ATD 2010 Bios

[seventieslord]

With the 348th pick in ATD2010, The Regina Pats are pleased to select:

Rick MacLeish, C/LW

- 5'11", 185 lbs
- Stanley Cup (1974, 1975)
- Stanley Cup Finalist (1976, 1980)
- Placed 4th, 6th, 8th in All-Star Voting
- Top-20 In Goals 4 Times (3rd, 4th, 13th, 17th)
- Top-20 In Assists 3 Times (16th, 18th, 19th)
- Top-20 In Points 4 Times (4th, 4th, 15th, 20th)
- Top-10 In Playoff Goals 4 Times (1st, 2nd, 5th, 7th)
- Top-10 In Playoff Assists 4 Times (5th, 6th, 8th, 8th)
- Top-10 In Playoff Points 4 Times (1st, 1st, 6th, 9th)
- 3-Time All-Star Game Participant

Center Rick MacLeish played over 800 NHL games on five different clubs in the 70s and 80s. Blessed with a quick wrist shot and natural offensive instincts, he topped the 30-goal mark seven times in 14 big league seasons.

...The Flyers opted to start MacLeish in the AHL in 1971-72 before recalling him late in the year. The next season he broke through with 50 goals while playing the power play and taking a regular shift... Over the next two season he continued to produce on offense but was asked to take on penalty killing and defensive responsibility. MacLeish's excellence was a key component on the Flyers' consecutive Stanley Cup wins in 1974 and 1975. During the first title run he led all playoff goal scorers with 13 goals and 22 points. Overall, MacLeish was named to play in the 1976, 1977 and 1980 NHL all-star games.

During the late 70s, MacLeish was a top two-way player for Philly. In 1979-80 he scored 31 goals while teaming with *** ***** and ****** ***********. The trio helped the Flyers set an NHL record by going undefeated in 35 straight games and later reach the 1980 Stanley Cup final.

Rick MacLeish scored 328 goals in a Philadelphia Flyers history, many of them in clutch situations. He added 54 more goals in the playoffs, including 10 game winners. But he will always be remembered for just one tally.

MacLeish may have scored the most important goal in Flyers history. His game-winning goal in Game 6 of the 1974 Stanley Cup Finals against the Boston Bruins gave the Flyers a 1-0 win and their first championship.

...MacLeish would never play for the Bruins. The Flyers were enamored with the sleek center with deft puck handling skills, and sent veteran center **** ****** to Boston in exchange for the man his teammates would nickname "Cutie."

The story book ending did take some time to develop, however. MacLeish scored just two goals in his first 26 games in Philadelphia. At the beginning of the 1971-72 season, he scored only one goal in 17 games and was dispatched to Richmond of the American Hockey League. The superstar in waiting had to go down and work on his defense and checking game. To his credit he did everything that was asked of him, hoping that one day he would be given a chance to succeed in the NHL.

When that chance did come the next season, MacLeish made the most of it. Centering veteran right wing Gary Dornhoefer and rookie left wing Bill Barber, MacLeish lit the lamp 50 times, becoming the first Flyer and first player from an expansion team to reach that lofty milestone. MacLeish also set up 50 goals, giving him an impressive 100 points in his first full season.

...And MacLeish carried his production into the post-season, too. He thrived on the pressure of the Stanley Cup playoffs. In both of the Flyers’ Stanley Cup championship seasons, MacLeish was the NHL’s leading point scorer, tallying 22 points in 1974 and 20 in 1975. He missed the 1976 Cup drive with torn knee ligaments. The Flyers returned to the Cup finals, but with several key injuries the Montreal Canadiens swept the Flyers in the Finals.

Though he was primarily a skill player, MacLeish was prepared to take the physical beating necessary to win. With that approach comes injuries, though nothing could have prepared him for the injury suffered in 1977-78. While killing a penalty his neck was accidentally sliced by the skate Los Angeles Kings ace Marcel Dionne. It took 180 stitches to close that nasty gash.

Rick MacLeish would never be considered a bully on the Broad Street Bullies, but his importance to the team was immeasurable. His fluid style and incredible wrist shot made him a fan favorite. He was the leading playoff scorer during both of the Flyers successful cup runs and scored the Stanley Cup winning goal in 1974.

...The finals stood at 3 game to 2 in the Flyers favour. With about 5 minutes left in the first period there was a faceoff deep in the Bruins end. MacLeish won the draw to Andre Dupont. Dupont sent in a shot towards the Bruins net which MacLeish tipped past Bruin's goal ****** *******. The red light went on and the Spectrum went wild. Thanks to the goaltending of Bernie Parent (who was reobtained at the beginning of the year), that turned out as the only goal of the game and the Flyers won their first Stanley Cup. The next year saw similar results - 38 goals and 79 points in the regular season and a league leading 20 points in the playoffs - which resulted in another Stanley Cup.

Then the injury bug started to bite Rick. In 1975-76 he had torn knee ligaments which caused him to miss the playoffs. Without their leading playoff scorer and their MVP goalie Bernie Parent, the Flyers fell to Montreal in the finals. The 1976-77 season saw Rick return to form. He has 49 goals and 97 points, leading the team in both categories. Again, he continued to perform in the playoffs with 13 points in just 10 games.

In 1978-79 Rick tied teammate Bill Barber for the NHL lead with 5 shorthanded goals... Rick played solidly for the team during it's 35 game unbeaten streak in 1979-80, as well as the following season, getting 38 goals in 1980-81... Rick shares the alltime Flyer lead with Bill Barber with 53 playoff goals and stands 4th with 105 playoff points. Rick also has the team record for playoff powerplay goals (21) and playoff game winning goals (11). His 328 regular season goals stands 5th and his 697 points stands 4th on the alltime Flyer list.

"My style?" he once said. "Freestyle"... Defensemen knew he would probably cut left to right and goalies understood that the puck would come harder than the slight flick of his wrists suggested, yet the only one who could ever stop MacLeish was himself... Although Ricky was never much of a checker, he would often be matched against the opposition's top line by Fred Shero... Nature provided MacLeish with a fluid stride... his regular season totals were hardly the truest measure of his value... he got the lone goal in the 1-0 cup-clinching victory over the Bruins in 1974, and a game 7 hat trick against the Islanders in 1975... We can only imagine what MacLeish might have done in the 1976 playoffs had he not been out with torn knee ligaments... Ricky seemed at his best when the Flyers' plight seemed most dire. In the 1978 quarterfinals in Toronto, Philadelphia was down 2-0 in games and 3-2 on the scoreboard when he hit the net with 38 seconds left, and then again in overtime. The Flyers won in six. In 1980, young Wayne Gretzky and the Edmonton Oilers were about to steal game 1 when MacLeish forced OT with 1:19 remaining, and the Flyers went on to a three-game sweep... As long as they had a minute and a MacLeish, the Flyers always had a chance.

In 42 AHL games he showed a willingness to play defensive hockey. He hit people and he tried to excel in every phase of the game... "He can skate, pass, and shoot," ********** said. "He also works as hard as hell."... "I've seen a lot of good hockey players but I've never seen anyone as loose as Ricky," Clarke recalled. "they just can't get the puck away from him."... In true Flyer tradition, MacLeish also betrayed a tough side. Once in junior hockey, he fought with *** *****, a notorious pugilist. The two later became teammates on Broad Street. "Rick just stood there and slugged it out with me. I can honestly say I never lost a fight in junior but that was one that I did not win."... MacLeish also claimed to have gone undefeated in the Central League. "I had seven fights and never lost one."... Beyond his fighting ability, MacLeish displayed a willingness to play hurt. Early one season he suffered an ankle injury. it was painful but he insisted on playing through the pain the next night. "macLeish shook off that ankle injury very well," Shero remembered. "But the next night he got rapped on the head by a stick and the doctor told him not to play after the first period. Still, he did everything for us, including winning faceoffs. He showed me that he played okay even when he was dizzy."

The Flyers didn't know what they had until they had to play without him, and the Flyers learned a hard lesson in this as MacLeish missed the 1976 playoffs due to injury. His strong wrists and scoring talent were missed as the team fell short of a third consecutive title... Although traded in 1981, MacLeish still worked hard...

Neither Clark nor MacLeish were very big, but both had tremendously strong legs... The rest of MacLeish's strength was in his wrists, which were about as big as most men's legs... Because of his unusual freewheeling, ad-lib style, many thought that Ricky was lazy. It wasn't so much that he didn't put out, but his talents were so awesome that he could accomplish great deeds withoug any apparent effort at all. Teammates and opponents alike were simply in awe of the Hawk's ability to skate, get off a wrist shot, and to simply drive defensemen and goaltenders crazy.

