ATD 2014 - the Bios Thread

Hobnobs

Pinko
Nov 29, 2011
8,864
2,236
Rögle BK are pleased to be able to select one of the elite defensemen in this draft. This guy is elite offensively and defensively, and he may just be the most intelligent player in NHL history. Please welcome……


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Nicklas Lidstrom!!!

Awards and Achievements:
4 x Stanley Cup Champion (1997, 1998, 2002, 2008)
6 x Stanley Cup Finalist (1995, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2008, 2009)

Conn Smyth Trophy (2002)
7 x Norris Trophy (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011)

11 x First Team All-Star (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011)
Second Team All-Star (2009, 2010)

Hart Voting – 4th(2008), 6th(2007), 7th(2006), 8th(2003), 9th(2000), 10th(2001)
Norris Voting – 2nd(1998), 2nd(1999), 2nd(2000), 3rd(2009), 6th(1996), 6th(1997), 6th(2004), 7th(1994)

Scoring:
Assists – 4th(2000), 4th(2002), 5th(2008), 6th(2006), 9th(2001)

Points among Defensemen – 1st(1998), 1st(2000), 1st(2003), 1st(2006), 1st(2008), 2nd(1999), 2nd(2001), 2nd(2011), 3rd(1992), 3rd(1997), 3rd(2004), 3rd(2009) 5th(1996), 5th(2007) 8th(1994), 9th(2010)

Play-off Points – 3rd(1998), 4th(2007), 7th(2009), 8th(1995), 8th(2002)
Play-off Assists – 2nd(1998), 3rd(2007) 6th(1995), 6th(2002), 7th(2009), 10th(1999) 10th(2008)

Play-off Points among Defensemen – 1st(1998), 1st(2002), 1st(2007), 1st(2009), 2nd(1995) 4th(1996), 4th(2008), 7th(1999), 7th(2001), 7th(2004), 9th(1997)

International Achievements:
Olympic Gold Medal (2006)
World Championship (1991)
IIHF All-Star (2006)
2 x Top scoring defenseman at Olympics (2002, 2006)

Records:
NHL
First European-born and trained Norris Trophy winner (2000–01).
First European-born and trained Conn Smythe Trophy winner (2001–02).
Fourth defenseman (and first European-born and trained defenseman) in NHL to win James Norris Memorial Trophy three years running (2001–2003, 2006–2008), and third seven-time Norris Trophy winner.
First European-born and trained captain of a Stanley Cup-winning team (2008).
First European-born and trained defenseman to reach 1000 points.
First European-born player, any position, to play over 1500 games.
Sixth defenseman (and 28th player overall) to reach 855 career assists.
Most regular season games played by a player born in Europe, any position (1494).
Most regular season games played by a defenseman in a career spent with only one team (1494), also third all-time league-wide and with the Red Wings (any position).
Most regular season wins played in (900).
Active leader in games played, any position (1500).
Oldest player ever to record his first hat trick (40 years old)
Oldest defenseman ever to record a hat trick (40 years old)
Oldest Norris Trophy winner (41 years, 57 days) (2010–2011)

Detroit Red Wings
Points by a defenceman, season (2005–06, 80).
Postseason goals by a defenceman, career (54).
Postseason points by a defenceman, career (183).
Postseason assists, career (129).
Postseason games played, career (258).
Games played by a defenceman, career (1500).
Goals, assists, and points by a defenceman, career (253, 855, and 1108).
Points in a single postseason (1998, 19).
Goals in a single postseason by a defenceman (1998, 6).
Best postseason plus/minus, career (+61).
Best regular season plus/minus, career (+429).

In 2007 "The Hockey news" awarded him the best european all-time in the NHL.
In the end of 2009 Nicklas Lidstrom was awarded "the decade's best NHL player' of several prestigious magazines like" Sports Illustrated "," The Sporting News "and" The Hockey News ".
Lidström has a street named after him in Detroit.

The Hockey News: The Best of Everything Hockey AwardsBest Defenseman
Most Respected Player
Best Power Play Point Man
Highest Panic Threshold

Runner-up for Best Leader​


The Hockey News: The Best of Everything Hockey said:
Yes, he’ll likely finish his career as one of the five highest scoring blueliners ever, but it’s the angles he plays on defense, the extra second he takes to explore passing outlets and the escapability he had defending the forecheck that separate him from the rest of the pack.

All of those skills are based on Lidstrom’s innate ability to calmly and rationally survey the situations and react in the best way possible: without panicking.

The Hockey News: Player Bio 2011-12 said:
ASSETS: Uses his superior hockey intelligence and skill to dominate the game. An outstanding passer, he also has an incredibly accurate shot from the point. Plays calm and is very efficient in the defensive zone. Thrives with lots of ice time. Is a great lateral skater.


The Hockey News: Player Bio 2010-11 said:
ASSETS: He uses his intelligence to dominate the game. Has an incredibly accurate shot from the point. He is very efficient in the defensive zone. He thrives with lots of ice time. He is a great lateral skater.

The Hockey News: The Best of Everything Hockey said:
Detroit’s ageless wonder is the master of the safe, smart play.

....

Even after two decades at the helm, this Detroit defenseman is still the best in the league at running the PP.

....

They don’t come any calmer or cooler than Lidstrom. His in-game patience is as renown as his all-world skill.

Nicklas Kronwall said:
He’s the best player in the league and he’s the backbone of our team. We got a lot of great players in here, but none as good as Nick.

“He uses his intelligence to dominate the game. Has an incredibly accurate shot from the point. He is very efficient in the defensive zone. He thrives with lots of ice time. He is a great lateral skater.†– The Hockey News

“He was a reliable defenseman and a brilliant rusher, and his powerful shots from the blue line often took goalies by surprise.†– Legends of Hockey

"... he can skate, handle the puck, shoot and create turnovers like no other defenseman in hockey." -- Bob McCown

"He never makes a mistake." -- Ted Lindsay

“To appreciate the subtleties of how talented and consistent he is, you have to watch him every day. He's not about flashy. He's about substance." – Undrafted Coach

"He's always pretty much in a perfect position. He's probably one of the greatest defencemen ever to play the game." – Sergei Gonchar

"He's always been able to shut down the best player on a pretty regular basis. I'm pretty confident Nick will be able to do a good job. He's played against Lemieux and guys like Gretzky and Hull. I think he looks forward to it. He's not going to come out and say it. He's not a loud guy." – Undrafted Player
 

ResilientBeast

Proud Member of the TTSAOA
Jul 1, 2012
13,902
3,557
Edmonton
mikita-600.jpg


MIKITA-WITH-TROPHIESlh_slide.jpg


Awards

1961 Stanley Cup Champion
Retro Conn Smythe Trophy (1962)
1963-64 NHL Art Ross Trophy
1964-65 NHL Art Ross Trophy
1966-67 NHL Art Ross Trophy
1966-67 NHL Hart Memorial Trophy
1966-67 NHL Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
1967-68 NHL Art Ross Trophy
1967-68 NHL Hart Memorial Trophy
1967-68 NHL Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
1967-68 Ultimate Hockey Retro Selke Trophy
1970-71 Ultimate Hockey Retro Selke Trophy
- Top-7 in Hart Voting 7 Times (1st, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th)

Most Assists of the 60s (530)
Most Points of the 60s (796)
Ultimate Hockey 60s All Star

1961-62 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1962-63 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1963-64 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1964-65 NHL NHL All-Star Team (2nd)
1965-66 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1966-67 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1967-68 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1969-70 NHL NHL All-Star Team (2nd)

Scoring Finishes

Goals
1962-63 NHL 31 (6)
1963-64 NHL 39 (2)
1964-65 NHL 28 (4)
1965-66 NHL 30 (5)
1966-67 NHL 35 (2)
1967-68 NHL 40 (2)
1969-70 NHL 39 (3)

Assists
1961-62 NHL 52 (2)
1962-63 NHL 45 (5)
1963-64 NHL 50 (2)
1964-65 NHL 59 (1)
1965-66 NHL 48 (1)
1966-67 NHL 62 (1)
1967-68 NHL 47 (4)
1968-69 NHL 67 (2)
1969-70 NHL 47 (7)
1972-73 NHL 56 (8)

Points
1961-62 NHL 77 (3)
1962-63 NHL 76 (3)
1963-64 NHL 89 (1)
1964-65 NHL 87 (1)
1965-66 NHL 78 (2)
1966-67 NHL 97 (1)
1967-68 NHL 87 (1)
1968-69 NHL 97 (4)
1969-70 NHL 86 (3)

Best on faceoffs | 2nd | 1971
Best on faceoffs | 1st | 1974
Best on faceoffs | 2nd | 1976
Best on faceoffs | 3rd | 1979
Best playmaker | 1st | 1974
Best playmaker | 3rd | 1976
Best stickhandler | 1st | 1976
Smartest player | 1st | 1974
Smartest player | 1st | 1976

The scoring exploits of Stosh reached new heights in 1966-67, when he won the Art Ross Trophy after scoring a personal best of 97 points. In addition, he was presented the Hart and Lady Byng trophies. The latter of these two awards is of interest since it was the culmination of a dramatic change in Mikita's style of play.

During his first seven NHL seasons, he was considered a "chippy" player. Mikita's habit of winding up in the penalty box frustrated his coaches, who preferred to see his immense talent remain on the ice. He recorded more than 100 penalty minutes four times and seemed far from ever winning the Lady Byng Trophy. But after his daughter questioned his style of play, Mikita vowed to clean up his act and did just that by registering only six minor penalties in 1966-67. Consequently, he became the first player in NHL history to win the Art Ross, Hart and Lady Byng trophies in the same season.

http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p198303&type=Player&page=bio&list=

While some pundits of the day championed Mikita's amazing season as the most dominant in NHL history, many simply couldn't fathom what he had accomplished. Mikita proved his season was no fluke, repeating the same trophy hat trick in 1967-68. Mikita's scoring title was his 4th in 5 seasons.

Described as hockey's ultimate playmaker, his skill and finesse game was often overlooked by his vicious stick work and aggression. Hall of Fame defenseman XXX once described Mikita as "a miserable little pain in the butt. He'd cross-check you, he'd spear you in the belly. You'd be going around the back of the net, and he'd spear you in the calf. Down you'd go."

Mikita enjoyed an outstanding post-season with 21 points in 12 games, however the Hawks failed to repeat as Cup champs when Toronto beat them in the finals.

Mikita would soon prove his greatness. Playing in his 8th NHL season, Stan Mikita turned in one of the greatest seasons in NHL history in 1966-67, becoming the first player to capture three major individual trophies. Not only did he win his third league scoring title, tying the then-NHL single season record of 97 points and setting a new high mark with 62 assists, he also captured the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player. Unexpectedly, at least prior to the start of the season, Mikita, one of the NHL's top hatchet men, won the Lady Byng trophy for gentlemanly play and sportsmanship.

"I have to say that I have never seen a better center. Maybe some could do one thing better than Stan, like skating faster or shooting harder. But none of them could do all the things that a center has to do as well as Stan does. And very few of them came close to being as smart as he is. He's about the brightest hockey player I've ever seen. He's a hard nosed hockey player. One of his biggest assets is that he has got a lot of pride."

An 8 time all star, Mikita is the Blackhawks all time leading scorer with 541 goals, 926 assists and 1467 points in 1394 games. A serious back injury in 1969 would hamper Mikita's play for the remainder of his career, but he was always capable of a spectacular night.

http://blackhawkslegends.blogspot.ca/2007/04/stan-mikita.html

Such is the case of Stan Mikita. He is always in the shadow of the Black Hawks number one hero - Bobby Hull.

How a player of Mikita's ability could possibly play second fiddle to anyone is a mystery to many knowledgeable hockey men.

"He's one of the best all-around hockey players I've seen in my life," said Jim Gregory, general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. "It is just his misfortune that two superstars on the same team cannot share the popularity equally. One is always the darling of the fans while the other works hard for the slightest applause."

Working hard is something Mikita has known all his life. Although he possesses a world of hockey talent, he has found that he must work extra hard to keep his talents at top level.

"Some athletes are so great they don't have to practice," said Mikita. "Bobby Hull is one of them. He is so good everything comes natural to him. I have to work hard and practice hard. It's not so simple."

"That first year almost killed my confidence. I wanted to show the league that I could do more than collect penalties. But the more i tried to concentrate on scoring, the more I seemed to wind up in the penalty box. Sometimes I wonder why they didn't get rid of me after that first season," Stan admitted.

Despite his poor showing on the ice everyone in the Hawk brain trust from general manager Tommy Ivan on down felt confident that their prize rookie would come through.

"He made plenty of mistakes out there in the beginning but you could still see he was a good hockey player beneath the greenness," said his former coach Rudy Pilous at a recent banquet. "Don't forget, he wasn't even twenty years old when he broke in. Most kids are still in the juniors at that age."

Under the watchful eye of the Chicago management, Mikita slowly but surely developed, first into a capable performer, and then eventually into the superstar he became by the mid-1960s. In eleven seasons with the Black Hawks, Stan has tallied 324 goals to go along with 530 assists for 854 points (Joe's note - remember, this is a classic article written back in 1971). He has topped the thirty goal mark on seven occasions in addition to walking away with the Art Ross Trophy, symbolic of the leagu's leading scorer, four times in a span of five years. His trophy collection also includes the coveted Hart Award as the NHL's Most Valuable Player.

Summing up, Mikita has four scoring titles, Hull has three; Stan has two MVP awards as does Bobby. Stan has two Lady Byng trophies to Hull's one.

If there was ever an award that the experts felt Stan Mikita could never win, it was the Lady Byng Trophy. This hardware is given annually to the player considered to be the "Most Gentlemanly" on the ice. Stan Mikita a gentleman. "Ha" would have been the most common reaction about five years ago. In his seven seasons up to 1966, Mikita had collected over 700 penalty minutes, conduct hardly acceptable for parole, let alone the Lady Byng.

http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2009/05/stan-mikita-better-than-bobby-hull.html

Through the 1960s, Mikita won four Art Ross Trophies and six First Team All Star Berths. In 1966-67 he became the first player to win the Hart, Art Ross and Lady Byng trophies all in the same season, a trifecta he repeated a season later.

Mikita and teammate Bobby Hull were big fans of the slapshot. While Hull's was harder, Mikita's was no slouch. And although he wasn't the smoothest skater around, he was good at finding and exploiting holes in the enemy defense. Apart from his all-world offensive abilities, he was a diligent and untiring defensive force.
 

tony d

Registered User
Jun 23, 2007
76,590
4,550
Behind A Tree
Defenseman Doug Harvey

Harvey-BW2.jpg


Biographical Information courtesy of http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/h/harvedo01.html

Position: D ▪ Shoots: Left
Height: 5-11 ▪ Weight: 187 lbs.
Born: December 19, 1924 in Montreal, Quebec

Awards and Stats courtesy of http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/h/harvedo01.html

-540 points in 1113 career games
-72 points in 137 career playoff games
-7 Time Norris Trophy Winner
-11 Time Post Season All Star
-4 Top 10 Finishes for Assists in a Season
- Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1973

Legends Of Hockey:

Doug Harvey was unquestionably the top defenseman of his era. Along with Eddie Shore and Bobby Orr, he probably had the greatest impact of any player at that position. His dramatic rushes and superior defensive work allowed him to dominate the game. In a franchise deep in heroes, Harvey gained an immortal place in the storied history of the Montreal Canadiens. His role the Habs' record-setting five straight Cup wins from 1956 to 1960 was paramount.

Harvey proved to be an exceptionally talented and versatile player for the Habs. He quarterbacked the power play, set the tempo for the transitional game and the counterattack, defended tenaciously, blocked shots and intimidated the opposition by merely stepping on the ice. As much as any skater before or since, he was the complete player who meant everything to his team.

Joe Pelletier:

The first key to Doug's success was he was a flawless defender. Doug was so superb in one on one defensive battles that he would routinely steal the puck off the attacker as though he were picking cherries. He would rarely be beaten, and his teammates knew it.

Even more impressive was Doug's ability with the puck. He would rarely simply dump the puck out of the zone. He would be able to gain control of the puck and never give it up. At first he would drive fans and coaches crazy, as he wandered in front of the net with fore-checkers zooming in, but more often than not he would remain calm, and in an unhurried fashion spot a streaking forward with a pinpoint pass. Because of t his uncanny ability Montreal's superstar forwards could afford stay high and loosen up on their backchecking duties. This created the transition game known as fire wagon hockey.

Harvey was also the quarterback of such a devastating power play that it was decided in 1956 to change the rules and allow a player to return to the ice if his team surrendered a power play goal.

Final Thoughts:

The pick of Harvey shook up the draft a bit. Certainly not my intention but he is the right pick. Top tier defensemen like Harvey are more rarer than top tier #1 centres even if they're Mario Lemieux. Doug Harvey will be a leader on this team and as such he will be the captain for the Indianapolis Racers.
 
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BillyShoe1721

Terriers
Mar 29, 2007
17,252
6
Philadelphia, PA
LW Bobby Hull

Bobby%20Hull%20Blackhawks2.jpg


Hockey Hall of Fame Member
12x NHL All Star Game Participant
3x Art Ross Trophy Winner
13x Top 3 All Star Voting(1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3)
10x Top 7 Hart Trophy Voting(1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 5, 7)
2x WHA MVP
1x Lady Byng Winner
3x WHA 1st Team All Star
2x WHA 2nd Team All Star
1x Stanley Cup Champion
2x WHA Champion

13x Top 6 NHL Goals(1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
5x Top 6 NHL Assists(5, 5, 6, 6, 6)
11x Top 9 NHL Points(1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9)
5x Top 5 WHA Goals(1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
3x WHA Top 7 Assists(5, 6, 7)
5x WHA Top 5 Points(2, 2, 4, 4, 5)
5x Top 3 Playoff Goals(1, 1, 1, 2, 3)
6x Top 10 Playoff Assists(2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10)
5x Top 4 Playoff Points(1, 2, 3, 3, 4)

VsX Scores: 124, 114, 111, 101, 100, 100, 96, 89, 86, 79, 78, 77, 67, 66, 62
7-year Average: 106.57
10-year Average: 100

WHA VsX(one WHA point=.65 NHL points): 73, 70, 67, 64, 58

During Career:

1st in Goals(130% of 2nd place Mahovlich)
8th in Assists(89% of 2nd place Mikita)
1st in Points(109% of 2nd place Howe)

1971 Coach's Poll
Best Shot
Hardest Shot

Sporting News
Named West Division MVP 70-71 & 71-72

Few of the game's superstars could match the physical talents of Bobby Hull. The Golden Jet combined speed, a feared slapshot and a powerful physique to rise to the elite of the NHL in the 1960s. Depending on the source, his shot was timed at approximately 120 miles per hour. His powerful legs never stopped moving and his muscular upper body enabled him to handle the rough side of the game. Hull was a legend in Chicago and later enjoyed success in the World Hockey Association and on the international stage while representing Canada.

In 1971-72, Hull hit the 50-goal mark for the fifth time in his career, playing with Pit Martin and Chico Maki. At this stage of his career, many observers noted that he was playing his most well-rounded hockey ever. Ironically, this complete version of Bobby Hull was the last NHL fans would see of him for several years.

Prior to the 1976-77 WHA season, Hull was allowed to compete for his country in the inaugural Canada Cup tournament. He was Canada's top-scoring forward and consistently dished out punishing yet clean bodychecks. If this tournament was the highlight of Bobby Orr's career, it was also unquestionably Hull's one chance to shine in a competition featuring the top players from around the globe.

http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p198302&page=bio

Although he didn't invent the slap shot, his uncanny accuracy and amazing power popularized the shot to this day. Goalies would cower when he wound up. Hull led the league in goal scoring in seven seasons. He scored an amazing 610 regular season goals, and over 300 more with the WHA's Jets. He was the first player to record more than 50 goals in one season (54); won the Art Ross Trophy three times, the Hart Trophy twice, the Lady Byng once, and the Lester Patrick Trophy once; Bobby also dominated all-star selections, being named to 10 first all-star teams, and 2 second teams. No wonder why Bobby is considered by many to be the best left winger in the history of the game.

Hull was hockey's faster skater (28.3 mph with puck, 29.7 without it) and had the hardest shot (once reportedly recorded at 118.3 mph, some 35 mph above the league average). He was hockey's ultimate hockey player, blending together the talents of his most famed predecessors - the speed of Howie Morenz, the goal scoring prowress of Maurice Richard, the strength and control of Gordie Howe - plus the looks and charisma of a movie star. Hull did more than any other player to popularize the game of hockey in the United States prior to Wayne Gretzky.

http://blackhawkslegends.blogspot.com/2006/05/bobby-hull-golden-jet.html

When Bobby Hull hit the puck toward you, you got out of the way. Thanks to his speed on the ice, notoriously powerful slap shot and bright blonde hair, he was called “The Golden Jetâ€.

http://skoda-hockey.com/post/52381537776/hockey-legend-bobby-hull-power-speed-and-poise

One of the fastest skaters in the game, the 5-foot-10, 193-pound Hull had a remarkable physique with his muscular torso and powerful legs. His slap shot was a blur, often traveling more than 100 mph as he terrorized goaltenders with its speed and accuracy.

https://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014266.html

Armed with superb speed, superior strength and a screaming slap shot clocked at 120 mph, Hull was the most feared and effective scorer Chicago has known. He ranked second in league history in goals scored when he left for the WHA in 1972. He earned two league MVP awards (1965 and '66), three Art Ross Trophies and the title of Associated Press Player of the '60s.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1171143/1/index.htm

Being the son of a man who scored 610 goals in 16 NHL seasons is a heavy enough load to carry, but Brett also must be compared with his father in the way he scored. The Golden Jet used to gather the puck in the defensive zone and skate up ice with a rare combination of grace and speed, blond hair flowing, stick cocked high above the shoulder a moment before he struck. Then came the booming slap shot, which in '65-66 helped make him the first NHL player to score more than 50 goals in a season.

Bobby's skating ability and intensity were matched by few. Brett skates with short, choppy strides, as though he's always trying to catch up to the play, and until this season his intensity left much to be desired. The most noticeable difference, other than Bobby's having a lefthanded shot and Brett a righthanded one, is in physique. Bobby, now a cattle rancher in Ontario, looks like Popeye after a jolt of spinach, his chest stretching the seams of his sweater. Brett's build is less impressive.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1069282/1/index.htm

Another time, Hull gave Houston Defenseman Bill Prentice so many fakes—a leg here and a hip there, a shoulder here and an eye there—that Prentice actually fell down as Hull went around him.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1088102/1/index.htm

Although Hull and Stapleton both left Chicago with bitter feelings toward top management, they still respect Reay. "If Billy had been running things himself," Hull once said, "I probably would never have left." It was Reay who, five years ago, ordered Hull to abandon his free-skating, gun-them-down style and play an orderly, conservative, close-checking left wing. And that undoubtedly added years to Hull's playing life.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1087996/1/index.htm

"To be honest," Worsley said, "Bobby Hull was the one player who upset the balance in the West. The Black Hawks don't have him anymore, so they're back with the rest of us. Or maybe we're up with them. Whichever it is, they're not running away from us this year like they always used to."

"Our trouble," explained Chicago's Stan Mikita, "has been that we no longer have the guy who always got the big goal for us when we needed it." Not having Hull has presented serious defensive problems for the Hawks, too. "Never, never have I had to stop—or try to stop—so many good scoring chances," said Goalie Tony Esposito. "When Bobby was on the ice for 30 minutes a game the other teams had to worry about him all that time. They couldn't get very ambitious themselves because Bobby would burn them at the other end. Without Bobby to worry about, they're not afraid to take liberties." Esposito shook his head. "We lost only 17 games all last year," he said, "but we've lost 14 games already—and we're not even halfway through the schedule."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1086950/1/index.htm

However, the lone Winnipeg goal showed the effect Hull has on goaltenders. Christian Bordeleau, whom Hull had persuaded to jump with him from Chicago, skated down the right wing as he and Hull were killing off a penalty. Hull trailed Bordeleau by about 10 feet, and Goaltender Jack Norris obviously expected Bordeleau to drop a pass to Hull and then screen Bobby's shot. While Norris was thinking about the shot Hull surely would make, Bordeleau fired the puck himself and beat the goalie easily from 35 feet.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1086821/2/index.htm

According to Jet Coach Bobby Hull, Left Wing Bobby Hull will return to the electric style he displayed in Chicago before the Black Hawks forced him to become a back-checker. That is, Hull once again will be firing away at goalies from all angles.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1086620/1/index.htm

The Hawks also required Hull to play a more controlled style of hockey, no longer permitting him to freewheel in the way that once enchanted his admirers. There is no doubt that he longs for the old days, although he does admit "this new style will lengthen my career by three or four years."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1086213/index.htm

However, as Defenseman Brad Park said, "Covering Hull is not a one-man deal. No player can do that job alone; he needs help."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1086063/2/index.htm

What bothers Hull most of all about expansion hockey is the fact that he has been unable to perform in the same electric style that juiced his goal-scoring records of the 1960s. "Maybe it's not realistic, maybe it's stupid to look back to those days," he says, "but it's impossible not to think about them." Since expansion Hull has performed under two peculiar handicaps. The Black Hawks have been unable to locate a center capable of adjusting his style to complement Hull's, and all the new teams shadow him with rugged kids who have orders to more or less trip, clip or mug him the instant he gets his stick on the puck.

"I need a big, strong center, someone like Phil or Bill, who can hang onto the puck and wait for the right instant to feed me," Hull says. "I can't have a center who's always going to lose the puck when he gets hit."

Despite the confusion around center ice, Hull continues to be a consistent goal scorer. The one difference is that whereas he used to beat goalies most often with long, 100-mph shots, he now scores many of his goals on rebounds and deflections. "Bobby has had to change his style," Mikita says. "I see him taking suicide passes, where he gets blind-sided as soon as he touches the puck. In the old days he never had to do that. He may not want to now, but he does."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1085852/2/index.htm

Rejean (Peanuts) Houle, the little Montreal wing, was not quite that impatient. He was assigned to check Bobby Hull, who could, if provoked, lift Houle with one hand and deposit him in the red seats. "I just try to skate alongside him," Houle said, "and when he skates away I hook or trip or do what I must to stop him. There is no other way."

Hull would charge up the ice, shedding defenders effortlessly and then fire his slap shot from 30 feet at a petrified goal-tender.

