All Time Draft# 5 Bios
- Thread starter Leaf Lander
- Start date
The Alberta Oilers Player Biography's
1st selection, 2nd overall: Bobby Orr
Truly special athletes, the ones that fathers talk about to their sons and daughters, change the game they play.
Orr revolutionized the sport with his scoring ability and playmaking from the blue line. Other defenders, beginning as early as Lester Patrick in the nascent days of the game, had been offensive threats, but Orr dominated. He won two scoring titles, the only defender to accomplish that feat, and had career season highs of 46 goals and 102 assists. More than just statistics, Orr had the ability to control the game, to take over. He had the speed to float away from defenders and also to recover should he lose possession or get caught on a rush. Often, odd-man rushes in the other team's favour were reversed by his effortless strides.
For eight consecutive seasons Orr won the Norris Trophy as the best defenseman and three times he was the league's most valuable player to collect the Hart Trophy. Orr's plus-minus rating when he was at his best was untouchable at plus-124 in 1970-71, when he scored 139 points.
2nd Selection, 33rd overall: Paul Coffey
Smooth-skating Paul Coffey embodied everything an offensive defenseman could be -- lightning fast, a skilled playmaker, a booming shot and savvy, yet still able to defend his team's zone employing blinding speed.
Through twenty-one NHL seasons, Paul Coffey was named to either the First or Second All-Star Team eight times, and as the Norris Trophy winner on three occasions. He also appeared in fourteen NHL All-Star Games and represented Canada at four Canada/World Cup tournaments. Paul retired as the highest scoring defenseman in NHL playoff history.
Scotty Bowman, writing in The Hockey News in November 2004, stated, "Coffey was one of the most unique defensemen to ever play in the league. He was often referred to as a 'rover.' The biggest thing about Coffey was his tremendous speed. If he couldn't skate like he did, he would not have been able to move up and play like he did. He was like a fourth forward on most attacks."
3rd Selection, 43rd overall: Gilbert Perreault
One of the most naturally gifted forwards in NHL history, Gilbert Perreault dazzled fans and the opposition defenses with his famed end-to-end rushes. He was the first building block in place when Punch Imlach began assembling the Buffalo Sabres in 1970. Throughout his nearly 17-year career that was spent entirely with Buffalo, Perreault was consistently one of the game's most entertaining figures. His laid-back and shy personality kept him from gaining the fame of some of the other stars of his era.
The Buffalo Sabres acquired the first pick in the 1970 Amateur Draft when coach and general manager Imlach won a spin of the wheel over expansion cousin Vancouver. Perreault was the obvious choice, and he lived up to his advance billing by establishing rookie scoring records of 38 goals and 72 points in 1970-71. He easily outdistanced runner-up Jude Drouin of the Minnesota North Stars in the Calder Trophy voting. In his sophomore year, he scored 26 goals and 74 points while being chosen to play for Canada in the 1972 Summit Series against the USSR.
Although he was in the latter stages of his career in the 1980s, Perreault turned in four straight 30-goal seasons between 1981 and 1985. He starred as Wayne Gretzky's linemate at the 1981 Canada Cup, and he was playing some of the best hockey of his career with nine points in four games when he was forced out of the tournament with a broken ankle.
Following the trade of Danny Gare to Detroit on December 2, 1981, Perreault was named Buffalo's team captain, a position he held until his retirement in 1986-87. On April 3, 1982, he became the 16th player to register 1,000 points. Perreault scored his 500th goal against Alain Chevrier on March 9, 1986. After playing 20 games the following season, he retired with 512 goals and 1,326 points to his credit. Perreault was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1990.
4th Selection, 70th Overall: Grant Fuhr
Over a 10-year period, Grant Fuhr led the Oilers to five Stanley Cup championships between 1984 and 1990. Without a doubt, his best year was in 1987. Fuhr was a workhorse, accumulating a league-leading 4,304 minutes played and 40 wins. He earned his sole Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender and was runner-up to teammate Wayne Gretzky for the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player. During the 1983-1984 season, Fuhr collected 14 points, which still stands as the single-season record for most points by a goaltender.
In 1995-96, just as many began to think that this once great goaltender was past his prime, he signed as a free agent with the St. Louis Blues. Given another chance, the classy veteran didn't disappoint. Fuhr played with a renewed love for the game and an energy that matched any youngster in the league. He played an astonishing 79 games for the Blues, 76 consecutively. Both remain single-season records. Grant's great play continued into the playoffs that year. He was once again in fine form and gave Blues' fans high hopes for a Stanley Cup championship. Unfortunately, the playoff run ended prematurely when Maple Leafs' forward Nick Kypreos crashed into Fuhr as he was attempting to cover the puck. His leg twisted awkwardly and he tore his knee ligaments.
Grant joined an elite club of goaltenders. On October 22, he defeated the Florida Panthers to attain his 400th career win -- only the sixth goalie in NHL history to reach that milestone, joining the likes of Terry Sawchuk, Jacques Plante, Tony Esposito, Glenn Hall and Patrick Roy. Prior to the 2000-01 season, Grant Fuhr announced his retirement from professional hockey.
Fittingly, in Fuhr's first year of eligibility, he was selected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.
5th Selection, 77th Overall: Bob Gainey
Termed the world's best all-around player by Soviet national team coach Viktor Tikhonov, Bob Gainey brought many elements to the Montreal Canadiens during his 16-year NHL career. The burly left winger was a tenacious competitor, relentless checker, respected team leader and capable contributor on the offense. His presence on the Habs' roster helped the team win the Stanley Cup five times in the decade between 1976 and 1986.
Gainey exploded for 16 points when the Habs won the Cup for the fourth straight time in 1979. In the finals, the Rangers won the first match and started strongly in the second. Gainey's winning goal in game two shifted the momentum in Montreal's favour and sent the Habs on their way to the Cup. For his immense contribution, he was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Gainey's style of play and ability to check and skate with the NHL's top forwards inspired the league to create a new post-season award. Beginning in 1978, the NHL presented the Frank J. Selke Trophy to the top defensive forward in the game. Fittingly, Gainey was the recipient in each of the first four years it was awarded.
The veteran captain hoisted the Stanley Cup for the fifth time in his career in 1986. Playing with the energy of a rookie, Gainey scored five goals and 10 points while patrolling his wing with customary efficiency. His poise and leadership helped the team register consecutive 100-point seasons in 1987-88 and 1988-89. In the latter of those, the Habs reached the finals, then succumbed to the Calgary Flames in six games. Following the series, Gainey announced his retirement.
6th Selection, 94th Overall: Dale Hawerchuk
At age 18, Hawerchuk took Winnipeg and the NHL by storm, smashing team records along the way. By season's end, "Ducky" as he was called by teammates, had led the Jets to the largest single season turn-around by one team in NHL history, a 48-point improvement. He shattered 17 club records in the process and became the youngest NHL player in history to reach the 100-point plateau, finishing with 103 points, the second best total by a rookie in NHL history. For his efforts, he captured the Calder Memorial Trophy as Rookie-of-the-Year -- the youngest to win that award -- and played in his first All-Star Game. Hawerchuk was now the darling of Winnipeg and was showered with media attention.
Admittedly a shy, reserved young man, Hawerchuk moved to a ranch outside the city limits to get away from the constant attention; however, his play would continue to attract notice. Other than a slight slump during his sophomore season in which he recorded 91 points, he reach the 100-point mark for five consecutive years, including a career-high 53 goals and 130 points in 1984-85, becoming the third youngest in NHL history to score 50 goals in a season. Goal Magazine referred to him as, "Mini-Gretzky," as he was named a Second Team All-Star behind #99 himself and was runner-up for the Hart Trophy. By the 1989-90 season, after three more All-Star Game appearances and Rendez-vous '87, Hawerchuk had re-written the Jets record book.
Despite playing in Western Canada during an era dominated by Edmonton and Calgary, Hawerchuk missed the playoffs only once during his 16-year career. During an era dominated by Gretzky and Lemieux, Hawerchuk recorded more than a point-per-game for 13 consecutive seasons. In a poll of NHL general managers during the mid-1980's asking them to select the player they would start a franchise with, Hawerchuk was voted third behind only Gretzky and Paul Coffey. He was the 23rd player to reach the 500-goal plateau in 1995-96 and the 31st player to record 1,000 points in 1990-91. His final career totals included 518 goals, 891 assists and 1,409 points, placing him 10th on the career NHL points list.
7th Selection, 111th Overall: Yvan Cournoyer
Nicknamed "the Roadrunner," Yvan Cournoyer won 10 Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens and was made the team captain. By the time he retired, he was among the all-time leaders in scoring for the storied franchise and he and his team had proven many doubters wrong about his adaptability and perseverance.
Shortly after Scotty Bowman took over as coach in 1971, Cournoyer was placed on a line with Guy Lafleur at center and Steve Shutt on left wing. The Roadrunner had a career high of 47 goals in 1971-72 and was at the top of his game, stickhandling and skating around his much bigger opponents with surprising consistency.
Cournoyer played for Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, scoring three goals, and returned to North America to have his best post-season. He collected 12 points, six of them goals, in the final series against the Chicago Black Hawks and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable playoff performer.
At the end of his career, he trailed only Guy Lafleur, Maurice Richard and Jean Beliveau on the Canadiens' all-time goal-scoring list.
8th Selection, 128th Overall: Darryl Sittler
Sittler had an incredible year in 1975-76. On February 7, 1976, he produced the greatest offensive game in the history of the National Hockey League, guaranteeing his place in the record books even after Wayne Gretzky had come and gone.
The big night helped Sittler become the first Leaf to reach the 100 mark in scoring in a season, collecting 41 goals and 59 assists. But he wasn't finished. During the playoffs in April against the Philadelphia Flyers, Sittler scored five goals in one game, tying the playoff record. In September, during the Canada Cup in Montreal, Sittler would make headlines again with his scoring ways. This time it wasn't the quantity but the quality and the timeliness that made the impression. In overtime of the second game of the best-of-three finals versus Czechoslovakia, Sittler held onto the puck on a partial breakaway until Czech goalie Vladimir Dzurilla committed himself and an opening presented itself. The goal secured the championship and made Sittler an overnight hero in Canada.
In 1977-78, Sittler registered 117 points and was selected to the league's Second All-Star Team. The Leafs had their best playoff showing in years, making it to the semi-finals. But things began to fall apart, for the franchise and for its captain, in 1979-80 when cantankerous owner Harold Ballard replaced much of his management, bringing in Punch Imlach to run the team.
After recovering from the nasty divorce with the Leafs, Sittler had a great season in 1982-83, netting 83 points and a spot in the All-Star Game. He was shocked when Philadelphia traded him to the Detroit Red Wings before the 1984-85 season. Unsure if he wanted to continue and move his family to yet another city, Sittler refused to report for five days. He did end up playing one year with Detroit, though at times he struggled to find a place in the lineup. He retired after the season. Darryl Sittler was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989.
9th Selection, 145th Overall: Michel Goulet
One of the most opportunistic scorers in league history, Michel Goulet was an elite left winger during his 15-year career. He managed to score at least 20 goals in all but his last NHL year and once enjoyed a stretch of seven consecutive seasons with at least 40 goals. Although he wasn't considered a rough player, Goulet wasn't intimidated by aggressive play on the part of the opposition.
Goulet's 57 goals in 1982-83 began a string of four consecutive 50-goal seasons. That spring he played on a line with Dennis Maruk and Mike Gartner while representing Canada at the World Championship, and the following year he was one of Canada's most reliable forwards at the 1984 Canada Cup tournament. This proved to be Goulet's longest pro season, as he didn't stop playing until the Nordiques were vanquished by the Philadelphia Flyers in the semifinals on May 16, 1985. The classy left winger was an almost insuperable force that post-season with 11 goals and 21 points in 17 games. All through this success, he remained in the background as the three Stastny brothers garnered most of the headlines in Quebec.
On February 23, 1991, he notched a hat trick against Minnesota to reach the 1,000-point mark. On February 16, 1992, he scored his 500th goal on a breakaway against the Calgary Flames in front of a thrilled audience at the old Chicago Stadium. And he played well when the Hawks reached the Stanley Cup finals in 1992.
10th Selection, 162nd Overall: Marcel Pronovost
He turned pro in 1949 and his big break came when Gordie Howe’s near-fatal head injury in the 1950 playoffs forced Detroit coach Tommy Ivan to move Red Kelly up to the forward line. Pronovost was called up from Omaha of the USHL to fill the void on defense.
He played so well in Detroit’s Stanley Cup win that veteran Jack Stewart was dealt to Chicago in the summer.
With his skill, Pronovost easily might have attained more points, but chose to play within Detroit’s defense-first team concept.
"He could’ve been a helluva a lot more productive," recalled teammate Johnny Wilson, who marveled at Pronovost’s knack for the open-ice hit.
"Marcel, he’d hit anything in sight. He hit guys coming through that center-ice zone. Man, he would rock them. If he hit a guy head-on, that guy was gone. I saw him put some guys out of commission."
A four-time NHL All-Star selection, Pronovost was runner-up in the Norris Trophy voting in 1960-61. Swiped by Detroit from Montreal’s backyard in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Pronovost was presented with a car by his French-Canadian supporters on March 5, 1960, when Marcel Pronovost Night was held as the Wings visited the Montreal Forum. His Detroit teammates gave Pronovost the gift of a diamond ring.
A member of four Detroit Cup winners, Pronovost was traded to Toronto in 1964 and helped the Leafs to a Cup in 1967.
11th Selection, 179th Overall: Terry O'Reilly
Right-winger Terry O'Reilly epitomized the "lunch bucket" crew of the Boston Bruins in the 1970s and '80s. A hard-nosed grinder who fought for every square inch of ice, he scored 204 career goals and was an emotional leader of his team.
The tenacious winger hit the 20-goal mark four times and helped the Bruins reach the Stanley Cup final and semi-finals three times each. He often formed an effective team with centre Peter McNab and various left-wingers such as John Wensink and Al Secord.
Although he was regularly among the league leaders in penalty minutes, O'Reilly's success in other areas of the game was acknowledged when he was chosen to play in the 1975 and 1978 All-Star games and selected at the Boston captain for two years. The old warrior retired in 1985 after going full in nearly 900 regular season games.
