RIP Rick Martin (of the French Connection)

That's the French Connection of 1970s American hockey fame. Martin was the left winger in a Buffalo Sabres line that included René Robert and Gil Perreault, all of them high up on my list of childhood heroes in my Buffalo.

And it was especially bad news for Robert:

It was a doubly tough day for Robert who’d heard earlier in the day that his older brother, Real, had died of a heart attack in Montreal.

"It’s like a bad dream," said Robert to the Buffalo News on Sunday afternoon. "First my brother, then my left-winger. I lose Rico (Martin). I tell you what. This one is going to be tough for everybody in Buffalo."

Here's a truly pretty goal by Martin in a game the Sabres played against the Soviet team in 1976. You can see Martin pause for a second, choose a spot - a tiny one - and nail it. Beauty way: