Mike Walton
x1 NHL All-Star Game (1968)
x1 WHA 2nd All-Star Team
x1 WHA Bill Hunter Trophy
x2 Stanley Cup Champion
WHA HOF Member
x1 NHL Top 10 Goals (9th)
x2 WHA Top 10 Goals (
1st, 7th)
x1 WHA Top 10 Assists (4th)
x1 NHL Top 10 Assists Per Game (10th)
x2 WHA Top 10 Points (
1st, 10)
x1 Led NHL Shooting % (77-78)
281 points in 211 career WHA games
448 points in 588 career NHL games
Mike Walton was best known as "Shakey" a nickname that he inherited after his father, a hockey star in his own right back in England who would shake his head to deke out an opponent. Young Mike was blessed with the same great skill set, and probably better. After all, he went on to become a Stanley Cup champion.
Mike was selected by Los Angeles Sharks in the 1972 WHA general draft, his rights were then traded to the Minnesota Fighting Saints. Minnesota managed to lure Mike over to the WHA and he was an instant hit, leading the league with 117 pts (57+60). He also led the league in playoff scoring (10 goals), making the 2nd All-Star team. The next season he had 93 pts and once again scored the most goals in the playoffs (10 goals). As most WHA clubs Minnesota ran into financial problems and eventually folded in March 1976. Mike had scored 71 pts in 58 games for Minnesota until they folded.
Mike was very good around the net, always dangerous. Longtime NHL goalie Glenn "Chico" Resch said " I've never run into anyone who's smarter around the net. He doesn't do the obvious. He comes at you a different way each time. "
His coach in Vancouver Phil Maloney described Walton. "He has good speed, especially in bursts. He makes good passes - at the right speed, to the right man, at the right time. Very alert around the net. Never turns his back on the play. "
http://mapleleafslegends.blogspot.com/2007/02/shakey-walton.html
In 1963-64, Mike Walton joined the Toronto Marlboros of the OHL and immediately established himself as a top-flight offensive forward. Among a lineup that included future NHLers Ron Ellis, Pete Stemkowski, Gary Smith, and Jim McKenny, the club banded together to secure a Memorial Cup victory by season's end.
Walton survived and after periodic stints in the CHL and AHL secured a regular shift with the Leafs. By the tail end of 1966-67, he enjoyed his first Stanley Cup victory and, by the following season, established himself as a solid NHL sniper.
After a slow start in Beantown, he gradually regained his confidence and again became a solid NHL scorer. He won his second Stanley Cup in 1972. Walton stuck with the Bruins until 1973. It was at that time that he signed with the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA. There he finished his first season as the league's top scorer with 117 points in 78 games. He played one additional offensively prolific season and then returned to the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks in 1975-76.
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=14632
"To beat the Saints, we're going to have to stop Walton," Bill Dineen said Wednesday. "Not only is he a great shooter, he has breakaway speed and he's smart."
"But there's no question that Walton is the key to their success."
-Bill Dineen
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tLoyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xOwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3416,1064129&dq=mike+walton&hl=en
Mike Palmateer
x5 Top 10 GP
x4 Top 10 Wins
x2 Top 10 GAA
x5 Top 10 Shutouts
x3 Top 10 SV%
4x Top 9 Goalie All-Star voting (3, 7, 8, 9)
5th in Hart Trophy Voting (1978-79)
OMJHL First All-Star Team (1973)
The Leafs did finally bring Palmateer into the chain in 1974. He was promptly dispatched to the minors where he tended goal for the Saginaw Gears of the IHL and the Oklahoma City Blazers of the CHL. It wasn't until early in the 1976-77 campaign that he was brought to Maple Leaf Gardens for an extended stay. Suddenly, fans, analysts, and the club's management were all struck by the little fireball between the Leafs' pipes.
Some described him as a leprechaun in goal pads while others claimed he was brash and overrated and carried a chip on his shoulder. But whether people liked him or not, they couldn't help but be entertained by his dynamic exploits in the crease. He could make saves like a vaudeville dancer falling to the ice and then in an instant, be right back on his feet, ready for the next attack. He was colourful, cantankerous, and cocky while playing his daring game close to the edge.
