Third String Goalie

1982-83 Boston Bruins Pete Peeters Jersey

2012-02-13T05:00:00.003-06:00

Following a loss to the Quebec Nordiques on November 11, 1982, the Boston Bruins record stood at 7-6-3. The Bruins rebounded with a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres two nights later on the 13th. Goaltender Pete Peeters was the winner, making 25 saves on 27 Buffalo shots.

The Bruins won their following game 7-3 over the St. Louis Blues with Mike Moffat in the Bruins goal. On November 16th, the Bruins got their redemption against the Nordiques with a dominant 7-4 win with Peeters back in goal. He was again the winning goaltender on November 18th in a 3-1 win over the Islanders in a game that was not as close as it sounds, as Boston led 3-0 with seven minutes remaining.

Moffat took the loss against Pittsburgh on November 20th before Peeters won his fourth consecutive start after making two Bruins first period goals stand up in a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames as the Bruins held the Flames to just 17 shots, an especially low amount in the wide open style of the 1980's.

A tie with the Flyers on the 24th halted Peeters winning streak, but extended his unbeaten streak to five games, which continued the next day with a 1-1 draw against the New York Islanders, who were in the middle of their Stanley Cup dynasty and would go on to win another championship at the end of the season.

Peeters earned his second shutout of the season with an 8-0 pounding of the Hartford Whalers on the 27th to close out November.

December began with a 3-3 tie against the Nordiques on the 2nd followed by a come from behind 6-4 win in Montreal against the Canadiens, highlighted by Barry Pederson's hat trick. Peeters unbeaten streak now reached 10 back in Boston on the 5th as Pederson recorded his second consecutive hat trick in another 6-4 victory.

A contentious, fight filled game against the Nordiques on December 7th saw Moffat take the loss in a 10-5 win for Quebec, although Peeters started the game and allowed the first five Quebec goals.

Moffat got the win in a high scoring 8-5 Bruins win against Montreal on the 9th and again on the 11th 4-2 over the Chicago Blackhawks. Moffat's attempt at a winning streak was curtailed with a 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals.

Peeters got the start against Buffalo and resumed his unbeaten streak, now at 11 games, with an easy 8-1 shellacking of the Sabres on the 16th. Peeters third shutout arrived on the 18th in a 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

Hartford fell victim to Peeters and the Bruins once more on the 23rd by a score of 5-1. After two days off for Christmas, the New Jersey Devils received the same treatment in a 5-2 Bruins win in Boston, their final home game for 18 days.

Boston's seven game road trip began in St. Louis in fine style on the 28th as Boston scored a goal in each period for a 3-0 win, Peeters fourth shutout and Peeters 15th decision without a loss. 1982 came to a close on December 31st as the Bruins extended Peeters unbeaten streak to 16 in a 5-3 win over the Minnesota North Stars, which was not decided until Keith Crowder scored an empty net goal with seven seconds remaining.

January 2nd saw Moffat take the loss in a 6-4 defeat to the Jets in Winnipeg. It was at this point that the Bruins record stood at 23-10-6 thanks to the Bruins five game winning streak in the latter half of December.

The rest of the road trip saw Peeters in goal for each of the four remaining games with a 4-1 win in Chicago, a 2-2 tie in New Jersey, a narrow 2-1 win in Montreal with the extended road trip concluding with a 6-4 win in Toronto to extend Peeters unbeaten streak to an even 20.

The schedule makers now rewarded the Bruins with ten of their next 13 games at home in the Boston Garden. Now fully on a roll, Peeters shutout the Nordiques 2-0 on January 13th and duplicated that feat on the 15th over the New York Rangers by the same 2-0 score.

Minnesota stopped Peeters shutout streak at 168:05 with a goal early in the second period, but his unbeaten streak reached 23 games with a come from behind win thanks to Tom Fergus' goal with just 14 seconds left in the game to give Boston a 4-3 win on the 17th.

Three days later Peeters third shut out in his last four games arrived in the form of a 4-0 win over Buffalo. It was also Peeters 6th consecutive victory.

Marco Baron extended the Bruins winning streak to seven as he got the start for the Bruins on the road in a 3-1 win in Detroit against the Red Wings on January 22nd.

Peeters' personal winning streak resumed in a 3-1 win in Manhattan against the Rangers on the 24th before the club returned home to Boston on the 29th, where a 7-3 defeat of the visiting Red Wings saw the Bruins winning streak reach 9 straight victories and Peeters personal winning streak at 8, while his unbeaten streak was now at 26 games.

January came to a close on the 31st with a 2-2 tie against Winnipeg, tying Peeters personal best 27 game undefeated streak set while with the Flyers during the 1979-80 season when they went an NHL record 35 games without a loss, with Phil Myre sharing in the streak. The Bruins finished January with a 10-1-2 record, with their only loss coming back on the 2nd.

Peeters set a new personal best with his 28th decision without a loss on February 3rd following a 5-3 win over the Nordiques. Baron then extended the Bruins undefeated streak to 14 with a 7-4 win over the Whalers on the 5th.

The Sabres fell again to Boston and Peeters the next night by a score of 5-1 and Peeters reached the rarified air of a 30 game undefeated streak on February 10th as the Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-3 as the club's unbeaten streak reached 16.

Finally on this date in 1983 the Bruins would host the Vancouver Canucks with Peeters once again getting the start. After a scoreless first period Vancouver would break out on top with a power play goal two minutes into the second period. Mike Krushelnyski evened the score for Boston at 10:25 and Rick Middleton's goal less than four minutes later would give the Bruins the lead, which Middleton would extend to 3-1 with three and a half minutes left in the game to extend the Bruins winning streak to five games, their undefeated streak to 17 games (15-0-2 since January 5th) and Peeters personal record to 31 games without a loss, the second longest such streak in NHL history, one behind only former Bruins goaltender (and current head coach!) Gerry Cheevers' 32 game run set in 1975-76.

Having a head coach who had been through such a streak on his own must have been helpful for Peeters, as Cheevers must have had a unique insight on how to handle Peeters and deflect some of the mounting pressure and attention during his run of excellence. Either that, or Cheevers simply kept running Peeters out there in a secret hope he'd tire him out to protect his own league record!

The Bruins record was now 38-10-8 but Peeters would come one short of tying Cheevers when he allowed two goals by Gilbert Perreault and Phil Housley, while Middleton's 30th was all the Bruins could get by Buffalo's Bob Sauve before Brent Peterson's empty net goal made the final 3-1 for Buffalo, ending Peeters undefeated streak.

Peeters would finish the season with a 40-11-9 record to lead the Bruins to a league best 110 points, although this was three seasons before the debut of the President's Trophy, which is now awarded to the team that finishes the regular season with the most points. Pederson would lead Boston in scoring with 46 goals and 107 points, which would place him 6th overall in the NHL.

In the playoffs, Boston would eliminate the Nordiques in four games 3 games to 1 and barely outlast Buffalo with an overtime winner in Game 7 before facing the battle-tested three time defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders, who ended the Bruins season in a back and forth six game series, which oddly saw each game decided by a minimum of three goals!

At the conclusion of the season, Peeters was named the recipient of the Vezina Trophy as the NHL best goaltender for the 1982-83 season as well as a First Team All-Star. He would go on to play three more seasons with the Bruins before moving on to the Capitals and later returning to his original club, the Flyers. His career record over 13 seasons was 246-155-51, but his 40 win season would stand alone as his best, as he never even reached 30 wins in any other year. At the time of his retirement in 1991, Peeters held the second and third longest unbeaten streaks in NHL history at 31 and 27 games, neither of which have been equalled in the nearly 30 years since his astounding 31 game run in 1982-83.

Today's featured jersey is a 1982-83 Boston Bruins Pete Peeters jersey. This jersey has been modified for Peeters with nearly an extra foot of length added to the mid-section from below the Bruins crest down to the waist stripes, giving it truly unusual proportions when compared to the average player's jersey. Peeters would then pull the jersey down as far as possible in a surreptitious effort to decrease the size of the "five hole" between his legs!

Eventually the league caught onto Peeters' modified jersey and outlawed his alterations. See if you can detect the seam just below the crest or the #1 on the back.

In today's video section, proof of Peeters colorful career, as he gets into a fight with the North Stars Don Beaupre while he was a member of the Flyers. Note the Flyers skaters wearing their short-lived long pants.

In our next clip, Peeters takes a shot to the head and is knocked out cold while with the Capitals.

Reader Submission - 1998-99 Thunder Bay Flyers Patrick Sharp Jersey

2012-02-12T05:00:00.007-06:00

Our latest reader submitted jersey comes from Jordan MacNiven, and it's an eye catching jersey as well as a perfect example of a type of collecting some people specialize in, obtaining a player's game worn jersey from the period of time prior to his becoming an established NHLer.

Here is Jordan's story about his striking jersey:

As of right now this is the crown jewel in my collection. Not only is it extremely rare to find one of these jerseys it is also worth noting that this was Patrick Sharp's first junior team. After playing 2 seasons with the Thunder Bay Flyers of the United States Hockey League Sharp went to play 2 seasons with the University of Vermont in the NCAA. He was then drafted 95th overall in the 3rd round of the 2001 NHL Endtry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers.

He didn't play until the 2003-04 season with the Flyers. He split the season between the NHL team and their AHL affiliate the Philadelphia Phantoms. Midway through the 2005–06 season, Sharp was traded by the Flyers, along with Éric Meloche, to the Chicago Blackhawks on December 5, 2005, for Matt Ellison and a 3rd-round pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. He finished the campaign with a combined 31 points between the two teams. Sharp emerged with the Blackhawks in 2007–08, recording career-highs of 36 goals, 26 assists and 62 points. He led the Blackhawks in power play goals (9), shorthanded goals (7), and game-winning goals (7). Near the half-way mark for the season, on January 17, 2008, the Blackhawks signed Sharp to a four-year contract extension through the 2011–12 season.

On June 9, 2010, Sharp won the Stanley Cup with Chicago over the Philadelphia Flyers, his former team. Sharp contributed 11 goals and 11 assists during Chicago's playoff run. On January 30, 2011, Sharp won the 2011 NHL All-Star Game MVP Award, getting one goal and two assists.

Thanks to Jordan for taking the time to shoot the photos and send in the biography about Sharp. It's pretty special to have such an early jersey of a Stanley Cup champion and All-Star Game MVP for certain.

The ability of some collectors to track down jerseys from obscure and often far flung teams, and then have the ability to get not just a jersey, but that of a future star player no less, often leaves us scratching our heads in amazement.

This Flyers jersey is a very striking jersey, with it's bold maple leaf design in lieu of any waist stripes. Combined with the wide and bright striping on the arms, these jerseys must have looked incredible on the ice in action.

If you have a jersey in your collection that you'd like to share with us and your fellow readers, please submit your pictures and a story to go with it, no matter how brief or detailed, to spyboy1@gmail.com and we look forward to seeing your favorites.

Mats Sundin Week - 2006-07 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin Jersey

2012-02-11T05:00:00.006-06:00

It's the final day of Mats Sundin Week here at Third String Goalie as the Toronto Maple Leafs will celebrate the career of former team captain Mats Sundin by adding his jersey #13 to the ranks of the numbers honored by the franchise tonight at the Air Canada Centre.

The Maple Leafs are unique in their policy of honoring a player's number, but allow those honored numbers to again be worn by future players, reserving outright number retirement for those whose careers end due to misfortune while a member of the Maple Leafs following an outstanding career while playing for Toronto.

In 2006-07, Sundin joined an exclusive club in fine style, as he became the 35th player and first Swede to reach the 500 goal mark, which he did in unbelievable style with a shorthanded, unassisted game winning goal in overtime to complete a hat trick! The goal gave the Maple Leafs a 5-4 win over the Calgary Flames in from of a delirious home crowd at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.

Sundin celebrates his 500th NHL goal

"It's an achievement not many players have reached in this league and, once I'm retired, I'm going to appreciate it even more. It's a special way to get it. I'll remember this day throughout my whole life," Sundin said following the game.

Sundin also had an assist during the game to give him four points on the memorable night. The final goal was his 15th overtime goal of his career, the most in NHL history at the time and a record he still shares with Sergei Fedorov, Patrik Elias and Jaromir Jagr.

Even Flames captain Jarome Iginla had to admire Sundin on the night. "He was really going tonight. It was an amazing shot on that last goal. Not many people would have stopped that. He got a screen and he got it all. You don't want to call it a nice goal, but it was impressive," said Iginla.

Sundin wearing the Teammates for Kids patch in January of 2007

The 2007-08 season would prove to be Sundin's final season with the Maple Leafs and it was a memorable one for many reasons. On October 11th, Sundin broke the franchise record for most points with his 917th and, later in the same game, he registered his 390th goal which moved him into the franchise lead in that category as well, supplanting Darryl Sittler in both categories and earning first, second and third star of the game in the process.

He later became the first player in history to score 400 goals while with the club before later breaking an 83-year-old record for the longest home scoring streak with a point in his 15th consecutive game.

Somewhat controversially, he refused to waive his no trade clause late in the season, stating he did not want to be a rental player, and if he won the Stanley Cup, he wanted to do so over the course of an entire season. Staying with the club allowed him to lead the team in scoring that season for the 12th time in his 13 seasons with the Maple Leafs. He also holds the NHL record for the longest serving European born captain of an NHL franchise, at 10 seasons, and is one of only two players to record 20 goals in his first 17 NHL seasons.

He would play one final season in the NHL, signing a free agent contract after the first of the year, which allowed him to play in 41 games of the 2008-09 season, scoring 9 goals and 28 points to push his final career totals to 564 goals (2oth on the all-time list) and 785 assists (32nd all-time) for 1,349 points (27th all-time) in 1,346 games. He leads all Swedish players in all three categories as well as holding the record for the Most Games Played by a European born and trained forward.

Be certain to tune into tonight's broadcast of the Maple Leafs game versus the Montreal Canadians at 7 PM Eastern time on the NHL Network in the United States. In Canada, the game is part of Hockey Day in Canada, which begins at noon Eastern on the CBC, with the Maple Leafs game starting at 7 PM. In order to be on the safe side, we suggest tuning in to either network at 6:30 PM for the pre-game shows on the chance the ceremony is held prior to the puck drop at 7, rather than the ceremony beginning at 7 and pushing the start of the game back.

Today's featured jersey is a 2006-07 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey, from the season Sundin scored his 500th career goal and 900th point as a Maple Leaf in one of his most memorable games of Sundin's career.

This particular jersey features the Teammates for Kids patch, as worn by Mats Sundin and the Maple Leafs on January 6th, 2007. As part of the program, each player on every team would play one game with the patch on their jerseys, which would then be auctioned off for chairity to raise money for the Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation. This would result in over 600 game worn jerseys entering the market in a single go.

Today's featured video is Sundin scoring four points in the game on October 14th, 2006, concluding with him scoring his milestone 500th career goal shorthanded in overtime to complete his hat trick and defeat the Calgary Flames 5-4, sending the home crowd into euphoria.

Our next video has Sundin tying Rocket Richard on the all-time goal scoring list with his 544th NHL goal.

Here Sundin talks about playing in Toronto and having his number honored by the team.

Finally, the top ten Mats Sundin moments of his career, the game winning goals, being named team captain, breaking record and reaching milestones, all of which will be remembered tonight by the Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre.

Mats Sundin Week - 2005-06 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin Jersey

2012-02-10T05:00:00.010-06:00

Mats Sundin Week continues here at Third String Goalie as the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to honor former captain Mats Sundin by adding his jersey #13 to the ranks of the numbers honored by the franchise this Saturday at the Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs are unique in their policy of honoring a player's number, but allow those honored numbers to again be worn by future players, reserving outright number retirement for those whose careers end due to misfortune while a member of the Maple Leafs following an outstanding career while playing for Toronto.

After the 2003-04 season, during which Sundin led the Maple Leafs in scoring for the ninth time in ten seasons, the 2004-05 NHL season was eventually cancelled due to the owners locking out the players. While 388 NHL players played in Europe during the season, with 75 of those in the Swedish Elitserien, the 33-year-old Sundin chose to sit out the year.

When play resumed in the 2005-06 season, Sundin had the misfortune of being struck in the eye with a puck seven minutes into the game on opening night, the first game back after the lockout, which also broke an orbital bone in his face, sidelining him for a month.

With his teammates given an unexpected 12 game head start on their captain, they could still not hold off the eager Swede once he returned to the ice. Benefitting from the new rules package which eliminated obstruction, Sundin matched his goal total from his last complete season while exceeding his number of assists to finish with 31 goals and 47 assists for 78 points, three more than in 2003-04 and ten more than any Maple Leaf that season. Had Sundin been able to compete in all 82 games that season, he was on pace for 91 points.

Today's featured jersey is a 2005-06 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey which features the 2005 Hall of Fame Game patch worn once on November 5, 2005 during Sundin's return from a month missed due to a broken orbital bone after being hit in the face with a puck on the opening night of the season. Sundin finished the night with a goal and an assist, his first points of the season, as the Maple Leafs defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 2005-06 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey which features the NHL Cares/Katrina Relief Fund patch worn during the first period of the Maple Leafs home opener October 5, 2005.

Unfortunately, Sundin was hit in the face by a puck seven minutes into the game, suffering a broken orbital bone, causing him to miss the next month of the season.

Today's video section we take a step back and see Sundin as a 13-year-old learning the game in his native Sweden.

Next, Sundin scores a pair of goals just 14 seconds apart, one on a penalty shot.

Finally, Sundin gets under the skin of a former Canadiens goaltender in this Nike commercial.

Mats Sundin Week - 2000-01 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin Jersey

2012-02-09T05:00:00.013-06:00

In the 2002-03 season, Sundin continued his trademark durability and reliability, as he played in 75 of the Maple Leafs 82 games, keeping intact his streak of at least 73 games played every season of his NHL career, save the strike shortened 1994-95 season when he played in 47 games of the 48 game schedule.

Offensively, Sundin scored 41 goals, which tied him for the second highest of his career and his most in five seasons. He also added 39 assists for 80 total points, which would prove to be the 6th highest of his career. More significantly, Sundin became the first Swedish player in NHL history to reach 1,000 career points with a goal in a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on March 10, 2003 and followed that two weeks later by playing in his 1,000th career game, also a first for a Swede.

After having his streak of consecutive seasons leading Toronto in points when Alexander Mogilny topped Sundin 79 points to 72, he began a new streak by leading the Maple Leafs in points after scoring 31 goals and 44 assists for 75 points. Additionally, Sundin guided the Maple Leafs into the postseason for the sixth consecutive season. His 75 points marked the 12th consecutive full season of over 70 points for the Maple Leafs captain.

