Players as famous as their equipment?

[MetropolisPt31]

Jiri Tlusty, anyone?

 

[BubbaBoot]

Does Jagr's mullet count as equipment?

Or Derek Sanderson's fu manchu?

 

[BubbaBoot]

I can't remember exactly but isn't Brad Marchand one of those guys who has the ripped inside seams of their pants?

 

[Killion]

Ovechkins yellow waxed laces & smoked visor "so the hot chicks in the crowd wont see me staring at em'"...

 

[Dan Cloutier]

Seidenberg is the only NHLer I've seen wearing T-Blades

 

[DJ Man]

Or Derek Sanderson's fu manchu?

I remember Bruce Gamble as the first with the sideburns, circa 1967.

 

[whatname]

Seidenberg is the only NHLer I've seen wearing T-Blades

Elias and Hecht wore them. I think Elias was one of the earliest NHLers to wear them, I remember because I was watching a program that had Shane Doan wearing a mic during a game, and he was saying to a teammate "look at his skates, looks like a pair of rollerblades."

 

[IComeInPeace]

Aurel Joliat and his small, black lid...

Aurel was pre-maturely balding, hence the black cap. Opposing players would often try and knock it off his head, showing his balding melon, and Aurel would lose his mind.

 

[IComeInPeace]

HM to the magnificent team effort by the Whalers and Flyers

Cooperalls!!

Also, if you look closely at the skates Sittler's wearing in that pic, those are kind of a composite between the older skates, and the tuuk blades that had become popular.
Sittler wore them as did Jere Gillis (both guys wore them only for 1-2 seasons tops I think). I loved those skates, and owned a pair myself. Inexplicably, Jere Gillis was a favorite player of mine.

Does anyone recall what those skates were called?

Also, on the subject of skates, recall the old, hard shell Lange and Micron skates? I believe Kevin Lowe sported the Micron's for a few years.

Also, the old Daoust skates....

While these skates were all pretty unpopular, it seems like really defensive d-men often preferred the hard shell Lange or Micron's, while speedy, offensive (usually french) players would wear the Daoust's.

 

[IComeInPeace]

In '87-'88, Sam St Laurent became the last NHL goalie to wear the old fiberglass mask.

They had largely been out of vogue for at least a couple of years, when I recall watching him skate onto the ice with his real goalie mask. I'd never seen him play before, but even though I was cheering for the Leafs, I really wanted to see this guy do well, just for having the nuts to wear the cool old school mask.

I don't know how to post pic's here, so you'll have to google the mask, or someone else post the pic.

 

[IComeInPeace]

My last post on the topic...
I loved watching the great goalies of the era (and often even the not so great ones). Ken Dryden was one of my favorites.
Recall that Dryden became well known for leaning on his stick when the puck was in the opposite end of the ice (He would put both of his hands on the butt end of his goal stick, and then rest his chin on his hands.

Another quirk Dryden had (and I don't know if he only did this in the playoffs), but he would often start the game with a Northlands goalie stick, and to start the 3rd period switch to a Canadien stick. That must have been some kind of superstition he had. As a little kid I used to think the Northlands stick was jinxed because he played way better with the Canadien stick.
In hindsight, I think he just played his best hockey when the game was on the line. He knew that team could come back and save him from any early miscues in the first couple of periods.

 

[DisgruntledGoat*]

Doug Gilmour's chin-strap was always memorable. That thing was about three feet long and I swear used to flap in the breeze when he was skating hard.

 

[zzmoto]

The last JOFA

 

[Killion]

I remember Bruce Gamble as the first with the sideburns, circa 1967.

... oh sure, and Drill Sargent Punch Imlach bribed him to shave them off. Against Military Regulations Im afraid.

Or Derek Sanderson's fu manchu?

... not exactly a "piece of equipment" Bubba. But as Sanderson was/is one of my all-time favourites, much under-appreciated in some quarters, I do remember him using a seriously cut down shorter stick at times, the wind-up & follow through on a slapshot amusing to watch as a result as he'd have to really compress his body & bend over to hit it with force, the follow through resulting in an uncoiling & God forbid you were skating behind when he followed through on it. Like Quasi Moto with a Northlands' Junior Pro. All elbows & stick. Wicked.