From 1977 to 1979, with Palmateer in goal, the Leafs fortunes began to rise up from the depths of ineptitude. During the playoffs of 1978, he was a standout as the Leafs ousted the up-and-coming Islanders from the playoffs. But in 1980, Palmateer engaged in a contract dispute with the Leafs. He wanted a three-year deal while the club would offer only two. As a result, he was traded to the Washington Capitals.
He was put on the shelf to have arthroscopic surgery at a local hospital. He was already dressed in hospital linen, on his way into the operating room when an urgent call came through from the Caps. Their other goalie, Wayne Stephenson, had just gone down with an injury. They needed Palmateer, bad knee and all, for the evening's game. So, he was packed back into the ambulance and delivered the stadium in time for the match. His surgery was then completed several days later.
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=18650
Mike Palmateer was hailed as Toronto Maple Leafs savior by Torontonians even before he played in the NHL.
Born in Toronto, Palmateer was a junior standout with the hometown Marlboros of the OHA. Drafted 85th overall in the 1974 Amateur Draft by the Leafs after Palmateer backstopped the Marlies win of the Memorial Cup in 1974-75 during his last year of junior hockey.
Palmateer apprenticed in the Central Hockey League for a couple of seasons before making his NHL debut with the Maple Leafs in 1976-77. He had a solid rookie year, going 23-28-8 in 50 games as the Leafs starting goalie, taking that role from Wayne Thomas.
The following year he was Palmateer's best season. He played a career high 63 games played, 34 wins and 5 shutouts. Most importantly, he was a key figure in the club’s drive to the Stanley Cup semifinals. He recorded 2 more shutouts in the playoffs. It was the first time since 1967 that the Leafs had become serious contenders for the Stanley Cup.
In those 1978 playoffs Palmateer was at his best during the Leaf's quarter final upset of the New York Islanders.
Mike was an acrobatic goalie, always flopping around on the ice like a fish out of water. He was exciting to watch but every shot seemed like an adventure. He could make an ordinary save look spectacular, but at the same time he often looked bad as an easy shot got past him.
"Palmateer doesn't play text-book goal," said then-Toronto GM Mike Nykoluk. "But he is awfully quick and has great hands and a wonderful sense of anticipation. The idea is to stop the puck, and that's what he does."
Palmateer was extremely confident in his abilities.
"That's my style, and I think that scrambling and challenging the shooter is best for me. I can play with any goalkeeper in the NHL. No one is better than me, and I'm better than most."
Despite the excitement surrounding the Leafs, turmoil ruined that team. Owner Harold Ballard decided to get rid of most of the young budding superstars - Darryl Sittler, Tiger Williams, Lanny McDonald and yes Mike Palmateer. All four of these players had terrible relations with GM Punch Imlach, especially at contract time.
Prior to the 1979-80 season, Palmateer was traded to the Washington Capitals with a third round pick (Torrie Robertson) for Robert Picard, Tim Coulis and a 2nd round pick (Bob McGill). He played in the United States capital for two seasons.
Palmateer recorded 17 shutouts and a goals-against average of 3.53 over an impressive eight-year NHL career. His career totals - 149 wins, 138 losses and 52 ties.
http://mapleleafslegends.blogspot.com/2007/06/mike-palmateer.html
Al Dewsbury
x1 NHL All-Star Game ('51)
x1 AHL Second Team All-Star ('50)
x2 Top 5 PIM (5th, 5th)
x4 Top 10 Points by a defenseman (9th,5th,7th,6th)
x1 Top 15 Points by a defenseman (14th in 37 GP, '55-'56)
x1 Stanley Cup Champion ('50)
Dewsbury was one of the giants of the game in the 1940s and 1950s. By today's standards, he would be considered just an average-sized player, but back then a 6'2" 202-pound rearguard was a very imposing figure to many of the smaller players in the game.
Dewsbury played for the USHL's Omaha Knights in 1945-46, starting in 41 games and scoring six goals and six assists. The following year his time was split between the AHL's Indianapolis Capitals and the NHL's Detroit Red Wings. In 23 games with the Wings, he had two goals and an assist. One of the main reasons he was so attractive to the Wings was his aggressive style of play. In 34 games with Indianapolis, he had 80 minutes in penalties.
After a couple more seasons with the Indianapolis Capitals, Dewsbury drew a permanent assignment with the Chicago Blackhawks where he would remain for six seasons. In three of the first four years, he played in 69 games and saw action in 67 in the other. From an offensive perspective, his best year was 1951-52 when he scored seven goals and 17 assists for 24 points. Dewsbury and the Hawks never were able to make it to the Stanley Cup finals, which were for the most part dominated at that time by the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Canadiens.