Today's featured jersey is a 2000-01 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey from the first occasion he wore the Hockey Fights Cancer patch, worn by each NHL team's captain for one game in January, and then auctioned off to raise money for charity as part of the NHL All-Star Game weekend festivities.

The program began in 2001 and continued to 2004, returning for one season in 2008, the tenth anniversary of the program.

This was the Maple Leafs home jersey in 2000-01 and the only time Sundin would wear the patch on this style jersey.

This was also the first season of the Maple Leafs new font for their numbers, now executed in three colors with the introduction of the silver trim, the first time since 1947-48 that a third color had appeared on a Maple Leafs jersey, as their sweaters in the mid-1940's had the team name printed in red inside the white leaf crest on their blue home sweaters of the day.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 2002-03 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey. While Sundin wore the Maple Leafs white home jersey with the Hockey Fights Cancer patch for the first season of the captain's jersey program in 2001, he subsequently wore the team's throwback third jersey style in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Extra Bonus Jersey: Today's extra bonus jersey is a 2007-08 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey. The 2007-08 season saw the introduction of the Reebok Edge jerseys, which resulted in the suspension of the third jersey program for one year, resulting in Sundin wearing the Maple Leafs white jersey, which was now the style worn on the road by all NHL clubs since the 2003-04 season.

The new Reebok Edge jerseys were originally intended by Reebok to be worn tucked in, which explains the resulting in the lack of waist stripes. With plans for the jerseys to be tucked in quickly scrapped, the missing stripes were restored to the Maple Leafs jerseys three seasons later in 2010-11 when an effective redesign of their jerseys restored a classic retro look, which included such elements as a lace-up collar, the return of the retro styled leaf as a secondary shoulder logo, the dropping of the modern font for the player names in favor of a simple block font and one color numbers rather than the three color numbers used since 2000-01.

For the 10th Anniversary of the Hockey Fights Cancer program, the logo and jersey patches were no longer the previous NHL logo colors of black and orange, but now the silver and black of the new league logo, which debuted in 2005-06 when the NHL resumed play following the season missed due to the lockout.

Today's video selection is Sundin's 1,000th NHL point, scored with a goal in a 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers on March 30, 2003.

Mats Sundin Week - 1999-00 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin Jersey

2012-02-08T05:00:00.011-06:00

The Maple Leafs moved into the new Air Canada Centre in January of 1999 and Sundin finished the season as the team's leading scorer the fifth consecutive season while extending his 30 goal streak to four consecutive seasons. Toronto immediately made the deepest playoff run since Sundin's arrival in Toronto in 1994. The Maple Leafs finished the regular season with a 45-30-7 record for 97 points and entered the playoffs as the fourth seed in the east, drawing the Philadelphia Flyers as their opponents. Once the Flyers were dispatched in six closely fought games, four of them by a single goal, one of those in overtime, Toronto advanced to face the Pittsburgh Penguins, another series which went six games, with three one goal games, two of which required overtime.

While Toronto fell in five games to the Buffalo Sabres, Sundin would finish the postseason with a career high 16 points from 8 goals and 8 assists in 17 games.

The 1999-00 season was a memorable one for the fans in Toronto, as the club played in the annual Hall of Fame Game on November 20, 1999 as part of the weekend celebrations at the Hockey Hall of Fame, mere blocks from the Air Canada Centre, which included the induction of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.

Sundin wearing the one game only Hall of Fame Game patch

above the season long NHL 2000 patch

Later in the season, the Maple Leafs hosted the 50th NHL All-Star Game. Along with Sundin being named to the World Team roster, he was joined by teammate Dmitry Yushkevich and goaltender Curtis Joseph also played in the game, only with Joseph being a part of the North American squad. At the conclusion of the season, Sundin kept intact his trio of streaks, 30 goals or more (with 32), 70 points or more (73) and leading the Maple Leafs in scoring for the sixth consecutive season.

Maple Leafs teammates Sundin and Joseph ended up on opposing teams

thanks to the World vs. North America format for the 2000 All-Star Game

After leading the club in scoring for the seventh consecutive season in 2000-01, the Maple Leafs would sweep their opening round series against inter-province rivals the Ottawa Senators before taking eventual cup finalists the New Jersey Devils to a full seven games. Sundin would play in 11 postseason games that year, scoring 6 times and totaling 13 points during a run of six consecutive playoff appearances for the Maple Leafs.

The Maple Leafs 2001-02 season was one of celebration, as the franchise was recognizing their 75th Anniversary as the Maple Leafs. The club began life in 1917 as the Toronto Hockey Club (or "Blueshirts"). They changed their name to the Toronto Arenas in 1918 and the St. Patricks following an ownership change in 1919. Conn Smythe purchased the team in February of 1927 and immediately changed the team name to the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 17, 1927 while the season was still in progress.

Sundin wearing the throwback Toronto St. Patricks jersey

At the conclusion of the 2001-02 season, Sundin led the Maple Leafs in scoring for the eighth consecutive season, thanks in part to the third 40 goal season of his career with 41. While Toronto would once again reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the right to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2002, Sundin would only see action in 8 of the Maple Leafs 20 playoff games due to an untimely wrist injury.

Today's featured jersey is a 1999-00 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey. This jersey features both the 2000 NHL All-Star Game patch to celebrate the Maple Leafs hosting of the 50th All-Star Game as well as the NHL 2000 patch worn by all the teams for the 1999-00 season.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1999-00 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey as worn in the annual Hockey Hall of Fame game held each year in Toronto in conduction with that year's Hall of Fame Induction Weekend. What differentiates this jersey from the standard jerseys worn during the remainder of the regular season in the one game only special patch.

Extra Bonus Jersey: Our extra bonus jersey is a 2001-02 Toronto Maple Leafs throwback Toronto St. Patricks Mats Sundin jersey. In recognition of the franchise coming under the ownership of Smythe and changing their name to the Maple Leafs 75 years earlier, the club wore throwback Toronto St. Patricks jerseys, complete with brown pants, during a 3-3 tie against the Buffalo Sabres on March 2, 2002, a game in which Sundin scored two goals.

In today's video section, Sundin excites the home fans with a goal against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Such was the level of Sundin's popularity that he regularly appeared in TV commercials. Here's a classic one with Wayne Gretzky for McDonald's.

Not everyone was a fan of Sundin however.

Mats Sundin Week - 1997-98 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin Jersey

2012-02-07T05:00:00.013-06:00

Sundin once again led the Maple Leafs in scoring during the 1997-98 season, his fourth consecutive season finishing atop the club in points.

The 1997-98 season saw Sundin participate in his third of seven consecutive NHL All-Star Games from 1996 to 2002. After missing the 2003 contest due to injury after being named to the game, he would be named to his eighth and final one in 2004.

During Sundin's first All-Star Game in 1996, he registered an assist for the Western Conference, something he would repeat in 1997.

He would tally another assist in the 1998 event for the World Team.

The 1999 contest would be a memorable one for Sundin, as he picked up one assist in the first period for the World Team before adding two more in the second, while the third period would see him score his first All-Star goal 2:57 into the third for a four point game.

After being held pointless in the 2000 All-Star Game in front of his home fans in Toronto, Sundin would get out of the gate quickly with two goals in the first period before adding an assist in both the second and third periods for another four point performance.

Sundin found himself on the opposite squad as Maple Leafs teammate Curtis Joseph

The 2002 edition of the All-Star Game saw Sundin pick up a pair of assists, including one on the game winning goal for the World Team.

After being forced to miss the 2003 game due to injury, Sundin's final All-Star Game in 2004 saw him contribute two assists for the victorious Eastern Conference.

The throwback style of 2004 was a long way from the futuristic jerseys of 2000

He would finish his All-Star career with eight appearances, three goals and 11 assists for 14 career points.

Today's featured jersey is a 1997-98 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey as worn during the 1998 NHL All-Star Game's SuperSkills competition.

While the 1996 and 1997 NHL All-Star Games were held in the traditional East vs. West format, the 1998 game in Vancouver would see a dramatic change in format, as this was also the first season of full scale NHL participation in the Olympic Games, which would take place just three weeks later in Japan.

To promote the international country vs. country competition of the Olympics, the new format for the All-Star Game was adopted, which saw players from Canada and the Untied States teamed up as "North America" taking on a squad of players who hailed from the rest of the world. While the players in the actual All-Star Game wore striking All-Star jerseys, adorned with patches to indicate not only which NHL club each player was a member of, each player's jersey also sported a flag patch identifying each player's particular nationality.

The unusual format had the result of dividing teammates, such as the case of Russian Pavel Bure of the host Vancouver Canucks playing for the World Team, while his Canadian teammate Mark Messier suited up for the North Americans!

What makes today's featured jersey unique, is that the players involved in that year's SuperSkills competition all wore their particular NHL team's jerseys only with the addition of the flag from their native country, the one and only time the flag patches would ever be worn on their NHL club team's jerseys.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1998-99 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey as worn during the final season of play in Maple Leaf Gardens. Sundin led the club in scoring with 83 points that season, ten more than any other Maple Leaf and his fourth consecutive season leading the team in scoring.

In honor of their final games in Maple Leaf Gardens, the team introduced a beautiful new throwback alternate jersey which featured the "Memories and Dreams" patch to celebrate their long time home of 68 years.

Toronto would play their final game at Maple Leaf Gardens on February 13, 1999 before moving across downtown to their new home, the Air Canada Centre, on February 20th.

The throwback jersey was originally intended to be worn only in 1998-99, but proved so popular with the fans that it returned as the club's third jersey for the 2000-01 season. It would remain in use through the 2006-07 season before it was killed off by the change to the new Reebok Edge jerseys, only to return once again in, this time in Edge form, from 2008-09 to 2010-11. It would prove to be a very resilient style, with an eventual run of 13 years, although with a trio of breaks thrown in, the middle one being the 2004-05 season lost to the NHL lockout.

Today's video section begins with Sundin participating in the puck control relay in the 2002 Super Skills.

Next, some of the ceremony surrounding the last game at Maple Leaf Gardens, which includes Sundin taking part in the ceremonial opening faceoff along with former Maple Leaf Doug Gilmour, then with Chicago.

Finally, we take a look at the history of Maple Leaf Gardens.

Mats Sundin Week - 1996-97 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin Jersey

2012-02-06T05:00:00.008-06:00

The Toronto Maple Leafs are set to honor former captain Mats Sundin by adding his jersey #13 to the ranks of the numbers honored by the franchise this Saturday at the Air Canada Centre. The Maple Leafs are unique in their policy of honoring a player's number, but allow those honored numbers to again be worn by future players.

In order to have a number taken permanently out of circulation and fully retired by the Maple Leafs, a player not only has to have made a significant contribution to the club, he must have suffered the misfortune of experiencing a career-ending incident while a member of the Maple Leafs as well. To date, only two members of the Maple Leafs have been bestowed with full retirement of their sweater, Ace Bailey, whose career ended as a result of a severe head injury at the hands of Eddie Shore in 1933, and Bill Barilko, who disappeared after scoring the cup winning goal in overtime of the 1951 Stanley Cup Finals while on a flight home from a fishing trip over the summer.

Sundin was the first European player drafted with the number one overall pick in NHL history when the Quebec Nordiques selected him with the first pick in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft.

The #1 overall pick in 1989, Mats Sundin

He led the Nordiques in scoring with a career high 47 goals and 114 points in 1992-93 before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the summer of 1994 in a blockbuster deal which saw six players, including Maple Leafs team captain and fan favorite Wendel Clark, and a two first round draft picks change hands.

Sundin immediately led the Maple Leafs in scoring in 1994-95 during the strike-shortened season with 47 points in 47 games.

Sundin early in his career with Toronto, as evidenced by the lack of an "A" or a "C" on his jersey

In 1996-97, Sundin became the 16th, and first European, captain in franchise history following the trade of current captain Doug Gilmour on February 25, 1997. Sundin would set a record as the longest serving European-born and trained captain in NHL history as he remained the Maple Leafs team leader for ten seasons.

Today's featured jersey is a 1996-97 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey. This home white jersey as worn during Sundin's third season with Toronto when he registered the second 40 goal season of his career with 41, and led the team in scoring for the third consecutive season.

This jersey features both the assistant captain's "A" and the Maple Leaf Gardens 65th Anniversary patch, which was worn throughout the season.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1996-97 Toronto Maple Leafs Mats Sundin jersey. This is the road blue mate to the home white jersey worn early in Sundin's time with the Maple Leafs prior to his becoming the Maple Leafs team captain.

Extra Bonus Jersey: Today's extra bonus jersey is a 1996-97 Toronto Maple Leafs Heritage Mats Sundin jersey. This special jersey was worn only twice by the Maple Leafs, once against the Montreal Canadiens and the other versus the Detroit Red Wings, in celebration of the 65th Anniversary of their long time home, Maple Leaf Gardens.

Sundin wearing the 1996-97 Heritage jersey

The retail version of this jersey, the style worn back in 1931 when Maple Leaf Gardens first opened, was sold only through the Maple Leafs team store, LeafSport. It was produced in only authentic sizes 48 and 52 and limited to only 1,931 examples, all of which were uncustomized. Each jersey is numbered with an embroidered tag sewn inside the collar, as shown below. It's attractive throwback design, limited distribution and low production numbers have made it one of the most desirable and sought after jerseys among collectors.

Our jersey was painstakingly researched and customized with Sundin's number 13 and assistant captain's "A" in the exact fonts worn on the ice.

Today's video section begins with Sundin coming the first European ever selected first overall when the Nordiques chose him with the first pick in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft. Uh, nice hat, Mats. We believe it's the first stovepipe baseball cap in world history.

Our next video is a tribute to Maple Leaf Gardens, whose 65th Anniversary was celebrated with a commemorative patch as well as the Maple Leafs beautiful Heritage Jersey, worn twice during the 1996-97 season.

Jack Jablonski Update 2/6/12

2012-02-06T04:00:00.001-06:00

A moving and exciting update on the condition of injured hockey player Jack Jablonski from KARE 11.

Click the logo to donateto the Jack Jablonski Fund

Super Bowl Sunday

2012-02-05T05:00:00.004-06:00

So what do you suppose Jesus is watching on TV on Super Bowl Sunday?

1972-73 New England Whalers Rick Ley Jersey

2012-02-04T05:00:00.010-06:00

With the New England Patriots competing in tomorrow's Super Bowl, we thought we would take a look at another team named for New England, the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association.

To stock their roster for the inaugural WHA season, the Whalers signed veteran Ted Green away from the Bruins to be the team's first captain.

Coach Jack Kelley and team captain Ted Green

They also lured 30 goal scorer Tom Webster away from the California Golden Seals, whose owner Charlie O. Finley refused to open the checkbook to keep several of his better players when the WHA came to raid his roster.

Rick Ley of the Toronto Maple Leafs was called upon to anchor the team's defense in front of former Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings goaltender Al Smith, who would eventually serve two terms with the Whalers.

The Whalers were forced to be creative in assembling the rest of their roster, as 12 WHA teams were seeking to employ roughly 250 professional players in all. Additionally, the NHL had also expanded by two clubs that season in an attempt to occupy markets the WHA might have found attractive, placing clubs on Long Island in New York and Atlanta, Georgia, meaning in actuality, 275 more players would be needed to stock an additional 14 combined rosters than the season before.

The tactic taken by the Whalers was to embrace the often overlooked American player, signing former US Olympic Hockey Team members, particularly those with ties to Boston. Larry Pleau (a Boston native) was lured away from the Montreal Canadiens, Kevin Ahearn, John Cunniff, Paul Hurley and Tim Sheehy, who all played for Boston College, and Tommy Williams, who had played for the Bruins were recruited to join the Whalers inaugural roster.

Larry Pleau scores the game winning goal against #00 Bernie Parent of Philadelphia during the Whalers first game

Jack Kelley, who had just won back to back national titles with Boston University in 1971 and 1972, was hired to coach the team. Additionally, Canadians John Danby and Ric Jordan, both of whom were members of Kelley's national championship winning Terriers, joined the Whalers along with their head coach.

The Whalers began play located in Boston, Massachusetts, dividing their home games between the Boston Arena and the Boston Garden, which was the traditional home of the Boston Bruins of the NHL since 1928. The Boston Arena, opened in 1910, is the oldest ice hockey arena still in use and was the Bruins original home and is still being used by the Northeastern Huskies of Hockey East, although it was renamed Matthews Arena in 1982.

The ceremonial opening faceoff between captain Ted Green and Philadelphia's Derek Sanderson at the Whalers first ever game. Note the Bruins logo prominent at center ice!

The inaugural Whalers season went better than anyone could have hoped for, as the Whalers won their first three games and nine of their first 13. They also posted a six game winning streak in early December to go ten games over .500 and finished the season strong with an eight game winning streak in early March, which included scoring seven goals in back to back games against Winnipeg and Minnesota. The team finished with a 46-30-2 record for 94 points, best in the league. At the conclusion of the season, Whalers forward Terry Caffery was named the league's Rookie of the Year following his 29 goal, 100 point season.

Terry Caffrey battles for the puck

In the playoffs, the Whalers defeated the Ottawa Nationals (who actually moved their playoff games to Toronto in advance of relocating there the next season, such was life in the rest of the WHA), then ousted the Cleveland Crusaders and then defeated the Winnipeg Jets (all by identical 4 games to 1 totals) to capture the Avco World Trophy as the WHA's inaugural champions.

Al Smith celebrates the Whalers championship clinching win

In typical WHA fashion, fans in Boston not in attendance were unable to see the celebration, as the local TV station pulled the plug on the game with seven minutes remaining in order to begin broadcasting a tennis match! If that were not enough, the Avco World Trophy was not actually completed yet, and the team had to skate around the rink with their Eastern Conference Championship cup as a substitute!

Green celebrates with the substitute trophy following the Whalers victory

The club was led in scoring by Webster, who set career highs in goals, assists and points, with 53 goals, 50 assists and 103 points to place fourth in the WHA scoring race. Caffery's 100 points placed him second, while Pleau was next with his 39 goals and 87 points while Smith recorded 31 wins in goal.

The WHA champion 1972-73 New England Whalers

Immediately after winning the championship, the Whalers owner Howard Baldwin issued a challenge to the eventual NHL champion to meet in a one-game playoff on neutral ice for the rights to the Stanley Cup! (The sarcastic among you might suggest that winning the Stanley Cup would eliminate the need for the completion of the Avco World Trophy) Needless to say, the NHL did it's best to ignore or validate the upstart league and the game never came close to taking place.

