By Budd Bailey, Buffalo Sports Page Columnist
No. 45: June 9, 1982 – The Sabres trade Don Edwards, Richie Dunn, a second-round draft choice in 1982 (Rich Kromm) and a first-round draft choice in 1983 (Dan Quinn) to Calgary for a first-round draft choice (Paul Cyr) and second-round draft choice (Jens Johansson) in 1982 and a first-round draft choice (Norm Lacombe) and a second-round draft choice (John Tucker) in 1983.
As you’d expect, a trade involving two players and six draft choices was rather complicated. It starts with the fact that Bob Sauve had been traded to Detroit in a conditional deal in 1981, but the Red Wings returned him to the Sabres. That meant general manager Scotty Bowman had a spare veteran goalie again in his attempt to rebuild the team. Don Edwards had won 156 games as a Sabre, and was only 26.
It was a bit of a shock when Edwards went to Calgary in the complex swap. The deal meant that the Sabres had the sixth, ninth and 16th picks in the first round in 1982, and Buffalo took Cyr ninth with the Calgary choice. Phil Housley and Dave Andreychuk, future Hall of Famers, were the other two picks.
Considering how big the deal was and how much conversation it caused throughout hockey, it didn’t do that much for either team. Edwards was 40-49-13 in three years as a Flame and was out of the NHL at age 30. But Quinn and Kromm at least had good-sized NHL careers. Cyr had a couple of 20-goal seasons in Buffalo but is generally remembered for an inaccurate slap shot. John Tucker peaked in production (65 points) at the age of 21. Norm Lacombe reached double digits in goals only twice and was done at the age of 26.
(Follow Budd on Twitter @WDX2BB)
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