He was blessed not only with talent, but also with two linemates who possessed the discipline and the willingness to sacrifice that made them perfect bookends for The Hawk. It was a great line, a wonderful contrast to the feeding center and scoring wings of the first line.

Ricky's talents included some that no one knew he had. He was challenged to fight by Hank Boucha in Detroit, and no one knew how well he would be able to handle himself. We should have known. As they carried Boucha off, bleeding, the battered Red Wing raised his #1 finger to the cheers of the crowd... I don't believe that he was ever challenged again, by Boucha or by anyone else.

What I'll always remember best about The Hawk is the way he would swoop down the right side, cut to his left past the slot, and unload that fabulous wrist shot... He was a pure and marvelous player, and just one of the great characters who combined to make the Flyers a great team.

MacLeish was the Flyers' only true gamebreaker...

...It did happen. And one of the reasons it happened was because of the deft shooting, stickhandling and playmaking of MacLeish.

MacLeish is the right guy to have in the circle within a good scoring position, and he also has that great shot.

Ricky is something in the playoffs. It often looks as if he's just floating around on the ice, but that's just his style. He probably has the most natural talent of anyone on our team. And his wrist shot is the best in the league. You never know when he's going to release the shot. When he does, zip! It's past you.

We do take some needless penalties. but we've also got some great penalty killers, like Clarkie, Rick MacLeish, Billy Barber... the way our team plays, our penalty killers get a lot of practice.

By any standards, MacLeish is a good boy with his dukes...

"I don't think anybody is as good as Orr,:" Clarke said last night. "But Rick is as good as Lafleur... as good as Perreault. When he wants to play. Sometimes he's lackadaisical. But there's nothing he can't do if he wants to do it. Even on a bad night, a night that may seem bad for him, it's not really that bad. And some nights, he's spectacular. The way the game is played, the only spectacular thing you can do is what Orr, Perreault, MacLeish do. Pick up the puck in your own end, rush it out, and whistle a shot. Rick does it, and with smoothness and grace."... "He can make the game look so easy," ********** said. "He's an effortless skater and he can shoot... really shoot. Barber and I can have bad games and he can carry us. He can carry a whole line. You get him the puck and he'll put it in. Boom."... "When Rick realizes the importance of games, he digs a little deeper", said **********. "The playoffs come, I just think, I've got to start playing good hockey. The thing is, when the big games come up, I don't play bad. I play pretty good. If nobody can touch you, why not freewheel? I like to roam around a bit. I can't stand in one spot."

"Ricky's only weakness is a lack of concentration, and that disappears during the playoffs," explained his former linemate. "You have to put something on the line to bring to the best in Ricky, and the playoff pressure does that. A midseason game against Kansas City, you might sit on the bench, mumbling because he looks so lackadasical. But put the Stanley Cup in sight and he'll skate through six guys, and put the puck in the net, and you'll want to run up and kiss him."

"MacLeish has the type of wrist shot where he can zip it by you. He may be the best in the league for getting it away quickly and with velocity. I was crouching to see it and it went through a screen. I was just hoping it would hit me," said the Isles goalie.

(following MacLeish's game 7 hat trick) "The way MacLeish played tonight...," Clarke stopped in mid-sentence, shaking his head. "If he plays like that all the time, we're not going to lose too often."..."We came here tonight and, well, it's the seventh game," MacLeish said. "We had to do it. We were going to do it. It's just a feeling you have when you come in here.

"There's no doubt that MacLeish has the most talent on that team," ***** said. "He's sporadic, but he knows it and Shero has talked about it. I never knew how good he was until this series and now I really respect him. Nobody in the league has a better wrist shot. He's deadly, even from 40 feet. It scared me to death every time MacLeish got the puck."

The loudest ovations (in the Stanley Cup parade) were for Dave Schultz, Rick MacLeish, Bobby Clarke and Parent.

"And Rick MacLeish, he sure handled their big guy, Perreault. MacLeish can skate with Perreault all night," said Shero.

To most observers, the Flyers are Bobby Clarke's determination, Bernie Parent's stonewall goaltending, and Rick MacLeish's awesome natural talent.

