Covering the entire 30 year history of the Sabres, author Sal Maiorana has collected every essential piece of Sabres knowledge and trivia, as well as must-do activities, and ranks them all from 1 to 100. Most Sabres fans have taken in a game or two at the First Niagara Center, have seen highlights of a young Pat Lafontaine, and are aware that the Blizzard of 1977 caused the team’s first weather-related cancelation. But only real fans know who scored the first goal in franchise history, can name every member of the Sabres Hall of Fame, or can tell you the best place to grab a bite in Buffalo before the game. 100 Things Sabres Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die is the definitive resource guide for both seasoned and new fans of the Buffalo Sabres. Sal Maiorana is a veteran sportswriter who covers the Buffalo Bills for the Democrat and Chronicle . He is the author of 18 books, including Game of My Life: Memorable Stories of Buffalo Bills Football , Buffalo Bills: The Complete Illustrated History , and A Lifetime of Yankee Octobers. He lives in Walsorth, New York. 100 Things Sabres Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die By Sal Maiorana Triumph Books Copyright © 2012 Sal Maiorana All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-60078-722-5 Contents Foreword by Lindy Ruff, Introduction, 1. Gilbert Perreault — The Original Sabre, 2. The Dominator, 3. Welcome to the Stanley Cup Finals, 4. No Goal, 5. May Day, 6. Lindy, 7. Flying Frenchmen, 8. The 1999 Finals, 9. Punch, 10. Soviet Slaughter, 11. Rico, 12. Breakfast, Anyone?, 13. The Winter Classic, 14. Thank You, Sabres, 15. The Defection of Mogilny, 16. Drury and Briere Bolt, 17. Continental Flight 3407, 18. The Only Place It Didn't Work, 19. The Derek Plante Goal, 20. The Hockey Hall of Fame, 21. Procuring a Franchise, 22. A Spin of the Wheel, 23. Breaking Down the Barriers, 24. Working Overtime, 25. The Ironman, 26. All Tuckered Out, 27. Win and In, 28. LaLaLaLaLaLaLaFontaine, 29. They Travel Well, 30. The Ken Dryden Pads Caper, 31. Perreault Hits 500, 32. Rene Robert, 33. Miller Time, 34. Going Batty, 35. Near Tragedy, 36. The President's Cup, 37. "Punching" Out the Leafs, 38. Darcy Regier, 39. The Saddest Night, 40. The Dynamic Duo, 41. "Now Do You Believe?", 42. Remember the Aud, 43. The Trade, 44. No Garden Party, 45. The Year of Uncertainty, 46. Picking Pierre, 47. Thomas Vanek, 48. Razor, 49. First-Round Flopping, 50. The Muckler-Nolan Feud, 51. The End of the Spectrum Jinx, 52. Mike Ramsey, 53. Sauve's Double Shutout, 54. "Wowie", 55. Hometown Heroes, 56. Schony, 57. Gerry Meehan, 58. Captain Clutch, 59. The Bowman Showcase, 60. The Underappreciated Hall of Famer, 61. Steady Bill, 62. The Bottle Cap Bisons, 63. Luuuuuuuce, 64. The Saga of Perreault's Retirement, 65. Mike Foligno, 66. Sabres University, 67. The Owners, 68. Roger the Dodger, 69. Wounded Knee, 70. Larry Playfair, 71. Attend a Party in the Plaza, 72. A Hero's Welcome, 73. King Kong Korab, 74. Impact Trades, 75. The Hardest-Working Spectacle in Hockey, 76. The Sabres Store and the Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, 77. The One That Got Away, 78. The Joker Is Wild, 79. Takin' It to the Streets, 80. The Ripper, 81. The First Game, 82. Tom Barrasso, 83. The Other Guy, 84. Michael Peca's Holdout, 85. Gretzky's Big Night, 86. The Voices of the Sabres, 87. Shackie, 88. Les Nordiques, 89. Support the Sabres Foundation, 90. Scoring Frenzy, 91. The First One Against the Great One, 92. Floyd Smith, 93. Wear the Colors Proudly, 94. An Imperfect 10, Plus One, 95. Danny's Debut, 96. It Starts with the Kids, 97. Meehan Floors the Flyers, 98. The Voice of the Aud, 99. Blizzard Broadcast, 100. See Ya, Seymour, Sources, About the Author, CHAPTER 1 Gilbert Perreault — The Original Sabre Elvis Presley shook his hips. Frank Sinatra crooned. Bruce Springsteen sang his working class anthems. Barnum and Bailey pitched their big tops. Olympic gold medalists Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill performed their figure skating artistry and basketball Hall of Famers Bob McAdoo, Bob Lanier, and Calvin Murphy buried jump shots at Memorial Auditorium. But for those who saw Gilbert Perreault play night after night for more than 16 years as a member of the Buffalo Sabres, he was possibly the greatest act to ever perform in the old downtown arena. Perreault was the original Sabre, the very first player drafted in 1970 when the NHL granted Buffalo an expansion franchise. From the moment he jumped over the boards, you got the feeling that something remarkable might happen — a sentiment that was shared by his teammates, opponents, and fans alike. "Gilbert Perreault, when he went behind the net and took that puck, we stood up on the bench half the time, this guy was so thrilling," said Craig Ramsay, Perreault's teammate for 14 years and his coach for about two weeks in November of 1986. It would begin with Perreault