Great Hockey Photos You've Just Seen for the First Time!

[Tarantula]

Awesome, that shot with Plager at the face off is just outright creepy!

 

[Tarantula]

.... not that old.... Cooper GM12, Billy pretty rough on his equipment & ya, he was the first to sport colored pads in 74/75, blue & orange, a fad that didnt really hit big time until the early 80's including all white.

Yeah, I remember him having the painted mask back then all adorned with blue and orange and those pads now that you mention it. He had a unusual mask and the paint really stood out. It didn't catch my fancy but I always remember him wearing that and not really the cage though he probably wore the cage longer.

I remember his mask being mostly white when he first stepped in for Chico Resch?

 

[Killion]

^^^^ Great bunch of photos!.... And ya, thats Wilkies "real hair". Has that Bobby Sherman do nailed.

 

[Tarantula]

Goalie "gloves" as they were both essentially "Blockers" & you'd catch the puck with a leather fingered hand though some some guys did use a small webbed "pocket"..... It was Emile The Cat Francis, an avid baseball player as well who took a 1st basemans glove in 46/47 & had a shoemaker add a cuff that launched the modern day "trapper". Blockers until then used on both hands with some home made tweaking, usually a bendable felt or light leather, even canvas front on the things... held together with tape & bailing wire.....in Rayners case his own snot as well acting as glue, notoriously forever wiping his nose apparently & noted for doing so, like a Coke head with a deviated septum, punch drunk prize fighter, nervous tick or whatever & a real piece of work was Chuckie Boy there.....

Enlisted in the army & played for a military team for a couple of years, scoring on an end to end rush when his teammates & opponents were all rolling around behind him & the net.... charges off down the ice... the guy at the other end freaked, shocked off course, Chuck putting it right by him, nice flick shot apparently & a "first ever"....Then in New York post war with the Rangers the Coach there Frank Boucher? He decides 2 goalies better than one & is the first to alternate between games with Rayner & Sugar Jim Henry.... But he doesnt stop there, Loony Tune Boucher starts doin it in game, switching Henry with Rayner every 5 minutes or so... which brings us back to the gloves.... see, the Rangers only had one set of gloves (true, not making this up) so Sugar Jim & Chuck would meet halfway between the bench & the net & hand over the gloves.... Now, if your poor wee Jim Henry there sitting on the bench watching Rayner disgustingly wiping rivers of snot like that on the very gloves you are about to put on... seriously?....

Personally? I wouldnt do it. Tell the trainer to go get me a pair of skaters gloves & play with those, take my chances, suffers the stings, welts & busted fingers.... And no idea why only one pair of gloves let alone pulling what Boucher was pulling. No comprehension of goaltending whatsoever.... But ya, well into the 50's & some of the stuff I used into the 60's that was hand-me-down goalie gear... unbelievable. Catching gloves about as responsive as a dead tuna frozen solid in the hold of a troller in the North Atlantic in January. A blow torch wouldnt soften it up.... Blockers.... looked like theyd been used for attack dog training by the police, military. Knife fighting or whatever. Palms gone, rotted out, hunk a felt hanging there like a bunch a long dead squirrel pelts or worse.... dont ask rodent skins... and the pads, belly pads & legs.... My God.... Had lots of time to think about all a that standing out there in like -30 weather all alone in the crease. At night. In the dark....

Lots of time.

I played goal for one year, first year in Peewee. Frankly don't know why I didn't stick with it, not that I got far or would have, but hey, likely would have got more ice time. Didn't own anything the rink had two pairs of junior pads, gloves, righty only of course and the chest pads. Two pairs but one mask, and one cage. We didn't wear cages then, just helmets and the old style CCM were the vogue. The other guy wore glasses as did I and his father coach of the Grey team petitioned my father, coach of the red team to allow his kid to use the cage so he has 20/20 vision and out I go with a old style mask and no glasses. The Old Man never seemed to keen on the goalie biz and next year I was out skating and seeing 20/20, as we already had all the normal equipment, me thinks the fix was in as I look back.