The Whalers championship banner

The following season the Whalers again won the Eastern Division with a 43-31-4 record for 90 points, good for a second place tie in overall points.

Rick Ley in the Whalers second jerseys

Winger John French led the team in scoring with 72 points, while Webster led the team in goals in 43, fourth most in the league. Smith again reached the 30 win level in the nets for the Whalers.

The postseason did not go as planned, as the Whalers ran into a tough Chicago Cougars club, who had finish nine points back in the standings. The Whalers took Game 1 and 2 at home in Boston, but dropped the next two in Chicago. After Chicago took Game 5 in Boston, the Whalers avoided elimination with a 2-0 win back in Chicago to force a Game 7 back at home, only to fall short 3-2, bringing their season to an end.

By now, scheduling games in the Boston Garden had become increasingly difficult, as the Boston Celtics of the NBA were also in need of dates. Team ownership put a plan in place to relocate the club 100 miles west to Hartford, Connecticut, but the new Hartford Civic Center would not be ready for the start of the season, causing the Whalers to play in Springfield, Massachusetts at the Springfield Coliseum from October, 1974 until their debut in Hartford on January 11, 1975, brining to and end their time in Massachusetts.

The Whalers were 21-15-2 in their temporary home despite a schedule heavily loaded with road games, playing 25 out of their first 38 away from Springfield, including road trips of 6 and 7 consecutive games. The Whalers finished the season 43-30-5 to win their third consecutive Eastern Division title, at one point playing ten consecutive home games during a stretch of 17 out of 20 at their new home in Hartford.

The WHA lasted until the 1978-79 season, after which the Whalers and three other WHA clubs were allowed into the NHL as expansion clubs, not a merger of leagues. One of the conditions of the Whalers being granted entry into the NHL was they were forced to change their name from the New England Whalers to the Hartford Whalers at the demand of the very same Bruins they briefly shared a rink with.

Today's featured jersey is a 1972-73 New England Whalers Rick Ley jersey. This style of Whalers jersey was worn only for their inaugural, championship winning season in Boston. What made it distinctive was it's circular crest, trimmed with a rope pattern and containing the team name in the circle. A popular feature of the jersey was the secondary shoulder logo, Pucky the Whale. Ley's #2 is one of only three numbers ever retired by the Whalers.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1974-75 New England Whalers Tom Webster jersey as worn during the team's second and final season in Boston. The Whalers simplified their crest to something more modern and graphic for their second season, taking the "W" from their original round logo with a simplified harpoon bisecting it. Pucky the Whale remained and the jerseys gained gold trim around the neck, numbers and now elevated waist stripe, which moved upwards off the bottom of the torso.

This sweater would remain unchanged even after the move to Hartford, until the 1976-77 season when the single, outlined waist stripe would change to a three stripe "Northwestern" pattern on the green road jerseys, while the home whites would take an additional season to follow suit.

Our video section today kicks off with an interview with Whalers captain Green. Nice helmet Ted. Or is that a bandage?

Next, a profile of Ley, longtime Whalers defenseman.

Finally, a look at Smith in goal. Rock on to the tunes while you enjoy the game footage.

1935-36 Detroit Red Wings Syd Howe Jersey

2012-02-03T05:00:00.015-06:00

Syd Howe began his NHL career with the Ottawa Senators in 1929, playing in 14 games that first season.

Howe with the Senators

He was unfortunate to be loaned to the ill-fated Philadelphia Quakers in his second season, as the franchise, which was in dire financial difficulties, had just relocated from Pittsburgh. The move to Philadelphia did nothing to solve the club's problems and they went 4-36-4 to set an NHL record for futility. In their 44 games, they scored just 76 goals, of which Howe had 9, or 12%.

Howe during his season with the Quakers

The Quakers folded after the season and Howe found himself with the Syracuse Stars of the IHL for the 1931-32 season as well as making three appearances for the Toronto Maple Leafs when Ottawa, who still held his rights, failed to field a team due to their financial struggles.

Howe during his brief time with the Maple Leafs

For the 1932-33 season, Howe was back with the Senators, with whom he set a new career high for goals and points, with 12 goals and 24 points. The following season he raised his goal total to 13 in what would prove to be the Senators final season in Ottawa after once being the dominant club in all of hockey, which included seven Stanley Cups.

Howe remained with the relocated franchise, now based in St. Louis and known as the Eagles. There, Howe edged his career best marks to 14 goals and 27 points in 36 games before being traded to the Detroit Red Wings, where he would play 14 additional games, scoring 8 goals and 20 points to push his final season marks to 22 goals and 47 points.

The St. Louis Eagles Syd Howe

The move to Detroit finally gave Howe's career some much needed stability, as he would remain with the Red Wings for 12 seasons. The move would also provide him with success, as during Howe's second season with Detroit in 1935-36, they would capture the first Stanley Cup of his career following a three game sweep of the Montreal Maroons (which included the longest game in NHL history, the six overtime Game 1) before defeating the Maple Leafs 3 games to 1. Detroit would repeat as champions in 1937, this time defeating the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, both in the full five games.

The 1937 Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings

In the 1940-41 season, Howe would raise his career best goal total to 20, as well as adding another 24 assists for 44 points, only his second season over 40. He would equal his 20 goal mark two seasons later, while adding 35 assists for a new career best of 55 points as the Red Wings once again captured the Stanley Cup following a sweep in the finals over the Boston Bruins, the third of Howe's career.

Howe then set career best marks in goals and points, as he tallied 32 goals, his only season over 30, on his way to the only 60 point season of his career with exactly 60.

Three of Howe's goals that season came in a record setting game against the Rangers when he scored a hat trick during the final six minutes of a 15-0 Red Wings win over New York on January 23, 1944, which remains the largest margin of victory ever in an NHL game.

His goal total that season also included a stellar six goal performance on this date in 1944 in a 12-2 win over the very same Rangers. Howe scored a pair of goals in each of the three periods to become the first player to score six goals in a game since Joe Malone had seven in January of 1920, a span of 24 years. In the nearly 70 years since, only two other players have matched his feat, Red Berenson in 1968 and Darryl Sittler in 1976, while no one has topped it.

Howe's six goals delighted the crowd of 12,293 at the Olympia Stadium, which included 900 school patrol boys, who cheered wildly at the end of the night as Howe was carried off the ice on the shoulders of his teammates. "They were going in the net tonight. Another night they don't," said Howe. "I don't remember any goal in particular. he boys were feeding them to me nicely." When asked how he was going to celebrate, he replied "No celebration for me. I'm due at work at 7:10 AM," as amazingly, Howe played for the Red Wings at night, but worked as a machinist for Ford during the day!

Howe being carried off the ice on the shoulders of his teammates following his six goal night. Note the "V" patches worn on the Red Wings arms during World War II.

The following season of 1944-45 saw him score 17 goal, more in line with his career average, but by setting a career high with assists with 36, he had his third 50 point season with 53.

His final season saw Howe splay 26 games for the Red Wings, scoring 4 goals and 11 points to put his final career totals at 237 goals and 291 assists for 528 points, making him the NHL career scoring leader at the time despite never having won the scoring title.

Howe also played 14 games for the Indianapolis Capitals of the AHL that season and finished out his playing days with a season in the Quebec Senior Hockey League, playing for a club named the Ottawa Senators, brining his career full circle, as he broke into the NHL in Ottawa with a club also named the Senators.

In 1965 Howe was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Of note, Gordie Howe arrived in Detroit the year after Syd left the team, setting records for longevity while scoring at a high rate, giving fans in Detroit a Howe to cheer for from 1934 to 1971 - 37 seasons in all.

Gordie and Syd Howe

Today's featured jersey is a 1935-36 Detroit Red Wings Syd Howe jersey. from the season Howe won his first of three Stanley Cups with Detroit. When the NHL expanded to Detroit in 1926, the club was named the Cougars in honor of the Victoria Cougars, the PCHL club that supplied Detroit it's original roster when the PCHL folded.

In 1930 the club changed it's name to the Falcons for two seasons prior to being named the Red Wings in 1932 following a change in ownership to James Norris. The team adopted the winged wheel logo and their iconic red sweaters have remained essentially unchanged ever since. The original red numbers outlined in white lasted until 1937 when they changed to a more legible single color white.

Names were added by league rule in 1977, later becoming arched in 1982 following a one year change in the font for the numbers. 1983 saw a return to the standard block font for the numbers, along with raising the white waist stripe up a few inches from the hem to mirror the white jerseys, only to return to it's original location at the bottom of the jersey in 1986.

Today's video selection is a look back at the Detroit Olympia, the long time Red Wings home and site of Howe's six goal game.

2010-11 Nome Mighty Musk Oxen Jersey

2012-02-02T05:00:00.021-06:00

Nome, Alaska was in the news recently when it was cut off from the world due to a massive storm last fall, which prevented the normal supply of fuel from reaching the remote town of 3,500 inhabitants.

Threatened with running out of fuel before it made it through the rest of the winter, it necessitated the U. S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy to cut a path through 300 miles of sea ice up to 8 feet thick to enable the Russian tanker Renda to resupply Nome with fuel for it's snow plows, ambulances, fire trucks and police vehicles as well as heating 1,000 homes in a area where temperatures regularly drop to -40º F.

The Healy began it's journey on January 6th, sometimes gaining just a few miles a day, due to it being the only active ocean-going Coast Guard ice breaker in the Arctic as well as being classified as just medium in size. It arrived 10 days later on the 16th and then 1.3 million gallons of fuel had to be transferred through hoses across a half a mile of the ice covered harbor into Nome.

The Renda and the icebreaker Healy after their arrival at Nome

But this wasn't the first time Nome had been cut off from the rest of civilization and in need of supplies. Located just two degrees south of the Arctic Circle, Nome had been icebound since July of 1924 and reliable air travel would not yet be an option for the better part of ten years. The only rout for mail and needed supplies was via dog sled traveling along the Iditarod Trail, a 950 mile route which originated in Seward, Alaska and ran across several mountain ranges and the vast Alaska Interior before reaching Nome, a journey normally expected to take 25 days when delivering mail.

Shortly after the departure of the last ship of the season, a two-year old child in the nearby village of Holy Cross became the first person to display symptoms of diphtheria, which was first diagnosed as tonsillitis. Diphtheria is extremely contagious and can survive for weeks outside of the human body, and the child died the following morning. Another fatality occurred on December 28th followed by two more children dying. Finally, on January 20th, the first case of Diphtheria was diagnosed and the town's only doctor, Dr. Curtis Welch, had only expired diphtheria antitoxin from 1918 on hand. The boy died the next day.

The next day another child was diagnosed as being in the late stages of the disease. In an attempt to save her life, she was given the antitoxin, yet she died later the same day. Now realizing they had a serious situation on their hands, the town council was summoned by the Mayor George Maynard and a quarantine was enacted and on January 22nd Dr. Welch sent a telegram alerting the outside world an epidemic was about to break out and they were in need of the antitoxin.

Two more people died by the 24th and 20 more cases had been confirmed with 50 more at risk. In all, 10,000 people were under threat in northwest Alaska, and without the antitoxin, the death rate would be close to 100 percent.

A plan was put into place to have a pair of sled dog teams, one leaving from Nome led by Norwegian Leonhard Seppala, who had made the run to Nulato in a record setting four days and was a three time winner of the All-Alaska Sweepstakes sled dog race. Seppala's team was led by Togo, a dog as famous as his owner for his leadership, intelligence and ability to sense danger.

Leonhard Seppala and Togo

While not large enough, a supply of the antitoxin big enough to hold off the disease was located in Anchorage, which was delivered to Nenana from Anchorage by rail on January 27th while a larger supply would arrive in Seattle, Washington on January 31st.

A relay of the best drivers and teams was arranged to deliver the serum from Nenana across the interior to Nulato, where Seppala would be waiting to make the return trip to Nome, a full distance of 674 miles. Telephone calls and telegrams called back the drivers who were out on their various mail routes and assigned them to their positions along the route. "Wild Bill" Shannon was the first musher in charge of the 20 pound package, leaving the train station in Nenana at 9 PM on January 27th in temperatures of -50º F. Bear in mind, in Alaska during late December, the sun does not rise until 12 noon and sets at 4 PM, for just four hours of daylight each day.

Forced off the trail and onto the even colder river due to damage to the trail by horses, he arrived in Minto at 3 AM with his face black from frostbite and suffering from hypothermia with the temperature now at a staggering -62º. After a four hour rest, Shannon set out once again and arrived in Tolovana at 11 AM in bad shape to hand the serum over to Edgar Kallands, whose hands were reportedly frozen to the sled's handlebar when he arrived in Manley Hot Springs at 4 PM in -56º weather, needing warm water poured over his hands to free them.

From there, several native Athabascan's took their turns, Dan Green, Johnny Folger on January 28th and Sam Joseph, Titus Nikolai, Dan Corning, Harry Pitka, Bill McCarty and Edgar Nollner on January 29th before George Nollner delivered the antitoxin to Charlie Evans at Bishop Mountain at 3 AM on January 30th.

Meanwhile in Nome, the two new cases had been diagnosed on January 29th despite the quarantine due to the contagiousness of the disease. News of the crisis was now front page news in the lower 48 states from San Francisco to New York.

Evans braved the cold weather, and the loss of two of his dogs to frostbite, arriving at 10 AM. The next to take a turn was Tommy Patsy, who was followed by a man nicknamed "Jackscrew" and then Alaska Native Victor Anagick who in turn passed the package on to native Myles Gonangnan in Unalakleet along the shore of Norton Sound at 5 AM on January 31st. Gonangnan had to brave whiteout conditions and gale force wind chills of -70º to arrive in Shaktoolik at 3 PM, where Henry Ivanoff was waiting in case Seppala was not there.

The number of cases in Nome had risen to 27 and all hope now lied with the dogs and their heroic drivers.

Seppala and his team, led by Togo, had travelled 170 miles from the 27th to the 31st, leaving in -20º temperatures in Nome, only to arrive in Shaktoolik by taking a shortcut across the sound in temperatures of -30º and windchills of -85º thanks to an approaching storm.

Leonhard Seppala and his team of sled dogs

Ivanoff and his team ran into a reindeer and were tangled up shortly after leaving Shaktoolik when Seppala, thinking he was still on his way to Nulato 100 miles away and unaware of the change in plans to hand over the serum to him in Shaktoolik, passed by Ivanoff, who shouted to him that he had the serum in hand.

Having reached Ungalik, and with the news of the epidemic having worsened, Seppala set out to cross the exposed open ice of the sound in the dark, braving the -85º windchill, arriving at Isaac's Point on the other side of the sound at 8 PM, having traveled 84 miles that day. After resting, he and his team once again set out at 2 AM into the full power of the storm with temperatures of -40º and winds of 65 mph. They crossed the 5,000 foot elevation of Little McKinley Mountain and arrived in Golovin on February 1st at 3 PM.

Leonhard Seppala

The serum was then passed on to Charlie Olsen, who was blown off the trail and suffered frostbite putting blankets on his dogs in windchills of -70º. He arrived in Bluff at 7 PM on that night in rough shape to hand off to Gunnar Kaasen, who waited three hours for the storm to break, only to find it getting worse and left into a headwind at 10 PM before drifts blocked the trail.

He travelled through the night through drifts and over the 600 foot Topkok Mountain in visibility so bad he sometimes could not see his dogs! He actually overshot Solomon by two miles and decided to keep going, at one point having his sled tipped over by the winds, which caused the cylinder with the serum to become buried in the snow. Kaasen then suffered a case of frostbite of his own when he had to use his bare hands to free the stuck cylinder.

He eventually reached Point Safety at 3 AM actually ahead of schedule only to find the next driver asleep and with his team unprepared. With his lead dog Balto and the rest of the team performing well, Kassen chose to keep on going for the final 25 miles to Nome, arriving on this date in 1925 at 5:30 AM with his cargo intact, without a single vial of the serum broken.

Balto and the team that delivered lifesaving serum to Nome

The antitoxin was thawed out by noon and ready for treatment to begin after the dog teams had travelled 674 miles in 127 1/2 hours in extremely cold temperatures in near-blizzard conditions and gale force winds in what would become known as "The Great Serum Race" or "The Great Race of Mercy".

A map of the route of the serum, with the dog sled route in red with Seppala's leg from Shaktoolik to Golovin highlighted. Note how it crosses the sound at one point, shaving a day off the trip.

The epidemic was now under control and the next shipment arrived by sea on February 7th with a third traveling again by dog sled on the 15th.

All the participants of the first dog sled relay received letters of commendation from President Calvin Coolidge, gold medals and $25 from the territory of Alaska.

Kassen and his dogs became celebrities, touring the west coast of the United States for a year, including starring in a movie about the relay. A statue of his dog Balto was placed in Central Park in New York City in December of that year, while the real Balto and team became part of a sideshow until being rescued and given a permanent home at the Cleveland Zoo, where Balto lived until 1933 before being mounted and put on display at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

The statue of Balto in Central Park

History now recognizes Seppala and Togo as the true heroes of the relay, as they covered the longest distance and most hazardous conditions, making a round trip of 261 miles, forwarding the serum 91 miles, almost double the distance of any other team. Seppala and Togo also went on tour across America, including 10 days at Madison Square Garden in New York. Togo lived until 1929 and is now on display at the Iditarod Museum in Wasilla, Alaska.

Togo at the Iditarod Trail Museum

The extreme weather conditions this winter, with temperatures in Nome reaching -40º, were reported to have cracked hotel pipes and even reduced the turnout at the Mighty Musk Oxen's pickup hockey games.

From USAHockey.com:

Mighty Muskox thrive in the elements of northern Alaska

When the Mighty Muskox first played in USA Hockey’s Adult Classic in 2009 in Anchorage, Alaska, it marked the first time the team had played hockey indoors.

“It was like a kid in a candy store,” said captain Mitch Erickson. “The lighting was great. The ice was perfect. The corners were smooth. I play goal and if a shot was above the boards, I could see it.

“The rink also was bigger and was a whole lot warmer. We actually rented ice time before the tournament just to get used to it.”

The Muskox — named after the Artic animal that is considered to be a descendant of the woolly mammoth — made their third trip to the tournament earlier this year and captured the Bronze (30-plus) Division championship.

“We had two teams, one in the Adult Bronze that won and another in the Novice Division that bombed out,” Erickson said. “The majority of us are in our 40s and 50s. We have two players in their 30s, so that’s where we have to play. There were a lot of greybeards out there. I’m sure they would have qualified for an over-40 team, too.”

The Mighty Muskox’s enthusiasm for playing indoors stems from their unique home base.

