Danny Gare: The NHL's Rookie Sensation Who Made History in Just 18 Seconds!

On October 10, 1974, the Buffalo Sabres faced off against the Boston Bruins at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, marking the commencement of the 1974-75 season. DannyGare, selected in the second round, had already showcased his prowess with an impressive 68-goal season in the WHL playing for the Calgary Centennials, and now, he was poised to leave his mark in the NHL.

And leave his mark, he certainly did. Just 18 seconds into the game, Gare netted his inaugural NHL goal, receiving assists from Craig Ramsay and Don Luce against Boston's goaltender, Gilles Gilbert. As if that weren't enough, Gare also contributed an assist on Ramsay's goal during the second period, culminating in a two-point performance for the rookie.

This feat remains the second fastest goal scored at the start of an NHL career, with Gus Bodnar of the Toronto Maple Leafs holding the record for a 15-second goal during his debut on October 30, 1943, against the New York Rangers. Alex Mogilny came close to Gare's record, scoring at the 20-second mark during his first game with the Sabres in the 1989-90 season.

Gare's scoring prowess didn't diminish throughout the season. He concluded the campaign with 31 goals and 31 assists, totaling 62 points. Moreover, he added seven more goals during the playoffs, where the Sabres advanced to the final before falling to the Philadelphia Flyers. Gare's exceptional performance earned him third place in the Calder Trophy voting for NHL rookie of the year, trailing behind Eric Vail and Pierre Larouche.

Entering his second season, Gare defied any notions of a sophomore slump. In the 1975-76 season, he notched an impressive 50 goals, becoming only the second player in Sabres history to achieve this milestone. Rick Martin held the record with 52 goals in the 1973-74 season. Gare, Martin, Alex Mogilny, and Pat Lafontaine stand as the only four players in franchise history to surpass the 50-goal mark in a single season, with Gare and Martin accomplishing this feat twice.

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1979-80 NHL Goal Scoring Log Jam

1979-80 was the first year of the WHA expansion in the National Hockey League. When the World Hockey Association ceased operations after the 1978-79 season, the Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques joined the NHL with depleted rosters.

It was the first year since Phil Esposito scored 55 goals in 1972-73 that the league leader finished the season with less than 60. It also marked the only time in NHL history that three players tied for the goal scoring lead, all with 56.

Charlie Simmer – Los Angeles Kings

Today, the Rocket Richard Trophy is awarded to the player in the NHL with the most goals during the regular season. Previous to 1998-99, the goal scoring leader was not honoured with any hardware. In 1979-80, the Rocket Richard Trophy would have went to Charlie Simmer of the Los Angeles Kings. Although there were three tied atop the NHL, Simmer scored his 56 in just 64 games.

Playing on the Triple Crown Line with the great MarcelDionne and Dave Taylor helped Simmer reach the same goal total in the following season. These were the only two 50 goal seasons in Simmer’s injury hampered career. Between 1974-75 and 1987-88 played just 712 of a possible 1,200 regular season games and scored 342 goals. Simmer was originally drafted by the California Seals. Although with the Seals and Kings, Charlie also played for the Cleveland Barons, Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins during his career.

 

Danny Gare – Buffalo Sabres

Danny Gare of the Buffalo Sabres scored his 56 goals in 76 games. It was the second of two times that Gare would reach the 50 goal plateau over his 13 year NHL career, scoring exactly 50 for the Sabres in 1975-76. Danny finished his career with 354 goals in 827 regular season games. He was a second round pick of the Sabres in 1974 and also played for the Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers.

Blaine Stoughton – Hartford Whalers

Blaine Stoughton played the full 80 schedule for the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80. It was his first of two 50 goal seasons, scoring 52 for the Whalers in 1981-82. Stoughton was originally the seventh overall pick at the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He played just 34 of 526 NHL games with the Penguins.