+/- wasn't officially tracked in the playoffs in 1975, but someone was tracking it in Philadelphia:

Rick MacLeish and Ed Van Impe were (assumedly in the lead with) +16, Jim Watson was +14, and **** ********** was +11.

Best Skater - Bobby Orr (Gilbert Perreault, Rick Macleish)

A forward who specializes in scoring as well as checking... Fast, powerful skater with a lightning shot that explodes on goal... possesses breakaway speed that makes defenders look as though they are moving in slow motion... Regarded as one of the league's best short and long-range wrist shooters... Always a great playoff scorer... Describes his game as a "free-style form of hockey"... "I don't know if there's a more natural shooter and skater anywhere," says coach Fred Shero.

Gifted with extraordinary shot... still a top-flight goal-scorer and skater... quick wrist shot... Deadliest one-on-one player around.

A natural skater with great speed and blazing slap and wrist shots... low-key chap who takes everything in stride...

Elite Company:

Most Times Top-6 In Playoff Points, Post-Expansion:

(italicized players were not top-200 selections)

Gretzky | 9
Kurri | 6
Messier | 6
Lafleur | 5
Bossy | 5
Sakic | 5
Cournoyer | 4
Esposito | 4
Bucyk | 4
Lemaire | 4
Clarke | 4
Savard | 4
Anderson | 4
Gilmour | 4
Fedorov | 4
MacLeish | 3
Beliveau | 3
Hodge | 3
Orr | 3
Potvin | 3
Shutt | 3
Trottier | 3
Coffey | 3
Lemieux | 3
Forsberg | 3
Yzerman | 3
Modano | 3

Most Times Leading the Playoffs In Points, Post-Expansion:

(all are top-40 picks aside from Forsberg [66] and MacLeish [348])

Gretzky|6
Esposito|3
Lafleur|3
MacLeish | 2
Trottier|2
Lemieux|2
Sakic|2
Forsberg|2

 

[DoMakc]

Martin St.Louis

​

Accomplishments:

Stanley Cup (2004)
Hart Memorial Trophy (2004)
Lester B. Pearson Award (2004)
Art Ross Trophy (2004)
NHL 1st All-Star Team (2004)
NHL 2nd All-Star Team (2007)
2x Top 10 in Goals (2004 (4), 2007 (5))
4x Top 10 in Assists (2004 (1), 2007 (9), 2008 (7), 2010 (4))
2x Top 10 in Playoffs Goals (2003 (4), 2004 (4))
Led 2004 Playoffs in Assist and was 2nd in Point

Quotes:

Does size matter in professional hockey? Not to Martin St. Louis. The diminutive winger is listed at 5-9, but that’s probably with his skates on. Once he hops over the boards, however, Martin is a monster, as he employs a devastating combination of speed, smarts and spunk to terrorize bigger opponents. It’s okay to call Martin small. Just don’t ever tell the NHL’s 2004 scoring champ he doesn’t measure up.
[...]
Martin’s greatest asset is his speed. A dedicated and fearless worker, he also isn’t afraid to bang around in the corners or take his lumps in front of the net. Not that Martin hangs around one place too long. His ability to dart into the slightest opening forces teams to be ever vigilant, and this in turn creates opportunities for his teammates.

Martin is one of the better conditioned athletes in the NHL. His years playing soccer and doing gymnastics no doubt have helped him on the ice, enhancing his footwork and agility. Martin’s size can work against him. Bigger opponents try to wear him down with physical play. Of course, they have to be able to catch him to do so—and that’s no easy trick.

Only recently has Martin been recognized for his leadership ability. In hockey, this quality goes hand-in-hand with playoff success. The deeper you take your team in the post-season, the more respect you earn. Already admired for his guts and talent, Martin is on his way to achieving the ultimate compliment as a clutch Stanley Cup performer.

I've played with some good players, but he's doing it every night. It's fun to watch, and it inspires us all.

 

[Leafs Forever]

“ On more than one occasion, though, he surprised some of the more rugged types in the league when they tried to slap him around. He was also the top face-off man of his era.” – Hockey-Notes.com

” He was eventually made team captain” – Hockey-Notes.com

The Toronto St.Pats are happy to add a speedy sniper who can play with some toughness to their fourth-line, one of the most dominant players of the NHA...



