ATD 2013 BIO Thread (quotes, stats, pics, sources, everything)

[Velociraptor]

Bruce MacGregor, RW/C

Position: Right Wing (predominantly)/Centre
HT/WT: 5'10", 180 lbs
Handedness: Right
Nickname(s): "The Redheaded Rocket", "Murdoch"
Born: April 26th, 1941 in Edmonton, AB

- 5th in 1967 RW All-Star Voting
- 6, 7, 8 and 14 in Lady Byng Voting
- killed 48% of his teams penalties 1968-74
- scored 213 goals and 257 assists for 470 points in 893 games, adding 217 penalty minutes.
- scored 19 goals and 28 assists for 47 points in 107 playoff games, adding 44 penalty minutes.

Top 10 Finishes:
Goals - 1x - (4)
Powerplay Goals - 1x - (3)
Shorthanded Goals - 4x - (3, 6, 7, 9)

Quotes

His goals were seldom spectacular, but he was a hard-working industrious type who rarely made a mistake on the ice.

The surprise was Bruce MacGregor, who, until then, I hadn't considered a particular asset to the club. As we were both on the right side, I got a chance to observe his remarkably steady play, up and down the wing, and the job he does checking

Greatest Hockey Legends

In the 1960s and early 1970s speedy Bruce MacGregor was so fast he was nicknamed "The Redheaded Rocket."

MacGregor was a slick and speedy forward who was a coach's dream. He was never an outstanding scorer, topping 20 goals only three times in his 13 year career, but he would do anything the coaches needed him to do, and with great proficiency. Using his incredible acceleration and his equally impressive hockey sense, he was a great utility player, filling in admirably wherever and whenever the team asked him to. He was also a mainstay on the penalty kill unit.

MacGregor scored 20 goals in three consecutive seasons for Detroit pre-expansion. In the first two of these seasons he played with various linemates, including veterans Ted Lindsay and Andy Bathgate, Paul Henderson, and various undrafted players. In 1966-67 he joined Henderson and Norm Ullman on the HUM line, and his 28 goals were good for fourth in the league. McGregor was in the top 10 for even strength goals in both 64-65 and 66-67. His scoring dropped off after this but remained consistent, as he scored at least 14 goals in the next seven seasons.

He was sixth in Lady Byng voting in 1964-65 - all other players in the top 10 have been drafted.

Legends of Hockey

A solid and reliable two-way player, MacGregor played all of the '60s with Detroit before moving to the Rangers and finishing his career in the WHA with the Edmonton Oilers. The centre was nicknamed the "Redheaded Rocket" for his hair colour and his speed. MacGregor set career highs in 1966-67 with 28 goals and 47 points.

Poor Power For New York - SI.com

It all started shortly before Game Four with a private meeting between XXX XXXXX, the scrappy chancellor of the Rangers' exchequer, and the man they call Murdoch. The 33-year-old MacGregor is a quiet redhead who has skated in obscurity through most of his 13 NHL seasons. As he suspected, XXX wanted to discuss Yvan Cournoyer, the Montreal Roadrunner, who had deflated the Rangers in Games Two and Three by scoring five goals.

"XXX said we had to contain Cournoyer, or else," MacGregor says. "He asked if I'd switch from right wing to left wing, forget all about my own offense and think only about shadowing Cournoyer. He told me that if I could keep Cournoyer off his game even a little bit, then things might fall into place for us."

While MacGregor admittedly cannot skate as fast as Cournoyer—who can?—he accepted the assignment. "I had never played head to head against Cournoyer," MacGregor says, "but I knew his game. He plays the percentages. He likes to sneak between or behind the defense and get a long lead pass from Jacques Lemaire or one of the defensemen. My job, as I saw it, was to stay between Cournoyer and [Ranger Goaltender] Eddie Giacomin. I had to be the middleman at all times. I knew if Cournoyer got between Giacomin and me on a breakaway, it probably would be curtains. There's no way I'd ever catch him in a race. It would be worse than the tortoise and the hare."

In three games MacGregor had out-shot Cournoyer nine to five and out-scored him four to nothing, leaving Bowman with a strange look on his face. "I didn't think New York had anyone who could slow Yvan down," he said. "I thought XXX XXX was the only New York player who could skate with him, and they traded XXX to Los Angeles. That MacGregor, he's pretty smart."

The Evening Independent - Apr. 19, 1974

The Rangers defeated Montreal for third straight game eliminating them from the opening round of the playoffs.

...

They did it because of an air-tight checking job on Yvan Cournoyer by Bruce MacGregor, who also pitched in with a series-high six goals.

The Montreal Gazette - Apr. 7, 1966

MacGregor Line To Check Bobby Hull

Abel said he plans to use MacGregor's line, including XXX XXXXXXXX and Paul Henderson to check Bobby Hull, Chicago's record-breaking goal-scorer.‎

Gettysburg Times - Feb. 5, 1971

The trade came as a great shock to the easy-going MacGregor, noted for his hustling play.

The Vancouver Sun - Oct 1, 1974

His main on-the-ice worry, aside from the Soviets, is the continuing illness of right winger Bruce MacGregor.

Checking. both fore and aft, is the main Canadian weapon against the Soviets, and Bruce was the most effective workman in that regard.

...

There's no adequate replacement in the reserves. While everyone worries about what could happen if Cheevers, Hull or Howe were to get sick, only now is the importance of MacGregor's indisposition dawning on many of the team followers.

Just how important his checking and penalty killing are may also have struck you as you watched game five on your television today.

New York Times - Oct. 21, 1971

Fairbairn and then Bruce MacGregor were used to check Hull, with Park backing them up. Hull got off one shot in the game.

Boston Bruins: Greatest Moments & Players

Orr blew away such fantasies with one sterling maneuver just past the 11-minute mark of the first period. Seemingly trapped at the right point by Rangers defensive forward Bruce MacGregor.

Detroit Red Wings: Greatest Moments and Players

As a diligent, productive Red Wing checking forward, MacGregor to this day stands out as a special Detroiter.

Evidence of powerful physicality

Bonham Daily Favorite - Dec. 24, 1962

Al MacNeil of Chicago is sent flying by Bruce MacGregor's vicious check as the Red Wings edge the Black Hawks, in rough game at the Detroit Olympia ...

 

[Rob Scuderi]

C/LW, Ryan Walter

In four years with the Caps, Walter went from raw recruit to one of the most coveted young stars in the NHL. After a 28-goal, 55-point rookie campaign in 1978-79, Walter was named team captain prior to the start of his sophomore year, a title he would keep for the rest of his time in Washington. He upped his offensive numbers annually while playing a tough, physical style that often saw him sent to the box for more than 100 penalty minutes each season.

Asked to use his 6-foot, 200-pound frame in a defensive capacity, Walter accepted the assignment and accomplished the task for the next nine seasons, also managing to significantly reduce his time in the penalty box as he matured.

Using positioning, anticipation and dogged determination to stymie his opponents, Walter was a formidable adversary on the ice. He established a reputation as one of the hardest hitters in the league and became an essential ingredient on a team bound for bigger things.

Emerging as a complete player, Walter still managed to let his offensive skills shine from time to time. He recorded three 20-goal campaigns and finished among the team’s top five scorers in three different seasons.

A broken ankle suffered in the spring of 1986 kept him off the ice to finish off the season, but he came back in time to suit up for five playoff tilts en route to claiming the lone Stanley Cup of his career. The following year, he picked up 19 postseason points, more than doubling his previous career summit.

http://ourhistory.canadiens.com/player/Ryan-Walter

Walter described his style of hockey:

"I was a bit adaptable I think over 15 seasons In the beginning, I think it was I was pretty aggressive and a Rick Tocchet type of player that scored goals and had to sort of play a very rounded game. I played center and wing in those early years.

"Coming into Montreal, early in my time there, I was playing with Guy Lafleur and Doug Wickenheiser and so it was more of an offensive bent obviously. And then, about half way through my time there, I ended up being a bit more of a defensive specialist and that continued through Vancouver."

http://habslegends.blogspot.com/2007/03/ryan-walter.html

Literally sticks his nose in the middle of the action and explained numerous facial injuries last season by saying: "That's just old-time hockey"...One of the rare players who prefers to skate through an opponent rather than around him, he was shifted to left wing at times because of his toughness in corners...Unselfish, playmaking center and a tireless checker...fundamentally solid

Tough, unselfish player who doesn't let anyone stand in his way...big, strong and knows when to throw his weight around...Dependable offensive player...Center of the team in more ways than one...One of the best young two-way players in the league...

Mr. Energy...Leads the team by example...Tireless checker and scorer...Would get in goal if you asked him...Was youngest captain in NHL history at age 21...Good on faceoffs...Good backchecker...Good in dressing room...Has never-say-die-attitude...In many ways, the most dangerous player on the team...Fearless and unselfish...Trick is, don't get him mad.

Caps' captain and one of the best young team leaders in NHL...Smooth skater with skillful offensive moves...A center who works hard on defense as well as offense...Rival coaches rate him among league's best young forwards...

Scoring declined last season but still has potential to surface as a dominant force for Canadiens...Gifted shooter and skater who can play left wing or center...Dangerous with or without puck.

Excellent skater without the puck...

The Finesse Game
Walter is a good skater, not particularly fast, but strong on his skates and with good balance. He is difficult to move from the puck when he has it because of that balance. Those skating qualities make him a good checker and he is persistent in his pursuit of the puck.

Ryan has pretty good hockey sense and he is good without the puck, able to be in the right place or break up a pass if he's on defense or able to find the opening if he's turning to offense.

The Physical Game
Walter is a tough player. He backs down from nothing and he throws his body well. He has good strength along the boards and can out-muscle the opposition there, but sometimes concentrates on being a little too aggressive and forgoes the play for an extra shove or elbow.

He does have a little bit of a mean streak and Walter will play physically up and down the ice. Because of his balance on skates, Walter comes out of most collisions vertical and ready to make a play.

The Finesse Game
He doesn't have a lot of speed, but is very difficult to dislodge from the puck on offense, and difficult to hide from when he is a checker and in pursuit of the puck on defense. He is a tenacious checker. His strength and tenacity make him valuable in checking the other team's top guns.

Because he has good offensive skills, Ryan can capitalize on the opportunities his checking creates. While not in the class of teammate Naslund, Walter will use his teammates well because he has good hands; more often than not, he'll get a good pass to them. Walter has had a good touch around the net throughout his career and he will score if given the opening.

The Intangibles
The price of his physical game is injury, and Walter has been sidelined frequently throughout his career because of it. But his determination to maintain that physical style describes him as a player. He is tough and hard-nosed, willing to do whatever necessary to win. He is an honest player, he works hard and he always gives 100 percent of himself.

The Physical Game
Like many of his teammates, Walter's finesse game springs from his physical one. He has good balance and power, and those assets help him in his physical game by driving him through his checks and by making him a tenacious checker.

Walter has learned to read the ice and anticipate the play fairly well, so he's able to break up a pass or find an opening by positioning himself well.

The Physical Game
Ryan gets the most from his physical ability by playing a controlled but aggressive game. He's got a mean streak, and Walter plays aggressively in all three zones - at home or on the road, winning or losing - without taking penalties.

The Finesse Game
Walter makes his living on the defensive side of the puck. He is a checker, a defensive specialist, a penalty-killer, a face-off winner. He has enough jump in his step to be a useful player in the neutral zone. He cuts the ice of all well, which disrupts the passing lanes. He finishes checks on the puck carrier if he's near enough.

While killing penalties, he reads the situation well; if a defenseman goes to the side boards to challenge the puck, Walter drops back to cover the spot the defenseman vacated.

The Physical Game
After all these seasons, Walter remains a strong, physical player who still gets a big piece of you at every opportunity. He also dives to block shots and uses his strength in every possible way. Most notably, he is trusted with the pivotal first face-off of a penalty-killing situation.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Mike Bossy
Right Wing
6’0â€
186lbs
RHS

Stanley Cup: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983

Hockey Hall of Fame: 1991


Awards
Conn Smythe: 1982
Calder: 1977-78
Lady Byng: 1982-83, 1983-84, 1985-86
Canada Cup All Star: 1981


All-Star Finishes
1977-78: 2nd (behind Lafleur)
1978-79: 2nd (behind Lafleur)
1979-80: 3rd (behing Lafleur and Gare)
1980-81: 1st
1981-82: 1st
1982-83: 1st
1983-84: 1st
1984-85: 2nd (behind Kurri)
1985-86: 1st
1986-87: One Vote (only 65 GP)

All-Star Finishes Summary
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3


Hart Finishes
1977-78: One Vote
1978-79: 9th (behind Trottier and Potvin from own team)
1979-80: None
1980-81: 3rd (1st on own team)
1981-82: 3rd (behind Trottier from own team)
1982-83: One Vote
1983-84: 6th (behind Trottier from own team)
1984-85: 11th (1st on own team)
1985-86: 6th (1st on own team)
1986-87: None

Hart Finishes Summary
Overall Finishes: 3, 3, 6, 6, 9, 11
Finishes On Own Team: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3


Top 15 Point Finishes
2, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 14

Top 15 Point Finishes Without Gretzky, Lemieux & Co.
1, 1, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 6, 12


Top 15 Goal Finishes
1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 5, 7

Top 15 Goal Finishes Without Gretzky, Lemieux & Co.
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 4, 5, 15


Playoff Top 5 Point Finishes
1980: 2nd (6pts behind Trottier)
1981: 1st (6pts ahead of Trottier)
1982: 2nd (2pts behind Trottier)
1983: 5th (2nd on Team, 2pts behind Bourne)
1984: 6th (2nd on Team, 1pt behind Gillies)

Playoff Top 5 Goal Finishes
1980: 2nd (2 behind Trottier and Barber)
1981: 1st (tied with Payne)
1982: 1st (6 ahead of Savard)
1983: 1st (2 ahead of Messier)
1984: 6th (3rd on Team, 4 behind Gillies, 1 behind Flatley)

Playoff Stats During Islanders 5 Cup Finals in a Row (1980-1984)
- 1st in Points (8 ahead of Trottier in 3 less GP)
- 1st in Goals (24 ahead of Trottier)
- 4th in Assists (3rd on Team, 16 behind Trottier)


Canada Cup
15GP – 13G – 7A – 20Pts
1981: t-2nd in Pts (1pt behind Gretzky), 1st in Goals
1984: 6th in Pts (3pts behind Gretzky), t-3rd in Goals


Career Regular Season
752GP – 573G – 553A – 1126Pts


Career Playoffs
129GP – 85G – 75A – 160Pts


Joe Pelletier

Bossy is considered by many to be the best pure sniper in the history of hockey…And Bossy worked very hard at becoming a well rounded player. He openly admitted to not playing any defense in his junior days, but he became a very reliable back checker with the Isles.

He would go on to score 50 goals in every single season he played in, except his final campaign which was plagued with back problems. He also scored 50 goals in as many games during the 1981 season. It was only the second time a player had accomplished that milestone that Hall of Famer Maurice "Rocket" Richard made so famous in 1945.

At least 60 goals on five occasions, and seven 100 plus points seasons; Four Stanley Cup rings; he scored the series winning goal in both the 1982 and 1983 Stanley Cup finals making him the only player in NHL history to record Cup winning goals in consecutive seasons; the 1982 recipient of the Conn Smythe Trophy awarded to the playoffs' Most Valuable Player; awarded the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play three times; A first team All-Star five times and a second team All-Star three times; And his 573 goals also put him high on the NHL's all-time list.

Bossy was also a member of Team Canada in the 1981 and 1984 Canada Cup Tournaments. It was his overtime goal in the 1984 sudden death semi-final that eliminated the Soviets and sent Team Canada to the final and eventually to their second Canada Cup championship.

Bossy was and remains outspoken about violence in hockey. As one of the most gifted and talented players ever to grace the game, he was often the target of thugs. However Bossy took great pride in never stooping to retaliation. The three time Lady Byng Trophy winner who accumulated only 210 PIM in his career, Bossy was often criticized for not fighting back. Critics passed him off as not tough enough. Bossy's sweet revenge would however often come in the following 2 minutes after the cowardly attacks. Bossy - perhaps the greatest power play weapon in the game's history - would score on the man advantage, and that would only upset the other team even more. Of Bossy's 573 career goals, 181 were scored on the power play.

A chronic bad back forced Bossy to retire prematurely. Oddly enough, the back injuries that still haunt him to this day were caused by the constant abuse he had to take on the ice. In his final season he tallied 38 goals, the only season in which he did not record at least 50 goals. Bossy termed the "failure" to score 50 goals as his biggest disappointment. In actuality he probably shouldn't have played that year either, as his back was just that bad. Bossy's love of the game outweighed doctors advice. But by doing so Bossy forever silenced his critics. He played through immense pain and showed the hockey world just how tough he really was.

It is an absolute shame Mike Bossy had to call it quits so soon. He is perhaps the greatest goal scorer the game has ever seen. But he also took great pride in working on his all around game, and became a very dependable defensive player and underrated playmaker.

Legends of Hockey

In the junior league, Bossy hadn't ever tried to play defense well on a mediocre team that had needed a goal-scoring machine to remain afloat. It was in the NHL that he had to learn the ABCs of playing in his own end. It was very rare to come across press reports about how Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux played in their own end zones, but journalists wrote a lot about Bossy's defensive skills.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Craig Conroy
Center
6’2â€
193lbs
RHS


Selke Finishes: 2, 3, 5, 12, 12, 16, 16, 17, 20


Joe Pelletier

Conroy would enjoy a 16 season career exceeding more than 1000 career games, most notably with the St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames. He also would represent the United States internationally at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and 2006 Olympics.

Moreover, Conroy would grow into a reputation as an exemplary hockey player, class act and one of hockey's true nice guys that everyone should be looking up to.

Although he was an offensive star at Clarkson, the Canadiens, like they have done - often successfully - time and again, sent him to the minor leagues to turn him into a defensive specialist. Hey, at least the Canadiens had plans for him. In his first NHL training camp he accidentally fired a slap shot which caught ace goalie Patrick Roy in the head. The result - a fight between the team's superstar and the unknown rookie.

After a couple of strong seasons in the minor leagues (and a handful of call up games in Montreal), Conroy was part of the huge Pierre Turgeon trade to St. Louis. With the Blues Conroy would immediately find a home and become a solid NHL citizen.

Under coach Joel Quenneville Conroy emerged as a top defensive center with the Blues. In 1997-98 he was a finalist for both the Selke trophy and the Lady Byng, as the league's most gentlemanly player. A faceoff specialist, he also chipped in 43 points.

But a funny thing happened early in the next season. Conroy showed great chemistry with Flames superstar Jarome Iginla. He would serve as Iginla's long time centerman. Conroy's own offensive contributions spiked while Flames fans quickly learned to appreciate his defensive contributions.

Aside from a one year free agent sabbatical with the Los Angeles Kings, Conroy would be one of Calgary's most popular players - both on the ice and in the community - right through some diminishing years and his exit in the 2010-11 season.

