Your favorite NHL era?

[Mike Martin]

I look back fondly on 1985-1994, there was still a Chicago Stadium, the Boston Garden, more unique arenas in this era, also such a wide range of jersey colors from Quebec's great blue to Hartford's and Minnesota's green. It was before the huge salary increases of the mid-90's and I believe there was better solidarity between teammates in this period.

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[begbeee]

It has to do lot with a nostalgia and my favourite team, but I loved the dead puck era.

 

[VanIslander]

The Roarin' Twenties!

 

[Bongo]

Anytime before Bettman.

 

[feffan]

I loved the war that was the Dead Puck Era.

If I had been alive too see it I would bet the 60´s would have been my choice...

 

[Crosbyfan]

1955-56 to 1978-79

15 Cups in a span of 24 years

 

[Sprague Cleghorn]

The Roarin' Twenties!

Me too. I'd love to see Cleghorn play especially in that game against the Sens where he single handedly knocked everyone out.

 

[Disengage]

The Original 21 era was the best.

 

[canadiancreed]

Anytime before Bettman.

Pretty much this.

 

[IMLACHnME]

Era of the two Bobbys

Presumably, in most cases, someone's "favorite NHL era" is the era of someone's youth. A school kid has all the time in the world to follow the game closely, and unashamedly admire the league's stars. A collection of hockey cards adds to it.

For me, the mid-60s to mid-70s period, while I was in school, was my favorite NHL era. Just before the first expansion, there were the big stars: Howe, Hull, Mikita, Beliveau, Mahovlich, and the rookie in 1966-67 wearing number 4 in Boston. Then, expansion doubled the number of teams and players. That made the collecting of hockey cards all the more fun.

 

[SealsFan]

Same here, Imlachnme. That's the era I grew up with and while I loved seeing the amazing skills of the stars on the established clubs, I also had a heart for those expansion teams. It's always such a stark contrast when I see game films of that era and see the lack of ads on the boards and ice, the helmetless players, the standup goalies who don't look like cyborgs, and just being able to name nearly every player in the league by sight.

 

[GMR]

I think the 80's, even though I didn't watch hockey then. If I pick the eras I grew up in, it'd be mid to late 90's.

Reason I pick the 80's? Simple. The highest scoring era and the era with the most fights. Goalies didn't dominate like they do now. As a student of the game's history, I wish I watched it back then.

 

[Ohashi_Jouzu*]

Presumably, in most cases, someone's "favorite NHL era" is the era of someone's youth.

You're almost certainly right. But at the same time, the further you go back towards some of our childhoods, the more you see a game fueled by passion as opposed to business. Less sacrifice and more self-preservation these days? Opponents as fellow employees trying to build a business/brand as opposed to sworn enemies? To me the late '80s/early '90s still represents the best combination of skill AND blood and guts determination that I've seen. Players' salaries weren't widely/openly known or accessible to each other, either, so I think there was a lot less looking sideways at Players A, B, and C and more focus on looking forward to team goals.

I would have thought that the ever increasing salaries would cause players to work harder (on the ice, mind you) to keep their spots from everyone coming up behind them looking to take them, or simply prove themselves, but teams seem to increasingly have more trouble with higher salary players who seem to get complacent, comfortable, and/or "entitled" (probably not unlike any other modern workplace, lol) than getting "exemplary" work out of guys closer to the bottom of the payroll (which is perhaps different from a modern workplace).

 

[Terry Yake]

easily the mid 80s-mid 90s

 

[Brooklanders*]

Clearly Super Mario in his prime before the cancer. What a treat to watch such grace. That's when the NHL was fun and exciting.

 

[Killion]

Imlach's got it right there. Generally (though there are exceptions) most would reply with whichever era they grew up in, exceptions being someone who might have developed an interest in the really early years of the game or the 1920's & 30's. For me its the Golden Era, circa 1947-1967, in particular 56-67. Though I initially objected to Expansion in 67/68, those teams & the players did capture my fancy so Id rank the era of 67/68 through to 1980 as my 2nd favorite. Extremely interesting period and one of constant flux whereas the last 10yrs of the Golden Era was one of conservatism & stability.

Interesting premise for a thread and certainly very telling in terms of the cross-section of generations of the Members who frequent the HOH Board. As one gets older, we do tend to reflect upon the past more & more, least ways I tend to. Consider myself very lucky to have been born when I was in the 50's and witnessed so much change both as a spectator & as a player during the dying years of the 06 era, all that followed. It was a time of profound change not only for the game of hockey but certainly in a far broader sense, of society itself. As a kid, I was actually far more interested in playing the game than actually watching it growing up in Toronto. I did appreciate the fact that the Leafs at that time were winners, but I dont ever recall actually "idolizing" any one player, just recognizing the best of the best as being quite superb either overall or with certain skills, or even just attitude. How they approached the game & played it.