Dewsbury did win a Cup while playing with the Red Wings during the 1949-50 with teammates such as Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay spearheading the win, beating down a tough New York Rangers club in a tough seven-game series. The Wings also made it to the Cup finals with Dewsbury on the defense in 1948, but they were swept in four games by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The 1955-56 season was his final year in the NHL. He played in 37 games with the Hawks, scoring three goals and 12 assists for 15 points. He remained playing professional hockey for another two years with the Hershey Bears of the AHL before retiring. Dewsbury played in 37 NHL games, scoring 30 goals and 78 assists for 108 points.
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=12451
During 1949-50, Al split the season between the Capitals and the Red Wings. During the regular season, he played 11 games with Detroit, but was a key addition during the playoffs that spring.
Al Dewsbury was summoned to join the team for Game Three of the final, April 15, 1950, and quickly made his presence known as he picked up an assist on George Gee's goal late in the first, and also picked up two minor penalties in a 4-0 Red Wing win.
Detroit hosted again, for a third straight contest, in Game Six. Dewsbury earned an assist on Sid Abel's winning goal as the Red Wings edged New York 5-4 to set up a seventh game, do-or-die situation.
Al dressed for Game Seven at the Olympia in Detroit on April 23, 1950. The Rangers went up 2-0 in the first period to set Detroit back on their heels, but they rebounded with two goals in twenty-one seconds early in the second period; the second Wing goal scored by Sid Abel with an assist by Dewsbury.
http://www.hhof.com/htmlSTCjournal/exSCJ05_10.shtml
...Al Dewsbury of Chicago Blackhawks emerged as heroes of overtime Stanley cup playoff games. Dewsbury broke up the game at 5:18 of the overtime. He took George Gee's pass-out and slammed it in from 30 feet out.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dwpUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZTkNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6902,4403427&dq=al+dewsbury&hl=en
Defenceman Al Dewsbury opened and closed Chicago's scoring...His second goal came while the Hawks were a mans short.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ISBUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EzoNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6930,1141286&dq=al+dewsbury&hl=en
The bruising work of rearguards Leo Resie and Al Dewsbury won commendation from manager Jack Adams.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAAAIBAJ&pg=3517,1870746&dq=al+dewsbury&hl=en
...while Buffalo's Al Dewsbury hung on to his "bad boy" title with 48 minutes served in the penalty box.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NQhHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=n_IMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5853,2170833&dq=al+dewsbury&hl=en
LW Dutch Gainor
x1 Top 10 Goals (8th)
x1 Top 10 Assists (2nd)
x2 Top 15 Points (13th and 10th)
Norman "Dutch" Gainor came up through the ASHL ranks before playing with the Duluth Hornets of the CHL in 1925-26. That catapulted him to Calgary for one year before he was sent to the Boston Bruins by Minneapolis, who owned his AHA rights.
Gainor appeared in 42 games with the Bruins in his first NHL season in 1927-28 and contributed eight goals and 12 points. He played four years in Beantown and his most productive NHL season occurred in 1929-30 when he tallied 18 goals and 49 points in 42 games. It was often said Gainor was plagued with the worst set of varicose veins known to mankind. But cosmetic appearance never seemed to bother Gainor, and it definitely did not effect his play as he was considered one of the top left wingers in the NHL in the mid to late 1920s.
In the summer of 1931 Gainor was stunned to learn he had been traded to the New York Rangers. He played just one year in the Big Apple and was traded to Ottawa after a sub-par offensive season. His last NHL stop was in 1934-35 when he dressed for 35 games with the Montreal Maroons.
In 246 NHL games Gainor scored 51 goals and 107 points. He died in 1960 at the age of 56.
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=12668
They were led by Hall of Famers Cooney Weiland (league leading 43 goals, 73 points) and Dit Clapper (41 goals, 61 points), two thirds of the "Dynamite Line." The other member of that line was Calgary, Alberta's Dutch Gainor. Gainor, a slick playmaker, scored 18 goals and 31 assists (second in the league to Frank Boucher's 36 helpers) for 49 points in his 3rd NHL season.
