifinals. Martin was all of 23 years old at the time. “Rico” is second to Perreault on the team’s all-time goal scoring list, even though he’s ninth on the list in career games played, playing 681 games with the team compared to 1,191 for Perreault. Unfortunately Martin’s career was cut short by a devastating knee injury that forced him to retire at the age of 30. He has yet to be voted into the sport’s hall of fame, probably held back by the lack of total numbers due to the injury-shortened career. Martin’s biggest asset as a player was his wicked slap shot. Bobby Hull was always considered to have the hardest shot of any player in history, but Martin’s coach, Joe Crozier, once said “Hull may have the harder shot, but Rick gets his away quicker and is always on target.” He had a reputation for having a hair-trigger with his shot, and for it being so hard that it routinely would knock goaltender’s gloves off their hands. He was truly what hockey experts refer to as a “sniper”, a natural goal scorer.

After he retired, Martin was a successful businessman, owning a bar that was appropriately named Slap Shot. He was active in the Sabres’ alumni association and participated in many charity golf events, and was a supporter of local law enforcement. Those who knew him say that what they’ll miss most about him is his sense of humor and his general all-around “regular guy” personna.