12th Selection, 196th Overall: Rick Middleton
Rick Middleton began his professional hockey career as the first-round draft pick for the New York Rangers in 1974. He finished off the season with a flourish as rookie of the year in the American Hockey League, then played left wing with the Rangers for two years before he was traded to the Boston Bruins in 1976 for Ken Hodge. After a few years, sportswriters began calling it one of the most lopsided deals in recent hockey history, in favor of the Bruins. Things were looking pretty bright right from the start of Middleton's arrival in Boston, as he scored a hat-trick in his first-ever game as a Bruin.
Middleton was born in Toronto. He played his junior hockey for the Oshawa Generals and led the Ontario Hockey Association in goals his last season as an amateur. By 1985, Middleton had earned his place as captain of the Bruins. Middleton credits much of his success in hockey to Cherry, who very early in his career encouraged him to work on his defense. Without a doubt, Middleton was one of very few players in the NHL who was strong on both the power-play and as a penalty killer.
In 1981 and 1984 Middleton was a member of the Canadian team in the Canada Cup. But his biggest success in international hockey, he claimed, happened in 1984 while he was a member of coach Scotty Bowman's team. Middleton played on a line with Wayne Gretzky and Gilbert Perreault. Gretzky himself was amazed at Middleton's abilities on ice.
13th Selection, 213th Overall: Kevin Lowe
Defenceman Kevin Lowe was pillar in the building of the Edmonton Oilers into a Stanley Cup champion. He was a solid positional player in his own zone, a team leader, and an astute playmaker on offense. His leadership on and off the ice was a major component of Cup championships in both Edmonton and New York.
His mobility, defensive hockey sense, and puck handling skills made him an asset on a club that won five Stanley Cups in seven years beginning in 1983-84. He also represented Canada at the 1982 World Championships and the 1984 Canada Cup. His savvy and leadership were important to the club, especially in the wake of losing such stars as Paul Coffey, Wayne Gretzky, and eventually Mark Messier. His immense work in the community was acknowledged in 1990 when he won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy and was named the NHL's Man-of-the-Year. Lowe was also selected to play in the NHL All-Star Game seven times beginning in 1984.
The veteran rearguard was traded to the New York Rangers in December 1992. His steady work was a major factor in the team's first Stanley Cup win in 54 years, in 1994. Lowe rejoined Edmonton prior to the 1996-97 then brought his fine career to a close early the next year.
14th Selection, 230th Overall: Wendel Clark
If there was a list of the most popular Toronto Maple Leaf players of all-time, one could be certain that the name Wendel Clark would be right near the top. The former Maple Leafs' captain was idolized by thousands of hockey fans, and held a status, which was nothing short of legendary during more than a decade of service with the blue and white.
During his first season in Toronto in 1985-86, the coaching staff decided to move Clark to the left wing on a full-time basis. The change seemed to agree with him, as he scored 34 goals and 45 points while spending 227 minutes in the penalty box. He finished second in the rookie of the year voting for the Calder Trophy to Calgary defenseman Gary Suter. In his sophomore season Clark increased his totals to 37 goals and 60 points, while sitting in the penalty box for 271 minutes.
Despite being only 5'11" and weighing about 200 pounds, Clark soon became known as one of the best bodycheckers in the league. Perhaps his most famous check was when he hammered St. Louis' Bruce Bell with a thundering clean hit behind the net which left Bell lying prone on the ice and unconscious for several minutes. However, it was his aggressive, pounding style, and penchant for the fisticuffs which resulted in him missing close to 200 games from 1987 through 1992, or the equivalent of nearly three NHL seasons.
It was often rumored that he was playing through injuries. In the playoffs, however, Clark seemed to kick it up into high gear, leading the Maple Leafs along with Doug Gilmour to the Western Conference finals where they lost a seven-game thriller to Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings.
On June 28, 1994, Leafs' general manger Cliff Fletcher stunned Leaf fans across Canada by sending Clark to the Quebec Nordiques in a six-player deal that saw the Leafs acquire Mats Sundin.
Clark played 13 of his 15 NHL seasons in Toronto. He played in 793 games, scoring 330 goals and 564 points with 1,690 penalty minutes. Clark also contributed 37 goals and 69 points in 95 playoff games.
15th Selection, 247th Overall: John Madden
The hard working forward scored 16 goals and was a solid +7 seven as an NHL freshman in 1999-00. He then played excellent defense and potted three goals to help the Devils win their second Stanley Cup. In 2000-01 Madden played a more prominent role and scored 23 goals while helping the club reach the finals where they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in seven games.
Although the team fell short in the post season, Madden's strong play at both ends of the ice during the regular season earned him the Frank J. Selke Trophy. Madden's offensive totals dropped in 2001-02, however, he continued his strong defensive play and rebounded offensively with a career high 41 points in 2002-03. Madden took his play to another level during the 2003 playoffs, finishing fourth among NHL scorers with 16 points in leading the Devils to their third Stanley Cup title in nine years.
Since his arrival with the Devils organization in 1997-98, Madden has been one of the premier two-way players in the NHL.
16th Round, 264th Overall: Alexander Ragulin
A 3-time Olympic champion, Alexander Ragulin established himself as one of the best defensemen that represented Soviets on the international level. Despite his size and strength, Ragulin's style was not based on playing physical hockey. He was an established organizer of both defensive and offensive team efforts and had excellent tactical and puck handling skills.
Due to his amazing sense of hockey, he was famous for a quick and accurate one-timer from the defense zone sending his teamates into a counter attack. His powerful slapshot also led to numerous goals and assists on his scoring list.
17th Round, 281st Overall: Vladimir Lutchenko
Vladimir Lutchenko is arguably one of the best defense players in the history of Soviet hockey. Lutchenko was notorious for his steady performance and unprecedented consistency throughout his career in hockey. He was well respected among his teammates and recognized as an extremely reliable player in both SCKA and the national team.
Although he had a powerful slapshot, his strongest part was his performance in defense. Lutchenko set up the record for Soviet defense players when he scored 4 goals in a game against Sweden at the Ivestia Cup in 1975. His record still remains unbroken.
18th Round, 298th Overall: Ilya Kovalchuk
An excellent skater with impressive speed, quickness and acceleration, Kovalchuk has outstanding puckhandling skills, scoring ability and plays a tough aggressive style of game.
In 2001-02 Kovalchuk made his NHL debut with Atlanta and teamed up with Calder Trophy winner Danny Heatley to become two of the most exciting young players in the game. The Tver, Russia native played in 65 games with the Thrashers and was on his way to the Calder Trophy before a shoulder injury prematurely ended his season. With 29 goals and 22 assists for 51 points, Kovalchuk finished second in team scoring and ranked second in overall rookie scoring behind his linemate Dany Heatley. Aside from his NHL debut with the Thrashers, Kovalchuk reprented Russia at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Kovalchuk continued his success during the 2002-03 season, surpassing the 35 goal mark and continuing to lead the Thrashers offence alongside Heatley.
Kovalchuk had added pressure to produce offensively, and produce he did. Kovalchuk had a career high 87 points, good enough for second in the NHL and added a career-high 41 goals, tying for the league lead with Calgary's Jarome Iginla and Columbus' Rick Nash, thus capturing his first Maurice Richard Trophy.
19th Pick, 315th Overall: Mike Richter
Richter joined New York full-time in 1990-91 and shared the netminding duties with John Vanbiesbrouck. The two goalies made a formidable pair and neither was considered the default number one choice. In his second full year in the league, Richter was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie, and he posted his third consecutive winning season in 1991-92.
His standout performance in the first half of the season earned Richter a chance to play in the 1994 All-Star Game, a high-scoring contest held at his home rink of Madison Square Garden. Richter was selected as the most valuable player, the first goalie to garner that honor since Grant Fuhr in 1986.
Richter and the Rangers maintained their torrid pace in the second half of the season. With his career-high fifth shutout in a 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils, Richter surpassed Eddie Giacomin's Ranger record for most wins in a season with 38. Richter finished the season with 41 wins and the Rangers won the Presidents' Trophy as the top regular-season team. Richter's winning hand continued into the playoffs. He had four more shutouts and won all 16 games as New York won its first Stanley Cup since 1942.
In 1996 Richter was once again a primary reason for his team's championship run, this time representing the United States at the World Cup. In the final game of the tournament, an incredible contest against goalie Curtis Joseph and the Canadians in Montreal, Richter faced a barrage of shots and kept his team alive. When the U.S. rallied in the third period to win the game and the title, Richter was selected as the World Cup's most valuable player.
20th Pick, 332nd Overall: Harry (Punch) Broadbent
A multidimensional star, Harry "Punch" Broadbent was as talented as he was tough. He was an artist with the puck, at times scoring at will, but he also gained a notorious reputation for using his elbows to make a point. He could dance around or skate over an opponent as the situation demanded. Many considered Broadbent to be one of the first true power forwards of the game. And fame would likely have been far greater had he not lost three years in the prime of his career to military service during World War I.
In 1915 Broadbent left hockey to serve Canada in World War I. He was awarded the Military Medal for his heroic conduct overseas. When he returned to the Senators in 1918-19, they were playing in the newly formed National Hockey League. Broadbent scored 19 goals in 21 games during the 1919-20 season but enjoyed his greatest success two years later. In 1921-22, he scored 32 goals in the 24-game schedule. Included in this run of good fortune was an NHL record of 16 consecutive games with at least one goal, eclipsing Joe Malone's previous record of 14. The streak began during a 10-0 rout of the Montreal Canadiens on Christmas Eve and lasted through to a 6-6 tie with the same team seven weeks later on February 15. In addition to goal-scoring skills and toughness, Broadbent possessed superior backchecking. This last quality helped the Senators play smothering defensive hockey when protecting a lead.
His offensive wizardry and robust style of play contributed significantly to the Senators' three Stanley Cup wins in 1920, 1921 and 1923. He was the right winger on one of hockey's top forward lines with Frank Nighbor and Cy Denneny. In the 1923 series versus the Edmonton Eskimos, Ottawa needed to find a way to stop the explosive Duke Keats. Everyone figured this responsibility would rest with defensive stalwart Frank Nighbor. Early in the contest, Keats skated close to Broadbent and took one of the latter's famous elbows in the midsection. The star of the western side failed to make much of an impression the rest of that evening.
Prior to the 1924-25 season, Broadbent and future Hall of Fame goalie Clint Benedict were traded to the expansion Montreal Maroons in a blockbuster deal. Those who felt that Broadbent was past his prime were silenced by his five-goal performance on January 7, 1925, during a 6-2 win over the Hamilton Tigers. In reality, Broadbent and Benedict had been sent to the new club to make the league appear as balanced as possible.
The Montrealers won the Stanley Cup in 1925-26 with Broadbent at his roughest. He scored two goals in eight post-season matches but also accumulated 36 minutes in penalties. "Old Elbows" was a force throughout the series that serves as a microcosm of his impact throughout his career.
21st Selection, 349th Overall: Brian Sutter
Brian played junior hockey in Red Deer and Lethbridge while also playing for team Canada at the 1975 World Junior Championships where he won a silver medal. He made his NHL debut in 1976-77 while splitting the year with the team's CHL affiliate in Kansas City. The next season, he was up with the Blues for good. Sutter became the team's captain in the 1979-80 season and held the captaincy until retiring as a player in 1988 to step behind the Blues' bench. Sutter played in three All-Star Games--1982, 1983, and 1985.
Sutter coached the Blues for four seasons and won the Jack Adams award as the league's best coach in 1991. He left St. Louis in 1992 and moved on to be the bench boss in Boston for three seasons. After taking two years off from coaching, Sutter moved back to Alberta to coach the Flames from 1997 to 2000. After another year away from coaching, Sutter followed in his brother Darryl's footsteps to coach the Blackhawks for the 2001-02 season.
The Sutter family is known in hockey circles as a group that promotes leadership, hard work and an honest work ethic that makes them one of hockey's great families.
22nd Pick, 366th Overall: Barry Beck
A huge defenceman who could shoot and handle the puck, Barry Beck was dominant at times in the NHL but was often slowed by injuries. He was able to join the rush and use his heavy shot from the point but his strength was playing the body in his own zone.
Following his stellar amateur career, Beck was chosen second overall by the Colorado Rockies at the 1977 Amateur Draft. He scored 22 goals and often carried his team in 1977-78 but finished second in the Calder trophy voting to the Islanders' Mike Bossy. The burly youngster's totals set a record for rookie defencemen that was not bettered until Brian Leetch came along more than a decade later. He continued to anchor the club's defense in 1978-79 and was chosen to the NHL All-Star team that squared off against their Soviet counterparts in the Challenge Cup.
Ten games into the 1979-80 season, Beck was traded to the New York Rangers for a package of five players headed by Pat Hickey, Mike McEwen, and Lucien Deblois. The Big Apple agreed with him as he scored 59 points in 61 games but the club was eliminated in the second round of the post-season. The next year he was a key factor in the Blueshirts' march to the semi-finals. Beck also served as the club's captain for parts of six seasons beginning in 1980-81.
Beck was chosen to represent his country in the 1981 Canada Cup and was an important cog on the New York blueline when healthy.
23rd Pick, 383rd Overall: Roberto Luongo
Goaltender Roberto Luongo spent his Junior career listening to comparisons to Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur while he showed great poise and skill in the QMJHL as well as with the Canada's National Junior team. Luongo led two different QMJHL franchises all the way to the Memorial Cup (Val d'Or in 1998 and Acadie-Bathurst in 1999) and also back stopped Canada to a silver medal
In Florida Luongo teamed with veteran goaltender Trevor Kidd and played solid hockey with five shutouts, a 2.44 goals against average and a solid .920 save percentage, but overall the team disappointed. Eventhough the team disappointed, Luongo's one-ice performance caught the eye Canada's World Championship team brass and he became a member of its team in 2001.
During the 2001-02 season, the Panthers began a full-scale rebuilding effort by trading away superstar Pavel Bure and bringing in new coach Mike Keenan and Luongo became the major building block that the franchise would launch from. Once again he delivered a spectacular performance with a 2.77 goals against average and a .915 save percentage despite a team in transition playing in front of him. In 2002-03, Luongo was the workhorse for the Panthers seeing action in 65 of 82 games, while establishing at the time a career high in wins with 20 and lowering his goals against average to 2.71.
Coming off his best season to date in 2002-03, Luongo took it a step further in 2003-04. The St. Leonard, Quebec native went to play 73 games for the Panthers in 2003-04, establishing new highs in wins (25), goals against average (2.43) and save percentage (9.31).