Gainor joined the Bruins in 1927 prior to the three zone rule changes, and became a significant contributor the Bruins first Stanley Cup Championship in 1929. Gainor scored 14 times in the regular season and added two more in 5 playoff games.
The Dutchman was maybe the greatest four-year hockey player who ever skated, but he lived fast and was finished quick.
The thing about Gainor was his two-way shift, left and right. He’d shift left and one defenceman would be faked out of his jersey. He’d fake right and the other defenseman would be deked out of his jockey shorts. Then Dutch would swoop in, unmolested, ramming the puck at the goalie or passing it to a flying winger.
Oldtimers still talk about the Gainor shift, it was that memorable. Most players can shift one way, but not one in a hundred can do it both ways.
A compliment by Ching Johnson in 1929-30 where he picked Gainor as a wing man on his all-star team help’s Gainor’s case:
"On the wings? Lemme see. Well, I guess "Dutch" Gainor of the Bruins would do. He's awfully tricky and deceptive. Fast, too."
In explaining why he would pick Gainor over Morenz or Joliat:
"He's different. Howie depends entirely on his speed. He doesn't stickhandle at all. You can figure Howie, but you can't figure a fellow like Gainor. You never know whether he's going to the right or left, or over or under you."
http://bruinslegends.blogspot.com/2007/12/norman-dutch-gainor.html
C Viktor Yakushev
x2 1st Soviet League All-Star Team
x1 3rd Soviet League All-Star Team
x1 Olympic Gold Medalist
x5 WC Gold Medalist
x1 WC All-Star Team ('63-'64)
x1 Russian League Goal Leader ('59)
- 162 Goals in 400 Russian League Games
- Led Russians In Goals at 1964 Olympics
- Led Russians In Goals at 1959 Worlds
- Led Russians In Assists, 2nd in Points, at 1965 Worlds
- 28 Goals, 29 Assists, 57 Points in 57 International games
- 36th in goals, 31st in games with Russian National Team
Kings of the Ice said:
Viktor Yakushev was a unique hockey player not only in the Soviet Union but internationally. The circumstances of his career are even more remarkable than the many pecularities of the game. He played for only one team Lokomotiv Moscow, which in 1961 was among the top three in the SSR. he played until age 42, by which time Lokomotiv was reduced to a minor league team that folded after he left.
At the World Championships, he played for the USSR eight times in six different lineups. It is worth noting the character of the time, the lineups and the morals that prevailed then. Anatoli Tarasov, the virtual ruler of the nationals, had whipped into shape a whole detachment of candidates from his own local CSKA club for the national lineup, capitalizing on the competitive pride of each candidate. tarasov virtually ignored the forwards from Chernyshev's club, even though as Dynamo coach he was the senior coach of the nationals. Dynamo's best forward, Yurzinov, only made it to the Worlds twice. Tarasov also seemed to enjoy breaking up the talented lines of Spartak Moskow in order to weaken his competitors in the domestic championships.
Tarasov used Yakushev as a pawn in his political game because he wasn't a threat to his CSKA club. Yet Tarasov valued the Lokomotiv forward because Yakushev played a key role for the nationals, not just by handling problems and performing well. In 1963, when the Canadians managed to bring the score from 4-0 to 4-2 in the final game, the Soviets faced losing the Championship if they allowed another goal. Yakushev fought for the gold right to the final seconds of the game. A year later at the Olympics, the extremely loyal and conscientious Yakushev was assigned the job of guarding the eminent Tumba Johansson. Yakushev scored 9 goals and became the leading scorer of the team.
One of Yakushev's cohorts, Boris Mayorov, said of his partnership with Yakushev at the 1966 World Championship: "Yakushev was an outstanding player who simply had to be in the nationals lineup. It is with a special feeling of pleasure that I recall the seven games played shoulder to shoulder with Yakushev in Ljubljana." At that championship, Yakushev posted 11 assists, proving he was an invaluable partner on the ice.
What did Yakushev have that the nationals couldn't do without? What was it that made Yakushev feel at home on any forward line? If Yakushev had been playing for a team like Lokomotiv in the media frenzy of today, there is little doubt that he would be heralded as the best player ever. There is no denying that Yakushev was an outstanding player with an exceptional ability to collaborate with other players. Flexibility, adaptibility, and compatibility were Viktor Yakushev's strength. "Compatibility established right at our very first training workouts.", he once said. "no matter with whom. After that, I did my best to work out with the particulars of real teamwork."