Hull, 32, probably will never score 50 goals again because now he skates both ways.* "If it's 50-50 whether I can get to a puck and get a shot away," he says, "I forget the shot and worry about my check." He plays only 25 minutes a game, not 45, and as a result expects to survive as a player a few extra years.

What Houle—and Claude Larose, at times—did to Hull was practically criminal.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1085538/2/index.htm

*He scored 50 goals that year

Houle, whose nickname is "Peanuts," admittedly hooked, cross-checked, tripped and held Hull, but he did it so discreetly that officials penalized him only five times during the series. "Hull could handle me like he handles his stick," said Houle, who spotted Bobby about 30 pounds, "but he is very fair, thank God."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1084936/2/index.htm

"You can't appreciate him until you've played with him," he said. "I wasn't around here last year, but the guys who were say Bobby's never skated his position and come back to help on defense like he has this year. He missed a game the other night in L.A., and I want you to know we missed him. Me, particularly. It's really nice, you know, to throw that puck up to Bobby on the left wing—and then watch it disappear."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1083425/2/index.htm

In the third period the Rangers were tied but by no means humiliated, for to even it up 3-3 Bobby Hull had to put on one of his muscle-beach acts. Rambling behind the New York net with the puck, he outwrestled one Ranger, a second Ranger, a third Ranger and still had enough strength and presence to Hip the disk out to Chico Maki, who fired it past Giacomin.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1083150/index.htm

Ever since he started averaging 50 goals a year, in 1966, the superstar of the Chicago Black Hawks has been acquiring more than the usual number of stitches, sprains and fractures from those straining to stop him.

His shot has lost some of its steam, and even though he still takes his regular turn, kills penalties and plays on the power play, this is not the Bobby Hull the rest of the league fears so much. Still, he has maintained a remarkable scoring pace: of his 30 goals, eight have come in the eight games he has played since he was hurt.

"I don't go blasting into the corners the way I usually do, and I've got to keep my elbows up."

Bobby's current state, in fact, reminds one of the 1963 Stanley Cup playoffs, during which he played with a nose so severely smashed that the fracture extended into his skull. With the Hawks one game from elimination, Hull ignored the orders of his doctors, checked out of a Chicago hospital and flew by himself to Detroit. That night—with both eyes blackened, his nose encased in tape and blood draining into his throat—he played against the Red Wings. He scored three goals and an assist, but even that heroic effort was not enough to avert a 7-4 Chicago loss.

But as it was with Montreal's immortal Maurice (Rocket) Richard, Hull is rarely without company in a game. Everywhere he goes somebody either goes with him, or tries to. In recent years this has become a particularly sore point with the normally good-natured Hull, for as his goal production has expanded so has the fouling by his escorts. Four years ago Hull won the NHL's Lady Byng Trophy, given annually to "the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct...." It is unlikely he will ever win it again; Hull has to fight back continually merely to survive.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1082001/2/index.htm

The Rangers were deep and well balanced, while the Hawks seemed to be leaning too heavily on a few men—most notably Hull, who was required to play left wing on his own line, center another line, lead power plays and kill penalties.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1081079/1/index.htm

The powerful Greek-god body still gives Bobby Hull (see cover) more strength and speed than anyone else in hockey, but it is frequently racked by pains that the stoical Hull finds hard to ignore.

A prolific goal scorer and dynamic gate attraction, he is the most exciting player in the game today.

But it is Bobby who can lift any crowd as he takes the puck from one end of the rink to the other to set up a goal, guiding the disk in the curve of his stick with one hand and pushing off defenders with the other. And it is Bobby who can shoot from anywhere in the offensive zone and have a good chance to score. Mikita is needed to make the whole Chicago attack work smoothly, but Hull can be an attack all by himself.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1080836/2/index.htm

All through the season of 1965-1966 Bobby Hull, the toughest fighter, the highest scorer and the most spectacular all-round player in hockey today, had made pigeons of the Red Wings as he slammed the puck into net after net for a record 54 goals in a single season.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1079314/2/index.htm

Like Gordie, Mikita is an all-round hockey player, but he is not as spectacular as Bobby Hull, nor is he equipped with Hull's brute strength. Hull's marvelous combination of speed, build, strength and looks forces Stan to play Gehrig to Bobby's Ruth, but Gehrig was a pretty fair ballplayer.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1078140/3/index.htm

At the age of 25, Bobby Hull has enthralled the casual hockey fan, the nonfan and the fanatic fan as few, if any, hockey players have before. Even those padded acrobats who perform on the ice with and against him are stricken with awe at his skill.

At 95 mph Hull's slap shot is the fastest in the league, but his wrist shot, that seemingly easy flick he uses when in full flight, has been timed at 105 mph.

Bobby Hull's secret scoring weapons are three. He can change speed on the ice better than anyone in the league. Often an opposing defenseman will try to gauge Hull's speed and meet him in mid-ice, only to have Hull suddenly shift gears upward and get to the planned rendezvous well ahead. Bobby's second weapon is his great strength, which, coupled with that ability to change speed, makes him an almost impossible target for body checking and serves to deter most casual attackers.

Bobby's third weapon is his remarkable fortitude. Most NHL forwards spend about two-thirds of their game time resting on the bench. This season Hull has been averaging about 40 minutes of ice time for every 60-minute game. Billy Reay, the Black Hawk coach, not only makes Hull perform his regular first-line duties with Wingman Chico Maki and rookie Center Phil Esposito but uses him on the power play and as a penalty killer as well. Some question Reay's wisdom in using his already overworked star for this sort of thing, but by doing so Reay has put an offensive thrust into what is normally a defensive situation. When the Hawks are a man short, Hull's speed in skating and stick handling against opposing defensemen in close to the attacking zone often can lead to a break away and a clear shot on the net.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1076832/2/index.htm

One of Reay's first changes was to put these high shooters on a schedule that has them skating for 40 minutes of every game. Both of them are now serving not only in their regular lines but as penalty killers and key men. Chicago's players are known for being among the roughest and toughest in the league, but under Reay they seem suddenly to have become also the happiest.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1075444/index.htm

After a slow start, the 200-pound superstar Hull, whose arms are bigger than Rocky Marciano's and whose shot is the heaviest in the NHL, not only had hit his stride but had developed some sly finesse as well

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1073583/2/index.htm

Robert Marvin Hull, the hard-hitting fancy skater who animates this week's cover, may turn out to be one of the world's great hockey players.

During the last three seasons, Bobby Hull's slashing skill on the ice in the service of the Hawks has brought light and hope to a team that, over the years, has dwelt in a state of almost unrelieved darkness and despair.

But it would be impossible to overlook Bobby Hull. Game pads, jersey (red at home, white on the road) and bulky shorts give him a close-coupled, tanklike look, but when he is on the ice he moves excitingly and with the grace and fluency of a figure skater. There is a cheerful, vivid, freewheeling recklessness about him. He picks up the puck and sprints toward the enemy goal with the kind of jack-rabbit acceleration that marked Germany's Olympic 100-meter track champion Armin Hary. Head up, eyes unblinkingly calculating, he seems almost visibly deciding whether to try to roughhouse past the defense or feed one of his linemates. Sometimes, given a shooting chance at close quarters, he will snap the puck away. At other moments, with a little more room, he takes a big backswing and gives the puck a tremendous swat. His shot is "heavy" as well as hard—that is, not easily deflected. One goalie says it feels like lead when it chunks against him.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1071999/1/index.htm

He is also moving up rapidly among the league's bad boys (42 penalty minutes), gaining on the way a reputation as one of its busier scrappers. Middleweight Spider Webb said he would fight Hull "if I had a hockey stick in my hand."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1134414/index.htm

In histories of the NHL, Hull is usually cast - typecast really - as a one dimensional scorer whose game consisted of a booming slapshot and blinkered focus on the opponent's goal. That reputation was deserved early in his career, but not in 1971. There was no Selke Trophy for the league's best defensive forwards in that era - it didn't come along until 1978. If there had been, Hull wouldn't have won it-it was then and is now far easier for a 20 goal scorer to be noted for his two-way play than a 50 goal player. Yet Hull would have deserved votes in any election of the game's most defensively responsible forwards. In fact, when the Montreal Gazette offered a list of Conn Smythe trophy candidates before Game 7, Hull's name was at the top and his contributions at both ends of the ice were cited: "The Super Hawk is winding up his best all around season. He not only emerged as Chicago's leading scorer but has also been the whole spark of the team in each series. He ran wild in the Hawks' four game sweep against Philadelphia, bagged two winners in the drag em out round with New York, and has come up with four big goals in the final...Besides his regular shifts and power play efforts, Bobby has worked as a penalty killer and defensive performer when necessary. Thursday his best play of the game was an extra skating effort to catch Frank Mahovlich on a breakaway.

"It always seemed like there were a set of rules for the guys who were checking Bobby, and and another for everyone else," Cliff Koroll said.

http://books.google.com/books?id=SX...ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=bobby hull&f=true

The man with the blistering slapshot was the ultimate combination of power, speed, and intimidation. Bobby Hull the leader of the great Chicago Blackhawks, remains one of the sports most colorful characters, a master in a garne with few new superstars.

http://books.google.com/books?id=bR...a=X&ei=bf_eUt-8HaelsQSekoDIBw&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAw

Hull had the power, speed and the majesty of a jet. He soared above the opposition. Or he went through it with his strength. The blistering slapshot, launched from the prototype curved stick, made goalies shudder.

He made 50 goal seasons commonplace. His ability to change the flow of a game with one burst made other teams seek out one dimensional skaters whose only job was to prevent Hull from scoring.

"His shot once paralyzed my arm for five minutes," HOF goalie Jacques Plante said.

Putting pucks into the net was a habit for Hull, who was named the Player of the Decade in the 60s.

"People forget that Hull was one of the most physical players in hockey," John Ferguson, once a tough Montreal forward said. "He wouldn't back away from anyone and he knew how to hurt you."

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...gEmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HfwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6860,7608711

In the NHL's pressure cooker race you couldn't want a better clutch player on your side than record breaking Bobby Hull - unless of course it's Jean Beliveau.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...DomAAAAIBAJ&sjid=t_4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4011,3847367

There was a lot of hitting in this game, more than in any one game in the series between the Rangers and the Canadians, and there were also quite a few penalties. The Leafs were able to kill them much better than their Chicago rivals. A couple of games back, Imlach blasted Bobby Hull for charging his players. He was asked if this wasn't bad psychology since it might rouse Hull to even greater efforts.

"I don't give a damn about Hull," he shouted. "He'll keep on charging my players because he knows they (the referees) will let him get away with it. I'd do the same thing. I'm making noise because I want it noticed."

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?p=60921455&highlight=bobby+hull#post60921455

a couple of years ago, i found in newspapers a poll from 1969 or early 1970 about best player of the '60s.

hull: 436.5
howe: 145.5
orr: 19
mikita: 7

beliveau got only 2 votes.


mikita was the leading scorer of the '60s, had the highest points per game among players who played a large number of games, won 4 art rosses and 2 harts, but only got 7 votes.

orr had not yet won the '70 art ross, and had only played a couple of seasons.


it corroborates comments by older posters like pappyline, dennis bonvie, psycho papa joe, killion, etc that bobby hull was the biggest star of his time, and even though some others were similar statistically, hull was considered superior.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?p=58070741&highlight=bobby+hull#post58070741

"Up to now we've been defense conscious. We've been worrying too much about Howe-the Howe thing was becoming a monster. So we put Hull on him and now Howe has to worry about Hull-and Bobby has become a fine two-way hockey player."

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...r5OAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EAEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6103,4991746

"The guys I've played with have always made things easy for me," he insisted. "Billy Hay and Murray Balfour were good, and Phil Esposito and Chico Maki suited me even better. The day Phil, Chico and I were first put together, the team went on a 13-game winning streak. I know there have been a lot of great lines, but I think we made picture goals to match anyone."

Bobby paused and added, "I'll never understand how anyone could break up a combination like that." Black Hawk General Manager Tommy Ivan broke it up last spring by trading Esposito, along with Fred Stanfield and Ken Hodge, to Boston. Esposito had never been one of Reay's favorites, and Stanfield never pleased Ivan very much. Hull has taken the loss of Esposito personally. "Phil and Chico and I were hardly ever away from one another off the ice," he said. "And they knew how to bring out the best in me. I need the puck a lot to be effective, and they got it to me. We may have acted careless or looked bad in practice, but we always knew we could do the job."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1080836/3/index.htm
 
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Velociraptor

Registered User
May 12, 2007
10,953
19
Big Smoke
Bobby Clarke, C

Position: Centre
HT/WT: 5'10", 185 lbs
Handedness: Left
Nickname(s): "Whitey"
Born: August 13th, 1949 in Flin Flon, MB

aamc216.jpg


- Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987.
- 2-time Stanley Cup Champion - (1974, 1975)
- -time Top 10 in All-Star C Voting - (1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 6, 6, 7, 9)
- 1-time Bill Masterson Trophy recipient - (1972)
- 1-time Ted Lindsay Trophy recipient - (1973)
- 3-time Hart Memorial Trophy recipient - (1973, 1975, 1976)
- 1-time Selke Trophy recipient - (1983)
- 2 acknowledgements for the First NHL All-Star Team - (1975, 1976)
- 2 acknowledgements for the Second NHL All-Star Team - (1973, 1974)
- ranked number 24 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players
- scored 358 goals and 852 assists for 1210 points in 1144 games, adding 1453 penalty minutes.
- scored 42 goals and 77 assists for 119 points in 136 playoff games, adding 152 penalty minutes.

Coaching Survey conducted from the early 70's to mid 80's:

BOBBY CLARKE

Best backchecker | 3rd | 1981
Best checker | 1st | 1974
Best checker | 1st | 1976
Best defensive forward | 2nd | 1981
Best forechecker | 1st | 1981
Best on faceoffs | 2nd | 1974
Best on faceoffs | 1st | 1976
Best on faceoffs | 1st | 1979
Best on faceoffs | 1st | 1981
Best on faceoffs | 4th | 1984
Best penalty killer | T-1st | 1974
Best penalty killer | 1st | 1976
Best playmaker | 3rd | 1974
Best playmaker | 1st | 1976
First player to build team around | 1st | 1976
Hardest worker | 1st | 1971
Hardest worker | 1st | 1974
Hardest worker | 1st | 1976
Hardest worker | 1st | 1979
Hardest worker | 2nd | 1984
Smartest player | 3rd | 1974
Smartest player | 2nd | 1976
Smartest player | 4th | 1979

Clarke may have better intangibles than any Hall of Fame player, ever. He was routinely regarded as one of the league's smartest & hardest working players. He was an outstanding playmaker, faceoff winner, checker and penalty killer.

Voting Record:

Hart Voting Record:

1st (73-74), 1st (74-75), *1st (75-76), 2nd (76-77), 6th (77-78), 6th (82-83), 8th (71-72), 10th (70-71), 10th (79-80)

Selke Voting Record:

1st (82-83), 4th (77-78), 7th (79-80), 10th (78-79), 11th (83-84)

*1975-76 voting results:
1. B. Clarke 246
2. D. Potvin 75
3. G. Lafleur 62

Clarke wins by 171 points, an absolute landslide to suggest he was far and away the best player in the league this season.

Top 10 Finishes:
Assists - 9x - (1, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10)
Points - 7x - (2, 2, 5, 6, 8, 8, 10)
Power Play Goals - 1x - (9)
Shorthanded Goals - 7x - (1, 1, 6, 7, 9, 9, 9)
Game Winning Goals - 1x - (10)

Quotes

Greatest Hockey Legends said:
No hockey player worked harder than Bobby Clarke, the tenacious leader of the Philadelphia Flyers for 15 enjoyable years. As a result, no one personified the Philadelphia Flyers better.

A wonderful talent blessed with great vision and playmaking skills, Clarke is better remembered for his physical talents - a relentless work ethic, a powerful leadership presence, and an unquenchable thirst to win complete with a willingness to do anything it took to capture victory.

Clarke immediately stepped in and succeeded. By the time he turned 23 years old, he was named captain of the Flyers - the youngest player in league history at that time to be so honored. The same year he won his first of three Hart Trophies as league MVP. And his 104 points made him the first player on a non-Original Six team to reach the 100 point mark.


Clarke was absolutely essential to the Flyers two Cups in the 1970s, the first time an expansion team won the prized trophy. Dave Schultz called him the "heart and soul of our club." Coach Fred Shero said there would be no championships in Philadelphia without Bobby Clarke. Clarke played with so much determination and all of his heart and soul, and he demanded it from every single one of his teammates.

It wouldn't be a stretch to say Clarke was the Pete Rose of hockey, a Charlie Hustle on skates. It could be game in the middle of January and up or down by 6 goals, but Clarke played every shift as if it was overtime in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.

His super-human will should not overshadow his high skill level. Clarke was an incredible defensive player. He was almost always the guy to take the big faceoff, kill a key penalty or defend a lead in the last minute of play. As the statistics suggest, Clarke was a great playmaker as well. Twice he led the NHL in assists, and had 852 in total in his career, compared to 358 goals.
 
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ted2019

History of Hockey
Oct 3, 2008
5,492
1,882
pittsgrove nj
Maurice "The Rocket" Richard
g217544_u63562_MauriceRichard2.jpg


Stanley Cup Champion (1944, 1946, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960)
Stanley Cup Finalist (1947, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955)
First All-Star Team Right Wing (1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1955, 1956)
Second All-Star Team Right Wing (1944, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957)
Played in NHL All-Star Game (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959)
Stanley Cup Game Winning Goal (1956)
Conn Smythe Winner (1951**, 1958**)
Hart Memorial Trophy (1947)
Maurice Richard Trophy (1945, 1947, 1950, 1954, 1955)
Canada Sports Hall of Fame (1975)
Team Captain (1956–1960)
Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame (1961)
#9 Retired by the Montreal Canadiens (1960)

Top-10 Scoring (2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th)
Top-10 Goal scoring (1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 6th)
Top-10 Assist (6th, 7th, 9th, 10th)
Top-10 Penalty minutes (1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 7th, 8th)

Top-10 Playoff Scoring (1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 5th, 6th)
Top-10 Playoff Goal scoring (1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 10th)
Top-10 Playoff Assist (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 10th, 10th)
Top-10 Playoff Penalty minutes (1st, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th)
Top-10 Hart Nomination (1st, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 8th)

- #5 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players
- #6 on History of Hockey list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players (2008 edition)
- #9 on History of Hockey list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players (2009 edition)
- Named the best instincts of the 1940's by Ultimate Hockey
- Named the best sniper of the 1940's by Ultimate Hockey
- Named the best sniper of the 1950's by Ultimate Hockey
- Maurice is the older brother of Hall of Famer Henri " Pocket Rocket" Richard
- He was signed as a free agent by Montreal on October 29th, 1942
- Richard scored his first NHL goal on November 8th, 1942, against the New York Rangers

Originally Posted by HHOF
Richard was often at his best in the most important games. His six career overtime goals set an NHL record.

Remember, a rocket in 1943 was a new, terrifying, and effective weapon. So, too, was Maurice Richard on skates.

Originally Posted by Ultimate Hockey
''The Rocket'' was given on account of his mad, whirling-dervish rushes, his edge-of-your-seat charges into enemies territory. He was an excellent stick handler and could often be seen carrying a player on his back on breakaways. His tricky dekes attracted a lot of holdings, tripping and slashing from checkers. He had an amazingly accurate shot and could score from just about any angles. From 10 feet inside the opposition blue-line, he was the most deadly assassin of all-time.
Peak Years 1947-51
In a Word ASSASSIN

The most dangerous man when he was in the opposition's end of the ice, Maurice Richard was a legendary, fiery competitor who fought through anyone who stood between him and the net.

Originally Posted by Joe Pelletier
The stare was Rocket Richard's trademark. When he came at a goalie with his eyes lit up, the opposition was terrified.

Rocket Richard did everything by instinct and brute strength. He would run, not glide, down the ice and cut fearlessly to the slot. Some describe him as the greatest opportunist the game has ever known. He was probably the greatest goal scorer from the blue line in.

Originally Posted by Jim Coleman, 1979
His defensive ability has been unjustly overlooked by hockey historians. The left wingers who played against him, seldom scored goals.

The Calgary Herald, Friday, November 2, 1979


Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Ulmer
Away from the net, Richard liked to double-back fairly deep into his own territory. He rarely, if ever, handled the puck in his own end and initiated bodychecks very infrequently. "I have found it usually shakes me up as much as the fellow I have checked," he wrote. Still, while a middling defensive player, Richard was far more diligent than the procession of superstars - Hull, Gretzky, Lemieux - who followed him and Irvin used him in defensive situations. On a turnover, he always headed back first to his own zone and once there he picked up his man. The Canadiens kept track in 1950-51; while Richard scored 43 goals, his check scored 11 times. Still, Richard rationed his strength for offense. He was, Jean Beliveau wrote, "a highly-tuned, specialized hockey instrument, not a well-balanced, all-around player

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Ulmer
When, inevitably, Harvey got hold of the puck, opponents feared his passing touch and peeled back. The Canadiens' forwards, secure in the knowledge that Harvey would be beaten very rarely, were afforded the luxury of hanging higher in the defensive zone or even lurking in neutral ice. Harvey's natural skills bought him more room and, unimpeded by fore checkers (Harvey would quickly lose anyone who challenged him), he was free to bring the puck up ice. "He was like a big glider moving with the puck," remembered television analyst Howie Meeker, a veteran of the Harvey era. "He controlled the play so well, his forwards could cheat."


Elite longevity: 14 straight years as a postseason All-Star. From 44-45 to 56-57, only Gordie Howe finished ahead of Richard in AS voting.
-8 Times First Team All Star Right Wing
-6 Times Second Team All Star Right Wing (1 in his 2nd season, 5 to Gordie Howe)

Playoffs:
-8 Stanley Cups (Captain for 4 of them)
-13 Stanley Cup finals
-Retro Conn Smythes in 1951 and 1958

-82 career playoff goals (8th all-time, 1st among pre-expansion players)
-0.617 playoff goals per game (5th All-time, 1st among pre-expansion players. Bobby Hull is 2nd among pre-expansion players with 0.521)

Led the playoffs in scoring twice (also finished 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 5th, 6th)
Led the playoffs in goals 5 times (also finished (2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 10th)
Playoff assist finishes (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 10th, 10th)
 

TheDevilMadeMe

Registered User
Aug 28, 2006
52,271
6,980
Brooklyn
Leonard "Red" Kelly, D/C​


red%2Bkelly%2Bstanley%2Bcup.jpg

Doug Harvey was the best defenseman of the Original 6 era, but Red Kelly was right behind him, the two of them towering over every other defenseman of the era.

legendsofhockey said:
Red Kelly was a unique player - versatile and talented enough to be one of the National Hockey League's best-ever defensemen early in his career and a high-scoring center at the end. The red-haired gentleman was cool and calculating on the ice and never swore, but there was no doubt about his ability to take care of himself. He had been a championship boxer at Toronto's St. Michael's College, skills the four-time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy wouldn't often display during his 20-year NHL career.

Detroit Red Wings Greatest Moments and Players said:
So Mild-mannered , never uttering a curse word, Kelly nevertheless was one of the NHL's most feared fighters during those rare occasions when he engaged in fisticuffs. Likewise, he was a nonparalled defenseman, yet he could carry the puck on attack better than most of the foremost forwards.

Joe Pelletier said:
Without ever playing a game in the minor leagues Kelly stepped directly into the NHL in 1947-48. Before long he was establishing himself as the best defenseman in the league. He was the predecessor to Bobby Orr as the offensive defenseman in hockey as he easily outscored his fellow NHL defensemen.

Joe Pelletier said:
Yet as good as he was offensively, he was better defensively. He had an uncanny knack of reading plays and breaking them up, and he controlled the puck in his own zone adeptly. To make his defensive legend even more impressive, Kelly excelled without taking many penalties himself

Red Kelly said:
I was the welterweight boxing champ at St. Mike's. I could take care of myself. Joe Primeau taught me you don't win games in the penalty box. You've got to stay on the ice. Players would try to get you off the ice sometimes but you're more valuable to a team when you're on the ice.

Summary
  • Won the First Ever Norris Trophy (1954)
  • 1st Team All-Star (1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957). Unanimous in 1951, 1952, 1953.
  • 2nd Team All-Star (1950, 1956). Played 1/4 of 1956 as a LW.
  • Lady Byng Winner (1951, 1953, 1954, 1963)
  • Only player never to have played for Montreal to win 8 Stanley Cups.
Top 5 finishes in Hart voting 1946-47 to 1965-66 (a 20 year period):
  • Doug Harvey: 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 5th, 5th
  • Red Kelly: 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th
  • All other defensemen combined: NONE
Detroit's Best Player after Howe
Hockey Outsider said:
Red Kelly was better than two of his teammates currently up for voting: Lindsay and Sawchuk. First, let’s consider the evidence from hockey writers from the 1950s. The Hart trophy voters easily thought that Kelly was the Wings’ best player after Mr. Hockey. Red Kelly finished in the top three in Hart voting three times (1951, 1953, 1954). No other Wing (aside from Howe obviously) made it to the top three during the dynasty years, even once. In fact, Red Kelly alone had as many top-ten finishes as Lindsay and Sawchuk combined.

Even if you don’t think that Hart voting matters, consider this. The Detroit dynasty was able to win a Cup without Sawchuk (1950); they won without Abel (1954, 1955); they could win it even without Howe (1950). Only Kelly and Lindsay were the constants. However, the Wings had a great team in the late 1940s (including Lindsay) but couldn’t win their first Cup until Kelly emerged as an all-star defenseman in 1950. His ability to control both ends of the ice put them over the top.

Kelly’s last year as an all-star defenseman was in 1957 (when the Wings were 1st in the regular season, and Howe and Lindsay finished 1-2 in scoring). In 1958, Kelly’s first off year, the Wings dropped 18 points and 2 spots in the standings. Granted, Lindsay was gone in 1958, but the Wings only lost 22 goals for versus 50 goals against. Unless you want to make the case that Lindsay was somehow more important to the defense than Kelly, it was the loss of Kelly as an elite defenseman (and, of course, the emergence of the Canadiens), that ended the Wings’ dynasty.

