Myers - All Time Best Sabres Rookie Year?

[Taro T]

YES! this was me, too. Glorious hockey...Gilbert has to be the one :thumbsup:

 

 

...only I'm old enough to have listened to Ted... :blush:

You listened to Ted on the radio? Or did you fall asleep listening to the telly?

 

RJ did radio since '71. I don't recall the pbp man that 1st year (was too young to realize the games were even on the radio, I used to watch 'em on a black & white telly ;) ), but I am almost positive it wasn't Mr. Darling.

[PASabreFan]

You listened to Ted on the radio? Or did you fall asleep listening to the telly?

 

RJ did radio since '71. I don't recall the pbp man that 1st year (was too young to realize the games were even on the radio, I used to watch 'em on a black & white telly ;) ), but I am almost positive it wasn't Mr. Darling.

 

I know I've read that Dave Hodge did TV that first season, while Ted was on radio. But I just read a site I don't entirely trust, and it says the opposite. I know there's a video clip of Perreault scoring his record-setting goal that first season and Ted is doing the call. Why would they have dubbed it in from the radio call?

 

For the 40th anniversary, I wish the Sabres would release a year by year list of play by play guys, color guys, flagship stations, intermission hosts, pregame hosts etc. It gets a little murky -- I know some of those years when it was radio only Ted did the first and third periods and Rick did the second.

[Ohiofan]

You listened to Ted on the radio? Or did you fall asleep listening to the telly?

 

RJ did radio since '71. I don't recall the pbp man that 1st year (was too young to realize the games were even on the radio, I used to watch 'em on a black & white telly ;) ), but I am almost positive it wasn't Mr. Darling.

My dad watched every game and my room was next to the living room. My mom made me go to bed during the game, especially on school nights. But you know, it seemed that I could hear the tv even better in my room. I think my dad may have raised the volume for me on those nights :)

When dad traveled, I had my hamburger transistor 'cuz my mom didn't watch hockey. I liked it better when he was home.

[PASabreFan]

And according to Paul Wieland's book, Rick did television as early as 1972, on cable.

[Jeanbe]

Like Promo the Robot I was there at the beginning of the franchise and it's Perrault hands down. I love Myers and he's going to be great if he keeps playing like this but any time Gil touched the puck it was a chance for magic.

[nfreeman]

My ranking:

 

1. Gilbert. Really it's not open for discussion.

 

2. Barrasso. In addition to his skill (and aptitude, SR, if you insist), he was also the toughest, orneriest goalie the sabres have ever had.

 

3. Rico. 44 goals.

 

4. Myers. No ceiling.

 

5. Schony. No fear.

 

6. Housely. The 2nd-most skilled player the Sabres have ever had (not counting Laffy a he just didn't play that many games here).

[rickshaw]

Sorry, Tyler, but a Calder and a Vezina, well, you can't beat that, even if he was a dick. Perreault and Schony are tough competition, too.

 

Barrasso really was a dick wasn't he?

 

I always wonder about kharma. He was such an ###### and then his little girl got cancer or some other bad illness. Not right, but kharma really does play a part in life I believe.

 

Like my next door neighbour. Biggest prick little man you'll ever meet. Last 9 months, 3 wakes at his house. Kharma.

[K-9]

YES! this was me, too. Glorious hockey...Gilbert has to be the one :thumbsup:

 

 

...only I'm old enough to have listened to Ted... :blush:

 

I think you're in pretty good company here. Who can forget Darling's famaous "Shot deflected WAY up into the crowd. A lucky souvenir for somebody in the Sloan Kiwanis Club."

 

I loved listening to Ted Darling. What a tragedy his illness was.

 

Oh, and there is ONLY one greatest rookie of all time in Sabres lore. #11. Say no more.

 

GO SABRES!!!

[Neo]

+1

 

I remember sneaking a hand held radio under my pillow listening to Sabre games on when I was supposed to be sleeping. RJ describing the end to end rushes and then doing his Gilbert Perreault call after he scored, it still brings goose bumps.

 

 

Doc ... I tell the same story to my friends, today. I was nine during the sabres first season. I had a teenie radio. Two dials, tuning and volume. When it was bed time, i'd put that thing under my pillow and listen to the end. Every game, every night ....