 

[Yamaguchi*]

1980-88

The Islanders and Oilers era

 

[mbhhofr]

Presumably, in most cases, someone's "favorite NHL era" is the era of someone's youth. A school kid has all the time in the world to follow the game closely, and unashamedly admire the league's stars. A collection of hockey cards adds to it.

So true. Mine is the 1950"s.

First listening to Foster Hewitt, on the radio, broadcasting the Saturday night games from "high up in the gondola" at Maple Leaf Gardens and then in 1954 when Winnipeg finally got the televised games, Hockey Night In Canada, from the Gardens and the Montreal Forum.

I guess that you could say that I'm prejudiced, having met many of the 1953 Stanley Cup Champion Montreal Canadiens and getting their autographs and then they go on to win it five years in a row 1956-1960.

That's my Golden Era.

 

[Boreal01]

Shortly before the expansion years, from 60-61 to 66-67.

 

[Kale Makar]

The only era I have seen is the post-lockout one, but the one I would like to see is the 80s and 90s. Yes that is more like 2 eras, but I would love to have seen all the talent and the high scoring of the 80s and throughout those decades watching the Nordiques and the beginning of the Avs.

 

[IMLACHnME]

Table-Top Hockey

I forgot to mention the many hours I spent playing table-top hockey back when I was a kid in school. Those games, following a draft of those players whose hockey cards we had, further bolstered my interest generally in the NHL.

For me, those drafts were as much fun as the games themselves. We'd have drafts by position, and then keep stats of who scored. Each of participant would have three lines, and each line would play one of the three periods. Talk about long shifts!

Can you imagine the fun just in the competition for some of the biggest stars? Everybody wanted Brett's father, and Mark & Marty's father.

Thanks to those drafts, I could then easily name every player in the NHL throughout the mid-60s/early-70s era.

 

[McGuillicuddy]

Late 70's to mid 80's.

3 great dynasties (Canadiens, Islanders, Oilers), old-style goalie masks, a young Gretzky destroying records, HNIC with Bob Cole, Dick Irvin Jr. and Danny Gallivan, Dave Hodge before he started throwing pencils, and the Soviet menace was still something to be feared and hated.

Those were the days .

 

[Killion]

I forgot to mention the many hours I spent playing table-top hockey back when I was a kid in school.

.... ya that was fun. I had a mid-50's Eagle Table Top Hockey Game, Toronto vs Montreal. This was the pre-rod game whereby you couldnt move the players back & forth (stationary but rotated 360 degree's), just the Goalie left or right in his crease, tin players, and we used a marble... my first awareness or "awakening" to individual players coming from the old Sheriff NHL Player Disc's that came in pudding & gelatin packs. About the size of a Loonie or Silver Dollar. Disembodied head shot of the player on one side in full color, reverse side I cant remember. For some reason Bill Gadsby capturing my attention & imagination, likely the strong features & oversized cauliflower ears. Looked like he could fly with those things. Big grin on his face. NY Rangers.

 

[Morgoth Bauglir]

1980s easily.

 

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Imlach's got it right there. Generally (though there are exceptions) most would reply with whichever era they grew up in, exceptions being someone who might have developed an interest in the really early years of the game or the 1920's & 30's. For me its the Golden Era, circa 1947-1967, in particular 56-67. Though I initially objected to Expansion in 67/68, those teams & the players did capture my fancy so Id rank the era of 67/68 through to 1980 as my 2nd favorite. Extremely interesting period and one of constant flux whereas the last 10yrs of the Golden Era was one of conservatism & stability.

Interesting premise for a thread and certainly very telling in terms of the cross-section of generations of the Members who frequent the HOH Board. As one gets older, we do tend to reflect upon the past more & more, least ways I tend to. Consider myself very lucky to have been born when I was in the 50's and witnessed so much change both as a spectator & as a player during the dying years of the 06 era, all that followed. It was a time of profound change not only for the game of hockey but certainly in a far broader sense, of society itself. As a kid, I was actually far more interested in playing the game than actually watching it growing up in Toronto. I did appreciate the fact that the Leafs at that time were winners, but I dont ever recall actually "idolizing" any one player, just recognizing the best of the best as being quite superb either overall or with certain skills, or even just attitude. How they approached the game & played it.

Unfortunately I didn't discover the sport while I was still a child. I was already entering manhood when I started watching so I missed the wide-eyed wonder of having on-ice heroes and idolizing players. I have some regret there because I don't have those kind of memories to look fondly back on. Blame it on the Caps I guess since they were hideous when I was a kid and got no coverage in the local media