“We’re located approximately 550 miles northwest of Anchorage just below the Arctic Circle near the Bearing Sea with no access to roads,” Erickson said. “One of our players, Ken Hughes, rode his snowmobile 75 miles one way just to play.

“He moved to Nome last year but for a number of years he rode his snowmobile. We call him Kenny ‘Hockey’ Hughes.”

The Mighty Muskox built their own rink — outdoors — and they feel it’s North America’s westernmost hockey rink, indoor or outdoor.

“We were the only team that won [at the 2011 Adult Classic] that plays on outside ice,” Erickson said. “We have trouble playing indoors because we usually warm up shoveling snow and scraping the ice.

“We don’t have a Zamboni, but we have our own homemade mop system, which is more of a spray bar hooked to a garden hose, and we drag it.

“After we built the rink, we maintain it with volunteer labor and equipment,” continued Erickson. “A guy named Charlie Painter is a key volunteer who keeps the rink up and running.”

Obviously, Nome will never be confused with Miami when it comes to weather. And, understandably, that’s a story all by itself.

“We had to use heavy equipment … a big 966 front-end loader and caterpillar with a bucket on it — 31 times last year to clean the snow off the ice,” Erickson said. “That was a record. But it’s become par for the course the last few years. If we get a good snowstorm, it will fill the rink to the top of the boards.

“But, usually within 24 hours, we’re ready to play again.”

There’s also the matter of temperature — which is another way of saying the Mighty Muskox don’t play in “balmy” weather.

“It could be 10 above with 25 mile-per-hour winds, which equates to 45 below,” Erickson explained. “A lot of us will be out there when it’s 20 below zero. We also have an informal club that plays at 30 below. I’ve never played in 30 below, but I have played when it’s been 29 below.”

If that sounds like standard procedure in Alaska, think again.

“When we go to Anchorage we’re asked ‘You guys actually play outside, in the wind and the cold?’” Erickson said. “They think we’re whacked out.

“Our town’s population is about 3,500 and we only have 10 miles of roads in the winter. It takes a lot of motivation to leave a warm place in 20-below weather.”

The genesis of the Mighty Muskox occurred 10 years ago when the son of St. Cloud, Minn. natives Ron and Jane Brown accepted a teaching position in White Mountain, a small village about 65 miles East of Nome.

“There was an article in the Nome Nugget newspaper about Ron and Jane sending equipment to their son to start hockey there,” Erickson said. “Somehow, we connected with the Browns and they ‘adopted’ us.

“They’ve been great supporters of our program as has the Hockey Zone in St. Cloud. They’ve sent us used youth equipment and skates on several occasions. I also recall that St. Cloud Cathedral sent us equipment once, too.”

Once the rink was built, according to Erickson, more guys came in and they’ve played hockey ever since.

“We have everybody from beginners to a guy who had some pro experience,” Erickson said. “There are a few who were born in Minnesota and played youth and high school hockey there in the 70s. But most everyone else just picked it up, especially the local boys.”

What’s given Erickson a great deal of satisfaction is that the two youngest players, Banner Romensko and Daniel Stang, come back from college during their holiday break and play for the Mighty Muskox.

“That’s the best reward for all the time we’ve spent putting this rink together,” said Erickson.

“Next year we’re going to have a Novice 21 team because then these kids who are 21 can play with us. We’ll have 58-year-olds with 21-year-olds.”

Today's featured jersey is a 2010-11 Nome Mighty Musk Oxen jersey. Actually, we should say "jerseys", as half the team is wearing jerseys emblazoned with the old Minnesota North Stars "N" logo, recycled for "Nome", with the stars of the big dipper (as seen on the flag of Alaska) above, while the other half of the club has jerseys with "Mighty Musk Oxen" arched over an illustration of a Muskox!

Today's first video is a tribute to the Great Serum Run of 1925, which includes some film footage of those involved.

Next, an interview with the Executive Officer if the icebreaker Healy as it made it's way to Nome.

1958-59 New York Rangers Lou Fontinato Jersey

2012-02-01T05:00:00.021-06:00

Lou Fontinato was a rugged defenseman who who played for the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters in junior hockey for two seasons, including a Memorial Cup championship in 1952.

The 1952 Memorial Cup champion Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters

Following his junior career, Fontinato joined the Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League in 1952-53. He would play for both the Canucks and the Saskatoon Quakers of the WHL in 1953-54 and then appear for Saskatoon, Vancouver and make his NHL debut with the New York Rangers, for whom he would appear in 28 games, scoring 2 goals and 4 points in 1954-55.

The following season the man named "Leapin' Louie", for his habit of either leaving his feet when he delivered body checks or jumping up and down when protesting penalties called against him, had plenty of chances to leave his feet either way, as he led the NHL in penalty minutes with a new league record when he became the first player to ever top the 200 minute mark with 202, leading Ted Lindsay by over 40 minutes and breaking Red Horner's 20 year old record of 167. He also set a career high that season with 18 points, as offense was clearly not his game.

Fontinato defending the Rangers goal

In 1957-58 he again led the league in penalty minutes with 152 after finishing second the year before.

During the following season Fontinato entered the realm of hockey lore when he was on the receiving end of one of the worst beatings during a fight in the history of the NHL at the hands of tough customer Gordie Howe. While Fontinato was an inch taller than Howe at 6' 1", Howe was thick as a brick and 20 pounds heavier at 205.

During the Rangers game against the Red Wings on this date in 1959, rookie Eddie Shack had been riling up the Red Wings as the Rangers built a 4-1 lead over Detroit. Tiring of his antics, Shack was cut by Howe to the tune of three stitches, which caused Fontinato to warn Howe to "lay off Shack and keep your stick to yourself." Howe and Fontinato already had a history together, as Fontinato had already split Howe's lip and taunted him in a previous game after which Fontinato nearly had his ear taken off by Howe in retaliation later on, as Howe had a reputation for never forgetting and always settling the score no matter how long the wait for the right opportunity.

When later in the game Shack was in a scrap with Detroit's Red Kelly, Howe joined the fight to help out his teammate Kelly and put Shack in his place when Fontinato came looking for him. Fontinato wasted no time in unleashing a fury of punches on Howe. Unfortunately for Fontinato, Howe remained conscious and was now incensed. He grabbed Fontinato's sweater with one hand and fired back repeatedly with the other. Howe connected with his first punch, which stopped Fontinato in his tracks. Howe's arm was described as "working like a piston" and the sound of his fist hitting Fontinato face again and again in rapid fire made a permanent impression on those who heard it - as well as Fontinato's face - with most descriptions of the blows comparing it to the sound of an axe chopping wood.

Howe and Fontinato during their infamous fight

Detroit's Lefty Wilson was quoted as saying "With every blow you could hear something break - squish, squish. Finally (the Rangers) Andy Bathgate jumped in and stopped it."

A wounded Fontinato is separated from Howe following their fight

Howe described the incident in his own understated way, "He was coming like a madman. It took me a while to get the gloves off and then things were busy."

Fontinato was left with a severely broken nose, now located a fair distance from it's original location. One of the linesmen described it as the worst beating he had ever seen anyone take, which came as a shock to all, as Fontinato had reportedly yet to have lost a fight, including having defeated Rocket Richard and Fern Flaman.

Fontinato after his encounter with Howe

Fontinato actually finished the game, but needed surgery to get his face back in working order, while Howe had actually dislocated a finger against Fontinato's skull while suffering a cut over one eye.

The fight was even documented with an article in Life magazine

At the conclusion of the season, as well as the next, Fontinato recorded the second highest penalty minutes in the league, meaning in his first five full seasons in the NHL, he had not finished outside the top two.

After one more season with the Rangers, Fontinato was traded to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for future Hall of Famer and six time Norris Trophy winner Doug Harvey. Now protecting the likes of Ralph Backstrom, Claude Provost and Jean Beliveau. Fontinato immediately reclaimed his title as penalty minute leader with 167, over 50 more than the next highest though customer Ted Green.

Fontinato, with his repaired nose once again looking straight, while with Montreal

The 1962-63 season would prove to be Fontinato's last, as he would suffer a career-ending broken neck on March 9, 1963 against his old club, the Rangers, which left him paralyzed for a month and did not regain the feeling in his arms until four months later. One of the first people to call him at the hospital with encouragement was Howe.

In all, Fontinato played nine NHL seasons, leading the league in penalty minutes three times while at one point holding the league record. In his 535 games, he scored 26 goals, with a high of 7 in 1958-59, and 104 points.

Fontinato, alive and well, at Madision Square Garden in 2009 when the Rangers honored Harry Howell and Andy Bathgate

Today's featured jersey is a 1958-59 New York Rangers Lou Fontinato jersey. While the Rangers are famous for their blue sweaters, to the point the club is sometimes referred to as "The Blueshirts", having worn them since their inception in 1926, the Rangers white jerseys have also reached iconic status in the NHL in their own way.

First introduced in 1951, they remain essentially unchanged in now over 60 years. With their diagonal "Rangers" cresting and unique shoulder yoke treatment with the red striping contained inside the blue area, the Rangers added sleeve numbers in 1963 and names on the back in 1970.

After an ill-fated, brief change in style in 1976 for two seasons, the jerseys returned in 1978, only now with a v-neck collar. The next change for the white jerseys came in 1990 when the names on the back became vertically arched followed by the return of the original lace-up collar in 1999.

In today's video section, an interview with Fontinato and others about the famous fight.

Next, video of the crash into the boards which broke Fontinato's neck and ended his career. We warn you in advance, it's not for the squeamish and after seeing it once, we rather wish he hadn't even knowing his injuries were not permanent.

1977-78 Cincinnati Stingers Rick Dudley Jersey

2012-01-31T05:00:00.008-06:00

Born on this date in 1949, left winger Rick Dudley began his career with the St. Catherines Black Hawks of the Ontario Hockey Association at the age of 19. The following season Dudley played for the one-year-only Iowa Stars of the Central Hockey League. 1970-71 was split between the Flint Generals of the IHL and the Cleveland Barons of the AHL. He was still in the AHL in 1971-72, only now wit the Cincinnati Swords, where he played in 51 games, but scored just 6 goals. In fact, in his four seasons of hockey to date, Dudley had scored just 19 goals (and 57 points) in 134 games.

That all changed when Dudley simply cut loose in 1972-73, still with the Swords, when he finished in the top five in league scoring with 40 goals, more than twice his career total to date! That performance also earned him a call-up with the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL, with whom he scored his first NHL point with an assist in six games. Back with Cincinnati for the postseason, Dudley led the team in scoring with 22 points in 15 games as the Swords captured the Calder Cup as AHL champions.

He made the Sabres roster out of training camp for the 1973-74 season, during which he scored 13 goals as an NHL rookie. He returned for the following season with greater confidence, and put up a strong 31 goals and 70 points to place fourth on the club behind Don Luce and the high scoring trio known as "The French Connection".

Dudley's early days with the Sabres, distinguished by his choice of headband rather than helmet!

In the right place at the right time like so many others in the early 1970's, Dudley benefitted from the NHL - WHA battle over talent, and he returned to Cincinnati, only now with their major league entry, the WHA's Cincinnati Stingers for their inaugural season of 1975-76 now that the construction of their new arena was finally complete.

Given the responsibility as team leader and the ice time to go with it, Dudley led the club with 81 points, which included 43 goals, 11 more than his next closest teammate and enough to place 9th in the league.

He again reached the 40 goal mark the following season with 41 on his way to an 88 point season. He was named team captain for the 1977-78 season, during which he scored 30 goals and 71 points.

Cincinnati Stingers team captain Dudley

For the 1978-79 season, the Stingers were in a less than ideal financial situation, and after 47 games, the Stingers transferred Dudley's rights back to Buffalo after the Sabres agreed to assume the remainder of his contract. Dudley would finish his season with 11 points in 24 games, while the Stingers would finish their existence, as the club would meet it's demise when it was not included in the agreement which saw the WHA cease operations and the NHL expand by adding four of the six remaining WHA franchises, of which Cincinnati was not one.

He would play a season and a half in his second go round with the Sabres before being waived in January of 1981. His rights were claimed by the Winnipeg Jets, with whom he would play in 30 games to finish his NHL career. His playing days would conclude with 7 games with the Fredericton Express of the AHL in 1981-82.

Dudley was not finished with hockey by a long shot, though. He bought an ACHL franchise and worked as the club's coach and general manager, making the finals four seasons in a row, while winning three championships in 1983, 1985 and 1986. Three years later he became head coach of the Sabres in the NHL.

He was with Buffalo for three seasons before four additional seasons in the IHL with San Diego, Phoenix and Detroit, where he was also their general manager.

He then became an NHL general manager, having worked for the Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers, where he also coached once again for half a season. He would later join the Atlanta Thrashers and now works for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Today's featured jersey is a 1977-78 Cincinnati Stingers Rick Dudley jersey. The Stingers wore essentially the same jerseys for their all-to-brief four year run. Dudley's name on a contrasting nameplate was unique to the era until recently revived as a throwback element by the Philadelphia Flyers.

In addition, the filled-in outline around the captain's "C" is not something seen in the NHL, while it has been used in various other leagues on occasion.

Our personal favorite part of the Stingers jerseys in the crest, an effective piece of graphic design that has stood the test of time with flying colors.

In today's video section, Dudley more than holds his own with rugged customer "Battleship" Kelly of the Broad Street Bullies.

2008-09 Las Vegas Wranglers "Rod Blagojevich" Tyler Mosienko Jersey

2012-01-30T05:00:00.008-06:00

On this date in 2009, the Las Vegas Wranglers continued a minor league tradition of unusual promotions when they held Rod Blagojevich Prision Uniform Night to have some fun at the expense of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who was in hot water after being accused of selling President Barack Obama's vacated state senate seat.

Rod Blagojevich and Barack Obama

The promotion called for the Wranglers to wear old-time prison uniforms of black and white stripes, while their opponents, the Bakersfield Condors, would wear modern "Department of Corrections" orange jumpsuit inspired prisoner uniforms. Additionally, the referees were outfitted with prison guard uniforms, complete with neckties, while the goal judges wore a courtroom judge's powdered wig.

The stunt earned the Wranglers the anticipated publicity, as reports of the promotion were repeated all over the internet's various hockey media outlets and blogs in addition to commentary on any number of chat forums.

For the record, Bakersfield won the game by a score of 3-1 in front of 6,327 fans.

After being arrested on corruption charges, Blagojevich was indicted by a federal grand jury in April of 2008. By January of 2009 he was impeached as Governor by votes of 114-1 in the state house and 59-0 in the senate, with the only vote in his defense coming thanks to his wife's sister!

What made Blagojevich ripe for having fun poked at by the Wranglers was his slick appearance and often poor judgment when handling his legal situation, as he did not shy away from publicity, regardless of how unseemly it was for a once high ranking public official, combined with his cocky, if not arrogant, attitude during his public interviews regarding his legal troubles, which frequently resulted in controversial and regrettable statements.

Rod Blagojevich

Unable to leave the country while facing trial, his wife Patti Blagojevich appeared on "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!", during which she ate a tarantula, while Blagojevich himself appeared on "The Celebrity Apprentice", during which he was fired by Donald Trump during the season's fourth of 11 episodes due to being accused of poor quality leadership who lacked in communication and technology skills. He also made an appearance at a comic book convention, charging $50 for an autograph and $80 for a photo.

He was convicted of lying to the FBI on August 17, 2010, while the other 23 counts all resulted in a hung jury. A retrial was sought on the 23 mistrial counts, and on June 27, 2011 Blagojevich was found guilty on 17 out of the 20 charges he was retried on. He was subsequently sentenced to 14 years in federal prison on December 7, 2011, and will have to serve a minimum of 12 of those years once he reports to prison in March of 2012.

Today's featured jersey is a 2008-09 Las Vegas Wranglers "Rod Blagojevich" Tyler Mosienko jersey. Mosienko led the Wranglers in scoring that season with 18 goals and 30 assists for 48 points playing in just 50 of the Wranglers 73 games. One of his goals was the only goal the Wranglers scored on Rod Blagojevich Night. Mosienko, grandson of record holding Hall of Famer Bill Mosienko, played junior hockey for five seasons for the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL before joining the Greenville Grrrowl of the ECHL. He joined Las Vegas in 2006-07 for the first of three seasons. During his time with Las Vegas he also made appearances with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (7 games), Manchester Monarchs (9) and Rockford Ice Hogs (15) of the AHL over those two seasons.

He spent the 2009-10 season in the German DEL with the Nuremberg Ice Tigers before splitting his 2010-11 season between Las Vegas (43 games) and the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL (22 games). He is currently the all-time franchise leading scorer with 73 goals and 113 assists for 206 points in 228 games.

Today's video segment are clips from the before and then during game, including Mosienko's goal, the only one scored by the Wranglers that night.

Finally, Blagojevich appearing on Celebrity Apprentice.

1947 NHL All-Star Game Edgar Laprade Jersey

2012-01-29T05:00:00.003-06:00

With the 59th NHL All-Star Game being held today, we take to opportunity to have a look back at the origins of the all-star game.

The first of four benefit/memorial games was originally held in 1908 as a benefit for the family of drowning victim Hod Stuart, followed by three in the 1930's, with the first coming in 1934 as a benefit fundraiser for the Toronto Maple Leafs Irvine "Ace" Bailey, who had been hit from behind by Eddie Shore, which caused Bailey to violently flip over backward, hitting his head on the ice so hard it fractured his skull and ended his career.

The lasting image from the game is the cordial handshake which took place between Bailey and Shore to a resounding ovation from the crowd.

Bailey greets Shore to a rousing ovation prior to the game

The second came in 1936 as a benefit for the family of the late Howie Morenz of the Montreal Canadiens, who died in the hospital in March, 1937, five weeks after breaking his leg in four places during a game.

A ticket stub from the Howie Morenz Memorial Game

The final one came in on October 29, 1939 to benefit the family of Babe Siebert, a 14 year NHL veteran who had been named coach of the Montreal Canadiens upon his retirement as a player in March of 1939, only he drowned in Lake Huron that August before he was ever able to coach the Canadiens.

The program from the 1939 Babe Siebert benefit All-Star Game

Subsequently, there were no NHL All-Star games held until the Players Committee proposed it as an annual charity game to benefit the Players Emergency Fund as well as a players pension fund eight years later in 1947.

The first of the annual games was held in Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens,which was upgraded to have glass on the boards instead of the usual fencing that was common at the time, on October 13, 1947. When it first began, the format called for the defending Stanley Cup Champions to take on an All-Star team made up of players from the other five Original 6 clubs, with the game to be played prior to the start of the regular season.

