Back in the late 1970s, when the Buffalo Sabres began to make serious noise in the NHL, all eyes were focused on the French connection. Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin and René Robert stole the spotlight – and rightly. They were magic on the ice.
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But hidden just outside those spotlights was a man who became just as essential for the identity of the team in his own blue way. Nelson, owner of British Columbia Danny Gare, didn’t blind. He just delivered.
Gare scored 56 goals and he did not take shortcuts
Let’s go there immediately: in 1979–80, Gare 56 scored goals. That is not only impressive – it tied him that year for most goals in the competition, Next to Charlie Simmer and Blaine Stoughton. It is one of those seasons that passes the test of time.
What makes it even better? He did it in the hard way. Gare did not ride around the perimeter or filling statistics in blowouts. All 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds he went to the front of the net. He fought through checks. He was knocked down and immediately came up again. In a competition where the space was earned and the Rulebook was, let’s say, a small looser, good flowering.
Gare played with the stars, and he became one
That 1979–80 Sabres team was stacked. They ended with 110 points, at that time a franchise record. And while the French connection was still buzzing, Gare was the one who set the biggest goal of all of them all. He had no hands from Perreault or Martin’s Scot.
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What was good was an incredible engine, a fast release and the kind of hockey -IQ that told him exactly where he should be. Do you know the type – the man who always seems to find the puck in the right place at the right time? That was vintage cooked.
Gare started quickly with the Sabes and he remained consistent
If you remember your Sabres’s Sabers debut, you know He didn’t waste time. Later he became the Sabres’ team captain, he scored 18 seconds in his first NHL shift in 1974. Talk about making an entrance. And he kept it going.
(Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLi via Getty images)
More than seven full seasons in Buffalo, he achieved 267 goals and 500 points in 503 games. That kind of production-in the framework of a point per game is stuck in every era. He scored 50 goals twice, first in 1975–76 and again with his unforgettable 56-goal season. He was elite, even in a franchise with names such as Pat Lafontaine and Alex Mogilny in the record books.
Gare’s trade in the red wings hurt, but his legacy remained
In 1981 Gare was traded in a blockbuster movement to the Detroit Red Wings. He also served there as a captain and later had a short period with the Edmonton Oilers. But ask every Sabres fan who has experienced those years; He never really stopped with a saber. When the Sabres eliminated his number 18 in 2005It felt less like an honor that was given and more like something that had always been true was finally made officially.
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Gare was a player where Buffalo fans could always find out. For those fans who grew up near Buffalo (as I did), the city has always been a hard -working hockey city. In Buffalo, a steel-and-industrial city built on pride on the working class, enjoying fans of beef on Weck, Local Pizza and Anchor Bar Wings and cheer just as loudly for detergent efforts on the ice as for skills.
Sabres fans love heart and cheer for players who leave it all on the ice. That is why Gare is still resonating. He fit in the city – and the fans embraced him for it.
Gare was not just a song in the trusses
Gare’s celebrated 56-goal season was not only a milestone-it was the kind of season that records what made him special. It was not about Flash. It was a fight. He scored like a star, led like a captain and played like every team did – because he did him.
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Gare may not get the national recognition that other stars enjoy his time, but in Buffalo his name has meaning. And it will always be. For fans who want the history of Sabres, starting with Gare is a no-brainer. Just don’t forget to mention all 56 of those goals.
[Note: I’d like to thank Brent Bradford (PhD) for his help co-authoring this post. His profile can be found at www.linkedin.com/in/brent-bradford-phd-3a10022a9]
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