 

[Killion]

I played goal for one year, first year in Peewee. Frankly don't know why I didn't stick with it, not that I got far or would have, but hey, likely would have got more ice time. Didn't own anything the rink had two pairs of junior pads, gloves, righty only of course and the chest pads. Two pairs but one mask, and one cage. We didn't wear cages then, just helmets and the old style CCM were the vogue. The other guy wore glasses as did I and his father coach of the Grey team petitioned my father, coach of the red team to allow his kid to use the cage so he has 20/20 vision and out I go with a old style mask and no glasses. The Old Man never seemed to keen on the goalie biz and next year I was out skating and seeing 20/20, as we already had all the normal equipment, me thinks the fix was in as I look back.

.... thats fun..... in my case reverse.... started out playing on the Wing for several seasons... hated coming off the ice, loved the challenge of goaltending, last line of defence, importance, pressure etc so switched. Playing shinny however continued to play out & when in my late 20's early 30's returned to play Beer League also played out.

 

[Robert Gordon Orr]

1970s photos...

February 11, 1971 - Jean Beliveau (# 4) scoring his 500th NHL goal behind rookie Gilles Gilbert, while Frank Mahovlich (# 27) looks on. After the game, the always classy Beliveau visited the Stars’ dressing room to cheer up goalie Gilbert and to say hello to his parents

1971/72 - Dennis Kearns (# 6) and Jocelyn Guevremont (# 2) defend against Jim Pappin (# 8)

1972/73 - Salt Lake’s Dave Amadio (1939-1981) pins Seattle’s Don Westbrooke (1943-2016) against the boards during WHL action

February 3, 1973 - Brad Park coming to blows with Terry O'Reilly (#24). Carol Vadnais (#10), Fred O'Donnell (#16) and Gregg Sheppard (#19) of the Bruins and Steve Vickers (#8) of the Rangers on their way to help out

1970s - Stan Mikita waiting for the puck to drop

1973-76 – Gary Smith

1974-76 ca - Billy Smith (# 31) vs Doug Risebrough (# 8)

1974-76 ca - Swift skating Murray Wilson (# 17) against Bernie Parent (# 1)

1974-76 – Al Sims (# 23) – Wilf Paiement (# 9) and Johnny Bucyk (# 9)

1974-76 - Borje Salming (# 21) and Dave Hudson (# 11)

1974-76 – Len Frig (# 6) – Guy Lafleur (# 10) and Gilles Meloche (# 27)

January 15, 1975 – Brian Glennie skating away with a cut to his face after fighting Bob Gassoff

1975 – Wayne Muloin of the Cleveland Crusaders vs Pat Hickey (# 16) of the Toronto Toros (WHA)

1975-76 – Well-groomed trio of Glen Sather (# 10) – Phil Roberto (# 21) and Dennis O’Brien (# 5)

1970s-80s – Godfathers of hockey - Harry Sinden (b.1932) – Scotty Bowman (b.1933) – Bill Torrey (1934-2018) – Sam Pollock (1925-2007) – Lou Nanne (b.1941) – Keith Allen (1923-2014)

 

[Killion]

^^^ Great shots... love the comments in the captions as well..... "Well groomed" RGO?

 

[DowntownBooster]

1968/69 - Bobby Orr

 

[DowntownBooster]

1965-67 ca - Camille Henry (# 21) and Eddie Johnston (# 1)

 

[DowntownBooster]

1967-69 ca - hockey icons Bobby Orr (# 4) and Gordie Howe (# 9). Eddie Johnston (# 1) in goal for Boston.

 

[DowntownBooster]

1970-74 ca - Lorne "Gump" Worsley

 

[Killion]

1970-74 ca - Lorne "Gump" Worsley

.... yep.... Old Gump.... remember being elated to see him returning & playing so well.... amazed he was using pads absent the upper outside roll as most since the 50's including custom from Pop Kenesky etc all incorporated & had them for many a year by then. Gumps also a bit shorter than was the norm, that advocated by then. His Blocker as well a real throwback. Lots of mileage on that thing.... Notoriously heavy CCM Goalie Stick & doubly so with all that tape. Probably be appalled to get a gander at his Chest & Arm Pads... Sawchuk another who's equipment long past its protective functionality really however if a guy feels comfortable in it, confident, all that matters. Injury not something you ever think about. Bruises badges of honor. Though in Sawchuks case I often wondered if he wasnt masochistically punishing himself, Demons....

