Sabres high-energy run to playoffs echoes emergence of 'French Connection'

Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a scrapbook each week for NHL.com. Also known as "The Hockey Maven," Stan shares his insight and wit with readers every Wednesday. This week features the Buffalo Sabres and their emergence from a 14-season Stanley Cup Playoff drought while comparing them to the 1974-75 season, highlighted by "The French Connection" line and its march to the Stanley Cup Final.

"Oh, no, not again!"

Fans hardly could be faulted for uttering those words after the Buffalo Sabres opened this season with three straight losses. For a time, it appeared that their record Stanley Cup Playoff drought was heading for 15 consecutive seasons.

The tide turned when the Sabres fired general manager Kevyn Adams on Dec. 15 and replaced him with Jarmo Kekalainen, former GM of the Columbus Blue Jackets who was named a Sabres adviser May 30, 2025.

"It brought about a 'culture' change, once Jarmo took over, the Sabres never stopped winning," said Liam McHugh, studio host for the "NHL on TNT."

They clinched a playoff berth when the New York Rangers defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 at Madison Square Garden on April 4 and won a division title for the first time since 2009-10, when they finished first in the Northeast Division. The Sabres are the fifth team in NHL history to clinch a division title after overcoming a standings deficit of at least eight points (eight on Dec. 8, 2025), following the 2007-08 Washington Capitals (10), 1990-91 Pittsburgh Penguins (nine), 2012-13 Capitals (eight) and 1969-70 Chicago Blackhawks (eight).

"The skill has always been there," Kekalainen said, "but you can't win games just by always trying to score one more goal, and then letting in four or five. Once you have success playing the right way, there's always going to be more buy-in."

Likewise, Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin and Josh Doan have provided scoring that conspicuously had been absent in the past and now the veterans of lost seasons are eager to breathe the rarified air of playoff hockey.

"It's extremely satisfying," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said after a 5-1 win at the Blackhawks on Tuesday clinched the Atlantic. "This last four months has been so much fun coaching this group. You hope you get the team in the right place and become consistent, but these guys have exceeded my expectations."

Buffalo's original glory years were nurtured when George "Punch" Imlach, the team's first GM, spun the roulette wheel and was awarded the No. 1 pick in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft over another expansion team, the Vancouver Canucks.

"Punch got lucky," said Charlie Barton, onetime dean of American Hockey League writers who moved over to the Sabres beat for the St. Catherines (Ontario) Standard. "Getting the first pick meant he had first dibs on Gilbert Perreault, who immediately became the franchise centerpiece."

Perreault underlined the point by winning the 1971 Calder Trophy voted as the NHL Rookie of the Year. He was also awarded the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy "for good sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct, combined with a high standard of playing ability."

"Imlach also knew he had to build a core around Gil and that meant not only drafts but trades. Barton said. "Solid deals brought in Don Luce, Rene Robert, Jerry Korab and Jim Lorentz. He rounded out 'The French Connection' by drafting Rick Martin (in 1971)."

The Sabres missed the playoffs three times in their first four seasons, but legendary play-by-play announcer Rick Jeanneret once described Perreault as, "The straw that stirred the Connection's drink." This became apparent during the 1974-75 season, when Buffalo reached the Stanley Cup Final before losing in six games to the defending champion Philadelphia Flyers.

"The Sabres made the playoffs in all six seasons that the Connection stayed healthy and shared the ice," wrote club historian Jourdon LaBarber for Sabres.com.

"We were a young club," said forward Danny Gare, a rookie on that 1974-75 team. "We were exciting and with a good group of guys who were responsible for the birth of hockey in Buffalo.

"Plus, Gil drove opposition goalies crazy."  

One was Cesare Maniago of the Minnesota North Stars. 

"If Gil had the puck, a goalie like me didn't know if he was going to shoot or pass," he told LaBarber. "In my case the only thing going in my head was, 'What's he going to pull on me now?'"

The Sabres' robust inner core featured a checking line of Don Luce, Craig Ramsay and Danny Gare, backed by Jim Lorentz, Rick Dudley and Peter McNab. Six players scored at least 30 goals paced by Martin's 52, Robert's 40 and Perreault's 39.

There's a common chain linking Buffalo's 1975 finalists and the current thundering herd. In a short time, we'll learn whether Version 2026 can convert its high-energy, regular-season run into a Stanley Cup championship that's up for grabs.

This much is certain: You won't hear anyone at KeyBank Center uttering, "Oh, no, not again!"

NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen contributed to this report