Braydon Coburn: 50 Stitches After Getting Hit By Puck

This isn't too pretty to watch, and will no doubt fuel an even stronger debate about mandatory visors in the NHL, but this is footage of the Flyers Braydon Coburn getting a shot above the eye from a Malkin deflection via Hal Gill. It took 50 stitches to close the cut and indications are that no bones were broken. Chances are Coburn will be on the ice again tomorrow night when the Penguins and Flyers play in Philadelphia...

Video of Finland's Non-Goal Vs. USA

Finland and the US played yesterday in the IIHF World Championships and one of the more interesting highlights to come out of the game was a non-goal that Finland scored through the side of the net. (The come from behind win by Finland and large fight at the end of the game was also interesting.)

What is most amusing about the goal, scored by Ville Koistinen, is not that it went through the side of the net, but rather that it was actually reviewed by the refs and allowed to stand.

You be the judge:


If you said "No", then you are in agreement with the IIHF who acknowledged this following the game. They also dismissed the goal judge in question for the rest of the tournament. I'm not even going to consider what the reaction would have been if this had happened in the Stanley Cup Playoffs...

NHL Players in the 2008 World Championships

If you need a reason to watch the World Championships then I'll give you one: Alexander Ovechkin. The following is a list, country by country of NHL players who are on preliminary team rosters for the IIHF World Championships. The games start May 2nd, official roster lists must be handed in on May 1st.

Canada

Cam Ward
Pascal Leclaire
Mathieu Garon
Dan Hamhuis
Jay Bouwmeester
Brent Burns
Duncan Keith
Steven Staios
Mike Green
Ed Jovanovski
Derek Roy
Patrick Sharp
Eric Staal
Chris Kunitz
Jonathan Toews
Kyle Turris
Shane Doan
Jason Chimera
Martin St. Louis
Ryan Getzlaf
Rick Nash
Sam Gagner
Jason Spezza

Czech Republic

Tomas Kaberle
Filip Kuba
Jan Hejda
Zbynek Michalek
Ladislav Smid
Karel Rachunek
Patrik Elias
Karel Rachunek
David Krejci
Tomas Fleischmann
Radim Vrbata
Martin Hanzal
Ales Kotalik
Jiri Novotny

Denmark

Frans Nielsen

Finland

Karri Ramo
Ville Koistinen
Joni Pitkanen
Mikko Koivu
Olli Jokinen
Tuomo Ruutu
Ville Peltonen
Sean Bergenheim
Jussi Jokinen
Niko Kapanen

France

Cristobal Huet

Germany

Dennis Seidenberg
Christoph Schubert
Marco Sturm

Russia

Denis Grebeshkov
Dmitri Kalinin
Maxim Afinogenov
Ilya Kovalchuk
Alexander Ovechkin
Alexander Semin
Sergei Fedorov
Alexander Radulov

Slovakia

Branislav Mezei
Lubomir Visnovsky
Marcel Hossa

Slovenia

Anze Kopitar

Sweden

Erik Ersberg
Mikael Tellqvist
Magnus Johansson
Niclas Wallin
Alexander Edler
Anton Stralman
Nicklas Backstrom
Marcus Nilson
Robert Nilsson

Switzerland

Martin Gerber
Jonas Hiller

United States

Craig Anderson
Tim Thomas
Keith Ballard
Tom Gilbert
Tim Gleason
Matt Greene
Paul Martin
Mark Stuart
James Wisniewski
David Backes
David Booth
Dustin Brown
Adam Burish
Jeff Halpern
Patrick Kane
Phil Kessel
Peter Mueller
Patrick O'Sullivan
Zach Parise
Jason Pominville
Drew Stafford
Lee Stempniak

Belarus, Italy, Latvia, and Norway do not have any NHL players listed at the moment. As stated this can all change up till the 1st of May.

In Memory of Pelle Lindbergh

Outside of Stockholm, about 15 minutes by subway, lies the UNESCO heritage site of Skogskyrkogården (the woodland cemetery). It is an amazing work of architecture as well as landscaping and the final resting place of some of Sweden's most famous sons and daughters. One such person is Pelle Lindbergh, who's grave in a quiet corner is not unlike the thousands of others - anonymous and unknown to most people that visit the cemetery. Only the Flyers symbol and engraved "#31" tell the tale of one of the greatest goalies Sweden has ever produced and one of the greatest the NHL has ever seen. Someone who's life was tragically ended at just 26.

He is remembered by many. Occasionally small items are left as tokens of appreciation from fans both local and far away (such as the puck in the picture.) The guest book in the information center bares an unusually high number of addresses from the Philadelphia area. It's an emotional thing to see, and one can never quite escape the thought of "what could have been" as a Flyers fan. At the same time one reflects on what was: a bronze medal winner at Lake Placid in 1980, a Vezina Trophy winner, a two-time All Star and the highest vote getter in 1986 posthumously, and loved in a city far from his home...

My brother, who was visiting from the States, and I were there last week. It's close to where I live, but when you stand there and see the name "Pelle Lindbergh" you are far away, 22 years back in time. We were kids on a bus going to elementary school where we heard the news report that shook the foundations of Philadelphia sports and made anyone at that age destined to love the sport of hockey and the Flyers for the rest of their lives. And there you stand for a few minutes and remember, and then you go...

There is an excellent website about Pelle Lindbergh in both Swedish and English that can be found at PelleLindbergh.se. It contains a great deal that cannot be found anywhere else including videos and interviews.

NHL Trade and Roster Updates Done

As of now, this minute, all of the current NHL rosters including all of the trades should be up to date in the database. In total, including some older deals and call-ups from the minors, it was over 60 new players/jerseys (x 2).

If I happened to have missed anyone please let me know.

Forsberg Back in Colorado

Disregard everything you've read up unti now, we finally have a contract signed. The usual last minute deal, signed this afternoon, will see Foppa spend the remainder of the season with the Avalanche. Full story on TSN here.

This was actually what I was hoping would happen if Forsberg actually did return to the NHL at all...which looked doubtful. I think Colorado was the right choice, it's where he's won two Stanley Cups and spent the bulk of his career.

Start digging out your old jerseys Avs fans.

Foppa Camp Says No NHL This Season

Reports came out last night, and were all over the Swedish papers and news sites this morning, that Peter Forsberg will not be making an NHL comeback this season.

The story broke on TSN, article here, with a statement from Forsberg's agent Don Baizley :

"The prospect of Peter having enough confidence in the foot-skate issue to commit to being able to play in the NHL this season isn't where it needs to be at this moment," Baizley told TSN. "As a result, teams are being told it is unlikely he will be able to commit to return to the NHL this season."

As cryptic as usual, and in usual agent-speak, that quote almost says "No", but not quite. It says unlikely. And here I was actually warming to the idea of him possibly coming back to my hapless Flyers who have now lost 7 games in a row...

Meanwhile the Swedish press has taken this opportunity to once again jump on the chance of Foppa playing for the national team...they never miss an opportunity.

Sundin Trade Possibilites (Swedish TV)

This aired yesterday on Swedish television, SVT talked to fans, Tucker, the press, and Sundin himself about the trade rumors and the possibility of leaving Toronto after 14 years. A good deal of the video is in Swedish (obviously), although there is little new to be added to all of the swirling rumours.

Sundin basically says he wants to stay in Toronto (his hometown as he puts it), he also says it would be a big deal for him to win a Stanley Cup - but that he'd want to do it with the Leafs.

SVT puts up an interesting comparison between Sundin and fellow Swede Niklas Lidstrom's time in the NHL. They've both played about as many years, however Lidstrom has 3 Stanley Cups and has been in the playoffs all of his 15 years. Sundin, as we know, has no Cups and has been in the playoffs only 9 of his 16 seasons in the league...

With 8 days left before the trade deadline anything can happen, with the biggest events usually coming in the final days/hours. For more on the Sundin business, Bill Clement has a blog post on HockeyBuzz.com from Friday talking about the situation and saying Anaheim...there are roughly 200 responses so far...

The Forsberg Saga

The Flippity Flop of Foppa
So, does anyone want to put money on where Peter "Foppa" Forsberg ends up in the coming weeks/days? Not me. I wouldn't even put money on whether or not he ends up in North America. I'm not even sure if I'd bet on whether or not he ended up on ice or not.

But, that doesn't stop the speculation surrounding the 34-year old's future in the NHL. Here in Sweden I think it has been about 6 months since an article about Forsberg didn't appear in the paper. One can seemingly not get enough when it comes to foot injuries, special skates, practicing with MODO, the possibility of playing with the national team, the fact that he is not going to play with the national team, and now the bubbling pot of god-knows-what that you'd call the 13 days remaining till the trade deadline.