Blaine played major league pro hockey from 1973-74 to 1983-84. In the NHL, he played for the Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Whaler and New York Rangers. Stoughton had a three year stint in the WHA from 1976-77 to 1978-79, playing for the Cincinnati Stingers, Indianapolis Racers and New England Whalers. Blaine scored 52 goals for the Stingers in his first year in the World Hockey Association.

NHL Hockey Trivia: The Stanley Cup

The Stanley Cup is the holy grail of hockey. Lord Stanley’s Mug is handed to the National Hockey League’s playoff champion each season. Test your knowledge and broaden your hockey horizons with the following four bits of trivia.

Q. What was the first non-‘Original Six’ NHL team to win the Stanley in the post expansion era?

A. The Philadelphia Flyers, known as the ‘Broad Street Bullies’ won the Stanley Cup with a victory over the Boston Bruins in the 1974 Stanley Cup. The Flyers would repeat the accomplishment the following season with a victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Those were the only two times the Flyers have ever won the Cup, although Philadelphia reached the finals in 1975-76 against the Montreal Canadiens, 1979-80 against the New York Islanders, 1984-85 and 1986-87 against the Edmonton Oilers, 1996-97 against the Detroit Red Wings and 2009-10 against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Flyers entered the NHL for the 1967-68 season. Previous to their first Stanley Cup championship in 1973-74, Philadelphia had won just one playoff series. In 1972-73, the Flyers knocked off the Minnesota North Stars in the quarter-finals before falling to the Montreal Canadiens in the semi-finals.

Q. Unfortunately, there are defunct franchises throughout the history of the NHL. What was the last now-defunct team to win the Stanley Cup?

A. The Montreal Maroons were the darlings of the English population in Montreal. The Maroons won the Stanley Cup in 1935. In that 1934-35 NHL season, Montreal was just fourth in the nine team league during the regular season. In the finals, they swept the Toronto Maple Leafs in three games. Toronto had finished first overall.

The Maroons entered the National Hockey League for the 1924-25 season. The following year, they captured their first of two Stanley Cup championships. Montreal would also lose in the finals in 1927-28 to the New York Rangers. It was New York's first ever championship in only their second year in the league. The Maroons played their final NHL season in 1937-38.

Q. How many Stanley Cups did the Montreal Canadiens win during the 1970’s?

A. The Habs won a total of six Stanley Cups in the 1970’s. They dominated the Cup from four years from 1976 to 1979. They also won in 1971 and 1973. Montreal has won 24 championships, to date. Since the 1970's, however, the Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup just twice, in 1985-86 over the Calgary Flames and in 1992-93 over the Los Angeles Kings.

Q. What team has gone the longest without winning the Stanley Cup?

A. Until the 2009-10 season ended, the answer to this question was the Chicago Blackhawks, not having won the Stanley Cup since 1961. Chicago's win left the Toronto Maple Leafs as the team that has gone the longest without a Stanley Cup victory. The Leafs last won in 1967, a year before the league expanded to twelve teams. The St. Louis Blues remain the only 1967 expansion team to have never won a Stanley Cup but entered the league a year after Toronto won their last Cup.

NHL Hockey Trivia: Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres have been in the National Hockey League for over forty years, entering the league for the 1970-71 season. In that time, they have yet to win the Stanley Cup but have been to the finals on two different occasions. Although the franchise is going through a rough stretch as of the 2013-14 season, the team does have a storied past housing players like Eddie Shack, Tim Horton, Pat Lafontaine, Gilbert Perreault and Alex Mogilny, among others.

Test and expand your hockey trivia knowledge with these four trivia questions focused on the Buffalo Sabres.

Q. When the Buffalo Sabres joined the NHL for the 1970-71 season, what other team came onboard with them?

A. The Vancouver Canucks joined in 1970-71 along with the Sabres in what was the beginning of the second generation of NHL expansion. In that inaugural season, Buffalo had more points than the Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and California Golden Seals. The Sabres ended up tied with the Los Angeles Kings with 63 points in the 14 team league. However, Buffalo finished 19 points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs for the fourth and final playoff position in the East Division.

