Today in Sabres History: Goodbye Gilbert

by David Oleksy on Nov 24, 2008 7:24 PM EST

There is no way that I could let today go by without talking about one of the most significant days in the franchise history. On November 24, 1986 Gilbert Perreault officially retired from the NHL. He originally retired at the end of the 1986 season but due to an new NHL rule regarding pensions, he decided to return and play another 20 games in 1987.

My all time favorite Sabres moment was a game in 1985 against Quebec when Gilbert Perreault scored a natural hat-trick in the second period and the Sabres won 7-5. I was 10 years-old but I still remember it like it was yesterday. I wanted to make sure that I remembered it correctly, so I looked it up and guess what I found. The game was played on November 22, 1985 at the Memorial Auditorium...it was one of the few games that I sat in the REDS.

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Sweet. I didn’t realize that abrupt season of his retirement was due to a pension issue. Figures, with how little players used to be paid.

That video is a great compilation: showing his side to side, his fakes, the backhand, being in the right spot … very nice. I’d always wished I’d seen more of him, but it just wasn’t possible back then (depending on where one lived, anyway).

SBN now has a NY Islanders blog at LighthouseHockey.com.

by Dominik on Nov 25, 2008 12:20 AM EST reply actions