Rene Robert

Rene Robert exceeded pretty much everybody's expectations. Never drafted by the NHL, Robert worked hard every shift and eventually caught the attention of NHL scouts. Soon enough Robert was placed with Gilbert Perreault and Rick Martin to form one of the greatest lines in NHL history - The French Connection.

After playing three years in a unaffiliated minor leaguer, Rene's hard working, hard hitting style combined with consistent scoring caught the attention of the Toronto Maple Leafs who gave Rene a five-game tryout contract. He played in all 5 games but made little impact.

The following year the Pittsburgh Penguins plucked Rene off of the waiver list. Rene was played sparingly in Steeltown, scoring 7 goals and 18 points in 49 games. Late in the year he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for veteran tough guy Eddie Shack.

It was in Buffalo that Rene's career finally caught fire and he proved everybody wrong. He was the perfect complimentary right winger for Perreault and Martin. The two slick scoring sensations needed Robert's aggressive style. Robert would hustle into the corners and more often than not come out with the puck. He was killed enough to be able to do something with that puck too, often setting up his two marksmen linemates. His constant hustle and try not only made Perreault and Martin better players, but also made the Sabres into a true contender.

Of course, Robert is quick to downplay his importance to their success, and attributes his success to something other than hard work.

“Well, it makes your life a lot easier when you play with two tremendous hockey players. As you know back in the ‘70s, our line was very famous throughout the league. But a lot of people say, ‘What is it like to play with people like that?’ To be very honest with you, it takes an awful lot of luck. I believe everything in life comes to you with a reason and that there’s a meaning to everything that we do but the fact that I played with these guys, what made us click and what made us so good was pure luck. Chemistry was there, there’s no two ways about it. But, like I said earlier, when you play with people of that caliber, it’s a lot easier to play hockey.”

The 1972-73 season then marked the first of seven full seasons Robert would play with the Sabres. He tallied a career-high 40 goals that year and it was just a sign of things to come. Robert never failed to score fewer than 21 goals during his tenure in Buffalo.

1974-75 was a particularly strong year for Robert. He matched his career-high in goals with 40 while also registering career-bests with 60 assists and 100 points that year. Rene also helped lead the Sabres to the Stanley Cup Finals that season where they eventually fell short to the Philadelphia Flyers.

After seven-plus years in Buffalo, Rene was traded to the Colorado Rockies prior to the 1979-80 campaign. He scored 28 goals in his only full season with the Rockies. In Denver Rene was one of coach Don Cherry's favourite players, describing him as a "solid, hard nosed veteran."

"After I got Robert, and looked at some of the guys he had to work with, I'd feel sorry for the guy,” added Cherry. "He blocked shots, threw his weight around and fought. H even played though he had a broken thumb, a separated shoulder and a pulled groin! Considering our collection of players, I wouldn't have blamed Robert if he had just thrown in the towel, but he wouldn't quit."

Quit was the one thing Robert would never do. He never forgot how hard he had to work to make the NHL, and to work twice as hard to reach the dizzying heights that he achieved. As long as Robert laced up the skates, no one on the ice could out hustle him. Hard work and a little luck were Robert's trademarks.

Robert's career came full circle when a trade took him back to the Toronto Maple Leafs midway through the 1980-81 season. The Rockies traded Robert in exchange for a draft pick to end his "exile" in the Rocky Mountains. Robert finished out his NHL career by playing in 55 games with the Leafs in 1981-82, scoring 13 goals and 37 points.

Over his 12-year NHL career, Robert recorded eight 20-goal seasons and two 40-goal years. Rene was selected to the NHL’s Second All-Star Team in 1975 and he also played in the 1973 and 1975 All-Star Games. His career statistics include 284 goals, 418 assists and 702 points in 744 regular season games. He also added 22 goals and 41 points in 50 playoff contests.

Following his hockey career, Rene went on to work for Molson's and the NHLPA.

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Brian "Spinner" Spencer

The life of Brian "Spinner" Spencer was turbulent, fast and tragic.

He grew up in the Canadian backwoods and as every kid in Canada he dreamed of becoming a hockey pro, spending many hours in the local rinks.

