About Things That go B U M P in the Night ...

 

This is not a hockey story.

You may have seen the photo below.

It's the Buffalo Sabres' fabulous French Connection line featuring, from left to right; Rene Robert, Gilbert Perrault and Richard Martin. They acquired the catchy nickname at the same time the movie by that name was released in 1971.

I had the three players attend a black-tie charity function. It occurred to me that if I could get them to pose for a photo, and have them autograph it, I could use it as a fundraising item for the charity's silent auction for years to come.

To prepare, I approached a Toronto poster company to see if they had any original Gene Hackman French Connection movie posters. When I explained why I wanted them, the proprietor loaned them to me with a promise that he would receive a copy of the finished unframed autographed photo.

Next, I visited an army surplus store that had a collection of 200-year-old war swords.That proprietor agreed to the same terms and I marched out of his store with three antique weapons.

When the threesome saw the photo area that was prepared for them, they just beamed - you can see it in their faces - they loved the photo's backdrop.

They signed 50 copies in a 16 x 20' format and I had each framed by an artist. The photos were sold at Special Olympics Canada fundraising events across the country for the next 5 years and the French Connection and this simple gesture earned $40,000 for their fellow athletes.

The mystery is coming ... but first, I need to give you a little background on the key player.

Rene Robert and I became friends following his NHL career ... which, by the way, had started in 1970 with the Toronto Maple Leafs and ended in the 1981-82 season with the same team.

In hockey retirement, Rene worked as a salesman for Molson Breweries, then became the Canadian manager for Carrera Sunglasses and then went to the marketing department of a financial institution, then ran an NHL Old Timer hockey group that toured Canada putting on exhibition games for charity then he was hired by The Canadian Mint to launch their NHL collectible stamps and coins program and then he became the president of the NHL Veteran Player's Association. Clearly, he had an IQ for business that was equal to the one he had for hockey. Incidentally, he would hire the most expensive lawyer he could find and pay him his hourly rate to negotiate his hockey contracts - no expensive player agents for him.

The last time I saw Rene was in Buffalo in 2020. He looked like he could still play. He appeared to be in terrific shape, very athletic and still had the movie star's good looks. But, on June 22, 2021, he died of a massive heart attack. I guess the lesson must be ... it's what you look like on the inside, not the outside that counts.

The day after Rene passed away the mystery began.

As a computer whiz, I would give myself a 4.5 rating out of 10. I've managed to store 8,825 photos on my computer and my iPhone.

If you asked me - actually if you paid me to bring one photo off of my computer and place it on my phone as a screen saver, I couldn't do it. Wouldn't know where to start, don't know what buttons to push, have never done it before and would likely get frustrated even with the attempt.

Mysteriously, remarkably, the day after Rene passed away, The French Connection photo appeared on my phone as a screen saver. I have no idea how it got there and I have no idea how to remove it ... even though I have no intention of doing that.

We all have stories of strange things that happen once a relative or friend dies.

They say you're never really gone if people continue to mention your name.

Rene Robert, a terrific hockey player, a gentleman, a generous charity volunteer and friend.