From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base
1971–72 Buffalo Sabres season
NHL hockey team season
NHL hockey team season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| League | NHL |
| Season | 1971–72 |
| year | 1971 |
| Team | Buffalo Sabres |
| Division | East |
| DivisionRank | 6th |
| Record | 16–43–19 |
| HomeRecord | 11–19–9 |
| RoadRecord | 5–24–10 |
| GoalsFor | 203 |
| GoalsAgainst | 228 |
| GeneralManager | Punch Imlach |
| Coach | Punch Imlach |
| Captain | Gerry Meehan |
| AltCaptain | Al Hamilton |
| Gilbert Perreault | |
| Arena | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium |
| Attendance | 15,324 |
| GoalsLeader | Rick Martin (44) |
| AssistsLeader | Gilbert Perreault (48) |
| PointsLeader | Tie: Perreault, Martin (74) |
| PIMLeader | Al Hamilton (105) |
| WinsLeader | Roger Crozier (13) |
| GAALeader | Roger Crozier (3.51) |
Gilbert Perreault
The 1971–72 Buffalo Sabres season was the Buffalo Sabres second season of operation in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Sabres failed to make the playoffs.
Offseason
An $8.7 million (approximately $ in dollars) renovation took place after the 1970–71 inauguration of the Sabres and Buffalo Braves franchises. The arena's roof was raised 24 feet, making room for a new upper level. This raised the total capacity of the arena to over 17,000 for basketball and 15,858 for hockey, making it a more suitable home for the NBA and NHL.
Regular season
For the second consecutive season the Sabres had a breakout rookie performance by their first round draft pick. Rick Martin would score 44 goals breaking the NHL rookie scoring record of 38 set the previous season by Gilbert Perreault. Despite the efforts of their young phenoms the Sabres would finish with a worse record than their inaugural season and again miss the Playoffs. During the season Eddie Shack was traded to Pittsburgh for Rene Robert.
Final standings
Record vs. opponents
Schedule and results
|- |1||W||October 10, 1971||2–1 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) ||1–0–0 |- |2||L||October 12, 1971||1–9 || align="left"| @ St. Louis Blues (1971–72) ||1–1–0 |- |3||L||October 14, 1971||2–6 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1971–72) ||1–2–0 |- |4||L||October 16, 1971||3–9 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1971–72) ||1–3–0 |- |5||L||October 17, 1971||2–3 || align="left"| Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) ||1–4–0 |- |6||W||October 20, 1971||7–2 || align="left"| @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) ||2–4–0 |- |7||L||October 21, 1971||2–5 || align="left"| Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) ||2–5–0 |- |8||L||October 23, 1971||1–5 || align="left"| @ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) ||2–6–0 |- |9||L||October 24, 1971||2–3 || align="left"| St. Louis Blues (1971–72) ||2–7–0 |- |10||W||October 27, 1971||3–2 || align="left"| @ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) ||3–7–0 |- |11||T||October 30, 1971||4–4 || align="left"| @ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) ||3–7–1 |- |12||T||October 31, 1971||2–2 || align="left"| @ California Golden Seals (1971–72) ||3–7–2
| - |
|---|
| 13 |
| - |
| 14 |
| - |
| 15 |
| - |
| 16 |
| - |
| 17 |
| - |
| 18 |
| - |
| 19 |
| - |
| 20 |
| - |
| 21 |
| - |
| 22 |
| - |
| 23 |
| - |
| - |
| 24 |
| - |
| 25 |
| - |
| 26 |
| - |
| 27 |
| - |
| 28 |
| - |
| 29 |
| - |
| 30 |
| - |
| 31 |
| - |
| 32 |
| - |
| 33 |
| - |
| 34 |
| - |
| 35 |
| - |
| 36 |
| - |
| 37 |
| - |
| 38 |
| - |
| 39 |
| - |
| - |
| 40 |
| - |
| 41 |
| - |
| 42 |
| - |
| 43 |
| - |
| 44 |
| - |
| 45 |
| - |
| 46 |
| - |
| 47 |
| - |
| 48 |
| - |
| 49 |
| - |
| 50 |
| - |
| 51 |
| - |
| - |
| 52 |
| - |
| 53 |
| - |
| 54 |
| - |
| 55 |
| - |
| 56 |
| - |
| 57 |
| - |
| 58 |
| - |
| 59 |
| - |
| 60 |
| - |
| 61 |
| - |
| 62 |
| - |
| 63 |
| - |
| - |
| 64 |
| - |
| 65 |
| - |
| 66 |
| - |
| 67 |
| - |
| 68 |
| - |
| 69 |
| - |
| 70 |
| - |
| 71 |
| - |
| 72 |
| - |
| 73 |
| - |
| 74 |
| - |
| 75 |
| - |
| 76 |
| - |
| 77 |
| - |
| - |
| 78 |
| - |
| - |
| Legend:
Player statistics
Regular season
;Scoring
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73 | 44 | 30 | 74 | 36 | −38 | 19 | 0 | 5 | |
| 76 | 26 | 48 | 74 | 24 | −40 | 11 | 0 | 1 | |
| 77 | 19 | 27 | 46 | 12 | −28 | 4 | 0 | 2 | |
| 76 | 4 | 30 | 34 | 105 | −12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 50 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 34 | −11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 67 | 14 | 10 | 24 | 26 | −22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 33 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 12 | −11 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 61 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 98 | −20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 37 | 3 | 21 | 24 | 14 | −10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 78 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 38 | −18 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 78 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 15 | −23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 46 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 12 | −20 | 3 | 0 | 1 | |
| 57 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 52 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 44 | −19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 31 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 22 | −14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 43 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 58 | −21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 27 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 52 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 2 | −5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 66 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 101 | −33 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 34 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | −2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 27 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 45 | −21 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | −2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 37 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 19 | −10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 24 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 39 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 18 | −12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 14 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | −1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | −7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | −1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | −13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3654 | 63 | 13 | 34 | 14 | 214 | 3.51 | 2 | |
| 1026 | 20 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 68 | 3.98 | 0 | |
| **Team:** | 4680 | 78 | 16 | 43 | 19 | 282 | 3.62 | 2 |
Awards and records
The Sabres were not awarded any individual or team awards in the 1971–72 season.
Transactions
| March 5, 1972 | To New York RangersPhil Goyette (Negotiating Rights) | To Buffalo SabresCash |
|---|
Intra-League Draft
| June 8, 1971 | To Los Angeles KingsGary Edwards |
|---|
Reverse Draft
| June 7, 1971 | To Providence Reds (AHL)Brian Perry |
|---|
Free Agency
| September 29, 1971 | SignedGary Bromley |
|---|
Lost via retirement
| Player |
|---|
| Jean-Guy Talbot |
Draft picks
NHL draft
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Rick Martin | Canada | Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA) |
| 2 | 19 | Craig Ramsay | Canada | Peterborough Petes (OHA) |
| 3 | 33 | Bill Hajt | Canada | Saskatoon Blades (WCHL) |
| 4 | 47 | Bob Richer | Canada | Trois-Rivières Ducs (QMJHL) |
| 5 | 61 | Steve Warr | Canada | Clarkson University (ECAC) |
| 6 | 75 | Pierre Duguay | Canada | Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) |
Farm teams
For the 1971–72 season Buffalo's AHL farm team was the Cincinnati Swords. In the team's inaugural season they would post a 30–28–18 record placing 3rd in the West Division which would secure a playoff berth. The first round brought the 2nd seed Hershey Bears who were swept. In the second round the Swords faced off against the 1st seed Baltimore Clippers losing the series 4–2.
References
References
- ""The Aud" – Memorial Auditorium". sabresalumni.com.
- (February 2019). "Rick Martin Profile". SabresAlumni.com.
- "Rene Robert". legendsofhockey.net.
- "1971-72 Buffalo Sabres Schedule".
- "1971-72 Buffalo Sabres Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com.
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
Ask Mako anything about 1971–72 Buffalo Sabres season — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.
Research with MakoFree with your Surf account
Create a free account to save articles, ask Mako questions, and organize your research.
Sign up freeThis content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.
Report