Brian's energetic gung-ho style was appreciated by his junior teams and coaches. He went on to play for the Calgary Centennials in the WHL 1967-68 and did quite well. The following season he played for both the Estevan Bruins and Swift Current Broncos (WHL), scoring almost a point per game combined with his aggressive in-your-face hockey.

Brian attended Toronto Maple Leafs training camp in 1969 but didn't make the final cut. He was assigned to the farm team in Tulsa where he played most of the season. He got his first recall to the Maple Leafs on December 9, 1969 but didn't play. He had to wait until March 14, 1970 before he made his debut (vs. Boston 2-1). Brian saw the odd shift in another 8 games that season.

The next season Brian was a regular in Toronto for most part of the season. Unfortunately tragedy struck, and it would haunt Brian for the rest of his life. Brian told his parents that he would be a second period guest during Hockey Night In Canada's telecast of the Leafs game against Chicago on December 12, 1970. Brian's parents were extremely proud to have a son in the NHL, especially his father Roy.

When Brian's father discovered that the CBC affiliate near the family's Fort St.James home was carrying the Vancouver-California game instead, he became enraged. He drove over two hours to Prince George Television station CKPG and held employees hostage with his pistol and forced them to cut the transmission power. After a short while the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrived and a shootout followed. Roy Spencer was shot and killed at the age of 57.

The death of his father hit Brian hard and it hurt Brian for the rest of his life according to people around him, although he tried not to show it. It was his father's dream to have one of his sons playing hockey. Brian's twin brother Byron did not make it, but Brian did, and it made his father almost burst of pride.

Brian split the 1971-72 season between Toronto and Tulsa. He was then left unprotected in the 1972 expansion draft and was picked by NY Islanders. Brian spent the next 1½ years on Long Island before being traded to Buffalo on March 10, 1974.

Brian had his best offensive production in a Sabres uniform when he had 41 points, including 12 goals, in 1974-75. Brian played well in Buffalo and was extremely popular with the fans. His hustle, aggressive play and ability to hit was something the fans loved. Brian developed to a pretty good all-around player.

Traded to Pittsburgh in September 1977, his offensive production fell as he became more specialized as a checking forward. Brian's last NHL season came in 1978-79 when he played 7 games for Pittsburgh. He then finished his playing career in the AHL (Binghamton, Springfield and Hershey) and retired after the 1979-80 season.

The story about Spinner Spencer should end here, but unfortunately his life after hockey became a mess. Brian moved to Palm Beach, Florida right after he retired. He met the wrong kind of people in Florida and got involved with drugs and crime. He moved in with a prostitute who worked for an escort service. She accused Brian of committing a 1982 murder against a Palm Beach Gardens restaurateur named Michael Dalfo.

Brian was arrested for a first degree murder in January 1987 but was acquitted in October 1987 after a 10-month trial. Needless to say, Brian didn't feel much better after that experience. In February 1988 Brian visited former Leaf teammate Jim McKenny, a friend of Brian who at the time was working as a Toronto sportscaster. Jim noticed how disillusioned Brian was.

"He walked down a lot of avenues people have never been. He experienced a lot of things people never have, " McKenny said later. " He thought he was the only bad person in the NHL, he felt he was the only person who failed. But I told him there were 200 other guys who messed up worse than he thought he had. I told him he shouldn't feel guilty. It's really tough to re-establish yourself after hockey. He was all alone. When he came here he was amazed at the interest of people. He was surprised people still cared about him. He thought he was the scum of the earth. But he really picked up when he visited Toronto. He wasn't your run-of-the-mill NHL'er. He was inquisitive about everything."

A book about Brian's life named Gross Misconduct: The life of Spinner Spencer by Martin O'Malley was due to be released and Brian was very happy about it. Finally his life seemed to turn around for the better.

But that never happened in Spencer's lifetime. On the night of June 2, 1988, Brian and his friend Gregory Scott Cook cruised around Riviera Beach, allegedly to buy a rock of cocaine. (which was later denied). After having made the buy they stopped a couple of blocks away when a stranger in a white car pulled up, walked to the driver's side window, demanded money (reportedly getting as little as $ 3) and shot the 38-year old Brian in the heart.