15th in Points 2001-02

Career Regular Season
1009GP – 182G – 360A – 542Pts


Career Playoffs
81GP – 10G – 20A – 30Pts

 

[BubbaBoot]

Leo Labine
right wing

• Shoots: right • Height: 5-10 • Weight: 170 lbs. •
• Born: July 21, 1931 • Haileybury, Ontario •
• Played: 1951/52 - 1961/62 \\\ 1962/63 - 1966/67 (WHL) •

• Championships •
1951 Barrie Flyers (OHA-Jr) Memorial Cup

• Honors •
1963-64 (WHL) All-Star Team (1st)

• All-Star Games •
NHL - 1955 / 1956

• NHL All-Star Voting •
- 55-56 (5) / 66-67 (T10)

• Hart Trophy Voting •
- 54-55 (T9)

• Achievements •
• Goals
- 1954-55 NHL 24 (8)
- Career NHL • 128
- 1963-64 WHL PLAYOFFS 10 (1)
- Career NHL PLAYOFFS • 12

• Goals Per Game
- 1954-55 NHL 0.36 (8)
- Career NHL • 0.20
- Career NHL PLAYOFFS • 0.20

• Points
- Career NHL • 321
- 1950-51 OHA-Jr PLAYOFFS 26 (1)
- 1963-64 WHL PLAYOFFS • 22 (1)
- Career NHL PLAYOFFS • 23

• PIM's
- 1955-56 NHL 104 (6)
- 1956-57 NHL 128 (3)
- Career NHL • 730 (137th all-time / 19th in the O6 / 1st during his career span)
- 1950-51 OHA-Jr PLAYOFFS 46 (1)
- 1952-53 NHL PLAYOFFS 19 (1)
- Career NHL PLAYOFFS • 106

• career stats •

|gms | G |A |TP |PIMs|+/- |G/gm|A/gm|PP |SH
NHL | 643 |128 |193 |321 |730| |.20 |.30 | |
NHL PLAYOFFS| 60 |12 | 11 |23 |82 | | .20 |.18 | |
WHL |337 |128 |189 |317 | 245 | | .38 |.56 | |
WHL PLAYOFFS | 15 |11 |12 |23 |49 | | .73 |.80 | |
OHA | 99 |52 |68 |120 |220 | |.53 |.69 | |
OHA & Memorial Cup| 28 |26 |28 |54 |118 | |.93 |1.00 | |
AHL | 69 |30|26 |56 |121 | |.44 |.38 | |

• career team records •
Boston Bruins (NHL) - games (28) / goals (T41) / assists (T48) / points (39) / PPG (56) / PIMs (23) / playoff PIMs (31)
Los Angeles Blades (WHL) - games (2) / goals (2) / assists (2) / points (3) / PIMs (5)

• Accolades •

For Leo Labine, the official NHL rulebook was little more than a list of bad habits to be avoided. An early pioneer of "trash talk," he used every trick, foul or tool available to terrorize and needle his opponents. He had an above-average scoring touch and a ferocious sense of team spirit that was not unlike his spiritual cousin, "Terrible" Ted Lindsay.

(borrowed from Velociraptor's 2012 bio)

The bodychecker was a big crowd favourite with his tenacious style of play. Known as the "Haileybury Hurricane", LaBine's job was to shadow and hound the opposing team's scoring stars. He was a scrapper who was very skilled with his fists as well as his tongue. His confrontations with Rocket Richard are legendary. In 1958, NHL GMs named him in their top-five list of the toughest players in the league.

Leo Labine began his career as a featured member of the Memorial Cup winning Barrie Flyers, the Boston Bruins OHA affiliate. After a brief spell with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League Leo Labine would join the Bruins near the conclusion of the 1951-52 season and with his rugged, spectacular style, he quickly established himself as a regular. In 1955 Labine won the Elizabeth C Dufresne Trophy, given to the Boston Bruins player voted most outstanding during home games. Labine also led the Bruins in scoring for the 1954-55 season. His best campaigns in Boston were spent on Boston's top power unit with His longtime partner XXX XXXXXXX and smooth, crafty Centre Don McKenney. His fiery, aggressive style fit in well with the Boston Bruins of the 1950s.

Early in the contest Leo LaBine made an impact on Rocket Richard. Richard lay unconscious on the ice after the hit and, upon reviving, retired to the trainer’s room for repairs. The teams exchanged goals in the early going and from the 12:25 mark of the first period until late in the third the game remained tied at one. Richard didn’t return to the ice until after the 15 minute mark of the third period. When he returned, Butch Bouchard hit Richard with a long clearing pass at the Canadien blue line, he decked Bill Quackenbush, and beat Sugar Jim Henry with the winning goal. The crowd at the forum exploded in jubilation, Richard’s teammate, Elmer Leach was so overcome with excitement on the Montreal bench that he fainted.

When remembering his playing days Rocket Richard was asked the players he hated to play against the most. The three players mentioned were Leo LaBine, Ted Lindsay and Tony Leswick, pretty select company for Leo to keep, an honor he richly deserved. Leo was the visiting player that was booed harder than any other player visiting the Montreal Forum.

Leo was once quoted as saying “I’ve made a lot of Frenchmen famous by losing to them. Those Canadiens always had superior bench strength.†But he is still a Bruins fan and, when I first made contact with him, he had this to say about the 1995-96 Bruins, “I am still a Boston fan - but I think they will find it a bit rough to make the finals along with a few other big-named clubs this year. There is no doubt who Leo was referring to, old rivalries die hard, so do the fans’ memories of Leo LaBine, who embodied the best traits of the Greatest Bruins.

To give you a clearer picture of the game Leo LaBine played, perhaps my good friend John Larrabee’s memory of the first time he saw Terry O’Reilly play can say more than I can. John remembers saying the first time he saw Terry play that there was the next Leo LaBine.

Leo’s name still remains in the Bruins record books as well. On November 28, 1954 Leo recorded a hat trick and added 2 assists in the second period of a 6-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings. The 5 points in one period remain the standard among Bruin players.

"If nature had made Leo with the attributes of a left winger–instead of his competing on the right side with Gordie Howe and Rocket Richard–he would have emerged as an All-Sar"

(borrowed from Velociraptor's 2012 bio)

The buffoon of the Bruins... with only 16 goals for the pst two years, he has become defensive stalwart for Bruins and proficient penalty killer. A rugged performer, he has always been well up in penalty parade.

Labine was a right winger and, at seventy-one, is not much over the 175 pounds he carried through his hockey career. His hair is snow white, but the tell-tale bent nose gives a lot away and he still has the nervous energy that made him one of the most focused and fiery–some say dirtiest–players of his time. He took nearly 900 penalty minutes. "But before I even got up there [NHL] I was missing four teeth," he says. "I lost two playing juvenile and two in junior. Then I got hit and my eye teeth came right through my lip."

He also has circulation problems in his hands. "I broke them both,"he says, holding them up. He says he took a swing at Dickie Moore with his right, missed him and hit Moore's teammate Henri Richard. "They should have pulled it out, straightened it out, but all they did was freeze it and tie it.' He holds up his other hand. "This wasn't a fight. I think a guy gave me a two-hander."

Labine laughs and tells a story about the NHL's most gentlemanly player award. "We're in Montreal at the start of the season. Red Storey's refereeing, and we're facing off, and I look up and say, 'Red, I'm going after the Lady Byng this year.' He just shakes his head. 'Leo,' he says, 'you won't last through your third shift without a penalty'....I think he was right"

"I was lucky to get out of the game alive. I was a little aggressive sometimes.â€

 

[Dreakmur]

Ray Getliffe !!!


Awards and Achievements:
2 x Stanley Cup Champion (1939, 1944)


Offensive Accomplishments:
Points – 17th(1937), 17th(1943), 18th(1944)
Goals – 10th(1944), 15th(1937), 15th(1941)
Assists – 14th(1943)


5-Year Peak: 1940-1944
15th in Points, 69% of 2nd place Bryan Hextall
11th in Goals, 81% of 2nd place Doug Bentley
24th in Assists, 60% of 2nd place Phil Watson

10-Year Peak: 1936-1945
15th in Points, 68% of 2nd place Syd Howe
9th in Goals, 77% of 2nd place Toe Blake
24th in Assists, 60% of 2nd place Syd Howe


Scoring Percentages:
Points Percentages – 70(1943), 69(1937), 69(1944), 57(1941), 55(1938), 53(1940), 50(1939), 48(1942)

Best 6 Seasons: 337

Ray Getliffe was Montreal's premier "holler guy" of the 1940s. He was a fierce forechecker, one of the league's top diggers.

Forward Ray Getliffe played nearly 400 NHL games for the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens in the 30s and 40s. He was a fine goal scorer who could check and battle for the puck along the boards and in the slot.

A gritty left winger who was among the speediest forwards in the league, the Galt, Ontario native was a skilled two-way performer, equally adept at attacking the enemy net or playing in a defensive role. With other gifted support players like Murph Chamberlain, Bobby Fillion and Dutch Hiller as linemates, Getliffe countered the top right wingers in the league.

Getliffe reminds me of Punch Broadbent, big, strong and a deadly shot. He has already proved he has the stamina to take it and dish it out to the big time and soon he will be, I believe, the idol of Boston fans.

A lot of people thought the Bruins would not be very close to the leaders at all this season, but Portland and Getliffe are two reasons why we are close now and will be when the Stanley Cup is being handed out.

Ray Getliffe who played with the Montreal Canadiens and who was really a grand fellow as well as a great player. He was hard-hitting and used to get away with a lot of things, especially behind the net, and I had trouble catching him. This Getliffe was a strong boy, and he’d grab hold of an opponent by the back of the sweater, give him a little tug, and pull him down.

He was a fantastic player. He was very good here. Always full of laughs.

Ultimate Hockey's "Best Corner-man" of the 1940s

That Ray Getliffe is a deceiving sort of person. He is blond and cherubic-looking, but, his innocent appearance to the contrary, he is actually a demon on the ice paths. Saturday night at the Forum, the young left winger skated like a fiend and scored three goals.

The strategy behind this move apparently is to use Camberlain, Getliffe and Filion as a checking line to subdue Bodnar, Carr, and Schriner, the line that packs most of the Leafs’ firepower.

 

[EagleBelfour]

LW Sidney James Smith

Nickname: Sid
Height: 5'10''
Weight: 177 lbs
Position: Left Wing
Shoots: Left
Date of Birth: July 11th, 1925
Place of Birth: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Date of Death: April 29th, 2004

AHL First All-Star Team (1949)
John B. Sollenberger Trophy (AHL - Leading Scorer) (1949)
Stanley Cup Champion (1949, 1950, 1951)
World Championship Gold Medal (1958)
Allan Cup Champion (1958)
NHL First All-Star Team (1955)
NHL Second All-Star Team (1951, 1952)
NHL Third All-Star Team (1950, 1954)
Played in NHL All-Star Game (1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955)
Lady Byng Trophy (1952, 1955)
Team Captain (1955-1956)

Seasons|GP|G|A|PTS|PIM
12|601|186|183|369|94

Top-10 Scoring (5th, 8th, 10th, 15th)
Top-10 Goalscoring (4th, 4th, 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th)
Top-10 Assist (11th)

Playoffs|GP|G|A|PTS|PIM
8|44|17|10|27|2

Top-10 Playoff Scoring (3rd, 4th)
Top-10 Playoff Goalscoring (2nd, 2nd, 10th)
Top-10 Playoff Assist (7th)


All-Star Voting:
1949-50: 3rd place
1950-51: 2nd place
1951-52: 2nd place
1953-54: 3rd place
1954-55: 1st place

Awards Nomination:

Hart Memorial Trophy:
1954-55: 17th position position (Ted Kennedy) 1 point

Lady Bing Memorial Trophy:
1949-50: 5th position (Edgar Laprade) (0-0-5)
1950-51: 6th position (Red Kelly) 5 points
1951-52: 1st position (+47.1%)
1952-53: 3rd position (Red Kelly) (0-2-2)
1953-54: 4th position (Red Kelly) (12-6)
1954-55: 1st position (+36.8%)
1956-57: 3rd position (Andy Hebenton) (12-25)

At the end of his year with the Hornets, he was promoted to the Leafs to bolster the team as it attempted to hoist the Stanley Cup for the third consecutive season. Smith had an immediate impact, scoring two goals and assisting on another in the first game of the semifinal series against the Boston Bruins. In the second game of the Stanley Cup finals against Gordie Howe and the Detroit Red Wings, Smith scored all three goals, each of them on the power-play, in a 3-1 Toronto win. At the end of the game, Howe asked reporters, "Who's Sid Smith?"

Toronto swept the Red Wings and won the record-setting third consecutive Cup, winning its ninth consecutive game in the final series. Smith had a regular spot with the Leafs the next season, playing on a line alongside Toronto captain Ted Kennedy and Bill Ezinicki, the trio that had been so productive in the playoffs.

Some of Smith's many goals were momentous, including an overtime goal in the 1951 Stanley Cup finals against Montreal, a series that featured extra-time thrillers in each of the five games it took for Toronto to win its fifth Cup in six years. He also scored the winning goal in the first televised Maple Leafs game, against the Boston Bruins on November 1, 1952.

A model of consistency, Smith recorded six consecutive seasons with 20 or more goals, achieving that distinction in 1954-55 along with Gordie Howe. Only four others had been so reliable and Smith led the Leafs in scoring categories for eight seasons, four times for goals and four times for total points.

Sid Smith was the Toronto Maple Leafs "master of the tip-in" from 1949 thorough 1958. That's how one reporter described the hometown left winger who made a career out of deflecting point shots.

Smith had the reputation of being a one-way player early in his career, but his defensive skills developed over the years. Still, he remained an offensive threat.

The game of October 26, 1957, was number seven on the Leafs schedule. Visiting Maple Leaf Gardens, were the New York Rangers.

Playing mostly on a line with Rudy Migay and Tod Sloan, the trio were considered Toronto's veteran combination. On occasion, Migay would be relived by Billy Harris at centre. Wearing sweater number 8, Smith is diligent in patrolling the left wing. He is consistently looking for open ice in the offensive zone. When a play breaks down, Smith sprints back to attend to his defensive responsibilities.

Late in the third period, Migay, Sloan and Smith perform some magic for a national audience watching on Hockey Night In Canada. The action starts with Sid Smith picking up a loose puck in the Leaf zone and initiating a rush up the middle. As he crosses the Ranger blueline, he cuts right. Smith must fend off New York defenceman Jack Evans. As he eludes Evans, Smith makes a pass, but Bill Gadsby's stick blocks the puck. Not giving up on the play, a determined Smith attempts a second pass, with the identical result. He regains control of the puck and skates around the net. Coming out the left side, Smith curls the puck towards the goal. Tod Sloan, in perfect position, shoots the puck past a hapless Gump Worsley.

Sid Smith was a player who recognized the importance of team first. He was appointed captain of the Leafs for the 1955-56 campaign. He had big skates to fill - Ted Kennedy's. Blaine stated his dad wore the "C", but came to the realization that the added responsibility was starting to affect his performance. For the good of the club, Smith relinquished the captaincy. Team first.

---

Throughout the history of hockey, certain players have carved out a distinctive style or technique that is all their own. In the case of Max Bentley, it was his stick handling skills which baffled opponents and thrilled fans. Rocket Richard's competitive spirit often resulted in his carrying the Canadiens, not to mention opposing players, on his back.

Entering his third full-season with the Toronto Maple Leafs (1951-52), Sid Smith earned the reputation for mastering the fine art of tipping the puck past goalies. Positioning himself in front of the net enabled him to cash in on scoring opportunities. As Leaf coach Joe Primeau put it at the time, Smith is "an exceptional opportunist."

Sid Smith was a quiet, consistent player who may be overlooked by some. Following in the skates of Hall of Famers Apps and Kennedy, Smith, like his surname, may seem ordinary and everyday. He was, in fact, a key component of the Leaf teams that closed out the 1940s and carried on into the 1950s.

Smith had a flair for the dramatic as he always seemed to step it up in the biggest of moments.

Smith was known for his speed and his ability to pick up loose pucks. He was also durable, playing in more than 400 consecutive games.

-----

Smith, a grinning little left winger (...) was everywhere at once on Sunday

Swift Sid Smith, an old hand at scoring hockey playoff goals in bunches.

Has played great hockey for Leafs since he came from Pittsburgh 3 years ago. He's a hard driving but gentlemanly puckster.

Starting his 6th straight season as a regular with Leafs, he stood well up in NHL scoring last season and led all his team-mates. A Clever and gentlemanly player. he spent only 6 minutes in penalty in 70 games played, which is less than any other NHL player who was in for every encounter.

The telegram quotes Dick Irvin coach of Montreal Canadiens, proposing that each of the present top three clubs of National Hockey League lend two players to bolster the team which will represent Canada in the world hockey championships in Europe this winter.

Irvin suggests the team include Harry Lumley and Sid Smith of Toronto Maple Leafs, Jean Beliveau and Doug Harvey of Montreal Canadiens and Red Kelly and Gord Howe of Detroit Red Wings

Last season he again crashed the charmed 20-goal circle for the fifth straight year. Noted for his clean play and gentlemanly conduct, Sid won the Lady Byng trophy in 1951-52 spending only 6 minutes in the penalty box during the entire 70-game schedule. A hard worker, and a fast, smooth skater, he has been consistently among team's top scorers each year.

Sid Smith declared today that he has resigned as captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs to concentrate on improving his play next season Smith said he was slipping as a player because of the added responsability of being the team's captain

A tremendous opportunist and known for his ability to be in the right place at the right time. This resulted in his scoring 33 goals last season to bring his total to 154 in six years in the NHL, an average of better than 25 per season. His great all-around play resulted in Sid winning the All-Star left wing position and the Lady Byng trophy for the second time in 4 years.

Smythe make it plain that the Leafs want to keep the hustling leftwinger. Says Smythe: ''Smith is one of the most popular players on the team. We need a fellow like that around. He will help loosen up the club by taking off some of the pressure.''

Stafford Smythe, chairman of Toronto Maple Leafs' seven-man hockey committee, has disclosed forwards Dick Duff, Tod Sloan and Sid Smith are the team's representative of the National Hockey League Player's Association.

Halls Nomination Made

Nominated in the Veteran's Category are Woody Dumart, Edgar Laprade, Sid Smith and Harry Watson.

Quotes:

- ''It became my trademark, in a way.The thing was to keep an eye on the puck coming in from the point or in the direction of the net and just make that slight deflection because it threw the goalie off. He's play it for the shot from the point or wherever its from and I'm just sort of cruising in and making a deflection, or sometimes you caused a problem with the goalie. He'd lose sight of it because you are hanging around.'' - Sid Smith

- ''I can't ever recall a player coming from the American League to join a team in the Stanley Cup playoffs performing with the brilliance that Sid Smith has shown us.'' - Hap Day

- ''He use to roam all over the ice and now he's sticking with that wing. And he's learned how to carry the puck in and get around defencemen.'' - Hap Day


Fun & Interesting hockey facts:

- In 1948-49, Smith he led the American Hockey League in scoring with 112 points in 68 games. His total of 55 goals, matched that year by Carl Liscombe, stayed on the record books in the AHL for 34 years
- Account of Sid Smith first NHL goal:

''..out of one of these attacks, Meeker snaffles the puck, lays Sid Smith a pass. Smith hasn't seen much of the puck in his two games in the big time. He recognized it right away though and handled it as if he was born with a rubber plant in his mouth. He had a blond, burly and willing Fernand Flamon to out shuffle, and he did. Then from the wrong side backhanded a shot into the far corner.''
- Late in his career, the Leafs could have traded Smith to Detroit. He really didn't want to leave the City of Toronto and elected to play in Whitby instead.
- At the time of his retirement, only three active players, Gordie Howe, Maurice Richard and Ted Lindsay, had scored more goals. He was the Leafs' top goal scorer of the decade and was involved in 25% of the team's scoring plays during his highly productive stay.
- Smith scored three goals in his last pro game, the Allan Cup championship game
- In 1960, Smith attempted to return to the National Hockey League at the urging of Leafs boss Punch Imlach, but the league did not reinstate him
- The Los Angeles Kings general manager, Larry Regan, contacted his dad concerning a coaching job in L.A. With the Los Angeles situation, Smith made contract demands he knew Kings owner Jack Kent Cooke wouldn't capitulate to


Trades & Injuries:

- On October 15th, 1946, Smith signed as a free agent by the Quebec Aces (QSHL)
- On December 8th, 1946, he signed as a free agent with the Toronto Maple Leafs
- Smith almost had his career ended during a game in March of 1948 after injuring his knee. Smith was placed in the Pittsburgh Hornets' lineup in 1948-49 to rehabilitate the knee and work on his game


Miscellaneous:

- In 1950, Conn Smythe presented Sid Smith with a new car
- After his playing career, Smith worked briefly for Dunlop Tires. He had a gig with Labatts Brewing Company, but the bulk of his business career dealt with selling paper to lithographers and printers.