Aside from his World Junior experience and inaugural World Championship experience in 2001, Luongo backstopped Canada to back-to-back gold medals at the 2003 and 2004 World Championships, while helping win silver in 2005.
at the 1998 World Junior Championships, during his stellar Junior career.
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I'll prob do random bios here for the few who may not choose to do bios
Bobby Hull
Guy Lafleur, RW-
Bobby Hull
Guy Lafleur, RW-
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reckoning
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Ottawa 67s
Eddie Shore:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/spot_oneononep194705.htm
http://www.bostonbruins.com/history/eddieshore.asp
http://legendsofhockey.blogspot.com/2006/04/eddie-shore.html
http://p2.forumforfree.com/eddie-shore-articles-vt179-rhhockey.html
Howie Morenz:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=P194507
http://www.7thfloormedia.com/resources/canadiana/library/morenz.html
http://legendsofhockey.blogspot.com/2006/04/howie-morenz.html
Billy Smith:
http://www.oldtimershockey.com/players/billy_smith.html
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/spot_oneononep199304.htm
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/spot_pinnaclep199304.htm
Bernie Geoffrion:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/spot_pinnaclep197202.htm
http://legendsofhockey.blogspot.com/2006/03/boom-boom-geoffrion.html
http://www.legacy.com/CAN-Montreal/Guestbook.asp?Page=GuestBook&PersonId=17021698
Bill Gadsby:
http://www.letsgowings.com/history/legends/gadsby_bill.html
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=P197002
Adam Oates:
http://www.cnnsi.com/2004/writers/kostya_kennedy/04/05/oates.farewell/index.html
http://www.hockeyplayer.com/artman/publish/article_124.shtml
Jean Ratelle:
http://www.nhlalumni.net/?pid=news_archive_2002&src=news_2002_08_03_1028332800_
http://legendsofhockey.blogspot.com/2006/04/jean-ratelle.html
Harry Howell:
http://www.newyorkrangers.com/tradition/bio.asp?Player=Howell
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=P197901
Patrik Elias:
http://www.newjerseydevils.com/2005/html/fanzone/features/spotlight/elias.php
http://www.newjerseydevils.com/2005/html/fanzone/features/spotlight/elias012306.php
Bert Olmstead:
http://www.hhof.com/HTML/exSCJ05_23.shtml
Pat Stapleton:
http://www.chidlovski.com/personal/1972/yroster/ca03.htm
http://www.nhlalumni.net/?pid=news_archive_2002&src=news_2002_09_05_1031184000_
Bryan Hextall:
http://www.newyorkrangers.com/tradition/bio.asp?Player=Hextall
George Hainsworth:
http://www.hockeygoalies.org/bio/hainsworth.html
Rick Martin:
http://www.sabresalumni.com/2001/martin.php3
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=13552
http://www.looksmarthockey.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCM/is_5_31/ai_97058311
Rick Vaive:
http://www.sabresalumni.com/2001/vaive_rick.php
Terry Harper:
http://lowetide.blogspot.com/2006/04/detroit-wheels.html
Marty Pavelich:
http://info.detnews.com/history/story/index.cfm?id=169&category=sports
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:X9kuYaT9OzwJ:www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp%3Fplayer%3D13946+%22marty+pavelich%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=9&ie=UTF-8
Steve Duchesne:
Walt Tkaczuk:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=14550
http://nyrangerslegends.blogspot.com/2006/05/walt-tkaczuk.html
Ed Westfall:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=14664
http://www.jwen.com/hock/bruins/ewest.html
Sid Smith:
Eddie Shore:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/spot_pinnaclep194705.htm
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/spot_oneononep194705.htm
http://www.bostonbruins.com/history/eddieshore.asp
http://legendsofhockey.blogspot.com/2006/04/eddie-shore.html
http://p2.forumforfree.com/eddie-shore-articles-vt179-rhhockey.html
Howie Morenz:
http://www.couchpotatohockey.com/Players/Biographies/Morenz_Howie.asp
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=P194507
http://www.7thfloormedia.com/resources/canadiana/library/morenz.html
http://legendsofhockey.blogspot.com/2006/04/howie-morenz.html
Billy Smith:
http://www.hockeygoalies.org/bio/smithb.html
http://www.oldtimershockey.com/players/billy_smith.html
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/spot_oneononep199304.htm
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/spot_pinnaclep199304.htm
Bernie Geoffrion:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/spot_oneononep197202.htm
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/spot_pinnaclep197202.htm
http://legendsofhockey.blogspot.com/2006/03/boom-boom-geoffrion.html
http://www.legacy.com/CAN-Montreal/Guestbook.asp?Page=GuestBook&PersonId=17021698
Bill Gadsby:
http://www.immortalinvestments.com/billgadsby/
http://www.letsgowings.com/history/legends/gadsby_bill.html
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=P197002
Adam Oates:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=11216
http://www.cnnsi.com/2004/writers/kostya_kennedy/04/05/oates.farewell/index.html
http://www.hockeyplayer.com/artman/publish/article_124.shtml
Jean Ratelle:
http://www.newyorkrangers.com/tradition/alumnispotlight.asp?Alumni=Ratelle http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=P198504
http://www.nhlalumni.net/?pid=news_archive_2002&src=news_2002_08_03_1028332800_
http://legendsofhockey.blogspot.com/2006/04/jean-ratelle.html
Harry Howell:
http://www.newyorkrangers.com/tradition/alumnispotlight.asp?Alumni=Howell
http://www.newyorkrangers.com/tradition/bio.asp?Player=Howell
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=P197901
Patrik Elias:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=15143
http://www.newjerseydevils.com/2005/html/fanzone/features/spotlight/elias.php
http://www.newjerseydevils.com/2005/html/fanzone/features/spotlight/elias012306.php
Bert Olmstead:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=P198502
http://www.hhof.com/HTML/exSCJ05_23.shtml
Pat Stapleton:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=14432
http://www.chidlovski.com/personal/1972/yroster/ca03.htm
http://www.nhlalumni.net/?pid=news_archive_2002&src=news_2002_09_05_1031184000_
Bryan Hextall:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p196902&page=bio&list=ByYear
http://www.newyorkrangers.com/tradition/bio.asp?Player=Hextall
George Hainsworth:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?type=Player&mem=P196104&list=ByName
http://www.hockeygoalies.org/bio/hainsworth.html
Rick Martin:
http://www.sabresalumni.com/2001/martin_rick.php
http://www.sabresalumni.com/2001/martin.php3
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=13552
http://www.looksmarthockey.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCM/is_5_31/ai_97058311
Rick Vaive:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=11681
http://www.sabresalumni.com/2001/vaive_rick.php
Terry Harper:
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:kIpaRYsSdI4J:www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp%3Fplayer%3D12858+%22terry+harper%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=5&ie=UTF-8
http://lowetide.blogspot.com/2006/04/detroit-wheels.html
Marty Pavelich:
http://www.detroitredwings.com/history/wol/wol-martypavelich.jsp
http://info.detnews.com/history/story/index.cfm?id=169&category=sports
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:X9kuYaT9OzwJ:www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp%3Fplayer%3D13946+%22marty+pavelich%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=9&ie=UTF-8
Steve Duchesne:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=10398
Walt Tkaczuk:
http://www.newyorkrangers.com/tradition/alumnispotlight.asp?Alumni=Tkaczuk
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=14550
http://nyrangerslegends.blogspot.com/2006/05/walt-tkaczuk.html
Ed Westfall:
http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-historysports-isles,0,7897196.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=14664
http://www.jwen.com/hock/bruins/ewest.html
Sid Smith:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=14376
Last edited:
Not to steal reckoning's thunder when it comes to picking Eddie Shore, but here's a post from a few months ago on the 67s top pick:reckoning said:
http://www.hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=198576
It was written by justsomeguy, who I find to be a really underrated poster. It might just be the best post I've ever seen on these boards. (And many people in this draft have concocted some brilliant posts).
I think I said enough about Doug Harvey when I drafted him.
raleh
Registered User
Thanks LL
Phil Esposito
He was an origional 205 pounds of supersition theatrics ego skill and courage all in a 6'1 frame. Like all great scorers espo had the gift of mastering time and space. He wasnt a great skater but when he got the puck in the slot the plough horse showed the finish of a thoroughbread. Phil just didnt wait for the puck to shot. Lost in the volume of close in and garbage goals was a canny craftsmanship and imagination that produced 5 consecutive 55 or more goal seasons.- top 50 of all time
He was the centerman who held the greatest scoring record of them all before Wayne Gretzky came along and broke it - 76 goals in a single season in 1970-71. Espo won the Art Ross Trophy five times, the Hart Trophy twice, the Lester B. Pearson Award twice and the Lester Patrick Trophy for service to hockey in the United States. What's more, he was a ten-time All-Star and represented Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, the 1976 Canada Cup and the 1977 World Championship. While a member of the Boston Bruins, he scored 40 or more goals in seven straight seasons and 50 or more in five straight seasons. In his 76-goal season, he also recorded an amazing 76 assists for a league record at the time of 152 points.
While Espo was gaining a reputation among NHL coaches and fans as a goal scorer, his fellow players were also beginning to recognize that they were dealing with a real character and a practical joker in the dressing room and on road trips. He liked to smoke cigars, and one reporter, noting his constantly furrowed brow and droopy expression, started calling him "the Happy Worrier."
Besides these traits, teammates noticed that he was a player who stuck steadfastly to ritual. One night when a sore throat caused him to put on a black turtleneck, he played especially well. From then on, the turtleneck became a regular part of his game-time garb. This was just one example of the quirky Esposito's adherence to game-day habits
On the international front, Phil starred for Team Canada in the classic Summit Series as the leading individual scorer - with seven goals and six assists - and inspirational leader of the team that defeated the Soviets in the best eight-game series ever played. He joined brother Tony, who was teaming with Ken Dryden as the Canadian netminder on the legendary team
While a member of the Boston Bruins, he scored 40 or more goals in seven straight seasons and 50 or more in five straight seasons. -Legends of hockey
Esposito was the first player to reach the 100-point mark in a season.
NHL Totals 1282 717 873 1590 910 Playoff Totals 130 61 76 137 138
Art Ross Trophy (69,71,72,73,74) First All-Star Team Centre (69,70,71,72,73,74)
Hart Memorial Trophy(69,74) Lester B. Pearson Award(71,74)
Lester Patrick Trophy(78) Second All-Star Team Centre (68,75)
Ted Lindsay
Nicknames sometimes say a great deal about the person they are attached to. Ted Lindsay's moniker - "Terrible Ted" - tells only half of his story. Lindsay was indeed a rough, often mean competitor who spent more time in the penalty box than any player in his time. He was only 5'8" and 160 pounds but could hold his own in fights and in the corners with much larger opponents. But Lindsay was also a gifted offensive player, a natural goal scorer who set records for a left wing and made up one third of Detroit's famous Production Line in the 1940s and 1950s. Nine times he was an All-Star, eight of those selections to the First Team. Such a combination, in such a small, powerful package, hadn't been seen in the National Hockey League before the arrival of Terrible Ted Lindsay, and it hasn't been seen since.
Ted Lindsay was born in 1925 in Renfrew, Ontario, a small town that once boasted one of the great teams of early professional hockey, the Renfrew Millionaires. Ted's father, Bert, starred with the Millionaires, among other teams, as a goaltender. Ted was a standout in minor hockey in Kirkland Lake before moving to the St. Michael's College junior team in Toronto. St. Michael's was defeated in the Ontario junior championship by the Oshawa Generals in 1943-44, but teams at the time were allowed to take four players from other clubs as wartime replacements. The Generals coach, Toronto Maple Leafs great Charlie Conacher, chose four from St. Michael's including Lindsay and Gus Mortson, and Oshawa, bolstered by the imports, went on to win the Memorial Cup. Lindsay was so impressive that he was invited to the Detroit Red Wings' training camp. He was offered a two-year deal by Detroit that included a no-minor-league clause guaranteeing he'd play in the NHL, and Lindsay decided to turn professional for the 1944-45 season.
Lindsay spent two quite ordinary seasons in Detroit until 1946-47, when he was put on a line with veteran center Sid Abel and rookie right wing Gordie Howe. In 1948 the threesome was dubbed "the Production Line," partly because they plied their trade in Detroit, the automotive manufacturing centre of the U.S., and partly, of course, because they produced goals, assists and wins. At the end of the 1947-48 season, Lindsay was in the top 10 in scoring for the first time. In 1949-50, the line placed 1-2-3 in the league scoring race with Lindsay leading the way and the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup, as they did in 1952, 1954 and 1955, the latter two with Lindsay replacing Abel as team captain.
In 1957 Lindsay had what could arguably be called his best individual season, leading the league in assists and finishing with a career-high 85 points. With the help of other high-profile players including Montreal's Doug Harvey, Chicago's Gus Mortson, New York's Bill Gadsby and Jim Thomson of Toronto, Lindsay organized the NHL Players' Association. They were intent on ensuring that the league dealt fairly with the players on such issues as the pension fund, covering expenses after trades and instituting a minimum salary for first-year players. Lindsay and Jack Adams, Detroit's general manager, hadn't spoken for three years prior to 1957 even though the rugged winger was captain of the Wings. Lindsay's role in the NHLPA certainly didn't help their relationship. Before the 1957-58 season, Adams traded Lindsay, at the time the league's third all-time goal scorer, and goalie Glenn Hall to the lowly Chicago Black Hawks in a move that was more a punishment than a sound hockey move.
Lindsay spent three seasons in Chicago, helping the Black Hawks return to respectability after almost a decade of poor results. He retired following the 1959-60 season, having played 999 games in the NHL. He devoted himself to his business interests in the automotive industry but continued to play hockey and stay in shape, often practising with the Red Wings. In 1964 Sid Abel, the Detroit bench boss and general manager, offered Lindsay a chance to make a comeback. The feisty winger agreed, though reaction to the news was mixed, to say the least.
It was an amazing year for Lindsay and the Red Wings team, which finished first in the league for the first time since Lindsay's initial departure. At the end of the year, Lindsay left the playing grind behind for good. In 1966 he was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Lindsay politely declined to attend the ceremonial banquet since it was an all-male affair and he felt he owed a debt to his family for its support over his long career. Not coincidentally, the next year the banquet was opened up to include both sexes.