Q. Who was the first overall draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres?

A. Gilbert Perreault was selected first overall and became the centre piece of the Sabres organization for seventeen years. In Buffalo’s first season in the NHL, Perreault won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. Gilbert was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990.

Buffalo and Vancouver were slated to take the top two picks in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft. The teams spun a wheel to determine who would go first and Buffalo won. Vancouver took defenseman Dale Tallon second overall. Tallon played 642 regular season games in the National Hockey League between 1970-71 and 1979-80 with the Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Q. The number 2 is retired by the Buffalo Sabres for what player?

A. Tim Horton wore number 2 for the 1972-73 season and the 1973-74 season up until his death on February 21, 1974. With the Toronto Maple Leafs, number 7 is honoured for Horton. Tim switched to number 4 with Buffalo because Rick Martin was already in possession of number 7 when he arrived. Horton played in the NHL from 1949-50 with the Maple Leafs, Rangers, Penguins and Sabres. Horton posthumously entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1977.

Q. Who is the only Buffalo Sabre player to win the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player?

A. Dominik Hasek won the Hart Trophy in 1996-97 and 1997-98. Not only is he the only Sabre to win the Hart, he is the only goaltender to ever win the trophy more than once. Hasek played for Buffalo from 1992-93 to 2000-01 and in the NHL from 1990-91 to 2007-08. Along with the Sabres, Dominik also played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings.

Hockey Trivia: 1979 NHL Entry Draft

The 1979 NHL Entry Draft had one of the best first rounds ever. All 21 players selected in the first round went on to careers in the NHL in some degree. The least regular season NHL games any of the first round picks went on to play was 238 (Ray Allison – 18^th overall by the Hartford Whalers).

Test and expand your hockey trivia knowledge of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft with the following four trivia questions.

Q. Who was the first overall pick in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft?

A. The Colorado Rockies chose Rob Ramage as the first overall pick. Ramage was drafted from the Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Association, though he played his junior hockey with the London Knights of the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League. Ramage played in the NHL from 1979-80 to 1993-94 with the Rockies, St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, Minnesota North Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers.

Q. What player was the only one to be drafted in the first round of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft from the U.S. University system?

A. Mike Ramsey was selected eleventh overall by the Buffalo Sabres. Ramsey previously played for the University of Minnesota. Mike played over 1,000 career NHL games from 1979-80 to 1996-97 with the Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings.

Q. What Hockey Hall of Fame member who played 1756 regular season games in the NHL was not selected until the third round of the 1979 NHL Entry Draft?

A. Mark Messier was selected 48^th overall by the Edmonton Oilers after a season with the Cincinnati Stingers of the WHA. Messier scored 694 regular season goals during his NHL career and contributed 1,887 points with the Oilers, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks. Mark was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.

Mark’s point total places him second all-time in National Hockey League history. He sits just ahead of Gordie Howe but nearly 1,000 points behind Wayne Gretzky. Messier was just recently pushed down to eighth overall for goals scored by Jaromir Jagr. His 1,756 regular season games puts Mark just eleven games behind Howe for the most all-time.

Q. Who was the first European selected in the 1979 NHL Entry Draft?

A. The first round of the 1979 Draft featured players from North America only. In the second round, the New York Islanders selected Tomas Jonsson 25^th overall. Jonsson, from Sweden, played 552 NHL regular season games from 1981-82 to 1988-89 before returning to Sweden to play nine years for Leksands in the Swedish Elite League. Two other Swedes were selected in that second round, Pelle Lindbergh by the Philadelphia Flyers and Mats Naslund by the Montreal Canadiens.