Internet Sites:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=14376#.USQJGZan0ng
http://hockeythenandnow.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/sid-smith-maple-leaf-forever-pt3.html
http://mapleleafslegends.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/sid-smith.html
http://thehockeywriters.com/tml-captains-sid-smith-1955-56
http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=459986
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/2004-04-29-leafs-smith_x.htm
http://hockeythenandnow.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/tips-from-sid-smith.html

 

[VanIslander]

6'1, 200 lbs. forward Jamie Langenbrunner, the clutch scorer and all-time great versatile role player who was a hero for two franchises in successful Stanley Cup championship runs and has earned praise for his consistent work ethic for 1000+ NHL games. He began his career as an NHL Calder trophy finalist, following that up with a selection on Team USA for the 1998 Olympics, though having to wait until the 2010 Olympics to win a medal, captaining a silver medal win and scoring 4 points. He did become a Stanley Cup champion in his 3rd NHL season, and the 23 year old played an important role in the postseason, scoring several crucial goals, 10 playoff goals that year, including a team-high 4 powerplay tallies, 17 points and 4th in ice time among forwards in the championship drive. His first full season in New Jersey he led the Devils in playoff goals with 11, including 4 game winners, and tied the lead in points with 18, second in ice time among forwards, as he won the Stanley Cup again, repeating his playoff heroics in a new city. He has 87 career playoff points in 146 playoff games to go along with his 663 points in 1109 regular season NHL games.

... an exemplary forechecker and penalty killer who was often assigned to shadow the best players on the opposition.... Langenbrunner's all-around solid play made him a natural leader...

http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=14811

Always leads by example and leaves everything he has on the ice.

http://forecaster.thehockeynews.com/hockeynews/hockey/player.php?1598

In January 2009, Langenbrunner scored two goals in each of three consecutive games, including three game winners for the Devils. Two of those game-winning goals were scored in overtime. His streak of three consecutive multi-goal games with a game-winning goal was last accomplished by Wayne Gretzky during the 1981–82 season.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Langenbrunner

He is widely credited for his impressive post-season performances, the most recent being the second overtime goal against the Ottawa Senators in the second round of the 2007 Playoff Series. It was his 12th game-winning goal and his fourth career playoff overtime goal. His 12 playoff game-winning goals top notable Hall of Famers such as Mario Lemieux, Cam Neely, and Paul Coffey and tie him with Legends such as Phil Esposito and Mark Messier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Langenbrunner

 

[Johnny Engine]

Corey Perry

Regular Season

G: 1, 9, 25, 36, 37
P:3, 20, T24*,

Playoffs

G: 9, 11
P: 8, 18

Awards and Accomplishments

2004-05
IIHF World Junior Championships gold medal (Canada)

2006–07:
Stanley Cup Champion (Anaheim)
2007–08:
Selected to All-Star Game[10]

2009-10:
2010 - Olympic gold medal (Canada)

2010–11:
Selected to All-Star Game
Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy
Hart Memorial Trophy
First All-Star Team
NHL's First Star of the Month*– March 2011

2011–12:
Selected to All-Star Game

Kind words

THN Scouting Report
Has excellent offensive instincts, a solid frame, agitating qualities and big-time scoring acumen. Is especially good at puck possession in the slot and in tight quarters. Has a long reach and an uncanny way of sliding by defenders. Plays well in the clutch, too.

He's a hard worker:

Randy Carlyle
"I don't think there's anyone who puts more pressure on themselves to perform than Corey Perry. His expectations of himself are pretty high. We love that. You can always ask for more. When you lean on a guy and ask for more, he never folds his tent"

He's deceptive and tricky:

Lubomir Visnovsky
"Lots of defenseman — I don't know how you say in English — don't play hard to him because he's Corey Perry, and he's not like [Sidney] Crosby or Ovechkin," Visnovsky said. And I think he is like these guys. I play against him in the practices, and it's not easy to beat him. Because he is not good [looking] skater, the guys like Crosby, I don't know, like [Martin] St. Louis, When he skates, he look like slow. And he's not slow, you know. He's very smart guy."

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/13/sports/la-sp-ducks-perry-20111014

Dustin Penner
"I'm noticing that Corey is getting back to the way he played in the AHL in the type of goals he is scoring. There are goal-scorers goals and greasy goals and Corey is the one who'll get those greasy goals. I watch video replay and ask myself, 'How does he do that?' If only I could have a few of those. He definitely has a nose for the net."

Corey Perry
"There's always a time when you say to yourself, 'You have to play this way since it's working for you,' and for me, that meant taking the role as an agitator. It's how I stay involved in the game."

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=370760

 

[Dreakmur]

Alec Connell !!!


Awards and Achievements:
2 x Stanley Cup Champions (1927, 1935)

Connell proved to be a quick study and joined the Kingston Frontenac Juniors of the Ontario Hockey Association in 1917 before moving to the Ottawa City League in 1919. It was there that he played alongside future Hall of Famer King Clancy while with Ottawa St. Brigid's in 1920-21. Noted for wearing a small black cap when he played, Connell turned pro with the Ottawa Senators for 1924-25 and backstopped Ottawa to the Stanley Cup in 1926-27. The following season saw him establish the National Hockey League record for longest shutout sequence of 461:29 by recording six consecutive shutouts, from January 31 to February 18, 1928. His record stands to this day and may never be broken.

Connell initially retired from hockey in 1933 but returned for one game during the 1933-34 season as a substitute goaltender for the New York Americans after an injury to Roy Worters forced "Shrimp" out of the game. Connell followed up by returning to the game full-time and won his second Stanley Cup as a member of the Montreal Maroons in 1935. Maroons manager and coach, Tommy Gorman, called Connell's performance in the 1935 playoffs the "greatest goalkeeping performance in the history of hockey." He then provided some specifics: "It was in the Stanley Cup playoffs when the Maroons were two men short. For three minutes, Connell put on an astounding effort against the Leafs, and the Maroons went on to win the Cup." The Maroons, who were underdogs in the best-of-five series, won in three straight games. Connell again announced his retirement and did not play in the 1935-36 season but returned to active duty with the English Montrealers for 27 games the following year before retiring for good.

Alec gave one of the greatest goalkeeping performances in the playoffs that year that I ever saw. It was his finest moment.

To me, Alec was a grand competitor, a great fellow and a great friend-one of the outstanding goalies of his time.

Alec was a great credit to hockey and one of its best goalies.

Alec was a fine sportsman and a fine gentleman. He was pretty hard to beat in any category.

Alec Connell, goal, has had fewer goals scored on him than any other net guardian so far this season and has made the most sensational debut of any goalie since John Ross Roach broke in with Toronto. Had seven shut-out games last year, four so far this season.

In the whirl of summer sport doings, an important piece of news was given very scant attention the other day - the fact that the Ottawa hockey club has signed goaler Alec Connell for a five-year term. This was announced by Pres. Frank Ahearn of the Ottawa club at the Capital the other day, and a sport scribe remarked to the Ottawa leader that if he got Connell for less than $5,000 per year, as hockey prices go today he got a bargain. "I got him for a great deal less than that," said President Ahearn. So he has a real bargain. Connell is possibly the greatest net-minder in the game today. That honor, curiously enough, rests pretty much between two Ottawa boys.

....

...Connell and Benedict. It was a coincidence that both these figured in the final play-offs for the eastern title, and speaks significantly of the importance of the goaler to present-day hockey machines which, for the most part, are formulated and molded with a view to keeping scores down rather than scoring goals.

....

Team after team was turned back scoreless before his keen eye, and alert hands and feet. Of course, he had in front of him a team which, defensively, out-classed any other in the League, with the amazing poke-check of Nighbor that breaks up countless attacks the fast-skating wings and the cleverness of Boucher and Clancy. But even when, in the closing match of the great play-off series with Montreal Maroons, this mighty machine cracked wide-open under relentless pressure, the slim figure of Connell stood, a mighty barrier, that held the crashing, driving Montrealers to one lone score. ...Connell, the imperturable, with his immobile face, his eagle eye, his lightning hands.

...has justified his unofficial title of "shut out" king of the National Hockey League by holding the opposing sharpshooters scoreless in six consecutive games. For six full playing periods of 60 minutes and three overtime sessions of 10 minutes each, Connell has guarded the Ottawa cage and thwarted the efforts of the league's best marksmen. ... Since the season opened the Senators have won six games by shutouts and have played in six scoreless ties.

Ever since midway through the second period they (Bruins) had assumed the offensive, with Falcons apparently content to play for a tie, a scoreless one if possible. And Connell, in the Detroit goal, seemed to be of the same opinion as he turned back shot after shot, sometimes with his stick, sometimes with his hands, sometimes with his chest and sometimes with his feet. The Bruins attacked from all sides and tried everything, often comign in alone on the athlete who last year had guarded the citadel of the Ottawa club, now defunct. ... Numberous opportunites were missed by both sides, although the Bruins, playing wide-open hockey in this season's opener, were surging in on Connell, who had 46 stops to only 22 for Tiny Thompson...

One bad night in Chicago when Connell was injured and Hawks scored six goals agaisnt him put a bad crimp in Alex's chances to take the [Vezina]. (Note: lost Vezina by four goals against)

(Referring to Connell's supposed last game of his career where he was shelled early and replaced). After seven years of ace-high performance, the crowd turned on Connell - he was a broken-hearted man.

....

From the very first game (1934 with Montreal), Connell started stopping pucks in an inspired manner that culminated in a sensational display in the playoffs of that year. Maroons won the Stanley Cup and Tommy Gorman termed Connell, the "greatest of them all".

....

The following year Gorman sought to get Connell back as Maroons goalkeeper and offered him a $9,000 contract. [paraphrase] But Connell rejected due to his obligations to the fire department.

....

Year after year he turned in steady and, at times, brilliant performances for the Senator club. In 1927, when Senators won the Stanley Cup in a bruising series with Boston, Connell starred as, time after time, he turned back Bruin scoring threats.

In hockey, Connell first gained prominence when he joined the Cliffside hockey team in 1919 and promptly helped this Ottawa club to win the Allan Cup.

 

[BraveCanadian]

With their 17th round pick (529) in the 2013 ATD, the Guelph Platers have selected: LW/RW Kelly Miller

Career Highlights:

Hobey Baker nominee - 1985
Selke Trophy Finalist - 1992
Stanley Cup Finalist - 1998



Vitals:

Born: March 3, 1963
Position: LW/RW
Height: 5-11
Weight: 195 lbs


Regular Season:

GP|G|A|Pts|+/-
1057|181|282|463|71

Kelly Miller's Selke record:

Season|Placing
86-87|Token
89-90|14th
90-91|7th
91-92|3rd
92-93|10th

Best Defensive Forward: Doug Gilmour (6), Joel Otto (5), Ron Francis (3), Dirk Graham (2), Brent Sutter (2), Murray Craven (1), Guy Carbonneau (1), Kelly Miller (1)

Hardest Worker: Doug Gilmour (6), Jeremy Roenick (5), Craig MacTavish (3), Kirk Muller (3), Kelly Miller (1), Pat Lafontaine (1), Ray Bourque (1), Joel Otto (1)

On January 1, 1987, Capitals general manager David Poile swung one of the best deals in team history. He sent Bobby Carpenter and a second round selection in the 1989 Entry Draft to the New York Rangers in exchange for Mike Ridley, Kelly Miller and Bob Crawford.
...
Miller evolved into one of the game's best and most durable defensive forwards. He was a Selke Trophy finalist in 1992 and ran up a string of 300-plus consecutive games. He spent twelve and a half seasons with the Capitals and holds the franchise record with 940 games played.
...

Adjusted plus-minus and on-ice/off-ice numbers for some defensive forwards since 1968.

I've picked their best 10 year prime.

Player | Years | Seasons | ESGF/S | ESGA/S | R-ON | R-OFF | AEV+/- | SH% | TmPK+
Bobby Clarke | 71-80 | 9.8 | 77 | 39 | 1.98 | 1.21 | 306 | 42% | 0.89
Craig Ramsay | 74-83 | 9.8 | 66 | 42 | 1.58 | 1.16 | 190 | 68% | 0.84
Bob Gainey | 77-86 | 9.5 | 55 | 45 | 1.22 | 1.47 | -26 | 52% | 0.91
Doug Jarvis | 78-87 | 10.0 | 39 | 36 | 1.09 | 1.46 | -61 | 54% | 0.90
Guy Carbonneau | 83-92 | 9.6 | 58 | 47 | 1.23 | 1.21 | 42 | 57% | 0.97
Steve Kasper | 81-90 | 8.4 | 50 | 58 | 0.86 | 1.24 | -133 | 48% | 0.94
Dave Poulin | 84-93 | 7.8 | 64 | 47 | 1.37 | 1.18 | 89 | 49% | 0.89
Kelly Miller | 88-97 | 9.8 | 50 | 47 | 1.06 | 1.06 | 12 | 51% | 0.92
Jere Lehtinen | 97-07 | 8.1 | 69 | 42 | 1.63 | 1.13 | 181 | 37% | 0.96
Kris Draper | 98-08 | 8.9 | 49 | 42 | 1.17 | 1.33 | -9 | 35% | 0.92
John Madden | 00-10 | 9.6 | 48 | 48 | 1.00 | 1.26 | -67 | 60% | 0.92
Mike Peca | 96-06 | 8.0 | 58 | 50 | 1.15 | 1.10 | 34 | 45% | 0.93

Stats Glossary
ESGF/S: Even strength goals for that the player was on the ice for, per season, adjusted to a scoring level of 200 ESG per team season
ESGA/S: Even strength goals against that the player was on the ice for, per season, adjusted to a scoring level of 200 ESG per team season
R-ON: Team GF/GA ratio at even strength while the player was on the ice.
R-OFF: Team GF/GA ratio at even strength while the player was on the ice.
AEV+/-: Adjusted even strength plus-minus. Based on R-ON and R-OFF.
SH%: Estimate of penalty killing ice time as a percentage of the team's penalty killing minutes. Based on goals against.
TmPK+: Strength of team's penalty kill. 1.00 is average, lower is better. 0.80 means they allowed goals at 80% a league average rate.

Comments:
In some cases here, the on-ice/off-ice method shows more about the player's role than the player's performance, so I'll add some notes.

Bobby Clarke - By far the best adjusted plus-minus, meaning only that he was by far the best two-way player on the list. It is interesting that his goals against were lower than most, although he probably played the most minutes. Probably got better offensive minutes than most players here.

Craig Ramsay - His adjusted plus-minus was incredible for a checking line player. Any reasons beyond his play? Luce and Gare were good linemates for him. Probably took advantage of the small ice in Buffalo. Note his phenomonal penalty killing numbers as well.

Bob Gainey - The adjusted plus-minus was ordinary, but Gainey was probably defensively leveraged a lot more than most checkers, hurting his chances to outscore. His R-OFF also included Guy Lafleur.

Doug Jarvis - The low goals for and against suggest that Jarvis had the smallest role at even strength of any player on this list - a combination of third and fourth line minutes.

Guy Carbonneau - His adjusted plus-minus was actually very good for a defensive player. The numbers were consistently good and fit the reputation as a top-tier defensive forward historically.

Steve Kasper - Got crushed at even strength compared to his teammates. This doesn't mean he was a bad player, a lot of third liners have had numbers like this playing the tough minutes. Most didn't do it for a decade.

Dave Poulin - Poulin played a different role than the other forward here for much of his career, centering Brian Propp on the Flyers' first line. As a result his goals for were higher than most players here. Propp and Poulin were also an excellent penalty killing duo.

Kelly Miller - Not mentioned yet, and his rep doesn't match most players here. I just included him because his numbers were very good at even strength and on the penalty kill, and there weren't many wingers or 90s forwards on this list. Underrated.

Jere Lehtinen - Like Poulin, he rode shotgun to a better player on a scoring/power vs power line, so the GF numbers are good. Not as big a penalty killing role as most on this list.

Kris Draper - Not as big a penalty kill a role as you might think, until you remember he was on a team with Sergei Fedorov and Steve Yzerman.

John Madden - Has played as pure a defensive forward role as anyone for the past decade, which may be why he hasn't outscored at the rate of his teammates. Huge penalty killing role on a good PK, although he's had a lot of support behind him.

Mike Peca - Probably played more minutes than most here in his prime, as his teams rarely had deep forward groups. Like Poulin and Lehtinen he was a first line player for a bit, unlike them he was the best player on the line.

Playoffs:

Miller was often used in conjunction with his center and certain defense pairings to shadow and/or contain the opposition's top players.

A couple examples:

...
In Games 3 and 4, Pittsburgh managed on goal, and the Capitals have made the Penguin power plays look silly.

Washington has disrupted the Penguins' offense in the Pittsburgh zone, and it has stuck numerous players on Lemieux to keep him down. The idea is to smother Super Mario with fresh players, and the strategy has worked. Forwards Kelly Miller, Dave Poulin and Michal Pivonka have made Lemieux almost a nonfactor.

The Capitals consistenly have broken up Pittsburgh attacks near the blue line, and they have turned those defensive stops into transition opportunities.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...=5868,7128081&dq=kelly-miller+defensive&hl=en

...
Although Gartner scored 49 goals in the regular season, he has scored just once in the first four Stanley Cup playoff games. Part of the reason is that the Capitals, a defense-oriented team, have tried to match both Langway and forward Kelly Miller against Gartner whenever he takes the ice.
...

http://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/11/sports/hockey-gartner-searches-for-scoring-touch.html



Quotations and Perspective:

Kelly Miller is known for his hustle. His specialities - forechecking, penalty killing and tenacity - don't get much attention.

When Miller scored 51 seconds into overtime Saturday night, giving the Washington Capitals a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 3 of the Patrick Division semifinals, he showed that there is more to him than his reputation.

"Kelly Miller doesn't get the credit he deserves," Capitals coach Bryan Murray said.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...g=2118,2601710&dq=capitals+kelly-miller&hl=en

Washington Capitals coach Terry Murray assigned his top defensive forward, Kelly Miller, the task of skating double shifts to shadow New York Islanders star Pat Lafontaine last night.

The strategy paid off, and not just where checking Lafontaine was concerned. Playing for the first time on a line with Miller and rookie Rob Murray, light-scoring John Druce contributed the go-ahead goal as the Caps defeated the Islanders 3-0...