Lindsay returned to the league and to the Red Wings as a general manager in 1977 and later as an interim head coach. As a GM, he was also a tough man to get along with, battling with Alan Eagleson of the players' association and making roster moves involving 41 players in his first year. As in his playing days, his toughness had winning results, as the Wings rebounded as a franchise and Lindsay was awarded several executive of the year honours.-legends of hockey
Tim Horton
Though it would be impossible to prove, the case could be made that Tim Horton was the strongest man ever to lace up skates in the National Hockey League. As a junior player with the St. Michael's College team in the Ontario Hockey League, Horton had NHL scouts and executives claiming he'd be the league's all-time great defenseman. But Horton's career, for all of its early promise, got off to a slow start. Though his attributes were obvious, he took a while to mature as a defensive player and spent several years moving back and forth between Toronto and its minor-league team in Pittsburgh. When he did find a regular job with the Maple Leafs during the 1952-53 season, respect was hard to come by, mostly because the expectations had been so high during his junior days.
In 1954, having just turned 24, Horton was selected to the league's Second All-Star Team and his career took off from there. With a few weeks left in the 1954-55 season, however, Horton broke his leg and jaw in a thunderous collision with the New York Rangers' Bill Gadsby. Gadsby later said it was the hardest hit he ever delivered. Horton, in traction and fed intravenously for days afterwards in the hospital, certainly agreed. When he returned to the ice after missing almost half of the 1955-56 season, he was slow to regain his form.
In 1958-59, Horton was paired on the blue line with Allan Stanley. Stanley's solid play allowed Horton to take a few more chances carrying the puck, knowing he had the speed to recover should he lose possession and that Stanley would be there to back him up. With Bobby Baun and Carl Brewer also starring on defense, the Leafs had a core of skilled, rugged and reliable defensemen. And the defense was the foundation of a Toronto team that won the Stanley Cup in 1962, 1963 and 1964, with Horton earning a spot on the Second All-Star Team in 1963 and First Team honours in 1964. The team went through a minor slump in 1965 and for part of the season coach Punch Imlach moved Horton to the right wing on a line with George Armstrong and Red Kelly, another defenseman turned forward. Horton scored 12 goals, many of them with his huge slapshot from close range.
After the Leafs' last Stanley Cup win in 1967 - after which Horton was once again selected to the league's Second All-Star Team - the Maple Leafs went into decline. Many of the stars of the championship teams moved on or retired. Though he remained and was a First Team All-Star the following two seasons, Horton was tempted to retire in 1969 because of the success of his business off the ice, a chain of donut shops bearing his name, and of Punch Imlach's dismissal as coach of the club.
Horton claimed he wanted double his salary to even consider returning. Lacking any veteran leadership on its blue line, Toronto surprised Horton by giving him over $80,000, roughly double his salary of the year before. The team, so young that Horton was the oldest defender by 16 years, was dead last in the league in the spring of 1970. Horton's large salary was impractical for a team with little promise and he was traded to the New York Rangers. He spent a full season in New York in 1970-71, but was then selected in the next two intra-league expansion drafts, moving first to Pittsburgh for an injury-plagued season in 1971-72 and then to Punch Imlach's Buffalo Sabres.
Early in the morning of February 21, 1974, Tim Horton was killed in a single-car crash while driving home to Buffalo after a game in Toronto against his old team. Police who chased the sports car reported that it was traveling over 100 miles per hour before it crashed just outside of St. Catharines, Ontario. Toronto won the game that night, but Horton, even though he missed the third period with a jaw injury, was selected as the game's third star for his standout play. He left behind a wife and four daughters. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1977. Today there are Tim Horton donut shops all across Canada.-legends of hockey
VladislavTretiak
In the minds of hockey fans around the world, the name Vladislav Tretiak is so closely linked with goaltending excellence that it's hard to imagine that before 1972, the Soviet superstar was almost completely unknown to the North American sporting public. But that's pretty much the way it happened. Canadian hockey scouts had dismissed him as a weak link in the Soviet defense prior to the Canada-USSR series in 1972, calling him inconsistent, with a weak glove hand that could be exploited almost at will. And so coaches and fans hardly paid any attention to him in the pre-series buildup. By the time the Summit Series was over, though, Tretiak was no longer a mystery to NHL fans, who saw him turn away Canada's top goal-scoring stars time and again for eight frustrating, nail-biting games.
Tretiak's stellar performance in the 1972 showdown - as a mere 20-year-old - was only the beginning of his amazing international play. Behind his unprecedented 1.78 goals-against average in 98 international games, the Soviets won Olympic gold medals in 1972, 1976 and 1984. They also captured 10 World Championships and nine European titles and remained virtually undefeated for the better part of a decade in IIHF tournament play.
In addition to shining in international championship play, Tretiak also habitually inspired himself to play his very best during exhibition games against NHL teams. In a game against the Montreal Canadiens on New Year's Eve, 1975 - one that many hockey fans still consider the greatest goaltending performance of all time - Tretiak held the Habs to a 3-3 tie despite being widely outshot, 38-13. He was the MVP of the 1981 Canada Cup, leading the vaunted USSR to their first victory, and the following year turned in another standout series of games on the Soviet All-Stars tour of North America, the highlight of which was his 5-0 shutout of those same Canadiens in the Forum.
From 1971 to 1984, he was the Soviet league's First Team All-Star goalie, spending 14 consecutive seasons as the number one man in the Soviet cage. During this amazing string with the Central Red Army squad, Tretiak won 13 league titles, captured the MVP honors in the Soviet league five times, was awarded the Order of Lenin for his service to the USSR in 1978 and won the coveted Golden Hockey Stick as the outstanding player in all of Europe in 1981, 1982 and 1983. In the 1981 Canada Cup, he was the tournament MVP and the First All-Star Team goalie, posting an amazing 1.33 goal-against average over six games against the world's best teams.
Other than the game eight disappointment in 1972, which can hardly be called a disaster for Tretiak, coming as it did at the tail end of the series that really launched him onto the world hockey scene, there was only one dark spot on his entire stellar career in the international arena. It appeared in the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, a competition won by the squad from the U.S. In the second to last game, Tretiak was the victim of a fluke goal by Mark Johnson in the first period and was pulled in favour of Vladimir Myshkin.
Tretiak retired from active play on a high note in 1984, after shutting out Czechoslovakia 2-0 to win the Olympic gold in Sarajevo. The actual close of his career, which saw him take part in 287 games overall with the national squad, came at the end of the Izvestia tournament in December 1984. He and fellow Soviet standouts Valeri Vasiliev and Alexander Maltsev took part in a special All-Star game between the USSR and European players who had taken part in the Izvestia games. The contest ended with a huge ovation for the tearful Tretiak as he said his goodbyes, never to compete for his nation again at the highest level.
Just before the start of the 1990-91 season, Chicago Blackhawks coach Mike Keenan announced that he would be signing Tretiak as a member of his coaching staff, in particular to work with the squad's young goaltending corps that included Ed Belfour.
His intellectual knowledge and understanding of the position is equal perhaps only to Jacques Plante, who wrote the first book on being a goalie and detailed everything from strategy to conditioning. Coaching had always been part of Tretiak's post-playing plans. He started a series of hockey schools as part of a life-long love of teaching kids about the sport.
As a superb goalie, sports ambassador and teacher of both pros and children, Vladislav Tretiak defined all three roles in his long career in hockey. The Hockey Hall of Fame is richer for his inclusion in its hallowed rooms.-legends of hockey.
Serge Savard
Rangy defenseman Serge Savard played 17 seasons in the NHL, 15 (his first season consisted of two games) with his hometown team, the Montreal Canadiens, and two with the Winnipeg Jets, who lured him out of retirement after he'd left Montreal following the 1980-81 season.
A member of the Canadiens "Big Three" defensive stars along with Guy Lapointe and Larry Robinson, Savard was known as "the Senator" by his teammates for his involvement in activities - mostly in politics - outside the game. In the mid-1980s, he served as general manager of the Habs.
But hockey had been the first thing on Savard's mind since his boyhood in Montreal. When he was 15, a scout noticed him playing a school league game and put him on the team's list of promising reserves. Savard progressed quickly and within a few seasons was captain of the Junior Canadiens. Unlike many prospects of the day, Savard wanted to complete high school. But the Habs signed him to a contract and sent him to Houston to play for the Apollos of the Central Hockey League in 1966. He won the rookie of the year award that season with Houston and the following year was called up by the Habs. By the 1968-69 season, only his second full one in the NHL, he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Habs won the Cup in a four-game sweep over the Blues in the finals.
Although Savard was overshadowed by his better-known teammates, he did win another significant award during his years as a player. In 1979 the NHL presented him with the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to "the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey."
Savard almost didn't make it much further in NHL play, however. In a game during the 1970-71 season against the Rangers, he skated after New York's Rod Gilbert, trying to stop a breakaway. Savard dove for the puck and felt his left leg crumble underneath him. The result was five separate fractures and three operations that took him out of the game for three months.
After a complete recovery, Savard continued to have problems with the leg and further injuries. In the 1971-72 season, he suffered a new fracture to the same leg after being hit. In 1973 he injured his ankle severely as he tried to help firefighters break down a door during a fire at the Canadiens' hotel in St. Louis.
But the injuries failed to stop Savard. Upon his return to the game, he started to blend his patient, hard-working style with the hard-charging, rushing play of Lapointe and Robinson, the skillful scoring of Guy Lafleur and the outstanding play in the net of Ken Dryden. The result was another Cup for the Habs in 1976, when they swept the defending champion Philadelphia Flyers in four straight games, a victory that many relieved fans hailed as a triumph of skilled play over the fight-filled game of the Broad Street Bullies.
Internationally, Savard's attitude was rewarded by his being named to the Canadian team for the 1972 Summit Series. He appeared in five of the eight games, and - as Savard liked to remind people - Canada won four of those games and tied the other.
By 1981 Savard had had enough of being knocked around in the NHL. He had, after all, played on eight Stanley Cup-winning teams with Montreal and had seen more doctors and surgeons than he cared to remember. His retirement didn't last long, though. He was lured out of inactivity by the Winnipeg Jets, who wanted him for his experience on a young but improving team.
Savard lasted two seasons in his comeback with Winnipeg before the Canadiens came calling again. They bought him out of the final year of his contract with the Jets so he could return to Montreal as the team's managing director. Savard, who had been active in the business world during his last days as a player and during his retirement, inspired the confidence of the Habs players and management.
Savard was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1986-legends of hockey
Springfield Indians Team Bios
Phil Esposito
He was an origional 205 pounds of supersition theatrics ego skill and courage all in a 6'1 frame. Like all great scorers espo had the gift of mastering time and space. He wasnt a great skater but when he got the puck in the slot the plough horse showed the finish of a thoroughbread. Phil just didnt wait for the puck to shot. Lost in the volume of close in and garbage goals was a canny craftsmanship and imagination that produced 5 consecutive 55 or more goal seasons.- top 50 of all time
He was the centerman who held the greatest scoring record of them all before Wayne Gretzky came along and broke it - 76 goals in a single season in 1970-71. Espo won the Art Ross Trophy five times, the Hart Trophy twice, the Lester B. Pearson Award twice and the Lester Patrick Trophy for service to hockey in the United States. What's more, he was a ten-time All-Star and represented Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, the 1976 Canada Cup and the 1977 World Championship. While a member of the Boston Bruins, he scored 40 or more goals in seven straight seasons and 50 or more in five straight seasons. In his 76-goal season, he also recorded an amazing 76 assists for a league record at the time of 152 points.
While Espo was gaining a reputation among NHL coaches and fans as a goal scorer, his fellow players were also beginning to recognize that they were dealing with a real character and a practical joker in the dressing room and on road trips. He liked to smoke cigars, and one reporter, noting his constantly furrowed brow and droopy expression, started calling him "the Happy Worrier."
Besides these traits, teammates noticed that he was a player who stuck steadfastly to ritual. One night when a sore throat caused him to put on a black turtleneck, he played especially well. From then on, the turtleneck became a regular part of his game-time garb. This was just one example of the quirky Esposito's adherence to game-day habits
On the international front, Phil starred for Team Canada in the classic Summit Series as the leading individual scorer - with seven goals and six assists - and inspirational leader of the team that defeated the Soviets in the best eight-game series ever played. He joined brother Tony, who was teaming with Ken Dryden as the Canadian netminder on the legendary team
While a member of the Boston Bruins, he scored 40 or more goals in seven straight seasons and 50 or more in five straight seasons. -Legends of hockey
Esposito was the first player to reach the 100-point mark in a season.
NHL Totals 1282 717 873 1590 910 Playoff Totals 130 61 76 137 138
Art Ross Trophy (69,71,72,73,74) First All-Star Team Centre (69,70,71,72,73,74)
Hart Memorial Trophy(69,74) Lester B. Pearson Award(71,74)
Lester Patrick Trophy(78) Second All-Star Team Centre (68,75)
Ted Lindsay
Nicknames sometimes say a great deal about the person they are attached to. Ted Lindsay's moniker - "Terrible Ted" - tells only half of his story. Lindsay was indeed a rough, often mean competitor who spent more time in the penalty box than any player in his time. He was only 5'8" and 160 pounds but could hold his own in fights and in the corners with much larger opponents. But Lindsay was also a gifted offensive player, a natural goal scorer who set records for a left wing and made up one third of Detroit's famous Production Line in the 1940s and 1950s. Nine times he was an All-Star, eight of those selections to the First Team. Such a combination, in such a small, powerful package, hadn't been seen in the National Hockey League before the arrival of Terrible Ted Lindsay, and it hasn't been seen since.
Ted Lindsay was born in 1925 in Renfrew, Ontario, a small town that once boasted one of the great teams of early professional hockey, the Renfrew Millionaires. Ted's father, Bert, starred with the Millionaires, among other teams, as a goaltender. Ted was a standout in minor hockey in Kirkland Lake before moving to the St. Michael's College junior team in Toronto. St. Michael's was defeated in the Ontario junior championship by the Oshawa Generals in 1943-44, but teams at the time were allowed to take four players from other clubs as wartime replacements. The Generals coach, Toronto Maple Leafs great Charlie Conacher, chose four from St. Michael's including Lindsay and Gus Mortson, and Oshawa, bolstered by the imports, went on to win the Memorial Cup. Lindsay was so impressive that he was invited to the Detroit Red Wings' training camp. He was offered a two-year deal by Detroit that included a no-minor-league clause guaranteeing he'd play in the NHL, and Lindsay decided to turn professional for the 1944-45 season.