LW/C TOMMY SMITH!

Awards and Achievements
2 x Stanley Cup Champion (1906, 1913)
5 x Stanley Cup Finalist (1906, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1917)
2 x Retro Art Ross Trophy (1914, 1915)
2 x Retro Rocket Richard Trophy (1914, 1915)
Retro Hart Trophy (1915)

Career Scoring Records
FAHL
Points – 1st(1906)
Goals – 1st(1906)

IHL
Points – 1st(1907)
Goals – 1st(1907)

WPHL
Points – 1st(1908)
Goals – 1st(1908)

OPHL
Points – 1st(1909), 1st(1911)
Goals – 1st(1909), 1st(1911)

MPHL
Points – 1st(1912)
Goals – 1st(1912)

NHA
Points – 2nd(1913), 1st(1914), 1st(1915)
Goals – 2nd(1913), 1st(1914), 1st(1915), 10th(1916)

 

[Dreakmur]

“The Winnipeg team was big, and the newspapers loved to point out that the Montrealers were small. Montreal’s speediest – and smallest – player was Dickie Boon, a 118-pound dynamo whose slaughter was widely predicted when he first entered the league two years earlier at the defense position of cover-point. Using his small size and punishing speed to advantage, Boon instead crippled his opponents – not with bodychecks, but by stealing the puck and racing away with it.†– Putting A Roof On Winter

“Boon made nay-sayers eat crow. Boon combined blistering speed, spuerior hand-eye coordination, and a knowledge of the scientific aspects of the game to become one of hockey's first great rushing defenders...His skills and leadership inspired the MAAA "Little Men of Iron" of 1901-02, and he won the Canadian speed skating competitions from 1901 to 1904...Boon was one of the first to adopt "rusher" as as his official role. Boon was also more than just a rusher: he used the poke check to great effect long before Frank Nighbor and Jack Walker, the two usually credited with originating the maneuver...Montreal Shamrock **** *******, himself a champion speed skater, thought Boon was the hardest defender in the league to stick-handle past, because of his quickness, coordination, and anticipatory skills.†– Ultimate Hockey

“Fast and wiry, Boon is credited with being the first player to use the poke-check.†– Legends of Hockey

“Little Dickie Boon was the “brightest star†in Montreal’s firmament…†– Putting A Roof On Winter

†Dick Boon was the best for Montreal, whose fast little forwards could not get going at any stage.†– Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1

"In a word: LINCHPIN" -- Ultimate Hockey

With our 18th round selection, McGuire’s Monsters are very pleased to select a defenseman who should perfectly balance out my group of six. His speed, quickness, skill and intelligence should make him a very valuable player in all situations. Please welcome the best of the “Little Men of Ironâ€â€¦



Dickie Boon!!!

Awards and Achievements:
2 x Stanley Cup Champion (1902, 1903)
Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame (1952)

Retro Norris Trophy (1903)

Scoring:
Scoring among Defensemen – 1st(1901), 2nd(1902), 3rd(1900), 3rd(1903)

In 1900, Boon's 2 goals were more than any other defender except the great Hod Stuart and one other player.
In 1901, His 3 goals were the most among defensemen.
In 1902, his 2 goals were again 2nd to only Hod Stuart.
In 1903, his 3 goals were 2nd to one other player.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Murray Oliver, C

Murray Oliver was a slick playmaking centre who could kill penalties and create chances on the power play. He was blessed with excellent hockey sense and scored over 700 career points on four different teams. The tricky forward was considered one of the best in the league at pulling off the fake pass.

Very good offensive credentials for a 4th liner:
-3 Times Top 10 in Points (7, 9, 10)
-3 Times Top 10 in Assists (6, 6, 8)
-1 Time Top 10 in Goals (9)

-5’10”, 170 lbs – better than average size in the 60s.
-Durability: Played every game in 9 of his NHL seasons.

Regularly killed penalties on the great penalty kills of the late 60s Leafs:

Oliver’s duties with the Leafs were divided with the “POE” (Pulford-Oliver-Ellis) and “XXX” (Pulford-Oliver-XXX) lines, and he was adept at killing penalties. In 10 games teaming with Pulford during that season (Murray's first in Toronto), they managed to kill nine of 10 penalties without being scored upon.

http://www.bringthenhltohamilton.com/murray_oliver.html

We were shorthanded in the second period when Dave Keon scored his twenty-first of the season while he and Murray Oliver were killing a penalty. A short-handed goal against anybody, let alone the Canadiens, is something that lifts a team.