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we...page=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

...
It's better to imagine a couple of of wolverines who have been force-fed caffeine. The hit the fast-forward button and you have a pretty good idea of what the New York Rangers have been facing.

...

Washington takes an ultra-aggressive approach to penalty-killing. The forwards - usually Mike Ridley and Kelly Miller or Tim Bergland and John Druce - pressure New York's point men, challenging them to make a good play. It hasn't happened often.

Even the Rangers' admire how the Capitals' are stifling their powerplay, but don't appreciate it.

"I like that system," New York center Bernie Nicholls said. "It's effective when you pressure people. I don't like giving guys time to set up. If you give a guy time - I don't care who it is - he's going to make a play.

If you can get pressure on them, you're going to be effective. We just try to move the puck around. You can't be holding the puck, because they're going to get you."

...

Washington has won the past three games. Not coincidentally, the Rangers have scored on two of 21 power plays in those games.

...

New York hasn't found an adequate replacement for defenseman Brian Leetch, out for the season with a broken ankle. Leetch quarterbacks the New York power play and without his direction and playmaking ability, the Rangers can be pressured into making mistakes.

That is the forte of Miller and Ridley, who got their first penalty killing experience while playing for New York.
...

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...BwhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=s2MEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6890,6421599

...
Kelly was a talented defensive forward known more for his hard work and determination than for his offensive skills. In 1982 he was drafted in the ninth round by the New York Rangers, who later dealt him to the Washington Capitals. At 5'11 and 195 pounds, Kelly is a frontline checker for the Caps and now even boasts a solid offensive game.
...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1142552/index.htm

Kelly Miller usually is not the vocal-leader type for the Washington Capitals. He's best known for his on-ice checking and his off-ice politeness.

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we...page=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

Kelly Miller is known for his work ethic and defense but last night, with top scoring threat Dino Ciccarelli scratched because of a slight groin pull, Washington's alternate captain used his slap shot to score two goals and life the Captials to a crucal 5-3 victory...
...

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we...page=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

Losing Kelly Miller would have been a public-relations disaster for the Washington Capitals, and they're already over quota on those. But matching the $2.65 million offer Miller got from the San Jose Sharks isn't exactly going to put David Poile in the running for NHL executive of the year.

Sure, the Caps hung on to one of the league's better checking forwards. Kelly Miller is a good player (and a good guy). But he's not a $1.325...

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we...page=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

​

 

[BubbaBoot]

Al Shields
defense

• Shoots: Right • Height: 6-0 • Weight: 188 lbs. •
• Born: May 10, 1907 • Ottawa, Ontario •
• Played: 1927/28 - 1937/38 (NHL) \\\ 1927/28 (OCHL) (CanAm) \\\ 1928/29 (AHA) \\\ 1938/39 - 1939/40 (IAHL) \\\ 1940/41 - 1941/42 (AHL) •

• Championships •
1935 (NHL)

• All-Star Team Voting •
(NHL) - 33-34 (T10) / 34-35 (T11)

• All-Star Games •
(NHL) - 1934
(AHL) - 1941 / 1942

• Achievements •
• Games
- 1929-30 NHL 44 (1)
- 1931-32 NHL 48 (1)
- 1932-33 NHL 48 (4)
- 1937-38 NHL 48 (2)
- Career NHL • 459 (T14th all-time for pre-WW2 era / 5th for defensemen)
- Career NHL PLAYOFFS • 8

• Goals
- Career NHL • 42 (T57th all-time for pre-WW2 era / T9th for defensemen)
- Career NHL PLAYOFFS • 0

• Goals Per Game
- Career NHL • 0.09 (T18th all-time with Red Horner for pre-WW2 era defensemen)

• Assists
- Career NHL • 46 (T51st all-time for pre-WW2 era / 15th for defensemen)
- Career NHL PLAYOFFS • 1

• Assists Per Game
- Career NHL • 0.10 (T24th all-time for pre-WW2 era defensemen)

• Points
- Career NHL • 88 (61st all-time for pre-WW2 era / 14th for defensemen)
- Career NHL PLAYOFFS • 1

• Points Per Game
- Career NHL • 0.19 (T23rd all-time with Cy Wentworth for pre-WW2 era defensemen)

• PIMs
- 1930-31 NHL 98 (4)
- 1932-33 NHL 119 (3)
- 1935-36 NHL 81 (2)
- 1936-37 NHL 94 (2)
- 1937-38 NHL 67 (4)
- Career NHL • 637 (6th all-time for pre-WW2 era / 5th for defensemen))
- Career NHL PLAYOFFS • 14

• career stats •

|gms | G |A |TP |PIMs|+/- |G/gm|A/gm|PP |SH
NHL | 459 |42 |46 |88 |637 | |.09 |.10 | |
NHL PLAYOFFS| 17 |0 |1 |1 |14 | | .0 |.06 | |
IAHL | 70 |7 |11 |18 |43 | |.10 |.16 | |
AHL | 102 |12 |26 |38 |83 | |.12|.26 | |

• career team records •
(original) Ottawa Senators (NHL) - games (10) / goals (T17) / assists (T18) / points (T18) / PIMs (11)
Montreal Maroons (NHL) - games (20) / goals (24) / assists (20) / points (22) / PIMs (13)
NY Americans (NHL) - games (43) / PIMs (14)
New Haven Eagles (IAHL / AHL) - games (T18) / goals (T17) / assists (16) / points (18) / PIMs (6)

• Accolades •

Al Shields was a highly respected player who was solidly built and rough when he had to be, though off ice he was an easy going individual.

He began his playing days in Ottawa with the Montagnards before signing with the Senators as a free agent in 1928 when he made his NHL debut. After three seasons with the Sens, Shields was traded to the Philadelphia Quakers in 1930. He spent only one season in Philly after being claimed by the New York Americans in the Dispersal Draft of 1931. Once again, he spent only one season in New York before heading back to Ottawa for two more seasons.

After being traded to the Montreal Maroons for the 1934-35 season, Shields enjoyed a memorable playoff as the Maroons swept the Toronto Maple Leafs three games to none to take the Stanley Cup. This would be Shields' only Cup championship. He spent one more season in Montreal before being loaned to the New York Americans for the 1936-37 season, who then in turn loaned him to the Boston Bruins for the remainder of the year. Shields was then returned to the Maroons where he played the 1937-38 season, his last in the NHL.

Allan played in the longest game in NHL history. Montreal Maroons vrs. Detroit Red Wings, March 1936.

In 1934 he was selected to the First NHL All-Star Team ever assembled.

As an interesting side note, in 1930/31 he along with Syd Howe and Wally Kilrea were loaned from Ottawa to the Philadelphia Quakers to help liven up the team and attract more Quaker fans. Philly was in bad financial shape at the time and needed greater attendance to survive. With the assistance of Shields and company their games became "quite exciting", culminating with a Christmas Day game when the entire Philadelphia police force were called to quell a near riot.

On a couple of occasions during his career, he had to fill in as a goalie. In those days no spare goalie was available and if the one and only was injured during a game one of the players had to fill-in.

He played in the AHL for the Washington Lions, Buffalo Bisons and the New Haven Eagles from 1938 to 1942. He served as playing coach for Washington and then enlisted in the RCAF. Shields was selected to All-Star teams twice during his AHL career.

During his service in the airforce he was playing coach for the RCAF Sabres stationed in Arnprior, Ontario.
After the war, "Big Pete" went on to Referee in the AHL from 1946 to 1948 and then hung up his skates permanently.

Allan Shields was reported in the media at the time, as "a clean, rugged player" and "one of the most valuable defensemen in the entire league". King Clancy who was best man at Shields' wedding, had nothing but praise for Allan's ability as a defenseman.

(borrowed from Bring Back Scuderi bio)

The battle started when Milks, Philly forward, struck George Owen, who had checked him near the Boston net. Eddie Shore, aggressive Bruin defense star, rushed to Owen's side, but Allan Shields crossed his path and they swapped blows. Every player on the ice, with the exception of Pete Cude, the Quakers' goalie, then entered the fray and peace was not restored until a dozen policemen were rushed onto the ice.

(borrowed from Bring Back Scuderi bio)

Allan Shields, a clever blocker has been secured from Montreal Maroons and Dutton plans to team the burly, blond Ottawan with the hard-hitting Allan Murray as the first string reaguard.

(borrowed from Bring Back Scuderi bio)

An unusual display occurred near the end of the first period that led to a small-sized riot. Happy Emms came in with the puck, on right wing, and Allan Shields put him down at the side of the Ottawa net. As Shields stepped clear of his fallen rival, it appeared as if Emms tried to kick him with his skate. Shields waited until Emms got up, and then went for him. Players of both teams mixed in... Cooper Smeaton tacked majors onto Shields, Finnigan, Carson, and gave Emms a match penalty. Emms protested his innocence, but Smeaton was right beside the play, and would listen to no argument from the Detroit player.

(borrowed from Selfish Man bio)

The Conachers -- Lionel of Maroons and Charlie of Leafs -- didn't come together once. XXXX XXXXX and Allan Shields were the Montreal defensemen looking after Charlie's side of the rink. They did high class work keeping out the big Toronto marksman.

(borrowed from Selfish Man bio)

Maroons defence made the difference between a cup-winning team and an also ran. Led by Wentworth, Conacher, Shields and XXXXX played great hockey. The feature of the Maroons play right through the series was their marvellous defensive game, backed by superb goaltending by Connell. In the pinches, Maroons defence stood out as the class of the league.

.........

At some point in the third, Philadelphia player XXX XXXXX started a rush out of his own zone, only to get clipped by Bruins defenseman XXXXXX XXXX. XXXXX took exception, and he and XXXX got into it (years later, XXXX would claim that XXXXX slashed him prior to the clip, and his hit was retribution. Oh, hockey players). A nice holiday scrap for the gathered crowd, I'm sure most in the audience thought.

That was only the beginning, as it turns out. Eddie Shore, XXXX's D-partner, decided to get involved, too, and that was apparently the signal to start what the Boston Globe delightfully called a "Battle Royale." I could cry, this story is so amazing.

Once Shore jumped in, it was a freaking free-for-all. Every player on BOTH teams threw themselves into the fray (the lone exception being the Quaker's goalie, who was at the wrong end of the ice). Milks and XXXX were "rolling around on the ice" while Dit Clapper "stood whacking, dropping Willie Kilrea." It was at this point that the police were called in (the police, guys) to try to stop the two teams from actually ripping each other's limbs off.

At some point, a Quaker player who had already been in the penalty box jumped out and threw himself at the nearest Bruin. Shore and the Philly player he was fighting had to be physically separated by the cops, and in the meantime, the police were simultaneously arresting people in the stands who, not wanting to be left out of the fun, were lobbing "missiles" at the players. When all was said and done, the brawl to end all brawls had lasted over 10 minutes, Christmas Carols being played over the speakers the whole time. Ah-mazing.

Eventually a billion penalties and "match fouls" were handed out, and the referees tried valiantly to shepherd the game through the last minutes of the third. Another fight promptly broke out, of course, at which point I like to think the refs were like ‘Eff it, let ‘em kill each other.'

The reporters on the scene were downright gleeful about this whole thing, by the way. The article that appeared the next day in the Globe included this tidbit: "The affair, however, excelled anything ever seen in a hockey game in Boston. It was far more exciting than the battle of the ‘rotten eggs' at the arena five years ago. The police drove the spectators out of the lobbies." And twelve years later, people were still wistfully remembering the "most glorious free-for-all in the history of Boston professional hockey."

I'm not actually trying to glorify rampant violence here, my friends. But I think most people here appreciate the value of a good scrap in hockey (for all the reasons that lilybraden lays out so wonderfully here). Part of the Bruins image, and part of how fans relate to and understand the team, is this idea of the rough and tumble Big Bad Bruins. That image hasn't always been accurate, but the 1930-1931 squad would probably fit the bill fairly nicely.

Because 82 years ago, on a magical Christmas night, actual police had to separate Eddie Shore from Al Shields while fans threw objects on the ice. If that's not a Christmas miracle, Boston-style, then I don't know what is. [*side note: Ironically, Shields later played briefly with the Bruins.]

 

[BraveCanadian]

With their 14th round pick (432) in the 2013 ATD, the Guelph Platers have selected: D, Craig Ludwig

"He was a classic stay-at-home defenseman, perhaps the best of his era"

-- Greatest Hockey Legends


Career Highlights:

1985-86 Stanley Cup Champion (Montreal)
1988-89 Stanley Cup Finalist (Montreal)
1998-99 Stanley Cup Champion (Dallas)


Vitals:

Born: March 15, 1961
Position: LW/RW
Height: 6-3
Weight: 220 lbs


Regular Season:

Never much of one for offense, Craig Ludwig was a noted old fashioned stay-at-home defensive defenseman with a punishing physical streak and reputation for blocking tons of vulcanized rubber.

(A player poll with 123 NHL players responding)

Name|Votes
Best Defensive Defenseman|
Mike Ramsey|34
Brad McCrimmon|17
Kevin Lowe|14
Craig Ludwig |13
Raymond Bourque|8

1994 St Louis Post-Dispatch Coaches Poll, in conjunction with Beckett Hockey Magazine.

From the St Louis Post-Dispatch, May 7, 1994.


Best Shot Blocker
1. Guy Carbonneau (12) 2. Craig Ludwig (4).
Others (1) Garth Butcher, Steve Chaisson, Mike Keane, Craig MacTavish, Craig Muni, Joel Otto, Mike Ramsey, Paul Ranheim, Kjell Samuelsson, Mark Tinordi.

This category was the stumper for most voters.
"That's a lost art," said Crisp, who chose Butcher.
"Carbonneau," King said, "but only because Curt Giles is gone. It's a dying art."
Berry chose Ramsey of Pittsburgh before the playoffs. Otherwise, he might have backed Dallas' Ludwig, who blocked many shots in the Round 1 sweep of the Blues.

Top 2 DEF Who Had The Most PK Ice Time With That Teams

DEFs Come Up Multiple Times

DEF | #
Chris Chelios |9
Bill Hajt |6
Denis Potvin |5
Ray Bourque |5
Serge Savard |4
Mike Ramsey |4
Scott Stevens |4
Tim Horton |4
Nicklas Lidstrom |4
Terry Harper |3
Mike Milbury |3
Richard Smehlik |3
Guy Lapointe |3
Ed Van Impe |3
Bill White |3
Jim Schoenfeld |3
Keith Magnuson |3
Barry Ashbee |2
Don Sweeney |2
Jerry Korab |2
Adam Foote |2
Rick Lapointe |2
Kevin Lowe |2
Adrian Kea |2
Craig Ludwig |2
Steve Smith |2
Al Macinnis |2
Joe Watson |2
Rick Zombo |2
Brian Leetch |2
Richard Matvichuk |2
Rob Blake |2
Brad Mccrimmon |2
Rod Seiling |2
Hal Gill |2
Dallas Smith |2
Craig Muni |2
Rod Langway |2
Mike O'Connell |2
Paul Coffey |2
Bobby Orr |2
Glen Wesley |2
Douglas Park |2
Jason York |2
Doug Bodger |2
Chris Pronger |2
Brad Marsh |2
Willie Mitchell |2
Nick Schultz |2
Mattias Norstrom |2
Greg Zanon |2
Dan Hamhuis |2

Playoffs:


During the 86 Finals..

Patrick Roy wasn't tested severly, except on a few occasions in the first period, and the principal reason for it is that the Canadiens defence, as a group, was stunning.

Gaston Gingras was a team leader, and so were Rick Green and Craig Ludwig. They locked an iron first around the Flames almost from start to finish, holding them to only two shots in the second period and five in the third.

...

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAAIBAJ&pg=4206,1822039&dq=craig-ludwig&hl=en



Quotations and Perspective:

Craig Ludwig came into his own this year as a hard-hitting, defensive defence-man for the Canadiens. His bruising body checks, combined with improved puck handling, has earned the 24-year old new respect among Habs fans.

Ludwig, who knows how to use his 6-foot-3 212 pound frame to best advantage, managed 5 goals and 14 assists in the 72 regular season games he played this season. He was a plus-five in defensive ratings.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...IBAJ&pg=6018,710558&dq=craig-ludwig+hit&hl=en

...
Ludwig's work was merely an extension of the quality hockey he's played all season. Trouble is, nobody notices.

"The guys in the room notice," said Ludwig. "And anyway, it doesn't bother me at all. I'm not the kind of player who should be noticed at all. I don't stick out."

"Lookit," he added, "I figure I've got one of the easiest jobs. All I have to do is hit people and move the puck up. Other guys have to make things happen. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to make things happen, but I don't like taking chances. I don't do anything spectacular."

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=1444,4548465&dq=craig-ludwig+hit&hl=en

...

A short time later, centre Steve Ludzik suffered a possible broken left collarbone, after being crushed into the boards by Montreal defenceman Craig Ludwig.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...pg=3722,3233249&dq=craig-ludwig+crushed&hl=en

Oilers winger Mike Grier sprained his left knee last night when he was crushed on a first-period hip check by Craig Ludwig. He left the game..

Just when they thought it couldn't get any worse, the Stars face the prospect of losing yet another defenseman with Craig Ludwig's suspension pending a review of his hit on Anaheim winger Teemu Selanne.

Ludwig was suspended Monday. A review of the hit, which touched off a series of melees late in Friday night's game at Reunion, was to be scheduled, presumably for Tuesday.

...

Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said he believed it was just a matter of time before someone, on either side, was seriously hurt in that game.

"The thing that bothered us was that we thought a couple of our key guys were getting run at," he said.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=5315,2533772&dq=craig-ludwig+hit&hl=en



​

 

[BillyShoe1721]

D Bob Armstrong

4x Top 13 Norris Voting(7, 8, 9, 13)
4x Top 13 AS Voting(6, 8, 10, 13)
1960 NHL All Star Game Participant(on merit)
2x Top 9 PIM(4, 9)

Bob Armstrong was a solid stay-at-home defenseman who graduated to the Bruins after one season in the AHL with the Hershey Bears. Nicknamed "Satch," Armstrong played 542 NHL games, scoring 13 goals and 99 points.

He partnered with Leo Boivin for most of this career. Both Armstrong and Boivin were noted hard hitters, making for an intimidating Boston back line. But Armstrong was clean, not picking up a lot of unnecessary penalties, unless of course he somehow lost his gloves and stick.

http://bruinslegends.blogspot.com/2011/12/bob-armstrong.html

A bruising, hard-hitting defenceman, Armstrong anchored the Boston blueline for every one of his 542 career NHL games after graduating from Stratford in junior hockey. He never rushed the puck, got into plenty of fights, and made it to the Stanley Cup finals twice, losing to Montreal in 1953 and again in 1957.

http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=11866

"He could tie up guys in such a way that wouldn't draw penalties," said Red Sullivan.

Long before Ted Green and Derek Sanderson came along to vent their fury with the big, bad Boston Bruins, Bob Armstrong was terrorizing opponents on the Bruins' blueline. A big, balding "defensive defenseman", Armstrong scored only 13 goals in 10 full seasons, but he could hit.

Throughout his decade-long career with the Bruins, Armstrong was considered a solid performer in the club's defensive corps. The ex-Bruin rates his talents a little more severely. "I had to work like hell. I wasn't a very good skater. I couldn't go around my grandmother. I tried never, ever to let anybody go inside... ever. The threat of scoring is minimized that way."