Lindsay spent two quite ordinary seasons in Detroit until 1946-47, when he was put on a line with veteran center Sid Abel and rookie right wing Gordie Howe. In 1948 the threesome was dubbed "the Production Line," partly because they plied their trade in Detroit, the automotive manufacturing centre of the U.S., and partly, of course, because they produced goals, assists and wins. At the end of the 1947-48 season, Lindsay was in the top 10 in scoring for the first time. In 1949-50, the line placed 1-2-3 in the league scoring race with Lindsay leading the way and the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup, as they did in 1952, 1954 and 1955, the latter two with Lindsay replacing Abel as team captain.
In 1957 Lindsay had what could arguably be called his best individual season, leading the league in assists and finishing with a career-high 85 points. With the help of other high-profile players including Montreal's Doug Harvey, Chicago's Gus Mortson, New York's Bill Gadsby and Jim Thomson of Toronto, Lindsay organized the NHL Players' Association. They were intent on ensuring that the league dealt fairly with the players on such issues as the pension fund, covering expenses after trades and instituting a minimum salary for first-year players. Lindsay and Jack Adams, Detroit's general manager, hadn't spoken for three years prior to 1957 even though the rugged winger was captain of the Wings. Lindsay's role in the NHLPA certainly didn't help their relationship. Before the 1957-58 season, Adams traded Lindsay, at the time the league's third all-time goal scorer, and goalie Glenn Hall to the lowly Chicago Black Hawks in a move that was more a punishment than a sound hockey move.
Lindsay spent three seasons in Chicago, helping the Black Hawks return to respectability after almost a decade of poor results. He retired following the 1959-60 season, having played 999 games in the NHL. He devoted himself to his business interests in the automotive industry but continued to play hockey and stay in shape, often practising with the Red Wings. In 1964 Sid Abel, the Detroit bench boss and general manager, offered Lindsay a chance to make a comeback. The feisty winger agreed, though reaction to the news was mixed, to say the least.
It was an amazing year for Lindsay and the Red Wings team, which finished first in the league for the first time since Lindsay's initial departure. At the end of the year, Lindsay left the playing grind behind for good. In 1966 he was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Lindsay politely declined to attend the ceremonial banquet since it was an all-male affair and he felt he owed a debt to his family for its support over his long career. Not coincidentally, the next year the banquet was opened up to include both sexes.
Lindsay returned to the league and to the Red Wings as a general manager in 1977 and later as an interim head coach. As a GM, he was also a tough man to get along with, battling with Alan Eagleson of the players' association and making roster moves involving 41 players in his first year. As in his playing days, his toughness had winning results, as the Wings rebounded as a franchise and Lindsay was awarded several executive of the year honours.-legends of hockey
Tim Horton
Though it would be impossible to prove, the case could be made that Tim Horton was the strongest man ever to lace up skates in the National Hockey League. As a junior player with the St. Michael's College team in the Ontario Hockey League, Horton had NHL scouts and executives claiming he'd be the league's all-time great defenseman. But Horton's career, for all of its early promise, got off to a slow start. Though his attributes were obvious, he took a while to mature as a defensive player and spent several years moving back and forth between Toronto and its minor-league team in Pittsburgh. When he did find a regular job with the Maple Leafs during the 1952-53 season, respect was hard to come by, mostly because the expectations had been so high during his junior days.
In 1954, having just turned 24, Horton was selected to the league's Second All-Star Team and his career took off from there. With a few weeks left in the 1954-55 season, however, Horton broke his leg and jaw in a thunderous collision with the New York Rangers' Bill Gadsby. Gadsby later said it was the hardest hit he ever delivered. Horton, in traction and fed intravenously for days afterwards in the hospital, certainly agreed. When he returned to the ice after missing almost half of the 1955-56 season, he was slow to regain his form.
In 1958-59, Horton was paired on the blue line with Allan Stanley. Stanley's solid play allowed Horton to take a few more chances carrying the puck, knowing he had the speed to recover should he lose possession and that Stanley would be there to back him up. With Bobby Baun and Carl Brewer also starring on defense, the Leafs had a core of skilled, rugged and reliable defensemen. And the defense was the foundation of a Toronto team that won the Stanley Cup in 1962, 1963 and 1964, with Horton earning a spot on the Second All-Star Team in 1963 and First Team honours in 1964. The team went through a minor slump in 1965 and for part of the season coach Punch Imlach moved Horton to the right wing on a line with George Armstrong and Red Kelly, another defenseman turned forward. Horton scored 12 goals, many of them with his huge slapshot from close range.
After the Leafs' last Stanley Cup win in 1967 - after which Horton was once again selected to the league's Second All-Star Team - the Maple Leafs went into decline. Many of the stars of the championship teams moved on or retired. Though he remained and was a First Team All-Star the following two seasons, Horton was tempted to retire in 1969 because of the success of his business off the ice, a chain of donut shops bearing his name, and of Punch Imlach's dismissal as coach of the club.
Horton claimed he wanted double his salary to even consider returning. Lacking any veteran leadership on its blue line, Toronto surprised Horton by giving him over $80,000, roughly double his salary of the year before. The team, so young that Horton was the oldest defender by 16 years, was dead last in the league in the spring of 1970. Horton's large salary was impractical for a team with little promise and he was traded to the New York Rangers. He spent a full season in New York in 1970-71, but was then selected in the next two intra-league expansion drafts, moving first to Pittsburgh for an injury-plagued season in 1971-72 and then to Punch Imlach's Buffalo Sabres.
Early in the morning of February 21, 1974, Tim Horton was killed in a single-car crash while driving home to Buffalo after a game in Toronto against his old team. Police who chased the sports car reported that it was traveling over 100 miles per hour before it crashed just outside of St. Catharines, Ontario. Toronto won the game that night, but Horton, even though he missed the third period with a jaw injury, was selected as the game's third star for his standout play. He left behind a wife and four daughters. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1977. Today there are Tim Horton donut shops all across Canada.-legends of hockey
VladislavTretiak
In the minds of hockey fans around the world, the name Vladislav Tretiak is so closely linked with goaltending excellence that it's hard to imagine that before 1972, the Soviet superstar was almost completely unknown to the North American sporting public. But that's pretty much the way it happened. Canadian hockey scouts had dismissed him as a weak link in the Soviet defense prior to the Canada-USSR series in 1972, calling him inconsistent, with a weak glove hand that could be exploited almost at will. And so coaches and fans hardly paid any attention to him in the pre-series buildup. By the time the Summit Series was over, though, Tretiak was no longer a mystery to NHL fans, who saw him turn away Canada's top goal-scoring stars time and again for eight frustrating, nail-biting games.
Tretiak's stellar performance in the 1972 showdown - as a mere 20-year-old - was only the beginning of his amazing international play. Behind his unprecedented 1.78 goals-against average in 98 international games, the Soviets won Olympic gold medals in 1972, 1976 and 1984. They also captured 10 World Championships and nine European titles and remained virtually undefeated for the better part of a decade in IIHF tournament play.
In addition to shining in international championship play, Tretiak also habitually inspired himself to play his very best during exhibition games against NHL teams. In a game against the Montreal Canadiens on New Year's Eve, 1975 - one that many hockey fans still consider the greatest goaltending performance of all time - Tretiak held the Habs to a 3-3 tie despite being widely outshot, 38-13. He was the MVP of the 1981 Canada Cup, leading the vaunted USSR to their first victory, and the following year turned in another standout series of games on the Soviet All-Stars tour of North America, the highlight of which was his 5-0 shutout of those same Canadiens in the Forum.
From 1971 to 1984, he was the Soviet league's First Team All-Star goalie, spending 14 consecutive seasons as the number one man in the Soviet cage. During this amazing string with the Central Red Army squad, Tretiak won 13 league titles, captured the MVP honors in the Soviet league five times, was awarded the Order of Lenin for his service to the USSR in 1978 and won the coveted Golden Hockey Stick as the outstanding player in all of Europe in 1981, 1982 and 1983. In the 1981 Canada Cup, he was the tournament MVP and the First All-Star Team goalie, posting an amazing 1.33 goal-against average over six games against the world's best teams.
Other than the game eight disappointment in 1972, which can hardly be called a disaster for Tretiak, coming as it did at the tail end of the series that really launched him onto the world hockey scene, there was only one dark spot on his entire stellar career in the international arena. It appeared in the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, a competition won by the squad from the U.S. In the second to last game, Tretiak was the victim of a fluke goal by Mark Johnson in the first period and was pulled in favour of Vladimir Myshkin.
Tretiak retired from active play on a high note in 1984, after shutting out Czechoslovakia 2-0 to win the Olympic gold in Sarajevo. The actual close of his career, which saw him take part in 287 games overall with the national squad, came at the end of the Izvestia tournament in December 1984. He and fellow Soviet standouts Valeri Vasiliev and Alexander Maltsev took part in a special All-Star game between the USSR and European players who had taken part in the Izvestia games. The contest ended with a huge ovation for the tearful Tretiak as he said his goodbyes, never to compete for his nation again at the highest level.
Just before the start of the 1990-91 season, Chicago Blackhawks coach Mike Keenan announced that he would be signing Tretiak as a member of his coaching staff, in particular to work with the squad's young goaltending corps that included Ed Belfour.
His intellectual knowledge and understanding of the position is equal perhaps only to Jacques Plante, who wrote the first book on being a goalie and detailed everything from strategy to conditioning. Coaching had always been part of Tretiak's post-playing plans. He started a series of hockey schools as part of a life-long love of teaching kids about the sport.
As a superb goalie, sports ambassador and teacher of both pros and children, Vladislav Tretiak defined all three roles in his long career in hockey. The Hockey Hall of Fame is richer for his inclusion in its hallowed rooms.-legends of hockey.
Serge Savard
Rangy defenseman Serge Savard played 17 seasons in the NHL, 15 (his first season consisted of two games) with his hometown team, the Montreal Canadiens, and two with the Winnipeg Jets, who lured him out of retirement after he'd left Montreal following the 1980-81 season.
A member of the Canadiens "Big Three" defensive stars along with Guy Lapointe and Larry Robinson, Savard was known as "the Senator" by his teammates for his involvement in activities - mostly in politics - outside the game. In the mid-1980s, he served as general manager of the Habs.
But hockey had been the first thing on Savard's mind since his boyhood in Montreal. When he was 15, a scout noticed him playing a school league game and put him on the team's list of promising reserves. Savard progressed quickly and within a few seasons was captain of the Junior Canadiens. Unlike many prospects of the day, Savard wanted to complete high school. But the Habs signed him to a contract and sent him to Houston to play for the Apollos of the Central Hockey League in 1966. He won the rookie of the year award that season with Houston and the following year was called up by the Habs. By the 1968-69 season, only his second full one in the NHL, he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Habs won the Cup in a four-game sweep over the Blues in the finals.
Although Savard was overshadowed by his better-known teammates, he did win another significant award during his years as a player. In 1979 the NHL presented him with the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to "the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey."
Savard almost didn't make it much further in NHL play, however. In a game during the 1970-71 season against the Rangers, he skated after New York's Rod Gilbert, trying to stop a breakaway. Savard dove for the puck and felt his left leg crumble underneath him. The result was five separate fractures and three operations that took him out of the game for three months.
After a complete recovery, Savard continued to have problems with the leg and further injuries. In the 1971-72 season, he suffered a new fracture to the same leg after being hit. In 1973 he injured his ankle severely as he tried to help firefighters break down a door during a fire at the Canadiens' hotel in St. Louis.
But the injuries failed to stop Savard. Upon his return to the game, he started to blend his patient, hard-working style with the hard-charging, rushing play of Lapointe and Robinson, the skillful scoring of Guy Lafleur and the outstanding play in the net of Ken Dryden. The result was another Cup for the Habs in 1976, when they swept the defending champion Philadelphia Flyers in four straight games, a victory that many relieved fans hailed as a triumph of skilled play over the fight-filled game of the Broad Street Bullies.
Internationally, Savard's attitude was rewarded by his being named to the Canadian team for the 1972 Summit Series. He appeared in five of the eight games, and - as Savard liked to remind people - Canada won four of those games and tied the other.
By 1981 Savard had had enough of being knocked around in the NHL. He had, after all, played on eight Stanley Cup-winning teams with Montreal and had seen more doctors and surgeons than he cared to remember. His retirement didn't last long, though. He was lured out of inactivity by the Winnipeg Jets, who wanted him for his experience on a young but improving team.
Savard lasted two seasons in his comeback with Winnipeg before the Canadiens came calling again. They bought him out of the final year of his contract with the Jets so he could return to Montreal as the team's managing director. Savard, who had been active in the business world during his last days as a player and during his retirement, inspired the confidence of the Habs players and management.
Savard was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1986-legends of hockey
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Here is Denis Potvin's Bio.
The New York Islanders drafted Denis Potvin first overall in 1973 to serve as the foundation of their developing expansion team. He surpassed all expectations and became the first NHL defenseman to score 1,000 career points, all while functioning as the cornerstone of the franchise's four consecutive Stanley Cup championships from 1980 to 1983. Potvin's wealth of natural talent allowed him to jump into the offensive rush while serving as a tough physical presence in his own end of the rink. He was one of the most complete blueliners to ever step onto the ice. A less discussed facet of Potvin's game was his mean streak. Opposing forwards learned quickly that they were better served avoiding confrontations with one of the NHL's lesser-known tough guys.
The native of Ottawa, Ontario, excelled at football and hockey as a youngster. Having opted to pursue the latter, he made the Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1968-69. Potvin enjoyed an outstanding junior career, registering 329 points in five seasons. He was often paired with the offensively gifted Ian Turnbull to form one of the most lethal blue line partnerships ever seen in junior hockey circles. During Potvin's last year in Ottawa, he established an OHA single-season record for defensemen with 123 points.
As the highly touted first pick in the 1973 Amateur Draft, Potvin quickly made his presence felt in the NHL. He amassed 54 points in 1973-74 while displaying the confidence of a ten-year veteran. Potvin was the obvious choice in the Calder Trophy voting at the conclusion of the season. That year he also lived out a dream by playing with his brother Jean, who remained with the club for nearly five years. Potvin emerged as one of the leaders of a rapidly improving Islanders squad that reached the Stanley Cup semifinals in only its third season.