 

[DowntownBooster]

1974/75 - Ron Huston (# 11), Rod Seiling (# 16), Gary Sabourin (# 15) and Doug Favell (# 33)

 

[Killion]

1974/75 - Ron Huston (# 11), Rod Seiling (# 16), Gary Sabourin (# 15) and Doug Favell (# 33)

Look at the empty seats, Golds. And while Maple Leaf Gardens perpetually sold out you'd see that all too frequently beginning in 68/69 as the novelty of the first year of Expansion Teams wore off & reality sunk in that they were all pretty lousy, the NHL having essentially stuck it to them. People just not bothering to showup, couldnt re-sell tickets, no one to give them to or whatever. Scoring tickets for the Seals, Flyers etc pretty easy. All seemed rather strange really. Bob Baun in a Seals uniform. Other ex-Leafs in Penguins, Blues or Kings jerseys & so on.

 

[Tarantula]

Lou Fontinato

Love the player to his right, wonder what happened next?

Another one, a little flare up going.

 

[DowntownBooster]

Look at the empty seats, Golds. And while Maple Leaf Gardens perpetually sold out you'd see that all too frequently beginning in 68/69 as the novelty of the first year of Expansion Teams wore off & reality sunk in that they were all pretty lousy, the NHL having essentially stuck it to them . People just not bothering to showup, couldnt re-sell tickets, no one to give them to or whatever. Scoring tickets for the Seals, Flyers etc pretty easy. All seemed rather strange really. Bob Baun in a Seals uniform. Other ex-Leafs in Penguins, Blues or Kings jerseys & so on.

That is so true Killion. The fans had been used to some very competitive hockey in years leading up to the first expansion. It was probably quite a shock to them to see how things had changed. The competition had decreased but the ticket prices didn't. We can see now why the league did what they did with Vegas to ensure they were competitive out of the gate.

 

[Robert Gordon Orr]

1920s – Bathing suit shinny played by the Buffalo Snow Birds - I don’t know if the lady sitting on the ice is checking out her broken nose or if she’s powdering it

1963-67 - Chico Maki (# 16) – Phil Goyette (# 20) and Glenn Hall (# 1)

1966/67 - Les Binkley

1967/68 – Stan Mikita (# 21) and Frank Mahovlich (# 27)

1968/69 - Tequila party? - Bob Plager (# 5) and Noel Picard (# 4)

1969-71 ca – Mickey Redmond (# 24) and Cesare Maniago (# 30)

1970-72 – Bob Plager? (A) stretching out as Ernie Wakely (# 31) makes a save on a Brad Park (# 2) shot

December 11, 1971 – Murray Oliver (# 10) – Ken Dryden (# 29) – Dean Prentice (# 29)

January 30, 1973 - Tony Esposito (# 1) making a save on Bobby Orr (# 4)

April 26, 1977 – Jimmy Watson (# 20) - Rick Middleton (# 16) - Bob Dailey (# 2) – Orest Kindrachuk (# 26) – Gregg Sheppard (# 19) - Wayne Stephenson (# 35)

1981-83 - Grant Fuhr making a save on Greg Gilbert (# 17)

1984-85 ca – Per-Eric “Pelle” Lindbergh

1992-94 - You talkin’ to me? - Mike Gartner and Darius Kasparaitis

January 25, 1997 – Rob Ray tasting the knuckles of Stu Grimson (# 32)

April 19, 2003 – Marcus Ragnarsson (# 28) knocking fellow Swede Mats Sundin (C) off the puck behind goalie Roman Cechmanek (# 32)

 

[Tarantula]

Beauty, I know I seen that pic off Orr and Espo before, back before jpegs! Redman and Maniago, back before Mickey was a Red Wing and had that 50 goal moustache. Great action shot from the corner of MLG, Makita and The Big M.

Pelle Lindbergh, remember working night shift and getting the first paper out of the box just as the truck drove off with the news, no sports radio back then, or much of the sort at my neck of the woods. What might have been for him and the Flyers.

Can't get enough of Les Binkly, though usually a Penguin in baby blue and the "Espo" mask.

 

[Killion]

Can't get enough of Les Binkly, though usually a Penguin in baby blue and the "Espo" mask.