Kelly should be credited with the equivalent of 4 consecutive Norris Trophys
  • He won the first ever Norris Trophy (1954) and was a unanimous First Team All Star the 3 previous years (1951, 1952, 1953).
If it weren't for Doug Harvey and playing 1/4 of 1956 as a LW due to injuries to other players, Kelly would almost certainly have had 7 consecutive Norris Trophys from 1951-1957
  • 1955: Kelly was a close second to Harvey and way ahead of anyone else.
  • 1956: Kelly fell behind Bill Gadsby for 2nd place in Norris and AS voting in a very close vote, but Kelly spent 1/4 of that season as a LW due to injuries to teammates. Red Burnett thought it cost him the 1st Team AS, a view supported by Hart voting. Kelly was 4th in Hart voting, Harvey 5th, and Gadsby didn't receive a single Hart vote.
  • 1957: Kelly was a distant 2nd behind Harvey, and had a moderate but solid lead on #3.
Kelly was likely the best player in the world for the season of 1953-54, right in the middle of Gordie Howe and Maurice Richard's prime.
  • Kelly finished a close 2nd in Hart voting to an Al Rollins (a goalie), and many people think that Rollins was being given credit for his previous season (when he lost the Hart to Gordie Howe the year Howe shattered all the records).
  • Kelly was voted the best player of the year in a press poll. (At the time, the Hart Trophy really did seem to go to "most valuable," not best player).
  • Note that Maurice Richard and Gordie Howe were both in their primes and finished 3rd and 4th in Hart voting respectively.
Kelly has immense career value - 12 years as a superstar defenseman, and 7 years as a key forward on a dynasty
  • His forward career is sometimes underrated - he was top 10 in Hart voting twice (1962, 1967) and he played a key two-way role at center on the team that won 4 Cups.
  • IMO, there is an argument that Kelly's 12 years as a defenseman alone are enough to equal Denis Potvin, then you add his time as a forward...
Offense

Kelly finished top 10 in NHL scoring 3 times as a defenseman (and once as a center), the only defenseman other than Orr and Coffey to finish top 10 in NHL scoring more than twice. Potvin and Shore are the only other ones to do it twice.

Hockey Outsider said:
Offense relative to other defensemen

Kelly: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5
Lidstrom: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 5
Potvin: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 5
Discussion: Kelly is the best offensive defenseman. He basically matches Lidstrom's performance despite converting to a forward 12 years into his career. If we include Kelly's career as a forward, we'd include 1961 (6th in scoring, 2nd in assists) and 1963 (13th in scoring, just 2 points out of 9th place). Lidstrom is clearly ahead of Potvin for 2nd place.
Source: Pnep

Offense relative to league

Data: here's how all three players compare, over their ten best years, relative to the league. Note I'm only including Kelly's years as a defenseman.
Kelly: 7th overall in scoring (1950-59)
Potvin: 10th overall in scoring (1975-84)
Lidstrom: 17th overall in scoring (1998-2008)
Source: hockey reference
Discussion: once again, Kelly is the best offensive defensemen. This time Potvin passes Lidstrom for second place.

Was Kelly in the same class as Gordie Howe and Maurice Richard in the mid 50s?

Lynn Patrick said:
Neither. I'll take Red Kelly.

Kelly is the best all-around performer in our league. Sure, Howe and Richard are great , but Red is not only great on defense , he can score too. He's the big reason Detroit has won five straight (regular season) championships.

When Kelly rushes up ice, it's something to see. He sparks Howe and Lindsay and the others. When we play the Wings, we go out to stop him.We feel there's a better chance of winning that way.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...8,2863460&dq=red+kelly+the+best+detroit&hl=en

Sports Illustrated said:
Even taking into account the continued greatness of Richard, Gordon Howe and Red Kelly, Beliveau is doubtless the finest all-round player in the game today and is beginning to emerge as a performer who can do more things and do them better than any other center in the full history of hockey.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1130918/1/index.htm

More Sports Illustrated quotes

The Red Wing's Bench said:
On the attack, the Red Wings in general play a slam-bang, puck-hounding game, relying on manpower rather than on finesse to wear down their opponents. Their offensive sorties frequently have the advantage of a "fourth forward," the great Red Kelly, perennial All-Star defenseman and a natural play-builder, shown at right (No. 4) as he leads a rush toward the Rangers' goal. Three of the last four seasons, Kelly has ranked among the top ten scorers, the only defenseman to climb into that exalted circle.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1069407/index.htm

Gordon Howe and Company said:
With Detroit, Kelly has developed into the best defenseman in the league. An intelligent, graceful, superbly conditioned athlete, the All-Canadian Boy if there ever was one, Kelly, in the words of Fred Huber, the Wings' erudite publicity director, "can maneuver the puck with his skates better than most players can with their sticks." In an early-season game with the Bruins this year, Kelly scored three goals, the first defenseman to achieve "the hat trick" since Happy Day did it some two decades ago. In the offseason, Kelly returns to the village of Simcoe, Ontario, where his family has owned tobacco and fruit farms for four generations, and prepares himself for another hockey campaign by working in the fields, covering about 14 acres a day as he primes an average of 1,200 "sticks" of tobacco.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1069404/2/index.htm

The Year the Red Wings Lost the Pennant said:
For several seasons now Harvey and Red Kelly of Detroit have been in a class of their own, a discernible cut above the other defensemen in the league. Kelly's style of play, of course, has always been an individual one. A marvelous, tireless skater, he has the energy and the speed and the maneuverability to serve not only as a stout defender but to double as a virtually cohesive part of the offense. This season " Detroit's fourth forward," as Kelly has been called for some time, was actually pressed into service as a forward. Jimmy Skinner, the Wings coach, made the move early in December, after his team had managed to win only 6 of its first 25 games and it seemed they might never get rolling. Skinner's second and third lines had not been producing at all, and he recognized that his first tactical adjustment—using his powerful first line of Howe, Reibel and Lindsay as often as they could climb over the boards—hadn't been getting him anyplace. Overwork was diminishing the H-R-L line's punch, and lack of work wasn't helping the confidence of his newly formed third line and the sluggishness of his second line. The defense had been functioning well, though. Pronovost had been playing fine hockey, Godfrey was doing all right, old Bob Goldham—he entered the NHL way back in 1941 with Toronto (can you believe it?)—was still getting around O.K.; furthermore, Larry Hillman, a very promising defenseman, could be recalled from the minors. So Skinner made his move. He switched Kelly to left wing on his first line and sent Lindsay down to juice up the second. It was a daring bit of juggling, and it worked. Almost overnight the Wings began to win at their customary clip, and until they dropped five out of those six points in that head-on series with Montreal, it looked as if they might be on their way to recapturing all of their old grinding efficiency.

As for Kelly, he was a revelation on left wing. He remained at that position for 26 games, until Pronovost was hurt and he had to be sent back to bolster the defense. Over that stretch Red scored 11 goals and assisted in 13 others, but these statistics barely intimate what an enormous amount of wing he played. One picture or, more accurately, one series of pictures remains clearly in my mind. It is Kelly back-checking with that effortless finesse of his, breaking up one enemy rush after another before they could even get started and generally creating the impression that progress up his side of the rink was virtually impossible, a road temporarily closed to traffic.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1130918/1/index.htm

Falling out with Detroit (Basically, Jack Adams was a vindictive jerk) and sparking a rebirth in Toronto

Sports Illustrated said:
The Detroit Red Wings signed Kelly in 1947 at the precocious age of 19. He responded by helping them to eight championships and four Stanley Cups in 12 years. Then, in a deal that shocked the NHL, he was traded to New York near the close of the 1960 season. He had fallen into disfavor with Detroit General Manager Jack Adams, first for his frankness in facing Adams with the team's complaints ("I felt that was my duty as captain," says Kelly) and second for admitting to a newspaper reporter that Adams had urged him to play part of the previous season six days after breaking an ankle. The story created a sensation. " Adams tried to get the doctor to say the ankle wasn't broken," says Kelly, "but it was." Rather than report to last-place New York, Kelly decided to quit. Five days later, after considerable backstage maneuvering, league officials okayed a deal by which he was to report instead to Toronto, and Kelly changed his mind.

Red made his first appearance with Toronto the very next night. When his line skated onto the ice, the ex-Detroiter received a four-minute ovation that has never been matched in Maple Leaf Gardens. "Just when the applause should have died down," recalls Red, "everyone stood up."

In Detroit, Kelly had become one of the best defensemen in the league, but Punch Imlach, who is never inhibited by tradition, decided to make a center of him. In doing so, he lighted the spark that propelled a formerly floundering club to the finals of the Stanley Cup. In the semifinals Toronto met Detroit. "I never once looked up in that box where I knew Adams would be looking down at us," says Kelly softly. "I knew they'd be told to come after me, and they did, but it didn't bother me. The more they came the harder I fought. I figure it made me play better. I liked it."

Toronto liked it too. The Leafs grew even stronger the next year as Kelly fed long, daring passes to a brilliant but brooding young prodigy named Frank Mahovlich who, up to then, had failed to live up to his early promise. Under Kelly's influence Mahovlich's goal production rose from a 1960 total of 18 to 48 in 1961. Mahovlich went on to become the only big-league athlete worth an official $1 million at the auction block, but it was Kelly who was voted the team's most valuable player. One year later, Toronto finally regained that long-awaited Stanley Cup
as Kelly, one of those largely responsible, set a career high of 22 goals scored and a personal low of only six minutes spent in the penalty box. "If you lose your temper while the puck's in play, you only give your opponents an easy chance to score," he says, explaining a philosophy that has long since established him as one of the cleanest players in the game.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1074371/1/index.htm
 
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tony d

Registered User
Jun 23, 2007
76,590
4,550
Behind A Tree
Centre Newsy Lalonde

newsylalonde2.jpg


Biographical Information courtesy of http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/l/lalonne01.html

Position: C ▪ Shoots: Right
Height: 5-9 ▪ Weight: 168 lbs.
Born: October 31, 1887 in Cornwall, Ontario

Stats on Lalonde courtesy of http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/l/lalonne01.html

Some stats on Lalonde:

-176 points in 104 career NHA games, 125 points in 99 career NHL
games
-4 top 10 finishes in Goals, Assists and Points in the NHL for a season
-2 seasons of 2 or more points per game in a NHL season
-2 seasons leading the NHL in points
-19 points in 7 career NHL playoff games

Legends Of Hockey:

In 1911-12, Lalonde headed west to play with the Vancouver Millionaires of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, where he led the league with 27 goals. The next year he returned to the Canadiens and won another NHA scoring championship. His offensive gifts were a significant factor behind the franchise's first Stanley Cup title in 1915-16.

Lalonde remained with the Canadiens when the club joined the NHL in 1917-18. His scoring continued and he led all NHL scorers in 1918-19 and 1920-21. On January 19, 1920, he scored six goals in one game.

After a falling out with Canadiens owner Leo Dandurand, he was traded to the Saskatoon Sheiks for undrafted in a move that benefited both parties. In his first year in Saskatchewan, playing coach Lalonde added the Western Canada Hockey League scoring title to his list of accomplishments.

Joe Pelletier:

Lalonde, now the team captain, was an instrumental figure in Les Canadiens first Stanley Cup championship. Scoring a league high 28 goals in 24 games, Lalonde, battling a severe case of the flu during the championship series, scored three critical goals in the playoffs as the Canadiens beat out the Portland Rosebuds 3 games to 2 to win their first of 24 Stanley Cups.

The following season was Lalonde got 28 goals in just 18 games as he led Montreal back to the Stanley Cup finals, this time facing the Seattle Metropolitans. It was a tough series for Lalonde, who was noted for his physical play as much as his goal scoring ability. In the second game against Seattle he drew five penalties including a game misconduct and a $25 fine for butt-ending referee Jock Irvine during a brawl. Even worse, Seattle won the series 3 games to 1 to become the first American team to win the Cup. This also proved to be the last hurrah for the National Hockey Association.

Final thoughts:

Glad to get Lalonde, he's the perfect starting point for the Racers forward group.
 

tony d

Registered User
Jun 23, 2007
76,590
4,550
Behind A Tree
Right Winger Sergei Makarov

4890-51Fr.jpg


Biographical information on Makarov courtesy of:

http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/m/makarse01.html

Position: RW ▪ Shoots: Left
Height: 5-11 ▪ Weight: 185 lbs.
Born: June 19, 1958 HT: Chelyabinsk, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Stats on Makarov courtesy of http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/m/makarse01.html:

-28 points in 22 games in 3 Olympic appearances
-1990 Calder Trophy Winner
-384 points in 424 career NHL games
-1990-1991 NHL leader in shooting percentage
-322 Goals and 388 Assists in 519 Career Russian League Games

Legends Of Hockey:

Born in Chelyabinsk, USSR, Makarov first gained prominence by starring for his country when they won gold at the 1977 and 1978 World Junior Championships. Over the next several years he helped the USSR defeat the NHL all-stars in the 1979 Challenge Cup and humiliate the host nation to win the 1981 Canada Cup. The skilled winger also participated in 11 World Championships, the 1984 and 1987 Canada Cups, three Olympic tournaments, four NHL tours by the Red Army and Wings and the 1987 Rendez-vous series against the NHL all-stars. Makarov himself won the Izvestia Trophy nine times as the top scorer in the Soviet league.

Joe Pelletier:

An 11-time Soviet National League All-Star and 8-time World Championship First-Team All-Star, Makarov also was a 2-time winner of the "Gold Stick" award as the outstanding player in Europe.

Makarov's greatest honor from his playing days in the U.S.S.R. would be his placing among 23 others as a Masters of Sport in Russia, an honor equivalent to Hall of Fame selection.

Here's a look at Sergei Makarov's career stats prior to joining the National Hockey League: 519 league games; 322 goals, 388 assists for 710 points. Keep in mind that this is just Soviet League games and does not include Olympic or World Championship games where Makarov and his linemates shone brightest. Makarov scored 189 goals in 315 games in 14 seasons with the Soviet national team.

Sergei Makarov was the greatest right winger in all of Europe during the 1980s, and the late Valeri Kharlamov's heir as the Soviet's most electrifying and deadly weapon. Makarov was a magnificent player, as good as anyone in the world, except maybe Canada's Wayne Gretzky.

Final thoughts:

This is a great pick and the perfect guy to have alongside Lalonde, I expect them to form 2/3 of one of the best lines in the ATD this year.
 

BraveCanadian

Registered User
Jun 30, 2010
14,522
3,360
With our third selection in the 2014 ATD (57) the Guelph Platers have selected: D, Zdeno Chara

20110615_zdenochara_stanleycup_446w.jpg



chara-riots.jpg


137859775.jpg



Career Highlights

Captained the Stanley Cup winning Boston Bruins - 2011
Stanley Cup Finalist - 2013
Norris Trophy Winner 2008-09
NHL First Team All Star - 2003-04, 2008-09
NHL Second Team All Star - 2005-06, 2007-08, 2010-11, 2011-12
NHL All Star Games - 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012
NHL Hardest Shot - 2007 (100.4mph), 2008 (103.1mph), 2009 (105.4mph), 2011 (105.9mph), 2012 (108.8mph).

Represented Slovakia at the 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2012 World Championships winning silver in 2000 and 2012.
Represented Slovakia at the 2004 World Cup & 2006, 2010, 2014 Winter Olympics.
Captain of the Slovakian Olympic hockey team 2010 (Slovakia finished 4th)
Flag bearer for Slovakia at the 2014 Winter Olympics


Vitals:

Position: D
Shoots: Left
Height: 6-8
Weight: 255 lbs.
Born: March 18, 1977 (Trencin, Czechoslovakia)
Draft: NY Islanders, 3rd round (56th overall), 1996 NHL Entry



Regular Season


As of mid season 2013-14, Chara has been top 5 in Norris voting 7 times during his career.

Season|Norris Finish
2002-03| 7th
2003-04| 2nd
2005-06| 4th
2007-08| 3rd
2008-09| 1st
2009-10| 8th
2010-11| 3rd
2011-12| 3rd
2012-13| 5th
2013-14| 3+

Norris summary: 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3+, 4, 5, 7, 8.


Despite playing tough minutes in a primarily defensive role, Chara also has an impressive +/- record with 5 top 10s: 1, 3, 3, 5, 10.
Better analysis of his statistics from overpass in the HOH defenseman project:


Regular season adjusted stats for post-1967 defencemen​

Career Stats
Player | Start | End | GP | EV% | R-ON | R-OFF | $ESP | $PPP | PP% | TmPP+ | SH% | TmSH+
Zdeno Chara | 1998 | 2011 | 928 | 40% | 1.16 | 1.04 | 24 | 17 | 42% | 1.05 | 52% | 0.95

Prime Stats
Player | Start | End | GP | EV% | R-ON | R-OFF | $ESP | $PPP | PP% | TmPP+ | SH% | TmSH+
Zdeno Chara | 2003 | 2011 | 622 | 41% | 1.38 | 1.13 | 30 | 25 | 60% | 1.05 | 53% | 0.89

Stats Glossary
EV%: The percentage of the team’s even-strength goals the player was on the ice for, on a per-game basis.

R-ON: The team’s GF/GA ratio while the player is on the ice at even strength.

R-OFF: The team’s GF/GA ratio while the player is off the ice at even strength.

$ESP/S: Even strength points per season, adjusted to a 200 ESG per team-season scoring level.

$PPP/S: Power play points per season, adjusted to a 70 PPG per team-season scoring level and a league-average number of power play opportunities.

PP%: The percentage of the team’s power play goals for which the player was on the ice.

TmPP+: The strength of the player’s team on the power play. 1.00 is average, higher is better.

SH%: The percentage of the team’s power play goals against for which the player was on the ice.

TmSH+: The strength of the player’s team on the penalty kill. 1.00 is average, lower is better.


What does it all mean?

Zdeno Chara had a unique development path. He started off as a big slug on the bottom pairing of a terrible team. After a couple of years, he developed into a good penalty killer and defender who could use his size, but with no offensive touch. After being traded to the Senators, he quickly became a top-pairing defenceman, developed his offensive game, and became one of the best shutdown defenceman in the league. And after going to Boston, he became a Norris trophy winner, perennial contender, captain of a Cup-winning team, and is currently arguably the best defenceman in the league.

Over the last decade, he has consistently played the toughest minutes on his teams at even strength, against top lines and starting in the defensive zone a lot. His teams still come out ahead in those situations, as his plus-minus numbers have been very good.

He has been a solid contributor on the power play, whether using his shot from the point or his size in front of the net. But, as Boston fans have seen, he is not an offensive catalyst or quarterback on the PP, more of a supporting piece.

He has been among the best penalty killers in the league, playing big minutes on consistently strong units.


These are Zdeno Chara's updated stats as of 2013 (thanks overpass!):

Career
Player | Start | End | GP | EV% | R-ON | R-OFF | $ESP | $PPP | PP% | TmPP+ | SH% | TmSH+
Zdeno Chara | 1998 | 2013 | 1055 | 40% | 1.20 | 1.06 | 23 | 15 | 43% | 1.11 | 53% | 0.91

Prime
Player | Start | End | GP | EV% | R-ON | R-OFF | $ESP | $PPP | PP% | TmPP+ | SH% | TmSH+
Zdeno Chara | 2003 | 2013 | 749 | 41% | 1.39 | 1.15 | 28 | 20 | 58% | 1.23 | 54% | 0.86



Playoffs

In captaining the 2011 Boston Bruins to the Stanley Cup win over Vancouver in 7 games, Chara helped the Bruins end a 40 year drought.

That season he led the NHL regular season and playoffs in +/- and was matched up against teams top 2 lines regularly.

In 2013 he again led the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Finals where the Bruins came up short in 6 games against the Blackhawks. Chara played 29:32 per game (at age 35!) and had a very strong 15 points in the 22 contests.



Quotations & Perspectives:

Beyond Big said:
SIZE ISN'T ALL THAT MATTERS FOR THE 6' 9" DEFENSEMAN, WHO HAS BECOME BOSTON'S MOST VERSATILE WEAPON

....

The new era exposed many backliners whose skills were limited, but it enhanced Chara's varied and nuanced attributes: his deftness at breaking up plays with his stick as well as his body, his decisive outlet passing and his often overlooked ability to join rushes and contribute offensively. Certainly the courage was never in doubt. That was proved in 2007--08, when Chara played the end of the regular season plus the seven-game first-round series against the Canadiens with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
...
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1187608/2/index.htm

NHL Players Poll said:
Who is hockey's hardest hitter?

Zdeno Chara, Bruins D 18%


Jordin Tootoo, Predators RW 15%

Cal Clutterbuck, Wild RW 11%

Douglas Murray, Sharks D 10%

Dion Phaneuf, Leafs D 8%

...
Based on 193 NHL players who responded to SI's survey
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1193893/index.htm


Pierre McGuire's East said:
Zdeno Chara

Boston Bruins

Granted, it's not too difficult for a 6'9", 255-pound defenseman to be a visible presence in the playoffs, but there is more to the game of the Bruins' 34-year-old captain than towering mismatches. In his 13th NHL season Chara is far and away the biggest, baddest, meanest blueliner in the league. And he has far more talent and skill than most people give him credit for.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1184183/2/index.htm


The Big Picture said:
When the 43-18-7-1 Senators, the NHL's No. 1 team through Sunday, see Chara ruling the corners, clearing the crease and occasionally screening the front of the net on the league's second-best power play, they see a player who is more straight-up than anyone else in the 86-year history of the NHL. Chara, hockey's tallest player ever, brings toughness to a team that in the spring usually turns as gritty as dentist's office music. Chara was sorely missed by Ottawa in the final two games of its second-round playoff loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs last May. He had sprained his left knee in Game 5, effectively ending his-and the Senators'—season. "Obviously his loss hurt us," says Ottawa assistant coach Don Jackson. "He's a dominating player."
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1028242/index.htm

Five For Fighting said:
2. ZDENO CHARA, Bruins
Vitals: 6'9", 251, 31.
The mammoth defenseman (right, in black) plays more than 26 minutes per game, and when he gets angry, look out. His reach and hand strength help him dominate opponents. He also has a vicious uppercut.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1146212/index.htm

SI's All Stars said:
EASTERN CONFERENCE

G Tim Thomas, Bruins
D Zdeno Chara, Bruins
D Andrei Markov, Canadiens
C Evgeni Malkin, Penguins
LW Alexander Ovechkin, Capitals
RW Alexander Semin, Capitals
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1150935/index.htm


Sports Illustrated NHL Poll (05-03-10) said:
Who is the best shutdown defenseman?

Nicklas Lidstrom (Red Wings) - 25%
Zdeno Chara (Bruins) - 23%
Shea Weber (Predators) - 10%
Chris Pronger (Flyers) - 9%
Scott Niedermayer (Ducks) - 7%

Based on a survey of 272 NHL players
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1168936/index.htm


2011 NHL Players' Poll said:
Who is the toughest defenceman to play against?

Zdeno Chara; 34%
Niklas Lidstrom; 20.3%
Chris Pronger; 20%
Shea Weber; 7%
Duncan Keith; 3%

Boston interim General Manager Jeff Gorton said:
Zdeno is one of the premier defensemen in the National Hockey League and we are thrilled that he will be in a Boston uniform for the next five years. He is a big reason why Ottawa allowed the fewest goals in the Eastern Conference last season (2004).

Boston General Manager Peter Chiarelli said:
Zdeno's leadership qualities have been apparent from the time he joined players for their informal skates prior to training camp. He leads by example, both on and off of the ice, and he has earned the respect of everyone in our dressing room.'

Claude Julien said:
He shuts down those guys extremely well, and that, to us, is what makes him one of the best D's in the league. Whether it's through strength, whether it's through his play, whether he's got a good stick, he plays in all situations. He's always 25 to 30 minutes per game.

Boston General Manager Peter Chiarelli said:
He's been a big part of our team. He embodies a lot of what we stand for. He has an incredible desire to win and is probably the hardest worker I have seen -- on and off the ice.




* - some of this lifted from EB's previous bio http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showpost.php?p=30855039&postcount=52 and awards compilations made by TDMM and HO among others.
 
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Dreakmur

Registered User
Mar 25, 2008
18,552
6,730
Orillia, Ontario



Andy Bathgate !!!


Awards and Achievements:
Stanley Cup Champion (1964)

Hart Trophy Winner (1959)

2 x First Team All-Star (1959, 1962)
2 x Second Team All-Star (1958, 1963)

Hart voting – 1st(1959), 2nd(1958), 3rd(1957), 5th(1962), 8th(1956)
All-Star voting – 1st(1959), 1st(1962), 2nd(1958), 2nd(1963), 3rd(1956), 3rd(1960), 3rd(1961), 3rd(1964)


8 x All-Star Games (1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964)
4 x Rangers MVP (1957, 1958, 1959, 1962)

Offensive Accomplishments:
Points – 1st(1962), 2nd(1963), 3rd(1958), 3rd(1959), 3rd(1960), 4th(1957), 4th(1961), 4th(1964), 5th(1956), 17th(1968), 19th(1955), 19th(1965)
Goals – 3rd(1959), 4th(1963), 5th(1958), 6th(1961), 6th(1962), 8th(1957), 9th(1960), 12th(1955), 13th(1956)
Assists – 1st(1962), 1st(1964), 2nd(1956), 2nd(1958), 2nd(1959), 2nd(1960), 3rd(1957), 4th(1961), 4th(1963), 11th(1968), 14th(1965), 14th(1966)

Play-off Points – 7th(1966), 8th(1964)
Play-off Goals – 1st(1966), 4th(1964), 5th(1958)


5 Year Peak: 1959 to 1963
1st in Points and 2nd in Points per Game (Jean Beliveau)
2nd in Goals and 5th in Goals per Game (Jean Beliveau, Bobby Hull, Gordie Howe, Frank Mahovlich)
1st in Assists and 2nd in Assists per Game (Jean Beliveau)

10 Year Peak: 1956 to 1965
2nd in Points and 3rd in Points per Game (Jean Beliveau and Gordie Howe)
3rd in Goals and 8th in Goals per Game (Jean Beliveau, Bobby Hull, Gordie Howe, Frank Mahovlich, Maurice Richard, Bernie Geoffrion, Camile Henry)
1st in Assists and 1st in Assists Per Game


Scoring Percentages:
Points - 110(1958), 106(1959), 100(1957), 100(1962), 100(1963), 99(1964), 93(1956), 93(1960), 86(1961), 70(1968), 60(1966), 54(1955), 54(1965)

Best 6 Seasons – 615
Next 6 Seasons – 456





Legends of Hockey said:
Andy Bathgate was a hockey stylist--an athletic, graceful skater who handled the puck with skill and flash. Known for his blazing, accurate shot, he was one of the first men to use the slapshot to overpower goaltenders. Bathgate was a creative playmaker on the ice and often did the unexpected, throwing off opposing defenders with imaginative feints and passes.