What the Swedish Press is Saying
Today, in Aftonbladet, there was an article that basically did nothing more than inform you that; "Whoever gets Forsberg will become a better team over night." That quote does not come from the Swedish press, that comes from Ian Laperriere of the Colorado Avalanche. Yes, today's speculation was about a return to Colorado. But, overall, one team keeps coming to the top of the "Guess Who" list: Philadelphia.

Allow me to quote from a panel of two Swedish hockey journalists discussing this topic last week on Aftonbladet.se:

Which uniform will we see Forsberg in?
Tomas Ros - "Philadelphia with a 1-2 year contract. He'll be applauded by Flyers fans when he comes back."
Per Bjurman - "The most common assumption is the Flyers, but I keep hoping for the Rangers."

And, if he goes to the Flyers - does he get the number 21?
Tomas Ros - "Yeah, I feel that Peter Forsberg with the number 21 would be a big seller in Philadelphia. Jason Smith will have to switch, despite being the captain. Who wants a 21 Smith jersey?
Per Bjurman - "Depends on how much Smith cares. 21 is available for the Rangers by the way."

What Paul Holmgren Has To Say
So, they're already discussing jersey numbers. In Philadelphia things are a little different. The Daily News featured a brief article by Ed Moran on Feb. 11th which included some quotes from Flyers GM Paul Holmgren. Holmgren had apparently heard from Forsberg's agent who had told him that Peter still hadn't made a decision as to whether or not he's even coming back to the league. He needs another week to decide. Which means no answer till after this coming weekend at the earliest. Holmgren later echoes my sentiments exactly: "You know we seem to be spending a lot of time [talking about Forsberg] and until we actually know he's coming back to the NHL, it's sort of a moot point....I'm still not convinced he's coming back to the NHL. People seem to think he's coming back to the Flyers. I'm certainly not convinced of that. People seem to think they know something we don't know." Thank you Paul, that is exactly the answer all of us want to hear, and is about the only concrete thing anyone has said regarding all of this.

Regarding the Flyers and Foppa
Do the Flyers even need Forsberg? Last year they certainly did, but he only played 40 games with them before being dealt on to a much better Predators team. The previous season he played 60 games with the Flyers. His two season totals on the team were some of the lowest in his career (missed games taken into account): 30 goals, 85 assists. I'm not saying Forsberg is a bad player, I'm saying he is a major injury risk and what he wants right now is not inline with what the Flyers need. Which brings me to:

The Foppa Conundrum
Peter Forsberg is only going to play in the NHL again if he gets to play for a team that is going to contend for a Stanley Cup - this year. He will not end up in some place like Los Angeles. In fact the better the odds of winning a Cup this year, the better the odds that Forsberg will end up there. Detroit? Ottawa?

Forsberg is expensive. We are talking at least $5 million for this year and next year. At least. Which means hitting the salary cap big time, and putting your money where your mouth is as a club owner. I'd seriously be surprised if the Flyers would do this considering their off season following last year's dismal record. Dealing Forsberg to Nashville helped them, re-signing him now (when things are going good) would be bizarre to say the least. Me thinks there are better things to do with that kind of cash - like pick up some more defense.

Philadelphia has franchise players now, they've moved forward. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't think fans are going to applaud an injury prone Forsberg's return to a team he's already been on twice. That would be like welcoming back Lindros. If he did come back to the Flyers, and that is a big IF, the expectations on him to perform would be gigantic. (Donovan McNabb proportions for those familiar with the minds of Philadelphia sports fans.) If I was Peter Forsberg I wouldn't want to deal with that. Personally, I'd want to go back back to Colorado...

The Cold Hard Foppa Truth
So, to put it bluntly. Cash + Cup = Forsberg on your team. But, Forsberg gets the last say in the matter. And, to go back to the beginning of this article, you better truly believe that "Forsberg is going to make your team better over night." I'm not sure anyone in the Flyers organization can truly believe that as much today as they did in 2005. Colorado yes, the Rangers probably, Detroit hmmm..., Ottawa they just pulled off a huge trade, Nashville most likely, Vancouver definitely, MODO...certainly....but the Flyers I don't think so. Then again they've lost 3 straight and Gagne's out again....naah...I still don't believe it.

Foppa Figures
During the course of 12 seasons in the NHL Forsberg has played in nearly 700 games and scored almost 250 goals. His true skill, and what has made him a star player, lies in the fact that he has racked up 623 assists in those near 700 games. Which, when all is said and done, is still more than a point a game average. If he's healthy, like he was early in his career, we're talking a 30 year a goal scorer plus 80 assists with the ability to up the level of his line mates. That would make any team a better team over night.

He's played in 7 All-Star games and won two Stanley Cups with Colorado, In addition he has won the Calder, Ross and Hart trophies. Oh, and yes, two Olympic gold medals.

We shall see, in 13 days everyone will know everything and this will just be added to the huge pile of outdated speculation and Foppa related jibberish....that is, unless he goes to Philadelphia. In which case I'll look very foolish.

Zednik Recovering After Surgery

If anyone missed it over the weekend, Richard Zednik of the Panthers took a skate to the neck in their game against Buffalo. The skate in question actually came from teammate Olli Jokinen who was upended in the corner and managed to catch Zednik with his skate blade on the way to the ice.

Zednik was able to skate to the bench after the initial incident where they were able to stop the bleeding. Although the game was stopped for 15 minutes while crews "scraped the blood off the ice". No doubt a pretty scary moment for everyone involved. According to the Panthers website Zednik underwent surgery yesterday to close the laceration and is resting following the operation in Buffalo.

Although these things happen surprisingly seldom they do occasionally occur. There have been a couple such injuries over the last couple of years in the minor leagues and of course the Malarchuk incident in the NHL about 20 years ago. Thankfully things didn't turn out worse for Zednik who has been on a tear of late scoring 6 goals in his last 4 games including notching his second career hat trick. The guys on Puck Podcast even named him as their player of the week on Saturday before the Sabres game. Hopefully he'll make a full recovery and be back in the not too distant future.

Richard Zednik, born in Slovakia, is a 10 year veteran of the league who has spent time with the Capitals, Canadiens, and Islanders before coming to the Panthers this season.

Ron Hextall night in Philadelphia

One of the most beloved Flyers was given a night all his own when he was inducted into the Flyers hall of fame on Wednesday. He optimized the style of the team perhaps more than any other goalie that ever donned the uniform and backed it up with both his play and attitude. He became the 19th member of the hall, that features the likes of Bernie Parent, Bobby Clarke, Reggie Leach, Tim Kerr and most recently Dave Poulin who as inducted in 2004.

Hextall had two stints with Philadelphia, he was originally sent to Quebec as part of the Lindros deal but ended up back on the Flyers in 1994 via the Islanders. He played 11 total years with the team posting a 2.91 GAA having played in almost 500 regular season games. His 1986-87 season alone was one long glorifying accomplishment - All Rookie Team, First All Star Team, Vezina Trophy and the Conn Smythe. The encore came the following season when he became the first goalie to score a goal (legitimately).

The full story with links to videos and interviews can be found at the Flyers official website here.

The following is the tribute video that was created by the team:
(May not be Safari friendly, they recommend Firefox.)

NHL interview sites and podcasts

Hockey players are a different breed and listening to them talk about the game, their hometown and their lives is always entertaining. There are a number of sites on-line that feature these audio files (and in some cases video) and I'd recommend checking them out if you have an interest in getting beyond just the name and stats of player's past and present.

The Hockey Hall of Fame have a huge media library that is usually overlooked by visitors to their site. Found in their Audio/Video Vault here, they have short biography clips with a lot of seldom seen footage for nearly 50 members. They also have files from player inductions, interviews with members, and even the locker room footage following Anaheim's win of the Cup last year. You could spend easily an hour watching the footage in the Legend Spotlight section - don't miss the Bobby Orr video.

Another site, far less known than the HHOF, is a place called TheHockey.Net (great name), where they have about 3-4 dozen interviews from about 5-10 years ago as well as some video. Found here and divided into sections for Playoffs, Regular Season, Classics, and Olympics it's a trove. The site was last updated in 2003 by the looks of it, but all of the files still work. Great interviews with the likes of Mike Ricci, Al MacInnis, Alexander Mogilny, and (not to be missed) Slava Fetisov.