The inaugural 1947 NHL All-Star Game program

The scheduling of the game would remain during the pre-season (or at least very early in the season) through 1965. It was then shifted to a mid-season spot on the calendar for the 1966-67 season, which meant there was no game during the 1966 calendar year.

The practice of having the defending Stanley Cup champions take on the All-Stars lasted through 1968 before a change was made to have the Eastern Conference battle the Western Conference All-Stars. The only exception to this format was in 1951 and 1952, when the end of season First Team All-Stars played against the end of season Second Team All-Stars, with both games ending in ties.

During the era when the Stanley Cup champions would face an All-Star team, the All-Stars prevailed nine times, the cup champions seven and there were three ties.

Prior to the first NHL All-Star Game, the players attended a Canadian Football League game and were treated to a fine dinner. Gifts were given to all the players, with the defending champion Maple Leafs each receiving extra gifts, such as gold cufflinks, a lifetime pass to Maple Leaf Gardens, a coat, a hat and tie, a lighter and cigarette box, golf balls, a pocket knife, a team photo, a silver tea tray and and engraved gold watch with a silver chain.

The game was played in front of 14,169 fans who saw the Maple Leafs leading at the conclusion of the first period by a score of 1-0.

They extended their lead with a second goal just 1:03 into the second period before the All-Stars got on the board at 4:39. The Maple Leafs responded just 22 seconds later to restore their two goal margin, but the All-Stars scored their second of the period just before the halfway point of the game to make it 3-2 for Toronto.

Maurice Richard tied the game with an unassisted goal just 28 seconds into the third period, followed by Doug Bentley's game winner less than a minute later as the All-Stars would come from behind to win 4-3.

The reunion of the original 1947 All-Star Game players in 2000 at

the 50th NHL All-Star Game, also held in Toronto

The Maple Leafs wore their home white sweaters for the game and the referees wore dark blue sweaters.

The NHL All-Stars wore newly designed red sweaters adorned with the NHL logo and white stars on the chest and short white and blue stripes which repeated down the length of the arms and across the shoulders.

The 1947 NHL All-Star Team, the first to wear the new All-Star design

This style of All-Star jersey would remain in use through 1954 until a change in NHL policy saw the home teams now wearing their dark jerseys, which led to a revival of the white version of this sweater for the All-Stars first used in 1951 and 1952 when the format of the game was tweaked to feature the NHL First Team All-Stars facing the Second Team All-Stars with one team wearing the red version and the other the white.

The 1951 NHL Second All-Star Team, the first to wear the white version of the All-Star sweater

The white sweaters were then used from 1955 through 1959 until a new design was finally adopted in 1960. This style jersey was revived for the 1993 NHL All-Star Game in Philadelphia during the NHL's 75th Anniversary season.

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Today's featured jersey is a 1947 NHL All-Star Edgar Laprade jersey as worn in the first of the annual NHL All-Star Games. This design was created specifically for that particular event and would remain in use through 1959, although sometimes in a white version.

1992-93 Washington Capitals Michal Pivoňka Jersey

2012-01-28T05:00:00.013-06:00

Having come up through the Dukla Jihlava junior program, Michal Pivoňka, born on this date in 1966, first caught the attention of NHL scouts at the 1983 European Junior Championships, when he scored 4 goals and 9 points in 5 games for Czechoslovakia at the age of 16. The following season he took part in both the European Juniors (7 points in 5 games) and the World Juniors (3 points in 7 games), winning a bronze medal, which led to his being drafted by the Washington Capitals 59th overall in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft later that spring despite being located behind the Iron Curtain.

The season following his being drafted, he moved up to the Dukla Jihlava senior team, where the playmaking center scored 19 points in 33 games as an 18 year old rookie. Still eligible, he again competed in the World Juniors, with a standout 9 goals and 13 points in 7 games on his way to a silver medal, as well as making his World Championship debut later that spring as the Czechs captured the gold medal.

He returned to Jihlava for one more season in 1985-86 as well as making his final World Junior appearance, scoring 10 points in 7 games, plus competing in his second World Championships.

Now eager to play in the NHL, enticed by a five-year, $1 million contract, during the summer of 1986, Pivoňka made the life-changing decision to defect to the United States at just 20 years of age. After supposedly leaving for Yugoslavia to take a vacation, he and fiancee snuck into Italy, eventually making their way to Rome where they walked into the United States Embassy, where the staff had been told to expect their arrival. There, the pair declared their intention to come to the United States, and after being granted refugee status, two days later they hurriedly arrived in New York.

"There I was," he recalled. "I showed up here, an illegal defector. For me, the biggest worry was leaving my family behind and all the questions about the future. What if I'm not good enough to make it here? What then? Am I stuck in a strange place knowing no one and knowing nothing else to do? What else can I do?"

The planning for his defection took two years of secret meetings with the Capitals Director of Player Personnel Jack Button, with clandestine meetings in Canada, Austria, the Soviet Union, West Germany, Finland and Sweden as well as two other European countries.

"Pivoňka has always indicated from our very first discussion that he would like to play in the best league in the world, and he felt that was the National Hockey League," said Button. Asked how Czechoslovakia reacted to the defection, Button said: "We haven't talked to them, and they haven't talked to us - and I don't expect them to, either."

ow a member of the Capitals, Pivoňka joined a roster completely devoid of any other Europeans whatsoever. While getting used to an entirely new culture, language, style of play, freedom and cash in pocket, he had a fine rookie season, scoring 18 goals and 43 points playing a longer season than he had ever been subjected to before. The Capitals then qualified for the playoffs, adding another 7 games to Pivoňka's tally for the season.

He regressed during his second season, with just 11 goals and 34 points, but improved on his overall game with a +1 rating, 20 points better than his -19 as a rookie. During the playoffs, Pivoňka found his game with 13 points in 14 games.

His offensive struggles returned in 1988-89, which earned him a trip down to the AHL for 31 games with the Baltimore Skipjacks, where he regained his confidence with 36 points in 31 games. Back with Washington, he finished the season with just 8 goals and 27 points in 52 games.

One aspect of the NHL style he had to become accustomed to was the fighting. "When the fight starts, you have to be there," Pivoňka said. "You don't have time to think whether this is the kind of hockey you're used to. You have to show up. But you don't have to fight. Just be there to hold your guy." Told that his wife Renata worries he'll get hurt, Pivoňka smiled. "She's my wife," he says. "I'm not a fighter, but I'm learning to play the hockey that's here. You say it's not my style? Why not? I'm here now. It should be my style. It's the hockey you play here."

Not wanting a repeat of his previous season, he established a career high with 25 goals and added 39 assists for 64 points.

It had now been four years since his defection, but the political landscape changed enough to allow Pivoňka an opportunity to return home. "Sure I'm excited," he said. "I want to see my family. I want to go and visit some friends from school, places I haven't seen in four years."

A second 20 goal season followed in 1990-91 while his assist total rose to 50 for a new career best 70 points. The change in the politics of Eastern Europe saw new teammates arrive in the form of Peter Bondra of Czechoslovakia, Dimitri Khristich and Mikhail Tatarinov of the Soviet Union, who benefitted from Pivoňka's experience in adapting to life in the United States.

For the first time since his secret departure from Czechoslovakia, he once again had the chance to don the sweater of his national team for the first time in over five years when he was chosen to play in the final Canada Cup tournament in 1991.

Pivoňka then recorded the finest season of his career to date in 1991-92 when he scored 23 goals and set up 57 more for an 80 point season to lead the Capitals in scoring for the first time.

His fourth consecutive 20 goal season followed with 21 goals and 74 points in only 69 games. While he played all 82 games in 1993-94, he was limited to 50 points, but responded with his best postseason, scoring career bests with 4 goals and 8 points in 7 games.

After playing in Austria at the beginning of the strike shortened 1994-95 season, both Pivoňka and Bondra, who shared the same agent, held out at the start of the 1995-96 season in hopes of a raise in pay. When negotiations look longer than hoped, both players signed with the Detroit Vipers of the IHL for seven games until coming to terms with the Capitals. Pivoňka justified his pay raise with a career best 81 points to lead the team in scoring for the second time while playing on a line with Bondra.

Pivonka with the Vipers during his holdout

Injuries began to take their toll on Pivoňka, as he was limited to 54 games in 1996-97 and 33 the following season due to a broken wrist, which delayed the start of his season until mid-December and then missed nearly three months will a pulled groin. Then, shortly after returning, he suffered a shoulder injury which ended his playoffs and required off-season shoulder surgery which delayed the start of his 1998-99 season again until December.

His contract had now expired and, after averaging 41 games and 14 points in his previous three seasons, he was not resigned and, in an effort to continue his career signed a free agent contract with the Kansas City Blades of the IHL, where in 52 games, he scored 50 points before retiring as a player.

At the time of his leaving the Capitals, Pivoňka was second on the Capitals all-time scoring list with 599 points, which he amassed through 181 goals and 418 assists, which is still first all-time in franchise history over a decade later.

Today's featured jersey is a 1992-93 Washington Capitals Michal Pivoňka jersey. While many may assume the Capitals jerseys remained the same during he era of their first jerseys, there were subtle detail changes, which included adding names to the back of the red road jerseys in 1977, changing to single color names beginning in 1979-80, dropping the number of stars on the arms to just four for 1983-84 and 1984-85, adding the fifth star on the arms back in 1985-86 and making the names two colors again in 1987-88 through the end of the lifespan of this classic jersey style until it was replaced with an entirely new identity package consisting of a new logo and all new team colors in 1995-96.

Patches worn on the original Capitals jerseys were the Capital Centre 10th Anniversary patch (home jerseys only) in 1983-84, the NHL 75th Anniversary patch in 1991-92, the Stanley Cup Centennial patch, as worn on today's featured jersey in 1992-93 and the Capitals 20th Anniversary patch worn in 1993-94.

In today's video section, Pivoňka discusses hockey sticks and how players personalize them. Dale Hunter and Keith Jones also share their thoughts.

Sometimes as a professional athlete you are forced to participate in things you would never, ever do willingly on your own in a million years. This is one of those times.

1996-97 Toronto Maple Leafs Larry Murphy Jersey

2012-01-27T05:00:00.004-06:00

After a successful junior hockey career, which included winning a Memorial Cup with the Peterborough Petes and being drafted fourth overall in 1980, Larry Murphy began his career with the Los Angeles Kings in 1980-81 scoring 16 goals and set NHL records with 60 assists and 76 points for a rookie defenseman.

After posting 66 and 62 point seasons in Los Angeles, Murphy would be traded early in the 1983-84 season to the Washington Capitals where he would continue to put up strong numbers, the best of which was in 1986-87 when he set a career high with 23 goals plus 58 assists for 81 points.

Murphy was dealt to the Minnesota North Stars along with Mike Gartner in a blockbuster deal for Dino Ciccarelli and Bob Rouse in March of 1989 after six seasons with the Capitals. After finishing up the 1988-89 season with Minnesota, he would play one full season with the North Stars, scoring 68 points, and then a half a season in 1990-91 before once more being traded, this time to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The move to Pittsburgh would allow Murphy to experience a deep run into the playoffs for the first time in his career, never having made it past the second round during his ten previous seasons. As the Penguins progressed through the 1991 playoffs, they first defeated the New Jersey Devils in seven games, the Capitals in five and Boston Bruins in six, giving Murphy the chance to skate for the Stanley Cup against his former club, the North Stars. The Penguins dispatched Minnesota in six games, earning him the first Stanley Cup of his career as he contributed a point per game over the Penguins 23 playoff games.

In his first full season in Pittsburgh, Murphy scored 77 points in 77 games, thanks in part to the fourth 20 goal season of his career. He would add another 16 points in 21 playoff games as the Penguins would capture their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

The following season Murphy had his career best offensive season with 85 points and another 20 goal season with 22. After two more seasons with the Penguins, Murphy was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 1995-96 season. His stay was not a long one however, as he was shipped to the Detroit Red Wings at the trading deadline during his second season with Toronto, but not before scoring his 250th career goal on this date in 1997, becoming only the 6th defenseman in league history to score 250 goals.

Murphy ended up playing more playoff games with Detroit than regular season games as the Red Wings charged through the playoffs that season and defeated the Philadelphia Flyers for the 1997 Stanley Cup, the third of Murphy's career.

Motivated by the injuries suffered by Vladimir Konstantinov while still celebrating their Stanley Cup victory in 1997, the Red Wings followed up that success with another championship in 1998, giving Murphy four Stanley Cup championships, and making Murphy the only player to win four Stanley Cups in the decade of the 1990's.

He would close out his career with three additional seasons with the Red Wings which included playing 57 games in his final season of 2000-01, one of which was the 1,600th game of his 21-year career, only the second player to reach that mark after Gordie Howe. His final total of 1,615 games was an NHL record for defensemen at the time and still currently ranks 8th in career games played despite having retired over 10 years ago.

Murphy would complete his career with 287 goals and 929 assists for 1,216 points, third all time for defensemen at the time of his retirement, behind only Ray Bourque and Paul Coffey and still in the top five after being passed by only Al MacInnis and Phil Housley. His 287 career goals rank sixth all-time for defensemen after Bourque, Coffeym MacInnis, Housley and Denis Potvin.

Internationally, Murphy played for Canada in the 1980 World Junior Tournament and the 1985, 1987 and 2000 World Championships, earning a silver medal in 1985.

Murphy scored a goal and two assists in the final game of the 1987 Canada Cup as Canada won the championship. He later won a second Canada Cup, this time in 1991.

Today's featured jersey is a 1996-97 Toronto Maple Leafs Larry Murphy jersey. The basis for this jersey dates back to 1934, when the Maple Leafs introduced a new sweater featuring twin stripes around the arms and waist, a much simpler style than it replaced. That style evolved, but remained in use through 1967, but was revived in 1991-92 when the Maple Leafs chose their 1940 sweaters as their Turn Back the Clock style for the NHL's 75th anniversary season.

It proved so popular that a modified version of it became the home and away jerseys the very next season, only using their modern maple leaf logo as the main crest, but using the retro style leaf as a secondary shoulder patch.

This style would remain unchanged through the 1996-97 season, but would be adorned with the Stanley Cup Centennial patch in 1992-93 and the Maple Leaf Gardens 65th Anniversary patch in 1996-97.

The jersey would remain the same for 1997-98, but it would be paired with a dreadful modern name and number font for three regrettable seasons.

Today's video is Murphy teaching you how to properly kill a penalty in a session of "Lessons with Larry".

1977-78 CHZ Litvinov Ivan Hlinka Jersey

2012-01-26T05:00:00.009-06:00

One of the most important figures in Czech hockey history, Ivan Hlinka was born in this date n 1950. He began to play in the CHZ Litvinov youth program and eventually graduated to the senior team in the Czechoslovak league at the age of just 16 in the 1966-67 season, where he became a mainstay for the club for the next 15 seasons. A center, he was an offensive force in front of the opponent's net, using his 6' 2", 220 lbs frame to his advantage. By his second full season he was now averaging more than a point per game, with 17 goals and 34 points in 33 games in the shorter Czech regular season.

Hlinka as a member of CHZ Litvinov

At the age of 20, he was named captain of Litvinov and also made the first of many appearances for the Czechoslovakia National Team when he participated in the 1970 World Championships.

His standout seasons for CHZ Litvinov included 1974-75, with 36 goals and 78 points in 44 games, and 1977-78, with 32 goals and 71 points in 43 games when he won the Golden Hockey Stick as the best player in Czechoslovakia. In all, Hlinka had two 70 point seasons, six seasons of 50 or more points and 11 seasons out of 15 with more than a point per game and 10 with 20 goals or more with a high of 39, all while never even playing as many as 45 games in a single season.

In all, he would play 544 games in the Czechoslovak league, scoring 347 goals.

Wearing the black and yellow of Litvinov

On the international stage, Hlinka participated in the World Championships 11 times from 1970 to 1979 and again in 1981, including winning gold as world champion in 1972, 1976 and 1977, silver in 1971, 1974, 1975, 1978 and 1979 and bronze in 1973.

He also participated in two Olympic Games, coming away with a bronze in 1972 in Japan and silver in 1976 in Austria. Additionally, he played for Czechoslovakia in the inaugural 1976 Canada Cup tournament where Czechoslovakia advanced to the tournament finals against Canada. From 1977 to 1980, he also served as captain of the national team, which included winning the world championship in 1977 and two silver medals in 1978 and 1979.

Change came in 1981, when Hlinka and Jiri Bubla were the first two players given permission to leave for North America, where they joined the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL. There, Hlinka, admittedly a veteran player at the age of 31, set a Vancouver record for most points by a rookie when he notched 23 goals and 60 points in 72 games. During the playoffs, he would add another 8 points in 12 games as the Canucks would advance to the Stanley Cup Finals against the New York Islanders, who were in the second year of their four year dynasty, making he and Bubla the first Czechs to compete for the Stanley Cup. His second season with the Canucks was equally as successful, scoring 19 goals and 44 assists for 63 points in 65 games played, good for fourth in team scoring. While in the NHL, he would play in 137 games, scoring 42 goals and 81 assists for 123 points.

He would return to Europe for the 1983-84 season, joining EV Zug of the second division in Switzerland, where he set career highs with 46 goals and 89 points in 41 games. One more season with Zug saw him score 30 goals and 73 points before retiring as a player to enter the world of coaching.

He began with a return to Litvinov in 1985-86 and briefly came out of retirement to help Litvinov escape the cellar in 1986-87 when he skated in 19 games, scoring 23 points as Litvinov responded with an eight game undefeated streak.

Aside from coaching Litvinov, he also worked for Freiburg in Germany before becoming the head coach of first the Czechoslovakia National Team and then the Czech Republic National Team. His teams would win bronze at the 1992 Olympics and 1992 and 1993 World Championships. After the 1994 World Championships, he would leave the position, only to return again in 1997, winning bronze yet again. Finally in 1998, a gold medal arrived at the 1998 Olympics in Japan, the first Olympic hockey tournament open to the best NHL professionals. After a bronze at that spring's World Championships, the Czechs returned home from the 1999 World Championships with gold in hand.

Hlinka celebrates the Olympic gold medal with Martin Rucinsky

Hlinka then became only the second European to coach an NHL team when he took over as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the 2000-01 season, guiding the club to the conference finals following a 42-28-9-3 record, knocking off two higher seeds in the process. Unfortunately, all was not well in Pittsburgh, and the club traded superstar Jaromir Jagr before the start of the following season, which began with the club losing it's first four games. That combined with not seeing eye to eye with team owner and star player Mario Lemieux, led to his being relieved of his duties.