1975-76 NHL Goal Scoring Leaders - Leach Replaces Esposito

1975-76 was an end of an era in the National Hockey League. Phil Esposito had dominated the goal scoring landscape since 1969-70, leading the NHL for six consecutive seasons. Esposito scored 50 or more goals for five consecutive seasons and set the mark for most goals in a single season with 76 in 1970-71. In 1975-76, the Boston Bruins traded him mid-season to the New York Rangers and he totalled just 35 goals, not good enough to place in the top ten.

Reggie Leach – Philadelphia Flyers

Leading the NHL in 1975-76 with 61 goals was Reggie Leach of the Philadelphia Flyers. It was a career year for Leach with his next highest goal total coming in 1979-80 with 50. Reggie carried on into the 1975-76 playoffs with 19 goals in 16 games as the Flyers reached the finals before losing out to the Montreal Canadiens. Leach was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy in the losing cause. To date, he is one of just five players to be awarded the Conn Smythe when not winning the Stanley Cup.

Guy Lafleur – Montreal Canadiens

Guy Lafleur of the Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens came second with 56 goals. It was Guy’s second of six consecutive seasons with 50 or more goals and his first of three consecutive Art Ross Trophies. The 56 goals was a far cry from the 130 he scored in 62 games for the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL in 1970-71.

Despite finishing third in the Norris Division and making an early opening round exit from the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins provided the National Hockey League with two 50 goal scorers. Pierre Larouche finished third with 53 and Jean Pronovost ended 1975-76 with one less than his teammate.

Pierre Larouche – Pittsburgh Penguins

Pierre Larouche was another phenom in the QMJHL. With the Sorel Black Hawks in 1973-74, he scored 94 goals and totalled 251 points in 67 regular season games. 1975-76 was just his second season in the NHL. He would score 50 goals in a season one more time in his NHL career, exactly 50 as a member of the 1979-80 Montreal Canadiens.

Jean Pronovost – Pittsburgh Penguins

Jean Pronovost had a career year with his 52 goals and 104 points. Pronovost played two games shy of 1,000 in an NHL career that spanned from 1968-69 to 1981-82. He spent the bulk of his time with Pittsburgh but also played for the Atlanta Flames and Washington Capitals.

Bill Barber – Philadelphia Flyers

Two players tied for fifth spot in 1975-76 with 50 goals each. Bill Barber of the Philadelphia Flyers and Danny Gare each had 50. Barber gets the tie breaker nod with 112 points to Gare’s 73.

Bill Barber is one of just two of these six players to have a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Barber was inducted in 1990, two years after Guy Lafleur. 1975-76 was the only time during his twelve year NHL career, all with the Flyers, that Barber reached the 50 goal plateau.

Danny Gare would reach the 50 goal plateau one more time in his career. In 1979-80, he scored 56 for the Buffalo Sabres, tying Blaine Stoughton of the Hartford Whalers and Charlie Simmer of the Los Angeles Kings for the NHL lead. Gare played in the NHL from 1974-75 to 1986-87 with the Sabres, Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers.

 

3 From 1970 NHL Amateur Draft Now In Hockey Hall Of Fame

The 1970 NHL Amateur Draft was the first for the Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks and saw 14 teams select 115 players over 14 rounds. 62 of the 115 players went on to play at least one game in the National Hockey League. Three of the 115 went on to have stellar NHL careers and eventually get inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Gilbert Perreault - 1990

Gilbert Perreault getting chosen first overall by the expansion Buffalo Sabres came down to a spin of the wheel. In deciding which of the two new teams would choose first, Buffalo and Vancouver each took a spin of ‘crown and anchor’ type wheel with Buffalo winning. The Sabres took Perreault and the Canucks took defenseman Dale Tallon.

Perreault was coming off a dominant junior season in the OHA, scoring 51 goals and totalling 121 points in 54 games for the Montreal Junior Canadiens. He finished second in the race for the Eddie Powers Trophy to Marcel Dionne of the St. Catherines Black Hawks, who finished with 132 points. Dionne would go second overall to the Detroit Red Wings in the 1971 draft.