Following the 1975-76 campaign, Potvin was awarded the Norris Trophy, an honour he also received in 1978 and 1979. He experienced his most productive offensive output in the last of those years with 101 points. Between 1980 and 1983, he captained New York when they became only the second team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup four times in succession (Montreal did it twice). His overtime goal in the 1980 finals against Philadelphia gave his team the momentum and confidence it needed to win its first title. Potvin's top post-season output occurred in 1980-81, when he recorded 25 points in 18 games.
The talented defenseman distinguished himself on the international stage through his play on Canada's 1976 and 1981 Canada Cup teams. He retired at the conclusion of the 1987-88 season with regular-season totals of 310 goals and 1,052 points. Potvin also registered 56 goals and 164 points in the playoffs. In addition to his four major trophies, Potvin was selected to the NHL First All-Star Team five times and the Second All-Star Team twice.
The leadership qualities demonstrated by Potvin, along with his exceptional talent at both ends of the ice, placed him in a category reserved for only a handful of NHL defensemen. The Ottawa 67s hosted a special gala in his honour and raised his number to the rafters of the Ottawa Civic Center. Following a game on March 31, 1988, a cheering Nassau Coliseum audience paid homage to his career when his number 5 sweater was retired. Potvin was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991 and the ceremony was held in his hometown of Ottawa for the first time.
The New York Islanders drafted Denis Potvin first overall in 1973 to serve as the foundation of their developing expansion team. He surpassed all expectations and became the first NHL defenseman to score 1,000 career points, all while functioning as the cornerstone of the franchise's four consecutive Stanley Cup championships from 1980 to 1983. Potvin's wealth of natural talent allowed him to jump into the offensive rush while serving as a tough physical presence in his own end of the rink. He was one of the most complete blueliners to ever step onto the ice. A less discussed facet of Potvin's game was his mean streak. Opposing forwards learned quickly that they were better served avoiding confrontations with one of the NHL's lesser-known tough guys.
The native of Ottawa, Ontario, excelled at football and hockey as a youngster. Having opted to pursue the latter, he made the Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1968-69. Potvin enjoyed an outstanding junior career, registering 329 points in five seasons. He was often paired with the offensively gifted Ian Turnbull to form one of the most lethal blue line partnerships ever seen in junior hockey circles. During Potvin's last year in Ottawa, he established an OHA single-season record for defensemen with 123 points.
As the highly touted first pick in the 1973 Amateur Draft, Potvin quickly made his presence felt in the NHL. He amassed 54 points in 1973-74 while displaying the confidence of a ten-year veteran. Potvin was the obvious choice in the Calder Trophy voting at the conclusion of the season. That year he also lived out a dream by playing with his brother Jean, who remained with the club for nearly five years. Potvin emerged as one of the leaders of a rapidly improving Islanders squad that reached the Stanley Cup semifinals in only its third season.
Following the 1975-76 campaign, Potvin was awarded the Norris Trophy, an honour he also received in 1978 and 1979. He experienced his most productive offensive output in the last of those years with 101 points. Between 1980 and 1983, he captained New York when they became only the second team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup four times in succession (Montreal did it twice). His overtime goal in the 1980 finals against Philadelphia gave his team the momentum and confidence it needed to win its first title. Potvin's top post-season output occurred in 1980-81, when he recorded 25 points in 18 games.
The talented defenseman distinguished himself on the international stage through his play on Canada's 1976 and 1981 Canada Cup teams. He retired at the conclusion of the 1987-88 season with regular-season totals of 310 goals and 1,052 points. Potvin also registered 56 goals and 164 points in the playoffs. In addition to his four major trophies, Potvin was selected to the NHL First All-Star Team five times and the Second All-Star Team twice.
The leadership qualities demonstrated by Potvin, along with his exceptional talent at both ends of the ice, placed him in a category reserved for only a handful of NHL defensemen. The Ottawa 67s hosted a special gala in his honour and raised his number to the rafters of the Ottawa Civic Center. Following a game on March 31, 1988, a cheering Nassau Coliseum audience paid homage to his career when his number 5 sweater was retired. Potvin was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991 and the ceremony was held in his hometown of Ottawa for the first time.
pappyline
Registered User
Boby Hull Bio
(Leaf Lander contributed)
Bobby is possibly the greatest ice hockey player ever and is the greatest left winger to ever play the game. Few of the game's superstars could match the physical talents of Bobby Hull. The Golden Jet combined blazing speed, a feared unerring accurate slapshot and a powerful physique to rise to the elite of the NHL in the 1960s He scored 610 NHL goals (even more PIM !) 1,153 points (at more than a point-per-game avg.), nine-time 50+ goal scorer, 24 career NHL hat tricks. I'm still not sure how he ever managed to win the Lady Byng given his reputation for gritty, tough play. When the NHL started calculating +/-, Hull recorded a +/- of plus 100 over his last five years (imagine what he would have had earlier in his career). He was the complete player
He could skate 30 mph shot 118 mph. 19 mph more then the winning slap shot at the all star skills competition. His wrist shot at 105 mph, his backhand shot at 96 mph. He was also an exceptionally strong player with a nearly perfect athlete's body at 5-feet-10 and a solid 195 pounds. The Gold Jet pushed the envelope on how fast a man could skate shoot and play hard. Bravely he could ask for more money and his charisma matched the power of his game.
Bobby broke into the NHl in 1957-58 as a center and scored 47 points narrowly losing the Calder to the big M. In 59-60 at age 21, he won his first Art Ross (he won 2 more), the second youngest player ever to do so. He scored 50 goals to tie the League record in 1961-62. He broke the record in 65-66 with 54. and again in 68-69 with 58. He set a record for points in 1965-66 with 97 and was the second player to score over 100 pts in 1968-69.He won the Hart trophy as MVP in 1964-65 and 1965-66 and holds the record for left wings with 12 All Star selections including ten as first team all star. Most teams assigned a player do nothing but check Hull. Nobody protected Bobby. He fought his own fights & had some notable dustups with John Ferguson & Bugsy Watson.
He was a major contributor to the Hawks cup win in60-61 with 14 points. In 1971 in a losing cause he scored 25 points in 18 playoff games.
Together with Stan Mikita, they perfected the curved stick.
Bobby’s NHL awards would no doubt have continued but he became Hockey’s first million dollar player when he jumped to the WHA’s Winnipeg jets in 1972 and gave that league instant credibility. He continued to rack up the accolades in the WHA, winning MVP in 73 & 75 and breaking the major league record for goals with 77 in 1975 . With the Jets he won 3 AVCO CUPS He was instrumental in bringing the European style of play to North America and revolutionized hockey on a line with Ulf Nilson & Anders Hedberg. This was one of the top lines anywhere in the world. They perfected the criss cross breakout & attack. One of the best hockey games ever was the Winnipeg Defeat of the Russian allstars in 1977.
The NHL kept Bobby off Team Canada in 1972(political crap). Can you image the difference if he had played in that series. He was Canada’s leading scorer in the 74 series (spectacular natural hat trick against Tretiak) and also in the 1976 Canada cup at age 37.
(Leaf Lander contributed)
Bobby is possibly the greatest ice hockey player ever and is the greatest left winger to ever play the game. Few of the game's superstars could match the physical talents of Bobby Hull. The Golden Jet combined blazing speed, a feared unerring accurate slapshot and a powerful physique to rise to the elite of the NHL in the 1960s He scored 610 NHL goals (even more PIM !) 1,153 points (at more than a point-per-game avg.), nine-time 50+ goal scorer, 24 career NHL hat tricks. I'm still not sure how he ever managed to win the Lady Byng given his reputation for gritty, tough play. When the NHL started calculating +/-, Hull recorded a +/- of plus 100 over his last five years (imagine what he would have had earlier in his career). He was the complete player
He could skate 30 mph shot 118 mph. 19 mph more then the winning slap shot at the all star skills competition. His wrist shot at 105 mph, his backhand shot at 96 mph. He was also an exceptionally strong player with a nearly perfect athlete's body at 5-feet-10 and a solid 195 pounds. The Gold Jet pushed the envelope on how fast a man could skate shoot and play hard. Bravely he could ask for more money and his charisma matched the power of his game.
Bobby broke into the NHl in 1957-58 as a center and scored 47 points narrowly losing the Calder to the big M. In 59-60 at age 21, he won his first Art Ross (he won 2 more), the second youngest player ever to do so. He scored 50 goals to tie the League record in 1961-62. He broke the record in 65-66 with 54. and again in 68-69 with 58. He set a record for points in 1965-66 with 97 and was the second player to score over 100 pts in 1968-69.He won the Hart trophy as MVP in 1964-65 and 1965-66 and holds the record for left wings with 12 All Star selections including ten as first team all star. Most teams assigned a player do nothing but check Hull. Nobody protected Bobby. He fought his own fights & had some notable dustups with John Ferguson & Bugsy Watson.
He was a major contributor to the Hawks cup win in60-61 with 14 points. In 1971 in a losing cause he scored 25 points in 18 playoff games.
Together with Stan Mikita, they perfected the curved stick.
Bobby’s NHL awards would no doubt have continued but he became Hockey’s first million dollar player when he jumped to the WHA’s Winnipeg jets in 1972 and gave that league instant credibility. He continued to rack up the accolades in the WHA, winning MVP in 73 & 75 and breaking the major league record for goals with 77 in 1975 . With the Jets he won 3 AVCO CUPS He was instrumental in bringing the European style of play to North America and revolutionized hockey on a line with Ulf Nilson & Anders Hedberg. This was one of the top lines anywhere in the world. They perfected the criss cross breakout & attack. One of the best hockey games ever was the Winnipeg Defeat of the Russian allstars in 1977.
The NHL kept Bobby off Team Canada in 1972(political crap). Can you image the difference if he had played in that series. He was Canada’s leading scorer in the 74 series (spectacular natural hat trick against Tretiak) and also in the 1976 Canada cup at age 37.
patrick roy Stan Mikita Jaromir Jagr Denis Valeri Kharlmanov Martin Brodeur Larry Robinson Bryan Trottier Steve Yzerman Marcel Dionnne
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Ken Dryden Joe Sakic Gordie Howe Bobby Orr
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Ken Dryden Joe Sakic Gordie Howe Bobby Orr
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Gilbert Perreault C
One of the most naturally gifted forwards in NHL history, Gilbert Perreault dazzled fans and the opposition defenses with his end-to-end rushes.
dit clapperJari Kurri Frank Mahovlich Clint Benedict Peter Forsberg.
One of the most naturally gifted forwards in NHL history, Gilbert Perreault dazzled fans and the opposition defenses with his end-to-end rushes.
dit clapperJari Kurri Frank Mahovlich Clint Benedict Peter Forsberg.
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BM67
Registered User
Syl Apps
Syl Apps Sr.: A remarkably skilled hockey player, he was big and strong and possessed one of the best shots in the league. A powerful skater, and magnificent stickhandler with a deft passing touch, he took great pride in having one of his linemates score from a play set up by him. He moved with a speed and grace that earned him the nickname “Nijinsky of the Iceâ€. He was an inspirational leader, and the essence of everything a team captain should be, who despite delaying his career to compete in the pole vault at the 36 Olympics, losing two years to service in WWII, and retiring at the age of 33 after finishing 8th in league scoring, captained the Leafs to 3 Stanley Cups. He was the consummate team man who always thought of his teammates first and preferred to avoid any personal glory. He won the Calder, was a five time all-star, twice led the NHL in assists, was a runner-up twice for the Art Ross, and three times for the Hart Trophy.
Syl Apps Sr.: A remarkably skilled hockey player, he was big and strong and possessed one of the best shots in the league. A powerful skater, and magnificent stickhandler with a deft passing touch, he took great pride in having one of his linemates score from a play set up by him. He moved with a speed and grace that earned him the nickname “Nijinsky of the Iceâ€. He was an inspirational leader, and the essence of everything a team captain should be, who despite delaying his career to compete in the pole vault at the 36 Olympics, losing two years to service in WWII, and retiring at the age of 33 after finishing 8th in league scoring, captained the Leafs to 3 Stanley Cups. He was the consummate team man who always thought of his teammates first and preferred to avoid any personal glory. He won the Calder, was a five time all-star, twice led the NHL in assists, was a runner-up twice for the Art Ross, and three times for the Hart Trophy.
pappyline
Registered User
Milt Schmidt Bio
A childhood friend of fellow Hall of Famers Wood Dumart and Bobby Bauer in Kitchener Ontaruio. All three signed with Boston forming the famous Kraut line.
Schmidt was by far the most aggressive and physically imposing of the three. During his career he suffered so many ailments it was hard to keep track: a broken jaw courtesy of Mac Colville; torn cartilage in his ribs; and ligament damage to both knees courtesy, most notably, of Bill Barilko. All were the result of his style of play.
Although he played 16 years in the NHL, Schmidt missed much time during the height of his career when he left the team to join the air force, a stint that lasted three and a half seasons. He always maintained that the night of January 10, 1942, was his biggest thrill in hockey. "That was the last game Bobby Bauer, Pork Dumart and I played before going into the service," he explained. "It was against the Canadiens, and we beat them badly. I don't think I'll ever forget what happened after the game. The players on both teams lifted the three of us on their shoulders and carried us off the ice and the crowd gave us an ovation. A man couldn't ever forget a thing like that."
Prior to his departure for the war, Schmidt was key to the Bruins' winning the Stanley Cup twice, once in 1939 in five games over Toronto, and again in 1941 against Detroit. They were Schmidt's only Cup triumphs, even though he played another 10 years after the war. Perhaps his other great prewar highlight came as the 1939-40 season ended and for the first time in league history an entire forward line finished 1-2-3 in the NHL's scoring race, with Schmidt leading the way with 52 points.
Schmidt and the Krauts returned for the 1946 season and he resumed his starring ways, finishing fourth in scoring in 1947 and winning the Hart in 1951.
Midway through the 1954-55 season, Schmidt retired as a player and took over the head coaching job for the Bruins, a position he held until 1966 with the exception of one season. He became general manager in 1967. There he oversaw the Esposito trade and made other key acquisitions that would lead the Bruins to 2 more Stanley cups in the 1970’s.
Career Achievments:
Finished his career with 229 goals and 346 assists for 575 points in 776 games.
NhL 1st all star 1940. 47, 51 2nd all star 1952, Hart 1951, Art Ross 1940, Lester Patrick 1996.
