etiennep99 Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 This is my first post.... Recently, there has been a lot of hoopla in Montreal concerning their diminishing francophone influence especially in the wake of the promotion of a English-only Sabre hired as head-coach), I thought that it would be interesting to see if I could put together an all-time Sabres team comprised only of native French speakers. Of course, we have the "French Connection" which dominated the sport for many years. But, could the Sabres field a great all French team? I think that they could have a very good to great team, but their defence would definitely be sub-par. Below is my "roster". Preference is given to home-grown talent. Let me know if I missed any non-obvious francophones such as those with English names but are from a place such as Montreal and may be able to speak fluent French. Ex. were Tony McKegney, Jordan Leopold, or Alan Haworth francophones? (I would have to venture that Haworth could speak French since he was from Drummondville and played for the Nordiques, but I don't know for sure.) Key: () = Players who were not original draft picks are put in parenthesis. * = NHL Hall of Fame player [] = Drafted, and shows potential LW(Ailier Gauche) Centre RW(Ailier-Droit) -------------------------------------------------------------- Richard Martin Gilbert Perreault* (René Robert) Benoit Hogue Pierre Turgeon Jason Pominville Gilles Hamel (Daniel Brière) Donald Audette (Yvon Lambert) (Joé Juneau) (Réal Cloutier) Denis Hamel André Savard J.P. Dumont J.F. Sauvé Defencemen - Défenseurs ------------------------------------- Marc-André Gragnani Philippe Boucher Jocelyn Guevremont Larry Carriere (François Lacombe) (Jean-Guy Talbot) Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre Jean-Guy Lagace [Jérôme Gauthier-Leduc] Goalies/Gardiens de but ------------------------ Robert Sauvé Martin Biron Jacques Cloutier (Patrick Lalime ) (Jocelyn Thibault) As you can see, there's a real drop-off on LW after Martin, and the defence lacks real all-stars. The goal-tending is adequate with Sauvé being a great play-off goalie. Perhaps the outstanding talent at centre and right wing would be more than enough to allow this team to head to head with say the dynasties of the 70's Canadiens, the 80's Islanders, and the 80's Oilers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darksabre Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 What a neat idea. Nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 that's a pretty extensive list. Extensive enough that I have no desire to research deep enough to see if/who's missing. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 I dig it. I would promote you 3 / 4 defence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etiennep99 Posted January 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 Thanks. But, I made a big mistake in mentioning Leopold who is, of course, an American. It must have been a late night misreading of a website somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schoney Donut Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 Je crois que Derek Roy est un Franco-Ontarien, au moins il parle francais, puis il vient d'un region francophone. Daniel Paille parle francais et est d'une famille francophone de Welland. Great work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabresHD Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 Who would you give up to add Lecavalier to that list? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 Who would you give up to add Lecavalier to that list? :angry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 Who would you give up to add Lecavalier to that list? Anyone not named Gilbert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etiennep99 Posted January 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 Mea Culpa From Le Devoir: (http://www.ledevoir.com/sports/hockey/45929/la-recrue-derek-roy-attire-l-attention-le-nouveau-francophone-des-sabres-de-buffalo) La recrue Derek Roy attire l'attention - Le nouveau francophone des Sabres de Buffalo 28 janvier 2004 Hockey Buffalo - .... C'est de Derek «Ro-a» qu'il s'agit, comme dans Patrick Roy, un pur francophone né et élevé à Rockland en banlieue d'Ottawa, qui dit apprécier de se retrouver en compagnie des Martin Biron, Jean-Pierre Dumont et Daniel Brière. OK. I guesss that Derek Roy qualifies; it's just I always hear his name as Ro-i and Rou-ah. He now slots into my 2nd left wing position. As for Daniel Paille, I'm not sure that he can oust Benoit Hogue nor probably Gilles Hamel; both better scoring ability. And I can't swap him for Denis Hamel because the team would need at least a couple tough guys (him and Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre.) Now, can we find any great defencemen? It seems that the Q excels at scoring forwards and goaltenders, but not a *lot* of great defencemen. Too bad the Sabres never had Denis Potvin, Raymond Bourque, Serge Savard, nor Guy Lapointe. Eric Desjardins would looked good in a Sabres uniform too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schoney Donut Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 Great points. Hopefully Leduc-Gauthier develops into a great Defenseur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calti Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 i forgot about andre savard--he was a hard working plodder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corp000085 Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 All Czech team: Hasek, Smehlik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico7 Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 Jaque Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabres Fan in NS Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 All Czech team: Hasek, Smehlik You forgot Kotalik. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formerly Allan in MD Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 How about a French old AHL Bisons team? For starters: Jacques Plante, Pierre Pilot, and Guy Rousseau. No, not Russ Kowalchuk, aka Coal Train, or Ed Slowinski. Ahh, the good old days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mphs mike Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 How about a French old AHL Bisons team? For starters: Jacques Plante, Pierre Pilot, and Guy Rousseau. No, not Russ Kowalchuk, aka Coal Train, or Ed Slowinski. Ahh, the good old days! Guy Trottier, Gilles Villemure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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