1970 Expansion Era

Lore & Background

The Sabres, along with the Vancouver Canucks, joined the NHL in the 1970–71 season. Their first owners were Seymour H. Knox III and Northrup Knox, along with Robert O. Swados. The team's name was chosen via a contest; the winning choice, 'Sabres', was chosen because Seymour Knox felt a saber was a weapon carried by a leader. The Sabres' debut in 1970 also coincided with the AFL–NFL merger in which the Buffalo Bills joined the National Football League, and the National Basketball Association's Buffalo Braves also began to play. The consensus was that the first pick in the 1970 NHL amateur draft would be junior phenomenon Gilbert Perreault. Either the Sabres or the Canucks would get the first pick, to be determined with the spin of a wheel of fortune. When league president Clarence Campbell spun the wheel, he initially thought the pointer landed on one, but it was actually on 11, handing Perreault to the Sabres. Perreault scored 38 goals in his rookie season of 1970–71, at the time a record for most goals scored by an NHL rookie, and he received the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year. During the team's second season, rookie Rick Martin, drafted fifth overall by Buffalo in 1971, and recently acquired Rene Robert joined Perreault to become one of the league's top forward lines in the 1970s. They were nicknamed 'The French Connection' after the movie of the same name and in homage to their French-Canadian roots. The Sabres made the playoffs for the first time in 1972–73, just the team's third year in the league, but lost in the quarterfinals in six games to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens. After the 1973–74 season, the Sabres did an odd moment at the 1974 NHL amateur draft: general manager Punch Imlach, annoyed at the length of the draft, decided to draft a fictitious Japanese player named Taro Tsujimoto; the pick was subsequently invalidated. That season, they tied for the best record in the NHL in the regular season. Buffalo advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in team history to play against the Philadelphia Flyers, a series which included the legendary Fog Game (game three of the series). The Sabres won that game thanks to Rene Robert's goal in overtime. However, Philadelphia would wind up taking the Stanley Cup in six games, winning the series 4–2. The French Connection era ended with Robert's trade to

In Their Own Story

The air inside the Aud was thick with cigarette smoke and anticipation. It was 1975, the Stanley Cup Finals. A Sabres jersey hung in the stands, gold shining under the arena lights. The crowd roared as the puck dropped, the sound echoing off the concrete walls. For one night, the dream of the Cup felt within reach.

Reader's Guide

The Sabres have twice advanced to the Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1975 and to the Dallas Stars in 1999. The Sabres, along with the Canucks, are the oldest active NHL franchises to have never won the Stanley Cup. The Sabres held the NHL record longest playoff drought in the NHL at 14 seasons, which occurred between the 2010–11 and 2025–26 seasons.

Did You Know?

• The Sabres' first pick in the 1970 NHL amateur draft was Gilbert Perreault, who went on to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year.
• The Sabres' first captain was Floyd Smith, who served in the role during the 1970–71 season, not Rick Martin.
• The Sabres' original team colors were blue, gold, and white; navy blue was not introduced until later rebrands.
• The Sabres have appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals twice: in 1975 and 1999.