Gilbert Perreault (born November 13, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey center who played for 17 seasons with the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. He was the first draft pick of the Sabres in their inaugural season in the NHL. He is well known as the centre man for the prolific trio of Sabres forwards known as The French Connection. The trio helped the Sabres reach the 1975 Stanley Cup Final.
He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990. Known for his ability to stickhandle in close quarters, he is regarded as one of the most skillful playmaking centers of all time. In 2017 Perreault was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Perreault was a standout junior hockey player who went on to be selected to nine National Hockey League All-Star Games and two post-season NHL All-Star teams (second team centre), while winning the Calder Memorial Trophy and a Lady Byng Trophy, and being selected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. He played his entire 17-year career with the Buffalo Sabres and continues to be the all-time franchise leader in career regular season games played, goals, assists, points, game-winning goals, and shots on goal, serving as the team's captain from 1981 until his retirement in November 1986. He led the team to 11 consecutive playoff appearances ending with the 1984–85 season. He began playing minor ice hockey at age nine. He played in the 1961, 1962 and 1963 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with Victoriaville. He left home at the age of 16 to join his first junior hockey team. His first year (1966–67) of junior hockey was spent with Thetford Mines in the Quebec Junior A League. His teammates included Marc Tardif. The team won the league championships.
Playing career
Amateur career
After the Quebec Junior A League shut down, Perreault joined the Montreal Junior Canadiens of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) for the 1967–68 season, the first of three years with the Junior Canadiens. His 49 points in 47 games helped the Junior Canadiens to a second-place finish. During his second year on the team, one that included future NHL talents Réjean Houle and André Dupont as well as future professional teammates Jocelyn Guevremont and Richard Martin, Perreault blossomed. His 97 points were second on the team to Houle's 108 points, and they earned him OHA first All-Star team honours. As Perreault blossomed, the team excelled. In his second season, the team finished first in the OHA and won the 1969 Memorial Cup Canadian Junior championship. It was the first Memorial Cup win for Montreal since 1950. The Canadiens defeated the Weyburn Red Wings to become the third junior team to successfully defend their championship and the Memorial Cup. Perreault was named the Ontario Hockey Association most valuable player. Imlach had chosen 8-12 for the roulette wheel spin because it included 11, which was his favourite number.
Coincidentally, Perreault had worn #11 throughout his junior career, and kept it in Buffalo in honour of the roulette wheel choice. As expected, he became an immediate star. He scored a goal in the franchise's very first game, which was a 2–1 victory on October 10, 1970, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. During his first season, he led the Sabres in scoring (with 38 goals and added 34 assists) — a feat he would never fail to accomplish in any season in which he did not miss significant time to injury before his penultimate year — and won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year.
Perreault developed a reputation as a superb stickhandler, Bobby Orr once said of Perreault: "His head and shoulders go one way, his legs go the other way, and the puck is doing something else. When I first saw it I couldn't believe it." His popularity and respect surpassed O. J. Simpson in a poll of Buffalonians about the best Buffalo athlete.
Retirement
On March 9, 1986, Perreault scored his 500th career goal against the New Jersey Devils at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium to become the first (and so far only) Sabre with 500 goals. Perreault retired at the end of the 1985–86 season. Thereafter, pension changes came into effect significantly boosting the pensions of retired players who played at least 20 games in the 1986-87 season. He duly came out of retirement and still played effectively, scoring 9 goals in the first 14 games. is located outside of the Sabres' arena, known today as KeyBank Center.
Since his retirement from hockey, Perreault has remained active in the game, coaching Junior teams in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In addition, he also plays on occasion with the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team for charity events.
Personal life
Perreault was married to Carmen Caron for fifty years until her death from cancer in the summer of 2023. He has two sons, Marc-André (born 1978), a pharmaceutical salesman and Sean (born 1986), an English teacher in Victoriaville who was a baby when Perreault retired. Perreault still resides in his hometown of Victoriaville, Quebec. After retiring from playing, Perreault coached junior ice hockey, and invested in real estate. In his spare time, Perreault enjoys golfing, listening to music, and going to the movies.
- Won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1971.
- Named an NHL second team All-Star in 1976 and 1977.