The NHL Radio has three podcasts (links will open in iTunes) that focus on player interviews as well as historical perspectives of the league. One on One with Sam Rosen is a weekly clip with interviews of players past and present as well as other notable figures (like Gary Bettman...). Most recently the show featured Mike Babcock, in the last month you get a two part interview with Teemu Selanne and the energetic Darren Pang.

Interviews and Features another NHL Radio segment, has almost 90 audio files from this season available to listen to. A lot of interviews with coaches around the league as well current players. Most of the content focuses on the this season and the upcoming playoffs. Highly entertaining interviews with Ovechkin among others...especially the one involving a discussion around whether or not he's old enough to drink beer.

And, finally, Doc's Classic NHL looks like it is finally back after a long hiatus. Every week the Devil's Mike Emrick narrates a 5 minute look back at a particular team, player or incident from NHL history. These are actually really entertaining as they feature audio clips from different sources as well as brief interviews. This week's subject was the 1967 Leafs team, and some highlights of the past have included the zamboni, Dave "The Hammer" Schultz, the California Seals, Patrick Roy, and a very modest Phil Housley....

If you've got any tips on other sites feel free to share them.

Belfour interview on Swedish TV, moose hunting

Interesting interview from Swedish TV I stumbled on this morning while going through their archives involving Ed Belfour. (There are two state run stations which we pay for, so I am attempting to get my money's worth.) Partly it discusses Belfour's interest in hunting and about how he think's it's a bonus with all of the wildlife in the area. He also briefly talks about the possibility of continuing to play with Leksand next year (if and when) they move up to the Swedish Elite League.

Belfour's parts are obviously in English, however the reporter is speaking Swedish. You should be able to get the just of what's going on if you are interested in the adventures of The Eagle in Scandinavia. All in all it seems like he's a pretty happy guy living in Dalarna...

I unfortunately don't have the ability to embed the video, but you can see it by clicking on the following link. (This aired about two weeks ago, Jan 18th.)

Ed Belfour Interview on SVT

Teemu's Back

While Peter Forsberg continues to try and make a return to the NHL at some point another Scandinavian is officially doing it. Selanne signed a 1-year contract with Anaheim yesterday ending all of the speculation regarding his possible comeback. His activation is immediate and he'll finish out the season with the team. Official press release with video etc. can be found on the Ducks homepage here.

Anaheim, who had four players in the All Star game this year, certainly doesn't need any additional help on offense, but throwing a 37-year old Teemu into the mix certainly won't hurt them. In 14 years in the NHL he's managed 1135 points, including 540 goals. Last season alone he had 48, his highest total in 10 years - so me thinks he's still got it.

For those that remember the year Selanne came into the NHL then there are few players that have so utterly justified themselves the way he did. Scoring 76 goals in Winnipeg on the way to the Calder and breaking just about every rookie record written. I'd pay good money to get all of those goals on one DVD, the guy was nothing short of magic. I remember seeing him standing behind the net with the puck unable to find a pass in one game. Instead of trying to bring the puck out he flipped it over the goal and tried to beat the defense and knock it out of the air. He failed at the attempt but that play was the type of thing he was typical of in those days. Like a shark...

And so 8 minutes of Teemu classics....

Owen Nolan, the 1997 All Star Game

Well, with All Star Weekend upon us I thought I'd take a look back at one of the more amusing moments in All Star history. In 1997 Owen Nolan scored a hat trick in the game (however he lost out to Gretzky as MVP, how many people can say that..). His third goal became an instant classic as he pointed top shelf on Hasek before putting the puck there. I guess if you can back up that kind of thing then you're not being pompas. Mind you, this game was in San Jose and Nolan was a Shark at the time as well...

I wonder if that would count as a trick shot in tomorrow's competition?

Brian Leetch Night

Last night the Rangers officially retired Brian Leetch's number 2, someone posted some great footage of the lifting of the banner which you can see below. You've got to feel like you've truly made it when they hang your name in the rafters of a place like the Garden.

Over on the Rangers site, now officially part of the NHL network after all the grumblings, they have a tribute page set up here which includes interviews, videos, photos, and more.

Brian Leetch played 17 seasons in New York, holds more than 40 Rangers records, was an 11 time All Star, won the Norris Trophy twice and way back in 1988 he was rookie of the year. He becomes only the 5th player in Ranger history to have their number retired - after Gilbert, Giacomin, Richter and Messier. Adam Graves' number 9 will be retired at some point during next season but the date has not been announced.

Leetch's Rangers jerseys in the database can be found here.

The Rick Nash Goal

Nash has scored some pretty amazing goals, in fact earlier this year he put one over the goalies shoulder...from between his legs...however I don't think the guy has done anything that comes close to this before.

Class A how to split the defense, then cut them into small pieces...then deek the hell out of the goalie and give yourself an easy open net shot. The fact that he nearly cost the Blue Jackets the game before this, by giving Phoenix a power play and letting them tie it up, will not be remembered in the annals of history. However, the goal itself will probably be shown on highlight reels for the next 10 years.

Pay attention kids, if you can stick handle like that you too may lead your team to their first ever playoff spot.

(From January 17th)

Willie O'Ree on the NHL Hour

It was 50 years ago today that Willie O' Ree broke the color barrier in the NHL, playing with the Bruins in a game against the Canadiens.

In yesterday's NHL Hour there was a great interview with O' Ree that is definitely worth a listen. In it he talks about playing blind in one eye, meeting Jackie Robinson, that first game at the Montreal Forum and what he is doing now for the sport. Very, very cool stuff. This man deserves all the respect in the world for what he's done and continues to do for hockey.

You can download the show via iTunes here.

Or listen to a streaming version on NHL.com's podcast page here.

Advent Day 25 - Thomas Steen

The only number 25 in the league that is retired belongs to Thomas Steen. He is also the only Swedish born player to have earned the honor.

He played 14 seasons in the NHL, all with the Winnipeg Jets, totaling 950 games. Besides Bobby Hull, his number is the only other the Jets ever retired (9 and 25 continue to be recognized by the Coyotes).

Besides playing with Winnipeg he played in three Canada Cups for Sweden as well as numerous World Championships. After retiring from the NHL in 1995 he went on to play 6 more seasons in Germany before finally hanging up the skates in 1999.

He is the father of the Maple Leafs Alexander Steen.

More on Thomas Steen can be found at the HHOF*s Legends of Hockey page here.

His jerseys in the database can be found here.

Steen and company during the 1984-85 season...with terrible music track.

Advent Day 24 - Bernie Federko

One of the greatest St. Louis Blues of all time Bernie Federko played 12 seasons with the team and retired with most of the team's scoring records.

He came into the league in 1976 playing 31 games with the Blues and notching 3 hat tricks in his rookie season. He would have 100 or more points in 4 seasons and more than 90 in 3 more. He was the first player in NHL history to record at least 50 assists in 10 straight seasons, and the 22nd to top the 1000 point mark. He only played in 2 All-Star games and was often overlooked in an era playing with the likes of Lemieux and Gretzky. Jacques Demers called him the most underrated player in the league.

He was traded to Detroit in 1989 and would retire the following year. The Blues retired his number 24 in 1991, and Federko was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002. To this day he still holds the Blues records for games played, assists and points. He is currently the color commentator for the team.

More on Bernie Federko at the HHOF's Legends of Hockey page here.

His jerseys in the database can be found here.

A look back at Federko's career in St. Louis:

Advent Day 23 - Bob Gainey

One of the most dominant defensive forwards to ever play the game Bob Gainey played his entire 15 year career in the NHL with the Canadiens. He won 5 Stanley Cups in Montreal and was awarded the Selke Trophy four years in a row between 1979 and 1982. He also won the Conn Smythe in 1979.

Never a high scoring forward his true talent resided in his defensive play. His total of just over 500 points says little about who he was as a player. The Soviet national team coach at the time referred to him as the greatest all-around player in the world. (He played against the Soviets on a number of occasions including 2 Canada Cups and the 1979 Challenge Cup which replace the All-Star game that season.)

He captained the Canadiens for 8 seasons starting in 1981 and his number 23 was officially retired in February earlier this year. Gainey is currently the General Manager in Montreal.

More on Bob Gainey can be found at the HHOF's Legends of Hockey page here.

His jerseys in the database can be found here.

Advent Day 22 - Mike Bossy

One of the greatest goal scorers in NHL history Mike Bossy left his mark in the league playing only ten seasons - all with the Islanders. Despite a career that was shortened by back injuries (retiring at only 30) he shattered scoring records and was a part of the dynasty that won 4 Stanley Cups between 1980-83.

