By Budd Bailey, Buffalo Sports Page Columnist
No. 62: June 11, 1976 – The Sabres trade the rights to free agent Peter McNab to Boston for the rights to free agent Andre Savard.
Everyone in Buffalo loved Peter McNab when he was a member of the Sabres in the mid-1970s. He was a big, strong young center with a scoring touch. The problem was that the Sabres already had some good centers in that era. McNab had a chance to sign a contract as a restricted free agent in the summer of 1976, and wanted to go to Boston.
Meanwhile, Andre Savard was in almost the exact situation with the Bruins. He wanted to come to Buffalo. There could have been some messy discussions about compensation, but the two teams made it simple by trading the rights to the two players. Savard was a good two-way center with some scoring ability, peaking in 1980-81 with 74 points. But McNab was even better. He scored at least 36 goals in his first six seasons with the Bruins, and finished a 14-year NHL career with 363 goals.
One time Savard was in the Buffalo press box because of an injury, and he asked someone what the cylinders were that hung from the roof of Memorial Auditorium. “They put one up every time Peter McNab scores a goal,” someone answered. To his credit, Savard laughed.
(Follow Budd on Twitter @WDX2BB)
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