I always liked Bob - and not only because we were both prematurely bald, either. He'd played for me in Springfield the year before. Really played well. Good defensive hockey player.

http://books.google.com/books?id=lW...EwAQ#v=onepage&q=bob armstrong hockey&f=false

Boston was using two rookie defensemen, Bob Armstrong and Warren Godfrey, but they played flawlessly.

https://www.google.com/search?um=1&...94,d.dmg&fp=37f6f3b5dc7a862f&biw=1366&bih=611

Rugged Leo Boivin was outstanding while paired with Fernie Flaman, and Bob Armstrong played a steady game on the ice with Bill Quackenbush.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...pg=7022,1930939&dq=bob+armstrong+bruins&hl=en

The goal that got the Bruins on the way last night was not only a big one for them , but a vent for Bob Armstrong. A steady defenseman, Armtrong is no prolific...

PPV quote, probably goes on to say Armstrong was a steady defenseman that didn't score often, which makes sense.

https://www.google.com/search?q=bob...494,d.dmg&fp=d02f3fae4df3ecf&biw=1366&bih=611

 

[BillyShoe1721]

LW Dave Trottier

1x Stanley Cup Champion
4th in Goals, 31-32
11th in Assists, 31-32
6th in Points, 31-32
VsX Scores: 88, 70, 60, 51, 50
Leading Scorer in 1928 Olympics

Sturdy winger Dave Trottier was born in Pembroke, Ontario, in 1906.

The speedy Trottier also represented Canada as a member of the Grads in 1928 at the Olympic Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where he helped the Canadian squad win the gold medal by scoring 12 goals and setting up three others in the short three-game tournament.

But his game featured more than scoring - Trottier was also earning a reputation as one of the pro game's best checking forwards. In 1934-35, he was an important part of the Maroons' drive to the Stanley Cup, a playoffs that climaxed in a three-game sweep of the Leafs in the best-of-five finals. His consistent play with Montreal earned him a spot in the Howie Morenz Memorial Game in 1937, a precursor to the All-Star Game.

http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=14574

Dave Trottier was one of the greatest amateur left wings in the history of hockey, and his numbers show it.

But 1927-28 was Trottier's year of glory. He scored a whopping 33 goals,10 assists for 43 points in just 12 games, all of which led the OHA Seniors. The best was yet to come, though. Toronto represented Canada t the 1928 Olympics, winning the gold medal. The speedy Trotter was just phenomenal in the three games Canada played as he scored 12 goals, had 3 assists for 15 points, all of which led Olympic scorers.

A great stickhandler and a willing fighter, Trottier was always ready to mix it up with any of the boys. Indeed, he had 94 minutes in penalties in his outstanding 1931-32 season.

He remained a valuable player, a coach's dream really, by earning a reputation as one of the game's top checking forwards. Had the NHL had an award honouring defensive forwards back then, Dave Trottier likely would have won one year.

]Like his fellow townsman, Frank Nighbor, Trottier swings a clever poke-check, and he is a back-checking fiend.[/B] His five goals and two assists last night attest to his shooting ability.

Considered one of the smoothest skaters in the game, Trottier jumped to Montreal Maroons in 1928.

Dynamic Jimmy Ward and smooth Dave Trottier were the spark-plugs of the Maroons attack throughout.

Dave Trottier and Russ Blinco played grand individual games, rushing dangerously and checking back well.

Trottier intercepted a Carson to Marker pass in Montreal territory and skated the length of the ice for the final score of the evening.

Dave Trottier, of Montreal, and Phil Watson provided most of the excitement of the period, though, as they tangled in a brief fist fight.

The Boston papers carried a lot of propaganda concerning the brutal tactics of the Maroons in Montreal as opposed to the saint-like manouevers of Boston's beloved Bruins. The crowd was howling particularly for the blood of Hooley Smith and Dave Trottier, whom the local newspapers rode unmercifully and to an unnecessary degree. However, both Dave and Hooley took good care of themselves and came out of the game quite whole.

Dave Trottier was a left winger with the Montreal Maroons, who had impressive offensive numbers to go along with a fiar number of minutes racked up in the penalty box.

The Maroons, from the time they entered the league, were a tough team known for occasionally using nasty tactics to achieve their victories. Early in the series between the Maroons and Bruins, Trottier tangled with a young Boston player, and decided to disentangle himself from the rookie by slamming him in the face with the butt end of his stick.

http://books.google.com/books?id=AH...0CEIQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=dave trottier&f=false

Maroon forward Dave Trottier had the puck at center ice and was bearing down on Wilf in the Habitant nets. Suddenly, Trottier snapped off an unexpected long shot that whizzed past the startled Cude and into the cage. With his stick raised triumphantly in the traditional "I just scored a goal" pose, Trottier circled the net, paused at the goalmouth and laughed in Cude's ever-reddening face. That did it. Swinging his heavy goalie's lumber like a medieval mace, Cude chased the still giggling Trottier all the way to center ice until the frenzied netminder was forcibly restrained by his teammates and led back to the confines of his goal crease.

http://books.google.com/books?id=wp...a=X&ei=cC9CUdO_AtDA4AP59YCYAQ&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBQ

Led by future NHL star Dave Trottier, Canada made it 3 straight Gold Medals.

https://www.google.com/search?q=dav...94,d.dmg&fp=37f6f3b5dc7a862f&biw=1366&bih=638

After Dave Trottier started hostilities by making a quick dash at the New York net...

https://www.google.com/search?q=dav...cdr:1,cd_min:1/1/1925,cd_max:1/1/1940&tbm=nws

But the game's thrills were not exhausted, for there was a seething climax as Lorne Chabot, Canadien goalie, and Dave Trottier, Maroon left wing, tangled in a vicious fight.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=6345,3768045&dq=dave+trottier&hl=en

He was injured near the start of the second period, when he was spilled by Dave Trottier, and had to be carried from the ice.

https://www.google.com/search?q=dav...494,d.dmg&fp=d02f3fae4df3ecf&biw=1366&bih=638

McVeigh was the outstanding player for the Americans while Dave Trottier on the offense and Lionel Conacher on the defense shone for Montreal.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=3089,4800870&dq=dave+trottier&hl=en

Babe Siebert and Dave Trottier were sent into action early in the 3rd period. This combination was the right one for the vigor and aggressiveness of their attacks left the Toronto back-checkers behind and temporarily knocked the Leaf rearguard off balance.

Their attack was short but highly concentrated and effective. They whirled into Toronto territory with driving forcefulness and when they were repulsed once they returned the stronger.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAAIBAJ&pg=6552,317017&dq=dave+trottier&hl=en

Dave Trottier, a little lighter than last year, has shown some nice fast work in practices and will be patrolling the left wing when Baldy Northcott is not on the ice.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...&pg=5603,3601095&dq=dave+trottier+check&hl=en

After the final bell Dave Trottier and Bob Gracie of Montreal and Peggy O'Neil of Boston engaged in fisticuffs en route to the dressing room.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...J&pg=1614,880346&dq=dave+trottier+check&hl=en

Trottier rifled in 5 goals and assisted in scoring two others, and at all time featured with his brilliant work on the forward line. He is a great skater like all the other Grads are but it's his ability as a puck carrier and a goal getter that gives him the edge over Lou Hudson and Hugh Plaxton.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...&pg=6896,4880384&dq=dave+trottier+check&hl=en

 

[VanIslander]

defenseman Howard McNamara, the captain of the 1916 Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens, finishing first in scoring among defenders in the NHA that season. He was known everywhere he went as a rusher who could hand out and take physical play, and his defending skills have been noted often as well. He scored more goals (47) and more assists (17) over more seasons (11) than his HHOF inducted brother, in an argument presented by a blogger who cites Frank Selke Sr. of the Hall of Fame nominating committee, in a letter to Mike Rodden, sportswriter and former NHL referee, in which Selke apparently wrote: "Between ourselves Mike - when George was admitted [to the Hall] Howard's wife told a friend of mine that George could not carry Howard's skates. I asked [Art] Ross and Lester [Patrick] about this and they said, which one was Howard?" The Dynamite Twins, as they were known, were both huge, Howard more offensive minded and George more known for his bodychecks and nastiness. Both were captains for NHA teams, George in Toronto and Howard in Montreal.

A cartoon in the Toronto World depicted the 228th's muscular captain Howard McNamara running roughshod over his opponents while Germany's fretful Wilhelm Kaiser looks on, exclaiming to his chinless wonder of a son "They tell me this man is coming over to visit us with the Canadian devils."

Bad Man Hall found his match when he stacked up against Howard McNamara Saturday. McNamara rushed and Mr. Hall politely slipped the butt end of his stick into the dynamite twin's rib. McNamara stopped and handled Hall two stiff raps on the ribs that sent him to his knees. McNamara is generally considered one of the cleanest players in the league"

Defenseman Howard McNamara was one of the biggest players of his era, tipping to scales at 240 pounds.

McNamara loved to play the body and be physical. It was rare that an opponent would openly challenge him in the corners, usually outweighing them by at least 50 or 60 pounds.

"Howard and George McNamara used their bodies and Percy Leseur was in wonderful form"

"Howard and George McNamara were effective with excellent body checks"

The McNamara boys used their bodies with deadly effect and the Ottawa forwards were seldom able to penetrate their stronghold.

Howard McNamara and Corbeau were more effective in stopping the fast attacks of the locals than any other pair seen this year.

The defence, Bert Corbeau and Howard McNamara, were tough and reliable

"McNamara saved a goal by grabbing the puck with his hand while lying down in front of the goal"

"McNamara and all the forwards took a band in the bombardment of the net"

It has been suggested that Howard McNamara would "stop" if subjected to hard body checking. The champions tried it and gave the big fellow a severe gruelling, but he took all that was given him without losing his effectiveness.

... he wouldn’t be one to shy away from the game’s physical nature, logging 119 penalty minutes...

Captain Howard McNamara, leading a squad of the 228th Battalion, staged a spirited attack on the enemy on Saturday evening in the Arena.

"McNamara set sail down the ice alone and lifted one into the net from outside the defence"

"Howard McNamara did the heavy work for the next one. He carried it down and drew the defence over and then passed neatly...

Howard McNamara made a rush and carried the rubber into Quebec ice.

"A minute later Howard McNamara rushed the length of the ice"

As for him playing forward, all the lineup cards I could find with him on them have him listed on defence:

Mar 2, 1911: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FkMuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PtkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5168,4544915&dq
Jan 6, 1913: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TRYqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_YQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1973,561590&dq
Jan 20, 1913: news.google.com/newspapers?id=WBYqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_YQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6936,2125096&dq
Jan 23, 1913: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=g2UBAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dioDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2738,318439&dq
Jan 26, 1914: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8jEBAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zSgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1518,4047411
Feb 19, 1914: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SJ4GAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6ygDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3381,1178770&dq
Feb 11, 1915: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9D4BAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wikDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4238,4817657&dq
Dec 28, 1916: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zl8DAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_igDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1376,3936548&dq
Feb 3, 1916: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GvhSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iYMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1650,5387675&dq
Mar 20, 1916: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gHpGAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nCgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5052,4096469&dq
Jan 15, 1917: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=o74mAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_igDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3097,6107695&dq
Jan 22, 1917: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qb4mAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_igDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1499,6961660&dq

 

[Leaf Lander]

Bob Davidson

size: 5'11, 185 (a big player in his era)
position: LW
shot: left
jersey number: 4, 18
nickname: "Rugged Robert"
born: February 10, 1912 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
died: September 26, 1996 of cancer in Toronto

Originally Posted by legendsofhockey.net
Bob Davidson played his entire 12-year NHL career in a Toronto Maple Leafs' uniform, from 1934 to 1946. Known as one of the top defensive forwards in the NHL, that moniker was put to the test in the 1944 Stanley Cup semi-finals, when Davidson's assignment was to shadow Montreal's Maurice "The Rocket" Richard in game two of their best-of-seven series.
...
Ironically, that 1943-44 season was Davidson's finest from an offensive point of view. He tallied 19 goals and 28 assists for 47 points, all career highs. He was a member of two Stanley Cup winning teams in Toronto, in 1941-42 and again in 1944-45 and captained the second championship victory in the absence of Syl Apps, who was off fighting for Canada in the Second World War. Upon Apps' return to the team in 1945, Davidson promptly returned the captaincy to him, noting that Apps who was the true leader of the club. He later served as a scout for the team for more than forty years.

Originally Posted by Shorty Green, in 1-5-1944 Calgary Herald
I always thought Sweeney Schriner, Syl Apps and Davidson were the best of the modern Leafs. Davidson is better than a lot of people think. He's always in there, and goals scored off Davidson's wing in a year are few and far between.

Originally Posted by Milt Schmidt, quoted in Ultimate Hockey
I've known few men who exceeded Woody (Dumart) in his talent, both ways on the ice. The only comparison that comes readily to mind is Bob Davidson.

Although their careers only overlapped for 3 seasons, Bob Davidson was Maurice Richard's first nemesis.

Originally Posted by Calgary Herald: 1-26-1981
You could say that Rocket Richard and Bob Davidson were almost inseparable on the ice.
....
Up until that time, it had been customary for NHL teams to put a shadow on a high-scoring star in occasional key games. But Hap Day was the pioneering genius who decided to assign one man to check Richard for an entire season.

Richard wasn't much of a talker in first few years in the league. He left the talking to the Montreal coach, Dick Irvin, who was a provocative conversationalist. Irvin publicly deplored Day's campaign to thwart his high-scoring right winger. Said Irvin scornfully: "If I let The Rocket go to the bathroom during a game, I'll bet that Davidson follows him."

The Montreal hockey fanatics were even more indignant than Irvin. In that era, there was no protective glass in front of the rail-seats in the Montreal Forum. One night, when Richard and Davidson were jostling for position on a face-off inside the Montreal blue-line, Day looked out onto the ice and discovered he didn't have a left winger.

A couple of inflamed Montreal fans had grabbed Davidson by the shoulders and pulled him right over the fence into the walkway behind the rail-seats.

Quote:
Toronto's Bob Davidson was assigned to shadow Richard, and his defense helped the Maple Leafs register an upset in the first game. "He stayed so close to me that I got angry," Richard said. "I remember going up to their goalie, Paul Bibeault, and telling him things would be different in the next game."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ottawa Citizen: 11-15-1945
Hector "Toe" Blake and rugged Elmer Lach played a star role in the Montreal victory. Blake tallied two goals, both on assists by the center ice star who set the plays up perfectly. Their linemate, Maurice Richard, was too closely shadowed by left-winger Bob Davidson of Toronto to have any scoring opportunities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saskatoon Star-Phoenix: 3-23-1945
The first period mix-up was a regular free-for-all that took 6 or 7 minutes to straighten out. Toe Blake and Wally Stanowski started it, Maurice Richard and Bob Davidson kept things going by slugging at each other 4 or 5 different times.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Montreal Gazette: 12-20-1949
Toronto writers have suddenly discovered Maurice Richard. Maple Leaf Gardens was the Rocket's toughest campaigning spot for several seasons. Largely because Hap Day used to assign rugged Bob Davidson to hound the Montreal speedster, and practically rode around the Rocket's back (sic). Davidson was no puckchasing sensation, but the NHL had few more diligent defensive workmen. Milt Dunnell of the Toronto Star is the latest Queen City chronicler to realize that Dick Irvin's whirling dervish must have something besides a touch of magic to bag all those goals.



That 1949 report is corroborated by Maurice Richard's statistics. Richard's scoring vs TML from '44-'46 was very uneven. Richard tended to explode at home, and scored much much less in Toronto than at home.

Richard vs TML, '44-'46, playoffs included
in Montreal: 26g, 10a, 36p in 20 games --- (1.8p per game)
in Toronto: 8g, 4a, 12p in 19 games ------ (.63p per game)

2 playoff series in '44 and '45 are perfect examples of this uneven scoring. Richard had games of 5g, 2+3, and 4+1 at home, but his highest output on road was 1g.


Newspapers described how Richard dominated when Davidson was on the bench:

Originally Posted by Montreal Gazette: 3-24-1944
To Bob Davidson, one of the loop's leading back-checkers, was assigned the task of hobbling the rocketing Richard, and he did a good job of it in the first game. Last night, Irvin played 4 defencemen and only 8 forwards and Richard played on all 3 lines. Half the time he was out there, Davidson was sitting on the bench and Richard made a monkey of the younger Leafs who tried to take over the task of shadowing him.
....
A fan may have aided the Canadiens to score their first goal: that at least is what the Leafs claim. He tore Bob Davidson's stick out of his hands while the Habs were pouring on the power. Then he threw the stick after Davidson and it looked as though the latter was back in plenty of time to resume his position, though the Leafs claim otherwise. But it was right after this that Richard combined with McMahon and Blake to rifle the puck past Paul Bibeault.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Maple Leaf: 4-13-1944
Bob Davidson successfully checked Maurice Richard to a standstill in the first game, but coach Irvin out-juggled Hap Day in the second, got Richard on the ice when Davidson was on the bench, and the speedy winger promptly busted a modern Stanley Cup record by scoring all the Canadiens 5 goals in a 5-1 victory.

Although Bob Davidson often played on a scoring line, he was not a very good offensive player, and was used more for his intangibles: defensive play, hard work and physicality. During Davidson's career ('36-'46) he was the 23rd highest scorer, scoring slightly more than half a point per game.



"Rugged Robert" was known for his tenacious and gritty style of play. He often played on a scoring line as a "glue guy," doing dirty work for linemates Syl Apps, Gordie Drillon, Mel Hill, Ted Kennedy and others.

Originally Posted by Ottawa Citizen: 9-24-1986
...one of the finest lines: rugged Bob Davidson at left wing, speedy Syl Apps at centre, and, at right wing, the scoring magician Gordie Drillon.

Originally Posted by Toronto Star: 9-28-1996
He was normally the industrious flanker to the left of the spectacular Syl Apps.

Originally Posted by Calgary Herald: 11-6-1940
Rugged Robert, who has skated miles up and down the left wing patrol during his 7 years with the Leafs, came to an abrupt halt when his knee gave out during last Monday's practice.
...
Cover Up Guy
Silent partner of the Leafs' famous D-A-D line, Davidson is the cover-up guy for his more famous teammates -- Syl Apps and Gordie Drillon. The goals he has saved by his backchecking equal if not eclipse those scored by his pals.

Always in condition and ever willing, Davidson is the ideal team player that every manager cherishes. Manager Conn Smythe, watching his tireless skating in a recent drill, remarked: "I never have to worry about Bobbie. He's always in there when the going is the toughest."

Originally Posted by Windsor Daily Star: 3-24-1937
Bob Davidson, tough all evening, cross-checked Phil Watson across the mouth to start the outbreak. In a second, players were sprawled all over the ice, some standing upright and swapping punches, others rolling across the ice jabbing each other.

Originally Posted by Windsor Daily Star: 4-13-1942
From that point the Leafs really started to fight. Hard-working Bob Davidson cut the Detroit margin to a single goal on a pass out from Pete Langelle.

an altercation with a fan in Detroit in '42 finals, after another fan grabbed his stick:

Originally Posted by Windsor Daily Star: 4-13-1942
Bob Davidson admitted he brought his stick down on a fan's head. "I was mad," he said. "He grabbed my stick and held it, and I had to tug hard to get it free. When I did, I brought it down on top of his head." Evidently, the gesture was one with intent to frighten rather than injure. The fan wasn't hurt.