Hlinka coaching the Penguins

He once more returned to the Czech Republic National Team, first as General Manager for the 2002 Olympics and World Championships before becoming head coach of Avangard Omsk of the KHL for the 2002-03 season.

He then became the head coach of the Czech Republic National team once again in 2004, but sadly, just six weeks prior to the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, Hlinka was killed in a car accident on August 16, 2004 at the age of 54.

As a tribute to Hlinka, the Czech Republic National Team wore a #21 Memorial patch during the tournament, and team captain Robert Reichel changed from his customary #21 to #22 in Hlinka's honor.

The #21 Memorial patch worn on the Czech Republic jerseys during the 2004 World Cup of Hockey

Hlinka was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2002. Beginning in 2007, the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament is held in the Czech Republic and Slovakia for under-18 national teams every August in his memory. Also, Litvinov's home arena was renamed in his honor and is now known as Ivan Hlinka Stadion where his retired sweater #14 hangs from the rafters.

Today's featured jersey is a 1977-78 CHZ Litvinov Ivan Hlinka jersey. Done in the classic Czech style of the 1970's this jersey features a lace-up collar and drop shadowed names and numbers with a typically "European" font for the numbers.

Bonus Jersey: Today's first bonus jersey is a 1976 Czechosovakia Ivan Hlinka jersey as worn in the 1976 Canada Cup tournament. The Czechs alternated between read and blue road jerseys throughout their history of international hockey, dating back to 1921. They wore blue from 1964 to 1972 before reintroducing red in 1973. They also had a history of switching between their heraldic lion crest and the initials CSSR, changing to the combination of the lion crest and red sweaters in 1975 in time for the 1976 Canada Cup tournament. They maintained that combination until 1990, when they changed to a vertical Czechoslovakia flag for their crest.

This jersey also demonstrates the Czech style of the era, with it's lace-up collar flanked by vertical striping and drop shadowed numbers, now in three colors with the name given a radially arched treatment.

Extra Bonus Jersey: Today's additional bonus jersey is a 1981-92 Vancouver Canucks Ivan Hlinka jersey. What must have the foreign Hlinka and Bubla thought when they first laid eyes on the Canucks controversial "flying V" jerseys after years of wearing the prototypical Czech signature style? First introduced in 1978-79, this jersey was a radical departure from anything previously seen and still one of the strangest and unforgettable jerseys to ever see the ice in an NHL contest.

Designed by a professional psychologist, the "V" striping, suggesting "victory" according to the designer, was executed in bright orange to "evoke passion and aggression" while the use of black would instill fear in the opposition.

The sleeves also featured smaller "V" shapes midway down the arm with a new "Flying Skate" logo for the shoulders and the very unusual placement of the sleeve numbers at the very bottom of the arms on the wrists!

The basic jersey produced in 1978 remained in use until the 1984-85 season, but with a few adjustments along the way, such as a change in color for the names on the back and outlining the original one color numbers, both of which occurred for the 1981-82 season as seen here.

In our video section today, we begin with the Czech Republic defeating Russia for the gold medal at the 1998 Olympics, coached by Hlinka. Note Reichel wearing #21, which he would later relinquish after Hlinka's passing in 2004. While rather low on energy rather long, it shows some great game footage and the post-championship celebrations.

Now this next video is shorter and packed with energy, showing key moments from every Czech Repbulic game of the Olympics.

Finally, the raucous press conference the Czech team held upon their return from Japan after winning the gold medal. While it's in Czech, you can tell that Hlinka had the press eating out of his hand at the event.

2003-04 Chicago Wolves Steve Maltais Jersey

2012-01-25T05:00:00.006-06:00

Proving once again that not every successful career in hockey revolves around time spent in the NHL, Steve Maltais, born in this date in 1969, began his career in hockey with the Cornwall Royals of the Ontario Hockey League in 1986-87. Showing his offensive talent right off the bat, the 17-year-old scored 32 goals as a rookie in junior hockey. Following the season he was drafted by the Washington Capitals 57th overall in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft. Still with the Royals, he raised his goal total to 39 the following season, and combined with his 46 assists, registered 85 points in 59 games.

Cornwall Royal Maltais

His final season with Cornwall saw another quantum leap forward for Maltais, as he led the Royals in scoring with 53 goals and 70 assists for a 123 point campaign, good for fourth overall in OHL scoring. He then led the club in playoff scoring with a dominant 14 goals and 16 assists for 30 points in 18 games. Following the conclusion of the Royals season, Maltais began is professional career with 4 playoff games with the Fort Wayne Komets of the International Hockey League.

For the 1989-90 season, he was assigned to the Baltimore Skipjacks of the American Hockey League, where the AHL rookie was third in team scoring with 66 points in 67 games as well as 16 more in 12 playoff games. During the season he also made his NHL debut with the Capitals, appearing in 8 regular season games and 1 playoff game, yet failing to register a point.

Back with Baltimore for the 1990-91 season, he proved he had not forgotten how to score, 36 goals and 79 points came in 73 games, yet when called up by the Capitals for 7 games, he once again was snake-bit, failing to score even a point once again.

During the offseason, his rights were dealt to the Minnesota North Stars and as a result he spent 48 games with the North Stars IHL affiliate, the Kalamazoo Wings, where in 48 games he scored 25 goals and 56 assists. He was also called up to play with Minnesota in the NHL, where the thankfully scored not only his first NHL point, but goals as well with a pair of goals and an assist in 12 games. However, he was traded in early March of 1992 to the Quebec Nordiques organization, who assigned him to the Halifax Citadels in the AHL for 10 games to finish out the season.

During the offseason his rights were claimed by the expansion Tampa Bay Lightning, with whom he played 63 games, more than half his eventual NHL total, scoring 20 points. He exceeded that mark with 24 points in 16 games with the Atlanta Knights of the IHL that same season.

On the move once again, Maltais was then traded by Tampa Bay to the Detroit Red Wings for the 1993-94 season. Detroit called him up for 4 games that season, but the vast majority of his time was spent playing for the Adirondack Red Wings in the AHL, netting 35 goals and 84 points in 73 games. He also led the club in playoff scoring with 16 points in 12 games.

Now without a contract, his life and career changed in September of 1994 when he signed a free agent contract with the brand-new Chicago Wolves to be their team captain for their first season of play in the IHL. He immediately led the team (and all of Chicago for that matter) in scoring with 57 goals and 41 assists for 98 points as well as a 145 penalty minutes, his first career season over 100 penalty minutes. His 57 goals also led the IHL in that category for the season.

Back with the Wolves for the 1995-96 season, he nearly equalled his goal total with 56, but raised his assist total to 66, giving him a career high 122 points, which only placed him second on the club! He also found the time to spend 161 minutes in the penalty box.

Maltais next set a career high with 60 goals in 1996-97 during a 114 point season, reclaiming the IHL goal scoring title in the process. The following season he reached 46 goals and 103 points, to lead the Wolves in scoring for the second time in their four years to date. His 46 goals also tied him for the league lead in that category. The Wolves then went onto the postseason, defeating the Manitoba Moose in 3 straight, ousting the Milwaukee Admirals and then the Long Beach Ice Dogs in 6 games each to advance to the finals against the Detroit Vipers in what would turn out to be a hard fought 7 game series, where the Wolves came back from a 3-2 to win Games 6 and 7 to earn their first Turner Cup championship.

Maltais' fourth consecutive 100 point season came in 1998-99 as part of a 56 goal performance, his fourth season of 55 goals or more in his five seasons with the Wolves. His 56 goals were 10 more than his next closest pursuer, and his fourth time leading the league.

He once again repeated as the leading goal scorer in the IHL, with 44 in 1999-00 on his way to a 90 point season, ending his 100 point streak at four, but oddly, despite seeing his streak of 100 point seasons ending and putting up his lowest point total in six seasons, Maltais actually led the entire IHL in scoring for the only time, earning the Lamoureux Trophy in the process!

During the playoffs, Maltais was second in team scoring with 13 points in 16 games as Chicago swept Long Beach in 4, outlasted Houston in 5 and defeated Grand Rapids 4 games to 2 to won their second Turner Cup.

2000-01 was a season of change, and with the NHL expanding yet again, the upstart Columbus Blue Jackets came calling, signing Maltais as a free agent for their inaugural 2000-01 season, but in 26 games, his NHL scoring jinx was still in effect and he was released after registering just 3 assists and no goals.

Change was also the order of the day in the minors, as the IHL had ceased operations at the end of the previous season, but the Chicago Wolves were one of six teams admitted to the AHL, and Maltais returned home to the Wolves, scoring 31 goals and 63 points in 67 games. Chicago again went on a postseason run, defeating the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks 2 games to 1 in a close fought three game series, with each game ending with the same 3-2 score, one in overtime. They then won Game 5 of a five game series on the road against Grand Rapids before winning Game 7 of a seven game series on the road against Syracuse. Fellow IHL refugees the Houston Aeros fell in five games after Houston had won Game 1 followed by four straight by the Wolves. Chicago then split the opening two games on the road before returning home to win three straight to defeat the Bridgeport Sound Tigers 4 games to 1 to capture the Calder Cup in their first season as members of the AHL despite entering the playoffs with the 16th best record in the league!

The 2002-03 season saw another 30 goals and 86 points, which earned him the Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL's leading scorer. That was followed by 31 goals and 64 points in 2003-04 to lead the Wolves in scoring for the sixth time in the Wolves ten seasons.

In his final season, Maltais scored 60 points in 80 games, plust 12 more in 18 games as the Wolves made it all the way to the Calder Cup finals to close out his career. In his 11 seasons as a member of the Wolves, captaining the team for nine of them, the club never had a losing record.

While is NHL career totals are an unremarkable 9 goals and 27 points in 120 games, his combined IHL and AHL totals are an impressive 596 goals and 669 assists for 1,265 points in 1,126 games, two scoring championships (one in each league) as well as two Turner Cups and a Calder Cup championship. He still holds the record as the franchise's all-time leading scorer and his 596 goals ranks 8th in minor league history. His #11 was retired by the Wolves on April 15, 2006, one of only two numbers ever retired by the club.

Today's featured jersey is a 2003-04 Chicago Wolves Steve Maltais jersey. The Wolves wore this style for every one of their seasons in the IHL with only minor patching variations to report, including the IHL 50th Anniversary patch during their inaugural 1994-95 season, Turner Cup Finals patches in 1998, 2000 and 2001, as well as several sponsor patches throughout their history. Today's featured jersey is decorated with the Wolves 10th Anniversary patch.

While the top minor league affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers, the Wolves did adopt a striking alternate jersey heavily influenced by the Thrashers original template, only with enough unique additions, especially on the torso of the jersey to make it their own.

Even with the change to the new Reebok template and it's curved lower hem, the Wolves have remained true to their original home and away jerseys, worn now for 18 seasons.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1995-96 IHL All-Star Game Steve Maltais jersey. Eerily similar to the "waving flag" style Nike jerseys used in the 1996 World Cup of hockey, this IHL All-Star jersey frankly isn't the most attractive jersey we've ever seen, but it does speak to the unquestioned success Maltais had in the IHL and later the AHL, with his multiple championships, scoring titles and all-star game appearances.

In today's video section, take a look at the goal scoring prowess of Maltais.

1985-86 New York Islanders Mike Bossy Jersey

2012-01-24T05:00:00.006-06:00

Mike Bossy had a prolific junior hockey career for the Laval National, with whom he played for five seasons, beginning with 4 appearances in 1972-73. Playing a full season in 1973-74, he reeled off a 70 goal, 118 point season in 68 games.

He kept his foot on the gas the following year, topping that with an impressive 84 goals and 149 points in 67 games, 2.22 points per games. In the post season, his torrid pace continued with 38 more points in 16 games. Over the next two seasons he would add 79 goals and 136 points followed by another 75 goals and 126 points to set the all-time QMJHL record with 309 career goals, a mark which still stands today and ranks 28 goals higher that the next closest pursuer.

Bossy with Laval

Thought of as being too timid by NHL scouts, Bossy was not chosen until 15th overall in the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft, which included being passed over by the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs not once, but twice.

Playing on a line with Bryan Trottier and Clark Gilles, Bossy would set the hockey world on fire when he scored 53 goals in his rookie season of 1977-78, the first rookie to ever reach 50, while winning the Calder Trophy in the process.

Gilles, Trottier and Bossy

The following season he would better that by becoming only the second player after Maurice Richard, and first in 36 years, to score 50 goals in 50 games. Bossy did it in dramatic style with two goals in the last five minutes of game number 50. He would finish the season with 69 goals to lead the league and 57 assists for 126 points, good for fourth overall.

Bossy poses with Maurice Richard to commemorate their 50 goals in 50 games

1979-80 would see Bossy once more top the 50 mark with 51 goals in 75 games and the Islanders would capture their first of four consecutive Stanley Cup Championships as Bossy contributed 23 points in just 16 games.

While topping 50 goals the previous season, he did fail to reach 100 points during the regular season. Over the course of the next six seasons, he would blow past the 100 point level, never scoring less than 117, with a high of 147 in 1981-82.

During the 1980-81 season he would set a career high in goals with 68 to once again lead the NHL and pour in a remarkable 17 goals and 35 points in 18 playoff games as the Islanders would capture their second straight Stanley Cup.

Their third Stanley Cup Championship would see Bossy be recognized with the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP following 17 goals and 27 points in 19 games. This came on the heels of his 147 point regular season and his second consecutive 60 goal season when he tallied 64.

The Islanders dynasty was now in full force and Bossy once more reached 60 goals, this time on the nose with an even 60. His 118 point regular season continued his 100 point season streak and the playoffs would again see him get his now customary 17 goals (for the third year in a row and the only player to ever do so) and 26 points in 19 games. He would also be recognized for his style of play with the first of three Lady Byng Trophies following the season.

Bossy with the Lady Byng Trophy

1983-84 was another 118 point season with 51 goals scored. The Islanders would make it once more to the finals, but the dynasty would end as they were defeated by the up and coming Edmonton Oilers 4 games to 1. The Islanders 21 playoff games would see Bossy contribute 18 points. He was the recipient of his second Lady Byng Trophy after being whistled for just 8 penalty minutes for the entire season, the second lowest total of his career following just 6 during his rookie campaign.

His remarkable goal scoring consistency continued unabated, as 58 more would be added to his career total during a 117 point campaign in 1984-85. 10 more playoff games allowed Bossy to add another 11 points for the Islanders.

Showing no signs of slowing down, he would reach 61 goals, paired with 62 assists, giving him his highest point total in four seasons with 123, which included becoming just the 20th player in league history to score 1,000th career points, accomplished on this date in 1986 in grand style, registering a goal and four assists in a 7-5 win over the Washington Capitals. He would also capture this third Lady Byng Trophy in the space of four seasons as well.

Now slowed by back injuries, his final season of 1986-87, Bossy appeared in 63 games and scored 38 goals and 75 points, still over a point per game, before retiring at the age of just 30.

His final career totals of 573 goals and 553 assists for 1,126 points in 752 games would give him a final career average of 1.50 points per game over his ten NHL seasons and his 160 career playoff points in 129 games were a 1.24 points per game clip. At the time of his retirement, he held the record for most goals by a rookie and most assists and points by a right wing in a single season. He still ranks third all time in hat tricks with 39. He also reached 100 goals faster than any player in history, doing so in just 129 games. He was also the quickest at one point to 300 and 500 career goals scored.

His goals per game average of .762 in the regular season is the highest in NHL history and his playoff goals per game average of .659 is second only to Mario Lemieux.

He also still holds the NHL record for the most consecutive 50 goal seasons with nine, and shares the record with Wayne Gretzky for the most 60 goal seasons with five, despite playing 10 years less than Gretzky.

Internationally, he was a member of Team Canada in the 1981 and 1984 Canada Cup tournaments, earning a gold medal in in 1984. Due to the Islanders consistent playoff history, he was never available for World Championships duty.

Bossy celebrates with Islanders teammate John Tonelli during the Canada Cup in 1984

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991 and his jersey #22 was retired by the Islanders in 1992.

Today's featured jersey is a 1985-86 New York Islanders Mike Bossy jersey as worn during the season he scored his 1,000th point.

When Bossy joined the Islanders in 1977, they had just changed from a lace-up collar to a v-neck while wearing two color names and a bolder font for the numbers. In 1978 the stripes on the blue jerseys would be unified, now with a white stripe directly above a thicker orange stripe. This would be the jersey worn for their four stanley Cup championships, lasting through 1983-84.

In 1984-85, the names would change to one color and the font for the numbers would become narrower. This style would remain unchanged through 1995 when a change in ownership would result in the debacle that was the Islanders Fishsticks jerseys being born.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1981 Team Canada Mike Bossy jersey. The minimalist style used by Canada for the Canada Cup tournaments is remarkable in it's stark simplicity, with it's single color crest and customization.

It features a bold half maple leaf on the front, which was based on the Canada Cup trophy awarded to the tournament champions. Canada would not use this style for any other international tournament, such as the World Championships, as those jerseys were subject to supplier contracts with jersey manufacturers like as Adidas, Tackla, Reebok and Nike, who supplied all the teams participating in IIHF tournaments beginning in the mid-1980's.

Here is a career retrospective of Mike Bossy, which includes his dramatic 50th goal in his 50th game in 1980.

Up next is a nice interview with Bossy as he looks back on his career and a variety of topics.

A recap of the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals is next up, showing the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics patch on the Islanders jerseys. The passion and excitement of the Islander and their fans is infectious and recommended viewing. A reminder of what it's all about.

We don't know about you, but all this writing has left us hungry. Ça, c'est du bon poulet!

1949-50 Boston Bruins Gord Henry Jersey

2012-01-23T05:00:00.007-06:00

Starting his career with his hometown Owen Sound Orphans in 1940, Gord Henry signed to play goal for the Philadelphia Falcons of the Eastern Amateur Hockey League for two seasons, beginning in 1943-44. He also appeared in three games for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League during the 1944-45 season.

The following season you never knew where Henry would surface next, as he played 16 games for Hershey in the AHL and 4 for the Baltimore Clippers and one each for the Falcons as well as the New York Rovers, all in the EAHL and four different clubs in all before ending his season with 3 playoff games for the Bears.

He spent the majority of his 1946-47 season with the Boston Olympics of the EAHL, seeing action in 43 games, winning 21. He again returned to Hershey at the end of the season, playing in 5 games before going 8-3 in the postseason with 5 shutouts and a 1.45 goals against average as the Bears won the Calder Cup as AHL champions for the first of eight times in team history.

