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

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

winger who played 12 seasons 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 ...

(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. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

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

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 ...

, 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 (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

from 1970 to 1982. He made two All-Star 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 Philade ...

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

Early life

Robert was born in

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, 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 (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

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 Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

. He was claimed by the

on June 8, 1971, in the

NHL Intra-League Draft The NHL Intra-League was an annual draft held by the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1952 to 1975. The intra-league draft was created to help address the league’s competitive balance issues during the Original Six era, as the Detroit Red Wings ...

. He played most of the 1971–72 season with that franchise until he was traded to the

for Eddie Shack on March 4, 1972. He was subsequently placed in the same forward

line Line most often refers to: * Line (geometry), object with zero thickness and curvature that stretches to infinity * Telephone line, a single-user circuit on a telephone communication system Line, lines, The Line, or LINE may also refer to: Arts ...

as center

Gilbert Perreault Gilbert Perreault (born November 13, 1950) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played for 17 seasons with the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990. Known for his ability ...

and left winger Rick Martin, 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 team then unexpectedly advanced to the

1973 Stanley Cup playoffs Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, with Robert scoring the franchise's first overtime goal on April 10, 1973, in Game 5 against the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

, 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. The team plays its home games in Wells ...

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 wic ...

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 la ...

John Van Boxmeer John Martin Van Boxmeer (born November 20, 1952) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He has also served extensively as a hockey coach with various teams from 1984 to the present. Bio John Van Boxmeer was considered a top prospec ...

. 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. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY in ...

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 (NCAA), the Buffalo Bisons ( AHL), the Buffalo Biso ...

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 an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Charlotte County, Florida, United States. The population was 54,392 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Punta Gorda, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Port C ...

, 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 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