At retirement was 3rd in NHL history in points & 2nd in assists.
Played in all star game in 1947, 1948, 1951 & 1952
Was the last active NHL player that played in the 1930’s.
.
A childhood friend of fellow Hall of Famers Wood Dumart and Bobby Bauer in Kitchener Ontaruio. All three signed with Boston forming the famous Kraut line.
Schmidt was by far the most aggressive and physically imposing of the three. During his career he suffered so many ailments it was hard to keep track: a broken jaw courtesy of Mac Colville; torn cartilage in his ribs; and ligament damage to both knees courtesy, most notably, of Bill Barilko. All were the result of his style of play.
Although he played 16 years in the NHL, Schmidt missed much time during the height of his career when he left the team to join the air force, a stint that lasted three and a half seasons. He always maintained that the night of January 10, 1942, was his biggest thrill in hockey. "That was the last game Bobby Bauer, Pork Dumart and I played before going into the service," he explained. "It was against the Canadiens, and we beat them badly. I don't think I'll ever forget what happened after the game. The players on both teams lifted the three of us on their shoulders and carried us off the ice and the crowd gave us an ovation. A man couldn't ever forget a thing like that."
Prior to his departure for the war, Schmidt was key to the Bruins' winning the Stanley Cup twice, once in 1939 in five games over Toronto, and again in 1941 against Detroit. They were Schmidt's only Cup triumphs, even though he played another 10 years after the war. Perhaps his other great prewar highlight came as the 1939-40 season ended and for the first time in league history an entire forward line finished 1-2-3 in the NHL's scoring race, with Schmidt leading the way with 52 points.
Schmidt and the Krauts returned for the 1946 season and he resumed his starring ways, finishing fourth in scoring in 1947 and winning the Hart in 1951.
Midway through the 1954-55 season, Schmidt retired as a player and took over the head coaching job for the Bruins, a position he held until 1966 with the exception of one season. He became general manager in 1967. There he oversaw the Esposito trade and made other key acquisitions that would lead the Bruins to 2 more Stanley cups in the 1970’s.
Career Achievments:
Finished his career with 229 goals and 346 assists for 575 points in 776 games.
NhL 1st all star 1940. 47, 51 2nd all star 1952, Hart 1951, Art Ross 1940, Lester Patrick 1996.
At retirement was 3rd in NHL history in points & 2nd in assists.
Played in all star game in 1947, 1948, 1951 & 1952
Was the last active NHL player that played in the 1930’s.
.
raleh
Registered User
Elmer Lach
One of the top playmaking centers ever to compete in the NHL, Elmer Lach spent his entire 14-year career with the Montreal Canadiens. He helped "les glorieux" win the Stanley Cup three times and gained much acclaim as the center on the club's dreaded Punch Line with Toe Blake and Maurice Richard. Lach also received accolades for his determination on the ice and his resilience in battling a host of serious injuries.
Lach excelled for the Saskatchewan Senior Hockey League's Weyburn Beavers for two years beginning in 1936. This was followed by an even more successful two-year placement with the Moose Jaw Millers of the SSHL. In 1938-39, he led the league in assists and was firmly established as the loop's top star. Most observers were particularly impressed with his blinding speed and devotion to defensive play.
Lach debuted with a respectable 21 points in 43 games as an NHL rookie in 1940-41. He was brash and confident but quickly earned the respect of the coaching staff and his peers through his dogged work ethic, which was evident on every shift.
A tireless and fearless style of play also became characteristic of the Nokomis Flash. This endeared him to the Montreal fans but also contributed to a career-long battle with injuries. Only five times was he able to play a complete season. Few competitors in NHL history have matched Lach's resolve to return to action after suffering a major injury. Additionally, he earned acclaim by never complaining about his health. In one game against Toronto in February 1947, a Maple Leafs blueliner checked Lach so hard that he fell head-first to the ice and suffered a skull fracture. It was widely felt that his career was over, but Lach persevered and enjoyed a stellar year in 1947-48.
In the last game of the 1948-49 season against Detroit, an opponent's elbow broke Lach's jaw. Lach first tried to downplay the injury because he desperately wanted to be ready for the upcoming semifinal series with the Red Wings in the playoffs. The fact that he could barely open his mouth to speak was an obvious sign of the severity of his injury, but that didn't stop him from trying to get a plastic helmet/mask device approved by NHL president Clarence Campbell. His bid failed, but his reputation as one of the game's toughest competitors was intact.
An experiment in practice by head coach Dick Irvin in 1943-44 yielded a bountiful return when Lach combined beautifully with Maurice Richard and Toe Blake to form a forward line. The trio became known as the Punch Line and served as one of the most potent units in league history. Led by this combination, the Habs became a force in the mid-1940s. Lach's wizardry and spirit were crucial to the team's good fortunes. Many in the league felt his touch with the puck and ability to flip it to teammates were unrivaled.
His first experience of Stanley Cup glory came in 1943-44 when the Habs beat Toronto in a five-game semifinal and swept Chicago in four straight in the finals. Lach was placed on the NHL Second All-Star Team. The following year he reached the pinnacle of individual accomplishments. He won the NHL scoring title with 80 points and led all playmakers with 54 assists. He was one of the key reasons behind linemate Richard's becoming the NHL's first 50-goal shooter. Lach was also presented with the Hart Trophy and voted to the NHL First All-Star Team. In addition, the Punch Line accumulated a startling 220 points as a trio, an NHL record that lasted until the late 1960s.
The 1945-46 season brought Lach his second Stanley Cup ring. Once again he led all NHL skaters with 34 assists and earned a place on the NHL Second All-Star squad. In 1948 he was the inaugural winner of the Art Ross Trophy after leading the NHL in scoring for the second time in his career.
Lach topped the league in assists for the third time with 50 to his credit in 1951-52. This helped garner him a slot on the NHL First All-Star Team. Lach saved the biggest goal of his career for his penultimate season as a pro. He scored the Cup-clinching goal against the Boston Bruins at 1:22 of the first overtime period in the 1953 playoffs, his last taste of hockey's ultimate triumph. Later Lach quipped, "I took the hardest check of my life when the Rocket jumped on top of me when the puck went in." On February 23, 1952, he recorded his 549th point to pass Bill Cowley as the NHL's all-time leader in scoring.
Lach retired after the 1953-54 season to coach the Montreal Junior Canadiens. He also guided the Montreal Royals for two seasons before focusing full-time on personal business interests. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966.-legends of hockey
Tom Johnson
An accomplished skater and puckhandler, defenseman Tom Johnson played a valuable role on the powerful Montreal Canadiens teams of the 1950s. He contributed to the Habs' rapid transitional game and would have scored more points had the team not already been blessed with Doug Harvey to quarterback the power-play. One of his key traits was an ability to recover almost immediately after making a rare mistake on the ice.
In his first year of junior with the Winnipeg Monarchs in 1946-47, Johnson was deemed to have too many rough edges to be worthy of a spot on the Toronto Maple Leafs' list of 18 sponsored players. Following a match in which he scored the tying and winning goal on end-to-end rushes, a Montreal Canadiens' scout worked out a cash settlement with the Leafs and placed him on their negotiation list.
The first year Johnson came to Montreal, general manager Frank Selke was unable to gain a transfer from the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. The young blueliner spent a year playing informal hockey, taking a few classes at McGill University and spending valuable time around the Habs' winning environment at the Forum. Beginning the next year, he made two brief appearances with the big club but spent the majority of his first three pro seasons refining his game with the Montreal Royals of the Quebec Senior League and then the Buffalo Bisons of the AHL. In the minors he impressed coaches both with his enthusiasm from the bench and his work ethic on the ice. He also improved his skating, which had always been his one major drawback.
Johnson stepped into a starting role with the Habs in 1950-1951 and impressed them with his eagerness and durability in playing all 70 regular-season games. He was, however, vulnerable to common rookie mistakes such as hasty decision-making and taking unwise penalties. Johnson soon became a stalwart on the penalty-killing unit, where the team utilized his speed and his ability to win the majority of the battles in the corners. One of Johnson's patented moves was to steal the puck from an attacking forward without bodily contact. This allowed him to feed a pass to one of his teammates while the opposition was still heading toward the Montreal net. Although Johnson rarely saw power-play duty, coach Dick Irvin often switched him to center if the Habs needed a goal late in the game. Johnson won his first Stanley Cup ring in 1953 when the Habs defeated Boston. He later played a vital role on the Canadiens squad that won the Stanley Cup an unprecedented five consecutive times from 1956 to 1960.
By the time the team began dominating the NHL, Johnson was beginning to receive his due credit. In 1956 he was selected to the NHL Second All-Star Team. Three years later, he won the Norris Trophy and earned a spot on the First All-Star lineup. That year he was arguably the most valuable player on the team as he stepped into the void created when Doug Harvey was injured. Johnson didn't have Harvey's speed but he was a superb stickhandler and a consistent, accurate passer who rarely erred in his own end of the rink.
Johnson remained a key veteran following the glory years. During the early 1960s, he often formed an effective partnership with young Jacques Laperriere. Johnson's fortunes took a turn for the worse in 1962-63 when he suffered a horrific facial injury that damaged his eye muscles to the point that his career was in jeopardy. In a difficult business decision, the Canadiens left him unprotected in the Waiver Draft since it was unclear whether he could fully recover his vision. Boston took a chance and claimed him, a decision that would quickly help improve their fortunes, which had sagged in recent years.
The burly Johnson played 121 games in Beantown before a skate severed the nerves in his leg and forced him to the sidelines permanently. His 51 goals, 264 points and six Stanley Cup rings spoke loudest for his contribution to the game. Many observers claimed that Johnson rode on the back of Doug Harvey. This analysis proved to be unfair, as he more than held his own on the Habs' back line and often stayed back to cover possible counterattacks when Harvey rushed with the puck. Virtually every defenseman in NHL history would have benefited from a pairing with the legendary number 2.
After retiring, Johnson accepted a position in the Boston front office as assistant to the president and general manager, where he helped Harry Sinden build a team that would eventually win the Stanley Cup in 1970 and 1972. Johnson coached the first of these championship squads and was the assistant general manager of the second. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1970.
Alexander Yakushev
Nicknamed the “Big Yakâ€, Alexander Yakushev was one of the most famous hockey forwards of the 1970's. Although he had a very impressive size, his style was not based on intimidating opponents or physical dominance. In fact, Yakushev was a very clean player and a gentleman on and off the ice. He was highly respected by hockey professionals for his working ethics in both game and practice. Yakushev had a wickedly strong slapshot and was famous for his powerful strides that let him pass the defense lines of the best teams in the world. His name is on the list of top ranking Russian scorers of all time. Hockey experts frequently notice that his best career games was always against the Canadian professionals. Yakushev played in Spartak Moscow and was instrumental in its championships and rivalry against the mighty CSKA in the 1960's and 1970's. As a team player, Yakushev had a very special chemistry with his line partner Vladimir Shadrin and, in various times, with either Alex Martynyuk or Valery Shalimov. After retiring from hockey, Yakushev coached Spartak Moscow and, briefly, Team USSR.
Lanny Mcdonald
Lanny McDonald's hero while growing up was his father who had taught him the value of hard work and honesty on the family farm in Craigmyle, Alberta, about 22 miles from Hanna. His mother was a teacher in the three-room school that McDonald attended through grade eight. In school he had to refer to his mother as Mrs. McDonald, but outside of the classroom he was raised with a deep sense of family and community. McDonald would carry those qualities with him throughout his life.
He was the youngest of four children and learned to develop his shot by shooting pucks against the basement wall with his older brother. The only "live" hockey he witnessed in his childhood was when he would tag along with his sisters to watch their boyfriends play hockey in nearby towns. McDonald had learned to skate at the age of five and after years of minor hockey he left home at age 16 to try out for the Lethbridge Sugar Kings, a Tier II team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. He made the team but was unspectacular in his first season, registering only two goals in 34 games.
The following season his production increased to 37 goals and 82 points in 45 games and he was high on the list of many an NHL scout from that point until draft day. McDonald was an AJHL Second team All-Star in 1971 and was named to the Western Canadian Junior Hockey League First All-Star team in 1973 as a member of the Medicine Hat Tigers.
He was rated as the Western League's most complete player in 1972-73 and led the Tigers with 18 playoff goals in 17 games, playing alongside Boyd Anderson and Tom Lysiak. Scouts always mentioned three qualities when they described McDonald; a great shot, a good skater, and tough as nails.
McDonald was Toronto's first choice, 4th overall, in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft and got off to slow starts in both his rookie and sophomore seasons. Everything seemed to come together by his third season and he more than doubled his point production from the previous year. His fine showing earned him an invitation to the Team Canada training camp in preparation for the 1976 Canada Cup tournament. He appeared in five games for the host country and assisted on Darryl Sittler's series-winning overtime goal against Czechoslovakia. The highlight of his Leafs career came in the 1978 playoffs when he scored in overtime of game seven to eliminate the New York Islanders and send his Leafs into the Stanley Cup semi-finals.
McDonald was known for his blistering shot off the right wing and when he took the body hard in the corners players felt the contact and remembered it. He was a tough, clean player and was named to the NHL's Second All-Star team in 1977. McDonald also played in the 1978 All-Star Game and was a member of the NHL squad that played the Soviet National Team in the Challenge Cup series in 1979 to replace that year's All-Star Game.
When he was traded to Colorado by Toronto on December 29, 1979, the Leafs' faithful showed their displeasure by picketing outside Maple Leaf Gardens. McDonald continued his superlative play in Denver and although team success eluded the Rockies he was chosen to play for Canada in the 1981 World Hockey Championships.
McDonald happily returned home to Alberta when he was traded to the Calgary Flames by Colorado on November 25, 1981. He provided the Flames with the best hockey of his career and recorded a career-high 66 regular season goals and 98 points in the 1982-83 season. He was selected for the second time in his career to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 1983 and was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his "perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey."
The 1988-89 season was a banner year for McDonald; he won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, the "Bud" Man of the Year Award, scored his 1,000th point on March 7, 1989, against Winnipeg Jets, scored his 500th goal on March 21, 1989, against the New York Islanders, and won the Stanley Cup with the Flames.
McDonald scored his first NHL goal at the Montreal Forum in 1973 and scored the last goal of his career again at the Forum, in game six of the 1989 Stanley Cup finals. It was with his usual class and dignity that McDonald chose to retire from the game after the 1989 playoffs.