He came into the league in 1977 scoring 53 goals and winning the Calder as rookie of the year. He would go on to score 50 or more in the next 9 seasons. In 1980-81 he scored the legendary 50 goals in 50 games, and recorded 9 hat tricks. The pinnacle of his career came the following season when he scored 64 goals and had 83 assists. He was an even greater threat in the playoffs where he had 160 points in 129 games.

Besides 4 Stanley Cups and the Calder, Bossy who was strictly against fighting, brought home the Lady Byng three times. (In the 83-84 season he had a miniscule 8 penalty minutes.) He was also rewarded with the Conn Smythe in 81-82, the season that saw the Islanders retain the Stanley Cup for a second time.

He was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 1991 and the Islanders retired his number 22 officially in 1992.

More on Mike Bossy can be found at the HHOF's Legends of Hockey page here.

His jerseys in the database can be found here.

About the jerseys: The Islanders changed their blue jerseys in 1977, and then again in 1978. They changed the number font several times in the early 80's and removed the name outlines following the 1983 season.

Watch for the goal scored in mid-air after being hit by Tiger Williams and try and ignore the music...:

Advent Day 21 - Stan Mikita

Born Stanislav Guot in Slovakia, Stan Mikita moved to Ontario as a boy and was raised by an aunt and uncle who gave him their surname. He played 22 years in the NHL, all with the Blackhawks and was one of the brightest stars in the league during the 1960's. When he retired in 1980 only Gordie Howe had scored more points.

Among Mikita's achievements the one that probably sticks out the most is the fact that in the 1966-67 season he won the Hart Memorial Trophy, the Art Ross and the Lady Byng - and also played in the All-Star game. He's the only player to ever win all three in a season. If that wasn't enough he did it again the following season. That he even won the Lady Byng is something of an achievement, the two seasons he did win it he had a total of 12 and 14 penalty minutes. Just two years before that he had 154.

Mikita is usually given credit as the first player to adopt a curved stick which he used quite well racking up 541 career goals. His only Stanley Cup came in 1961, however he played in 9 All-Star games and led the league in scoring 4 times.

His number 21 was retired by the Blackhawks in 1980, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983. In 2002 he was inducted into the Slovak Hockey Hall of Fame.

More on Mikita can be found at the HHOF's Legends of Hockey page here.

His jerseys in the database can be found here.

About the jerseys: The Chicago Blackhawks have made no major changes to their uniforms for more than 50 years. They have however made small adjustments over the years. The tomahawk first appeared on their sweaters in 1955, it has been moved up and down the sleeves three or four times and has been on the shoulders since the early 1960s. The sleeve stripes have altered slightly over the years as well as the collars. The numbers first used outlines in 1973, and names appeared in the 1977-78 season when the league made them mandatory.

Stosh in action via ChicagoBlackhawks.com

Crosby Drops the Gloves!

Well, in case you missed every highlight reel since yesterday Sidney Crosby and Andrew Ference actually duked it out last night. Hockey history has been made: Crosby was in his first NHL fight. This is no doubt something most of us have been waiting for...in a strange sort of way.

So, Crosby in now tied with Gordie Howe for Gordie Howe hat tricks with one a piece. Will we see more of this? Let's hope so...

You have to love the surprise in the announcers voice when he call this. Not the greatest fight you'll ever see but it's good to see the kids got it in him.

Advent Day 20 - Luc Robitaille

One of the greatest players in hockey history wore the number 20, although their number was never retired by an NHL club. In fact they never played a single game in the NHL, although they are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. That would be Vladislav Tretiak. Perhaps the greatest player to wear the number on this side of the world Luc Robitaille played nearly 20 years in the NHL. Born in Montreal he would start, and spend most of, his career in Los Angeles.

He wasn't drafted in the first round, or even the second or third. In fact he was drafted in the 9th round 171st overall. He would however prove himself a worthy choice in his first season scoring 45 goals and adding another 39 assists for a team leading 84 points (topping veteran Bernie Nicholls). He would rightly win the Calder Trophy.

Robitaille would go on to score at least 40 goals in his first eight seasons in the league (all with LA). In 1992-93 he put up career numbers scoring 63 goals and 62 assists. That year saw the Kings in their only Stanley Cup final in franchise history. They would lose to Montreal in 5 games.

He was traded to Pittsburgh (in the deal that sent Rick Tocchet to LA) after the 93-94 season. He would spend one year with the Penguins (the shortened season of 48 games) playing with Jagr and Francis. After a poor showing with the Pens he was dealt to the Rangers where he spent two seasons, the second one saw him reunited with Gretzky. And then it was back to Los Angeles for the 97-98 season.

He would spend the next 4 years back in his adopted hometown and his form would return. In 2000-01 he put up 88 points, it was the highest total he had recorded since first leaving the Kings in 1994. He had been in the league for nearly 15 years and his thoughts turned towards winning the Stanley Cup before retiring. In the offseason he looked for a better chance and found it with Detroit. It was a good move, he would win his only Cup in that first season with the Wings (playing on a team whose roster looked like that of an All-Star game...). The following season Detroit would go out in the first round and Robitaille decided to go back to Los Angeles before retiring. Two final seasons would be played there.

His last game was played in 2006 and the Kings retired his number the following year. During his career he played in 8 All-Star games and would retire as Los Angeles's all time leader in goals. Not bad for a kid drafted in the 9th round...

He is currently President of Business Operations for the team as well as the owner and president of the USHL Omaha Blazers.

More on Luc Robitaille can be found at the HHOF's Legeneds of Hockey site here.

A great interview can be heard via NHL.com's podcast section on Doc's Classic NHL here.

The jerseys in the database can be found here.

How about that for a goal...and a uniform!

Advent Day 19 - Bill Masterton

Bill Masterton's name lives on not because of his stats but because of tragedy. He played less than a season in the NHL, where he scored the first goal ever for the expansion North Stars. His career and life were cut short half way through the year in a game against the Seals. He was checked and fell over backwards, the hit to his head resulted in massive blood loss and severe trauma to the skull and would cause his death just 2 days later. He was 29.

He was the first, and to this day the only, NHL player to die as a result of an injury sustained during a game. Although many had come close in the past including Gordie Howe who dealt with a similar experience early on in his career. Masterton's death would inevitably put a focus on the use of helmets in the league, although they wouldn't become mandatory for more than 2 decades.

He was the only player to ever wear the number 19 for the North Stars and they officially retired it 20 years after his death in 1987. (The Dallas Stars still recognize Minnesota's retired numbers.)

The Bill Masterton Trophy, which is given annually to the NHL player who most exemplifies "perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey", was created in the year following Masterton's death. It has been awarded to among others Mario Lemieux, Pat LaFontaine, Bobby Clarke, Teemu Selanne, and Cam Neely.

More on Bill Masterton, including the original press clippings, can be found at NorthStarsHockey.com here.

His jerseys in the database are available here.

Advent Day 18 - Denis Savard

Savard played 17 years in the NHL, spending the majority of them in Chicago during two different stints. He came into the league in 1980 scoring 75 points as a rookie (he was only 1 point shy of the team lead). He would go on to score a total of 1338, with nearly 500 goals and more than 800 assists.

He never won any major awards, he only played in one All-Star game, but Denis Savard was a magician on the ice going end to end and using the infamous spin-o-rama to beat defenders (a move defined by another Savard...Serge). He was a part of the Montreal team that won the cup in 1993 (the Canadiens got Savard in the trade that sent Chris Chelios to Chicago). However, he would only be in his home province of Quebec for 3 years before being sent south to the relatively new Tampa Bay Lightning. He switched to number 9 in Tampa, not because 18 was being used but because 9 wasn't retired already as it had been in Chicago (Hull) and Montreal (Richard). His time there was short, only a little more than a season, before he came back to Chicago.

He finished out three more seasons before retiring as the third highest scoring Blackhawk in history. His number 18 was retired the next year, and in 2000 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. After hanging up the skates he never left hockey - he became the assistant coach for the Hawks in 1997 (spending 10 years in the position) and is currently their head coach.

More on Savard can be found at Legends of Hockey here.

The jerseys in the database can be found here.

About the jerseys: The Canadiens jersey with the logo on the sleeve was worn by Montreal in 1991-92 as part of the celebrations around the 75th anniversary of the NHL. All of the Original Six teams wore heritage jerseys. The Canadiens wore that particular style in the late 20's and early 30's during the time of Howie Morenz.