The Hockey News: Top 100 said:
Despite the team’s record, Bathgate – who led the Rangers in scoring for eight straight seasons – proved to the archetypal all-around player. The Hall of Famer was a smooth skater, deft puckhandler, gifted playmaker, hard shooter and fierce competitor.

Baltimores on Broadway said:
Whether stationary at the point or on the fly, Bathgate had one of the hardest slap shots in the game, but he also possessed an effective, accurate wrist shot and passed the puck with precision. As a stickhandler, his skill level brought to mind the dexterous stars of earlier eras.

Hockey’s Golden Era said:
Bathgate was a clever playmaker who always seemed to find the right spot on the ice to work his magic. His hard shot was also compared to that of Bobby Hull and Bernie Geoffrion.

Ultimate Hockey said:
Bathgate was tricky, much the weaving type on his blades. He was a wizard with the puck and his slapshot was one of the hardest ever seen. He was a very clean player, not at all a fan of the rough stuff. Despite showing a distaste for back-checking, he was an effective, even dangerous, penalty-killer.

Hockey’s Glory Days said:
Andy Bathgate was a strong skater, slick stickhandler, powerful shooter, and skilled playmaker.

Legends of Hockey video said:
Bathgate’s shot made him a threat to goaltenders around the league…. Although capable of playing a tough physical style, Andy was outspoken in his opposition to violence in hockey… in the 1964 Stanley Cup finals, Bathgate was outstanding.

Great Right Winger: Stars of Hockey’s Golden Age said:
The big right winger, who was as graceful as future star Wayne Gretzky and as physical as Rocket Richard was simply unstoppable.
Who’s Who in Hockey said:
Andy Bathgate at first appeared too much the pacifist for the NHL jungle. But he raised his dukes when necessary, licking such notorious hockey cops as Howie Young, then of the Red Wings, and Vic Stasiuk of the Bruins. By 1954-55, Andy was in the NHL to stay, and soon was being favorably compared with the greatest Ranger right winger, Bill Cook.

Kings of the Ice said:
Though truly an individualist on the ice and off, he always placed the team above his own accomplishments and was disappointed with the Rangers’ consistently poor performances.

Hockey’s 100 said:
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Bathgate was extremely scrupulous about conditioning. “In my entire life I’ve never had a drink or a cigarette and it made me feel good as a player. Some nights I’d go out on the ice and I’d know just by looking at he opposition that I was in much better shape than him and it was to my advantage, both physically and mentally.â€

Jim Coleman said:
Superb stickhandler. Superb shot. Great game strategist. Played for years and always played well.

Red Sullivan said:
He’s an expert on the power-play, where the Leafs need help, and he has an excellent shot.

Kevin Shea said:
He was known as a smooth-skating playmaker who, through the ten years from 1955 to 1965, was among the most prolific forwards in the National Hockey League, despite playing with the struggling New York Rangers… Yet, surrounded with a lineup that often looked like it was held together with bandages and hockey tape, Bathgate was able to shine.

John Davidson said:
One of the best playmakers the game has ever seen was Andy Bathgate. An excellent shooter and strong skater, it was his intuitive passing that set Bathgate apart.


1958 Coaches’ Poll:
2nd Smartest Player
2nd Best Stickhandler

Mentioned among the leaders in Hardest Shot and Most Accurate Shot, and also mentioned as being one of the Most Under Rated players.





Toughness and Fighting Ability:
Kings of the Ice said:
Like Howe, Bathgate could play the physical game and was known as a fierce fighter when the occasion warranted it.

Baltimores on Broadway said:
Bathgate didn’t go looking for trouble, but as the Rangers’ top gunner he was often the target of enemy bullies. He provided his own protection. The same lightning reflexes that served him as a goal-scorer ad play-maker made him equally quick with his fists. When Detroit’s bad boy, Howie Young, wouldn’t stop tormenting him with his stick, Andy ripped the lumber out of Howie’s hands, dropped his gloves, and cleaned Young’s clock. Hulking Vic Stasiuk of the Bruins challenged Bathgate with his fists in the first and third periods of a game and came off second best on both occasions.

Kings of the Ice said:
Like Howe, Bathgate could play the physical game and was known as a fierce fighter when the occasion warranted it.

 

BillyShoe1721

Terriers
Mar 29, 2007
17,252
6
Philadelphia, PA
I don't like to select guys I've had before, but this pick just makes too much sense. The Philadelphia Flyers are happy to add defenseman Borje Salming

borje-salming.jpg


NHL Accolades

9x Top 14 Norris Trophy Voting (2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 10, 14)
10x Top 13 All Star Voting (2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 7, 9, 12, 13)
2x Top 7 Hart Trophy Voting (4, 7)
1x 1st Team All Star
5x 2nd Team All Star
3x NHL All Star Game Participant
2x Top 8 Assists, all players (3, 8)
5x Top 9 Goals Among Defensemen (4, 6, 7, 9, 9)
7x Top 13 Assists Among Defensemen (1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 7, 13)
7x Top 15 Points Among Defensemen (2, 3, 3, 4, 7, 7, 15)

International Accolades

1972 WC Bronze Medal
1973 WC Silver Medal
1973 WC All Star Team
1976 Canada Cup All Star Team
Elected to IIHF Centennial All Star Team
3x Viking Award Winner(best Swedish player outside Sweden)

Coaches Polls

Finished 2nd in 1974 Coach's Poll: Best defensive defenseman
Finished 3rd in 1979 Coach's Poll: Best defensive defenseman
Finished 4th in 1979 Coach's Poll: Best passer (all players)
Finished 4th in 1979 Coach's Poll: Best playmaker (all players)
Finished 2nd in 1979 Coach's Poll: Best skater (all players)
Finished 4th in 1979 Coach's Poll: Most Natural Ability

Nicknamed “The King†Borje Salming was one of the premier defensemen of his era and was the first European born player to make a big impact in the NHL as well as the top scoring defensemen in Leafs history, ranks first on my list for all-time greatest Toronto Maple Leafs. Salming’s amazing 620 assists still ranks #1 in Maple Leafs history and outside 49 games played for the Detroit Red Wings, Salming played his entire 17 season career in blue & white.

After making the all-star squad of the 1973 World Championship the Toronto Maple Leafs signed Salming as a free agent for the 1973/74 season and he scored 39 points and an impressive (plus 38 +/-) in his rookie season and was voted the Leafs rookie of the year. In sixteen seasons with the Leafs Salming put up 768 total points and was among the game’s best defensemen and one of the most popular players in Leafs history.

Carrying the torch for aspiring European born players was never easy and Salming was constantly finding himself as the target of opposing players and fans. Often referred to as “Chicken Swedeâ€, however Salming, was a fearless player and that reputation and misconception quickly faded. Salming played in the rough and tumble 1970s and he remembers his visits to Philadelphia where he was quoted “you would even stay away from the boards because they would try to grab you and yell at youâ€. Salming was built like a mack truck (and is still in great shape in his late 50s) and never shied away from the constant attention and attempted physical (often cheap) intimidation.

http://tdotsports1.wordpress.com/2010/08/21/top-5-all-time-maple-leafs/

Borje Salming helped eradicate that stereotype. Six years after he retired in North America, the name of the "King" - his nickname in Toronto - was immortalized in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Salming was the first Swede to be so honoured.

Salming ended up in Canada quite by accident. In 1973 the Toronto Maple Leafs were interested in a different Swede, the winger Inge Hammarstrom. Leafs scout Gerry McNamara, who happened to be in Sweden at the time, saw Salming in action and immediately called his boss in Canada to tell him about another Scandinavian genius. Salming was too modest. In his first game with the team, Toronto defeated Buffalo 7-4 and he was voted the best player. At the end of his first season, the Swedish rookie had 39 points - an excellent result for a defenseman.

In 16 seasons with Toronto, Salming made 620 assists (a club record) and scored 148 goals for 768 points. He was included on the First All-Star Team once and fives times on the Second All-Star Team, again a Toronto record. In 1980 he came up a few votes short for the Norris Trophy as the season's best defenseman. In the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs, only two players appeared in more games than Salming - George Armstrong and Tim Horton. The King appeared in 1,099 games. He added two goals and 17 assists to his personal scorecard after a season with the Detroit Red Wings as a free agent. Afterward, the 39-year-old veteran returned home and played for three seasons with AIK of Solna. The owner of a brewery and a garment factory, Salming has since abandoned hockey for business.

Salming is remembered for his slalom rushes across the rink and his powerful wrist shots in the style of Bobby Orr, as well as for his tricky but accurate passes so typical of the European game. Al Arbour, the great coach who in the early 1980s led the New York Islanders four times to the Stanley Cup, once commented on Salming when he was at the peak of his career. He called him a great athlete with an ability to perform excellently on both defense and offense. Yet, for a hockey player capable of gaining points on the offensive, his eagerness to be a human shield and stop a slapshot was quite incredible. And he did it without much hesitation. Arbour saw him for the first time in Moscow in 1973 and was highly impressed with his performance back then. But when his own team went up against Toronto, he lamented all those same qualities that made Salming a great player.

Another of Salming's strengths was his phenomenal stamina. Even at 38, while Salming was playing out his last season in Toronto, he would spend 30 to 40 minutes on the ice per game. In 1986, in a game against the Detroit Red Wings, he was badly injured when his face was cut with a skate. In photos taken at the time, Salming looked like a character out of a horror movie. But three days later he was back on the ice.

http://www.legendsofhockey.net/Lege...er.jsp?mem=p199602&type=Player&page=bio&list=

Salming enjoyed seventeen years in the NHL as one of the top two-way defenseman, and was the first European trained player to make a significant impact in North America, thus paving the way for today's stars.

After an outstanding junior and domestic career in his native Sweden, the Toronto Maple Leafs took a chance on him after watching him play in exhibition games against Canadian junior teams. Salming showed his immense skill but it was his willingness to play the rough North American style that had convince the Leafs to take the chance. It turned out to be one of the best risks ever taken.

Time and time again Salming was tested by the NHL's toughest players, especially the Philadelphia Flyers gang of Broad Street Bullies. xxx and xxx laid beatings on him after jumping him in a fight, but Salming held his own. Not only did he stand up for himself, but he was able to dish out a few vicious shots himself. He earned the respect of the Flyers, especially their leader, Bobby Clarke.

"He was tough." admitted Clarke. "And he could use his stick too."


Salming had a respectable rookie season, earning 39 points but more importantly establishing himself as a hard nosed player as well. By his second season he was an all star.

In 1,148 NHL regular season games spread over seventeen seasons, Salming totaled 150 goals and 787 points. He also accumulated 12 goals and 49 points in 81 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He was voted on to the NHL First All-Star Team once and the NHL Second All-Star Team on five occasions. Twice he was runner-up in the voting for the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman. In 1976, 1977 and 1979 he was the recipient of the Viking Award as the top Swedish player in the NHL/WHA as chosen by a poll of players from his own country. On the international stage he represented Sweden with distinction at the 1976, 1981 and 1991 Canada Cups.

Salming would join the Detroit Red Wings for one season as a free agent in 1989. He left as Toronto's all time leader in points, goals and assists by defensemen, as well as one of the Maple Leafs most popular players of all time. Salming would continue playing in his native Sweden until 1992.

Salming was undoubtedly great. He could do it all, and was perhaps the best shot blocker of his era. While he was able to gain the highest respect on the ice, he didn't quite get it off the ice. Salming was always considered to be just a tad lesser than the top North American defensemen throughout his career - Larry Robinson, Denis Potvin, xxx and later Paul Coffey and Ray Bourque.

http://mapleleafslegends.blogspot.com/2008/02/borje-salming.html

Borje Salming was the first European player to be a superstar in the NHL, despite many threats from opposing teams that he wouldn't last and that he could not adapt to the NHL style of play. Salming proved all his doubters wrong, as he anchored the blueline in Toronto.

http://leafsfanclub.homestead.com/bioborjesalming.html

"We hated to lose, in a battle, of any kind, I would always wanna have Börje by my side" -xxx

http://members.tripod.com/tre_kronor/salming.htm

Salming played 16 of his 17 seasons in the NHL with the Maple Leafs, during which time he established himself as one of the greatest two-way defencemen in NHL history. However Salming's defensive legacy began well before he appeared with the in blue and white. He played with Sweden at the World Championships in 1972 and 1973 and displayed a gritty style of hockey that opened the eyes of Leafs scout Gerry McNamara. Toronto decided to sign Salming following a tour of Europe by the Barrie Flyers. He was signed because of his unwillingness to back down and his scrappy style of play. In his rookie campaign, Salming scored 39 points and received the inaugural Molson Cup based on points accumulated in the three star selections at the end of each game. The Cup found a familiar home with Salming, who went on to win the award three out of the following six years. After earning a spot on the NHL's Second All-Star Team in his second year, the following seasons were the most offensively productive seasons in his career when he put together four consecutive 70-plus point seasons and a 66-point season. Consistently Salming was Toronto's top blueliner and together with xxx the duo were one of the top defensive lines in the NHL during the mid 1970s. Salming quickly became a fan favourite in Toronto and in 1976 he played in his first NHL All-Star Game. In the 1980s he reached several milestones -- on January 4, 1988, Salming became the first European player to appear in 1,000 NHL games. After the 1988-1989 season he became Toronto's all-time leader in assists (620) and goals (148) by a defenceman. His stellar career with the Leafs finished in 1989 when he signed with the Detroit Red Wings as a free-agent.

Salming was the first Swedish player to ever dress in a Maple Leaf uniform. He excited North American fans with a brand of European hockey they had never seen before. Of his 17 NHL seasons he spent 16 of them with the Leafs and by doing so, he broke a barrier that had prevented Europeans from playing with the club. Following in the tradition of great Maple Leaf defencemen, Salming's reputation as an attacking defenceman compared to those of Hall of Famers Tim Horton and xxx. His offensive skills were only matched by linemate xxx and the pair defined themselves as two of the most offensive-minded defencemen that ever skated for the Leafs organization.

http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=42174

During the 1976 Canada Cup tournament most of the Swedish play was built up around Börje Salming. He played over 30 minutes in each game and did it admirably.

He scored two goals against USA in the opening game. In the next game against the Soviets he made a beautiful pass to xxx for the tying goal.

" Börje Salming is more Canadian in his playing style than the Canadians themselves."

This 'mining boy' is today ranked as probably the greatest defenseman in Swedish history, and hockey history in general.

http://www3.telus.net/worldcuphockey/borjesalming.html

During a rewarding career that spanned seventeen NHL seasons, Borje Salming earned a place as one of the best two -way defencemen in the game.

By his second NHL campaign he was among the NHL's elite blueliners. Salming's exemplary play as a sophomore earned him selection to the NHL Second All-Star Team.

Salming combined remarkable puck handling skills with superior defensive play and became one of Toronto's most respected and popular players. In 1976 he appeared in his first of three consecutive NHL All-Star Games. A measure of Salming's immense popularity was clearly evident at the inaugural Canada Cup tournament in 1976. During the player introductions prior to the Canada vs. Sweden game, Salming received a louder ovation than anyone on the Canadian squad. He was brilliant throughout the tournament and was chosen to the Canada Cup All-Star Team.

http://www.hhof.com/htmlinduct/indWoind96b.shtml

Börje Salming is known for being a real tough guy. One of the first European hockey players to star in the NHL, he boasted a seventeen-year career with the Toronto Maple Leafs and earned a reputation as one of the strongest and best-respected defencemen in the game. He became known as “ The King.â€

Back in Sweden, Salming is still known for his defensive skills, but even more for his grill skills. There, he’ s known as “ the King of the Barbecue.â€

http://books.google.com/books/about/Grilling_with_Salming.html?id=kdFTNLmPbAQC

Salming had the tougher time because he was supposed to be a rushing defenceman, a great skater, and a slick puckhandler.

Orr was also tough as nails and fought his own fights, and that’s just what the rest of the NHL was going to put Salming through. The Leafs’ first away game of the season was against the Broad Street Bullies, the Philadelphia Flyers, and Salming was virtually assaulted all night long. Battered and bruised, he held his own, and over time the attacks became more infrequent and his ability to dominate the game became more obvious.

Salming, though, earned his stripes one shift, one hit, one fight at a time. He was so perfectly conditioned that the long season and 30-minutes of play every night were demands he could handle. He proved the scouting reports correct with his end-to-end rushes, great passing, one-timer from the point on the power play, and gritty play inside his own blueline. Salming did this not for a game or a season, but for 17 seasons. It was his ability to survive first and excel thereafter which gave the next generation of all Europeans the confidence to know it could be done

http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/the-iihf/100-year-anniversary/100-top-stories/story-30.html

One of the best European hockey players to make the trip across the Atlantic, Borje Salming was the steadiest defenseman on the struggling Maple Leafs during the 1970s.

Salming was widely acknowledged as one of the most talented backliners in the NHL...

Salming bounced back in the 1978-79 season, tallying 73 points and continued to courageously defy the "soft" stereotype of European players...

...Salming remained a durable defenseman on the Toronto back line, and his 1,344 career penalty minutes show he was not intimidated by the North American game.

http://books.google.com/books?id=wp...0CDUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=borje salming&f=false

His rugged, scarred face and his tough, raspy voice brought back memories of one of the most courageous defencemen ever to patrol the Leaf blue line. He was a skillful shot blocker, and on countless occasions he sacrificed his body to prevent pucks from getting to the net. His face is a mass of scar tissue. Many of his teeth are not his own. His nose has been broken many times. During the season, his body was black and blue with bruises almost all the time. Borje Salming's courage was uncontested. He was as tough as they come!

http://books.google.com/books?id=Kr...0CE0Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=borje salming&f=false

When people ask me who was the greatest player I ever played with, I always mention two names: xxx and Borje Salming.

Borje Salming would fit into today's game so well. What a defenseman. He could block shots and control the game.

http://books.google.com/books?id=Yu...0CGIQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=borje salming&f=false

In 1973, Borje Salming became the 1st European player to break through to the NHL. Despite facing scorn and torment from the opposition, Salming persevered and became one of the league's finest defensemen. With a great ability to block shots and be a playmaker, Salming was proficient in Toronto from 1973-74 through 1988-89.

http://books.google.com/books?id=vH...D0Q6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=borje salming&f=false

Billed as a rushing defenseman with speed and stickhandling skills, Salming broke the stereotype of the infamous "Chicken Swede" label by taking on all challengers, including the day's best brawlers such as Dave Schultz. He took more punishment than his peers had to, but he showed that Europeans could survive as stars in the NHL.

http://books.google.com/books?id=k3...EIQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=borje salming&f=false

...The hallmarks of Salming's play-creative flair on offense, gangly ruggedness on defense, intense team loyalty and courage...

http://books.google.com/books?id=cn...FAQ6AEwBDgo#v=onepage&q=borje salming&f=false

Perhaps the greatest realization, though, at least for the fans of the Maple Leafs was that their stalwart defenseman Borje Salming, playing in the tournament for Sweden, might have been at that moment as good as any player in the world. When the tournament all-star team was named, he deservedly claimed one of the two spots on defense.

http://books.google.com/books?id=N9...EUQ6AEwAzgy#v=onepage&q=borje salming&f=false

While my ideal hockey player would be someone who possesses Borje Salming's liquid skating style...

http://books.google.com/books?id=5v...GkQ6AEwCTgy#v=onepage&q=borje salming&f=false

And there was Borje Salming, the great Swedish defenseman. "He was all heart," xxx says. "If you asked him to play 60 minutes, he'd try to."

http://books.google.com/books?id=ur...GEQ6AEwBzg8#v=onepage&q=borje salming&f=false

"Borje Salming," said Leafs exec King Clancy, "is the best defensive defenseman in the NHL.

http://books.google.com/books?id=NX...X&ei=Yw0jT82aJYTM0AGY8_3WCA&ved=0CGEQ6AEwCDha

One exception is Borje Salming of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who can skate backward in a straight line faster than many players, ... Borje Salming skated in a straight line without using crossovers and easily won the race

https://www.google.com/search?q=bor....,cf.osb&fp=5f875ea39545a551&biw=1366&bih=638

Toronto's Borje Salming is hockey's most accomplished defensive defenseman and the darling of the crowds at Maple Leaf Gardens. When Salming was introduced with his Swedish teammates before a game against Team Canada in the recent Canada Cup series, the Toronto fans gave him a thundering five-minute standing ovation, punctuated with cries of "B.J., B.J., B.J."—Salming's nickname. Listening to the roar. Canada Captain Bobby Clarke said, "Don't these people know that we're the home team in this game?"

Salming, though, ranks as the outstanding player from Sweden; he is the Swedish Bobby Orr. Like Orr, Salming maintains a low profile, shielding himself from outside contact and keeping his words to a minimum. Like Orr, he plays with remarkable instinct and flair, displaying a recklessness that seems beyond reason or science. He has speed, a hard and accurate shot and surprising strength concealed in his lanky, wiry frame. He also has excellent balance and leverage on skates.

"I was basically a defensive defenseman in Sweden, but over here defensemen handle the puck more. I had to learn to turn quickly and go back for pucks that had been dumped into the corners. And I had to get used to all the stuff that goes on in the corners, too. But nothing was too difficult." Indeed. Salming has played in the NHL All-Star Game the last two seasons, and he is the player around whom the Maple Leafs revolve—offensively and defensively.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1091681/3/index.htm

Kelly has been particularly impressed with Salming, Toronto's best defenseman in the season's opening stages. "He has great anticipation," Kelly says, "and he is an outstanding shot-blocker. When he goes down for a shot he doesn't stay on the ice, either, like a lot of players do. He bounces right up and gets back into the play." Against the Canadiens Salming saved a likely Montreal goal when he sprawled in front of a xxx bullet fired from 10 feet away and caught the puck in his stomach.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1087956/index.htm

There has been, meanwhile, comparatively little drum beating for perhaps the best first year man of them all, Toronto's Swedish defenseman Borje Salming.

"Of course, he should be rookie of the year," the Leafs' Paul Henderson was saying here last week "Next to Bobby Orr, he's the best defenseman in the league.

As a matter of fact, I'd make him the most valuable player, too. He's the reason we made the playoffs, in my opinion.

What do you expect a defenseman to do? Protect his own zone? He does that thoroughly. Set up plays? He's got 30+ assists. Shoot from the point? Hell of a shot. Block shots? There's nobody in the league better at it.


And I can't remember him having a bad game all season."

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...YcxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uKEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3242,2637204

Borje Salming was part Larry Robinson and part Bobby Orr once. Ten years ago it was.

He carried the puck, put it in the net, and blocked it. Six times he was an all star defenseman.

He was so good the Philadelphia Flyers tried to use their sticks to redecorate his face. He was so good he sometimes carried a team - The Toronto Maple Leafs - on his back.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...0xPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9QIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6835,4264923

Strong goaltending by Wayne Thomas and a brilliant performance by defenseman Borje Salming led Toronto Maple Leafs to a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues last night.

Salming picked up two assists, hit the post on a shot from the blueline and harassed his opponents with persistent checking.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...=J5YuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kqEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1114,90141

Borje Salming certainly doesn't exemplify the image of Swedish hockey players. When the occasion demands, the 22 year old defenseman is as bold a belter as you'll find anywhere in the NHL.

His apparent physical delight at cracking the opposition certainly doesn't fit into the delicate image Sweden's hockey players had built for themselves in 2 decades of international competition.

Then along comes Salming, possibly the best player game after game wearing a Maple Leafs uniform. He has 8 assists in 12 games. And most NHL defensemen go a whole season without getting as many solid hits as the native of Kiruna, Sweden has delivered already.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...SUuAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9c0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=2095,3319022

Hockey's prototype of the $6,000,000 man has been constructed by Toronto scribe Frank Orr. Drawn from both the NHL and WHA, here is his bionic composite...

Shot Blocking - Borje Salming
Poke Checking - Borje Salming

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...-_QhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vKEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2416,554631
 

Dreakmur

Registered User
Mar 25, 2008
18,552
6,730
Orillia, Ontario
R.6b0e35d30c371ac9f0c17e80272c36c2



Frank Mahovlich !!!


Awards and Achievements:
6 x Stanley Cup Champion (1962, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1971, 1973)

3 x First Team All-Star (1961, 1963, 1973)
6 x Second Team All-Star (1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970)

Hart voting - 4th(1961), 5th(1963), 11th(1966), 12th(1964), 13th(1973)

All-Star voting - 1st(1961), 1st(1963), 1st(1973), 2nd(1962), 2nd(1964), 2nd(1965), 2nd(1966), 2nd(1969), 2nd(1970), 3rd(1972), 4th(1967), 4th(1974), 5th(1971)

Offensive Accomplishments:
Points - 3rd(1961), 4th(1963), 5th(1962), 6th(1972), 7th(1973), 10th(1969), 10th(1970), 12th(1966), 12th(1974), 13th(1964), 13th(1965), 13th(1971), 17th(1967)
Goals - 2nd(1961), 2nd(1962), 2nd(1966), 2nd(1969), 3rd(1963), 4th(1970), 6th(1964), 7th(1972), 12th(1965), 14th(1959), 14th(1973), 16th(1971), 18th(1968), 19th(1958)
Assists - 7th(1972), 8th(1962), 10th(1973), 11th(1961), 11th(1963), 12th(1974), 18th(1967), 18th(1971), 19th(1965)

Play-off Points - 1st(1971), 3rd(1964), 3rd(1973), 5th(1962), 5th(1967), 6th(1959)
Play-off Goals - 1st(1971), 2nd(1959), 3rd(1973), 4th(1960), 4th(1962), 8th(1964), 9th(1967)
Play-off Assists - 1st(1964), 3rd(1967), 3rd(1973), 5th(1971), 6th(1962), 9th(1959)


5 Year Peak: 1961 to 1965
5th in Points, 87% of 1st place Gordie Howe
2nd in Goals, 86% of 1st place Bobby Hull
11th in Assists, 70% of 1st place Stan Mikita

10 Year Peak: 1961 to 1970
6th in Points, 77% of 1st place Stan Mikita
2nd in Goals, 75% of 1st place Bobby Hull
14th in Assists, 60% of 1st place Stan Mikita


Scoring Percentages:
Point - 93(1961), 90(1963), 89(1973), 85(1962), 82(1972), 81(1970), 75(1974), 73(1969), 73(1971), 72(1966), 71(1964), 66(1967), 62(1968), 61(1965), 59(1959), 51(1958), 49(1960)

6 Best Seasons: 520
Next 6 Seasons: 430

Even Strength Points - 112(1961), 108(1962), 95(1963), 83(1969), 83(1973), 77(1964), 77(1972), 72(1966), 69(1974), 67(1970), 65(1967), 63(1968), 55(1959), 53(1960), 51(1958)

6 Best Seasons: 558

Goals – 137(1961), 102(1969), 100(1962), 100(1966), 97(1963), 90(1964), 90(1970), 86(1972), 86(1973), 79(1965), 70(1971), 67(1959), 65(1968), 61(1958), 60(1974), 58(1967), 53(1960)

6 Best Seasons: 626
Next 6 Seasons: 478


Legends of Hockey said:
Frank Mahovlich was a talented and classy winger, a large man with the skills and hands of a pure scorer. Known as "the Big M," Mahovlich was touted as a superstar while still a teenager. He went on to have a marvelous career, patrolling the left wing for 22 professional seasons in both the NHL and WHA. Many of those years were filled with glory as he earned individual awards and the Stanley Cup, but Mahovlich struggled through most of his hockey life with the stress that comes from great expectations.