Lester?... Had quite my fill thanks Tarantula... See, when I was an "up & comer" Goalie in my youth about 50yrs ago the team I was playing for one year somehow acquired some dead stock Sher-Wood goalie sticks all stamped L. Binkley with a #30... Binkley rejects.... A career minor leaguer... wore 30, Backups number... I wore 1.... A Starter.... Les played for the Penguins.... Losers.... Les only playing in the NHL because of Expansion... 2nd Rate.... And they give me his reject sticks?.... Oh, I suppose I shouldve been greatful. Goalie sticks expensive n' all but c'mon.... Les Binkley?.. Is that who you think I should take after? Idolize or whatever, closest style to?... Human sieve?... Busted cheese grater?.... Bullet ridden windmill?.

Of course I josh, kid... I liked Les. Fine career & he along with another Superstar, the inimitable Ernie Wakely... played absolutely lights out for the Penwins there.... Just terrif. Real inspirational.... thanks Les. Thanks for your re-ject sticks slugger. Worked just fine for me breaking faces & legs. Real solid.... also loved Marv Edwards.... In fact all through the 40's, 50's & 60's some terrific goalies in the minors, a lot of depth what with just 6 jobs available in the NHL until the mandated 2 dressed in 65. Binkley outstanding in the AHL, elsewhere over a much traveled career, most notably with the Cleveland Barons early through mid-60's. Also played in the WHA, Ottawa Nationals-Toronto Toro's, a bit in the NAHL, the WHA farm league that made the Shenanigans in the WHA & movie Slapshot pale in comparison.... Originally from Owen Sound I believe.

 

[Tarantula]

A lot of goalies from the 50's and 60's have quite the background story before they managed to make the NHL. Eddie G of the Rangers, is one that comes to top of mind. You're right about only 6 jobs and there were quite a few guys stuck in the minors. Ceasar M bounced around for a bit in the minors as well before he got a chance.
Tough times to wear the pads back then, tough to get a shot to stick in the NHL as well.

 

[SealsFan]

1972/73 - Salt Lake’s Dave Amadio (1939-1981) pins Seattle’s Don Westbrooke (1943-2016) against the boards during WHL action

This is when Salt Lake (Golden Eagles) were a Seals minor league affiliate, wearing the same Finley-era colors AND forced to paint their skates white as seen in the pic!!

 

[SealsFan]

Pelle Lindbergh was only 5'9" but those leg pads look like they wouldn't even cover his knees when he stands up!! Are those his Pee Wee pads?!

 

[Killion]

Pelle Lindbergh was only 5'9" but those leg pads look like they wouldn't even cover his knees when he stands up!! Are those his Pee Wee pads?!

.... yep.... not surprised you noted that as well & likely when he was playing, still around.... unreal.... at least 2 inches shorter than even the shortest I'd seen anyone wearing since about the 50's at the elite amateur through Junior & Pro Ranks... but did see Internationally from time-time. Acrobat Pads. Pre-Slapshot / Stand-Up ft in North America.

The European game youd play it deeper in the crease & more reliant on reflex, facing lower shots, a cycle game. Bloody risky using those things over here were my thoughts at the time. I had a Goalie Coach back in the day who had his career in the Minors end in the early 60's using pads like that. Top strap undone & no knee pads under the sock, Slapshot gets tipped on the way to the net, hits one knee & shatters it, ricochets off that one & then shattered the other as well. Pelle' a risk taker on & off the ice.

 

[DowntownBooster]

September 4, 1972 - Phil Esposito (# 7), Alexander Gusev (# 2), Vladislav Tretiak (# 20) and Yvan Cournoyer (# 12)

 

[Killion]

A lot of goalies from the 50's and 60's have quite the background story before they managed to make the NHL. Eddie G of the Rangers, is one that comes to top of mind. You're right about only 6 jobs and there were quite a few guys stuck in the minors. Ceasar M bounced around for a bit in the minors as well before he got a chance.
Tough times to wear the pads back then, tough to get a shot to stick in the NHL as well.

Indeed so, ya. A lot of depth in Goal back in the day down through every level of Minor & Semi-Pro / Senior. The more a guy plays generally speaking the better he gets, going up the ladder he needs the starts, needs to face a lot of rubber, adapting & adjusting to the ever increased size, speed & talent. Gaining confidence. So when on a Call-Up due to injury to the Starter & he's thrown in cold can get lit up & thereafter never being called up again... though going in to win at the minor pro level, including Goalie of the Year trophies & so on. Labelled however "good Minor Pro but thats it". Not so. Just didnt het the chance. Different strokes. Bower had to be pried out of Cleveland with threats. Didnt have great experiences on previous Call-ups.