The 1973–74

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 in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

season was the Sabres' fourth

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Offseason

NHL Draft

Regular season

Death of Tim Horton

Early on the morning of February 21, 1974, while driving on the

Queen Elizabeth Way The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The freeway begins at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie and travels around the western ...

from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

to Buffalo in his white

De Tomaso Pantera The De Tomaso Pantera is a mid-engine sports car produced by Italian automobile manufacturer De Tomaso from 1971 to 1992. Italian for "Panther", the Pantera was the automaker's most popular model, with over 7,000 manufactured over its twenty-year ...

sports car, (a gift from Sabres' GM George "Punch" Imlach), Horton was involved in what is now an infamous accident. He was negotiating a curve on the QEW where it crosses over Twelve Mile Creek in St. Catharines when he lost control and hit a cement

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdom ...

. The impact flipped the vehicle and Horton was thrown. He was not wearing a seat belt. Horton was reported dead on arrival at the local hospital, aged only 44. A police officer pursuing Horton's vehicle said that he had been travelling at over 160 km/h (100 mph). There were reports Horton had consumed a considerable amount of

vodka Vodka ( pl, wódka , russian: водка , sv, vodka ) is a clear distilled alcoholic beverage. Different varieties originated in Poland, Russia, and Sweden. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impuritie ...

, and was rumoured to have been taking

pain killer An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It ...

s due to a jaw injury suffered in practice the day before. An

autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...

report released in 2005 showed Horton had a

blood alcohol level Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes; it is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume or mass of blood. For example ...

of twice the legal limit. The blood test also showed signs of

amobarbital Amobarbital (formerly known as amylobarbitone or sodium amytal as the soluble sodium salt) is a drug that is a barbiturate derivative. It has sedative- hypnotic properties. It is a white crystalline powder with no odor and a slightly bitter tas ...

, which was possibly a residue from the

Dexamyl Dexamyl (or Drinamyl in the UK) was a brand name combination drug composed of sodium amobarbital (previously called amylbarbitone and its brand name Amytal) and dextroamphetamine sulfate (Dexedrine) within the same pill. It was widely abused, and ...

pills that were found on Horton's body. The autopsy showed no indication Horton was taking painkillers as previously thought.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

Player statistics

Forwards

''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes''

Defencemen

''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes''

Goaltending

''Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average''

Playoffs

The Sabres did not qualify for the 1974 Stanley Cup playoffs, despite qualifying the previous year.

Awards and records

* Rick Martin, Left Wing, NHL First Team All-Star

References

Sabres on Hockey Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:1973-74 Buffalo Sabres season Buffalo Sabres seasons

Buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional wr ...

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