Rene Robert ✝

René Paul Robert (December 31, 1948 – June 22, 2021) was a Canadian professional ice hockey winger who played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, and Colorado Rockies 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 with the Sabres, in which he scored the game-winning goal in Game 3. Robert was born in Trois-Rivières, on December 31, 1948. As a youth, he played in the 1961 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament 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 Toronto Maple Leafs to a five-game tryout contract on March 20, 1968. 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. He was claimed by the Pittsburgh Penguins on June 8, 1971, in the NHL Intra-League Draft. He played most of the 1971–72 season with that franchise until he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for Eddie Shack on March 4, 1972. He was subsequently placed in the same forward line as center Gilbert Perreault 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.