René Paul Robert (December 31, 1948 – June 22, 2021) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

winger who played 12 seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). He played for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

, and

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

from 1970 to 1982. He made two

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

appearances and was selected as the second NHL All-Star team right wing in 1974–75. He also played in the

1975 Stanley Cup Finals The 1975 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1974–75 season, and the culmination of the 1975 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Buffalo Sabres and the defending champion Philad ...

with the Sabres, in which he scored the game-winning goal in Game 3.

Early life

Robert was born in

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, ; ) is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

, on December 31, 1948. As a youth, he played in the 1961

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament () is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, and give an opportunity for international competition to p ...

with Trois-Rivières. While playing for the Trois-Rivieres Maple Leafs of the Quebec Junior A Hockey League in 1967–68, he set the QJAHL record with 69 goals in 49 games, a record that has subsequently been broken. He was signed by the

to a five-game tryout contract on March 20, 1968.

Playing career

Robert made his NHL debut with the Maple Leafs in 1970–71. He played five games during his first season and did not record any

points A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to: Mathematics * Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...

. He was claimed by the

on June 8, 1971, in the NHL Intra-League Draft. He played most of the 1971–72 season with that franchise until he was traded to the

for

Eddie Shack Edward Steven Phillip Shack (February 11, 1937July 25, 2020), also known by his nicknames "the Entertainer" and "the Nose", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player of Ukrainian descent who played for six National Hockey League (NHL) teams ...

on March 4, 1972. He was subsequently placed in the same forward line as center Gilbert Perreault and left winger

Rick Martin Richard Lionel Martin (; ; July 26, 1951March 13, 2011) was a Canadian professional ice hockey winger who played in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings for 11 seasons between 1971 and 1982. He featured in the 1975 Stanley ...

, and the trio became known as The French Connection. A statue of the famous forward line, unveiled in 2012, is located in front the Sabres arena, KeyBank Center. In his first season with the Sabres, Robert led the franchise in goals with 40, and he was named to his first

NHL All-Star Game The National Hockey League All-Star Game () is an exhibition ice hockey tournament that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many of the League's star players playing against each other. The ga ...

. The team then unexpectedly advanced to the 1973 Stanley Cup playoffs, with Robert scoring the franchise's first

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

goal on April 10, 1973, in Game 5 against the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

, who went on to win the series. Robert's best offensive season came during the 1974–75 season, when he recorded 40 goals and 60 assists for 100 points. It was the Sabres' first 100-point season by an individual, and he was also named to the second NHL All-Star team that year. In Game 3 of the

, dubbed the "Fog Game", Robert scored after 18:29 of overtime against the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

to help the Sabres win their first game of the series. The Flyers ultimately clinched the Cup in six games. Robert led the league in games played (80) and

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

s (3) the following season. He was traded to the

on October 5, 1979, in exchange for

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

John Van Boxmeer John Martin Van Boxmeer (born November 20, 1952) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He also worked extensively as a hockey coach and scout after his playing career ended in 1984. Biography John Van Boxmeer was considered a top ...

. Robert was named captain of the Rockies, before being traded on January 30, 1981, to the Maple Leafs, with whom he played his final season in 1981–82. He finished his NHL career with 744 games, recording 284 goals and 418 assists for 702 points.

Later life

After retiring from professional ice hockey, Robert acted as president of the NHL Alumni Association. He was inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame along with Perreault and Martin in 1989. His number 14 was retired by the Sabres on November 15, 1995, along with Rick Martin's number 7 jersey. They were reunited with Perreault whose number 11 was retired in a 1990 ceremony. Robert divided his time between

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all so ...

and Florida. The driveway at his home in Buffalo was constructed from pieces of the

Buffalo Memorial Auditorium Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, colloquially known as The Aud, was a multipurpose indoor arena in downtown Buffalo, New York. Opened on October 14, 1940, it was home to the Canisius Golden Griffins men's basketball, Canisius Golden Griffins (Nationa ...

after its demolition in 2009. He had a heart attack on June 18, 2021, and was placed on life support. He died four days later on June 22 at a hospital in

Port Charlotte, Florida Port Charlotte is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Charlotte County, Florida, United States. The population was 60,625 at the 2020 census, up from 54,392 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Punta Gorda, FL Metropolitan ...

, at the age of 72.

Career statistics

Source:

Regular season and playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robert, Rene 1948 births 2021 deaths Buffalo Sabres players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey right wingers Colorado Rockies (NHL) players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen National Hockey League players with retired numbers Phoenix Roadrunners (WHL) players Pittsburgh Penguins players Rochester Americans players Ice hockey people from Trois-Rivières Toronto Maple Leafs players Tulsa Oilers (1964–1984) players Vancouver Canucks (WHL) players