Greatest Hockey Legends said:
Mahovlich was a big man with a long powerful stride that powered himself through the opposing team's defense. Add to that his uncanny stickhandling and an overpowering shot, and Mahovlich was pretty much a perfect hockey player.

Trail of the Stanley Cup said:
Frank was a big man who skated with long powerful strides, the puck well out in front seemingly glued to his stick. He was a fine stickhandler with a hard and accurate shot. He could be very aggressive if ruffed but played hard clean hockey. He had an unusual temperament and at times could become quite moody. He was tried as a centre but then moved to left wing where he established himself as one of the best.

The Top 100 NHL Players of All Time said:
A genial, gentle man, Mahovlich was probably the most charismatic and certainly the most gifted player the Leafs have enjoyed. If not for the curtain, or rather the forces that necessitated it, Mahovlich and not Bobby Hull might have been the dominant player of his generation.

… An arresting skater, stickhandler and shooter…

….

To Leaf fans, Mahovlich’s talents seemed so limitless, any game in which he was held scoreless must have been one he was taking off. He was booed, regulary and voraciously and Imlach never bothered to pronounce his name correctly.

….

His skills, so obviously mismanaged in Toronto, created universal demand.

Hockey’s Golden Era said:
Mahovlich’s physical attributes were a sight to behold when he was in full flight. He skated with an easy, fluid stride and made good use of his long reach, strength and laser like shot. He showed an ability to run over the opposition, especially defenseman who were in his way when he wanted to drive to the net. It was unfortunate that the rather critical Toronto public always expected Mahovlich to play like a superstar on the rampage.


Hockey’s Glory Days said:
Mahovlich led the Maple Leafs in goal scoring every season from 1960-61 to 1965-66 and also led the team in points five times. He was the main offensive weapon on Toronto teams that won the Stanley Cup in 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1967…

Maple Leaf Legends said:
Mahovlich moved like a thoroughbred, with a strong, fluid style that made it look as if he was galloping through the opposition. In full flight, he was an imposing figure. An explosive skater, Mahovlich could spot the right moment to turn it on and burst in on goal. He had a great move where he would take the puck off the wing, cut into the middle of the ice and try to bust through two defencemen for a chance on goal. He didn't always get through but when he did he scored some memorable goals.

Total Hockey said:
Mahovlich established himself as one of the greatest scorers in hockey. [...] Mahovlich led the Maple Leafs in goal-scoring every season from 1960-61 to 1965-66. He was the main offensive weapon on Toronto's team that won the Stanley Cup in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967.

Ultimate Hockey said:
A strong argument can be made that Frank Mahovlich was the most physically talented man ever to sport the Toronto Maple Leaf colors. Other might contend that he was one of the laziest players to ever to put on the blue and white.

A Century of Hockey Heroes said:
In Montreal, Mahovlich was transformed from a great goalscorer into a premier playmaker.

Kings of the Ice said:
Frank Mahovlich was a talented and classy winger, a large man with the skills and hands of a pure scorer.

In Detroit, Mahovlich played more minutes than ever on the first line on the powerplay and sometimes even killed penalties. When Howe became the third player to break the 100-point plateau in the 1968-69 season, Mahovlich was cited as a significant factor.

Montreal Canadiens CD-ROM said:
The Canadiens acquired the dominant winger on January 13, 1971. The deal paid instant dividends as, in the 38 regular-season games remaining for hte Canadiens, Mahovlich scored 17 goals and dished out 24 assists.

However, it was in the playoffs that he really showed his exemplary talents. During the Canadiens successful Stanley Cup campaign that year, Mahovlich scored 14 goals and garnered 12 assists in 20 games, a team record at the time.

Mahovlich was again a major factor in the Canadiens successful 1972-73 campaign, when they again won the Stanley Cup.





Bill Gadsby said:
He's one of the toughest guys in hockey to defend against. He's big, fast, strong and an excellent stickhandler with a two-way shift and an extension-ladder reach. He just moves that puck out of your reach or bulls you out of the way when you try to trap him along the boards ... The guy's murder!

Frank Orr said:
It's hard to think of anybody playing any better, two-way hockey in two sets of playoffs, 1971 and 1973, than Frank Mahovlich did. He would kill penalties with Jacques Lemaire, he was on the powerplay and scored big goals and was just a wonderful player in those cup wins.

Dick Irvin Jr. said:
He's the main reason im my memory that (the Montreal Canadiens) won the Stanley Cup (in 1971).

King Clancy said:
Mahovlich took over like Charlie Conacher used to do in his heyday. He turned those Ranger defensemen inside out with his shifts, change if pace an stickhandling.

Peter Gzowski said:
No one else is so elegnt, so electric, so furious, so fluid. Other players stride, he swoops. They glide, he soars. They sprint, he explodes.

Gordie Howe said:
If Toronto fans would appreciate his great talent and give him the cheers he deserves instead of booing him, maybe the pressure wouldn’t cook the guy.

Andy Bathgate said:
Imlach never spoke to Frank Mahovlich or me for most of the season, and when he did, it was to criticize. Frank usually go the worst. We are athletes, not machines, and Frank is the type that needs some encouragement, a pat on the shoulder ever so often.

Dave Keon said:
Bobby Hull may score more goals, but no one scores better goals than Frank.


 
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Dreakmur

Registered User
Mar 25, 2008
18,552
6,730
Orillia, Ontario



Ray Bourque !!!


Ray Bourque said:
My first priority has always been defense. Goals and assists are important, but I’ve always taken a lot of pride in keeping the other team from scoring. That’s why I’m out there.


Awards and Achievements:
Stanley Cup Champion (2001)

5 x Norris Trophy Winner (1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1994)

13 x First Team All-Star (1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2001)
6 x Second Team All-Star (1981, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1995, 1999)

Norris Trophy voting – 1st(1987), 1st(1988), 1st(1990), 1st(1991), 1st(1994), 2nd(1982), 2nd(1985), 2nd(1992), 2nd(1993), 2nd(1996), 2nd(2001), 3rd(1983), 3rd(1984), 3rd(1995), 3rd(1999), 4th(1980), 4th(1981), 4th(1986), 4th(1989), 7th(1997), 7th(1998), 7th(2000)

Hart Trophy voting – 2nd(1987), 2nd(1990), 4th(1991), 5th(1984), 5th(1985), 6th(1996), 8th(1988), 10th(1986), 11th(1996), 13th(1992), 14th(1981), 15th(1982)


Offensive Accomplishments:
Points – 9th(1987), 11th(1991), 14th(1984), 20th(1994)
Assists – 2nd(1987), 4th(1991), 5th(1994), 8th(1984), 8th(1985), 10th(1988), 10th(1990), 11th(2001), 13th(1992), 14th(1996), 15th(1986), 17th(1995), 17th(1999), 18th(1993), 20th(1994)

Points among Defensemen –1st(1987), 1st(1994), 2nd(1984), 2nd(1985), 2nd(1988), 2nd(1991), 2nd(1992), 2nd(1995), 2nd(1996), 2nd(1999), 3rd(1990), 3rd(1993), 3rd(2001), 4th(1986), 5th(1980), 5th(1983), 6th(2000), 7th(1997), 8th(1982)
Goals among Defensemen – 1st(1981), 1st(1987), 1st(1996), 2nd(1983), 2nd(1984), 2nd(1992), 2nd(2000), 3rd(1995), 3rd(1997), 4th(1991), 4th(1994), 5th(1980), 6th(1985), 6th(1990) 7th(1988), 7th(1989), 7th(1993), 8th(1982), 8th(1986)
Assists among Defensemen – 1st(1987), 1st(1999), 2nd(1984), 2nd(1985), 2nd(1988), 2nd(1990), 2nd(1991), 2nd(1992), 2nd(1992), 2nd(1994), 2nd(1996), 3rd(1986), 3rd(2001), 4th(1995), 6th(1980), 6th(1982), 7th(1983), 10th(1998), 10th(2000)


Play-off Points – 6th(1983), 6th(1991), 7th(1988)
Play-off Goals – 9th(1983)
Play-off Assists – 3rd(1988), 4th(1991), 5th(1983), 8th(1990), 10th(1999)

Play-off Points among Defensemen – 1st(1983), 1st(1988), 1st(1990), 1st(1991), 2nd(2001), 4th(2000), 5th(1980)
Play-off Goals among Defensemen – 1st(1983), 1st(1990), 1st(1991), 3rd(2001)
Play-off Assists among Defensemen – 1st(1983), 1st(1988), 1st(1990), 1st(1991), 2nd(2000), 4th(1980), 4th(1999)


5 Year Peak: 1992 to 1996
1st in Points among Defensemen, 109% of 2nd place Paul Coffey
1st in Goals among Defensemen, 100% of co-1st place Kevin Hatcher
2nd in Assists among Defensemen, 96% of 1st place Paul Coffey


10 Year Peak: 1990 to 1999
1st in Points among Defensemen, 106% of 2nd place Brian Leetch
2nd in Goals among Defensemen, 90% of 1st place Al MacInnin
1st in Assists among Defensemen, 104% of 2nd place Brian Leetch


Scoring Percentages:
Points among Defensemen – 117(1987), 102(1994), 100(1984), 100(1985), 100(1991), 100(1992), 100(1995), 100(1996), 100(1999), 98(1988), 97(1983), 96(1993), 94(1986), 93(1990), 87(1980), 84(1998), 84(2000), 83(2001), 81(1989), 78(1982), 74(1981), 74(1997)

Best 6 Seasons: 619
Best 12 Seasons: 591


International Accomplishments:
2 x Canada Cup Champion (1984, 1987)
Canada Cup Finalist (1981)

Canada Cup All-Star (1987)
Leading scorer among Defensemen (1987)

Olympic Points among Defensemen - 5th(1998)
Canada Cup Points among Defensemen - 1st(1987), 4th(1981), 4th(1984)





The Top 100 Players of all Time said:
Bourque may or may not be the pre-eminent all-purpose defenseman of all-time, but this much is sure: no defenseman did as many things as well for as long as Bourque. An excellent passer, his defensive reads and instinct for joining the rush are the standard for modern defensemen. Almost impossible to knock off the puck, he handles the spade work in front of the net and in the corners willingly and remains one of the best skating defensemen in the NHL.

Ultimate Hockey said:
Bourque was one of those rare players who has everything. His shot ranked among the best in the NHL while his point-control was nothing short of incredible. He was deadly on the power play, especially alongside rough-and-tumble sniper Cam Neely. Few in hockey history had the mix of skating, passing, checking, and shooting that Bourque had in his prime.

The History of the Boston Bruins said:
Bourque possessed uncommon offensive skill while sacrificing nothing on defense. His speed, strength, and uncommonly hard shot complimented his deep understanding of the game.

Boston Bruins: Greatest Moments and Players said:
… the Montrealer’s name will be inscribed in the books as a nonpareil who could best be called the defense version of Gordie Howe – artistic, indestructible and menacing when challenged.

….

Bourque can also play the physical game with the best of the NHL backliners. He is not afraid to use the body, and his play in the corners is often fearsome. Bourque’s upper-body strength is what allows him to fire a rocket from the point, as well as pin a man along the boards.

The Hockey News: Top 100 said:
… the long-time Bruins stalwart was as adept at shutting down goal-scorers as he was producing offense.

Kings of the Ice said:
He had all the offensive tools that propelled Denis Potvin, _______, and Bobby Orr, whose presence close by in Boston was always felt. Bourque had the ability to dominate consistently in his own end of the ice. He showed durability and longevity, leadership and character.

Canada’s Top 100: The Greatest Athletes of All Time said:
Bourque rules the ice with his offensive prowess and defensive excellence.

Greatest Hockey Legends said:
Though he too ranks as one of the greatest offensive defensemen ever, it was Bourque's defensive genius that set him aside from his peers. While his offensive game grabbed more headlines, Bourque's tremendous defensive instincts that rivaled anyone in the game's history. In a split second he could dissect the oncoming play and more often than not positioned himself perfectly to defend. Though not big, his incredible balance made him tough to play against. Therefore Bourque was not afraid to play the physical game when he had to.

Skating was the key to Bourque's game. Overshadowed by the puck rushing exploits of Orr and __________, Bourque too could skate like the wind. More importantly, perhaps he was better than Orr, _______ or just about any other defenseman in terms of lateral movement, balance and agility. He would often jump into the offense as a 4th forward, or breakout of his own zone to lead the attack.

More often than not he would use incredible passing skills to kick start the offense. Though he was often zeroed in on by opposing team forecheckers, Bourque was rarely rattled, and always made a great first pass out of the zone to headman the transition offense. He had that rare touch and vision of a creative center on the back end. He had the uncanny ability to control the play, both with and without the puck. He was extremely methodical in his approach as a hockeyist.

He had an arsenal of lethal shots to unleash on goalies. He could shoot as hard as practically anyone, but more often than not he changed his shot up in order to get the puck to the goal crease. No matter how closely he was checked from his point position or how crowded the shooting lanes were, Bourque seemingly always landed the puck on net. He would often stray from the point position and jump into the slot for dangerous scoring chances. He was so deadly accurate with the puck that he won or shared the all star game's shooting accuracy competition 8 times between the competition's inception in 1990 and 2001. And he shot often. Only Wayne Gretzky regularly finished ahead of Bourque as the season's shots on goal leader.

Perhaps the most complete defenseman this side of Doug Harvey, Bourque retired as the career leader in practically every offensive category for a defenseman.

….

From Nicklas Lidtsom’s Bio:
Bourque was a bit more flashy offensively, but he played in an era that demanded it, but otherwise both are near perfect defenders.

Legends of Hockey said:
Raymond Bourque, a model of proficiency and consistency at an elite level throughout his career…consistently provided leadership from his spot on the Boston blueline.


Ultimate Hockey's All-Star Team of the 1980s
Ultimate Hockey's All-Star Team of the 1990s






1989 Player/Coach/Manager Poll:
2nd Hardest Bodychecker

Also received votes in Best Defensive Defenseman, Strongest Player, Best Shooter, and Frequent Diver

Anonymous NHL Referee said:
He's the smartest diver. He uses the psychological approach. He knows when to do it. If he's around his own goal and is marginally tugged, and the opposition gains possession, he'll go down. He's very cagey.

1990 Coaches’ Poll:
3rd Best All-Around Player
4th Player to Start a Franchise
5th Toughest Player to Defend Against
2nd Best Offensive Defenseman
5th Best Defensive Defenseman

1993 Coaches’ Poll:
2nd Best Player (1 vote, Mario Lemieux got most of them)
2nd Best Offensive Defenseman
2nd Best Defensive Defenseman
2nd Smartest Player


Also received votes in Hardest Worker and Best Shot

1994 Coaches’ Poll:
3rd Best Player (1 vote)
1st Best Defensive Defenseman
2nd Best Offensive Defenseman

Also received votes in Hardest Shot

1994 Beckett’s Coaches’ Poll:
1st Best Defensive Defenseman
1st Player You Hate to Play Against
1st Best Power Play Point Man

Also received votes in Best Penalty Killer


Harry Sinden said:
I'll take Orr if I'm down by a goal, but I'd take Bourque if I'm defending a one goal lead.

Scotty Bowman said:
He was a two-way player and he was so durable. He seldom got injured even though he played more than half the game. He played on some good teams in Boston because he made them good. I always felt Bourque was very similar to Denis Potvin. Both were great passers, had a terrific feel for the game and they were strong. Nobody ever would push them around.

Pat Burns said:
He’s Ray Bourque and he’s unbelievable. There isn’t anyone else out there like him.

Jean Ratelle said:
I don’t think we’ll ever see another player as great as Bobby Orr, but Bourque is the closes thing I’ve seen to Orr.

Denis Potvin said:
Ray is the closest in style and ability to Orr that I’ve seen.

Don Sweeney said:
He had those tree-trunk legs. So consistent – he could do everything. He could give you nine or 10 shots on the power play, but if you were up 3-2, you could put him on the ice. He really knew how to play the situation.

Brad Park said:
No one can shoot the puck any better than he is right now. He is moving the puck well, and creating confusion in their end.

Mark Messier said:
I know his talents and the team player and team leader that Ray is. I know the Boston Bruins rotate around Ray. He’s just a great player.

Gord Kluzak said:
Here's what he does better than anyone in the NHL ever did. He can slam a guy with the puck into the boards, take the puck away and start skating up the ice. Most defensemen are going to take either the man or the puck. Ray does both.

Steve Smith said:
When you watch Ray Bourque play, you see that he’s not only such a pure talent, but he seems to work harder than everybody else, too. He’s probably the best defenseman in the game right now. He’s a pleasure to watch most night. I’m not going to have much pleasure watching him this series.

Andy Moog said:
I've never seen a better all-around player than Ray. Paul could carry a game, but Ray can carry a game and never touch the puck, like when he's killing a penalty. Even considering Wayne. Ray's the most complete player in the game.

....

You never catch Ray out of position. He anticipates everything so well, it’s like he knows what you are going to do before you do.

….

He’s aggressive out there. He wants the puck. Goaltenders have to react off what their teammates do and what the opponents do. And if Ray’s reaction time is a little bit quicker than everyone else’s, that means the goaltender has a little more time to react.

Dave Ellett said:
Another key element is that he never puts himself before the team. Ray has always been a team player…

Ted Donato said:
Whenever he steps on the ice, Ray brings a certain aura that gets us juiced up, too.

Mike Milbury said:
He can shoot so well. He can skate. He’s quick. He can pass. He has everything. I’d have to compare him to Denis Potvin. It won’t take long before he’s as good as Potvin.

....

Ray Bourque is the best player in hockey right now. Better than Gretzky, better than [Mario] Lemieux, better than anyone.

Chris Chelios said:
Ray Bourque is the best defenseman I’ve ever seen.

Bob Hartley said:
What a great performance! He was the general on the blue line and did an outstanding job. Ray was very dominant.





Statistical Analysis:
Based on a study conducted here:
http://hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=3...&postcount=285

Of modern defensemen, Bourque is among the very best at even thrength, on the powerplay, and on the penalty kill.


Contemporary Articles:
The Complete Handbook of Pro Hockey – 1981 said:
Naturally gifted player who does all things well and can control the flow and tempo of game…

The Complete Handbook of Pro Hockey – 1982 said:
Elusive puck-handler with quick burst of speed to put himself in open ice to lead rush, shoot or pass… Has rifle shot from blue line…

The Complete Handbook of Pro Hockey – 1983 said:
Has excellent puck control and is a magnificent passer… Rifle shot males him extremely dangerous on power plays…Hits hard when he has to.

The Complete Handbook of Pro Hockey – 1984 said:
Quick, agile, rushing defenseman with ability ti score from long range of penetrate defenses to score from in close… Still needs to smooth ourt his defensive zone play… Has lightning-fast slap shot and uses it frequently…

The Complete Handbook of Pro Hockey – 1985 said:
Can do it all but is primarily an offensive defenseman who operates like a forward… Has blazing shot from the blue line or slot that goalies fear… Play in defensive zone has improved each year…

The Complete Handbook of Pro Hockey – 1986 said:
Has powerful shot from the blue line and is outstanding passer-shooter as power play point man… Firmly established as one of the best all-around defensemen in NHL… Doesn’t make many mistakes as a defender… Skates as well as many forwards… Strongest part of his game is leading rush up the ice to out Boston on the attack…

The Complete Handbook of Pro Hockey – 1987 said:
Carries on the tradition of great Bruin defensemen, like Eddie Shore and Bobby Orr… Still team’s most mobile, quick, skilled and intelligent player… Excellent shooter and passer, he’s most dangerous when he’s leading the rush up ice… Gets back well and covers his check on defense…

The Complete Handbook of Pro Hockey – 1988 said:
Simply the franchise for the Bruins… A power-play terror… Has always been a workhorse, playing over 30 minutes a game in emergency situations. Now he rarely plays less than 35 minutes a game.


The Windsor Star – April 15 said:
Seldom in the Stanley Cup play-offs, where the pressure tends to bring out the best in the veterans, does a rookie lift a team from the brink of elimination to victory.

In the past two games, during which the Bruin rallied from a 1-2 deficit to win their series with the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games, Bourque proved to be the undeniable spark-plug.

The Boston Globe – April 10 said:
The Montreal Canadiens are checking Ray Bourque pretty hard in this series, but if they think that's going to change his game, they're wrong.

The Providence Journal – April 23 said:
From the first few minutes of Boston's 3-1 victory over Montreal, he took control of the game as only he can - blocking shots, manning the power play and dishing out punishing checks in his own end.

Sports Illustrated: Trio Grand – 2001 said:
Bourque, among the best three-zone defensemen ever, is even more steadfast than Savard was, though Bourque lacks a signature move like the Savardian spin-o-rama that would free space for the lumbering Canadien.

Sports Illustrated: The NHL – 1998 said:
Like Don Sweeney and Kyle McLaren before him, Bruins rookie defenseman Hal Gill will never forget his first time. "It was only a few months ago, and you better believe I was nervous," says Gill. "But he just smiled at me and went to work. It gave me confidence."

The "he" is 19-year veteran and perennial All-Star Raymond Bourque, and it's no coincidence that in recalling his first shift as Bourque's partner, Gill, 22, is also recalling his NHL debut. Over the years Boston has employed a simple strategy for grooming talented young defensemen: "We play them with Bourque," says general manager Harry Sinden. "He relieves some pressure."

Gill, who's 6'6" and 200 pounds, unexpectedly made the team in training camp, and since then, paired with Bourque, he has been getting more ice time than anyone had anticipated. Of Boston's top five defensemen—collectively the backbone of a surprising team that at week's end was 20-16-8—Gill is the third to learn under the master's tutelage.

Bourque provides security ("When I get in trouble I pass the puck to Ray," says Gill) and covers up misplays ("My dead grandmother would look good playing with Bourque," says Bruins coach Pat Burns). He also helps rookies cope with the intensity of the NHL. "The first year can feel like you're on a roller coaster," says McLaren, an All-Star-to-be who broke in at Bourque's side during the 1995-96 season. "Ray's so calm, he smooths things out."

Says Sweeney, who as a rookie in 1988-89 was Bourque's partner, "He teaches you a day-in, day-out approach to the game that stays with you. Look at Kyle. He's 20, and he plays like a veteran. You know Ray had something to do with that."

Bourque is certainly helping Gill. "Right away he told me nothing comes easy in the NHL—no flip passes, no shortcuts," says Gill. "If Raymond Bourque says you don't take shortcuts, you don't take shortcuts."


 
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Rob Scuderi

Registered User
Sep 3, 2009
3,378
2
Max Bentley, C
Max%2BBentley.JPG

- Hart Trophy voting: 1, 3, 4
- 1x 1st All-Star Team (1946)
- 1x 2nd All-Star Team (1947)
- Finished 3rd in All-Star voting twice (1943, 1948)
- Winner of Lady Byng Trophy in 1943
- Point finishes: 1, 1, 3, 3, 5
- Goal finishes: 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 9, 10
- Assist finishes: 2, 2, 2, 3, 9
- Playoff point finishes: 1, 2, 4, 10

Bentley won two scoring titles as a member of the Pony Line in Chicago with his brother Doug and Bill Mosienko. He was sent to Toronto in 1948 as part of a 2 for 5 trade. He played on the third line in Toronto and the point on their powerplay. Playing behind Apps and Kennedy was a different role for Bentley compared to Chicago, but he showed why Smythe was willing to give up a forward line and two defenseman for him.
TheDevilMadeMe said:
Leading playoffs scorers 1948-1951 (Toronto wins 3 Cups in 4 years):

1. Max Bentley (TOR) 37 points in 36 games
2. Ted Kennedy (TOR) 34 points in 36 games
3. Sid Abel (DET) 24 points in 41 games
4. Ted Lindsay (DET) 21 points in 40 games
5. Gordie Howe (DET) 20 points in 28 games
6. Sid Smith (TOR) 20 points in 26 games
7. Maurice Richard (MON) 18 points in 23 games
8. Joe Klukay (TOR) 17 points in 36 games
9. Harry Watson (TOR) 16 points in 30 games
10. George Gee (DET) 14 points in 30 games

Legends of Hockey said:
Known as the "Dipsy-Doodle Dandy from Delisle" because of his fancy skating and superb stickhandling...

Max became famous for his drive to the net, his aggressive play to score and the fact that he was constantly in motion. He never stopped skating and had as many moves in his day, contemporaries would later say, as Wayne Gretzky did during his era.
The Montreal Gazette 1/21/1984 said:
Bentley once scored four goals in one period, a record shared by six others, including Wayne Gretzky...

"He was the best, a dispy-doodler who could really skate and was tremendous with the puck," said Vic Lynn of Saskatoon, who teamed with Bentley for three seasons with Toronto Maple Leafs.

"He was a phenomenal hockey player, an absolute artist with the puck," said hockey promoted Bill Hunter, whose association with Bentley goes back to the days of the Saskatoon Quakers.

When Bentley was acquired by Toronto, Smythe promised the Leafs would win the Stanley Cup. In fact, the Leafs won the Cup three of the next four years. Bentley played right point on a formidable power play and centered the Leafs' third line.
The Leafs may have some trouble with Doug and Max Bentley, the two power-play experts who will be showing at the Gardens together for the first time since they were teammates with Chicago Black Hawks six years.