Aurel was pre-maturely balding, hence the black cap. Opposing players would often try and knock it off his head, showing his balding melon, and Aurel would lose his mind.

... thats hilarious. Vanity. And here I'd always thought he wore that cap to keep his head warm. Too much.

 

[BubbaBoot]

... not exactly a "piece of equipment" Bubba. But as Sanderson was/is one of my all-time favourites, much under-appreciated in some quarters, I do remember him using a seriously cut down shorter stick at times, the wind-up & follow through on a slapshot amusing to watch as a result as he'd have to really compress his body & bend over to hit it with force, the follow through resulting in an uncoiling & God forbid you were skating behind when he followed through on it. Like Quasi Moto with a Northlands' Junior Pro. All elbows & stick. Wicked.

I know it's not exactly equipment but some folks have included physical attributes...I remember his doo and fu were part of his bad boy image.

As far as his shooting style, I wonder if it exacerbated his hip / joint problems....the guy has been walking with a cane for a long time. I remember him skating with a lower, leaning over style, especially on the forecheck and whenever he used his patented sweep check. The guy abused his body in so many different ways.

 

[IComeInPeace]

How about 'Cowboy' Bill Flett's beard...
"Flett’s facial hair is part hockey legend, as some have*credited him with*starting the tradition of sporting a beard*for the playoffs.* Truth be told, while he may have been the first bearded player to hoist the Stanley Cup, it wasn’t a playoff thing*- it was his every day look.* Realistically, the*tradition probably belongs to the Islanders of the early 80s."

Or the most infamous beard story of them all:
"...One time on a whim, Barry Ashbee lit teammate "Cowboy" Bill Flett's bushy beard on fire with a cigarette lighter as teammates and a reporter sat around. Flett quickly snuffed out the flame, dipped his beard in his mug of beer (apparently to cool off) and then downed the rest of the beer in one long gulp. Impressed that the Cowboy never even flinched, Ashbee announced the next round was on him.

Everyone laughed uproariously except the horrified reporter, who got up and left after telling them they were all insane. That provoked even more laughter. Such was life around the Broad Street Bullies. They could be as rowdy off the ice as they were on the ice, and they had a real good time. "

 

[Killion]

...I remember his doo and fu were part of his bad boy image.

In Vegas in 08 there was a bizarre event for "Best Mustache'" pitting Derek against Hulk Hogan. According to Sanderson;

"I first grew a mustache when I was 4 years old"...

"Hulks' mustache looks like the thin white hairs pulled from the ass of a kangaroo"...

"When this is over, Im going to go look up Mrs. Hogan, show her how the man wears the mustache, the stache doesnt wear the man"

Sanderson won the contest btw.

 

[DJ Man]

Ken Dryden, I recall, used to wear a rather short jersey, which made him appear even taller than he was. He could play crouch and standup at the same time.

 

[Frelimo]

The Gretzky Jofa helmet sticks out the most to me.

Especially by his Rangers days no one wore helmets like that anymore.

No one wore gloves like that any more at that time either ... much to the chagrin of Don Cherry.

 

[Mad Habber]

Not a player, but Kerry Fraser. That hair looked harder than a helmet.

 

[blackhawks1229]

surprised no one's mentioned Andy Moog and his stick

 

[Killion]

Not a player, but Kerry Fraser. That hair looked harder than a helmet.

... Hairspray. Gotta problem?

 

[mapletoft]

Mark Napier's helmet

 

[iamjs]

I wasn't paying much attention to equipment in the early 90s, but did anybody in the NHL use a Christian "Curtis Curve"? I thought Moog did, but I can't find any pics.

We had one that sat in our pro shop for about a season. Story was that they found it in the visitors locker room after an ECHL game and kept it in the shop until it was claimed. After almost a full year, nobody claimed it and a guy in my league said it got it "cheap", although he never said what cheap was.

and although not a specific player (Gretzky's name was all over this but I don't recall him using it in a game), there was this: http://tblfan.wordpress.com/2010/06/26/ub-offset/ The Hespeler Offset blade, which seemed like a good idea in theory but never took off.

 

[chapel]

Bill Flett's throat protector