Gilbert played his entire career with the Sabres, from 1970-71 to 1986-87. To this day, he is arguably the franchise’s greatest player. In his first season, he was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie while scoring 38 goals and assisting on 34 others. That, coupled with the Lady Byng Trophy he won in 1972-73 would be the only major individual awards Perreault would win. He finished his career with 512 goals and 1,326 points. Gilbert Perreault was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990.

Darryl Sittler - 1989

Darryl Sittler was taken in the eighth position by the Toronto Maple Leafs after playing three years of junior hockey with the OHA’s London Knights. Although an immediate regular with Toronto, Sittler was a bit slower to start than his counterpart in Buffalo. In his first two seasons, Darryl contributed just 50 points in 123 regular season games.

Sittler played nearly 1,100 regular season games in the NHL between 1970-71 and 1984-85 with the Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings. Never a Stanley Cup winner and never the recipient of a major NHL individual award, Darryl did have two 100+ points seasons with Toronto and ended his career with 484 goals and 1,121 points. Darryl Sittler was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989.

Billy Smith - 1993

NHL teams rarely select goaltenders in the early rounds of the draft. Thus was the case with Billy Smith. The junior star with the Cornwall Royals of the QMJHL was taken down in the fifth round by the Los Angeles Kings, 59^th overall. Smith played just five games with the Kings in 1971-72 but became a regular with the New York Islanders in their inaugural season, 1972-73.

Smith was mostly New York’s number one goalie until he retired after the 1988-89 season. He viscously guarded between the pipes as the Islanders won four consecutive Stanley Cup championships from 1979-80 to 1982-83. Billy was awarded the Vezina Trophy in 1981-82 and received the Conn Smythe Trophy the following season as the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Billy Smith was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1993.

Buffalo Sabres by the Numbers

The Buffalo Sabres, the most consistent National Hockey League team in the Toronto Region over the past 40 years, has enjoyed a storied history in a professional ‘small market’. Although the team has never taken home the ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup, every new year is a possibility with the product the Sabres put on the ice. Take a glance at the history of the Buffalo Sabres, by the numbers.

1 Hart Memorial Trophy winner. He did it twice. Goaltender Dominek Hasek won the Hart as the NHL’s most valuable player in two consecutive seasons, 1996-97 and 1997-98.

2 Trips to the Stanley Cup finals. Although they’ve yet to take home the hardware, the Sabres have been to the dance twice in their history. In 1974-75, just Buffalo’s fifth year in the NHL, the Sabres faced off against the Philadelphia Flyers in the finals. The Broad Street Bullies won the series in six games for their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

3 Hat Tricks by Eddie Shack in 1970-71. ‘The Entertainer’ was traded from the Los Angeles Kings eleven games into Buffalo’s inaugural season. Shack scored 25 goals for the Sabres that season, 36% of which came in just three games. Eddie’s stay in Buffalo was short. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins midway through the following season.

6 retired jersey numbers hang from the rafters at the First Niagara Center. The Buffalo Sabres retired numbers include: 2 – Tim Horton; 7 – Rick Martin; 11 – Gilbert Perreault; 14 – Rene Robert; 16 – Pat Lafontaine; 18 – Danny Gare.

8 players that have donned a Buffalo Sabres jersey at some point during their NHL career are now enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. These players include: Dick Duff, Grant Fuhr, Clark Gillies, Tim Horton, Gilbert Perreault, Dale Hawerchuk, Pat Lafontaine and Doug Gilmour.

53 wins represents Buffalo’s best season in that particular category. The Sabres won 53 in 2006-07. It was the second time the team had reached the 50 win plateau after winning 52 the year before.

76 goals for Alexander Mogilny in 1992-93 remains a team single season record. The total is the fifth highest in NHL history and Mogilny is one of just eight players to reach 70 goals and beyond. Alex played for Buffalo from 1988-89 to 1994-95.