On the ice, Yakushev played common sense hockey. When he celebrated his 40th birthday, coach ******** of Novosibirsk, noted "If I could accomplish the impossible and somehow tempt, win over or purchase Yakushev, I would bring him up her to Siberia and say to him, 'You can play for me as long as you want in any game. If you want to play more, go ahead. Less? Go ahead. if you want, you can play till you're 60. In short, do what you feel is necessary. Every minute you are on the ice, every minute of your caliber of hockey is worth more than a dozen training sessions and 30 sermons.'"
But Yakushev remained loyal to Lokomotiv. In those days, that kind of dedication and loyalty to family, home, and team eas genuinely and widely shared.
Yakushev appeared on the ice at most of the major hockey competitions in the world. At the end of his career, he played in a minor league in Tashkent. Words such as "popularity", "image", and "ambition" weren't in his vocabulary. What he loved most was playing for Lokomotiv - nothing else mattered as much. Yakushev played the game longer than any Soviet hockey player. When he continued to play in minor leagues, he ignored the many comments about his age. Throughout his more than 20 years as a hockey player, Viktor Yakushev missed only three training workouts.
RW Wayne Connelly
x1 Top 10 NHL Goals (6th in '68)
x3 Top 10 WHA Goals (9th, 6th, 4th)
x1 Top 10 WHA Assists (8th)
x1 Top 5 WHA Points (5th in '74)
x2 WHL Second All-Star Team (1965, 1966)
Wayne Connelly began his major junior hockey career as a member of the OHA's Kitchener Canucks in 1955-56 at the age of 16, appearing in nine games. The following season he played for the Peterborough TPT's, dressing for 52 games, scoring 18 goals and 37 points.
Connelly began his pro career with the Montreal Royals of the EPHL, playing 64 games, scoring 28 goals and 49 points. Late in 1960-61, he dressed for three games for the Montreal Canadiens.
The 1961-62 season was Connelly's rookie year in the NHL, when he played in 61 games for the Boston Bruins, collecting 21 points. Connelly was inserted into the Bruins' lineup for about half the games in each of the next two seasons. For two years, he played exclusively in the WHL with the San Francisco Seals. In 1965-66, he put up strong offensive numbers, scoring 45 goals and 86 points in 72 games. It was that production which earned him another look from the Bruins, who elevated him to full-time status with the club in 1966-67. He had 13 goals and 30 points in 64 games.
With the advent of expansion, Connelly was selected by the Minnesota North Stars for the 1967-68 campaign. He had the distinction of being the first NHL player to have jumped to the new rival league. In 74 games, he scored an NHL career-high 35 goals and 56 points. Midway through the following season, Connelly was traded to the Detroit Red Wings where he played for a just over a year and had a career-high 59 points in 1969-70 before being dealt to the St. Louis Blues. He found himself on the move again early in the 1971-72 season, being sent to the Vancouver Canucks.
The arrival of the WHA gave options to many players such as Connelly, who opted to try his luck with the fledgling league, signing a lucrative contract with the Minnesota Fighting Saints, which was guaranteed through the first three years. Minnesota was also the offseason home for Connelly and his family. In his first season, he scored 40 goals and 70 points in 78 games, finding the wide-open style to his liking. In 193-74, he improved on those statistics, scoring 42 goals and 95 points. He once scored five goals in one game, which tied the league record. On that magical evening, Connelly provided all of Minnesota's scoring in a 5-3 victory over the Cincinnati Stingers. Connelly joined the Cleveland Crusaders in 1975-76. However, his tenure lasted just 12 games, before he was back in a Saints uniform for the final 59 games of the season.
Connelly's final WHA season was split between the Calgary Cowboys and the Edmonton Oilers. His biggest regret during his nine years in the NHL was not getting the opportunity to play for the Stanley Cup. The closest chance came in 1968, when the North Stars lost a tough deciding seventh game in the semi-finals.
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=12310
Wayne Connelly, the Detroit Red Wings' forward with the machine-gun slapshot, fired 23 goals and added 36 assists...
Why, just two years ago, the five-foot, 10 inch speedster from Rouyn, Quebec, rifled in 35 regular season goals, while wearing the gear of the Minnesota North Stars. That same year, in post-season play, he shared the lead in playoff goals with eight, as the Stars stormed to the Western Divisional final...