The 1946-47 Hershey Bears

The Hershey Bears receiving the 1947 Calder Cup with Henry on the far right

With the championship on his resume, he became the dominant goaltender for Hershey for the next eight seasons, beginning with 68 appearances in 1947-48, winning 25. The following season he would again appear in 66 games for the Bears, winning 28 times. The Bears would return to the Calder Cup Finals that season after sweeping Indianapolis and Cleveland before taking the Providence Reds to a seventh game. Henry finished the postseason with a 7-4 record.

He would also make his NHL debut with with the Boston Bruins for a single, memorable game on this date in 1949 as he became only the 6th goaltender in league history to record a shutout in his first ever game, blanking the Montreal Canadiens 3-0.

Henry under attack by Maurice Richard of Montreal

He continued to be the mainstay in goal for Hershey in 1949-50 as well as making two more starts for the Bruins, dropping both contests despite a 2.50 goals against average.

Henry would set a career highs in 1950-51 as he appeared in 70 games, winning 38. Despite not playing any regular season games for Boston that season, he was called upon to make two starts in the playoffs for the Bruins.

Nearly equalling his stats from the previous season, he won 35 games from 68 starts in 1951-52. In 1952-53, the reliable Henry was again in goal for 64 games, winning 31 while leading the AHL in appearances for the third straight season and fourth time in his career, with the first being in 1949. Once again, the Bruins came calling during the postseason, as Henry saw action in 3 playoff games for Boston.

Milt Schmidt and Henry while with the Bruins

For the seventh consecutive season, Henry appeared in over 60 games with 63 and won 30 or more for the fourth consecutive season, totaling 33.

In 1954-55, he once more led the Bears in games played, but was limited to just 23 after being forced to miss the remainder of the season following a car accident in mid January, which ended his career with Hershey.

For the 1955-56 season he returned home to Owen Sound, playing 20 games with the Mercurys in senior hockey. His final game would come in 1956-57 with the Philadelphia Ramblers of the Eastern Hockey League before he retired from play.

Unusually, Henry would play in more NHL playoff games, five, than he would NHL regular season games, having appeared in just three, but memorably winning the first by shutout, only the 6th goaltender to do so.

Today's featured jersey is a 1949-50 Boston Bruins Gord Henry Jersey. In honor of the Bruins 25th anniversary in 1948-49, they would adopt a new logo, the spoked "B". The "B" was flanked by the numbers 24 and 49. For 1949-50, the "B" would change from a yellow curved font to a black block font, creating a new version of the logo which would remain unchanged for 45 years until a the logo would be updated with black outlines around the yellow spokes as part of a new set of jerseys adopted for their move from their long time home Boston Garden to the new Fleet Center.

Today's featured jersey would remain in use for just two seasons until the sleeves gained an extra yellow stripe and black sleeve ends.

Today's video segment in on the Hershey Bears and their long time home, Hershey Park Arena.

The 2012 U. S. Pond Hockey Championships

2012-01-22T05:00:00.010-06:00

Today is the third and final day of the 2012 U. S. Pond Hockey Championships held on Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The U. S. Pond Hockey Championships began six years ago with a tournament on Lake Calhoun. The romantic nature of the back to basics tournament clearly struck a chord and gathered all kinds of the right attention, such as a write up in none other than Sports Illustrated.

The next season the tournament relocated across town to it's new home at Lake Nokomis where it has remained ever since.

View Larger Map

Friday began with 160 Open Division teams divided into 28 groups of five teams each hitting the ice at 8:30 AM for the first of two days of pool play spread out over 25 rinks on the frozen lake, which lasted until 4:30 PM. Games continued in pool play Saturday, again from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. At the conclusion of Saturday's schedule, the 28 group winners with the best record from the four games against the other teams in their group, plus four additional wild card teams, were seeded into a 32 team bracket of single elimination games to be played on Sunday.

An aerial view of the tournament on Lake Nokomis

Last year the temperature was in the single digits with windchills of -10º, making for near ideal playing conditions but a bit brisk for the spectators. Today will easily be the warmest of the three days, with the forecast calling for temperatures starting at 15º in the morning with highs expected to reach 38º and winds light at 10 mph with a 30% chance of snow. By the time of the championship game in the Open Division it should be the warmest it's been all weekend, so bundle up, bring some handwarmers and buy some hot chocolate in the warming house and come on out and experience the fun for yourself in what should be ideal viewing conditions.

Play begins today at 8:30 with the Round of 32. The winners of those first 16 games advance to the next round just two hours later at 11:30 AM. The eight surviving teams meet in the quarterfinals at 1:30 in the afternoon. The next round of semifinal games comes up fast, just an hour later at 2:30. The two survivors will square off for the championship trophy, The Golden Shovel, another short hour later for their fifth game of the day in the space of just seven hours!

With that many teams involved, there are always some great names chosen, with some of our favorites this year being:

Blame Canada
Do it for Dunlop
Frozen Pond Scum
Great White Buffalo
Healthy Scratch
Here for Beer
Money Shot
No Stars
Pinching D
Power Play: Unit 3
Puck in a Box
Puck-U
Pulled Hammies
Screaming Dolphins
Shut Your 5 Hole
Smell the Glove
The Mild
The Super Best Friends
The Swelling
Toothless Wonders
Twine Ticklers
Zuba Nation

Bonus points for those of you who got all the pop culture references contained above!

Other than the Open Division, other groups with championships on the line today are the 40 and over, 50 and over, Women's and Rink Rat divisions, as well as the Timberland Boot Hockey competition. If you want to be inspired to keep in shape as you grow older, don't miss the finals in the 50+ division!

The first championship of the day will be settled at 11:30 AM for the 50+ group, followed by the Boot Hockey final at 12:30, the 40+ final at 1:30 and the Rink Rat and Women's finals coming at 2:30 with the Open Division championship game for the Golden Shovel closing out the competition at 3:30.

On Friday and Saturday, your intrepid reporter trekked out onto the frozen lake with camera in hand to document some of the noteworthy jerseys which caught our eye. While some teams can barely round up six matching jerseys, others with an eye for a good looking sweater and either a sense of history or sense of fun, can produce some good looking sweaters, some of which we have gathered here for you today.

The Blazing Bandits from Chicago sporting Blackhawks throwback barberpoles

The St. Louis Dodes with a very professional looking effort

HelloBillWhitney.com had very sharp red and black jerseys with a penguin crest

The Great White Buffalo with not only plaid jackets, but matching pants as well

The sponsored Silver Bullets all wore #78 in honor of the first year of production for Coors Light

The sharp dressed men of Maxwell's Demons

The Mammoth Lakers out of California, combining the Los Angeles Kings vintage jerseys with the name of the former Minneapolis basketball club relaxing with the brew that motivates many of the teams - beer!

Branding Interactive had New York Rangers white jerseys complete with drop shadowed numbers as their inspiration

The Pylons wore road construction vests with numbers on the back

and one with a captain's C on the front

From Wichita, Kansas, the Flatlanders had Homer Simpson as Chief Black Hawk for what they said was their alternate jerseys

Even Quinn the Pit Bull got into the spirit of the event, sporting a (signed!) Minnesota Wild jersey

If you are coming out to take photos, be aware that cold weather is horrible for batteries and we recommend bringing plenty of spares kept close to your body to keep them warm!

Here is a look at last year's U. S. Pond Hockey Championships, held annually on Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis.

To get an understanding of the romance of pond hockey, we present the full length documentary film Pond Hockey, filmed on location at the first U. S. Pond Hockey Championships in 2006, which features interviews with many former NHLer's, including none other than Wayne Gretzky.

To purchase your copy of Pond Hockey, please visit pondhockeymovie.com.

Hockey Day Minnesota 2012

2012-01-21T05:00:00.002-06:00

Today is the sixth annual Hockey Day Minnesota, a celebration of the game in the state of Minnesota during which Fox Sports North runs non-stop hockey programming for an entire day.

The first Hockey Day Minnesota was held back in 2007, which featured two high school games played outdoors on Baudette Bay.

At the conclusion of the broadcast of the first game, FSN ran feature programming on various hockey related topics, such as backyard rinks and pond hockey. Later in the day the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers hosted the Denver Pioneers at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis followed by the Minnesota Wild hosting the Dallas Stars in an NHL contest over in St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center.

Xcel Energy Center

So successful was the event that it became an instant tradition and led to an expanded schedule of games for 2008. The day began with a return to Baudette in temperatures which plunged to -25º F. Two high school games were held, with storied Eveleth (home of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame) taking on Lake of the Woods High School followed by Blaine from the Twin Cities suburbs battling Roseau. Meanwhile, down in St. Paul, hockey powers Hill-Murray and St. Thomas Academy played at the Xcel Energy Center followed by the New York Islanders taking on the Wild. Later that night, the Gophers game from Denver was broadcast.

Since then, outdoor games for the high schoolers have been held in Phalen Park in St. Paul in 2009, Hermantown (just west of Duluth) in 2010 and Moorhead (across the river from Fargo, North Dakota) in 2011, featuring not only the boys, but now with girls added to the schedule.

Action from Phalen Park

photo courtesy of VintageHockeyMinnesota

St. Cloud was included in the event when they hosted the Gophers in the day's college portion of the event in 2009 before they travelled to Minneapolis to face the Gophers the following year. Denver returned as the Gophers opponent for 2011. (At this point we must ask why the defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs have yet to be included in Hockey Day Minnesota, especially as hosts for the Gophers in their brand new Amsoil Arena?)

While the high school games move from location to location, and the college games have as well, one constant has been the Wild, without whose support and cooperation the event would not be possible, hosting a game in St. Paul. The remainder of their opponents have been the Anaheim Ducks in 2009, the Columbus Blue Jackets on 2010 and the St. Louis Blues in 2011.

The Wild hosted the Blues on Hockey Day Minnesota in 2011

This year's schedule begins with White Bear Lake taking on Grand Rapids followed by the #1 and 2 rated teams in the state, as Minnetonka faces off against Duluth East in boys high school hockey followed by the Minnetonka girls playing against Hopkins' girls. The games were originally scheduled to be held outdoors on Lake Minnetonka, but due to the unseasonably warm temperatures a safe and playable surface would not be ready in time, forcing the high school games indoors for the first time in the history of the event.

The Gophers will host the Colorado College Tigers at 5 PM followed by the Wild taking on the Dallas Stars at 8 PM. Additionally, the Golden Gophers women's team's game against Bemidji State will be shown on the Big Ten Network at 4 PM.

With the high school games being held in the Twin Cities metro area for only the second time, those with a hearty appetite for the game can take in as many as four live games at three different locations in one day. For those of you craving your outdoor hockey, there is always the option of a trip to Lake Nokomis in south Minneapolis for the 2012 U. S. Pond Hockey Championships, which would fit nicely in between the early high school games in the west metro area and the early evening college game just 10 miles up the freeway to the north.

Mariucci Arena

Including a stop at the pond hockey championships, all four venues are located within 35 miles of each other, easily doable for the devoted hockey faithful, rather nicely laid out with no backtracking!

View Larger Map

A - Pagel Activity Center, Minnetonka

B - Lake Nokomis, Minneapolis

C - Mariucci Arena, Minneapolis

D - Xcel Engery Center, St. Paul

Special for this year is that the over 16 hours of programming on FSN will feature a telethon to raise money for the Jack Jablonkski Trust Fund for the player recently paralyzed from a broken neck resulting from a check from behind in a recent junior varsity high school game. If you would like to make a donation to the fund, please click on the logo below.

Please click on the logo to donate to the Jack Jablonski Fund

1975-76 St. Louis Blues Chuck Lefley Jersey

2012-01-20T05:00:00.001-06:00

Born on this date in 1950 in Winnipeg, Chuck Lefley began his career with his hometown Winnipeg Rangers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League in 1965. There, the center racked up 39 points in 46 games to earn league rookie of the year honors as the Rangers would go on to win the Turnbull Cup as league champions. He would follow that up with a 25 goal, 46 point season in 1966-67.

Rather than join a team higher up the junior ranks for the following season, Lefley instead chose to become a member of the Canadian National Team, whom he played for over the course of the next three seasons, which included his participation in the 1969 World Championships, Canada's final participation in the World Championships until 1977 due to a dispute over the amateur status of players from Soviet Bloc countries.

After three seasons with the national team, Lefley played in seven games for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL, impressively scoring 6 goals and 12 points. That spring he was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens 6th overall in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft.

He would spend the vast majority of the 1970-71 season in the American Hockey League with the Montreal Voyageurs, scoring 35 points in 48 games. He would also make his NHL debut with a single game with the Canadiens as well as one playoff game later that year, which was enough to earn Lefley his name on the Stanley Cup despite only two games of NHL experience as the Canadiens would claim the title following a seven game series against the Chicago Black Hawks!

Lefley would play 16 games with the Canadiens, scoring his first NHL points with a pair of assists, but once again spent most of his time with the Voyaguers in the AHL, who had now been relocated to Nova Scotia. During the post season, the Voyageurs would defeat Springfield, Boston and Baltimore while Lefley came in third in team scoring with 14 points in 15 games as Nova Scotia captured the Calder Cup as league champions.

Lefley would become a full-time member of the Canadiens in 1972-73, registering his first 20 goals season with 21 on his way to 46 points as part of the powerhouse Montreal roster. During the playoffs, Buffalo fell first, followed by Philadelphia before Chicago fell victim once again, giving Lefley the second Stanley Cup of his career, only this one slightly more earned with

8 points in 17 games.

The 1973-74 season saw Lefley raise his career highs to 23 goals and 54 points. He played in 18 games with Montreal in 1974-75, but his scoring touch had gone away, with just 1 goal and 3 points at the time of his trade to the St. Louis Blues.

While the Montreal lineup was stacked with future hall of famers on the verge of their latest Stanley Cup dynasty, the Blues welcomed Lefley's offensive skills to their roster. Given ample playing time and responsibility, he equalled his 23 goals from the previous season while playing 17 less games than the year before.

The 1975-76 season would prove to be the best of Lefley's career, as he would register 43 goals, 20 more than any other season of his career. The 43 goals would place him in the top ten in the NHL and his 85 points would lead St. Louis in scoring as well as setting club records in both categories in the process.

He would play one more season, but lack the drive and excitement he had brought to his game the previous season. He point totals would drop precipitously, finishing with just 11 goals and 41 points. He would surprise everyone by walking away from his contract and retiring at the end of the season with plans to return to his farm in Manitoba.

If that were not surprising enough, he really caught everyone off guard at the following season when he played for Jokerti Helsinki in Finland, a very uncommon move in the 1970's for a North American player. Of their 36 games, Lefley appeared in 24, scoring 11 goals and 12 points, equalling his NHL goal total from the year before.

He travelled even further east for the 1978-79 season, joining his older brother and defenseman Bryan Lefley as members of Dusseldorfer EG (now better known as the DEG Metro Stars) in West Germany, where in 26 games he scored 17 goals and 22 points, clearly a shoot first mentality as evidenced by just 5 assists! Bryan, who had been with the Colorado Rockies the previous season, would remain in with Dusseldorf for another season before finishing his career with SC Bern in Switzerland.

He returned to St. Louis for the 1979-80 season to resurrect his NHL career, but a hard hit in training camp separated his shoulder, which limited him to 28 games for the season. He returned to the Blues for the 1980-81 season, but decided his career was over after just two games, retiring for good this time.

His final NHL totals were 407 games played, 128 goals and 164 assists for 292 points as well as 13 points in 29 playoff games and his name on the Stanley Cup twice.

Today's featured jersey is a 1975-76 St. Louis Blues Chuck Lefley jersey. This was the second version of the Blues dark jerseys, as their original ones had the colors on the stripes reversed. Names were added permanently in 1977-78 and colored shoulders, matching the style of their white jerseys, came in 1979 and remained in use through 1984.

1988-89 Harvard Crimson Peter Ciavaglia Jersey

2012-01-19T05:00:00.009-06:00

The first collegiate hockey game in the oldest active rivalry in the United States was played on this date in 1898 when Brown University defeated Harvard University by a score of 6-0 in a game played outdoors at Franklin Field in Boston, Massachusetts.

The 1898 Brown University hockey team, winners of the first collegiate game in the United States

The Boston Herald's account of the game

Brown would win again the following year by a score of 2-1, but Harvard would even the score in 1900 with a pair of wins over Brown in back to back games.

Brown, based in Providence, Rhode Island, originally played men's hockey from 1898 until 1906. They resumed play in 1926-27 through 1939 before taking an extended break during World War II.

The 1929-30 Brown Bears

Play resumed in 1947 as an independent club until joining the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference in 1961-62, where they have retained membership ever since. Notable seasons for Brown have included 1964-65, going 21-9, and the 1975-76 season which saw Brown finish with a record of 23-7.

The 1975-76 Brown Bears

Their last NCAA appearance came in 1993, when they were defeated by Minnesota-Duluth in the first round. They came in third in 1976 following a 7-6 loss to Michigan Tech in two overtimes followed by an 8-7 win over Boston University. They took fourth in the nation in 1965 and were runners-up to Michigan back in 1951 following an 18-6 regular season.

Notable NHLers to have played for Brown include Curt Bennett, Tim Bothwell and Todd Simpson among the dozen Bears to have appeared in the NHL.

Curt Bennett while with Brown and later the Atlanta Flames

Harvard, meanwhile, played just the one game in 1898, but fielded a team continuously through 1916-17, taking a break of one year due to World War I.

Hockey at Harvard Stadium, circa 1910

Starting up again in 1918-19, played through 1942-43 before they too, suspended play during World War II, resuming again in 1945-46 after a two year hiatus.

The 1931 Harvard Crimson hockey team

Harvard played as an independent until 1960-61 when the ECAC was formed due to the NCAA selection committee overlooking any Boston area schools, which prompted the formation of the ECAC, with the conference tournament champion earning an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Crimson has won the regular season conference title ten times, with a period of dominance from 1985-86 to 1993-94 seeing them win 7 times in 9 seasons, the first four of those won consecutively under long time coach and 1960 United States gold medalist Bill Cleary, who ran the program from 1971 to 1990.

Longtime Crimson head coach Bill Cleary

Additionally, Harvard has won the ECAC post season tournament 8 times in 1963, 1971, 1983, 1987, 1994, 2002, 2004 and 2006. Harvard has made the NCAA tournament 21 times, winning the national championship in overtime in 1989 and posting runner-up finishes in 1983 and 1986. Most recently, the qualified five years running, from 2002 until 2006.

Ed Krayer scores the overtime goal to win the national championship in 1989

Team Captain Lane MacDonald with the 1989 NCAA championship trophy

Harvard has had three players win the Hobey Baker Award, Mark Fusco in 1983, Scott Fusco in 1986 and Lane McDonald in 1989. 23 Crimson players have appeared in the NHL, with some of the better known ones being Craig Adams, current Crimson head coach Ted Donato, Dominic Moore and Don Sweeney.