 

Man .. a million years ago ... i remember the call of Perreault's record setting goal .. "Perreault in the corner (pause) .... drive on the SHORT SIDE ... HE SCORES, Gil Perreault ... what a shot he made, he just let that drive go ... "

 

 

number 35, that year, i believe ...he finished with 38.

[buftex]

At work, can't look it up, but, IIRC, Danny Gare had a pretty spectacular rookie season...he at least belongs in the discussion...I know he had at least 30 goals that rookie year, and scored some very memorable, and very clutch goals for the good guys...

[shrader]

Here's an interesting thought. How cool would it be if the Tylers pulled off back to back Calders?

[Eleven]

Here's an interesting thought. How cool would it be if the Tylers pulled off back to back Calders?

 

It would be freaking awesome. But you already knew the answer.

[Chemich]

And I'm the only one rooting for ol' Richard Martin.

 

Maybe it's just me but he was a backbone element in the french connection, and he proved that he could be more than just that in his rookie year.

 

But I had to break a tie with Perrault and Martin... and from what I've seen Martin do most if it was more impressive his rookie year than Gils (in my opinion.)

 

Not to mention he had more flare in his goal celebrations.

[matter2003]

In my life time, he is definitely the best rookie i've ever seen play for Buffalo. However, from all i've heard and read, Tom Barrasso was a heck of a story. He was 18 years old and only like 5 months removed from graduating high school. His role as a goalie is more important and he took the team on his shoulders.

 

Crazy how things change thru the years. Barrasso's numbers in his rookie season were a 2.84 GAA and a .893 Save Percentage, and he won the Calder AND Vezina trophies that year. He finished 2nd in GAA and 3rd in save percentage in the NHL. In today's NHL, those are bad career backup numbers at best or AHL numbers at worst. This year, his save percentage would be 3rd worst in the NHL, ahead of only Pascal LeClaire and Vesa Toskala, and his GAA would be 12th worst, sandwiched in between Michael Leighton and Jonas Gustavsson. My how times change.

[Eleven]

Crazy how things change thru the years. Barrasso's numbers in his rookie season were a 2.84 GAA and a .893 Save Percentage, and he won the Calder AND Vezina trophies that year. He finished 2nd in GAA and 3rd in save percentage in the NHL. In today's NHL, those are bad career backup numbers at best or AHL numbers at worst. This year, his save percentage would be 3rd worst in the NHL, ahead of only Pascal LeClaire and Vesa Toskala, and his GAA would be 12th worst, sandwiched in between Michael Leighton and Jonas Gustavsson. My how times change.

 

Yep. Consider this:

 

March 28, 1982: Blaine Stoughton [scoring his 50th in a season]

Cue up "Brass Bonanza"! The Hartford Whalers forward reached the plateau in his 76th game of the season. To me, Stoughton is the poster boy of the free-wheeling '80s and the complete disregard for defensive hockey. I miss those days. Hey, I'm not picking on Stoughton, he was a good player. But the 50-goal plateau should be for great players. In the 1980s, there were a number of good players who took advantage of the open style of play to reach 50 goals, including Dennis Maruk, Wayne Babych, Mike Bullard, John Ogrodnick, Bob Carpenter and Jimmy Carson. Again, nothing against those players, they had good careers. Good, but not great.

 

http://espn.go.com/nhl/blog?name=lebrun_pierre&id=5030971

[matter2003]

Yep. Consider this:

 

March 28, 1982: Blaine Stoughton [scoring his 50th in a season]

Cue up "Brass Bonanza"! The Hartford Whalers forward reached the plateau in his 76th game of the season. To me, Stoughton is the poster boy of the free-wheeling '80s and the complete disregard for defensive hockey. I miss those days. Hey, I'm not picking on Stoughton, he was a good player. But the 50-goal plateau should be for great players. In the 1980s, there were a number of good players who took advantage of the open style of play to reach 50 goals, including Dennis Maruk, Wayne Babych, Mike Bullard, John Ogrodnick, Bob Carpenter and Jimmy Carson. Again, nothing against those players, they had good careers. Good, but not great.

 

http://espn.go.com/nhl/blog?name=lebrun_pierre&id=5030971

 

I liked the blurb he has about Mogilny's 76 goal season. If anyone had the chance to break Gretzky's record, it was him. I remember him having multiple breakaways per game and being merely average on them, always trying to backhand between the 5-hole. If he was better on breakaways, he could easily have had more than 100 goals that year. Shame what his career disintegrated into. He could have been one of the all-time greats...