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Maybe I'm late to the party but I had never heard this before.
It's behind a paywall so I'll post some of the interesting parts. Basically, in 1970, Gretzky saw Perrault play against the Penguins in a preseason game and became obsessed with him. He grew up 2 hours from Buffalo and used to get the Sabres games on TV and the radio.
Man, NHL history would be MUCH different if Gretzky had gotten his wish
It's behind a paywall so I'll post some of the interesting parts. Basically, in 1970, Gretzky saw Perrault play against the Penguins in a preseason game and became obsessed with him. He grew up 2 hours from Buffalo and used to get the Sabres games on TV and the radio.
Living in Brantford, less than two hours from Buffalo, Gretzky could get Sabres games on television and on the radio. He remembers watching Ted Darling call games on Channel 7. When his dad made him go to bed early, he allowed Wayne to continue listening to the game on the radio. He loved it when the Sabres were playing late on the West Coast because he could listen to Rick Jeanneret call the game when he couldn’t fall asleep.
“They were fun to watch,” Gretzky said. “At that time, the Flyers were a tough team. The Sabres were trying to be this finesse team. My dad would always say to me, ‘We need the Sabres to win because we need finesse back in hockey. It will be good for you and your career.’ So I became a huge Sabres fan.
“It goes back to Punch Imlach. He made the Buffalo Sabres. He drafted Gilbert, got Richard Martin, got Rene Robert, Jim Schoenfeld, Roger Crozier, and Tim Horton. I can still remember thinking, ‘Gosh, I wish one day I could wear that Buffalo Sabre jersey.’ It was amazing. When you’re a kid you dream, right? That’s the best thing about being a kid you dream about things that you love.”
“They were fun to watch,” Gretzky said. “At that time, the Flyers were a tough team. The Sabres were trying to be this finesse team. My dad would always say to me, ‘We need the Sabres to win because we need finesse back in hockey. It will be good for you and your career.’ So I became a huge Sabres fan.
“It goes back to Punch Imlach. He made the Buffalo Sabres. He drafted Gilbert, got Richard Martin, got Rene Robert, Jim Schoenfeld, Roger Crozier, and Tim Horton. I can still remember thinking, ‘Gosh, I wish one day I could wear that Buffalo Sabre jersey.’ It was amazing. When you’re a kid you dream, right? That’s the best thing about being a kid you dream about things that you love.”
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