-from Hockey is a Battle, Punch Imlach's Own Story, pg. 183-84.

 

[seventieslord]

With the 372nd pick in ATD2010, The Regina Pats are proud to select:

Fred "The Fog" Shero, Coach

NHL:

- Stanley Cup (1974, 1975)
- Stanley Cup Finalist (1976, 1979)
- Jack Adams Award (1974)
- Jack Adams Award Runner-up (1979)
- Lester Patrick Trophy (1980)
- 390-225-119 in the (.612), 63-47 (.573) in the playoffs

OTHER:

- AHL Coach of the Year (1970)
- CHL Coach of the Year (1971)
- QHL Championship (1958)
- IHL Turner Cup Championship (1960, 1961)
- CPHL Championship (1965)
- AHL Calder Cup Championship (1970)
- CHL Championship (1971)
- Lost in IHL & CPHL Final Three Times (1962, 1964, 1967)
- 501-357-104 at other levels (.578), 74-53 (.583) in the playoffs

...Shero retired as a player in 1958 and took up the coaching reigns of the Moose Jaw Canucks of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. This was the beginning of a very successful second career in hockey.

Shero worked his way back to the National Hockey League in 1971 when he was named head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. In the seven seasons Shero served as the team's coach he guided them to four consecutive seasons with a .700 or better winning percentage. Only his first year behind the Flyers bench was he unable to coach them to a .500 record. Shero won the Jack Adams Trophy as the league's best coach in 1974, a season the Flyers won their first ever Stanley Cup. Shero would guide the "Broad Street Bullies" to another Championship the following year. Disappointed with the results of the 1978-79 campaign, Shero resigned as the Flyers coach. Two weeks later he resurfaced in the NHL, returning to his roots in Manhattan as the team's coach and General Manager.

In his first year on Broadway Shero led the Rangers to a surprise berth in the Stanley Cup finals, which they lost the juggernaut Montreal Canadiens squad.

Despite what you may read elsewhere (including even the Flyers official website!) Shero did NOT earn his nickname from often getting lost in thought or by his tendency to slip in and out of rooms without being noticed. During a 1947-48 United States Hockey League game in St.Paul, the fog was so bad during the game it was postponed. The only player who claimed he could still see the puck was Freddy.

...Shero while still a player came up with the system to carry the puck over the blue line rather than dumping it in. Then in 1945 while playing for Fred Metcalfe with the New York Rovers, Shero worked with Metcalfe to devise the "box formation" while killing penalties - this is still used today.

Before coaching the Flyers Shero would coach minor league teams in St. Paul, Omaha and Buffalo in the Rangers' system. While in St.Paul Shero had several colourful episodes. During one game he saw fans leaving with his team leading 7-1, so he pulled his goalie midway in the 3rd period (the game ended 7-3). He did the same stunt again in a 5-0 game that he won 7-5. Shero would end up coaching for 13 years in the minors, taking one year off to operate a leather goods factory. His teams finished first place 6 times (5 of those first place finishes where in his last 7 years of coaching) and championships with Omaha and Buffalo. Coaching in the Ranger's system, Shero thought he'd never get a chance to coach in the NHL with ***** ******* as their longtime coach. He was about to forget about pro hockey and take a job coaching in college when the Flyers offered him the job.

When Shero started to coach the Flyers' he immediately implemented a system. "Other teams have each line playing a different system depending on if they are a scoring or checking line. On the Flyers every line and player plays the same system, whether the player is a superstar or one the forth line", Shero explained. Shero was one of the first coaches ever to implement a team-wide system. When the Flyers ended up losing a playoff spot on the last day of the season in Shero's first year with the Flyers, he claimed "I felt like dying - or like I had actually done so"... Shero was a defensive specialist and now that the offense was repaired it was time to work on defense. Bernie Parent coupled with Shero's teaching made the Flyers had become the league best defensive team, without sacrificing much offense. With their hard play, the Flyers became scorned throughout the NHL and opposition fans. After the third game of a playoff series against the Atlanta Flames, Shero was mugged outside the Flames arena (the Omni). Shero would come back and later coach the underdog Flyers to the finals against the more highly skilled Bruins. To deflect attention of his players Shero claimed he was going to quit coaching after the finals "I want to go back to school, and if we win the cup I'll have enough money to do so". Shero had little intention of doing that but it helped the Flyers build a 3-1 games lead against Boston.

