Gilbert Perreault: 100 Greatest NHL Players - Elusive Skater Centered Sabres Famed "French Connection" Line - Stu Hackel - Special To NHL.com
The answer was an easy one: Gilbert Perreault. The question was posed by Brendan Shanahan, who was playing golf with Bobby Orr. "I didn't want to be a total geek and ask him a million questions," Shanahan said on the Buffalo Sabres 40th anniversary DVD, "but eventually I had to ask him one, and I asked who the toughest guy was for him to play against, or the best player that he ever played against."
What made Perreault, who scored 512 goals and 1,326 points in 1,191 NHL games, such an easy answer and daunting foe for Boston's fabled No. 4? It started with his great skating legs and an inexhaustible array of moves, NBC Sports analyst Pierre McGuire said on the TV series "Greatest Hockey Legends." "He had that bowlegged stride [and] the way he accelerated when he had the puck on his stick," McGuire said. "Most guys slow down, he sped up."
Larry Robinson had a slightly fevered perspective of what it was like trying to stop Perreault in his prime. "I saw this guy coming down the ice and his feet were 15 feet apart and he's pulling all these moves, between the legs of guys and, just probably, one of the most beautiful skaters you'll ever see," he said.
Lindy Ruff saw how Perreault could kill a penalty by just holding onto the puck. "They came to take it from him, he'd beat one guy, they came to take it from him again, he beat another guy, and he went on for 30 seconds just stick-handling and keeping the puck away," Ruff said. "And then when he was done he dumped it in and changed. There's nobody else who could do that."
Dale Hawerchuk watched Perreault toy with his Winnipeg Jets teammates. "He had this jitterbug, sidestep move where a lot of defensemen were caught swimming across the ice trying to get to him, because he'd just drag it forever," Hawerchuk said. "They think they have him, but they can't get to him."
Perreault had a simple explanation for what seemed impossible. "In my day, offensive players did a lot more skating and stick-handling, changing speed, deking two guys and making plays in the offensive zone," Perreault explained to writer Chris McDonell. "I loved the thrill of beating everyone on the ice, deking through the opposition. When I got the puck, I'd dare them to try to get it away from me. It's rare to see that today."
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