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Uy5gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=n28NAAAAIBAJ&pg=1060,1550649&dq=wayne+connelly&hl=en
Connelly's tip-in of Mike Walton's pass from short range at 1:35 of the third period proved to be the game winner.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1pcuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=q6EFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3826,2800595&dq=wayne+connelly+mike+walton&hl=en
His best season in the WHA came after Minnesota acquired Mike Walton
D Poul Popiel
3rd Career WHA Points by a Defenseman
x2 WHA 2nd All-Star Team (75,77)
x3 Top 3 WHA Points by a Defenseman (2,3,3)
x2 Top 10 WHA Points by a Defenseman (6,9)
Offensive defenseman with some grit who bounced around the NHL before having a very successful career in the WHA. He's not a WHA HOF'er like Plumb but I think he's the best guy after him and finished a handful of points behind him for third all-time scoring by a defender. He also averaged over 100 PIMs a year in the WHA and very briefly played as a forward when his teams wanted him to provide some physicality.
LoH said:
As a journeyman defenseman though, it was difficult for Popiel to catch on with an original-six lineup. So it was back to the minors after only three Bruin games, this time with the Hershey Bears of the AHL. In 1967, as the NHL expanded, the Los Angeles Kings who tucked him away with their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Kings, claimed Popiel. But the following year he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings where he finally got his first full season in the NHL before splitting 1969-70 between the Wings and their minor-league affiliate in Cleveland.
In 1970-71, the Vancouver Canucks who used the veteran to stabilize their newly formed blueline corps again claimed Popiel in an Expansion Draft, this time. But as was always the case in the NHL, he tended to be used as a defensive stopgap who was useful only so long as there were injuries or short-term holes to be filled on the roster.
Not long after the start of the 1971-72 season, Popiel was dispatched to the Rochester Americans where he stayed only long enough to work out a deal with the Houston Aeros of the newly formed World Hockey Association. In Houston, he finally found a stable home as a blueline regular for six seasons. But by 1978, he felt he'd had his fill of the WHA. So he was quick to jump at an offer to play for Innsbruck in Austria for one season.
Vancouver Sun said:
The Aeros have made it a rough series by their determination to give as good as they get, and Poul Popiel, converted to winger from defence to improve checking, has promised that Houston won't be taking any dives tonight.
Popeil, who hit the showers early Sunday because of his second slashing penalty fumed: "They pushed me around the whole game, I don't have to take that. If that's the way they want it, well take it right back to them."
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1S9mAAAAIBAJ&sjid=E4sNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4783,617584&dq=poul+popiel+hit&hl=en
Coach Bill Gadsby said:
Our defence is playing unbelievably good. The biggest improvement overall on the club has to be the play of xxx and Poul Popiel.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6zQ_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=flEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5691,182664&dq=poul+popiel+hit&hl=en
The Evening Independent said:
Only Houston's Poul Popiel and Mark Howe were able to penetrate the net guarded by octopus moves of the Whalers' rookie goaltender.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yuQLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=T1gDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1791,175388&dq=poul+popiel+aeros&hl=en
Paul Popiel scored two first period goals and his brother Jan had one goal Tuesday night, sparking the Houston Aeros to a World Hockey Association playoff victory...
Paul Popiel's goals both came on slap shots from the left point during power plays...
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=woAeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fMoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2979,4134381&dq=poul+popiel+aeros&hl=en
C Larry Popein
5 consecutive 30+ point seasons but it's his two-way play, hustle, and physicality that I really liked.
LoH said:
Popein, a man of few words and a grim facial expression, quickly established himself as a hustling, two-way centreman, flanked by Bathgate and Dean Prentice. The line became the Rangers' best although Prentice and Bathgate got the lion's share of points while Popein remained, as he often called himself, the scoreless pivot.
He stayed as a Ranger regular until 1961 when he was sent back to the Vancouver Canucks of the WHL. There he contentedly played for his adopted hometown for seven seasons. But in 1967, the NHL doubled in size, opening up a need for experienced vets like Larry Popein. The Oakland Seals made him a cash offer that was hard to refuse. He joined the NHL for one final run of 47 games before heading back to the minors where he rounded out his on-ice career with Vancouver and Omaha.
Kamloops The Daily News said:
A 5-foot-9, 170-pounder whose 20 seasons as a professional player encompassed the 1950s and ’60s, you know he had to scratch and claw for everything he got.