"Max is the greatest player at the point position on power plays that I've ever seen" says Hap Day, assistant general-manager of the Leafs. "Max and Doug together make up the two best point men in the business."
Pittsburgh Press 2/6/1989 said:
Emile Francis: Here's Charlie Conacher, he was coaching our team, and he said, "We all know Max Bentley, all you've got to do is hit that guy." Johnnie Mariucci, he was our captain, he said, "Charlie, it's fine to say you've got to hit him, but you've got to catch him before you hit him."

Was considered a playmaker early in his career, but eventually showed off his goalscoring abilities
The Maple Leaf 2/9/1946 said:
The younger half of the Bentley brother team in the Chicago Blackhawks squad, has completely expanded his role. Last season he rang up 44 assists, while notching 26 goals on his own account. He was regarded as one of the league's expert playmakers. But in the current schedule he has added another act to his part as feeder to other high-scorers-who included his own brother Doug-and is now away on a scoring splurge of his own, and with quite a husky chunk of the season left, leads the league not only in points but also in goals.
The Montreal Gazette 1/8/1948 said:
You'd like to know how Max Bentley scores those amazing shots from any angle and position? Brother Doug...has the answer: "I never could figure it out either...I've been wondering about that for years-that kid can grab a puck at the craziest angles and suddenly it's in."

Traded to Toronto and mention that Bentley was a "one-way guy"
The Montreal Gazette 3/11/1948 said:
Max Bentley, of course, was a high-scorer with the Hawks before he went to the Leafs, but it's a tribute to his ability and intelligence that he was able to adjust himself to new linemates so quickly.
Ottawa Citizen 4/3/1950 said:
Hockey's most famous trade paid Toronto Maple Leafs another dividend Saturday when they defeated Detroit Red Wings 2-0 to take a lead of 2-1 in games in their best-of-seven Stanley Cup semi-final.

Key man in the victory was center Max Bentley, who scored one goal and set up the other while turning in a terrific job of fore-checking.

Bentley, the 150-pounder from Delisle, Sask. joined the Leafs in November 1947, in the celebrated five-for-two trade with Chicago Blackhawks. He's been proving the trading prowess of Leafs' managing director Conn Smythe ever since.
The Montreal Gazette 11/3/1947 said:
[Gus Bodnar] could always skate and he is a better defensive forward than Max Bentley, who is strictly a one-way guy.
 
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tony d

Registered User
Jun 23, 2007
76,590
4,550
Behind A Tree
Defenseman Lionel Conacher

Lionelconacher.jpg


Biographical Information on Conacher courtesy of http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/c/conacli01.html

Position: D ▪ Shoots: Left
Height: 6-2 ▪ Weight: 195 lbs.
Born: May 24, 1901 in Toronto, Ontario

Stats on Conacher courtesy of http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/c/conacli01.html

-3 Top 10 finishes in assists
-3 Time All Star
-5 Top 10 Finishes in Penalty Minutes

Legends Of Hockey:

In 1922-23, Conacher played hockey for the North Toronto Seniors and he was on hand when they played Midland on February 8, 1923, in the first match ever broadcast on radio. At this stage, Conacher was so highly regarded that the Toronto St. Pats and Montreal Canadiens both invited him to play in the NHL. Although he declined to sign with either of these teams, it was to be only a matter of time before he made his big-league debut.

In 1925-26, the Big Train finally made his professional hockey debut. He was instrumental in keeping most of the Yellow Jackets together when the team renamed itself the Pirates and was admitted to the NHL as an expansion squad. The burly rearguard captained the team and scored the first goal in franchise history, against the Boston Bruins on November 26, 1925. A year later he was traded to the New York Americans, where he played four seasons and helped ? and ? anchor the club's defense corps.

Conacher functioned as the Amerks' player-coach in 1929-30, then joined the Montreal Maroons the next season. He enjoyed three excellent years there, including a career-best 28 points in 1932-33. The Chicago Black Hawks obtained his services in time for the 1933-34 schedule, and Conacher was a key figure in the club's first-ever Stanley Cup victory that season. His impact was such that he finished second to the Canadiens' Aurel Joliat in the voting for the Hart Trophy and earned a spot on the NHL First All-Star Team.

After one year in Chicago, Conacher returned to the Maroons, where he'd spend his last three NHL seasons and take part in a second Cup triumph in 1935. He brought his distinguished career to a close after the Maroons were eliminated from the playoffs by the New York Rangers on April 23, 1937. Rather than risk becoming a fading star, he went out on a high note: He was runner-up to ? in the 1937 Hart Trophy voting and was placed on the NHL Second All-Star Team.

Joe Pelletier

The man they called "The Big Train" is truly a Canadian sporting legend. Lionel Conacher is arguably "Canada's Greatest Athlete" and is often referred to as "Canada's Jim Thorpe"

The previous year, he had won hockey's Memorial Cup as a member of the Toronto Canoe Club Paddlers. Conacher went on to a 12-year career in the NHL (1925-37), mostly with the Montreal Maroons, where he was a second-team all-star defenseman in 1932-33, and played on the Stanley Cup winning team of 1934-35. He first played on a Stanley Cup winner in his one season with the Chicago Blackhawks (1933-34), where Conacher was also a first-team all-star.

As a hockey player, not only was Conacher a solid defenseman, he was also known for his hard hitting and aggressive defense. He was always among the penalty-minutes leaders.

Final Thoughts:

Glad to have Conacher, feel that his physicality will be the perfect mix in playing with Doug Harvey on the Racer's 1st unit.
 

tony d

Registered User
Jun 23, 2007
76,590
4,550
Behind A Tree
Brendan Shanahan

10760-588Fr.jpg


Biographical information courtesy of Brendan Shanahan Stats | Hockey-Reference.com

Position: LW ▪ Shoots: Right
Height: 6-3 ▪ Weight: 220 lbs.
Born: January 23, 1969 (Age 45) in Mimico, Ontario

Stats courtesy of Brendan Shanahan Stats | Hockey-Reference.com

-8 Time All Star
-3 time Post Season All Star
-5 Top 10 finishes in goals for a season
-7 Top 10 finishes in game winning goals for a season
-656 G and 698 A for 1354 Pts in 1524 career games played

Legends Of Hockey:

Shanahan was drafted second overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft and joined the team that fall. As an 18-year-old rookie, Shanahan collected 26 points in 65 games. The following season (1988-89), he improved to 22 goals and 50 points, but it was in his third NHL season that Shanahan emerged as a point-per-game producer with 72 points (including 30 goals) in 73 games.

After four seasons with New Jersey, Brendan became a restricted free agent following the 1990?91 season, and subsequently signed with the St. Louis Blues, who surrendered Scott Stevens for the opportunity. In his second season with the Blues, Shanahan exploded in 1992-93 with 51 goals and 94 points. In 1993-94, he collected personal bests in goals (52), assists (50) and points (102). He finished eighth in scoring and earned selection to the NHL's First All-Star Team.

After three seasons in St. Louis, Brendan was traded to the Hartford Whalers for Chris Pronger in July 1995 and was introduced as the team captain. He scored 44 goals and 78 points in his only full season in Hartford. Two games into the following season, Brendan and Brian Glynn were traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Paul Coffey, ?, and a first-round draft pick. He finished the season with 47 goals and 88 points, tenth best in the league that season. Through the playoffs, Shanahan contributed 17 points as the Red Wings captured their first Stanley Cup championship since 1955. Shanahan and the Red Wings repeated as Stanley Cup champions in 1997-98.

Brendan scored 41 goals and 78 points in 1999-2000, and was awarded selection to the NHL's First All-Star Team for a second time. He made the Second All-Star Team in 2001-02, scoring 37 goals and 75 points. During that season, Brendan scored his 1,000th point and 500th goal. He then added 19 more points as the Red Wings went on to win the Stanley Cup.

Joe Pelletier:

Brendan Shanahan was a wonderful combination of skills and savvy packaged with grit and size.

At 6'3" and over 215lbs he was a brute who played his best when playing aggressively. But he combined that with soft hands and hockey intelligence not usually seen in the power forward mould. If he didn't bowl you over with his physical game he had the skills and smarts to make beautiful plays with the puck. This beautiful package of brawn and brains made him the game's premier power forward.


The only flaw in Shanny's game was skating. He was not very quick or agile but he knew where he wanted to be and more often than not he got there. He loved to set up just to the side of the crease, especially on the power play. With his trademark short back swing he swatted at pucks with his hard and accurate snap shot. Sometimes he would back off to the face-off circle for a deadly one-timer. More likely he would slide in front of the net to screen the goalie just as the puck was arriving. He became a master of tip-ins and rebound goals.


Shanny was always a shoot first type of player. But he made nifty passes that he never got a lot of credit for. What he did get a lot of credit for was his big-game play. Shanahan was a leader who revelled in playing in pressure situations. His intensity often set the tone for his team's night. For the most part he was one of the NHL's most likeable and popular players, but in a big playoff game Shanahan was the player leading his team into battle.

Final thoughts:

Thrilled to get Shanahan. Elite Left Wingers are hard to come by in the ATD so I'm glad I got 1. His grit and scoring ability should add a lot to the team. I've often said it was Shanahan who helped the Red Wings get the Cup in 1997, hoping he has that same success here for the Racers.
 
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Dreakmur

Registered User
Mar 25, 2008
18,552
6,730
Orillia, Ontario



Jacques Laperriere !!!


Awards and Achievements:
6 x Stanley Cup Champion (1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973)

Norris Trophy (1966)

2 x First Team All-Star (1965, 1966)
2 x Second Team All-Star (1964, 1970)


Hart - 9th(1965), 13th(1966)

Norris - 1st(1966), 2nd(1965), 4th(1964), 4th(1970), 5th(1968), 5th(1973), 6th(1969), 8th(1967), 9th(1974)

All-Star - 1st(1966), 2nd(1965), 4th(1964), 4th(1970), 5th(1973), 7th(1968), 9th(1967), 10th(1969), 12th(1971), 14th(1974)


Scoring Accomplishments:
Points among Defensemen - 4th(1964), 5th(1965), 5th(1966), 6th(1970), 11th(1965), 11th(1969), 16th(1968)
Assists among Defensemen - 3rd(1964), 4th(1965), 5th(1966), 5th(1970), 8th(1967), 12th(1969), 14th(1968)

Play-off Points among Defensemen - 3rd(1971), 5th(1968), 8th(1964), 8th(1973), 9th(1965), 9th(1967), 9th(1969)


5 Year Peak: 1964 to 1968
5th in Points among Defensemen, 83% of 2nd place Harry Howell
3rd in Assists among Defensemen, 88% of 2nd place Harry Howell

10 Year Peak: 1964 to 1973
5th in Points among Defensemen, 82% of 2nd place Pat Stapleton
4th in Assists among Defensemen, 80% of 2nd place Pat Stapleton


Scoring Percentage:
Points among Defensemen - 89(1966), 84(1970), 83(1964), 77(1965), 58(1968), 55(1969), 49(1967), 49(1972)

Best 6 Seasons: 446



Canadiens Legends said:
The young defenseman knew he was being tested, but he showed great poise and an ability to control the action in his own end. He would join the rush carefully. Since it was low and hard, his shot from the point provided the Canadiens with some offense. He was a top shot blocker, with a long reach that allowed him to poke-check opponents very effectively – just as his hero Doug Harvey had done in his great career with the Canadiens.

Laperriere was given sweater number two – which Harvey had worn – and like his idol, he was good at setting up goals for his teammates. He had eight seasons of 20 assists or more – his best total was 31 in 1969-70 – and while he was not overly aggressive, Laperriere wasn’t afraid of the physical play required from an NHL defenseman. The solid blow of his bodychecks could be devastating.

Hockey Golden Era said:
Tall (6’2â€) and lanky, Laperriere used his long reach with great effectiveness to poke his stick at the opponent who was about to shoot. He would either knock the puck away or deflect it into the crowd behind the Canadiens’ net. Although he wasn’t a smooth skater, Laperriere was a straight ahead rusher when he got control of the puck.

Ultimate Hockey said:
Jacques Laperriere caught on with the Montreal Canadiens for good in 1963-64, winning the Calder Trophy and earning his first of four NHL All-Star nods. The Canadiens won the Cup in his sophomore season and would win it three more times in the next four years. Laparriere bagged the Norris Trophy in 1966, distinguishing himself as a skillful, cool-headed player with a genius for controlling the game’s flow.

Hockey’s Glory Days said:
A big and mobile defenseman, Laperriere proved he was ready for the big time by winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1963-64. He was also named to the second all-star team and helped the Canadiens finish first place in the regular season. The following season, the Canadiens were Stanley Cup champions and Laperriere was a first-team all-star. He was a first-team all-star again when the Canadiens repeated as Stanley Cup champions in 1965-66. He also won the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman.

Laperriere had a reputation as a cool-headed player who was capable of controlling the pace of the game.

Heroes: Stars of Hockey’s Golden Era said:
Laperriere used his 6’2â€, 200-pound frame to advantage in performing his rearguard duties. He developed into an excellent poke checker who could play a good physical style.


Legends of Hockey said:
A tall and mobile defenseman, Jacques Laperriere was a key component of the Montreal Canadiens' success during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Standing 6'2" and possessing an enormous reach, the lanky defender was a consistent impediment to opposing forwards. His poise and ability to move the puck forward after breaking up the play was crucial to the Habs' outstanding transition game. Many opposing skaters became annoyed with Laperriere's persistence, but he was rarely coaxed into taking a bad penalty and was never intimidated.

Montreal Canadiens’ official website said:
Calm and unflappable, Jacques Laperriere played every one of his nearly 700 games with the Canadiens. He won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in 1963-64, establishing himself as a blue line fixture for the next decade.

Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing in at 190 pounds, “Lappy†was one of the bigger men in the league. He could mix it up if need be but preferred not to. Unlike most players of his size, Laperrière chose brains over brawn, an approach that served him well throughout his career.

Never a high scoring offensive performer, Laperrière used his ability to anticipate the play to great advantage, usually defusing potential threats before they could materialize. With long arms even for a man of his height, Laperrière had an incredible reach, which he used to break up oncoming attacks without having to lay the body.

Laperrière’s stay-at-home style played a major role in half a dozen Stanley Cup Championships in the 1960s and 1970s. His accurate passing was essential to the team’s lightning-fast ability to turn the game around and counter-attack.

Greatest Hockey Legends said:
It was obvious right from the start of his career with Les Habitants that he would be a key part of some great Habs teams. He was the classic pre-Bobby Orr offensive defenseman, anchoring the offense like a football quarterback, preferring to make incredible passes than rushing it himself.

Laperriere was not a noted physical combatant, though he did use his body effectively to defend against opposing forwards. He also had a reputation as a top shot blocker. He had a long fuse, but he would drop the gloves once in a while too. Once he picked up 30 minutes in penalty for one altercation with Chicago's Stan Mikita.

No doubt Laperriere was tough. He had some terrible injuries he had to overcome during his playing days, for some reason usually in the playoffs. He suffered a broken leg in the 1965 semi finals, the year he won his only Norris trophy as the league's best defensemen. He played with a broken wrist while winning the 1971 Stanley Cup. In 1973, another Cup-winning year, he played 10 post season games with an odd helmet-face mask contraption to protect a broken nose.

HabsWorld.net said:
During his rookie season, Laperriere was constantly tested by the other players in the league. Laperriere was unflappable, possessing a rare poise, he showed like his idol Harvey, an ability to control the game in his own end. His calmness in the face of the opposing attackers also enabled him to consistently move the puck with sharp, crisp passes to the forwards, keying the Canadiens famous offensive attack.

Laperriere’s stoicism on the ice was disconcerting to many opposing players. He was never intimidated and was infrequently penalized. One of the league’s best shot blockers, his unusually long reach allowed him to use the poke check extensively in his own end. His long and lanky frame (6’2 and 190 pounds) masked a devastating body checker, one that didn’t shy away from the physical play that was a staple of league at the time.

….

For Jacques Laperriere as with many great, naturally talented players the game came easy. This was the essence of Laperriere’s greatness; he made the difficult look simple, executed the complicated with ease, all the while making it look effortless.

And while the Canadiens (with three different goalies) led the league three times in allowing the fewest goals against in Laperriere’s decade with the team, one shouldn’t overlook his offensive skills.
Laperriere would pick his offensive spots carefully, and would rarely rush the puck. He possessed a hard, accurate, and low point shot that allowed his forwards untold scoring chances through deflections and rebounds. Laperriere had eight seasons of twenty or more assists.


Clerence Campbell said:
Never in my years of professional hockey have I seen a young man take over and lead a team as Laperriere has done.


Best Poke Checker of the 1960s
 
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Dreakmur

Registered User
Mar 25, 2008
18,552
6,730
Orillia, Ontario



Hooley Smith !!!


Awards and Achevements:
2 x Stanley Cup Champion (1927, 1935)

First Team All-Star (1936)
2nd Team All-Star (1932)

Hart voting – 2nd(1936), 3rd(1932), 4th(1926), 12th(1925),

All-Star – 1st(1936), 2nd(1932), 3rd(1933), 3rd(1934), 4th(1931)


Offensive Accomplishments:
Points – 4th(1933), 4th(1936), 6th(1932), 8th(1926), 8th(1934), 10th(1929), 11th(1925), 16th(1928)
Goals – 4th(1936), 7th(1933), 10th(1926), 10th(1934), 13th(1930), 15th(1925), 15th(1928)
Assists – 2nd(1932), 3rd(1925), 3rd(1926), 6th(1929), 6th(1934), 7th(1933), 7th(1936), 11th(1931), 11th(1935), 18th(1927)

Play-off Points – 4th(1928), 10th(1940)
Play-off Goals – 2nd(1928), 4th(1932), 4th(1940), 7th(1933), 8th(1927)
Play-off Assists – 5th(1928), 8th(1938)


5 Year Peak: 1931 to 1936
5th in Points, 93% of 2nd place Busher Jackson
12th in Goals, 65% of 2nd place Marty Barry
3rd in Assists, 93% of 2nd place Joe Primeau


10 Year Peak: 1927 to 1936
7th in Points, 80% of 2nd place Howie Morenz
11th in Goals, 62% of 2nd place Nels Stewart
4th in Assists, 89% of 2nd place Joe Primeau


Scoring Percentages
Points – 95(1935), 93(1933), 88(1932), 86(1934), 66(1929), 63(1926), 60(1931), 57(1935), 55(1926), 54(1925)

Best 6 Seaons: 491





Ultimate Hockey – Biography said:
When the gold-winning Granites returned from Europe, there was a frantic scramble among all NHL teams for the services of Dunc Monro, Harry Watson, and Smith, the “hockey geniusâ€. After a great deal of haggling, the Ottawa Senators finally managed to sign the dazzling young speedster. Smith joined the Senators in time for the 1924-25 season and was put on right wing alongside Frank Nighbor and Cy Denneny. It was a perfect fit! Smith’s soon-to-be trademarked hook-check combined with Nighbor’s legendary poke-check to form an impenetrable wall against enemy rushes.

Despite Smith’s obvious genius for the game of hockey, his early years in the NHL were marred by a tendancy to incur too many penalties. Most came in response to being baited by opponents.

….

The new unit was a veritable wrecking crew. Stewart’s goal-scoring genius combined remarkably well with Siebert’s brute strength and body-checking, and Smith’s passing, speed, and defensive abilities.

….

Smith was nasty with a capital “Nâ€, a devil with flair. He was a whizzer on the blades, a player you hated playing against but one who ultimately commanded your admiration.

Ultimate Hockey – In a Flash said:
Reginald “Hooley†Smith was a brash and belligerent and vexing to play against. After a game in the 1927 Stanley Cup finals, Sprague Cleghorn chased him out of a downtown Ottawa diner brandishing a ketchup bottle.


Legends of Hockey said:
Forward Hooley Smith excelled at several facets of the game during his 17 years in the NHL. A prolific scorer, he retired in 1941 as one of the few skaters to reach the 200-goal mark. Smith was also considered a dogged checker and one of the most physically imposing combatants in the league.

….

He debuted as a professional with the Ottawa Senators in 1924 and remained in the nation's capital for three seasons. Early in his NHL career he perfected a sweeping hook-check that stymied many opponents' offensive surges. When he was teamed with Frank Nighbor and Cy Denneny, his hook-check combined neatly with Nighbor's poke-check to give the Ottawa team an unrivaled defensive forward line. Smith didn't lose any of his scoring abilities, however, and so he developed into one of the game's most complete performers.

Smith was a talented and confident figure whose brashness on the ice got him into many hostile situations.


Greatest Hockey Legends said:
Reginald "Hooley" Smith was a wonderful hockey player in the 1920s and 1930s. A cocky player with a nasty streak, there was nothing that Smith could not do. He was described as a "hockey genius" and its easy to see why - a hardnosed winger/center who was an expert defensively (his trademark was his famous hook check) and explosive offensively. He had great speed and a temper with a short fuse.

….


Smith spent 3 years in the nation's capital, often playing on a line with Frank Nighbor and Cy Denneny! Talk about a great line! Smith's job was to create room physically for his two great line mates, as well as play strong defensively. He also chipped in strongly offensively, but was criticized for taking too many penalties.

….

The trio of Smith-Stewart-Siebert instantly became a hit. Siebert's big physical play, Stewart's goal scoring genius and Smith's speed and defense created as perfect a trio that ever played in the National Hockey League. The line is forever known as the "S" Line.

Sports Reference website said:
Right winger and “hockey genius†Reginald “Hooley†Smith began his career on the ice inconspicuously, as a member of the junior-level Parkdale Canoe Club of the Ontario Hockey League in 1920. Within a year, however, he was a member of the Toronto Granites and, in his first two seasons, he won two Allan Cups, given annually to the senior men’s ice hockey champions in Canada. Next on the docket was the 1924 Winter Olympics and, as a representative of Canada, he played in five games, scored 18 goals, and helped Canada take home the gold medal at the hockey tournament. After being drafted in 1924 by the National Hockey League’s Ottawa Senators, he gained a reputation as an amazingly talented player, being highly skilled in both his offensive and defensive capabilities. He was also known, however, for his cocky attitude and short temper.


Ultimate Hockey's 1935 Retro Selke Winner

Ultimate Hockey's Most Able Instigator of the 1920s






Contemporary Articles:
The Ottawa Citizen - Dec 1 said:
Hooley" Smith and Clancy starred for Ottawa on the offensive, while Nighbor, of course, showed up well for the defensive...

Ottawa's defensive work, particularly the poke work of Frank Nighbor at center-ice, was finished and spectacular. Nighbor and Hooley Smith, the latter following the old master's methods, broke the heart of the Bruins by their stick work.

The Border Cities Star - Dec 10 said:
Hooley Smith and Frank Nighbor were once again the outstanding luminaries on the Ottawa front line and the pair of them have rarely turned in better displays. They poke-checked the Cougars dizzy from first to last, intercepted dozens of passes and worried every puck carrier from behind to such a good purpose that scarcely a Detroiter could get an open shot on the net.

The Ottawa Citizen - December 15 said:
The New York forwards were dashing into the attack but were being crowded off the puck before they could get set for a shot at the goal. The Americans were trying their best to play a combination game, but were making a terrible mess of it. Usually their passes were so far back that the line had to wheel about and start all over again. Frontal passes were covered by the Senators.

Hooley Smith stopped the entire American line single-handed and waded in for a drive which skidded along the ice to the skate of xxxxxxx...

The Ottawa Citizen - Jan 31 said:
Frank Nighbor of the Ottawas, who had been carded as a doubtful starter on account of an injury received at the Capital with Detroit on Thursday night, was the only casualty. Frank was put out of action in the latter part of the second period when his ankle was badly wrenched by Seibert (sic - he is actually referring to Babe Siebert), who had his stick caught in Nighbor's skate...

Hooley Smith was in his element. The favorite son of Balmy Beach revelled in the rough going. He took them all on one after another, missing only Benedict, and it cannot be said that any of his opponents took down the decision. Hooley's crouch-check and poke-check worked havoc with the Maroons all evening.

The Chicago Daily Tribune - February 8 said:
In Nighbors (sic) and Hooley Smith, one of the newer Senator players, Ottawa has two of the greatest hook checking players in hockey. Nighbors (sic) took Smith in hand when Hooley joined the Senators last fall and taught him the finer points of the sport, including the art of hook checking - stopping an opponent's progress on the ice by hooking both the player's skate and the puck with the hockey stick - and now Smith is claimed to be a faster checker than his teacher.

The Ottawa Citizen - Feb 17 said:
Hooley Smith was a tower of strength in front line defense, and a consistent menace on offense...

The Ottawa Citizen - Mar 25 said:
Hooley Smith was in his element. Like Nighbor, he used his poke-check to advantage and he swooped in for shots on xxxxxx with repeated regularity...

Hooley Smith and Frank Nighbor both had their poke checks working to perfection, to the mortification of the Maple Leaf forward line, who seldom passed this indomitible (sic) duo.

The New York Times - April 4 said:
But how about Hooley Smith of the Ottawa Senators? Here's a chap who can cut his way to the net through the best of defenses. Nothing short of an injunction can keep Hooley off the first team.

The Montreal Gazette - Nov 28 said:
Ottawa's assertion that the Senators are as strong as last year, despite the sale of Hooley Smith, XXXXX and XXXXX, was almost, but not quite, borne out in the play of the Senators. Smith undoubtedly is a stronger man at right wing than XXXXX, but XXXXX, the rugged youngster who has replaced Cy Denneny as regular left winger, has counter-balanced matters. This sturdy youngster caused even rabid Maroons fans to gasp through his fast, courageous play and he worked in smartly with Nighbor and Clancy. But Ottawa misses Hooley Smith's defensive play.

The Ottawa Citizen - Dec 15 said:
Montreal Maroons, Ottawas intense rivals again play Senators here tomorrow night in a setting that will eclipse all previous hockey demonstrations. Hooley Smith one of the greatest defensive players in hockey will be with the Maroon retinue.

The Ottawa Citizen - Feb 2 said:
Who in hockey has not heard of Hooley Smith, daring, dauntless and doughty, fearing no man, and accordingly to report few women, as John Bassett said at the banquet to the Senators last spring when they were acclaimed world's champions.