Current NHLer Dominic Moore while captain of the Harvard Crimson

Since that first meeting back in 1898, the Harvard Crimson holds a 102-41-12 all-time lead in American college hockey's oldest rivalry, a rivalry which will be renewed on January 28th when Brown travels to meet Harvard, with the rematch coming on February 17th.

Today's featured jersey is a 1988-89 Harvard Crimson Peter Ciavaglia jersey as worn during Harvard's championship victory in 1989. Normally overlooked in the world of college hockey as being too soft, the Crimson began the season with 15 straight wins to earn the #1 overall ranking in the country. They went on to win their first Beanpot Tournament in 8 years to further demonstrate they were a club not to be overlooked that season.

Their number one line, the "Line of Fire" consisted of Hobey Baker winner MacDonald, and runner up Allen Bourbeau as well as C. J. Young, both of whom had played for the United States at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary. Additionally, Peter Ciavaglia and Donato would both play in the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France. The Crimson won the ECAC regular season title and entered the playoffs with a stellar 24-2 record.

They learned from being beaten in overtime during the ECAC playoffs, and went on to defeat defending champions Lake Superior State in the NCAA playoffs 4-2 and 5-2 in their best-of-three series. They defeated Michigan State 6-3 to advance to the finals against the University of Minnesota, a game held in the Golden Gophers backyard in St. Paul.

In one of the greatest games ever played, the two teams traded goals back and forth, ending regulation of the exhilarating contest tied at 3-3. In overtime, Ciavaglia won a faceoff in the Minnesota zone back to Ed Krayer, who passed it to Brian McCormack who fired a shot which rebounded off Minnesota goaltender Robb Stauber's pad to Krayer, who moved to his right, forcing Stauber to move, which allowed Krayer the opening he needed to slide the puck between Stauber's legs for the championship winning goal, giving Harvard it's first championship in any NCAA sport.

Harvard's classic jerseys, rivaling those of teams like the Chicago Blackhawks for unchanging longevity, are true hockey classics, with their simple waist and arm stripes, colored shoulder yoke and "Harvard" vertically arched above each players number on the front. They jerseys are topped off with the school crest, which contains the university motto Veritas, Latin for "truth".

Here is footage from Harvard's championship victory over Minnesota, when the Gophers Randy Skarda hits the pipe, keeping Harvard alive in a game they would go on to win, a moment still talked about in Minnesota to this day. We were unable to find any footage of the game winning goal, however.

1938-39 Toronto Maple Leafs Syl Apps Jersey

2012-01-18T05:00:00.006-06:00

Born on this date in 1915, Syl Apps Sr. was not only a hockey player, but an accomplished pole vaulter as well, winning the gold medal in the 1934 British Empire Games in London and later represented Canada at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, placing sixth.

A big player for his era, standing 6 feet tall and weighing 180 pounds, the center first played junior hockey for in his hometown of Paris, Ontario in 1930. From there he played for McMaster University, where he was recognized for his athletic ability while playing football by the Toronto Maple Leafs Conn Smythe, who signed him to play for the Maple Leafs despite never having seen him play hockey! He declined at the time in order to retain his amateur status in order to compete in the 1936 Olympics.

Syl Apps while a football player at McMaster

Apps joined the Hamilton Tigers of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1935-36 to play senior hockey, scoring 22 goals and 38 points in just 19 games and adding another 9 points in 4 playoff games.

Even though some wondered if the non-smoking, non-drinking, non-swearing Apps was too nice to play in the NHL, he joined the Maple Leafs for the 1936-37 season, winning the Calder Trophy as the league's rookie of the year following an impressive 45 points in 48 games to lead the club in scoring and place second in the league by just a single point, putting to rest any questions about his ability to compete in the NHL!

Syl Apps 1936 rookie card

While Apps raised his point total to 50 the following season, he again placed second in NHL scoring by two points to teammate Gordie Drillon. Apps did lead the league in assists with 29 and added 5 more points as the Maple Leafs made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1938.

Apps led the Maple Leafs in scoring in 1938-39 despite a reduction in his total to 40, accumulated in 44 games played. He had a fine playoff campaign, as Toronto again made it to the finals, thanks in part to Apps' 8 points in 10 games.

Note the texture of Apps' wool sweater

Despite being limited to just 27 games by a broken collarbone, he averaged more than a point per game with 30, good for second on the Maple Leafs. For the third consecutive season, the Maple Leafs would make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, but come up short once more. Prior to the season, Apps would be selected to play in the Babe Siebert Memorial Game as a member of the NHL All-Stars, who took on the Montreal Canadiens.

The popular Apps was regularly featured on the cover of the Maple Leafs program

For the 1940-41 season, Apps was named the 5th captain of the Maple Leafs. He responded with the second 20 goal season of his career and added 24 assists for 44 points to equal Drillon's team leading total.

Maple Leafs captain Syl Apps

For the 1941-42 season, Apps was yet again second to Drillon for the club lead in points with 41 and was named the winner of the Lady Byng Trophy for the Most Gentlemanly Player thanks to completing the entire season without a single penalty! In the postseason, Apps led the Maple Leafs in playoff scoring with 14 points in 13 games as Toronto would eliminate the New York Rangers in six games before defeating the Detroit Red Wings in seven games to capture the 1942 Stanley Cup in remarkable fashion, having lost the first three games of the finals and leaving no further margin for error.

The 1941-42 Maple Leafs Stanley Cup engraving, listing Apps as team captain

Apps would be limited to 29 games due to a broken leg in 1942-43, his final season with the Maple Leafs for the time being, as he enlisted in the Canadian Army during World War II. After two years away from the NHL, Apps would return for the 1945-46 season, resuming his captaincy in the process. He did not skip a beat, scoring his fourth consecutive 40 point season, thanks to a then career best 24 goals.

Apps while in the military

He would raise his goal scoring total to 25 the following season and come second on the team with 49 points in 54 games. He would equal his career best with 5 playoff goals as the Maple Leafs ousted the Red Wings in 5 games and then captured the second Stanley Cup of Apps career by defeating the Montreal Canadiens 4 games to 2.

A happy Apps with coach Hap Day and goaltender Turk Broda

Going out in style, Apps set career bests in goals, with 26 (which included a hat trick on the final day of the season), and points, with 53, to lead the Maple Leafs in scoring before they marched to the championship, defeating the Boston Bruins in five and sweeping the Red Wings in four straight for the second consecutive and third Stanley Cup of Apps career.

Apps with his third Stanley Cup, going out on top

And with that, Apps retired from the NHL at the age of 33, taking a marketing job with a department store as well as serving as Ontario Athletic Commissioner. Later in the 1960's, he became active in politics and was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1963 to 1975.

His career totals were 423 games played, 201 goals and 231 assists for 432 points and a mere 56 penalty minutes in 10 seasons, 15 of which came from the only 3 fights of his career.

In 1961 he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and later became a member of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1975 and a Member of the Order of Canada in 1977. The Maple Leafs made Apps' #10 one of the club's "honored numbers" in 1993. Another tribute arrived in 2001, when Apps was featured on a postage stamp in Canada.

His son, Syl Apps, Jr. would also have a career in the NHL, playing ten seasons after breaking in with the Rangers. He would spend the majority of his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins before finishing with three seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Kings.

Syl Apps, Jr. with his father, Syl, Sr.

Today's featured jersey is a 1938-39 Toronto Maple Leafs Syl Apps jersey. This was the first season for this style sweater with this new version of the Maple Leafs crest. The striping template for this sweater was first adopted in the 1937-38 season, carrying over the original crest, which dated back to 1927 when Smythe purchased the Toronto St. Patricks franchise and changed the club's name to the Maple Leafs.

After one season with the new striping pattern, the new style crest made it's debut and lasted well beyond the conclusion of Apps' career in 1948, remaining unchanged through the 1957-58 season when a blue shoulder yoke was added.

Today's video selection is a cool old documentary on hockey in Canada featuring footage of Apps and the Maple Leafs taking on the New York Rangers in November 1939.

1992-93 NHL Referee Andy Van Hellemond Jersey

2012-01-17T05:00:00.005-06:00

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1948, Andy Van Hellemond began his hockey career like most others as a player, competing for the St. James Canadians of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, which included winning a league championship in 1968 and being named to the league's First All-Star Team as a center.

With his playing career at an end, Van Hellemond began to officiate in various leagues in Manitoba before moving up to first the Western Hockey League for two years and eventually in the NHL, making his debut as a 23-year-old on November 22, 1972 as a replacement for Bruce Hood, who had suffered a knee injury.

How times have changed - a seated Van Hellemond is taller than the glass in 1975

In 1984 he became the first NHL on-ice official to wear a helmet, leading the way to others doing the same before they eventually became mandatory beginning with the 2006-07 season.

A helmeted Van Hellemond

After the era of NHL referees wearing their names on their backs ended in 1993-94, Van Hellemond wore #25 for the remainder of his career, which included setting the NHL record for the most games when he appeared in his 1,173rd regular season game when the St. Louis Blues hosted the Montreal Canadiens, breaking the record held by Dave Newell.

Van Hellemond was immortalized as part of the 1990 Pro Set hockey card set

Upon his retirement after 24 years as an official in 1996, Van Hellemond held the records for most regular season games, with 1,475, most playoff games at 227, and most Stanley Cup finals with 19.

For fourteen years he was the NHL's top rated referee and had the honor of working two NHL All-Star Games, the 1979 Challenge Cup and Rendez-Vous '87 between the NHL All-Stars and the Soviet Union.

Following his retirement as a NHL referee, he became Senior Vice-President and Director of Operations for the ECHL until 2000, when he became Director of Officiating for the NHL until July of 2004.

Although his NHL career came to an end in 1996, Van Hellemond was back on the ice in 2003 for the MegaStars Game, an alumni game with alumni referees between past greats of the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens prior to the Heritage Classic outdoor game in Edmonton.

Van Hellemond in a throwback NHL referee's sweater

Van Hellemond with Wayne Gretzky at 2003's MegaStars Game

He was later selected as Manitoba's Referee of the Century, became an Honored Member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999.

Today's featured jersey is a 1992-93 NHL Referee Andy Van Hellemond jersey. This sweater was worn during the era of referees wearing their names on the backs of their sweaters. This jersey also features the Stanley Cup Centennial patch as worn on not only all the players jerseys in 1992-93, but also the referees' sweaters.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1994-95 NHL Referee Andy Van Hellemond jersey. This jersey, with Van Hellemond's #25 on the back was worn during the first season NHL officials returned to the use of numbers rather than names on their backs for the final two seasons of Van Hellemond's career.

Life as a referee is never an easy one, but getting deliberately punched by a player should not be one of the things they are forced to put up with. Here, Van Hellemond is on the receiving end of a blow by the Boston Bruins Terry O'Reilly. He would be suspended for 10 games for hitting Van Hellemond.

Once again, Van Hellemond earns his paycheck when things boil over between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Toronto Maple Leafs engage in a sucker punching line brawl cage match, including Chicago's Dave Manson jumping off the top rope for a disqualification. Even Santa Claus seems upset by their behavior.

1905 Ottawa Silver Seven Frank McGee Jersey

2012-01-16T05:00:00.003-06:00

Born in 1882, Frank McGee excelled at sports, rowing, playing lacrosse and rugby, which included winning a Canadian championship in 1898. But what McGee is best remembered for was his goal scoring prowess at hockey.

In 1900, at the age of 17, while playing in a charity exhibition game with a local Canadian Pacific Railway team, McGee permanently lost the sight in one eye when hit with a high stick. He quit playing to become a referee, but quickly returned to playing despite the risk of losing the vision in his remaining good eye.

After playing junior and intermediate level hockey in his native Ottawa, he joined the Ottawa Hockey Club for the 1903 season. He appeared in six of the club's eight games and immediately showed his offensive skills with 14 goals to place second overall in the Canadian Amateur Hockey League.

In the CAHL playoffs, McGee and Ottawa faced off against the Montreal Victorias in a two-game total-goal series for the rights to the Stanley Cup. Game 1 finished tied at 1-1, with McGee held scoreless. Ottawa roared to life in Game 2, however, as McGee led the Ottawa onslaught with a hat trick as they overpowered the Victorias 8-0. As a result of their 9-1 triumph, Ottawa became league champions were declared holders of the cup for the first time in club history.

Two days later the new champions were challenged for their new trophy by the Rat Portage Thistles in a best-of-three series. Game 1 went to Ottawa 6-2, with McGee scoring twice. Two days later, Ottawa successfully defended their trophy with a 4-2 win, with McGee scoring twice more, including the cup winning goal at 8:20 of the first half, as the game had yet to be divided into three periods. As a reward for their victory, each member of the squad would receive a silver nugget, which gave birth to the team's new nickname, The Silver Seven.

The Stanley Cup champion 1903 Ottawa Hockey Club

Before the 1904 CAHL season began, Ottawa faced another challenge for the Stanley Cup, this from the Winnipeg Rowing Club. A best-of-three series, play began on December 30th, 1903. When the series concluded on January 4, 1904, the Silver Seven prevailed after a 9-1 win, a 6-2 loss and a 2-0 shutout in Game 3.

Ottawa had a tumultuous 1904 season, as they withdrew from the CAHL after only four games and joined the new Federal Amateur Hockey League, but did not participate in any of the FAHL regular season games. In the four CAHL games Ottawa did compete in, McGee scored 12 times, which was still good enough to place him fifth in the final scoring totals.

After leaving the CAHL, the Silver Seven would face a cup challenge from the Toronto Marlboros, whom they would turn away 2 games to none in their best-of-three challenge in late February of 1904.

Once the FAHL regular season was concluded, it's regular season champions, the Montreal Wanderers met the Silver Seven to compete in a two-game, total-goal series for the FAHL championship and the rights to the Stanley Cup that went with it. At least that was the plan. The first game ended in a 5-5 tie when the Wanderers refused to play overtime with the same referee in charge and then had the temerity to demand the series begin anew as a best-of-three! When the trustees of the cup ordered the series to continue as planned, the Wanderers abandoned their challenge, leaving the Silver Seven as FAHL champions despite their having played but a single tie game in league competition! During the tie game, McGee added another goal to his career total.

A final challenge to Ottawa was arranged for one week later, this from Brandon Wheat Cities in another best-of-three format, which the Silver Seven turned away with a pair of victories. While McGee had only played in four regular season games during the 1904 season, he skated in eight cup challenge games, scoring 21 times as the Silver Seven turned away no less than four separate challengers.

In their first full season of FAHL competition in 1905, Ottawa came first with a 7-1 record as McGee would tie for the league lead with 17 goals, but he would score his while playing in two less games than Jack Marshall. The highlight of McGee's regular season would be a five goal performance on February 4th.

During the season, the Dawson City Nuggets would travel 4,000 miles from the Yukon to challenge Ottawa. Their trip would take a month to complete and include traveling on foot, by sled dog, automobile, ship and train. Game 1 of the best-of-three would go to Ottawa by a score of 9-2, with McGee scoring once. Game 2 on this date in 1905 would be one for the ages, as Ottawa continued to pile up goals at a furious pace, eventually winning by an unfathomable 23-2 final score with McGee setting a record which still stands today, as he scored an incredible 14 times! Eight of McGee's goals were consecutive and came in under nine minutes of playing time.

As league champions, Ottawa retained the cup and was challenged once again by the Rat Portage Thistles. McGee did not play in Game 1, which was won by the Thistles 9-3. McGee returned for Games 2 and 3, which were won by Ottawa 4-2 and 5-4 with McGee scoring three times.

The Stanley Cup champion 1905 Ottawa Silver Seven

For the 1906 season, the Silver Seven moved to the new Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association. They tied for the best record at 9-1. McGee was third in league scoring with 28 goals in seven games, which included an eight goal performance on March 3rd.

Ottawa would face two challenges during the regular season, first from Queen's University in a best-of-three. After Game 1 went the way of the Silver Seven 16-7, there was little doubt that the cup would change hands, which was confirmed by a 12-7 score in Game 2. McGee scored four times in Game 1.

Just prior to the end of the regular season, Ottawa again had to face a cup challenge, this from Smiths Falls in another best-of-three series. Ottawa had little trouble defending it's now three year grip on the Stanley Cup, as they won two straight by scores of 6-5 and 8-2. In all, McGee scored 15 times in the four cup challenge games that season.

The final two games of McGee's career came in the ECAHA playoffs on March 14th and 17th, 1906. The series was a two-game, total-goal affair. The Montreal Wanderers put in an early claim on the cup with a resounding 9-1 win in the first game.

Ottawa was down, but not out, as they entered Game 2, but 12 minutes in, Montreal scored again to increase their lead to nine goals. McGee got Ottawa on the board in the first half and again before the half ended to help cut the margin to 10-4. The Silver Seven would come out flying in the second half, and score six consecutive goals to even the series at 10-10! In the final seven minutes of the contest, Lester Patrick would score to put Montreal in front and then end the three year reign of the Silver Seven with an empty net goal in the final seconds.

It would be McGee's final game as a hockey player in a career which spanned four seasons, divided between 23 regular season games in which he scored 71 goals, an average of more than three per game. Mc Gee would also participate in 22 playoff and Stanley Cup challenge games during which he would score 63 times, including his record 14 in one game in 1905, all while only having vision in one eye.

Frank Patrick was quoted as saying about McGee, "He was even better than they say he was. He had everything - speed, stick handling, scoring ability and was a punishing checker. He was strongly built but beautifully proportioned and he had an almost animal rhythm."

Following his retirement as a player at just 23 years of age, said to be because his government job would not allow him to travel. Despite having vision in only one eye, he somehow was accepted into the military at age 32. His certificate of examination noted that McGee could "see the required distance with either eye" after he apparently tricked the doctor by covering his bad eye with first one hand and then the other during his exam.

He began to serve in May of 1915 before suffering a knee injury when his vehicle was hit by a shell. While out of action he was given the opportunity to take a non-combat posting in the northwest of France far from the battle, but chose instead to return to the front in August only to be killed in action on September 16, 1916. His body was never recovered.

Lieutenant Frank McGee

McGee was later elected to the first class to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945.

Today's featured jersey is a 1905 Ottawa Silver Seven Frank McGee jersey as worn during his record setting 14 goal game against Dawson City. The Senators trademark red, black and white horizontal "barberpole" stripes were first adopted in 1903, and except for one season with vertical stripes in 1910-11, remained in use through the original Senators final season in Ottawa of 1933-34, with the addition of the letter "O" crest from 1929-30 on.