Some of the players Bob Davidson fought:
Lionel Conacher, Earl Seibert, Baldy Northcott, Toe Blake, Phil Watson, Bryan Hextall, Jack Stewart, Maurice Richard

This video from 1939 shows why Davidson is a regular of the ATD: tenacity, defensive play, speed, physicality, and the ability to contribute some offense.



at 4:35, Davidson gets a scoring chance on the rush and misses, but quickly steals the puck back on the boards. As the Rangers try to move the puck through the neutral zone, Davidson checks the puck carrier, takes away the puck and passes to linemate Apps, who misses from the left circle.

Davidson later gets into a scrum with high sticks. Near the end of the video, Davidson scores a goal from the slot on a nice pass from Apps.



Post NHL career
Davidson coached the Toronto Marlboros during his last 2 NHL seasons in '45 and '46. After his retirement in 1946, Bob Davidson briefly served as an assistant coach under Hap Day, but quickly became a coach in the minor leagues. Davidson coached the St Louis Flyers and Pittsburgh Hornets of the AHL, and the Syracuse Stars of the IHL. He later worked as a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs, eventually becoming head scout and gaining a reputation as one of the best scouts in history.

Originally Posted by The Leafs: The First 50 Years
Today (i.e. 1976) Bob is the Maple Leafs' chief scout and director of player personnel. It's probably safe to say that he has discovered more major league hockey players than any other man. During the days when NHL teams sponsored amateur clubs, Bob Davidson had a hand in assembling the great junior teams of the Marlboros and the St. Michael's Majors, perennial prep
schools for future Leaf stars, including Mahovlich, Keon and Brewer.

Originally Posted by Lance Hornby
The 1961-62 season was the culmination of work begun in the mid-1950s by head scout Bob Davidson. Toronto had lost ground to Montreal and Detroit in the ‘50s and Davidson set about channelling both local junior hockey stars and young talent from Northern Ontario and the West through the junior Marlboroughs and St. Michael’s College. Those great teams won Memorial Cups and bred a championship feeling that spread to the Gardens. From the Marlies came Baun, Carl Brewer, Bob Pulford and Billy Harris, while St. Mike’s produced Frank Mahovlich, Dave Keon, Dick Duff and Tim Horton.

Bob Davidson may have been Chief Scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and no doubt was responsible for guiding many great players to the Leafs, particularly in the 1960′s when Toronto was winning four Stanley Cups, but he made the odd big error in judgement in his scouting career, and I mean big.

A 1972 Davidson faux pas is well-documented. It occurred when he and John McClellan travelled to Russia prior to the 1972 Summit Series to scout the Soviet squad, and came back with the report that the Soviets weren’t great shooters and their weakest spot was in goal. Of course, the squad turned out to be a powerhouse and the goalie’s name happened to be Vladislav Tretiak, who wasn’t a weak spot by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, he stood on his head in that historical series and continued to stand on his head for the next decade or so.

The other big Davidson boo boo happened much earlier than 1972 and if he’d followed up on a simple letter, the course of Leafs, Bruins, and NHL history as a whole would have been drastically altered.

In 1960, a minor hockey organizer in Parry Sound wrote to Leafs coach and GM Punch Imlach about a 12 year old player named Bobby Orr and how good the little guy was, but Imlach thought little or nothing about it and simply passed the message on to Davidson. But Davidson, without checking the kid out, decided that young Bobby was indeed too young and maybe in a few more years they’d have a look again and see how he was progressing at that time.

The Orr family was disappointed. Bobby’s father Doug and grandpa Robert were both big Leafs fans and loved the idea of Bobby eventually playing in Toronto, but it wasn’t to be because Imlach and Davidson couldn’t be bothered.

Shortly after the Leafs passed on the kid, Boston brass saw the young fellow play in a tournament in Gananogue, Ontario, began making trip after trip to Parry Sound to wine and dine the Orr clan, and the rest goes without saying.

thanks for the work

 

[Leaf Lander]

With their twentieth round pick (609), the Guelph Platers have selected Hockey Hall of Famer: D/Rover/W, Hobey Baker

​

Originally Posted by Legends of Hockey: One on One with Hobey Baker, 13 May 2011




http://www.hhof.com/htmlSpotlight/sp...ep194502.shtml




...

While attending St. Paul's, Hobey was introduced to a fledgling game called hockey. He was an exceptionally fast skater and worked diligently on his puckhandling by skating on the frozen ponds nearby after school, working on skating with the puck on his stick and not looking down at either his feet or the puck.*




...




Princeton won the 1914 national championship with a record of ten wins and three losses. Although statistics were not kept of his time at Princeton, Hobey is estimated to have collected more than 120 goals and 100 assists during his three-season career. Besides his obvious skill, Baker was regarded for his sportsmanship. After every game, he visited the dressing rooms of his opponents and shook hands with every player.*




...


He joined the St. Nicholas Club, an amateur hockey club based in New York. Well known from his hockey exploits at Princeton, the marquee at the St. Nicholas Rink often read: 'Hobey Baker Plays Tonight.' Uncomfortable with the attention, Baker eventually asked the building manager to take down the sign.

While playing with the St. Nicholas Club, he was offered a contract of $20,000 to play three seasons with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey Association. He declined, preferring to remain amateur.

On March 24, 1917, Baker played his final hockey game at the Winter Garden at Exposition Hall in Pittsburgh. The game featured an amateur all-star team from Philadelphia, led by Baker, pitted against an all-star team from Pittsburgh's amateur leagues. The Philadelphia team defeated Pittsburgh in overtime by a score of 3-2, with Baker scoring all three Philadelphia goals.*

Originally Posted by Amateur Hockey Starts This Week; St. Nicks and Boston AA Will Be Keen Contenders for Championship, NYT, Jan 3, 1915

The St. Nicks, present holders of the league title, are the favorites in the race. New Yorkers think they will again win the championship, but Boston hockey followers are confident the Boston A.A. will capture the honors. While the St. Nicks had a hard time beating the Toronto University team here, the Boston A.A. combination gained a rather easy victory over the Canadians last week.

In Hobey Baker the St. Nicks have the star player of the league and undoubtably the best player in the country. Many Canadians have said he is as valuable a man as any player in the Dominion. Baker played great hockey for Princeton, but in the game with Toronto at the St. Nicholas Rink he showed he is better than ever. Practically single-handed he defeated the Canadian collegians.

The St. Nicks have several other starts in addition to Baker.
...
Baker, Willetts, and Kilner are all products of St. Paul's School. They have been playing the game as long as most of the Canadians, and with the other St. Nick players make an all-around star combination that promises to be hard to beat. Baker is the power of the St. Nick's offense, but the defense seems to be of an unusually high calibre.

...

Originally Posted by Back Rink Opened with Tiger Victory, The Norwalk Hour, Jan 6, 1923

Close to 3,000 people saw the Princeton varsity hockey team defeat the St. Nicholas club, 3 to 2, in an exciting game that marked the informal opening of the Hobey Baker memorial rink here last night. The game, replete with thrills, was worthy tribute to the late Hobey Baker, whose sensational playing still lingers in the memory of his former followers.

Originally Posted by Chance To See Baker Again, Boston Evening Transcript, Feb 6, 1915

Greatest of All Amateur Hockey Players Will Be Here Next Friday to Play against Harvard-- Dartmouth-Yale Game Monday Is of Prime Importance in College Hockey World--Arena Team Meets Canadian Group Tonight

Feb 12 is an important date in local hockey circles. It falls on Friday of next week, at which time Hobey Baker will play on the St. Nicholas team of New York against Harvard at the Boston Arena. When Baker played here not long again against B.A.A. many regrets were expressed that he would not be seen in action in Boston again this winter. He played such a spectacular game that the crowd was delighted and cheered him to the echo every time he made a rush down the ice or shot a goal.

Originally Posted by Baker May Lead All-Americans, Evening True American, Mar 12, 1913

Brilliant Princeton Hockey Player Asked to Play on Team to Meet Canada

New York Mar 12-- Selection of a team of all-American stars to play the best amateur hockey team in Canada in this city in the near future was announced last night.

The Canadian team probably will be the All-Stars, of Winnipeg, which recently defeated the Victorias, of Winnipeg, for the Sir Montague Allan trophy which represents the amateur championship of Canada.

...

The choice of rover is really divided between Morgan, of the St. Nicholas and "Hobey" Baker, the brilliant Princeton player. Baker has been asked to join the team which he is willing to do, if the Princeton faculty consents.

Originally Posted by Boston Hockey Team Wins Title from St. Nicholas, The Gazette Times, Apr 2, 1916

...

Boston stopped the St. Nicholas offensive in mid-ice by a combination of five men abreast, which had even Hobey Baker, the New York star, helpless.

...

Originally Posted by Murphy Has Nerve - Says Hobey Baker Is Not the Best Hockey Player -- The idea!, NYT, Apr 4, 1915
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive...DC405B858DF1D3

On his return to Toronto with the St. Michael's hockey team after its defeat at the hands of the St. Nicholas seven of this city recently, Jimmy Murphy, manager of the Canadian club, in an interview in which he discussed the merits of the New York team and the ability of Hobey Baker particularly, expressed the opinion that the former Princeton star, although a good player, is "not finished," and cannot possibly be regarded as the best amateur hockey player in the world.

Mr. Murphy, in the course of his interview, said that, taking Baker's showing against the st. Michael's Club seven in its recent game at the St. Nicholas rink as a criterion of his ability, he could not class the New York star above Harry Meeking of the Toronto Vics, nor could baker, in his judgment, approach Dick Irvin, who was with the Winnipeg seven last year as a skillful player.

Another feature of Mr. Murphy's remarks was the fact that, while he gave the local seven credit for being a clever aggregation, he maintained taht either the St. Michael's Club or the Toronto Victorias could defeat the New York team on Canadian ice.

....

Naturally I watched Hobey Baker closely, and while I cannot admit that he is deserving of all the praise lavished on him by the New York press, I am quite free to say that he has the makings of a great hockey player. He has natural speed that compares favorably to Ranking at his best. He has one weakness; he circles far too much. Taking the puck at his end he circles back of the net and works across the ice two or three times on his way down. In our game he would be continually throwing his team offside. His stick handling is good, but not "finished." I would not rate him, on his showing against us as a better man than Harry Meeking, of the Toronto Victorias, nor is he anything like as pretty a player as Dick Irving, who was here with the Winnipeg team last year. I consider Irvin the greatest amateur hockey player I have ever seen in action.

...

His success has not gone to his head. He was checked persistently in the St. Michael's game and never got a goal, but he failed to show any of the peevishness a star usually displays when bottled up. He is ambitious to become a great player, and is willing to be taught. Baker saw the Wanderers and the Canadiens play in New York, and after watching the speedy Frenchmen and the Cleghorn boys, he is said to have remarked: "I have a lot to learn at hockey yet."

Stolen from Mr. Bugg's bio last year

Originally Posted by The Harvard Crimson, Jan 1912

Before a crowd that taxed the Arena to its capacity Saturday night the Princeton hockey team retrieved its defeat of a week and a half ago by beating the University seven, 3 to 2, in a hard-fought contest. As was expected, Baker, the Princeton rover, was the star of the game and his dashes down the rink easily put him on a par with (Art) Ross and (Cyclone) Taylor, the two Canadian professionals who played here last winter.

Originally Posted by New York Times, Mar 1912

(Princeton) Coach Hornfeck says: "Baker, who is almost without question the greatest hockey player in the country at the present time naturally has no peer among college men. A natural born player, he possesses wonderful speed, dribbles cleverly and shoots with remarkable accuracy. If 'Hobey' has a weakness it is his defensive work, but his speed can overcome this to a great extent.

"

Originally Posted by New York Times, Feb 1916

Baker fairly out did himself last night. He was all over the ice, in every mix-up, one time sliding along on his back, another time riding over half a dozen prostrate opponents, but always a stick's length from the elusive puck. It seemed as if he had a magnet at the tip of his stick that kept the puck glued through thick and thin.

Hobey scored three goals for the St. Nick's, and that was the smallest part of his night's work. Time after time there would be a mix-up behind the St. Nick's goal, and then a single skater would shoot out, thread through the maze of tangled players, dodging some, plowing through others, but always going like lightning, with the puck safe at the business of his stick. It always the omnipresent Baker.

Originally Posted by New York Times, Dec 1912

"Hobey" Baker, who starred for the Orange and Black in all of the intercollegiate championship matches last year, bore the brunt of the attack and the defense for the Tigertown team. He was in and out of many scrimmages almost as elusive as a willow-wisp, and easily the best man in the game. Responsible for two of the four goals obtained by his team, Baker was the pivot around which the whole of the opposition revolved, as he was invariably in possession of the rubber...

Baker's eleven-point game:

Originally Posted by Evening True American, Dec 1912

Captain "Hobey" Baker is given credit today for Princeton's win over Williams College in their annual hockey match, played last night at the St. Nicholas rink and won by a score of 14 goals to 1. Of the victors' number, Baker scored eight goals and assisted in three of the remaining six. Seldom has such a brilliant player been seen at the local rink.

Baker's 30-shot game:

Originally Posted by New York Times, Jan 1913
Due to the wonderful work in goal by XXXX XXXXXXXX of Harvard, the great "Hobey" Baker was unable to do much execution. Time and time again he attacked the Harvard goal, and of XXXXXXXX's 42 stops more than 30 were on drives from the Nassau star.

Originally Posted by New York Times, Jan 1913

HOBEY BAKER ALMOST A TEAM IN HIMSELF AGAINST CORNELL'S SEVEN AT ST. NICK'S

Hobey Baker almost alone defeated the Cornell hockey team at the St. Nicholas rink last night by a score of 9 to 0. Hobey played the role of rover as the name implies, and he roved in and out of the Cornell skaters with such startling speed that the little, bounding puck was at the end of Baker's stick during the greater part of the game. Baker scored five of Princeton's goals and carried the puck down the ice and passed it cleverly in front of the Cornell goal so that his teammates could drive it home.

thanks

 

[VanIslander]

center Ron Sutter, the Selke finalist defensive pivot who centered the Flyers second line for most of a decade, including two trips to the Stanley Cup Finals. On the first cup run he scored 12 playoff points including a team-tying high four even strength goals despite having a shadowing defensive role primarily. He was injured at the start of their next cup run but had eight points by Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, his main job was defending against opposing top centers, like Gretzky and Lemieux. The highest drafted Sutter brother ever had a career plagued by injuries, due in part to his all-out style, but he played through them to a 1000+ NHL game career, though his eight years on Philly are clearly his greatest. He captained the Flyers for two seasons, including a Game 6 Conference Finals run, before being traded in the deal to bring Brind'amour to Philly.

... tenacity, defensive excellence and natural leadership ability

Sutter was a key member of the great Flyers teams of the 80's, and although he did not put up the offensive numbers as some of his teammates, his role was all that much greater to the team.

Sutter personified the stigma of a player that opponents most hated to play against. His tenacity and passion on the ice earned him the respect of every person in the locker room.

He was your go-to-guy whose enormous task was always to shut down the star of the other team – which he most often accomplished.

http://flyers.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=73298

He’s your ultimate team guy, who thought first about team stats than his personal stats. He was always willing to help teammates not just on the ice, but go that extra mile off the ice as well.

FLYERS' SUTTER READY TO FACE GRETZKY

The list has grown more formidable as the playoffs have progressed. First there was Bryan Trottier, then Peter Stastny and now Wayne Gretzky will be looking Ron Sutter in the eye.

Ron was the highest drafted Sutter ever, going 4th overall to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1982 despite missing part of his final year of junior with a broken ankle.

Ron was never expected to put up great offensive numbers, although he would put up decent numbers during his Philly days. Instead, he was the guy who would try to shutdown the opposition's top player such as Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux. Sutter's defensive excellence was recognized around the league. In 1985-86 he finished as runner up to Chicago's Troy Murray in league voting as the best defensive forward.

Because of his tenacity, defensive excellence and natural leadership ability, Ron was instantly compared to Bobby Clarke - the Flyers Legend. Those comparisons were ultimately a little lofty as Ron's game lacked offensive polish, although Ron was certainly a key member of the Flyers during the 1980s.

The Flyers had some great years in the 1980s, and twice made the Stanley Cup finals, only to fall short to the powerhouse Edmonton Oilers led by Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. The Flyers had the likes of Tim Kerr, Mark Howe and later Ron Hextall in their lineup. Those were some good exciting times to be a Flyers fan.

The 1987 Stanley Cup finals in particular are most memorable. Considered by many as one of the greatest championship series ever played, the Flyers pushed Gretzky's Oilers to the limit. The series took a full seven games to complete.

Had Ron Sutter been fully healthy, the Flyers might have had just enough to knock off the dynastic Oilers. Ron missed half of the season and the start of the playoffs with a stress fracture in his lower back. Despite the debilitating injury, Sutter came back to for the playoffs and played through immense pain.

Pain was nothing new to any of the Sutters. They're all-out style of play led to many injuries. In addition to the back and ankle injuries already mentioned, some of the more serious injuries Ron had to battle through in his career include broken ribs, pulled hip flexor, right knee ligament damage, abdominal pulls, seperated shoulders and the always troublesome groin pull.

Of course none of these injuries altered the way Ron would play, which likely made it tough for Mother and Father Sutter to watch hockey.

By 1988 Ron began enjoying his best years offensively. The Flyers were starting their downward cycle and as a result there was more playing time for Ron, which meant more offensive opportunity. He played often on a line with Brian Propp and Rick Tocchet. By December Ron became captain of the team, taking over from Dave Poulin. It was a great compliment to Ron, as he epitomized what Flyers hockey is all about.

By the early 1990s the Flyers were going through their leanest years since they were an expansion team. The house was cleaned including Ron, who was traded to St. Louis in the deal that brought Rod Brind'Amour to Philadelphia.

Ron played well in St. Louis until 1993-94 when he was traded to Quebec. His stay there was brief, as was his next stop. By 1996 he found a home with the San Jose Sharks for 4 years, but was strictly a 4th liner. In 2000-01 he signed with the Flames by mid season. He was clearly not the player that he used to be, but he was a good influence in the dressing room and a good faceoff man.

Ron Sutter played 1093 games, registering 205 goals, 328 assists and 533 points, not to mention 1352 PIM.

http://broadstreetbullies.blogspot.kr/2006/05/ron-sutter.html

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Rejean Houle, F

Nickname: "The Peanut"​

Stanley Cups in 1971, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979

SUMMARY

Houle is best known for his checking work, particularly shadowing Bobby Hull in the 1971 Stanley Cup finals, where he helped hold Hull to 1 goal and 3 assists at even strength over the 7 games.

He jumped to the WHA for a few years, where he showed off his offensive ability, finishing 5th in goals and 8th in points in his best year, before returning to Montreal. In Montreal, he is best known for playing RW on the Gainey-Jarvis-Houle checking line, but he also spend significant time at center and left wing.

He appears to have only been a depth option as a penalty killer, but was one of the best even strength shadows of the 1970s.

OFFENSE
161-247-408 in 635 GP in the NHL, while receiving relatively little time on the PP or PK.

39 adjusted ES points per season. Compare to Tomas Steen (43), Mike Richards (42), Ron Ellis (42), Mario Tremblay (42), Bob Nevin (41) Ryan Kesler (40), Ed Westfall (37), Dirk Graham (36). Houle probably saw less ES ice time than all of the above except his teammate Tremblay.

14-34-48 in 90 NHL playoff games.