148 points by Pat Lafontaine in 1992-93 is not only a Sabres team record but the highest point total ever produced by an American born player.

512 goals were scored by Gilbert Perreault during his career with the Sabres. This total leaves Perreault at the top of Buffalo’s all-time list and the same can be said for games played, assists and points. Gil is placed 37^th all-time in the NHL for career goals scored and is one of just 41 players to reach the 500 goal plateau.

1970 was the year that saw the Buffalo Sabres play their first National Hockey League game. The team visited Pittsburgh for the first game of the 1970-71 season and walked away with a 2-1 victory over the Penguins. Buffalo entered the league that season, along with the Vancouver Canucks.

 

Buffalo Sabres Players With 100 Points in a Single Season

The Buffalo Sabres came into the National Hockey League for the 1970-71 season along with the Vancouver Canucks, expanding the league to fourteen teams. The Sabres made an immediate splash by selecting GilbertPerreault first overall at the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft. Perreault would lead the team for close to two decades. What follows are the five Buffalo Sabres players that have achieved the 100 point plateau in a single season.

Rene Robert

Rene Robert was the first Buffalo player to total 100 points in a season. In 1974-75, Robert scored 40 goals and assisted on 60 for exactly 100 points in 74 games. Rene finished seventh in the race for the Art Ross Trophy. It was Robert’s fourth of eight seasons with the Sabres. He played in the NHL from 1970-71 to 1981-82 with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo and the Colorado Rockies. It was the only time Robert achieved the 100 point plateau during his NHL career.

Gilbert Perreault

Gilbert Perreault was the next player to accomplish the feat. He had 113 points in 1975-76 and 106 points in 1979-80. In the first year, he scored 44 goals and assisted on 69 in 80 games, finishing third in the league.  In 1979-80, he finished with 106 points on 40 goals and 66 assists in 80 games, landing in fourth spot in the league.

Perreault was the first overall pick in 1970. He played seventeen seasons with the Sabres from 1970-71 to 1986-87. Buffalo was the only National Hockey League team Gilbert would ever play for.

Pierre Turgeon

Pierre Turgeon totalled 106 points in 1989-90 on 40 goals and 66 assists in 80 games, identical numbers to Gilbert Perreault in 1979-80. Turgeon finished seventh in the NHL in what was his third of five seasons with the Sabres. Like Perreault, Turgeon was the first overall pick of the Sabres at the 1987 NHL Entry Draft.

Pierre played in the NHL from 1987-88 to 2006-07. His performance in 1989-90 was his first of two 100 points seasons in the NHL. In 1992-93, he accumulated 132 with the New York Islanders.

Alexander Mogilny

Alexander Mogilny reached 127 points in 1992-93, largely due to his incredible 76 goal performance. Mogilny added 51 assists in 77 regular season games to finish seventh in the race for the Art Ross Trophy. It was Alex’s fourth of six years with the Sabres after being a fifth round pick of the club in 1988.

Mogilny played in the NHL from 1989-90 to 2005-06 with the Sabres, Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs and New Jersey Devils. 1992-93 was his first of two 100 point seasons. He totalled 107 with the Canucks in 1995-96.

Pat Lafontaine

Pat Lafontaine was also a 100+ point man in 1992-93 for the Sabres. Lafontaine set the current Buffalo record for points in a season with 148 on 53 goals and 95 assists in 84 games. He finished second in the NHL, twelve points behind Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was his second of six seasons with the Sabres. Originally, he was the third overall pick of the New York Islanders at the 1983 NHL Entry Draft.

For Lafontaine, it was his second of two 100+ points seasons. He reached 105 with the Islanders in 1989-90. Pat played in the National Hockey League from 1983-84 to 1997-98 with the Islanders, Sabres and New York Rangers. In his final year of junior hockey , 1982-83, with Verdun of the QMJHL, Pat scored an incredible 104 goals and assisted on another 130 assists for 234 points in 70 games.