Cook, who escaped uninjured, rushed Brian to a nearby fire station. The paramedics took Brian to St. Mary's hospital in West Palm Beach where he was pronounced dead at 12:12 a.m. June 3, 1988.

Brian's hectic life came to an abrupt end just as he was turning his life around. The curly haired Spencer was survived by his twin brother Byron, mother Irene, his two ex-wives, Linda and Janet plus his five children, Andrea, Nicole, Kristin, Jason and Jarret.

Hockey fans will always remember that curly hair and wide smile on his face when he hustled down the ice to nail somebody to the boards, his energetic style that earned him the nickname "Spinner". People will always remember "Spinner", on the contrary to what he always thought.

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Lindy Ruff

Lindy Ruff lived up to his name. That's because rough is the perfect word to describe Lindy's style of play.

Ruff was a below average finesse player - with bad skating and puck skills for an NHLer. He was however a conscientious defensive forward who used his size and strength to bang pucks loose in the corners and in front of the net. He was one of the best role players in the league in the decade he played.

So how does a player of below average skills last in the NHL for 12 seasons and go on to be an excellent NHL coach?

Lindy was a tremendous team player and the perfect guy to have in the locker room. In fact his best contributions to his team may have been in the dressing room and away from the ice rather than on it. He was so good with young players and with creating team chemistry that he was almost as valuable as a 20 goal scorer. He was the obvious choice to replace Gilbert Perreault as team captain in 1986.

Plus Lindy had the rare ability to play defense as well as left wing. He was drafted as a defenseman but when it became obvious he didn't have the speed to play at the NHL level he was shifted to the wing. He did fill in on defense in case of injuries throughout his days on the wing. Later on in his career he shifted back to defense as a full time job.

Ruff was drafted by the Sabres with the 32nd overall pick in 1979 (despite suffering a career threatening hip injury in his last season of junior) and quickly became one of the most popular figures in this strong sporting town. For almost 10 seasons he bled the Blue and Gold of the Buffalo Sabres. In addition to all the intangibles he brought the team he chipped in with some timely offense. He averaged about 10-15 goals and 30-35 points when played left wing. This despite some serious injury problems. His three best years were all cut short by injuries - 1983-84 saw him on pace to set career highs in all categories with 14 goals, 31 assists and 45 points in just 58 games; 1984-85 had him on pace to score 27 goals but he only ended up playing in 39 games; and 1985-86 saw him eclipse the 20 goal mark for the only time in his career despite playing in just 54 games.

Lindy, who converted back to defense by 1987 and played there for most of the remainder of his career, was traded on the 1989 trading deadline for a 5th round draft pick (which turned out to be skilled defenseman Richard Smehlik) of the New York Rangers. He finished his career with the Rangers 2 1/2 seasons later but injuries continued to plague the effective grinder.

Lindy continued to play in the minor leagues for two seasons after his NHL days were done. He was being groomed for the coaching world while playing with AHL Rochester and IHL San Diego. By the time he officially hung up his blades in 1993 the expansion Florida Panthers came calling and offered Lindy an assistant coach position. Lindy was a big part of the quick rise of the Panthers and their surprising 1996 Stanley Cup finals appearance.

Lindy got a chance to run his own bench at the NHL level - despite having no head coaching experience - in 1997. It was a nice homecoming for Lindy, as the Buffalo Sabres offered Lindy their head coaching job. Lindy was the perfect choice in Buffalo - a long time ex Sabre who was so well liked in the community and who could continue to instill the lunch bucket, hard work attitude that so fitted the Sabres team. It was an excellent choice and Lindy, unlike many coaches in the NHL today, should be able to stay with the Sabres for some time with the success he's had.

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Tony McKegney

In the summer of 1978, one of hockey's finest young prospects was Tony McKegney. Yet he was being overlooked at the NHL draft table that summer because it was assumed that he signed with the World Hockey Association's Birmingham Bulls.