118-139-257 in 214 GP in the WHA.

GENERAL QUOTES

In junior Houle was a great scorer, tallying 53 goals and 108 points in 54 games. He played on a line with Gilbert Perreault and the dynamic duo led the Jr. Canadiens to the Memorial Cup title. Houle was hailed as the next great Quebecois scoring star.

But he would never get the chance to fulfill his destiny.

The Canadiens of course were a deeply talented team, which forced Houle to adopt a role of a checker in order to get ice time as a youngster. In the 1971 Stanley Cup finals he forever cast himself with a masterful defensive job on Chicago's great scorer Bobby Hull.

Houle never complained about his role as a checker. But he also knew he would never be anything more in Montreal. Seeking financial security for his family, Houle jumped to the WHA where the Quebec Nordiques offered him a sizable wage increase and a better chance to be a star player. He would score 118 goals in 214 games for the Nords.

Houle found increasing success in his three years in the WHA, including becoming a 50 goal scorer and 100 point man. Yet he missed his days in the NHL and in particular in Montreal. He would return to Montreal in 1976 and for the next 6-plus years happily resumed his role as a determined forechecker and ace penalty killer.

With names like Cournoyer and Lafleur playing the right side, the team wasn’t looking for scoring punch from the youngster. Like many other youthful prodigies, Houle was asked to concentrate on the defensive aspects of his game. He dedicated himself to the task, becoming an effective penalty killer and one of the best shadows in the league.

Thrilled to be wearing the colors of his childhood heroes, Houle’s youthful exuberance helped set the tone in the dressing room. “Reggie wants to kiss the Cup!” became the team’ rallying cry as the underdog Habs went all the way in the spring of 1971.

Making the most of his limited offensive opportunities, Houle improved his offensive numbers year by year. While his goal totals remained stable at about a dozen a year, his emergence as a playmaker saw his assists increase exponentially, from seven in his rookie year to 17 the next, finally recording 35 helpers in 1972-73.

Houle left the NHL after the 1973 Stanley Cup Championship, signing on with the WHA Quebec Nordiques, only to return to the fold three years later.

The Réjean Houle that suited up with the 1976-77 Canadiens team was a matured, more complete player than he was in his first stint with the club. Now an accomplished two-way performer, Houle scored 22 goals his first year back and a career-high 30 the next season. He had his name inscribed on the Stanley Cup in each of his first three years back with Montreal.

What does Houle do for a hockey team? Any team, even a great team, has many more Rejean Houles than it has Lafleurs and Robinsons. Grinders, muckers, travailleurs, they form the base of any team; they do all kinds of disciplined...

It is not easy to say what Rejean Houle does for a team. On the one hand, he is a good skater and forechecker, capable of playing any of the forward positions, a better-than-average playmaker and penalty killer; on the other, he is not big, not...

(a good goal scorer?)
http://books.google.com/books?id=Az...Q&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBDgK#v=onepage&q=houle&f=false

This has been Rejean Houle's best season as an NHLer although at first glance, his goal totals look a little low for a regular center. But his skating, digging, and forechecking make the Houle-Guy Lafleur-Marc Tardiff line go and he is the middleman on many of their short passing forays that end up with the puck in the net. Houle has been a right wing throughout his career until shifted to center this season, and he's proved to everyone's satisfaction that he can do the job.

Good Luck Les Canadiens

(Bobby) Hull and Rejean Houle, both outstanding skaters, were impressed by the wide ice surfaces (as Team Canada prepared for the WHA/USSR Summit Series)

Wide Surfaces of Some Concern

The plethora of specialists on the Canadiens is what drove other teams to despair in recent seasons... Rick Chartraw the Bruiser, Doug Jarvis, the Face-Off Man, Doug Risebrough the Needle, Bob Gainey the Checker, Pierre Laroucher, Monsieur Finesse, Rejean Houle the Shadow, and Yvon Lambert, Mr. Screen

Fight for Survival at Canadiens Camp

"Competitor" is the word most often associated with Houle.

Canadiens' Houle retires with only one major regreat

WHEN NEWSPAPERS LISTED THE KEY ROLE PLAYERS OF THE MONTREAL CANADIENS, HOULE'S NAME WAS FEATURED PROMINENTLY

Players like Rejean Houle, Marc Tardiff, Bob Murdoch, and Pierre Bouchard all have played a very big role in Montreal's successes.

Lesser Known Players Key Canadiens Success

The Canadiens are much more than Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Ken Dryden, and Serge Savard. People such as Rejean Houle, Doug Risebrough, Yvon Lambert, Brian Engblom, and Rod Langway are always ready and willing to come through when asked.
...
Houle is one of the most useful players the Canadiens have at their disposal, and one of the club's most underrated people.

Canadiens' Big Secret Rest with Manpower

Montreal's success thus far in the playoffs has been due largely to the play of unheralded forwards Yvan Lambert, Mario Tremblay, and Rejean Houle, who form Montreal's top checking line.

None of That Other Stuff

VERSATILITY - HOULE PLAYED ALL THREE FORWARD POSITIONS, AND WAS USED AS BOTH A CHECKER AND A SCORING LINE GLUE GUY
Houle's primary positions was RW:

Jarvis, Bob Gainey and Rejean Houle was a regular depth line for the Montreal Canadiens in the late 1970′s

http://blogs.southcoasttoday.com/bruins/2010/08/04/former-hab-doug-jarvis-bostons-new-asst-coach/

After the morning skate, Rink Rap caught up with Bruins asst. coach Doug Jarvis, a member of Montreal’s last dynasty (four straight Stanley Cups from 1975-76 through 1978-79). Noting that the checking-line legacy of those teams was Jarvis, Gainey and Houle, I asked Jarvis who his other winger was in ’76, when Rejean Houle was still in the WHA.

The answer: Jimmy Roberts, he who also played defense for Montreal in Cup season 72-73 and, also under Scotty Bowman, tried to shadow Bobby Orr in the 1970 Cup finals.

http://blogs.southcoasttoday.com/bruins/2012/02/14/rangers-no-strangers/

Very early in his career, he was used on both wings:

"Houle made the switch from right to left wing like a real pro," Bowman said.

Canadiens In Victory Over Boston Bruins

On the record-setting 1976-77 Canadiens, Houle usually played left wing:

Peter Mahovlich centred a second line with Yvan Cournoyer and various left-wingers including Rejean Houle, who rejoined the Canadiens after three years in the World Hockey Association.

Houle centered Guy Lafleur and Marc Tardiff in 1972-73:

This has been Rejean Houle's best season as an NHLer although at first glance, his goal totals look a little low for a regular center. But his skating, digging, and forechecking make the Houle-Guy Lafleur-Marc Tardiff line go and he is the middleman on many of their short passing forays that end up with the puck in the net. Houle has been a right wing throughout his career until shifted to center this season, and he's proved to everyone's satisfaction that he can do the job.

Good Luck Les Canadiens
Another article said that Bowman would not use Houle to shadow left wings as he did in the past, because he didn't want to break up the Tardiff-Houle-Lafleur line.

Houle regularly played all 3 forward positions when injuries hit:

Pierre Laroche is not longer on a line with Steve Shutt and Guy Lafleur. His place has been taken by the ever industrious Rejean Houle.

Replacing Houle on the left side of the line with Pierre Mondou and Mark Napier is Normand Dupont...

"The one thing about playing three positions is that once they figure they have seen you enough in one, they will move you to another," joked Houle.

But Houle, who played center between Lambert and Mario Tremblay when Doug Risebrough was hurt last season, is one of the better Canadiens forecheckers and can cover up on defense as well.

"I'll play where they tell me to play," he added. "That's my job."

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...CAyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=saQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2495,3660172

All-purpose forward Rejean Houle who missed Montreal's final game of the season at Boston with a groin injury, will also be back in the lineup - probably on the left wing with center Pierre Larouche and right winger Guy Lafleur.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...&pg=1108,2262712&dq=rejean+houle+shadow&hl=en

SHADOWING BOBBY HULL IN 1971

Rookie Houle started shadowing Hull during the regular season:

As for being called to shadow 36-goal-scorer Bobby Hull, Rejean was surprised.

"The coach asked me before the game if I thought I could do it and I was surprised, because I had never been a defensive player," said Houle, who started playing regularly, only in recent games.

"I figured I could skate with Bobby, but he's a strong guy and I thought I might have trouble." But I tried to stay a couple of steps ahead of him all the time - I wasn't there to admire Bobby Hull, but to check him."

Wearing Claude Provost's old #14, Houle was quickly nick-named "Joe" in reference to Provost who had done such a great job of watching Hull down the years.

Bobby, who only managed one first period shot, grudgingly lauded his young opponent.

"I never really noticed Houle before with the Canadiens. But he skates like the Devil and I guess the whole NHL will be seeing a lot more of him from now on."

Houle had a Hull-ava game

After Game 4 of the Cup finals (Montreal win to tie the series 2-2):

Neither team scored in the final period except with left hooks. Two wild brawls erupted in the final three minutes, resulting in six major penalties, five misconducts, and three minor penalties.

But whatever solace the Blackhawks obtained from these exchanges was minimal, as the outcome was no longer in doubt.

Rejean Houle had helped see to that, with a shadow job on Chicago's Bobby Hull that held the high scoring Hawk to two shots on goal, neither of which was successful.

"I guess he does get angry," said Houle of Hull, not sounding too concerned. "Wouldn't you get angry if you were in his position? I'm always on his back."

Hockey Momentum Shifts

Bobby's frustration started to show in the period when he got physical to knock down Houle at every opportunity.

"Put yourself in his place," offered Houle about Hull's reaction. "I'm always on his back so he's got to put his elbows up to try to and get room once in awhile."

Houle, a lean 165 pounder explained he couldn't stay to close to 195 pound Bobby who is built like a bull.

"If I stay too close he'll just push me off and maybe break loose. I just worked a couple of steps away from him and then moved in when he was going to get the puck."

The Peanut Just Drives Bobby Nuts

Here's an article from The Palm Beach Post basically saying the same thing: Hull 'Bananas' over 'Peanuts'

After Game 5 (Chicago wins, leads series 3-2)

Bobby Hull's frustration over Houle's persistent shadowing finally manifested itself in several stiff checks and an errant elbow. His teammates too, joined in the assault on Houle.

Even Big Jean Swore

Billy Reay: "All I can say is that everybody just gave 100 percent. It was just a great team effort."

Billy Reay(again): "If Houle is going to do that (shadow Hull), he's going to get it."

Rejeans Houle: "I'll be back here (Chicago) Tuesday night skating faster than ever."

Stanley Cup Post-Mortums

After the series (Montreal wins games 6 and 7 to win the Cup)

L'Affaire Richard aside, the Canadiens really won the cup because of the play of two rookies -- Goalie Ken Dryden and Forward Rejean Houle, or Hooley, as Bobby Hull's shadow was known in Chicago. "If it weren't for that Dryden," said Boston's Phil Esposito before the seventh game of the Montreal-Chicago series, "the Canadiens would have been on vacation five weeks ago."

Dryden entered the playoffs as the veteran of only six NHL games -- all victories. Just up from the minors, he carried the Canadiens past the Bruins in the first round, played superbly against Minnesota in the second and then by thwarting the Black Hawks won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable of all the cup players. Ironically, according to the rules, Dryden still can win the Rookie of the Year award next season ...

While Dryden continually repulsed the Chicago shooters, Houle harassed Bobby Hull so effectively that throughout the seven-game series Hull scored only one goal while the teams were playing at equal strength ...
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/features/si_stanley_cup/70s/

Hull wasn't the only superstar LW who Houle checked in 1971:

This is Houle's fourth season with the Canadiens, and in that time the thing that has given him the most satisfaction was Canadiens' Stanley Cup victory two years ago.

During the playoffs Houle was assigned the job of checking Johnny Bucyk of Boston and Bobby Hull of Chicago, two 50 goal scorers. Because Reggie did a remarkable job, he says he "really felt a part of the team... I had helped them

Reggie Houle Likes his Job But Eyes Bid With Nordiques

 

[MadArcand]

Igor Liba​

If I could pick one Czechoslovak player for CSKA, it would be one of the most universal players in the world - Igor Liba.​

- Viktor Tikhonov -

Position: LW/C
Ht: 6'0''
Wt: 198 lbs.

Czechoslovak Golden Stick voting top 10s: 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 4th, 6th
Czechoslovak league points top 10s: 1st, 3rd, 5th, 5th
Czechoslovak league goals top 10s: 1st, 4th, 5th, 5th, 9th
Czechoslovak league assists top 10s: 1st, 3rd, 5th
All-time leader in NT games played by a Slovak player - 212 (65 goals)
OG: 1x silver, 1x bronze; 7th in scoring in 1988
WC: 1x gold, 2x silver, 2x bronze
WJC: silver
League: 5x gold (thrice as captain), 1x silver

One of the most multifaceted players of the 80s, Igor Liba was an excellent skater and very good when it came to defensive play. When it was needed, he wasn't afraid to rough it up, but he was simultaneously very skilled in the technical aspects of the game as well. He spent his junior years in Presov, but came to Kosice - in the top league - when he turned 18. He immediately made impact and started collecting almost a point per game.

At 21, he scored 35 goals while playing for the average Kosice team - making him the top goalscorer of the league. After this season, he started the mandatory 2-year military service in Jihlava. Jihlava was consistently an elite team in the league and Liba's quality only helped to propel it further. In both of his years there, Jihlava won the championship. In those times, Liba was already among the most important players of the national team. At the world championship in 1983 he shined with 10 points, a year later at the Olympics in Sarajevo the legendary line Liba-Rusnak-Lukac was formed. The line helped the team to silver medals, and a year later to gold at the world championship.

Liba formed yet another famous line in Kosice, with Jan Vodila and Miroslav Ihnacak. These three have greatly helped to improve the team in Kosice. In 1985, Kosice finished second to Jihlava, with Ihnacak and Vodila finishing 1-2 in scoring race, Liba being 5th. In 1986 Kosice celebrated the historical first title, as Czechoslovak league used play-offs for the first time and defeated Jihlava in the finals. This time it was Liba who led the league in scoring. Kosice won again in 1988 and thus became the only Slovak team that won in the Czechoslovak league twice.

"If I could pick one Czechoslovak player for CSKA, it would be one of the most universal players in the world - Igor Liba."
- Viktor Tikhonov -

"In his youth, Igor Liba tried incredibly hard to develop his unusual hockey potential. He wanted to become a great player, and he became one. During his career, he might've been the most universal player of the world. This ain't a phrase. I played with him when he came to Kosice, then I coached him. ...

He would take advice from older players, from the coach. He had naturally perfect skating stride and incredible vision of the game. He liked to pass. A shame he didn't shoot more, because he had a very hard shot. But he wasn't selfish. A good, humble guy."
- Jan Faith -

"Igor Liba was a phenomenal player. ...

I'll say it straight, write it down - when it comes to the combination of hockey and human qualities, no Czechoslovak or Slovak player could ever match him, at least so far."
- Bedrich Brunclik -

"Liba stood out through his universality"
- Sergei Makarov -

"Time has shown that I shouldn't have left the NHL so soon, and that I shouldn't have trusted false promises of people who promised me a great hockey life in Europe."
- Igor Liba -

Igor Liba - born for hockey.

He was an universal player that even the Soviets envied us.

"This guy was born for hockey. There's very few of such players. He's one of the greatest talents that Slovakia ever had."
- Peter Stastny -

"I have immense respect for Igor, for he was an incredible hard worker. He barely left the ice, he was up front, in the back, he could tire out a whole team by himself."
- Otto Hascak -

We played the left-wing lock system, and thus Liba had to skate a ton, retreat to the back, do all the dirty work on the top line [of Liba - Rusnak - Lukac]. ... In the 1984 Olympics, the Russians literally feared them.

"Comparable to Liba was Vladimir Martinec - simply guys who were technically abnormally gifted. But not only did he [Liba] have the technique, he had the feeling for the game, the vision. He had great hands, great stability - he wasn't super fast, but he could do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted - with anyone. And that's something that truly only the best of the best can manage."
- Peter Stastny -

"Gretzky said, that he hasn't played with such a great winger before"
- Jozef Golonka -

"They found out we couldn't play together, as we both passed too much."
- Liba, on playing only one game on Gretzky's line -

He was the prototype of a complex player with a well-timed pass that the whole world envied us.

"He was a huge icon in Czechoslovak hockey, sometimes I think he's underrated. If he could play in the NHL sooner, I think he'd be a player that'd score as much as Gaborik or Hossa."
- Otto Hascak -

When Igor Liba was at his peak, many considered him the most multifaceted Czechoslovak player of the 80s. He had vision, anticipation, excellent passing and great defense.

Igor Liba was considered the prototype of a multifaceted player. He was and excellent skater, physically and technically perfectly gifted, his game was balanced between offense and defense.

Liba , a left winger, was probably the best Czechoslovakian player in the Olympic tournament. He's a winger with terrific speed and shot to match.

"Liba is almost or maybe the best hockey player in Czechoslovakia"
- Miroslav Ihnacak -

"Igor was a very hard worker, a player that played all over the ice, he skated a ton over the course of a game. Off the ice, a team guy, always willing to help."
- Darius Rusnak -

"Liba was an universal player, in the 80s one of the very best in Czechoslovakia"
- Ludek Bukac -

Offensive player, that could handle defensive assignments. Technically gifted, but also a fighter. A sniper. When needed, a diligent grinder at the boards. Igor Liba was an universal player. Possibly the most multifaceted, that played in Czechoslovakia in the 80s.

"I consider peripheral vision to be my greatest asset. I felt my teammates, knew where they'd skate to."
- Igor Liba -

Liba excelled in checking, he was skilled with the puck. It seemed, that he has no weak spots.

"I've backchecked, technical game also fit me. But when the need to play rough came, I had no problems."
- Igor Liba -

"To this day, I regret it. One guy convinced me, that I should go to Germany. He conned me, it was too late when I found out that it wouldn't be it. I made the greatest mistake of my life. I could've continued in the NHL, I had the offers."
- Igor Liba, on leaving NHL -

 

[Leaf Lander]

]

Bill Goldsworthy !!!


Awards and Achievements:
4 x NHL All-Star (1970, 1972, 1974, 1976)

Statistics:
Points – 18th(1970)
Goals – 5th(1974), 6th(1970), 12th(1971), 15th(1975), 17th(1972)

Point Percentages – 70(1974), 66(1970), 60(1975), 58(1973), 57(1972), 56(1971)
Goal Percentages – 92(1974), 86(1970), 70(1975), 67(1971), 62(1972), 52(1973)


Play-off Points – 1st(1968)
Play-off Goals – 1st(1968)
Play-off Assists – 5th(1968)


Quote:

Originally Posted by Legends of Hockey Right-winger Bill Goldsworthy was a clever goal scorer who played nearly 800 NHL games in the 1960s and '70s. He was best known for his fine work with the Minnesota North Stars and the "Goldy Shuffle" after each goal.

….

The crafty winger was a decent addition to his new club in its first two NHL seasons. In 1969-70, he broke through as a bona fide NHL sniper with 36 goals. The next season, his speed and offensive thrusts helped the North Stars give the Montreal Canadiens a tough battle in the semi-finals. A few months later, he represented Canada in the historic Summit Series versus the USSR. During his time in Minnesota, Goldsworthy scored at least 30 goals five times including a career high 48 in 1973-74 while playing on a line with Dennis Hextall and Danny Grant. He was considered one of the most exciting forwards in the NHL and was picked to participate in the All-Star game in 1970, 1972, 1974, and 1976.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greatest Hockey Legends Bill was a hard shooting winger developed in the Boston Bruins junior and minor league system. He played with the Bruins OHA junior team in Niagara Falls and helped the Falls Flyers win the 1965 Memorial Cup.

