The Buffalo Sabres entered the National Hockey League for the 1970-71 season along with the Vancouver Canucks. Although never winning the Stanley Cup, Buffalo has been to the finals on two occasions. The Sabres lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1974-75 and to the Dallas Stars in 1998-99, both times in six games.

In their forty years of existence, the team has retired the numbers of six different players. The first was hoisted to the rafters in 1990 and the latest was in 2006. There is no denying that the six are truly greats of the game. Three of the six are enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Number 2 was retired in 1996 in honour of Tim Horton. Horton played just his final two seasons in the NHL with the Sabres, 1972-73 and 1973-74. His career was abruptly cut short after the 55th game of the 1973-74 season when he passed away in a car accident. Horton played his first full season in the NHL in 1952-53 with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In total, Tim played 1446 regular season games with Toronto, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo. He was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1977.

Number 7 was hoisted to the rafters in 1995 in honour of Rick Martin. Martin was a fifth overall pick of the Sabres in 1971. He played with Buffalo from 1971-72 to 1980-81. He appeared in four games with the Los Angeles Kings after that before retiring due to severe knee injury. Martin scored 44 goals in his rookie season and twice scored 52 goals in a season for the Sabres.

Gilbert Perreault was taken by the Sabres first overall in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft. He was the first ever player drafted by Buffalo and didn’t disappoint. He won the Calder Trophy in 1970-71 as the NHL’s rookie of the year. He played in the league from 1970-71 until 1986-87, all with the Sabres. Perreault still holds Buffalo’s all-time records for most career games, goals, assists and points. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990, the same year his jersey number 11 was retired by the club. In 1995, his number was re-retired by the team when they honoured all three members of ‘The French Connection’, along with Rick Martin and Rene Robert.

Rene Robert’s number 14 rounded out the ‘French Connection’ line that brought so much excitement to the Auditorium in Buffalo. Robert played in the NHL from 1970-71 to 1981-82 with Toronto, Pittsburgh, Buffalo and the Colorado Rockies. He was a Sabre from 1971-72 to 1978-79. Rene was the first Buffalo player to record a 100 point season, accomplishing the feat with exactly 100 in 1974-75.

Number 16 was retired in 2006 by the Sabres in honour of Pat Lafontaine. Pat played in the NHL from 1983-84 to 1997-98 with the New York Islanders, Buffalo and the New York Rangers. He played with the Sabres from 1991-92 to 1996-97. The third overall pick of the Islanders in the 1983 draft exploded in 1992-93 with Buffalo, scoring 53 and totaling 148 points. The point total remains a Buffalo record and is the highest point total ever registered by an American born player. It was a far cry from the 104 goals and 234 points he put up in his final year of junior in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Pat entered the Hall of Fame in 2003.

Number 18 is retired for Danny Gare, taken out of circulation in 2005. The Sabres took Gare in the second round of the 1974 draft, 29th overall. He played in the NHL from 1974-75 to 1986-87 with Buffalo, Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers. He scored 50 goals in 1974-75 and 56 in 1979-80. The 56 tied him for the NHL lead that season with Charlie Simmer of the Los Angeles Kings and Blaine Stoughton of the Hartford Whalers. Gare has the distinction of scoring 18 seconds into his first NHL game. He did this against the Boston Bruins in October of 1974.