The Tampa Bay Lightning, despite not changing the actual appearance of the jerseys themselves between their conception in 1992 till this year's Reebok jerseys, changed their fonts and texts 4 times. Most notably each of the first three years of their existance. They have used their current font style since 2001. Besides the two shown here, in their first season the Lightning had a non-sheared version of the upper of the two types shown above. (I won't even go into their third jersey from 1996 with the rain and waves on it...)

The guy had some serious moves...

Advent Day 17 - Jari Kurri

Perhaps the greatest Finnish-born player to play in the NHL, Kurri came to the league in 1980. He played alongside Gretzky in the golden years of the Oilers, winning 4 Cups before Wayne left for Los Angeles and one in the years following. Kurri's peak came in the 1984-85 season when he scored 71 goals and added 64 assists (135 points, if you can believe Gretzky managed 208 that season).

In '91 he was traded via Philadelphia to the Kings, although reunited with Gretzky his numbers with Los Angeles are nothing compared to the ones he had put up earlier in Edmonton. His form was never on top and the two were often on seperate lines. The team did reach the Finals in '93, although the cup was eventually won by Montreal. In the 1995-96 season he was traded to the Rangers - and when that season ended he was back in California playing for the Ducks. A season later he was in Colorado, where he scored his 600th goal. He would add one more before the season ended and would retire after the playoffs.

Amongst Kurri's achievements he is the second leading scorer in Oiler history, he was the highest scoring European in NHL history, was the first Finnish player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, he played in 8 All-Star games and won the Lady Byng.

His number was retired by Edmonton in 2001, later it was retired by the Finnish national team (a team Kurri played for consistantly throughout his career and now coaches).

More on Kurri's career (and there is a lot more to it) is posted at Legends of Hockey here.

The jerseys in the database can be found here. (And yes, that is the terrible Burger King jersey worn by LA in 1995-96.)

The Gretzky-Kurri magic...

Advent Day 16 - Henri Richard

Fifteen years younger than The Rocket, Maurice Richard's little brother came into the league 12 season's after him - and the name was already legend. The two would play together in Montreal for 5 years (on the same line with Dickie Moore playing the other wing), Henri would play another 15 years (all with the Canadiens). When he retired in 1975 he had won more Stanley Cups than you can count on two hands.

Having to live up to the name and establish himself as an individual star the Pocket-Rocket scored more than a 1000 points during his time in the NHL, nearly 700 of them coming from assists. He actually topped his brother in a number of categories - although Maurice still hold the the Habs record for goals scored. He was tough, outspoken and temperamental but he was also a playmaker and a leader who would eventually take over the captaincy in 1971.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979, the Canadiens retired his number 16 in 1975. The Stanley Cup bares his name a record 11 times.

An excellent article about Richard can be found at Canada.com here.

The jerseys in the database can be found here.


Between 1955-1960 Henri and Maurice Richard played together in Montreal. It was Henri's first five seasons and Maurice's last. During those 5 seasons the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup every year.

Advent Day 15 - Milt Schmidt

Schmidt played all 16 seasons of his career for Boston retiring in the middle of the 1954-1955 season to take over as the team's head coach.

He won 2 Cups with the Bruins as part of the Kraut Line, made up of Schmidt and two of his childhood friends Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart. In 1942 all three enlisted in the Canadian army and spent three years overseas during the war before coming back to the NHL in 1946. He would become captain of the Bruins in 1951 and retire as the team's leading scorer.

He played in 4 All-Star games, won the Hart trophy and was awarded the Lester Patrick trophy in 1996. He was inducted into the hall of fame as an honored member in 1961.

He coached the Bruins for 11 seasons before spending one season as the GM of the expansion Washington Capitals. Unfortunately the year would see the Capitals set the record for the worst performance by an NHL team in history, finishing the season with a horrendous 8-67-5 record.

His number 15, the only one in the league, was retired by the Bruins in 1980.

More on Milt Schmidt's career can be found at Legends of Hockey here.

His jerseys in the database can be found here.

The Kraut Line with the Allan Cup - playing in Halifax for the Royal Canadian Air Force Commandoes.

Advent Day 14 - Rene Robert

One player has the distinction of having their number 14 retired in the NHL - Rene Robert.

His career actually started out not with Buffalo but with 5 games playing for the Maple Leafs in 1970, he then spent half a season in Pittsburgh before landing with the Sabres.

As part of the French Connection Robert was Buffalo's first 100 point scorer and the team nearly took the Cup in 1975, losing in the Finals to the Flyers. He had 7 highly succesful seasons with the Sabres before being traded to the hapless Rockies. Don Cherry, then head coach of the team, sums his time in Colorado up pretty well:

"After I got Robert, and looked at some of the guys he had to work with, I'd feel sorry for the guy. He blocked shots, threw his weight around and fought. He even played though he had a broken thumb, a separated shoulder and a pulled groin! Considering our collection of players, I wouldn't have blamed Robert if he had just thrown in the towel, but he wouldn't quit."

After a season with the Rockies he was back where he started playing in Toronto. He retired after the 1982 season. He played in 2 All-Star games and was for a time president of the NHL Alumni Association.

In 1990 the Sabres retired Gilbert Perreault's number, 5 years later they retired Rick Martin and Robert's - immortalizing the French Connection.

More on Robert can be found at the Buffalo Sabres Alumni page here.

The jerseys in the database are here.

Just how good was the French Connection?
So good they wrote a pretty awful song about them -

Advent Day 13 - Mats Sundin

In the superstitious world of hockey the number 13 is something of a taboo. The majority of players who do wear it are European, one who has worn it probably longer than anyone else is Mats Sundin. He may also be the first player to see the number retired.

Sundin came to the NHL in 1990 after being drafted first overall (the first European ever to do so) by Quebec in the 1989 draft. He led the Nordiques in points in 1992-93 with 114 before being traded to Toronto in '94 in connection with the Lindros debacle. (Quebec got, among other things, Wendel Clark as part of the deal..)

He took over the Leafs captaincy in 1997, an honor he still holds 10 years later. He's led the team every year he's been there in points (except for 2002-03 when Mogilny bettered him). In fact "Sudden" is now the all time scoring leader in Maple Leafs history leading in both points and goals. Taking both titles away from Darryl Sittler earlier this season. He is the only Leaf player to score more than 400 goals - and oddly holds the NHL record for most overtime goals with 15.

Besides playing in 9 All-Star games Sundin has played for the Swedish National team (often as the captain) in the last 3 Olympics as well as numerous World Championships (3 golds, 2 bronze and a silver..). In 2006 Sweden took the gold in Turin beating Finland in the final.

Notes on the jerseys: the only change the Nordiques made to their jerseys while in the NHL was the addition of red to the numbers in 1991. In 1991-92 the Leafs used their old style jerseys as part of the NHL's 75th anniversary, their main jerseys at the time were the ones with the two-tone sleeves that they had used for more than 20 years. The next season saw them use the vintage style jerseys as their main uniform. Besides altering between new and old Leaf logos, they made subtle changes over the next 15 years. They changed the font for the names and numbers in 1997 to the current style used for the name plates. The numbers originally matched this style but were changed back to the Leafs block font in 2000. They also switched to the TML shoulder patches instead of the old leaf logos. (I will never understand why.) The striped jersey without a name was used as an alternate in the 1996-97 season. It was the original jersey style used by Toronto in their first full season in the NHL (70 years earlier in 1927). The green jersey was used for one game in 2002 celebrating the Leafs 75th anniversary, and is based on the Toronto St.Pats jerseys worn the season they became the Maple Leafs in 1926-27.

More on Sundin can be found at Legends of Hockey here.

His jerseys in the database can be found here.

And...the classic Nike commercial...

Advent Day 12 - Stan Smyl

The soul of Vancouver - Smyl played his entire 13 years in the NHL for the Canucks, for 8 of those years he captained the team. He was a major factor during the team's first trip to the Stanley Cup finals in 1982 - scoring 78 points and racking up 144 penalty minutes.

He was popular with fans and team mates and held many of the offensive scoring records for Vancouver, although most have since been overtaken. Nicknamed "Steamer" Smyl was an all around player that could both score and play physically. Putting the puck in the net and going after the biggest guys on the ice. He is the last NHL player to lead their team in goals, assists, points AND penalty minutes in a season.

He retired in 1991 and was promptly made assistant coach of the team, a position he held for 8 years before becoming head coach for the Canucks minor league affiliates in first Syracuse and Kansas City and then with the Manitoba Moose. He is currently director of player development back in Vancouver.