Smith, the daring chance-taker who makes more hazardous plays than any man in hockey, has twice been injured in recent games, and is playing with a fibre jockey cap to prevent head injuries. He has given xxxxxx the hockey attribute he has been seeking for years, a strong poke-check, and around his check and ability to stop headlong rushes by opponents, Maroons are building a mighty machine again...

Smith, of course, isn't the whole machine, though a strong cog. Any team that had Nels Stewart would think it well endowed in a scoring way. Stewart, rugged and rangy, whose vicious drive is the nemesis of many a goal tend, is now at left wing playing well. With Smith and xxxxxxx, he helps to work in a close-knit combination, and is particularly powerful in his body-checking propensities.

The Morning Leader - Jan 26 said:
Rugged, fast, a great poke check and playmaker as well as possessing a personality which gives him confidence in himself to make a good fist of anything he tackles. Hooley hands out a ready body check as well and in an oratorical contest would probably finish number one of all the forwards in the league.

The Montreal Gazette - Jan 25 said:
Hooley Smith was moved from defence to centre at intervals, and spent about 55 of the 70 minutes on the ice. He made plays, tested Gardiner with regularity and had his sweep check working finely throughout the game. He was a team in himself on the ice, a source of inspiration to his teammates and a source of of worry to the Hawks.

The Montreal Gazette - Nov 5 said:
He signed a professional contract with Ottawa Senators shortly afterward and for years he and Frank Nighbor, the Pembroke Peach, formed an almost unbeatable barrier with their sweeping pokechecks.
 
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ImporterExporter

"You're a boring old man"
Jun 18, 2013
18,780
7,807
Oblivion Express
The Pittsburgh Hornets are absolutely thrilled to be able to select at pick #138 one of the all time greatest play making pivot men in the game:


Adam Oates C


adam+oates+hockey+hall+of+fame+boston+bruins.jpg



Position: C
Shoots: Right
Height: 5-11
Weight: 190 lbs.
1420 pts in 1337 games ( 1079 assists )
156 pts in 163 playoff games ( 114 assists )
All-Star Team: 2nd
Top 10 assists: 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th
Top 10 points: 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 7th, 10th, 10th, 10th



He ranks 6th all time in career assists , His career assists per game ratio of 0.81 is only outdone by Peter Forsberg (0.90), Sidney Crosby (0.89), Bobby Orr (0.98), Mario Lemieux (1.13) and Gretzky (1.32).


Oates is the only player to have centered three, 50 goal scorers

He is the only player in history to have centered TWO players that scored 50 in 50



Oates’ puck handling and distributing skills, as well as his sure hands, have made him the second-best passer of his time and the player most commonly compared with the best, Wayne Gretzky. Like other on-ice visionaries, Oates changes speeds and uses subtle shifts in movement and positioning to put defenders off balance. He became an NHL star because of his impeccable passing skills, uncanny ability to anticipate plays and outstanding on-ice vision. He was at times unselfish almost to a fault. But he was far from a one dimensional player. In fact, he was an underrated defensive center and was particularly utilized on the penalty kill or when there was a defensive zone face-off late in the game. His defensive awareness made him invaluable as it would allow his coaches to go head to head with the other team's big line without fear.


Brett Hull: Quote:
As far as I'm concerned, he's the second best playmaking center behind Wayne Gretzky in hockey.


coach ******* calls "the smartest player I've ever seen,"


"That's just another example of how he's always trying to do whatever little thing he can to get an edge," says ****. "If Adam notices something in a game, he adjusts right away. Even if it's only how somebody is holding his stick. He takes the information, processes it and puts it to use. The thing about Adam is that he assimilates a lot of stuff at once. Most guys might see one or two things, and the rest is a blur."


"If you take away Oates, you pretty much take away everyone on the ice," says Capitals center ********, who had played against Oates for 12 years before Washington acquired **** from the Montreal Canadiens last month. "It's hard because he's so aware. You shut off one passing lane, and he finds another."


"We're playing the Rangers last month, and I make a move and I'm thinking, Wow, I wish I had the puck right now," says Capitals ********. "I look down, and Adam's sending it right onto my tape, perfect as usual. Boom! I one-timed it into the net."


"He loved to see a guy score and to set up a goal as much as I loved to score," Hull said. "He was such a genius on the ice."


“His ability to see the game, not just offensively, but the whole game, from end to end, that’s what made it easy for him,†Hull said.


Oates credited Bruins teammate Ray Bourque for making him devote more attention to the defensive end of the ice, something he also thinks will help him in coaching the Capitals.

“He made me a better player, just because he made me more involved in the whole game, just wanting to,†Oates said. “He never said anything to me. Just playing with him, it rubs off and I wanted to be [like] Ray more. The centerman is the only player on the team that is involved in all four corners all the time.â€


“To me he just got the game,†Hull said. “If it was a physical game, he got in there and he got his nose dirty and he took hits to make great plays. If it was a wide-open game, he could just sit there and play wide open and make you look silly. He just understood the game so well, and he had all the skill level you want. He was big, strong, he was great shape. And he had the vision, second to none.â€


“The puck would come along the boards and he’d go from his forehand to his backhand along the boards and he’d shovel the puck out into the slot without the puck stopping. It was all in one fluid motion. . . . I scored a lot off it and so did Brett.

 
Last edited:

Dreakmur

Registered User
Mar 25, 2008
18,552
6,730
Orillia, Ontario



Bernie Parent !!!


Bernie Parent said:
You don't have to be crazy to be a goalie, but it helps!


Awards and Achievements:
2 x Stanley Cup Champion (1974, 1975)

2 x Conn Smythe Trophy (1974, 1975)
2 x Vezina Trophy (1974, 1975)

2 x First Team All-Star (1974, 1975)
WHL Second Team All-Star (1973)

5 x NHL All-Star (1969, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1977)

Hart voting – 2nd(1974), 4th(1975)

All-Star voting – 1st(1974), 1st(1975), 4th(1969), 4th(1970), 5th(1968), 5th(1977), 5th(1978), 6th(1971), 7th(1972), 7th(1979)


Statistical Accomplishments:
Save Percentage – 1st(1974), 2nd(1975), 3rd(1969), 3rd(1970), 3rd(1978), 4th(1968), 7th(1972), 8th(1979), 9th(1971), 11th(1977)





The Top 100 Players of All Time said:
Parent was the brick wall on which the Phildelphia Flyers built two Stenley Cup wins.

….

A superb, positional goalie, Parent won the Vezina Trophy in 1975 and shared the award with Tony Esposito in 1974. He also had back-to-back 12-shutout seasons and was a first all-star both years. That total wasn’t matched for almost 25 years until Dominic Hasek’s 13 in 1997-98.

A marvelous money goaltender, Parent fashioned a 2.43 goals-against average in 71 playoff games.

Without Fear said:
Reaching the finals for the first time in their history, the Flyers weren't expected to beat the mighty Bruins led by Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito. But Parent had other ideas and with every sparkling stop, he installed that belief system within his teammates... No goalie in the league controlled rebounds better than Parent. he stood up and challenged the shooters, rarely presenting an opening to them. "He was so patient, that was his best quality", says XXXXX. "he didn't make the first move. He'd wait the shooter out."... In the decisive sixth game of that 1974 final, Parent made the first period goal stand up, stopping 30 shots for a 1-0 victory... "If you look at that era, Dryden was coming up, but if you said 'who would you want in a seven-game series, Dryden or Parent?' it would be Parent", says XXXXXXX. Even opponents marvelled at Parent's capabilities. "There was a year or two when he was invincible", former NY Islanders GM Bill Torrey says. "He never got the credit. It was always the Broad Street Bullies or Bobby Clarke. he never got the credit for how important he was to that team."... Often he'd laugh in the midst of the most significant games. "He would lean over to me and say 'hey XXXXXX, how's she going?' and he would laugh. I think it was to relax me, to break the tension, and to relax himself. And part of it was his sense of humour. In the middle of the heat of battle he would do this."

Ultimate Hockey said:
Parent always seemed to know where the puck had the best chance of hitting him. Rather than flail at shots, he accepted them, cleanly snatching or deflecting the puck out of harm's way. His movements were economical and fluid. Such serenity seemed to rub off on his teammates and make them believe they couldn't lose with him in net.

Kings Of the Ice said:
Parent was a master at moving out to cut down a shooter's angle.

Goaltenders: The Expansion Years said:
Parent turned in one of the best goaltending performances ever during the 1973-74 season and did not stop there... had an encore performance the following year... was still as dominant a goaltender as there was in the game.

Lord Stanley's Cup said:
Without him, there is no cup in Philadelphia.

Players: The Ultimate A-Z Guide Of Everyone Who Has Ever Played In the NHL said:
It is almost a universally accepted fact that the most talentless teams to win the cup were Philadelphia's in 1974 and 1975. It also is an even greater surety that the Flyers never, ever would have won had it not been for the mind-boggling goaltending of Bernie Parent.

Score! My 25 Years With the Broad Street Bullies said:
Granted, Parent had a losing record at the time, but that was because he often had to have a shutout to earn a tie. To many people, the first blockbuster trade in Flyers history was a depressing one. Fans cried. Bernie cried. His teammates cried. I cried.

….

What an extraordinary year his first Vezina season was. And when I say "season", I mean that almost literally, since Bernie played all but six games. He lost only thirteen of his 72 starts, tying twelve, and winning 47.

….

Bernie was the artist and charmer whom everyone loved to cherish and adore... for those two back to back seasons, no goaltender was ever better, and no goaltender could have been any better...

….

In the 1976-77 season, principally because of Bernie, the Flyers won their fourth consecutive Clarence Campbell Bowl as the best in the West.

….

XXXXXXXX and Bernie were both perfect through the first two periods (of that 1975 Finals game), although the desperate Sabres repeatedly stormed Bernie, just the way the Bruins had the previous year. I still to this day don't know how at least some of the Sabres' laser shots didn't go in, especially during several powerplays - both 5-on-4 and 4-on-3. Yes, I suppose I do know. It was because Bernie was just that good!


Legends of Hockey said:
In the early part of his career, Parent tended goal with the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he was best known for being the clutch netminder on the Philadelphia Flyers' championship teams.

Parent was a stand-up goalie, a technique he learned from his boyhood hero, Jacques Plante. Many years later, when the slumping Parent talked about retiring, Plante talked him out of it. In addition, Plante coached Parent on some fundamental points that Bernie had been missing in his game. Plante watched him practise in Philly for two days and didn't say anything. Then he told Parent exactly what he was doing wrong - sitting back on his heels, backing into his crease and losing concentration.

...Parent became a sports hero in the City of Brotherly Love. One local bumper sticker read, "Only the Lord saves more than Bernie Parent." Now part of the Flyers' Broad Street Bullies, Parent and his teammates won the Stanley Cup twice in a row, in 1974 and 1975. In both seasons, Parent won the Vezina Trophy as best goalie and the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

Sadly, Parent's remarkable career was short-lived. In a freak accident, a stick hit him in his right eye when he was 34, causing permanent damage to his depth perception and his ability to focus. Parent was forced to retire from hockey in 1979.

Greatest Hockey Legends said:
Beset by troubling injuries that robbed him of many of his best years of his career, Bernie Parent doesn't always get consideration for the greatest goalie of all time. Yet anyone who saw him play in the mid-1970s knows few goalies have ever played at a higher level than Bernie Parent.

Much like Dominik Hasek 20 years later with Buffalo, for a period of time Parent was simply incredible. He was "the second coming of Jacques Plante" and the Flyers "undisputed MVP." Neither of the Flyers' much celebrated back to back Stanley Cup championships would have been possible without Parent.

...Parent returned to the City of Brotherly Love in 1973 to find the Broad Street Bullies at their disgraceful best. Parent gave them the goaltending they lacked to lead them to Stanley Cup.

"When Parent is out there, we know we can win games we have no business winning," said XXXXXXXXX.

In 1973-74 he established himself as the best goalie in hockey. He played more minutes (4314), had more wins (47), had more shutouts (12) and had a better GAA (1.89) than any other goalie, earning the Vezina trophy. In the playoffs he would impossibly take his game to a higher level, upsetting the heavily favored Boston Bruins, sporting Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito, for the Stanley Cup. Parent was the obvious choice as playoff MVP and earned the Conn Smythe trophy.

The following season Parent proved his success was no fluke. He notched another 44 wins, another 12 shutouts, another Vezina Trophy in the regular season, and another Smythe trophy en route to another Stanley Cup in the playoffs.





1971 Coaches’ Poll
3rd Best Goaltender

1974 Coaches’ Poll
1st Best Goaltender
3rd Most Valuable Player

1975 Poll of NHL Correspondents
1st Best Goaltender

1976 Coaches’ Poll
3rd Best Goaltender


Retired Coach/GM said:
I sit now and think about that 1975 final and know that if we had changed goaltenders, it would have been no contest. I'm not taking anything away from Gerry Desjardins, he played as hard as he could but he was not Bernie Parent. Few goalies are.

Johnny Bower said:
Not only was he a tough-as-nails goaltender on the ice, he was the team joker. He would keep the guys loose and alive in the dressing room by cracking jokes and pulling pranks... bernie had two things going for him. He had good quick hands and played angles well. He wouldn't race out to the shooter, rather, he'd coolly edge out to cut down the angle. Before the shooter was ready to let the shot go, there wasn't much net exposed. He basically said to the shooter, "Go ahead, try to beat me. You're not going to score."

Retired Goalie/Coach/GM said:
Parent did many things that were reminiscent of Jacques Plante. the way he stood up. the way he played his angles. The way he played the puck behind the net. He had much the same demeanor as Jacques. Those two years in the playoffs, they can say whatever they want, but there is no way the Flyers would ever have won the Stanley Cup without him. In those two years, Parent was as good a goaltender as I've ever seen in the playoffs.

Bobby Clarke said:
Bernie is the most valuable player in all of hockey... Bernie makes you feel like you can walk on water.

….

Bernie is the only guy who can win games by himself.

Backup Goalie Bobby Taylor said:
You talk about money players, and let me tell you, whenever we needed a game, there was Bernie, ready to deliver it to us.

Darryl Sittler said:
It became apparent to anyone with 20/20 vision that Parent represented our goalie of the present and the future.

Flyers GM Keith Allen said:
Bernie always talked about the pressure, but he seemed immune to it.





Contemporary Articles:
Philadelphia Sunday Bulletin – May said:
What has been happening to Bernie Parent the past week and a half should only happen to crooked politicians and oil company executives. It is cruel what they are asking the little guy to endure... Too many times during this current Rangers/Flyers series, Parent has been asked to stand there and parry a mass of flying hockey pucks that, around the Flyers' goal, look like exploding popcorn kernels. But with reflexes that, to describe, would result in a whole paragraph of superlatives, the guy has survived and the Flyers with him.

Philadelphia Evening Bulletin – May 5th said:
In a game that demanded total perfection in the art of goaltending, the Flyers' Bernie Parent last night reinforced the simple truth that he is the foremost master of his trade.

To say that Parent was spectacular does not do him justice. "Flawless" and "perfect" are superlatives closer to the truth. In a game that would be decided by the first errant movement by either goaltender, Parent outdueled the Buffalo Sabres' ***** ******* in what was a classic match of skills.

Parent, in fact, acted as though he would shut out the Sabres for a month, if need be, until such time as his teammates could find a weakness in *******.

...the greater the challenge, the more he thrives... in the first period alone, Parent was asked to face four Sabre power plays. They peppered him with 13 shots, each one handled by Parent without flaw... "He carried our whole team when we needed him. I was afraid our penalty killers were going to run out of gas then, Bernie would come up with one of those clutch saves and that seemed to give everyone a lift to keep going... Sometimes, I think we should all give him parts of our paychecks."

Philadelphia Daily News – May 28th said:
"Did he get the trophy?", Rick Martin asked, referring to the Conn Smythe. "He did? Well he deserves it. Bernie was the difference." ***** ***** agreed, reverting to a simplism that seemed acceptable under the circumstances. "You can't win a game if you can't score a goal", he sighed. "And Bernie Parent just wasn't going to let himself be scored on tonight."... "I think we outplayed them in every game except the fifth game in Philadelphia", *********** insisted. But Buffalo coach ***** ***** put that in perspective. "Outplaying and outscoring are two different things."

The Evening Bulletin said:
Their sluggishness and uncertainty was reflected in the number of penalties (7) and PP chances (6) they afforded the sabres during the first two periods. During the same span, the Flyer offense managed only 10 shots, none of the taxing sort. What all this did was put tremendous pressure on Parent, who, in effect, was being asked to carry the whole team until such time as his teammates awoke and realized that Lord Stanley himself was watching from the Great Blue Line Club in the sky... If Bernie has a fault, it appears to be his inability to combat boredom. Against teams like the Islanders and Leafs, neither of whom was able to pressure him with any regularity, his concentration might wander. Hence, he might allow an easy goal. That should rarely, if ever, be the case against buffalo. If last night's opening final round game can be offered as evidence, Parent is at his best under pressure.


Punch Imlach said:
Bernie Parent was the difference tonight. This was one of those games where the first goal decided everything. We had about four good chances in the second period, but Parent came through. If we had scored two goals, it would have been a different story. Bernie ranks with any goalkeeper I've ever seen play this game. And I used to have a couple of good ones in Johnny Bower and Terry Sawchuk.

Rene Robert said:
They got beat because we were able to get 46 shots on Bernie Parent... That is too many shots, even for a goaltender as great as Bernie. You cannot expect him to stop them all. Against him, I think we have to get more than 40 shots.

Jerry Korab said:
"Only God saves more than Bernie Parent"? Ha! God should have a season so good.

Danny Gare said:
We got beat by the guy in the nets. It's so frustrating. He played unbelievably well. When you come into the league and see that, you tend to wonder.

Bobby Clarke said:
You could tell nothing was gonna get by Bernie tonight.

Bernie Parent said:
If you want to take a picture of me with a trophy, take me with the Stanley Cup. That's what this game is all about.

Ed Van Impe said:
Having Bernie Parent in goal makes the difference. He makes up for the mistakes we make.
 
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BillyShoe1721

Terriers
Mar 29, 2007
17,252
6
Philadelphia, PA
G Glenn Hall

glenn-hall-pic.jpg


13x NHL All Star Game Participant
1955-56 Calder Trophy Winner
1967-68 Conn Smythe Trophy Winner
3x Vezina Trophy Winner (Best GAA)
1x Stanley Cup Champion
7x Stanley Cup Finalist
16x Top 10 Wins(1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 7, 7, 8, 10)
15x Top 6 GAA(1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6)
16x Top 9 Shutouts(1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5, 7, 7, 9)
3x Led NHL Playoffs in Wins

9x Top 8 Hart Trophy Voting(3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 8, 8)
13x Top 4 AS Voting(1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 4)

It obviously worked for Hall, as the man nicknamed "Mr. Goalie" has to be considered a prime candidate as the greatest goalie ever played.

It was in Chicago that Hall is best remembered. Hall was a huge part of the Blackhawks turnaround, backstopping them to the Stanley Cup championship in 1961. The Hawks became the toast of Chicago for much of the 1960s, selling out every ticket for 14 seasons. With the likes Pierre Pilote, Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull, the Hawks were hot. But it was Hall who was synonymous with the Hawks, playing seemingly every game. In fact, despite his taxing pre-game ritual, Glenn holds the NHL record for most consecutive complete games, 502, by a goaltender. That's 502 straight contests without missing a minute of play. Not one single minute over the span of 8 seasons. That is one record that is certain never to be broken. Even more amazing is he accomplished this feat while playing without a mask.

At the age of 36, he was left unprotected in the 1967 Expansion Draft and was chosen by the newly minted St. Louis Blues. Due in large part to Hall's improbable heroics, the Blues marched all the way to the Stanley Cup final in their first year in the league. Though they would eventually lose to the Montreal Canadiens in four games, Hall was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the league's top playoff performer. In 1968-69, Jacques Plante joined the team and the two veterans shared the goaltending duties, and split the Vezina Trophy. The duo returned the Blues to the Stanley Cup finals in both 1969 and 1970, only to lose again.


http://blackhawkslegends.blogspot.com/2006/09/mr-goalie-glenn-hall.html

For that there was Glenn Hall, nicknamed "Mr. Goalie" for his consistent and long-lasting success in the National Hockey League. Year after year, Hall was a familiar and intimidating sight in nets across the continent. He hardly missed a game or an award in his 18 NHL seasons and only four times did he finish a season with a losing record. His 84 career shutouts, third of all time, guaranteed his place in the Hockey Hall of Fame as one of the sport's best goaltenders.

Due in large part to Hall's improbable heroics, the Blues marched all the way to the Stanley Cup final in their first year in the league. Though they would eventually lose to the Montreal Canadiens in four games, Hall was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the league's top playoff performer.

http://www.legendsofhockey.net/Lege...dsMember.jsp?mem=p197504&page=bio&list=ByName

QUESTION: WHO'S the best net-minder ever—Jacques Plante, Patrick Roy or Terry Sawchuk? The author says it's Glenn Hall, an II-time All-Star. Plus, Hall—not Roy—invented the butterfly style of goaltending that Adrahtas writes "was visionary and is more alive in the NHL of the new millennium than it was when he first employed it to howling criticism in the 1950s."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1143121/index.htm

The Blues depend heavily on three players—Goalies Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante and Center Berenson, whom fans have nicknamed The Red Baron. Hall, 37, was sensational last season, keeping the Blues close to the Canadiens in a stirring battle for the Stanley Cup

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1082263/3/index.htm

The only thing that has saved them from a fate worse than Boston's during these periods was the virtually impassable fortress in their goal: 30-year-old Glenn Hall, a stoic family man whose major dream is to settle down and raise cattle.

Playing goal for the Chicago Black Hawks is a little like fielding bricks with an eye socket. The big, bruising, fast-skating muscular Hawk forwards are determined to beat the frozen inferno out of any team they can catch; the trouble is they can't always catch them. The result is that while Hawk forwards are milling malignantly around the other fellow's goal looking for somebody to bruise, the other fellow's forwards (particularly if they happen to be the fast-skating Montreal Canadiens) are more than likely at the Chicago end swarming all over Goalie Hall. "Only 10% of goals are the fault of the goalkeeper," he says without rancor. "The rest are the result of mistakes up the ice that let a guy get through to take a shot. The goalkeeper either makes the last mistake or makes the great save that wipes out the other mistakes."

Hall, who leads the league in shutouts with eight scoreless games to his credit, prefers to make the great save—and generally does—even though the effort makes him actively sick.

Today, as one of the two best goalies in hockey ( Jacques Plante is the other), he accepts nausea without complaint as the burden of trying to straddle two worlds with a single nervous system. "I guess," he once said of goalkeepers, "we're all a little bit sick."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1073583/2/index.htm

Glenn's real greatness is the influence his style of play has had on the game. Glenn was able to dominate his goalkeeping position because of his unique butterfly style.

The Vezina, which used to be awarded for GAA, is now given to the goalie considered to be the best, or in fact the first AS goalie. If you extend those standards back to the 50s, Hall would have held a record seven Vezinas, whereas Sawchuk and Plante would have three each...Hall was the consummate team player, respected unconditionally by teammates and opponents, revered by his coaches.

Dave Dryden, a thoughtful and respected man who once shared the nets with Hall for the Blackhawks in Chicago, said of Mr. Goalie "He was the best I ever saw play. There's no question. He always seemed kind of tragic because he didn't get the recognition he should have."

Showing up for work 502 times in a row wasn't important to a man with the fierce pride and high standards of excellence that Hall possessed. Playing 502 games in a row as close to perfection as possible was.

"You know, when you hear so much about the greatest "this" and the best "that" of all time, it's time people knew that Glenn was really the Joe DiMaggio of our game."

To take the high road is to acknowledge that it's not so important to establish a definitive "best ever". But we are talking about goalkeeping and I am a male of the species so I can't help but stress that Hall was simply the best. After all is said and done, there was only one "Number One, Mr. Goalie".

In accordance with the original plan, Hall was in goal for Game 3 at the Garden. According to history, Hall was brilliant. The Bruins knew they were in for a formidable battle. Boston coach Harry Sinden warned the troops that Hall would be ready. Phil Esposito said, "Glenn Hall is the best goalie in the world and we know what we are up against."

The garden was uncomfortably hot, but so was Glenn. The Bruins attacked in waves, and Hall was at his acrobatic best.

http://books.google.com/books?id=2r...ed=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=glenn hall&f=false

A lot of the players told me Hall was the best they saw. I thought they would go with Plante or Sawchuk.

"Well, I think Glenn Hall was probably the best goaltender I've seen."-Garry Peters

Hall, Plante, Worsley...

"Sawchuk." What was the best goalie you saw?

"Oh, I'd have to go with Glenn Hall, I think. Sawchuk was pretty good but Glenn Hall, he was amazing, the things he could do."-John McKenzie

http://books.google.com/books?id=82...DsQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=glenn hall best&f=false

Glenn Hall was known as Mr. Goalie and was one of the greatest netminders in NHL history, though the stress of NHL puckstopping often made him ill before games.

http://books.google.com/books?id=8m...EAQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=glenn hall best&f=false

After dark, in Chicago, a hockey goalie named Glenn Hall is the biggest thing since the repeal of prohibition.

The Detroit castoff showed why here last night in the jammed, vibrating Chicago stadium.

Hall thrilled a hoarse-voiced, frenzied mob of 17,538 Blackhawk fans with one of the greatest exhibitions of netminder that these yes have seen in or out of the playoffs.

If the Hawks are back on even terms today with the Canadiens in their semi-final playoff, the lion's share of the applause has to go to Hall.

Chicago fans know it, too. They rose to their feet as one on several occasions to give him ear-splitting ovations after committing bare-faced robbery on the Canadien sharpshooters.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...=rRwxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KuQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7081,84520

At Montreal, Detroit goaltender Glenn Hall performed brilliantly as the Wings and Canadiens battled to their draw before 13,928 fans. Hall was the target of 38 shots.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...doxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1uMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7544,5906003

"Every Blackhawk game means 60 minutes of mental torture for Glenn Hall."

"In a job that is undoubtedly the most nerve-wracking, perhaps the most demanding, and among the most dangerous in sport, Glenn Henry Hall, 30 year old goaltender for the Hawks has established a record for durability that is phenomenal."

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...Y4tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zp0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=7238,2572842

The necessary momentum, they feel, was supplied last night when they dumped the Montreal Canadiens, 2-0, behind the brilliant goal tending of Glenn Hall.