Former Calgary teammate Jim Peplinski once said, "If you want to be good inside and outside the rink, Mac's a good guy to pattern yourself after. He's first-class all the way."
McDonald was always available to assist charities such as Big Brothers and Ronald McDonald House, but the Special Olympic remain his special interest. "Seeing those faces is as nice as scoring 66 goals; its a saw off," he once said about his work with the Special Olympics.
He was a Vice-President with the Flames organization for many years following his retirement and was named general manager of Canada's entry in the 2001 World Championships.
Red Horner
In his letter to the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee in support of the nomination of Red Horner, Conn Smythe wrote: "Red Horner was captain of ourc lub for six or seven years in the days when we had great players and his team was never out of the playoffs. Red Horner played in the time when defencemen were of the calibre of Shore, Sibert...(undrafted players are listed) and a host of other great players. At no time in any game did he suffer in comparison with any of these other players with respect to his ability." Indeed, Horner won one cup with the team and went to the finals on six other occasions. He led the NHL in penalty minutes for eight successive seasons, but as Smythe went on to report: "I would venture to state that his penalties never hurt us at any time...Of all the great body checkers there have been in the National Hockey League, no one hit a man fairer or harder than Red Horner."
One of the top playmaking centers ever to compete in the NHL, Elmer Lach spent his entire 14-year career with the Montreal Canadiens. He helped "les glorieux" win the Stanley Cup three times and gained much acclaim as the center on the club's dreaded Punch Line with Toe Blake and Maurice Richard. Lach also received accolades for his determination on the ice and his resilience in battling a host of serious injuries.
Lach excelled for the Saskatchewan Senior Hockey League's Weyburn Beavers for two years beginning in 1936. This was followed by an even more successful two-year placement with the Moose Jaw Millers of the SSHL. In 1938-39, he led the league in assists and was firmly established as the loop's top star. Most observers were particularly impressed with his blinding speed and devotion to defensive play.
Lach debuted with a respectable 21 points in 43 games as an NHL rookie in 1940-41. He was brash and confident but quickly earned the respect of the coaching staff and his peers through his dogged work ethic, which was evident on every shift.
A tireless and fearless style of play also became characteristic of the Nokomis Flash. This endeared him to the Montreal fans but also contributed to a career-long battle with injuries. Only five times was he able to play a complete season. Few competitors in NHL history have matched Lach's resolve to return to action after suffering a major injury. Additionally, he earned acclaim by never complaining about his health. In one game against Toronto in February 1947, a Maple Leafs blueliner checked Lach so hard that he fell head-first to the ice and suffered a skull fracture. It was widely felt that his career was over, but Lach persevered and enjoyed a stellar year in 1947-48.
In the last game of the 1948-49 season against Detroit, an opponent's elbow broke Lach's jaw. Lach first tried to downplay the injury because he desperately wanted to be ready for the upcoming semifinal series with the Red Wings in the playoffs. The fact that he could barely open his mouth to speak was an obvious sign of the severity of his injury, but that didn't stop him from trying to get a plastic helmet/mask device approved by NHL president Clarence Campbell. His bid failed, but his reputation as one of the game's toughest competitors was intact.
An experiment in practice by head coach Dick Irvin in 1943-44 yielded a bountiful return when Lach combined beautifully with Maurice Richard and Toe Blake to form a forward line. The trio became known as the Punch Line and served as one of the most potent units in league history. Led by this combination, the Habs became a force in the mid-1940s. Lach's wizardry and spirit were crucial to the team's good fortunes. Many in the league felt his touch with the puck and ability to flip it to teammates were unrivaled.
His first experience of Stanley Cup glory came in 1943-44 when the Habs beat Toronto in a five-game semifinal and swept Chicago in four straight in the finals. Lach was placed on the NHL Second All-Star Team. The following year he reached the pinnacle of individual accomplishments. He won the NHL scoring title with 80 points and led all playmakers with 54 assists. He was one of the key reasons behind linemate Richard's becoming the NHL's first 50-goal shooter. Lach was also presented with the Hart Trophy and voted to the NHL First All-Star Team. In addition, the Punch Line accumulated a startling 220 points as a trio, an NHL record that lasted until the late 1960s.
The 1945-46 season brought Lach his second Stanley Cup ring. Once again he led all NHL skaters with 34 assists and earned a place on the NHL Second All-Star squad. In 1948 he was the inaugural winner of the Art Ross Trophy after leading the NHL in scoring for the second time in his career.
Lach topped the league in assists for the third time with 50 to his credit in 1951-52. This helped garner him a slot on the NHL First All-Star Team. Lach saved the biggest goal of his career for his penultimate season as a pro. He scored the Cup-clinching goal against the Boston Bruins at 1:22 of the first overtime period in the 1953 playoffs, his last taste of hockey's ultimate triumph. Later Lach quipped, "I took the hardest check of my life when the Rocket jumped on top of me when the puck went in." On February 23, 1952, he recorded his 549th point to pass Bill Cowley as the NHL's all-time leader in scoring.
Lach retired after the 1953-54 season to coach the Montreal Junior Canadiens. He also guided the Montreal Royals for two seasons before focusing full-time on personal business interests. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966.-legends of hockey
Tom Johnson
An accomplished skater and puckhandler, defenseman Tom Johnson played a valuable role on the powerful Montreal Canadiens teams of the 1950s. He contributed to the Habs' rapid transitional game and would have scored more points had the team not already been blessed with Doug Harvey to quarterback the power-play. One of his key traits was an ability to recover almost immediately after making a rare mistake on the ice.
In his first year of junior with the Winnipeg Monarchs in 1946-47, Johnson was deemed to have too many rough edges to be worthy of a spot on the Toronto Maple Leafs' list of 18 sponsored players. Following a match in which he scored the tying and winning goal on end-to-end rushes, a Montreal Canadiens' scout worked out a cash settlement with the Leafs and placed him on their negotiation list.
The first year Johnson came to Montreal, general manager Frank Selke was unable to gain a transfer from the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. The young blueliner spent a year playing informal hockey, taking a few classes at McGill University and spending valuable time around the Habs' winning environment at the Forum. Beginning the next year, he made two brief appearances with the big club but spent the majority of his first three pro seasons refining his game with the Montreal Royals of the Quebec Senior League and then the Buffalo Bisons of the AHL. In the minors he impressed coaches both with his enthusiasm from the bench and his work ethic on the ice. He also improved his skating, which had always been his one major drawback.
Johnson stepped into a starting role with the Habs in 1950-1951 and impressed them with his eagerness and durability in playing all 70 regular-season games. He was, however, vulnerable to common rookie mistakes such as hasty decision-making and taking unwise penalties. Johnson soon became a stalwart on the penalty-killing unit, where the team utilized his speed and his ability to win the majority of the battles in the corners. One of Johnson's patented moves was to steal the puck from an attacking forward without bodily contact. This allowed him to feed a pass to one of his teammates while the opposition was still heading toward the Montreal net. Although Johnson rarely saw power-play duty, coach Dick Irvin often switched him to center if the Habs needed a goal late in the game. Johnson won his first Stanley Cup ring in 1953 when the Habs defeated Boston. He later played a vital role on the Canadiens squad that won the Stanley Cup an unprecedented five consecutive times from 1956 to 1960.
By the time the team began dominating the NHL, Johnson was beginning to receive his due credit. In 1956 he was selected to the NHL Second All-Star Team. Three years later, he won the Norris Trophy and earned a spot on the First All-Star lineup. That year he was arguably the most valuable player on the team as he stepped into the void created when Doug Harvey was injured. Johnson didn't have Harvey's speed but he was a superb stickhandler and a consistent, accurate passer who rarely erred in his own end of the rink.
Johnson remained a key veteran following the glory years. During the early 1960s, he often formed an effective partnership with young Jacques Laperriere. Johnson's fortunes took a turn for the worse in 1962-63 when he suffered a horrific facial injury that damaged his eye muscles to the point that his career was in jeopardy. In a difficult business decision, the Canadiens left him unprotected in the Waiver Draft since it was unclear whether he could fully recover his vision. Boston took a chance and claimed him, a decision that would quickly help improve their fortunes, which had sagged in recent years.
The burly Johnson played 121 games in Beantown before a skate severed the nerves in his leg and forced him to the sidelines permanently. His 51 goals, 264 points and six Stanley Cup rings spoke loudest for his contribution to the game. Many observers claimed that Johnson rode on the back of Doug Harvey. This analysis proved to be unfair, as he more than held his own on the Habs' back line and often stayed back to cover possible counterattacks when Harvey rushed with the puck. Virtually every defenseman in NHL history would have benefited from a pairing with the legendary number 2.
After retiring, Johnson accepted a position in the Boston front office as assistant to the president and general manager, where he helped Harry Sinden build a team that would eventually win the Stanley Cup in 1970 and 1972. Johnson coached the first of these championship squads and was the assistant general manager of the second. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1970.
Alexander Yakushev
Nicknamed the “Big Yakâ€, Alexander Yakushev was one of the most famous hockey forwards of the 1970's. Although he had a very impressive size, his style was not based on intimidating opponents or physical dominance. In fact, Yakushev was a very clean player and a gentleman on and off the ice. He was highly respected by hockey professionals for his working ethics in both game and practice. Yakushev had a wickedly strong slapshot and was famous for his powerful strides that let him pass the defense lines of the best teams in the world. His name is on the list of top ranking Russian scorers of all time. Hockey experts frequently notice that his best career games was always against the Canadian professionals. Yakushev played in Spartak Moscow and was instrumental in its championships and rivalry against the mighty CSKA in the 1960's and 1970's. As a team player, Yakushev had a very special chemistry with his line partner Vladimir Shadrin and, in various times, with either Alex Martynyuk or Valery Shalimov. After retiring from hockey, Yakushev coached Spartak Moscow and, briefly, Team USSR.
Lanny Mcdonald
Lanny McDonald's hero while growing up was his father who had taught him the value of hard work and honesty on the family farm in Craigmyle, Alberta, about 22 miles from Hanna. His mother was a teacher in the three-room school that McDonald attended through grade eight. In school he had to refer to his mother as Mrs. McDonald, but outside of the classroom he was raised with a deep sense of family and community. McDonald would carry those qualities with him throughout his life.
He was the youngest of four children and learned to develop his shot by shooting pucks against the basement wall with his older brother. The only "live" hockey he witnessed in his childhood was when he would tag along with his sisters to watch their boyfriends play hockey in nearby towns. McDonald had learned to skate at the age of five and after years of minor hockey he left home at age 16 to try out for the Lethbridge Sugar Kings, a Tier II team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League. He made the team but was unspectacular in his first season, registering only two goals in 34 games.
The following season his production increased to 37 goals and 82 points in 45 games and he was high on the list of many an NHL scout from that point until draft day. McDonald was an AJHL Second team All-Star in 1971 and was named to the Western Canadian Junior Hockey League First All-Star team in 1973 as a member of the Medicine Hat Tigers.
He was rated as the Western League's most complete player in 1972-73 and led the Tigers with 18 playoff goals in 17 games, playing alongside Boyd Anderson and Tom Lysiak. Scouts always mentioned three qualities when they described McDonald; a great shot, a good skater, and tough as nails.
McDonald was Toronto's first choice, 4th overall, in the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft and got off to slow starts in both his rookie and sophomore seasons. Everything seemed to come together by his third season and he more than doubled his point production from the previous year. His fine showing earned him an invitation to the Team Canada training camp in preparation for the 1976 Canada Cup tournament. He appeared in five games for the host country and assisted on Darryl Sittler's series-winning overtime goal against Czechoslovakia. The highlight of his Leafs career came in the 1978 playoffs when he scored in overtime of game seven to eliminate the New York Islanders and send his Leafs into the Stanley Cup semi-finals.
McDonald was known for his blistering shot off the right wing and when he took the body hard in the corners players felt the contact and remembered it. He was a tough, clean player and was named to the NHL's Second All-Star team in 1977. McDonald also played in the 1978 All-Star Game and was a member of the NHL squad that played the Soviet National Team in the Challenge Cup series in 1979 to replace that year's All-Star Game.
When he was traded to Colorado by Toronto on December 29, 1979, the Leafs' faithful showed their displeasure by picketing outside Maple Leaf Gardens. McDonald continued his superlative play in Denver and although team success eluded the Rockies he was chosen to play for Canada in the 1981 World Hockey Championships.
McDonald happily returned home to Alberta when he was traded to the Calgary Flames by Colorado on November 25, 1981. He provided the Flames with the best hockey of his career and recorded a career-high 66 regular season goals and 98 points in the 1982-83 season. He was selected for the second time in his career to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 1983 and was awarded the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for his "perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey."
The 1988-89 season was a banner year for McDonald; he won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, the "Bud" Man of the Year Award, scored his 1,000th point on March 7, 1989, against Winnipeg Jets, scored his 500th goal on March 21, 1989, against the New York Islanders, and won the Stanley Cup with the Flames.
McDonald scored his first NHL goal at the Montreal Forum in 1973 and scored the last goal of his career again at the Forum, in game six of the 1989 Stanley Cup finals. It was with his usual class and dignity that McDonald chose to retire from the game after the 1989 playoffs.
Former Calgary teammate Jim Peplinski once said, "If you want to be good inside and outside the rink, Mac's a good guy to pattern yourself after. He's first-class all the way."
McDonald was always available to assist charities such as Big Brothers and Ronald McDonald House, but the Special Olympic remain his special interest. "Seeing those faces is as nice as scoring 66 goals; its a saw off," he once said about his work with the Special Olympics.
He was a Vice-President with the Flames organization for many years following his retirement and was named general manager of Canada's entry in the 2001 World Championships.
Red Horner
In his letter to the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee in support of the nomination of Red Horner, Conn Smythe wrote: "Red Horner was captain of ourc lub for six or seven years in the days when we had great players and his team was never out of the playoffs. Red Horner played in the time when defencemen were of the calibre of Shore, Sibert...(undrafted players are listed) and a host of other great players. At no time in any game did he suffer in comparison with any of these other players with respect to his ability." Indeed, Horner won one cup with the team and went to the finals on six other occasions. He led the NHL in penalty minutes for eight successive seasons, but as Smythe went on to report: "I would venture to state that his penalties never hurt us at any time...Of all the great body checkers there have been in the National Hockey League, no one hit a man fairer or harder than Red Horner."
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