The Canucks retired his number 12 in '91, making him the first (and only) player to receive the honor in the club's history.

More on Stan Smyl can be found at Legends of Hockey here.

The jerseys are available in the database here.

Some perspective from the man himself:
Be aware that this video features not only those beauty early eighties yellow jerseys but ALSO the Flyers wearing Cooperalls...my my...



Video continues with part 2 here

Advent Day 10 - Guy Lafleur

In his last year in the QMJHL playing for the Quebec Remparts Lafleur led the team to the Memorial Cup - he scored 130 goals during the season. The following year would have seen Guy Lafleur playing not for the Canadiens but for the California Golden Seals (does anyone want to imagine the consequences of this?), had it not been for a rather strange, and decidedly uneven trade, that put the first round pick of the 1971 draft into Montreal's hands.

Lafleur would spend 14 seasons with the Canadiens where he was part of 5 Stanley Cup teams, scoring more than 50 goals and 100 points in 6 straight seasons beween 1974 and 1980. By 28 he had already accumulated more than 400 goals. He is the highest scorer in Montreal Canadiens history with 1,246 points. Only Richard has more goals.

He retired from the game in the middle of the 1984-85 season and took a desk job with the Canadiens. He was 33. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1988...but much like Howe decided he wasn't done with hockey. He signed with the Rangers after 3 years absence from the NHL played one season with them and spent the last two years of his career with the Quebec Nordiques.

His number 10 was retired by the Canadiens in '85. Besides winning 5 Stanley Cups Lafleur also won 3 Art Ross Trophies, 2 Hart Trophies, and the Conn Smythe. He appeared in 6 All-Star games and played for Canada in 2 Canada Cups.

More info can be found at the HHOF's Legends of Hockey's page here.

All his jerseys in the database can be found here.

If you want to see something really, really frightening (and I mean this), check out the following clip of the release party of Lafleur's self titled disco album released in 1979 (from the CBC). (Disco music accompanied by Lafleur reciting hockey exercises...) Even scarier, you can score the MP3's of this masterpiece here at the Disco Delivery Blog. (The album was actually released in both French and English if you were wondering.) They also have a very thorough review/explanation of the whole album. (Be aware that there are a massive amount of pop-up ads if you want to download the songs, but worth it. I've been listening to it...and well, I lack the words.)

Advent Day 9 - Gordie Howe

Mr. Hockey needs no introduction. He is the embodiment of the sport. He was born in 1926 in Floral, Saskatchewan and played professional hockey in both the NHL and the WHA for more than 30 years setting just about every record there was (only to watch Gretzky slowly break most of them).

He came to Detroit at the age of 18 and actually wore the number 17 during his rookie season - Roy Conacher was using the number 9 during the 1946-47 season. He won 4 Stanley Cups with the Red Wings and established himself as one of the most gifted players the league had ever seen. During his 25 years playing in Detroit he appeared in 22 All-Star games, won the Art Ross Trophy 6 times, the Hart Memorial trophy 6 times, the Lester Patrick Award, and well...a lot more silverware. Suffering from a wrist problem he "retired" following the 1970-71 season and gained a position working in the Wings front office.

After 2 years off the ice, and a wrist operation, he returned to hockey to play for the Houston Aeros of the newly formed WHA alongside his sons Mark and Marty. In 1974 he won the Gary L. Davidson Trophy, which was given to the WHA's most valuable player...the next year they renamed it after him. He played 3 years with Houston before the Howe clan moved to the New England Whalers. When the WHA ceased to function following the 1978 season the Whalers were absorbed into the NHL. Howe signed a 1 year contract with Hartford at the age of 51. He would play ALL 80 games in his final season, scoring 15 goals and taking them to the playoffs.

Of the records Howe still holds in the NHL most of them have to do with his hobbit like longevity - he played in an amazing 1,767 NHL games. This goes up to 2,186 if you add his 5 years in the WHA, add the playoffs and it comes to 2,421. That would be the equivalent of playing a game everyday, 365 days a year, for nearly 7 years. During his NHL career he scored 801 goals, had 1049 assists, and only one Gordie Howe hat trick...

In 1997 Howe played one shift with the Detroit Vipers of the IHL, effectively meaning that he had played in 6 different decades. A feat no one is likely to ever match.

His number 9 was retired by the Red Wings in 1972, it was also retired by both the Whalers and the Aeros (the Hurricanes still honor it on behalf of Hartford). He was elected to the Hall of Fame the year after he first retired.

More info can be found on the Howe's official site Mr. and Mrs. Hockey as well as the Hockey Hall of Fame's site here.

All his jerseys in the database can be found here.

Advent Day 8 - Cam Neely

Neely was born in Comox, British Columbia and was drafted by the Canucks in 1983. He spent three years in Vancouver before finding a permanent home in Boston. (Where he is currently the Vice President of the team.)

He led the Bruins in goals in his first season there with 36, on top of his goal scoring ability Neely was physical and willing to drop the gloves. He scored more than 50 goals in a season three times, including the 93-94 season where he scored 50 in 44 games (only Gretzky did it quicker). In his 10 years with Boston he played in 5 All-Star games and won the Masterton Trophy.

Plaqued by an injury, much attributed to the infamous hit by Ulf Samuelsson during the 91 playoffs, he retired in 1996. The injury caused him to miss most of the 92 and 93 seasons playing only a handful of games both seasons. Despite his shortened career he scored nearly 400 goals and totaled nearly 700 points.

His number 8 was retired by the Bruins in 2004 and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005.

More about Cam Neely can be found at the HHOF's Legends of Hockey here.

All his jerseys in the database can be found here.

Classic NHL - Lemieux's First Goal

Mario Lemieux came into the league with a lot of expectations riding on him, he didn't dissapoint. He scored on his very first shot, on his first shift in his very first game...taking the puck away from none other than Ray Bourque...

Advent Day 7- Chris Chelios

Chris Chelios (actually born Christos Kostas Tselios) is 45, whch is insane by any standards in any sport to still be playing productively. He's got kids that are Crosby's age. To accent this - he was born in Chicago when Kennedy was president.

His early hockey career was spent with the Moose Jaw Canucks after being drafted by Montreal, as well as two years with the University of Wisconsin. He is currently in his 23rd NHL season.

In Montreal, where he played for 7 seasons, he won the Stanley Cup and his first of three Norris trophies. He also played in his first of many All-Star games. In 1990 he was traded to Chicago for Denis Savard.

In Chicago he switched to number 7, and would eventually switch back to 24 for Detroit since it was retired on behalf of Ted Lindsay. He won his second Norris in 92-93 whilst scoring 73 points. He captained the team for 5 seasons and was eventually traded to the Red Wings in 1999 at the age of 37.

In 2002, at the age of 40!, he led the league with a +40 plus/minus, won the silver medal with the US Olympic team (he's played in 4 Olympics), AND the Stanley Cup. (Not a bad year). During the 2004 lockout Chelios played for the Motor City Mechanics of the UHL - something that caused a bit of controversy, which is something Chris Chelios is no stranger to in the NHL... He currently has a one year contract with the Red Wings.

Now for something completely different: Chris Chelios and big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton (this is actually true) trained with the Olympic bobsled team in an attempt to compete in the 2006 Winter Games as Greece's first bobsled team. Unfortunately this never came to pass. Just reading that sentence makes me baffled...

Read more about the bobsledding here on ESPN.

For more biography stuff, and info about Cheli's Chili Bar (his restaurants) check out ChrisChelios.com.

All the jerseys in the database can be found here.

Advent Day 6 - Phil Housley

I bet you didn't realize Phil Housley got around the league this much...

Born in Minnesota Housley held the record for US born NHL scorers (1,232 pts) until just this year when Modano broke it. He also held the record for games played (1,257) by a US player...until Chelios broke it last year. Not surprisingly he is in the American Hockey Hall of Fame, he's also in the Sabres Hall of Fame, a bit surprisingly he isn't in the other hockey Hall of Fame yet.

Drafted by the Sabres right out of high school Housley would play 21 years in the NHL between 1982 and 2003. He played on 8 different teams, including two stints with the Flames, however he never won a Stanley Cup. He also never won the Norris Trophy. He nearly won the Calder...but lost out to Steve Larmer. He was runner up for rookie of the year. He still hasn't won the Lester Patrick Award...