At the last minute, the deal between Birmingham and McKegney fell through for political reasons. You see McKegney was black and that wouldn't go over very well in Alabama according to some. The Bull's hockey management team wanted McKegney's size and a laser-like shot, as did team owner John Bassett. However some of Bassett's supporters convinced the owner that having a black hockey player in Birmingham was a bad idea. A disappointed Bassett reluctantly agreed and shied away from McKegney

Word about McKegney's availability was slow to reach NHL circles. It wasn't until McKegney's agent Alan Eagleson started spreading the word in the second round of the NHL entry draft. The Buffalo Sabres eagerly snapped up the left winger. Tony was considered to be a definite first round pick, perhaps even a top 10 selection, if he wasn't tied up by the WHA. Needless to say the Sabres were more than happy to grab him with the 32nd selection.

McKegney was obviously disappointed by the circumstances involved in the Birmingham experience. He was later quoted as saying "All I want to do is be a good player in the NHL, and show those Birmingham people how wrong they were."

If that was McKegney's driving ambition as a hockey player, then he sure accomplished his goal. He went on to enjoy 13 years in the National Hockey League, scoring 320 goals and over 600 points in 912 career games.

In the process he became the first black hockey star. Willie O'Ree broke hockey's color barrier and was a star in the minor leagues for years, but not at the NHL level. It wasn't until McKegney's arrival that the NHL saw its first black scoring star. At approximately the same time, black goalie Grant Fuhr was performing heroics by establishing himself as the best puckstopper in the world.

After a spectacular junior career with the Kingston Canadiens, McKegney enjoyed 5 years in Buffalo. After an 8 goal rookie season he stepped up his production to 23 goals and then 37. He slipped in 1981-82 when he fell back to 23, but rebounded to 36 goals in 1982-83, his final year in Buffalo.

The off season saw McKegney be a part of a major trade with the Quebec Nordiques. Quebec traded troubled Real "Buddy" Cloutier and a first round draft pick (Adam Creighton) for McKegney, French center Andre Savard, Jean Sauve and a third round draft pick (Iiro Jarvi).

McKegney only lasted 1 and 1/2 seasons in Quebec, as he struggled for ice time behind prolific left wing scorers Michel Goulet and Anton Stastny. Despite being a third stringer, he did put up respectable numbers, including 36 goals in a total of 105 games.

Tony was sent to Minnesota in December of 1984 and he finished the year strongly in Minnesota, picking up nearly a point a game in 27 contests. He followed that up with a terrific playoff, scoring 8 goals and 14 points in 9 games. However he followed that up with perhaps his most disappointing NHL season in 1985-86. He tallied only 15 goals and 40 points.

Tony started the 1986-87 season with the North Stars, but 11 games into the season he was traded to the New York Rangers. He recaptured his consistent 30 goal form, notching 29 as a Ranger for 31 total.

Tony's stay on Broadway was short, as he was sent to St. Louis in 1987-88 and had his best NHL season. He scored a career high 40 goals, 38 assists and 78 points. An aging McKegney slipped to 25 goals and 42 points in 1988-89.

Tony slowed down after that season, never reaching the 20 goal level again. He had very brief stops in Detroit (14 games) and Chicago (9 games) as well as parts of two seasons in a second tour of duty with the Nordiques.

Tony left the NHL at the completion of 1991. He spent one year in Italy before returning to North America to play for the San Diego Gulls of the IHL in 1992-93.

Tony was a big left winger, who was effective at the physical game though not an overly physical player by nature. His strong legs gave him good up and down skating ability with good acceleration, but lacked great agility to outclass some of the better NHL defensemen. He was very effective in front of the net where his good balance made him nearly immovable. Many of his goals came from tipping in point shots or banging at loose pucks in the crease. Tony's best physical asset was his excellent shot which he was always able to get away with uncanny quickness.

So why did Tony travel so much? He was a consistent 25-30 goals scorer who every once in a while would break out to the next level, like he did in 1980-81, 1982-83, the latter half of 1984-85 and most especially in 1987-88. But his problem was he had a reputation of having two good years but then having a stinker. As this reputation spread and, rightly or wrongly, was accepted, he became a rent a player who was acquired to hit a home run, but if he didn't hit it quickly, he would be traded away.

An interesting side note about Tony McKegney: His brother Ian also played in the National Hockey League, appearing in three games with the Chicago Blackhawks back in 1976-77. The defenseman however was not black, but white. Tony was adopted by the McKegney family as an infant.

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