….

Bill was more of a shooter than a playmaker, he was not a one-trick pony. He could play at both ends of the ice and was known as a solid team player. These all around qualities helped him to be selected on Team Canada's Summit Series roster that defeated the Russians in 1972. Goldy appeared in 3 of the 8 games, scoring 1 goal and 1 assist.

Quote:

Originally Posted by A September to Remember The late Bill Goldsworthy was an aggressive forward who got into 3 games in the tournament

…

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minnesota North Stars Memories Met Center fans never got tired of watching this guy's post goal celebration, known to himself and fans as the "Goldy shuffle". Bill Goldsworthy was unquestionably the first big North Star talent as well as one of the league's emerging stars of the expansion era. In his first season with Minnesota he led all NHL scorers in points in the 1967 playoffs. He later became the first player to record 200 goals with a post '67 team.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chidlovski Bill Goldsworthy was able to show his scoring touch after the NHL expansion in 1967. Most of his career was associated with the North Stars team. In his years in Minnesota, he was recognized for his impressive shooting skills and established himself as a passionate forward and a team player able to perform a solid 2-way play at both ends of the ice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lou Nanne He was a very colorful, charismatic guy that had great speed and strength and a great shot.

 

[BubbaBoot]

Jimmy Roberts
defense / right wing

• Shoots: Right • Height: 5-10 • Weight: 185 lbs. •
• Born: April 9, 1940 • Toronto, Ontario •
• Played: 1963/64 - 1977/78 •

• Championships •
1962 Hull-Ottawa Canadiens (EPHL)
1965 Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
1966 Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
1973 Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
1976 Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
1977 Montreal Canadiens (NHL)

• NHL All-Star Team Voting •
- 70-71 (T14th)

• All-Star Games •
NHL - 1965 / 1969
NHL - 1970

• Norris Trophy Voting •
- 70-71 (T13th)

• Achievements •
• Games Played
- 1964-65 NHL 70 (1)
- 1965-66 NHL 70 (2)
- 1967-68 NHL 74 (2)
- 1969-70 NHL 76 (1)
- Career • 1005
- Career PLAYOFFS • 126

• Short-Handed Goals
- 1965-66 NHL 1 (6)
- 1969-70 NHL 2 (8)
- 1971-72 NHL 2 (3)
Career • 17 (92nd all-time)

• career stats •

|gms | G | A | TP | PIMs |+/- | G/gm | A/gm | PP| SH
NHL |1006 |126 |194 | 320 |621 |+124 | .13 |.19 |9 |16
NHL PLAYOFFS |153 |20 | 16 |36 |160 | | .13 | .11 |0 |2
OHA-Jr | 102 |8 |29 |37 |175 | | .08 |.28 | |
EPHL |190 |20 | 73 |93 |160 | | .11 | .38 | |
CPHL | 46 |18 |19 |37 | 47 | | .39 | .41 | |

• career team records •
Montreal Canadiens (NHL) - games (35th) / playoff games (23rd) / goals (T93rd) / playoff goals (T52nd) / SH goals (T5th) / GPG (T82nd) / playoff GPG (T80th) / assists (73rd) / playoff assists (T82nd) / APG (T95th) / playoff APG (T96th) / points (83rd) / playoff points (23rd) / points/G (T97th) / playoff points/G (T75th) / PIMs (82nd) / playoff PIMs ( 32nd)
St. Louis Blues (NHL) - games (29th) / playoff games (52nd) / goals (45th) / playoff goals (T22nd) / SH goals (T11th) / GPG (T92nd) / playoff GPG (72nd) / assists (T48th) / playoff assists (T40th) / APG (86th) / playoff APG (T59th) / points (T47th) / playoff points (33rd) / points/G (88th) / playoff points/G (T49th) / PIMs (54th) / playoff PIMs (T 20th)

Peterborough Petes
1958/59 Memorial Cup finalists

• Accolades •

"You can look at the scoring of Red Berenson and the statistics of the rest, then examine how much Jimmy Roberts has done for our club. He has to be our MVP. We knew he could do double duty on defence as well as the forward line but hardly figured he would come through in so many ways".

James Wilfred Roberts is a retired Canadian ice hockey defenceman and forward. He went by both nicknames of Jimmy and Jim. After playing for future Montreal Canadiens coach Scotty Bowman with the OHA junior Peterborough Petes, Roberts was signed by the Canadiens and turned pro with the Montreal Royals minor league team in 1959. In the 1964 season, he saw his first NHL action with Montreal and remained the next several seasons, winning two Stanley Cups before becoming the first selection of the St. Louis Blues in 1967 NHL Expansion Draft. He played solidly for the Blues for five seasons, being named the team captain in 1971 before his trade back to Montreal, where he played for three more Cup winners. Roberts rejoined the Blues for one final season in 1978 before his retirement. He was renowned for his defensive skills and often used as a "shadow" against high scoring enemy forwards.

(borrowed from seventieslord bio)

The quintessential journeyman player... Roberts had to wait for his role to come up, one that called upon his abilities as a defensive specialist. He was mostly used for killing penalties or checking another line late in a game.

A tireless worker, Roberts was the ultimate team player. Toiling in relative obscurity and driven by a ferocious competitive nature, he contributed to some of the greatest teams in Habs history.

Cracking the Canadiens’ lineup permanently in the fall of 1965, his job was to kill penalties and cover the top scorers in the league, a role he embraced and performed as well as anyone in the NHL. Fast enough to match most opponents and strong enough to handle the physical requirements of his specialty, Roberts was a key contributor to the Stanley Cup Championships of 1965 and 1966.

As a youngster, Jimmy Roberts kept his eyes open for every opportunity to move ahead in the world of hockey. His first big strike came when he laced up for the Peterborough Petes of the OHA in the late 1950s. It was there that he fell under the direction of the team's coach, Scotty Bowman.
Having been pointed in the right direction, Roberts turned pro with the Montreal Royals of the EPHL. He then jumped to the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens for a couple of seasons before stepping up to the AHL and the CHL with the Cleveland Barons, Quebec Aces, and the Omaha Knights.

Late in the 1963-64 season, he saw his first NHL action with Montreal, picking up 13 games, his first assist, and a run in the playoffs. The move marked the start of a lengthy big-league career with no return trips to the minors.

Over the next three seasons, Roberts established himself as what Conn Smythe described as "a hewer of wood and a hauler of water." In other words, Roberts was an unspectacular but dedicated player with a strong commitment to team play. He was once described as being built like a mooring post for a battleship. When he hit the ice, he was an alert and intense competitor.

With the Habs, Roberts' job was to work as the backdrop to a lineup replete with stars. He killed penalties and slowed opposition lines like water in a deep freeze. In 1967, however, the expansion St. Louis Blues made Roberts their first-ever selection. He joined the club and relished his role as a leader and tireless toiler. He also began to play defense in addition to his wing duties.

When called upon he would always be there to fill that role. He was an earnest hard working checker and a key penalty killer. He was a punishing hitter despite his size. He was often called on to shadow his opponents leading wingers. He won two cups with the Canadiens in the 60s and then went to the St. Louis Blues in the 1967 expansion draft. He played a similar role for the innovative Scotty Bowman in St. Louis.

Roberts, the utility player, was perfect for Bowman who loved using defenseman at forward and forwards on defense, depending on the situation. He'd often trot out four defenseman to kill penalties in Montreal or use a large skilled man like Robinson or Savard in front of the net on the power play.

Roberts eventually made his way back to Montreal. His utility and energy made him valuable in Montreal where he again was reunited with coach Scotty Bowman. As his career wound down he became a mentor for up and coming young checkers Doug Jarvis and Bob Gainey. Though a defenseman for large portions of his career, Jim Roberts' major contribution in Montreal came as a checking forward.

It may have been one of the great trades Same Pollock–urged on by Roberts' pal Scotty Bowman–ever made. Roberto did beans all for the Blues from then on, and Jimmy Roberts became the tremendous morale on the Canadiens, turning them from a collection of talents into a team which has rarely been matched in the annals of sport.

Strange to find an ugly, pug nosed untalented little guy out of Port Hope, Ontario providing glue for the Flying Frenchmen, but that was exactly the case. I know because at the time I was with the Canadiens day and night through seven months of they year.

[asked why the Flyers lost to the Canadiens in the playoffs] "Hell, Jimmy Roberts has guys like Riseborough, Gainey and Jarvis playing as crazy as he does. That's why".

(borrowed from seventieslord bio)

A steady but unspectacular player, he would do whatever was asked of him with a fiery temperament that hated to lose. Roberts helped the Habs with the cup in '65 and '66, and he rejoined Bowman in St. Louis when the Blues made him their first player chosen in the expansion draft. To maximize his usefulness, Bowman used Roberts on defense as well as the wing, and for five years he was one of the team's veteran leaders.

Spencer reiterated a story told to him by Port Hoper Neil Wakely about how, when both Roberts and Wakely were young lads, they would go to Rice Lake to "run around" in their boats.

"Neil attested Jimmy would never arrive until after he had finished firing lead-weighted pucks into garbage pails for two hours," Spencer said.

"This level of discipline and work ethic is the type of thing we like to honour in our hall."

In his playing days Roberts was regarded as a smart, passionate player who would do anything to get the job done.

"Look, I have nothing going for me. If it required talent, I couldn't last in the AHL, even the watered down AHL of today. So what I have to do is make sure I'm in perfect physical condition and try my ass off every single game. Then I might be allowed to stay around in this company"

 

[Pominville Knows]

Gary Suter

Position: D ▪ Shoots: Left
Height: 6-0 ▪ Weight: 215 lbs.
Born: June 24, 1964 in Madison, Wisconsin

• First team All-Star in 1986.
• Second team All-Star in 1988.
• Played in 4 all-star games.
• 203 goals and 844 points in 1145 career regular season games.
• During his offensive prime 1985-86 to 1995-96 he was sixth in PPG amongst defensemen, in front of Larry Murphy, Chris Chelios and Scott Stevens.
• Top 10 in Power Play Goals On-Ice For six times, and is 15th all-time in that department.
• Although he got injured during both of Calgarys runs to the final in the eighties he finished his career with 73 points in 108 playoff games.
• He was on every best on best US team from the 1987 Canada Cup to the 2002 Olympics, highlighted with the 1996 World Cup of Hockey championship.

GreatestHockeyLegends.com:

When you think of the crème de la crème among American blueliners, most of them belonged to the same generation, played during the same period, and have either retired in the last few years or are approaching retirement: Brian Leetch, Chris Chelios, Phil Housley, Mathieu Schneider, Derian and Kevin Hatcher.

And, of course, who can forget #20 Gary Suter. Looking back, Suter's résumé was loaded with accomplishments, whether it be during his seventeen years in the NHL or in international competition representing the US. Suter's name is universally acknowledged as a necessity on any list of great American-born defensemen.

Gary Suter is also known to have inflicted some timely injuries on his oppositions players. Andrei Lomakin during the 1987 Canada Cup, Wayne Gretzky in 1991 and Paul Kariya in 1998. He is in a way therefore in the same class of players that mostly played during the so called "Old Time Hockey-era", together with players such as Eddie Shore.

 

[Johnny Engine]

Sylvio Mantha:

Glove tap to Tony D for putting together most of this bio, I've added his offensive finishes, and highlighted some key points in the quotes.

Position: D
Shoots: Right
Height: 5-10 Weight: 178 lbs.
Born: April 14, 1902 in Montreal, Quebec
Died: August 7, 1974

Some facts and stats on Mantha courtesy of hockeyreference.com:

-2 Time 2nd Team All Star
-4 Time Stanley Cup Champion
-5 Time Leader in Games Played in A Season
-8 Top 10 Finishes in Defensive Point Shares for a season
-Elected to Hockey Hall of Fame in 1960
-Renowned for his great defensive game

2nd place in scoring by defensemen, over the length of his career (1923-1937)
11th place in scoring by defensemen, founding of NHL to WWII (1917-1945)

Finishes:
5th place overall in assists once
Scoring by defensemen (asterisks denote negligible total):
3, 3, 5, 5, 8, 8, 10 11* 12 13 13* 19* 20*

Some quotes on Sylvio Mantha:

Legends Of Hockey:

One of the best two-way defensemen of his era, Sylvio Mantha enjoyed plenty of individual and team success in 14 stellar NHL seasons. He spent most of his big-league tenure with the Montreal Canadiens, with whom he was an important component of three Stanley Cup teams.

Born and bred in the St. Henri district of Montreal, Mantha first made a name for himself as a right wing with the Notre Dame de Grace juniors in 1918-19. That was followed by apprenticeships with Verdun in the Intermediate Mount Royal Hockey League, Montreal Imperial Tobacco and Montreal Northern Electric in the city's industrial league and a short stint with the Montreal Nationales of the Quebec senior amateur league. Well-known coach Arthur Therrien made an indelible impression on Mantha while coaching him at Verdun.

Mantha's four goals in nine games with the Nationales impressed the Montreal Canadiens enough to sign him in December 1923. Although he broke into the Canadiens lineup as a forward, he was soon moved back to fill a void on the right side of the team's blue line. Montreal was also trying to add youth to their defense corps, as veterans Sprague Cleghorn and Billy Coutu were on the downside of their careers.

Later that season, Mantha gained his first exposure to Stanley Cup glory when he helped Montreal vanquish the Vancouver Maroons and the Calgary Tigers. Then Cleghorn was traded prior to the 1925-26 season, paving the way for Mantha to take a more prominent role on the team. Mantha became a fixture on the Habs defense, pairing with Western Canada Hockey League veteran Herb Gardiner. On November 20, 1928, Mantha scored the first-ever goal in Boston Garden in a 1-0 Canadiens triumph over the Bruins.

Arguably, Mantha's two most rewarding seasons were 1929-30 and 1930-31. He contributed to consecutive Stanley Cup triumphs and was named to the NHL Second All-Star Team both years. By this time, Mantha was entrenched as one of the most revered defensive defensemen in the game. Further satisfaction came from sharing this success with his younger brother Georges, who was a defenseman and left wing for the Canadiens from 1928 to 1941.

In 1935-36, Mantha took on a greater challenge by serving as the Canadiens' player-coach. Unfortunately, the club didn't fare well and missed out on post-season play for the first time in a decade. Late in the 1936-37 season, he was signed by the Boston Bruins, for whom he played his last four regular-season games as defensive insurance.

After retiring, Mantha tried his hand as a linesman and referee in the American Hockey League and the NHL. However, the grueling travel schedule of an on-ice official proved to be too much. Mantha decided to stay in Montreal and ply his trade as an amateur coach. He guided the Montreal Concordias until 1943, when he switched to the junior ranks. Mantha passed his wealth of experience on to young players on the Laval Nationales from 1943 to 1945, the Verdun Maple Leafs from 1945 to 1947 and the St. Jerome Eagles from 1947 to 1948.

By the end of the 1940s, Mantha was ready to make a clean break from the game. In 1960 he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame and he died in August 1974 in Montreal, scene of many of his fondest memories, on or off the ice.

Joe Pelletier:

Sylvio Mantha almost could have been remembered as the man who forever misplaced the Stanley Cup.

Following the 1924 Stanley Cup victory, Sylvio and his Montreal Canadiens teammates were honored by the University of Montreal. Following the reception, Mantha and some teammates headed for owner Leo Dandurand's home to continue the celebrations. However the Model T Ford that Sylvio was driving stalled on a hill. All the players got out to give it a push until the car was started once again.

When the Model T was back in commission, the players jumped back in and headed for Dandurand's house. However they forgot that they placed Lord Stanley's Mug on the curb by the roadside while they were busy trying to revive the vehicle!! It wasn't until they arrived at Dandurand's house that they realized they misplaced the silverware. The players sped back to that hill and much to their relief found the Cup in all its shining majesty sitting exactly where they had left it.

Born in Montreal in 1902, Mantha became a Canadien when he was only 21 years old. He was a fine defenseman as is reflected by his team's successes - five first place finishes and three Stanley Cup championships. A physical player, Mantha, who played forward until he turned pro with the Habs, was paired with Herb Gardiner and the two formed a fantastic defensive partnership. Mantha, one of the all time best defensive blue liners, was twice named to the Second All Star team.

Mantha was named as the player-coach of the Canadiens in 1935-36, but following a poor finish was fired as coach. Mantha moved on Boston to play one final season in the NHL.
In 542 NHL games, Mantha scored 63 goals and 135 points - impressive numbers for a defenseman in the mid 1920s and 1930s. Following his NHL career, he turned to officiating, first as an NHL lineseman and later as a referee in the American Hockey League. He would later turn to coaching amateur teams in his native Montreal.

Sylvio Mantha was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1960.

From ourhistory.canadiens.com:

A native Montrealer, Sylvio Mantha grew up in St. Henri, a working class neighbourhood a stone’s throw from the Forum. Playing right wing in local amateur and industrial leagues, he attracted the attention of Canadiens General Manager Leo Dandurand, who snapped him up and had the strapping 5-foot-10, 180-pounder in uniform to start the 1923-24 NHL season.

The young forward was converted into a defenseman shortly after breaking in with the Habs. He went on to enjoy a long successful career, establishing the standard of excellence for stay-at-home defensemen for generations to come.

Mantha’s rookie season ended on the best possible note imaginable. He adapted to his new position with ease, thriving in his environment and ended the year as a Stanley Cup Champion.

A tough, strong and mobile defenseman, opposing forwards had no easy way to get around Mantha. Among the NHL’s bigger men, the fiercely competitive Mantha made good use of his size, able to eliminate oncoming threats with a solid hip check. The versatile rearguard also made frequent use of both his fists and stick in the heat of battle.

Mantha played his rock-ribbed game for 13 complete seasons with the Canadiens, missing an average of just one game per year. His tireless efforts and dedication to the team’s success led to Mantha’s appointment as captain to start the 1926-27 campaign. This was a title that, with the exception of one year, he would proudly hold for the rest of his tenure in Montreal.

With younger brother Georges’ arrival in 1928-29, the Canadiens iced one of the NHL’s first and most talented brother acts. They played together for the next eight years, sharing Stanley Cup Championships in 1930 and 1931, with both Manthas leading the charge in the postseason.

While his main charge involved preventing the opposition from scoring, Mantha also found the twine with regularity, scoring 10 goals in 1926-27 and 13 three years later. In 1928, he scored the first-ever goal at the brand new Boston Garden, securing a win for the visiting team.

Adding coaching responsibilities to his plate towards the end of the 1934-35 season, the veteran defenseman served as player-coach until leaving the club following the end of play in 1935-36.

After a brief on-ice return with Boston the following year, Mantha retired for good and devoted much of the next decade to coaching amateur teams in and around Montreal.

Mantha appeared in 538 regular season games over 13 years wearing the bleu-blanc-rouge, scoring 63 goals and adding 78 assists. His 689 penalty minutes secured his spot as one NHL’s best tough guys in the league’s early days.

In 1960, the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Mantha as an honored member, recognizing his rightful place among the game’s superstars.
Sylvio Mantha passed away in 1974. His name lives on in his hometown, where a local arena is dedicated to his memory.