Standing at a mere five foot six inches, Jean-Francois Sauve didn't carry a physical presence during his hockey career, but he made up for it with scoring prowess.
Sauve led the league in points for two straight seasons while with the QMJHL's Trois- Rivieres Draveurs for 1978-79, registering 176 points in 72 games and 187 points in the same number of games in 1979-80. Despite his scoring touch, he went undrafted and signed as a free agent in 1979 with the Buffalo Sabres, the team that his older brother, netminder Bob Sauve, played for.
The 1980-81 season saw Sauve split time in Buffalo and their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans. In 20 games in the NHL that season, he collected 14 points while playing in 56 games with the Americans and scoring 83 points. He split time with the Sabres and Americans over the next two seasons before being traded to the Quebec Nordiques in 1983.
Sauve split time once again in the NHL with the Nordiques and their AHL team, the Fredericton Express. His scoring touch returned and he had 50 points in 26 games. The 1985-86 season saw Sauve register NHL career highs in assists, with 40, and points, with 56.
The next season, Sauve moved to Switzerland where he played for several years before heading to France where he finished his playing career.
