Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Three former teammates of Buffalo Sabres legend René Robert joined Andrew Peters, Craig Rivet and Rob Ray during "The Instigators" on Wednesday to remember the Sabres Hall of Famer, who died on Tuesday after suffering a heart attack last week in Florida.
Danny Gare stayed very close to Robert right up until the end.
“It’s been a tough, tough couple of days," the former Sabres captain said. "About a week ago, I got a call that he had a massive heart attack, and it was real difficult because I played golf with him about a month ago. We talked just about every other day, and he was saying about getting back to see his kids in Toronto. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, but his son and his daughter did at least get down there to say goodbye to him.”
Back in the 1970s, the players were all very close. They went out and did things together, and Gare is going to miss that with Robert.
“I’m going to miss the fact that we can’t talk about those days," Gare said. "I’m going to miss the fact that I can’t golf with him anymore. But his memory will be there forever, and he was a special guy.
“He was just a great person, a special teammate, a special friend and our heart go out to his family and his children.”
Gare wasn’t with the Sabres right when Robert arrived, but two years later, he was drafted by the club and showed up for his rookie season.
“That was 1974 when I went to training camp in St. Catharines," Gare recalled. "I remember playing my junior in Calgary and watching the first year the Sabres made it to the playoffs. It was amazing to see a young team take the [Montreal] Canadiens to six games and the fans said, ‘Thank you, Sabres! Thank you, Sabres!’ They stood up after they lost Game 6 and I said, ‘Wow, what a great thing to see.’ A big part of it was the 'French Connection,' so that’s when I met [Robert] when I came to training camp and I was a bit in awe of René and Gilbert [Perreault] and 'Rico' [Rick Martin], almost to a point where I wanted to ask them for their autograph.”
Gare said he couldn’t become friends with those guys right when he got to camp, but that all happened as the season went on.
“It was tough, because everybody was competing for jobs," he said. "We gelled as a team that year and went on to make the [Stanley Cup] Finals, and René was a competitive player. He worked hard, and what I enjoyed about him was he hated to lose. The bigger the game, the better he played.”
Some thought Robert was difficult at times, but Gare said that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
“He came across as this rough, gruff guy, but really he was a pussy cat in his heart," Gare recalled. "He was just a caring, giving guy, and we got to spend some great, great time [together]. I’m going to miss him.”
Gare’s numbers with the Sabres were very similar to Robert’s. In 503 games with Buffalo, Gare went on to register 267 goals and 233 assists for 500 points. As for Robert, he dressed for 524 games in a Sabres uniform, scoring 222 goals and adding 330 assists for 552 points.
“He had an amazing career here," Gare said of Robert. "When you look at René, he was that final piece of the puzzle for the '[French] Connection.' "He came as an unknown, really, from Pittsburgh [Penguins], and he was still 23, very young. Joe Crozier found a fit and put him with Gilbert and 'Rico,' and, boy, they never looked back. He just rose to the occasion when needed.
"René wanted to be a difference maker. He wanted to win, and I really feel he wanted everybody to be better, especially the guys on his line. He pushed Gilbert and he pushed 'Rico.'"
To be successful, a line has to have many ingredients. Gare said the "French Connection" had that in spades.
“Where René complimented those guys is he could shoot and he could play make, and he had the desire and the will to become a better player.”
Ray has been a leader for the Buffalo Sabres Alumni ever since he retired in 2004. He said Robert never lost sight of the history of the team.
“He was always the guy that wanted to make sure that guys were taken care of when they were having issues," Ray said. "He wanted to make sure that nobody was left out and everybody was taken care of.”
Perreault was the first player ever drafted by the Sabres when he was taken first overall in 1970. Perreault has been the best player in Sabres history since that date, and he was shocked about his linemates death
“I talked to René on June 6, and that was the last time," Perreault said. "A few days later, somebody called me and said René had a major heart attack, and I was so surprised because René always kept in shape and took care of what he was eating. So I was so surprised. I couldn’t believe it. It’s very sad.
“We kept in touch all the time. We were able to see each other a few times every year, and we were great friends.”
Perreault, of course, was the man that made the "French Connection" go, but he’s always been very humble and gives all the credit to Robert and Martin.
“I was lucky to play with two great goal scorers," Perreault admired of his linemates. "Rick and René were scoring 50, 40 goals a year, and it was an easy game for the middle guy. We knew where we were on the ice, we’d practice all kinds of plays, crisscrosses or whatever, and they always scored the big goal at the right time. We were doing amazing things on the ice. We were all over the place, and we weren’t even looking. Just make a pass and he was there.”
Many think it was lucky that the Sabres got Robert and he turned into a Sabres legend. Perreault said the general manger, at the time, knew exactly what he was doing.
“Punch Imlach had René in Toronto, and he wanted to send him to the minors in Rochester. Joe Crozier was coaching, so Punch knew René very well and he made an amazing trade there," Perreault recalled. "René got along with everybody on the team, and it was successful right away.”
Perreault was happy to see Robert arrive in Buffalo and immediately step onto his line, because he had played against him as teenagers.
“I knew what kind of player he was, because I saw him in junior and he was a big star in Trois-Rivieres," Perreault said. "He had that great speed, great shot, and great vision of the game, and it was an easy game for me and for 'Rico' to play with. I was very lucky to play with those guys.”
Hockey players love to kid around with each other, and nobody jokes around more than Perreault.
“René was an easy one to get going," Perreault said. "I remember one game when we were playing against Cleveland and the game was 12-4, or something like that, and René didn’t have any points. He was mad after the game, because we had four or five [points] each, so we told René, 'How come you didn’t have any points?' So the next game, all of a sudden, René Robert had like five points and we didn’t have any. So we were having fun, and we knew each other very well.”
Because of COVID-19, Perreault hadn’t seen Robert for a while.
"The last time I saw him was at the golf tournament before COVID," Perreault said. "René would always say to me, 'Sing me a song,' and he’d always bug me with that. So I had to sing him a song and I’d say, ‘René, if I sing one to you, you’ve got to sing one in French to me.''
Don Luce was Gare’s center back in their days with the Sabres. They, along with Craig Ramsay, would be next to jump on the opposition after the "French Connection" was done with them.
Luce was very good friends with Robert, even after their playing days.
“René sometimes had a crusty attitude, and I think if you met him at the wrong time, you might get the wrong impression. But he had a heart of gold and was a real good person," Luce said of Robert. "I played with him in Buffalo for years, and we finished up our careers together up in Toronto. He was such a great guy, a great competitor, a great teammate, and really a fun guy to be around. We had a lot of good laughs together, and it’s very sad.”
Luce was already in Buffalo when Robert arrived in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“I met René in 1972, and I felt right away that he was coming to Buffalo with a mission to prove that he could play in the National Hockey League," Luce recalled. "The last time I talked to him was last week, and everything seemed to be going good. He was very positive and things were all on track. Then all of a sudden, out of the blue, he’s gone.”
Luce has a very dry sense of humor. He’s somebody that can always make me laugh when I see him, and he, of course, would needle Robert.
"I always kidded René that he came with a chip on his shoulder, and I figure that’s the one thing that they left off the statue in front of the rink was the chip on his shoulder," Luce said. "I’d always tease him about that, because he’s always seem to have a little bit of an attitude about trying to prove that he was a good player. We’d make jokes of it, but I think it helped change his attitude a little bit."
Gare, Ray and Robert were always at the Sabres' caravan events in different cities, which were always packed to the ceiling with Sabres fans. Ray knew Robert very well and said he wanted to be the life of things.
"He wanted to be the center of attention, because he had a knack of pulling people together. He had a knack of putting smiles on people’s faces," Ray said. "He was a guy that I respected, because he wouldn’t sugarcoat things. If you asked René a question, he would tell you the truth. Being in the position of running the Alumni, there’s plenty of times where I would get opinions from guys on the board on a major decision and I would think, 'You know who I’m going to ask? I’m going to ask René, and René’s going to give me an honest opinion.' I respected that, and he did so much. He didn’t need the fanfare or 'look what I did.'"
Robert died at the age of 72.