- Chosen to play in eight NHL All-Star Games in 1970–71, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1979–80, and 1983–84,
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! colspan="3" style="background:#fff;"|
! rowspan="99" style="background:#fff;"|
! colspan="5" | Regular season
! rowspan="99" style="background:#fff;"|
! colspan="5" | Playoffs
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! Season
! Team
! League
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
|-
| 1967–68
| Montreal Jr. Canadiens
| OHA-Jr.
| 47 || 15 || 34 || 49 || 10
| 11 || 8 || 9 || 17 || 5
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1968–69
| Montreal Jr. Canadiens
| OHA-Jr.
| 54 || 37 || 60 || 97 || 29
| 14 || 5 || 10 || 15 || 10
|-
| 1969–70
| Montreal Jr. Canadiens
| OHA-Jr.
| 54 || 51 || 71 || 121 || 26
| 16 || 17 || 21 || 38 || 4
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1970–71
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 78 || 38 || 34 || 72 || 19
| — || — || — || — || —
|-
| 1971–72
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 76 || 26 || 48 || 74 || 24
| — || — || — || — || —
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1972–73
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 78 || 28 || 60 || 88 || 10
| 6 || 3 || 7 || 10 || 2
|-
| 1973–74
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 55 || 18 || 33 || 51 || 10
| — || — || — || — || —
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1974–75
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 68 || 39 || 57 || 96 || 36
| 17 || 6 || 9 || 15 || 10
|-
| 1975–76
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 80 || 44 || 69 || 113 || 36
| 9 || 4 || 4 || 8 || 4
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1976–77
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 80 || 39 || 56 || 95 || 30
| 6 || 1 || 8 || 9 || 4
|-
| 1977–78
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 79 || 41 || 48 || 89 || 20
| 8 || 3 || 2 || 5 || 0
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1978–79
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 79 || 27 || 58 || 85 || 20
| 3 || 1 || 0 || 1 || 2
|-
| 1979–80
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 80 || 40 || 66 || 106 || 57
| 14 || 10 || 11 || 21 || 8
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1980–81
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 56 || 20 || 39 || 59 || 56
| 8 || 2 || 10 || 12 || 2
|-
| 1981–82
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 62 || 31 || 42 || 73 || 40
| 4 || 0 || 7 || 7 || 0
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1982–83
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 77 || 30 || 46 || 76 || 34
| 10 || 0 || 7 || 7 || 8
|-
| 1983–84
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 73 || 31 || 59 || 90 || 32
| — || — || — || — || —
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1984–85
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 78 || 30 || 53 || 83 || 42
| 5 || 3 || 5 || 8 || 4
|-
| 1985–86
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 72 || 21 || 39 || 60 || 28
| — || — || — || — || —
|- style="background: #f0f0f0;"
| 1986–87
| Buffalo Sabres
| NHL
| 20 || 9 || 7 || 16 || 6
| — || — || — || — || —
|- style="background: #e0e0e0;"
! colspan="3" | NHL totals
! 1,191 !! 512 !! 814 !! 1,326 !! 500
! 90 !! 33 !! 70 !! 103 !! 44
|}
International
{| border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:50em"
|- style="text-align:center; background:#e0e0e0;"
! Year
! Team
! Event
! rowspan="99" style="background:#fff;"|
! GP
! G
! A
! Pts
! PIM
|-
| 1976
| Canada
| CC
| 7
| 4
| 4
| 8
| 2
|- style="background:#f0f0f0;"
| 1981
| Canada
| CC
| 4
| 3
| 6
| 9
| 2
|- style="background:#e0e0e0;"
! colspan=3 | Senior totals
! 11
! 7
! 10
! 17
! 4
|}
See also
- List of NHL players with 500 goals
- List of NHL players with 1000 points
- List of NHL statistical leaders
Notes
References
- Bailey, Budd, Celebrate the Tradition: 1970–1990, Boncraft Inc., 1989
- Dryden, Steve, The Top 100 NHL Players of All Time, Transcontinental Sports Publications, 1997, .
- McKinley, Michael, Hockey Hall of Fame Legends: The Official Book, Triumph Books, 1993, .