Despite the things he didn't win he was among the best defenseman the US has ever produced. And very possibly the best offensive one - in fact he played both defense and forward during his career. He broke numerous scoring records in both Buffalo and Winnipeg, notching 77 points in 82-83 (and 53 assists the following season) with the Sabres and a career high 97 points with the Jets ten years later in 92-93. A record that would probably stand if the club was still in existance. He is still the 5th highest scorer in Sabres history. He ranks an impessive 4th on shots alone, even more so when you consider he played defense. He still holds the record in pretty much all of the defensive scoring categories for Buffalo nearly 20 years after he left the team.

In his twenty plus years of hockey he played in 7 All-Star games and was often on the US National and Olympics teams (he was part of the silver medal team in Salt Lake City 2002).

After a very brief stint with the Maple Leafs in 2002-03 (incredibly brief he played only one game there) Housley retired from the game. He currently coaches high school hockey in Minnesota and does work with the US National team.



A rare glimpse of Housley as a Leaf...

You can read more about Housley at PhilHousley.com as well as here at Legends of Hockey

All of his jerseys in the database can be found here.

Advent Day 5 - Rod Langway

Rod Langway started playing hockey at 12. Despite the late start he would become one of the greatest defenseman to play the game. His professional career actually started with a year playing for the Birmingham Bulls in the WHA, after that he found a home with the Canadiens in 1978. He would win the Cup that year and would play in his first of 6 All-Star games in 1981.

In 1982 Langway and three other Canadiens were traded to Washington, it was a move that saved the franchise. Before Rod Langway joined the Capitals they had never been to the playoffs, in his 11 years there they only missed them once. He won the Norris (given to the league's best defenseman) twice and was runner up for the Hart trophy in 1982 - losing out only to Gretzky.

The Capitals retired his number 5 in 1997, he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2002.

A complete biography is available at the NHL's Hall of Fame section here.

The jerseys in the database can be found here.

*A note about the Capitals jerseys: Washington did some strange things with their jerseys in the eighties, some years they would have one font with an outline for the names, the next year they wouldn't. The two models used here are the most consistant during Langway's stay there. The original font used was wider and more blocked, later the Capitals switched to a thinner version reminiscent of the Canadiens numbers. In 1995 they parted with the red, white and blue.

Advent Day 4 - Bobby Orr

If you ever go to Parry Sound, Ontario, or if you ever even get close to it, you will know even before you enter the town that it is the place that gave the world Bobby Orr. It's also where Bruins scouts found him at the age of 12 and put him into the system that would eventually land him in Boston at the age of 18.

In a career cut short by knee injuries he played only 12 years in the NHL. Many question what a completely healthy Orr could have done over a longer period of time, but in reality I don't think he had anything else he needed to prove. In his 10 years with the Bruins he played in 9 All-Star games, won 8 Art Ross trophies, the Calder, 8 James Norris trophies, 3 Harts, and 2 Conn Smythes. Oh and two Stanley Cups. In fact there isn't a whole lot Orr didn't win.

If anything exemplifies what type of player he was it may be the oft brought up plus/minus record from 1970-71. A staggering +124. If that's not enough to prove his overall skill, he is also the only defenceman to win the league scoring title...which he did twice.

His career ended in Chicago, although he played just 26 games there over 2 seasons. Orr was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979 at the age of 31. He is still the youngest person to have received the honor. The Bruins retired his number the same year.

More on Bobby Orr can be found at BobbyOrr.com

All his jerseys in the database can be found here.

Advent Day 3 - Ken Daneyko

Ken Daneyko came to the Devils the year the Devils came to New Jersey. He was their first round draft pick in 1982 and would stay in New Jersey for the entirety of his career. In all he played 20 years and nearly 1300 games on the Devils, picking up three Stanley Cups (and over 2500 penalty minutes).

Never known for being much of an offensive player his total goals round out to less than 2 a season (36), however his stats as defenseman more than make up for it.

Ken Daneyko retired in 2003, his number 3 was retired by New Jersey in 2006.

You can read more at Legends of Hockey here.

His jerseys in the database can be found here.

Advent Day 2 - Tim Horton

Tim Horton is perhaps better known for wearing the number 7 than the number 2, he spent nearly 20 years wearing 7 in Toronto - he spent less than two years wearing 2 in Buffalo. His number is retired there nonetheless. To understand it you have to look at what kind of player, and what kind of person, he was.

Horton began his career with the Leafs in the early 50's (he actually played one game with them in 1949), and would spend the bulk of his career there. He was a genuinely nice and clean cut guy, at a time when he hockey was anything but. He would spent 18 years with Toronto and be apart of 4 Stanley Cup teams. He appeared in 7 All-Star games and The Hockey News ranked him in the top 50 greatest players of all time.

He also co-founded the legendary doughnut chain that bares his name in the mid-60's opening the first, of what would eventually be 100's across Canada, in Hamilton in 1965.

In 1970 with the Leafs fumbling, and Horton one of the highest paid players in the league, he was traded to the Rangers and soon after to Pittsburgh. One season later he was in Buffalo and reunited with former Toronto head coach Punch Imlach. He was 42 and a veteran player for the likes of Jim Schoenfeld, Gilbert Perreault, and Rene Robert to look up to. It showed, they voted him team MVP in 1973. Schoenfeld would later say of Horton, "Tim was the greatest thing to happen to us because he was an on-the-job tutor. It's something I think today's game misses sometimes because the older players are overlooked in favor of the younger guys and you don't have that veteran to share his experiences with you."

In 1974 he was driving back to Buffalo after a game in Toronto. Travelling in excess of 100 mph his car crossed the median on the QEW and ran into a cement culvert throwing him from the vehicle. He was already dead when police got to the scene. The event is almost as famous as Horton's many awards and records, but it has done little to tarnish his legendary career in the NHL.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977. In 1995 the Maple Leafs declared Horton, and another legendary nr. 7 King Clancy, honored players. (The Leafs don't retire numbers.) In 1996 the Buffalo Sabres retired the number 2 in his honor.

You can find more info and Horton's stats at Legends of Hockey here.

All his jerseys in the database can be found here.

Advent Day 1 - Bernie Parent

Well, with Christmas approaching (I know I am a couple days late...I'll catch up) I figured I'd do something a bit different. There is an advent calendar of sorts on the main site with a different jersey for each day, each day will be linked to a particular player who wore that particular number at some point during their NHL career. For the sake of making things a bit unique I've decided to do not just a couple of sweaters, but all the jerseys the player wore. (This does not, however, include All-Star games and international teams.) Feel free to make suggestions for upcoming dates if they haven't already been fulfilled.

Starting off with number 1... I decided to overlook some of the more obvious ones here, Jacques Plante comes to mind, as does Terry Sawchuk. In fact 4 other goalies besides Parent have the number one retired by a team (his was retired by Philadelphia in 1979...the year he retired). I can however connect all 5 a la Kevin Bacon if that helps:

Ed Giacomin played together on the Rangers with Terry Sawchuk - who played together with Glenn Hall on the Red Wings - who played together with Jacques Plante on the Blues - who played together with Bernie Parent on the Maple Leafs. Strange but true.

Bernie Parent's career actually started in Boston where he played a handful of games between '65 and '67. Hard to believe but he was actually teammates with Bobby Orr for one of those seasons. With expansion he ended up in Philadelphia and eventually became the Flyers starting goaltender. Despite his play in goal he was actually traded to Toronto in 1971 where he became teammates with the forementioned Plante (who was his childhood hero).

In 1972 Parent was actually the first NHL player to make the move over to the new WHA (thankfully he quickly moved back...) He spent a year with the Philadelphia Blazers playing 63 games and garnering a 3.61 GAA (the worst of his career). In 1973 he was back with the Flyers where he would stay untill his retirement in 1979.

During his time on the Flyers he would win two Stanley Cups, and be awarded both the Vezina and Conn Smythe twice. Later he would be on their coaching staff training the likes of Pelle Lindbergh and Ron Hextall.

There is a great write up with more information on the Flyers website here.

The infamous TIME magazine article, from the issue that features Parent on the cover, can be found here.

All the jerseys in the database can be found here.

NHL Geography - A Study

The Hockey Belt
Hockey is played in a lot of places. From the sparcely populated shores of Hudson Bay to New York City. In Australia and above the Arctic Circle. And in all those places kids dream of one day playing in the NHL. Some of them realize that dream.

Percentage wise the sport has always been dominated by Canada. And it still is. Canadians encompass more than 50% of the players in the NHL...although they are teetering on the edge at a mere 51.8%. But what about the rest of the world? Just how diverse is the NHL? And how many countries currently have players playing in the league? The answer - 19.

The following data was compiled from Wikipedia's roster lists for each team and reflects a total of 729 players who are/or have been in the NHL so far this season.