Devout hockey fans will remember Popein as a smallish centre who played 449 NHL games, all but 47 of those with the New York Rangers in the six-team NHL.
How good was he?
In hockey parlance, Popein brought his lunch bucket and his hardhat to work every single day. It is said that he could hit like “thunder.†He put up 221 points and was the middleman on one of the NHL’s top lines, skating between Andy Bathgate and Dean Prentice.
http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/article/20110601/KAMLOOPS0201/110609996/-1/kamloops/canucks-have-the-pope-in-their-corner
RW Gerry Couture
NHL All-Star Game (1950, unmerited SC winner appearance)
WHL First All-Star Team (1955)
x3 Top 15 Goals NHL (7th, 15th, 13th)
LoH said:
Gerry Couture joined the NHL's Detroit Red Wings for the 1944-45 season but did not suit up for any games with the war effort not yet completed. In 1945-46, he took to the ice on 43 occasions, scoring three goals and ten points.
The 1946-47 season was split between the Red Wings and Indianapolis of the AHL, where he posted 24 goals and 42 points in just 34 games. He rejoined the Red Wings on a full-time basis the following two years, posting 29 and 31-point seasons, respectively. The 1950 Red Wing club proved to be the best in the NHL, coming away with the Stanley Cup. A drop in production in 1950-51 had the team and Couture believing that a change was in order. He played for the Montreal Royals of the Quebec League, the Cleveland Barons of the AHL, and ten games with the Montreal Canadiens in 1951-52 before moving on to the Chicago Blackhawks for the 1952-53 campaign. That season, he played in 70 games, scoring 19 goals and 37 points.
The final NHL season for Couture was 1953-54 when he scored eleven points for the Blackhawks. He continued to play professional hockey for another four years in the WHL, three with the Calgary Stampeders, and finally with the Saskatoon Royals in 1957-58.
D Don Sweeney
LoH said:
Don Sweeney was drafted out of high school by the Boston Bruins in 1984 but went on to attend Harvard University for four years, while becoming an NCAA East All-American team member in 1988 as well as an ECAC First Team All-Star team member.
He made his NHL debut in the 1988-89 season but split the year with the team's AHL affiliate in Maine. Sweeney saw his first action in the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1990 when the Bruins went all the way to the finals, but the team fell to the mighty Edmonton Oilers. The next season saw the Bruins fight their way to the Conference Finals only to run into the Penguins, who dispatched the Bruins on their way to the championship.
A member of Canada's Gold Medal winning team at the 1997 World Championships, Sweeney entered his 15th season with the Bruins organization in 2002-03 and surpassed 1,000 games played.
Although small in stature for a defenceman, over the years Sweeney has not shied away from the physical aspect of the game while chipping in offensively. The St. Stephen, New Brunswick native entered the 2002-03 season tenth on the Bruins all-time point list.
After 15 seasons in Beantown, Sweeney signed as a free agent with the Dallas Stars where he would conclude his NHL playing career. In the summer of 2006, Sweeny would return to Beantown as he was named as the Director of Player Development with the Boston Bruins.
Joe Pelletier said:
Many defensive defensemen rely on strength and size to last in the National Hockey League. Not Sweeney. He is all of 5'10" tall, though is very strong and sturdy. He was a shrub in the forest of NHL defensemen, but as new statistics point out what NHL forwards already know, he was a hard hitting body checker. He added some nice mobility to his repertoire, and possessed great hockey sense. All in all, he was a very clever hockey player, and incredibly underrated.
"I've always felt like I've been up against the wall -- I don't want to say overachieve -- in terms of finding a way to battle despite my size and such," says Sweeney. "I've learned to play within my limitations and to try to be a better player."
His limitations in the defensive zone were few in far between. The offensive zone was a bit of a different story, as Sweeney rarely contributed there. That was not so much because of a lack of offensive skills, but more because of his dedication to defense.
"He's a true professional in how he approaches everything: the game, his life and his dedication to whatever he does," says Bruins captain Ray Bourque. "He's a hard-working guy, on and off the ice. He prepares really well and he's a smart kid."
Bourque would know. He played with Sweeney much of Sweeney's career. Sweeney helped make things a lot easier on Bourque, one of the game's all time greats.
http://bruinslegends.blogspot.com/2008/08/don-sweeney.html