Ab McDonald and Ken Wharram scored Chicago's goals in the clincher last night but Hall was the real hero. Both coach Rudy Pilous of Chicago and Toe Blake of Montreal agreed Hall's save on Dickie Moore's shot in the second period was the turning point.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...ZMzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aOkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4706,3303633

Lacking the services of defenseman Pierre Pilote and forward Kenny Wharram, the Hawks appeared to be unorganized and were no match for the Canadiens.

The Canadiens took command in the first period but were unable to score, mostly because of the brilliant goaltending by Glenn Hall.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...24pAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-egDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5758,1755595

Glenn Hall, often tabbed as the best of the NHL's modern goalies, has reached a milestone with the 71st shutout of his career.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...3dUOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MUgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5993,871616

Hall, whose tremendous netminding was the big factor in the Blues' earlier series triumphs over Philadelphia and Minnesota, was mainly responsible for keeping the Blues close in the final against the Canadiens.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...eUiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TqAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2529,3194340
 
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BraveCanadian

Registered User
Jun 30, 2010
14,522
3,360
With our 7th round pick (169), the Guelph Platers select: RW, Mark Recchi


Recchi_Mark_Alumni.jpg


nhl_g_recchim_300.jpg


AAHE065_8x10%7EMark-Recchi-2006-Stanley-Cup-Posters.jpg


6120-recchi-blog-thumb-620xauto-102668.jpg



Career Highlights

Stanley Cup Champion 1991, 2006, 2011 - 3 Stanley Cups with 3 different teams.
2nd Team Post Season All Star - 1991-1992
Played NHL All Star Game - 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
1997 NHL All Star Game MVP
Led the NHL in assists with 63 in 1999-2000.

World Junior Gold 1988
World Championship Gold 1997
Named to Team Canada for the 1998 Olympic Games
IHL Turner Cup 1989


Vitals:

Position: RW
Shoots: Left
Height: 5-10
Weight: 195lbs.
Born: Feb 1, 1968 (Kamloops, BC)
Draft: Pittsburgh, 4th round (67th overall), 1988 NHL Entry



Regular Season

Along with his tenacious Wrecking Ball style, Recchi was a consistent scoring threat over his long career.

He currently sits 12th all time in NHL career scoring. (19th in goals and 14th in assists).

In addition to that longevity, Recchi also had a strong 7 year peak in comparison to some all-time great offensive right-wingers:

Top-7 weighted VsX for Right Wings (1926-2012):

Rank | Player | Rank
1 | Gordie Howe | 127.2
2 | Jaromir Jagr | 114.6
3 | Maurice Richard | 105.7
4 | Guy Lafleur | 104.9
5 | Andy Bathgate | 104
6 | Charlie Conacher | 97.1
7 | Bill Cook | 96.6
8 | Mike Bossy | 94.4
9 | Teemu Selanne | 92.9
10 | Bernie Geoffrion | 91.4
11 | Mark Recchi | 88.6
12 | Brett Hull | 88.2
13 | Jari Kurri | 88.1


Recchi's Regular Season Scoring Finishes (3 times top 5!):

Top-20 in goals: 9th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 19th, 20th
Top-20 in assists: 1st, 4th, 7th, 10th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 18th
Top-20 in points: 3rd, 4th, 5th, 10th, 12th, 12th, 14th, 19th


Recchi also had a token Selke vote or two in three seasons:
1999-00, 2000-01, 2003-04.


Recchi led his team in scoring 9 times:

1990-91: 113 points in 78 games (Penguins)
1992-93: 123 points in 84 games (Flyers)
1993-94: 107 Points in 84 games (Flyers)
1994-95: 43 Points in 39 games (Canadiens) Additional 5 points in 10 games with the Flyers before his trade
1997-98: 74 Points in 82 games (Canadiens)
1998-99: 47 Points in 61 games (Canadiens) Additional 6 points in 10 games after trade to the Flyers
1999-2000: 91 Points in 82 games (Flyers)
2000-01: 77 Points in 69 games (Flyers)
2003-04: 75 Points in 82 games (Flyers)


GP|G|A|Pts
1652|577|956|1533




Playoffs

A three time Stanley Cup winner: 1991 Pittsburgh, 2006 Carolina, 2011 Boston.

Recchi was still a more than serviceable offensive producer at the age of 42 when he was 6th on the Bruins in scoring.

Top-10 in playoff goals 4 Times (4th, 8th, 10th, 10th)
Top-16 in playoff assists 5 Times (2nd, 3rd, 14th, 15th, 16th)
Top-16 in playoff points 4 Times (2nd, 5th, 12th, 16th)

GP|G|A|Pts
189|61|86|147



Quotations & Perspectives:

Beaver County Times said:
...Mark Recchi emerged as a hustling, two-way player with a scoring touch.
Source

The Pittsburgh Press said:
...
Mark Recchi: Penguins' best all-around forward. Equally effective at even strength, short-handed and on powerplay. Wrist shot is among the NHL's best. Comfortable in any style game and plays bigger than his size...
Source


Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said:
...
Helping the team? Recchi, a 22-year-old right winger who plays a relentless two-way style, is second among NHL rookies with 25 goals and fourth with 53 points. He leds all Penguins forwards with a plus-minus rating of plus-11...
Source


Reading Eagle said:
Lack of scoring, however, was not the reason Recchi was demoted. He has scored points in 47 of the Flyers' 63 games. It was more his lack of defense. Some fans said it was harder to ascertain than The Invisible Man.

Recchi acknowledged his less than stellar defensive skills and plans to do something about it.
...
"No, I've had little bit of a wakeup call. I'm really concentrating on playing tenacious at both ends of the ice. I think I was always in position early on, but I was never tenacious.

If I'm going to be an effective player in this league and be a respected player, I've got to play really hard at both ends of the rink. I can do it. It's just a matter of putting your mind to it. I'm gonna do it. I'm still going to make mistakes. Believe me, I'm not going to say I'm the greatest defensive player in the world, but I'm going to work hard at it.

I was working at it, but not like you really should work. I was always in position, but you've got to be tenacious. In the offensive zone, if there's a puck there, I always seem to get it. Why can't I do it in my own end? That's what I've got to concentrate on."

...

Recchi has also shown a knack for winning faceoffs since the switch.
...
Source


Reading Eagle said:
...
While Burt was the offensive hero, Recchi made a key, but controversial defensive play to keep the score tied a few minutes earlier.

With Canucks captain Mark Messier on a clearcut breakaway, Recchi raced down the ice, hooked Messier from behind and pulled him down.

Messier never got a shot off, and referee Bill McCleary refused to issue a penalty.
Source



Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said:
...
Recchi spent the bulk of his career in Philadelphia, where he was traded a few months before the Penguins won their second Cup, and solidified a reputation for steady production and reliable two-way play during his time with the Flyers and Montreal.
...
Source

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said:
Mark Recchi of the Penguins has eight goals in his past 12 games. Nine assists, too. He's versatile -- able to play all three forward positions and contribute on both special teams -- and a proven winner with established leadership skills.
...
Source

loh.net said:
...The Pittsburgh Penguins were first in line to draft Recchi, in 1988. They sent him to Muskegon of the IHL for some fine-tuning. There, he helped lead his team to a Turner Cup championship. Shortly after the start of the next season, he got the call to join the Pens where he used his opportunity to good effect, finishing second in the rookie goal-scoring race with 30 markers.

Year Two brought even loftier results as he potted a red-hot 113 points topped off with a Stanley Cup victory. His successful stay in Pittsburgh was cut short, however, when the Pens set their sights on acquiring Rick Tocchet from the Philadelphia Flyers with Recchi as part of the collateral.

In Philly, he carried on his usual trend of scoring enormous quantities of goals and assists. But as was the case in Pittsburgh, Recchi's prolific services went up for sale when the Flyers saw a chance to pry Eric Desjardins and John Leclair away from the Montreal Canadiens.

In Montreal, Recchi's numbers declined somewhat although he continued to be a team leader on offense. He lasted with the club until March 1999 when he was unloaded back to the Flyers. Upon his return to Philly, he picked up right where he left off the first time around. In his first full season back, he was voted the team's MVP, having led the team in points scored. He also made his seventh All-Star Game appearance.

But his awards were not only limited to the NHL. With the approach to the millennium, Recchi was named male athlete of the 20th century in his hometown of Kamploops. To commemorate the event, the street outside the local arena was named "Mark Recchi Way."

After parts of six more seasons in Philly, which saw the former WHL Star surpass the 1,200 point mark, Recchi signed as a free-agent with Pittsburgh in the summer of 2004, thus marking a return to his first NHL club. Following a lock out year in 2004-05, Recchi's return to the Pens' lineup lasted for the better part of the season before being dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes at the 2006 NHL trading deadline.

In Carolina, Recchi would go on to win his second Stanley Cup before returning to a youthful Pittsburgh Penguins squad in the off-season. Recchi has since become a leader for the club while continuing to produce offensively. On January 26, 2007 Recchi scored his 500th career goal against the Dallas Stars.
...
In 2011, Recchi helped the Bruins to the club's first Stanley Cup championship since 1972. After surviving a first round scare from the Montreal Canadiens, the Bruins steamrolled over the Philadelphia Flyers and endured a seven game battle with the Tampa Bay Lightning en route to the Stanley Cup Final where they would take on the powerful Vancouver Canucks.

The Bruins would defeat the Canucks in a seven game classic, with Recchi contributing 14 points in 25 playoff games. It would be the third Stanley Cup for Recchi and the third different team with whom he had reached hockey's pinnacle. During the post-game celebration, Recchi announced he had played his last game in NHL. At the time of his retirement he ranked 4th all-time in games played and 12th all-time in scoring.


ourhistory.canadiens.com said:
With his speed and his quick and accurate wrist shot, right-winger Mark Recchi brought Canadiens fans to their feet at the Forum and the Molson Centre on countless occasions during his stay with Montreal... In his first year in Montreal, Recchi recorded 43 points in 39 games during a lockout-shortened season. Over the next three seasons, he missed only one game and tallied 94 goals and 138 assists while cementing his role as one of the team’s key players. He finished among the top three in team scoring in each of his seasons in Montreal. The speedy forward appeared in seven All-Star Games over the course of his career, including 1997 when he represented the Canadiens and was named MVP of the game after scoring a hat trick. He recorded three 100-point seasons and joined the 500-goal club in January 2007.

Sports Illustrated said:
It never should have come to this. Montreal right wing Mark Recchi, who was a surprising omission when the Canadian Olympic team was announced in December, was at home in Pittsburgh on Sunday, on standby as the first man to go to Nagano should any of Canada's forwards be unable to play. The speedy wing was dejected. "It's disappointing, but it's done," says Recchi, who, with 25 goals, is the only one of the NHL's top 15 goal scorers not in Nagano. "There's nothing I want to do more than play."

Recchi is unaccustomed to having to sit and watch midwinter hockey games. Since missing a match on March 31, 1991, with an injured right knee, the 5'10", 185-pound Recchi has played in 517 straight regular-season NHL games. Flyers center Rod Brind'Amour (376) is the only other NHL player with a streak of more than 300 games. "The way [Recchi] plays it's amazing he's out there every night," says Islanders winger Mike Hough. "He finishes checks, he battles off the face-off, he goes into the corners. He does things you don't usually see star players do."

With an explosive snap shot that is particularly dangerous because he shoots lefthanded and plays the right side, Recchi has scored 310 goals in nine-plus seasons. He also plays a strong defensive game and throws his diminutive body into any fray he finds. Although his run almost ended this season because of bruised ribs that hurt every time he took a breath, Recchi has maintained his streak through an assortment of muscle tears and broken bones. Before the Oct. 15 game against the Penguins, Recchi got laser treatment and iced his side, all so he could spend the evening on a checking line opposite Jaromir Jagr.

Recchi's craving for ice time hasn't waned since he was Jagr's teammate in Pittsburgh in the early 1990s. In those days Recchi was sometimes on the bench during power plays, and coaches would hear him impatiently shuffling his skates. He was traded to Philadelphia in '91-92, and after a three-year stint with the Flyers that included a 53-goal season in '92-93, he was dealt to Montreal. With the Canadiens, Recchi gets plenty of ice time—he's on the first power-play unit and kills penalties too.

At 30, Recchi is playing the best hockey of his life, and as his linemate ****** ******, now in Nagano, says, "He competes as fiercely as anyone." If he doesn't end up going to Japan, the iron-man will be missed in Canada's push for gold.

Sports Illustrated said:
expect Recchi to be the focus of trade inquiries from contenders who covet his energy


Philadelphia Flyers Greatest Moments and Players said:
The pint-sized right wing won the hearts of Philadelphians because of his tenacity, teamsmanship and tendency to be in the right place at the right time when a big goal was required... His play featured a doggedness that reminded Philadelphians of Bobby Clarke before him. "I got that from my parents," Mark explained. "they would always say, If you want to play, go play hard but don't ever go out there and not give 100%."... "Mark was unbelieveable," said his coach at the time. "He did everything I asked of him and showed real leadership qualities. He had become a complete hockey player in Philadelphia."


Philadelphia Flyers Encyclopedia said:
Being traded from a successful Stanley Cup Champion to the rebuilding Flyers could have caused anyone regression. But that was not the case with Mark Recchi, holding his head up high and establishing a new franchise record for points in a season... Recchi was a popular Flyer, making it difficult to trade him in 1995... Twice, Mark Recchi was traded to the Flyers, and on both occasions he was recognized as team MVP in the next full season... He maintained his constant hustle, and he and his teammates worked their way to the conference finals... Mark Recchi continues to contribute as recently as the 2003 postseason with the best playoff series of his career against Toronto, including a dramatic, triple OT goal.


Best In the Game said:
Recchi was coming off a 40-goal, 113-point season and had established himself as one of the premier right wingers in the NHL. He was neither tall nor large, but played with a controlled fury that earned him the nickname "The Wrecking Ball". There clearly was a market for a player of such caliber... Recchi repeatedly expressed his desire to remain in Pittsburgh... The snag was obviously monetary, but Recchi's frustration was compounded by being kept away from the game he loved. Few people go about their jobs with an exuberance such as his.


Best In the Game said:
Rechi's confidence plummeted, but his teammates didn't lose faith in him. They had seen him do too much to believe that his scoring touch was gone. "He'll turn it around," said Kevin Stevens. "He works hard, and if you keep working hard, it's bound to turn. And Recchs isn't a kid who stops working." No one ever questioned Recchi's work ethic...


Best In the Game said:
Recchi was caught completely off-guard by word that he was being transplanted to the other side of Pennsylvania. He cried openly as he said goodbye to the men who had just become his ex-teammates, and in the words of Ulf Samuelsson, "was just destroyed". Recchi's reaction was not unexpected. He had dedicated every speck of energy, every fiber of his being to the Penguins from the time he joined the team.

Hockey All-Stars said:
Although RWs Jaromir Jagr and Pavel Bure finished ahead of him and denied Recchi 2000 All-Star Honours, his contributions were noted. "Rex has carried this team", John LeClair said. "You watch his play - it's inspiring."


Hockey Scouting Report 1990-91 said:
Recchi is a very talented player who brings a high level of skating, puckhandling, shooting and hockey sense to his game. He is a very dynamic skater with great mobility, the root of which is his quickness and balance. Those qualities combine to give him excellent agility and lateral ability, allowing him to change direction within a step, and his skating makes him very dangerous from the blueline in. Complementing his foot skills are his hand skills. Mark can operate with the puck at his top speed, whether that means carrying it himself or passing it to an open teammate. He uses his teammates well because of his hockey sense - he sees the holes and leads his wingers to them (he is just as able to exploit those holes himself because of his quickness) His shot is very quick released and accurate; his shot creates opportunities... has a scorer's sense of positioning and timing... A consistent defensive player, attentive to his assignments.

Considering his size, Recchi is a pretty tough player. He'll take the poundings necessary to make his plays, and he's unafraid of contact. That's good, because that physical willingness will open space for the finesse game... Has already demonstrated an ability to contribute in all situations.

Hockey Scouting Report 1991-92 said:
Recchi thinks like a choreographer, which makes him such a first rate playmaker. He opens up ice, by drawing defenders to him, then spots the openings and directs linemates to them. He has the footwork to get himself into the holes. Recchi has great agility and quickness, and is able to shift in mid-stride to another direction entirely, leaving his checker baffled. He has excellent hockey sense and vision. he is good under pressure with the puck and doesn't seem to notice if the game is in the first or last five seconds - he works regardless.

He will build up some speed and get a good shot off while in motion... His best weapon is a strong wrist shot from the circle. Recchi is not big, but he steps into his shot and puts everything he has into it. He is a very accurate shooter, picks his best spots and passes when a teammate has the better percentage play. Recchi pursues the puck and maintains the pursuit even if he loses control... Recchi is a strong forechecker who anticipates well. He plays well positionally on defense and always comes back for the puck.

Recchi is a spunky player, with a fireplug build, who plays pinball hockey in the corners. He has a huge heart and works hard every night... Recchi is an intense competitor and a gamer, as he showed in the playoffs.


Hockey Scouting Report 1992-93 said:
Recchi is a give-and-go player. He makes a sharp first pass, then jumps for the hole, ready to receive the return. Sometimes, when he gets the puck back, he'll move to his left across the high slot and catch goalies by surprise with a sharp snap shot back against the grain to his right. Other times he'll hold the puck and look for the late man coming into the rush, which keeps the defense honest because they can't always play him to shoot... Recchi also uses the spring in his legs to beat defensemen to the outside. It isn't great looking - Recchi has short legs and uses a short, choppy stride - but it is effective... He is a marksman in close, an expert finisher because he has good scoring instincts and quick hands and he pulls the trigger quickly.

Recchi gets whacked around pretty much every night. He accepts being hit... has added a layer of scrap to his attitude.


Hockey Almanac 1993-94 said:
A powerful skater, Recchi uses a mixed bag of scoring skills and excellent playmaking creativity to spearhead the attack of the Philadelphia Flyers. While not a big man, he is extremely strong and uses his low center of gravity as a defensive weapon to thwart bigger players trying to knock him off the puck. After helping Pittsburgh to the Stanley Cup, he was traded, but showed no diminuition of his scoring pace and effort... Recchi's only problem has been finding players who can play up to his grinding, full-out standard. Recchi isn't the dynamic gamebreaker who can do it all by himself... Recchi is a terrific team player, the kind who always looks for teammates to get involved - as opposed to thinking he can do it all himself. He is the Flyers' MVP, Eric Lindros notwithstanding.

WILL - Lead by example
CAN'T - Be underestimated
EXPECT - Many points
DON'T EXPECT - A quitter


Hockey Almanac 1994-95 said:
A great playmaker, Recchi is a good skater, solid on his feet although not blessed with blazing speed. He is smart and has great anticipation. A natural goal-scorer... He is tough but not physical, and an adequate defensive player, but no Selke candidate... Recchi continued to prove why he, not Eric Lindros, is the Flyers' most valuable player - by staying healthy, leading the attack, and playing a steady (often very spectacular) game and providing a balanced offensive spark.

WILL - Be a scoring ace
EXPECT - A team leader
DON'T EXPECT - An ounce of quit


Hockey Scouting Report 1994-95 said:
He excels at the give and go, and is versatile enough to play alongside Eric Lindros, or help out in the middle, as he did when Lindros was injured...


Pro Hockey Play-By-Play 1994-95 said:
One of the five or so guys in the league that I would build a team around... Hasn't missed a game in three seasons and does all this as a small man in a big man's sport. He's got a huge heart and he's a money player... If you took a poll among players, Recchi would show up on a lot of top five lists.

Hockey Almanac 1995-96 said:
Smart and confident, he makes the most of acute anticipation on the ice. He is able to make plays out of broken patterns.

WILL - Jump-start any offense

EXPECT - Lots of points


Hockey Almanac 1996-97 said:
Recchi is a tremendous playmaker, using his passing ability and his anticipation to know just when, and to whom, to release the puck... He is smart and confident. A workaholic, Recchi is always among the best-prepared players on the ice, physically and mentally... Following his trade to Montreal, Recchi took it upon himself to carry the team on his shoulders. An overachiever, he worked almost too hard... He has changed his nutrition and physical training regimen to help him stay at a higher level.


Pro Hockey Play-By-Play 1997-98 said:
Quietly puts together good year after good year.

Hockey Scouting Report 1998-99 said:
Looking at his ironman streak, you realize how remarkably durable he is, considering the style of game he plays.


Hockey Scouting Report 2000 said:
A little package with a lot of firepower... He's feisty and a relentless worker in the offensive zone. He busts into open ice, finding the holes almost before they open, and excels at the give-and-go... Recchi has a dangerous shot from the off-wing... He follows his shot to the net for a rebound and can make a play as well. He has excellent hands, vision and anticipation for any scoring opportunity... Recchi has worked hard to improve his defensive play. He kills penalties because he hounds the point men aggressively and knocks the puck out of the zone. Then he heads off on a breakaway or forces the defender to pull him down... While other players are coasting, Recchi's blades are in motion, and he draws penalties. He is ready to step into any play. He resembles a puck magnet because he is always going where the puck is. He protects the puck well, keeping it close to his feet... Recchi gets chopped at because he doesn't hang around the perimeter. He accepts the punishment to get the job done. He is a solid player with a low centre of gravity, and he is tough to knock off the puck.


Hockey Scouting Report 2001 said:
Easily the Flyers' MVP... Whatever the Flyers asked of him, Recchi delivered... He is dangerous off the right wing half-boards with his unerring ability to find John Leclair at the left side of the crease... Recchi is an unselfish player. The benefit is that defenders have a tougher time playing him and he makes the players around him better. His work ethic just continues to intensify.

Hockey Scouting Report 2003 said:
One of the game's smartest players... an unselfish player and a team leader.

Hockey Scouting Report 2004 said:
His top is now in the 55-point range.
seventieslord said:
Yeah, nice try. He topped 55 points at age 35, 37, 38, and 40.

The Hockey News said:
Has relentless energy on the ice and is one of the most durable forwards in the league. Is smart with the puck and a capable playmaker from the wing.

The Hockey News said:
At the ripe young age of 42, Recchi still gives his all every shift and can still dole it out as good as he takes it. No time was that more prevalent than his Game 3 tête-à-tête with the Sabres’ Tim Kennedy (by no means a Goliath at 5-foot-9, but still, at 23, he’s almost half Recchi’s age) that led to ******* ********'s game-winner. That play distinctly and abruptly turned this series on its head, giving the B’s all the momentum.

A hardly earth-shattering, but an interesting tidbit of info that illustrates how rare it is for a 40-plus player to contribute the way Recchi has: when he scored Boston's lone goal in a 2-1 Game 1 loss, he became the third-oldest player in Stanley Cup playoffs history to find the back of the net (behind only a 52-year-old Gordie Howe and a 45-year-old Chris Chelios.

A consistent and sturdy contributor with 18 goals and 43 points, while playing 81 regular season games for the injury-plagued Bruins, Recchi has continued to chip in offensively in the post-season with a pair of goals and a trio of points in the five games.

His gritty, give-it-all style leads by example and is exactly the package of traits that at least a handful of a roster must possess if a team is going to make a deep playoff run. As Recchi’s five February or later trades would attest, he is a valuable commodity.

And if he chooses to have one last kick at the can next season, contending teams would be well advised to ignore the number on his birth certificate in lieu of his two Stanley Cups.



* - some of this lifted from seventieslords previous bio http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showpost.php?p=24644919&postcount=117
 
Last edited:

tony d

Registered User
Jun 23, 2007
76,590
4,550
Behind A Tree
Centre Dale Hawerchuk

dale-hawerchuk-apr-10.jpg


Biographical Information on Hawerchuk courtesy of http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/h/hawerda01.html

Position: C ▪ Shoots: Left
Height: 5-11 ▪ Weight: 190 lbs.
Born: April 4, 1963 (Age 50) in Toronto, Ontario
Draft: Winnipeg, 1st round (1st overall), 1981 NHL Entry

Stats on Hawerchuk courtesy of http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/h/hawerda01.html

-518 G 891 A FOR 1409 career points in 1188 career games
-99 Points in 97 Career playoff games
-5 Time All Star, 1982 Rookie of The Year
-3 Top 10 Goal Finishes, 5 Top 10 Assist Finishes, 4 Top 10 Points Finishes
-2001 Hall of Fame Inductee

Legends Of Hockey:

Throughout his early years, Dale Hawerchuk was constantly facing comparisons to the game's greatest player, Wayne Gretzky. Mike Doran, the Winnipeg Jets' Director of Player Personnel in 1981, once said, "He has the same instincts, that puck sense, of Gretzky." Hawerchuk would not disappoint his fans, leading his team in scoring at every age.

Admittedly a shy, reserved young man, Hawerchuk moved to a ranch outside the city limits to get away from the constant attention; however, his play would continue to attract notice. Other than a slight slump during his sophomore season in which he recorded 91 points, he reach the 100-point mark for five consecutive years, including a career-high 53 goals and 130 points in 1984-85, becoming the third youngest in NHL history to score 50 goals in a season. Goal Magazine referred to him as, "Mini-Gretzky," as he was named a Second Team All-Star behind #99 himself and was runner-up for the Hart Trophy. By the 1989-90 season, after three more All-Star Game appearances and Rendez-vous '87, Hawerchuk had re-written the Jets record book.

Hawerchuk played a checking role on the team behind Gretzky, Lemieux, and Messier, yet was instrumental in their success, winning the face-off that led to Canada's second-most famous goal. He was again a key cog in Canada's 1991 victory, moving to centre following an injury to Wayne Gretzky.

Joe Pelletier

In nine seasons with Winnipeg, Hawerchuk established himself as one of the NHL’s premier forwards. He led the team in scoring in each of his nine years in Winnipeg and broke the 100-point barrier six times. Seven times he scored more than 40 goals. During the 1984-85 season, he established career highs in goals (53) and points (130) while finishing second in the voting for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player.

Hawerchuk was a joy to watch. He was an excellent though not smooth skater, deceptively fast and blessed with great lateral agility. He had the rare ability to handle the puck and create plays even at top speed. A tremendous one on one player, Hawerchuk learned not to over handle the puck and became a great playmaker as well as a goal scorer, particularly on the power play.

Final Thoughts:

Glad to have Hawerchuk, yes he may be an offense-only guy but I plan to surround him with tough wingers if available.
 

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