The Russians Aren't Coming
There has been much written both in main stream media (Sports Illustrated) and in the blogosphere about the dissapearance of the Russians from the NHL. (For a truly in-depth look check out the article here at Red and Black Hockey. It statistically shows the decline over the last 5 years as well as breaks down the other major countries represented by position.) Looking at the chart it's self-evident, as of now only 29 Russian players have made an appearance in the NHL this season. There are, in fact, more Finns in the league (31). If you were to use the old USSR political boundaries this total would go up to 38, which is still 20 players less than just 5 years ago.

Whoa....Germany?
I'd have to look into it, but 8 German players in the NHL must be a record. The fact that 3 of the 8 play for San Jose is even stranger. It's a very positive sign if continental Europe is increasing their presence in the NHL, because that is where the bulk of the population is.

The usual suspects
As has been the case since Europeans first began entering the league in large numbers Sweden, Finland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic still represent the majority of foreign born players in the NHL. In total 144, around 20% and nearly equal to the number of US born players. (It's impressive to see that there are actually 3 Latvians in the league though.)

How good are You?
So good that I'm the only person from my country in the league. A total of 7 players can actually say that:
Dainius Zubrus, Devils - Lithuania
Anze Kopitar, Kings - Slovenia
Cristobal Huet, Canadiens - France
Nik Antropov, Maple Leafs - Kazakhstan
Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Blue Jackets - Norway
Jannik Hansen, Canucks - Denmark
Thomas Vanek, Sabres - Austria

How on earth do you get there?
Geoff Sanderson was born in Hay River, Northwest Territories (Pop. 3,500). If you want to know how far that is from everywhere find the center of the big white area covering Northwest Canada...then move up a bit.

Jordin Tootoo was born in Churchill, Manitoba which is in the far north on the border of Nunavut. He actually grew up in Rankin Inlet, which may be one of the most remote regions in the world.

Not far enough north for you? Alexei Semenov on the Sharks is from Murmansk, Russia. Which is on the shores of the Arctic Ocean north of Finland.

Jonathan Cheechoo is from the community of Moose Factory, Ontario on the southern edge of Hudson Bay. An area mostly populated by the Cree with a population of about 2,700.

Local boy makes good
Of the 30 teams in the NHL 6 have players who were born in the city/state they play for. Two players on the Wild are from Minnesota; Sean Hill and Mark Parrish. The Canadiens have 9 Canadians on the roster, 4 are from Quebec and Patrice Brisebois was born in Montreal. Carlo Colaicovo is a Toronto native on the Maple Leafs. Luke Richardson and Randy Robitaille are both Ottawan-born on the Senators. Fernando Pisani was born in the Edmonton and plays for the Oilers. (Ironcially the Flames have four players born in Edmonton.) Now for the really strange ones, Danny Richmond (Blackhawks) was born in Chicago and Ryan Malone on the Penguins was actually born in Pittsburgh.

Wait, you were born where?
A number of players were born in places far from what their passports say. Richard Park on the Islanders (US) was born in Seuol, South Korea. (3 other US players were born in Canada.) Dany Heatley was born in Germany. Olaf Kolzig, who is German, was born in South Africa. Owen Nolan was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Wojtek Wolski, was born in Poland but became a Canadian citizen in 1990. Robyn Regehr was born in Brazil and lived both there and in Indonesia before moving to Canada. And finally, the truly impressive one, Craig Adams of the Hurricanes was actually born in Brunei!

State(s) of Hockey
And now a breakdown of the US players by state. Just as Canada provides the most overwhelming presense in the league by country, Minnesota has traditionally been the epicenter of US born hockey players. You could even go so far as to put a name on the town in Minnesota - Bloomington. Birthplace of Mike Modano and a host of others. But, it's not just Minnesota, Michigan, New England and upstate New York with players in the league. In fact a total of 26 states are represented by the roughly 150 US players.



Alaska
If you thought Scott Gomez was the only Alaskan born player you were wrong. There are actually 3, all of whom are from Anchorage. In fact Gomez's teammate on the Rangers Brandon Dubinsky is one of the other two.

California
They once hosted the Winter Olympics, they have 3 teams, and they've got 3 players born within their borders in the NHL.

Pennsylvania
And I thought Mike Richter of Abington, PA was one of the few players to ever come out of the Keystone State...I was wrong. There are 6 players born in Pennsylvania - mostly from the western part. Half of them play in PA too, two for the Flyers and one for the Penguins.

Michigan
If you have ever been there then you know that hockey is big in Michigan. Not as big as cars, but big. And it shows, considering that they've actually got nearly as many players as Minnesota - 24.

New England
Every one knows that Jeremy Roenick is a Boston native, but there are 19 other players from the Bay State. None of whom actually play for the Bruins... Connecticut and little Rhode Island both have 2 players in the league. Maine has 1, Greg Moore of the Rangers. New Hampshire also has 1, Freddy Meyer of the Islanders. (The Islanders actually have 5 players from New England on their current roster...) Alas, now that John LeClair has retired, Vermont is the only state in New England not represented.

New York
Most of the 21 players from New York are from the western part of the state, although Francis Bouillon of the Canadiens was born in New York City.

New Jersey
Jersey has 3 players in the league, none of which play for the Devils.

Wisconsin
The other hockey force of the north of the country, there are 7 badgers in the NHL. (And one Brad Badger in the NFL.)

The rest...
A number of states are represented by 1 player, they include Nebraska, Missouri, Delaware, Maryland and the unlikely North Carolina, Florida and Georgia. North Dakota has 2 in the league, as does Colorado. Indiana and Ohio both have 4 players in the league. Kevyn Adams on the Blackhawks was actually born in Washington, DC.

Other facts
- The 8 states that border the Great Lakes have put 100 (two-thirds) of the US born players in the NHL.
- Half of the states represented don't have an NHL team.
- The Devils and Hurricanes have the most US born players: 9.
- The least is 2; Nashville, Atlanta, Ottawa and Vancouver.
- Speaking of Vancouver, there are 16 actual canucks on the Canucks.
- The team with the most Canadians is Edmonton with 20.
- The teams with the fewest are the Rangers and the Red Wings with 8 a piece - although Detroit actually has 7 Swedish born players.
- The most international team in the league is Montreal with 9 different countries represented: Canada, US, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Russia, and Belarus.
- The least is 4, which 4 teams in the league have (Philadelphia, Anaheim, Tampa Bay and Calgary).

I am working on a Google Map which can be opened in Google Earth showing the birthplaces of current players (as well as past NHL players) which I will post in a seperate article once it is done....

Ed Belfour - Our Man in Leksand

Some of you may be aware, some of you may not, but Ed Belfour has not retired, died or even moved back to his hometown of Carman, Manitoba. No sirree, it's even more surreal, the 42 year old veteran of nearly 20 years in the NHL is now playing for the Leksand Stars. Where's Leksand? Well, it's pretty much smack dab in the middle of....Sweden.

Yes, the Leksand Stars. Now I know what you're thinking, "Hey, that's the Swedish Elite League!" Umm...no...it's not. It's the league below the Swedish Elite League (Allsvenskan as it is known...) So, let's just say that the man obviously loves hockey enough to move to central Sweden to play for a lower division team. If you can't respect that you have never been to Leksand or you have never been a professional goaltender....just respect it ok.

But what does Sweden think of having a former NHL star (who is not Swedish...Forsberg) playing here? I can tell you, since I read the papers daily, we are in the midst of Belfour fever. It's an epidemic and nearly everyone has come down with it. This is big, and it's especially big for Leksand. How big? His debut was yesterday and that game broke the attendance record, not just for the club, but for the league...ever. Their website, Leksandsif.se garnered over 750,000 hits in October. You can even buy children's t-shirts with his image on it ALREADY. As I said, he's only played one (1) game. (They won that game by the way 4-1, Ed let in the very first shot against him. I can only imagine the reaction of the record breaking 6,795 people at the game must have had. After that he was flawless.)

On November 12th, the Leksand Belfours Stars come to Stockholm and, if tickets aren't sold out already..., I will be there. Because, to be honest, I think this is the best thing to happen to Swedish hockey since they won the Olympic gold, no that was last year, the best thing to happen to Swedish ice hockey since they stopped wearing Jofa VM helmets!

FOOTNOTE: 1) No, I will not be at that game. I misread the table, it's in Leksand. Damn.
2) I'll have you know that they are charging more for games against Leksand around the league now.

FOOTNOTE 2: I got to the game in January, video and a full report can be found here.