3 Stars of the Night

[unknown33]

Has been awarded first in 36/37. I don't think I've ever seen here mentioned before, but couldn't that be valueable to evaluate who the best players in a certain game were as an addition to the usual boxscore stats? Or is it too gimmicky/biased in general to be reliable at all?

Haven't found information about them on h-references though other than '3 stars of the week/month' from recent years.

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[Canadiens1958]

Not in all rinks,all games. Part of the HNIC broadcast/telecast. In Quebec where the game was aired in French and English, you migh thave different three stars for the same game.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Not very reliable in this day and age at least...can't speak to it before my lifetime though...

 

[VanIslander]

ANYTIME a team got a shutout, the goalie was one of the three stars. Even if he faced just 19 shots, most of them weak from poor positions, due to great plays by two or three defensemen and a well-coached forward core.

My dad and I back in the eighties used to make our three star selections then debate at the end of the game during commercials who we thought would be recognized undeservedly (guys NOT on our list).

 

[Killion]

Not in all rinks,all games. Part of the HNIC broadcast/telecast. In Quebec where the game was aired in French and English, you migh thave different three stars for the same game.

Thats interesting. Unaware of it, somewhat surprised C58..... First introduced in 1937/38 (radio obviously) the "3 Stars" or "Trois Etoiles" was sponsored by Imperial Oil (Esso) as a marketing gimmick/ploy to promote their "3 Star Gasoline", a sponsorship that ran until 76 if I'm not mistaken... then taken over by Molson's in Toronto & Montreal, Vancouver & the rest of the Canadian markets..... At seasons end, the players with the most accumulated 3 Star Selections awarded Cups, financial reward matched with a charitable donation.

Branada Sports Group, a company I was involved with (Bill Watters, Rick Curran, Bobby Orr, player agency) actually had the contract administering the program for Molsons through the 80's which was fairly extensive with an employee assigned to the collation & administration duties thereof full-time. If the french broadcasters in conjunction with their english counterparts didnt select or collectively agree upon the 3 Star Selections, working independently then this would have caused problems for the program, for Imperial Oil & Molsons UNLESS.... the french broadcasts 3 Star Selections & program bundled separately, sold to different sponsors? Thats entirely possible, in fact quite probable, interesting twist, little known piece of trivia.

 

[DJ Man]

Wasn't Maurice Richard all three stars the time he scored five goals in a playoff game?

 

[Canadiens1958]

Thats interesting. Unaware of it, somewhat surprised C58..... First introduced in 1937/38 (radio obviously) the "3 Stars" or "Trois Etoiles" was sponsored by Imperial Oil (Esso) as a marketing gimmick/ploy to promote their "3 Star Gasoline", a sponsorship that ran until 76 if I'm not mistaken... then taken over by Molson's in Toronto & Montreal, Vancouver & the rest of the Canadian markets..... At seasons end, the players with the most accumulated 3 Star Selections awarded Cups, financial reward matched with a charitable donation.

Branada Sports Group, a company I was involved with (Bill Watters, Rick Curran, Bobby Orr, player agency) actually had the contract administering the program for Molsons through the 80's which was fairly extensive with an employee assigned to the collation & administration duties thereof full-time. If the french broadcasters in conjunction with their english counterparts didnt select or collectively agree upon the 3 Star Selections, working independently then this would have caused problems for the program, for Imperial Oil & Molsons UNLESS.... the french broadcasts 3 Star Selections & program bundled separately, sold to different sponsors? Thats entirely possible, in fact quite probable, interesting twist, little known piece of trivia.

Referencing pre 1976 era and before without additional benefits.

 

[DannyGallivan]

Waaaaaay too subjective to be used as anything more than a novelty for a gimmick cup funded by a major sponsor.

As was mentioned, I've seen games where there were different 3 stars at the game and in the newspaper. They even have kids picking them during Hometown Hockey.

It's just for fun, and should never be taken too seriously.

 

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

Waaaaaay too subjective

I disagree that the subjectivity of the selection is a concern, as most of the time the Molson Cup HNIC three star selections were always fairly obvious: guys who put up the most points or goalies who racked up a lot of saves, or guys who scored the game winner. Not rocket science, but not a lot of headscratchers or outliers.

to be used as anything more than a novelty for a gimmick cup funded by a major sponsor.

I used to subscribe to The Hockey News back in the 80s & Molson took out huge weekly ads with stats showing who was leading in three star selections for each of HNIC's Canadian home teams. This was exclusively for the Canadian market, excluding US-based teams, but regardless of how interesting it was for me to track the three star selections, it was ultimately as you said it was, just a marketing gimmick for a beer company that had no relevance outside of Molson-sponsored HNIC's market demographic.

 

[Killion]

Waaaaaay too subjective to be used as anything more than a novelty for a gimmick cup funded by a major sponsor.

As was mentioned, I've seen games where there were different 3 stars at the game and in the newspaper. They even have kids picking them during Hometown Hockey.

It's just for fun, and should never be taken too seriously.

Oh sure.... Sportsnet named "The Crowd" at the MTS in Winnipeg as "3rd Star" for their noise, class & enthusiasm in their first playoff appearance/series since 96 in the Jets final game of the 2015 playoffs, being defeated by Anaheim in the 1st Round. They clapped & cheered despite the series loss right on through the handshake line. That wasnt the "official" Press Selection but no matter. Its a gimmick, something to have fun with. Virtually all of the teams as well have their own "Awards" programs. The Flyers in particular quite active in that regard with several over the years.

 

[DannyGallivan]

I disagree that the subjectivity of the selection is a concern, as most of the time the Molson Cup HNIC three star selections were always fairly obvious: guys who put up the most points or goalies who racked up a lot of saves, or guys who scored the game winner. Not rocket science, but not a lot of headscratchers or outliers.

Famous story on Rocket Richard who chose the 3 Stars for CBC shortly after his retirement (I'm paraphrasing so some of the minutia may have been different):

"For da first star, I pick Big Jean. He was a great out der tonight and scored a nice goal.
For da second star, I pick my brudder Henri, who was a force at both ends of da ice.
And for da tird star, I pick Gordie Howe. If he didn't score dose three goals, we woulda won."

 

[DJ Man]

Famous story on Rocket Richard who chose the 3 Stars for CBC shortly after his retirement (I'm paraphrasing so some of the minutia may have been different):

"For da first star, I pick Big Jean. He was a great out der tonight and scored a nice goal.
For da second star, I pick my brudder Henri, who was a force at both ends of da ice.
And for da tird star, I pick Gordie Howe. If he didn't score dose three goals, we woulda won."

In the version I heard, Richard is the color man, and he picks three Montreal players. The announcer presses him as to whether anybody on the other team qualifies. After some thought, Maurice says "Walll, if one Red Wing stood out, i would say iot was Gordie Howe. If he had'n scored zose four goals, Canadiens would have won!"