Shero's blackboard messages became a staple in the Flyers lockerroom. They tended to be philosophical in nature, and as *** ****** once said, sometimes it would be weeks before the players understood what Shero meant. One May 19th 1974 with the Flyers just one win away from a championship title, Shero had what would become a famous saying on the blackboard whose meaning was unmistakable:

"Win together today !!! and we walk together forever !!!"

The Flyers would win that game, becoming Stanley Cup champions. As Shero would later say, "It isn't always the more highly skilled team that wins - that's why you have coaches". Shero would win the first ever Jack Adams award as coach of the year for his performance. Not sitting on his laurels, days after winning the Cup, Shero would visit the Soviet Union. Fred initially met Antoli Tarasov in 1961 and wanted to meet him again to study the Russian's training techniques. He became the first to advocate adopting Russian techniques in the NHL. "They play a five man attack system where every player goes off and a fresh 5 man unit goes on. I've done this with the Flyers, but there are cases where I'll go with Clarke in critical situations" Shero's team improved and defeated the Buffalo Sabres for their second straight Stanley Cup that season. Before the win, Shero had another slogan on his blackboard.

"A man with a dream of pleasure can go forth and conquer a crowd and three. With a new song's measure can trample a kingdom down"

Shero, the man, remained a mystery to his team. But his players did know that he dedicated his life to the team and to winning. For that his players committed themselves to him. Under Shero the players developed an attitude that when an opposing player challenged one, he challenged all. Shero preached hard work and courage. "Nobody on our team missed practice in two years, not even the ones injured", Shero claimed in 1975. "they don't want to miss the laughs. I don't think that you can instruct anyone unless you amuse them first." Shero realized that with professional athletes you had to keep them interested to keep them practicing. To vary things Shero would have the Flyers practice with tennis balls instead of pucks. At other times he would have them undergoing the same training exercises that NASA used to train astronauts. Not only were these techniques unique, they worked. [/B]"I've learned more in Philadelphia in three years then I would have learned anywhere else in eight, and it's all because of Fred", Bill Barber claimed. Along the way, Shero became the first coach to start a morning skate - something every NHL team now does.

There were many aspects to Shero's philosophies. "there are 4 corners to a rink and a pit in front of the net. You have to hold your ground. There isn't a man on the team who is afraid to go into a corner and hit someone". Every player on his team would receive 2 copies of Shero's commandments - one for his locker the other for his wallet. His "bible" was his formula to winning :

1) Never go offside on a three on two or two on one
2) Never go backwards in your own end except on a powerplay
3) Never throw a puck out blindly from behind your opponent's net
4) Never pass diagonally across ice in your own end unless 100% certain
5) Wings on wings in neutral zone - unless intercepting a pass
6) Second man go all the way in for a rebound
7) Defense with puck at opponents' blue line -
look at each teammate before shooting
8) Wing in front of opponents' net must face puck and lean on stick
9) Puck carrier over center with no room and no one to pass to must shoot puck in
10) No forward must ever turn his back on the puck
11) No player must be more than two zones away from puck
12) Never be outnumbered in defensive zone
13) On delayed penalty puck carrier must look for extra man
14) Be alert to time left on opponent's penalty

...When looking back at all his accomplishments and innovations, it is truly a crime that Shero is not in the Hall of Fame. Shero holds most major team coaching records : wins (308), winning % (.642), seasons (7) and playoff wins (48). Coupled with all the innovations mentioned above Shero is truly deserving of Hall Of Fame status.

His achievements, well, they not only outlasted Fred Shero, they’ll stand forever: Four Stanley Cup Final appearances; two Cups; first coach to employ systems; first to hire assistant coaches; first to employ in-season strength training; first to break down film; first to travel abroad to study Soviet influences; among the first to adopt morning skates. Incredibly, for all of Shero’s accomplishments, the greatest hockey coach in Flyers history still is not in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“The Hall of Fame is for people who have done things for the sport of hockey,†said Bob Clarke, the greatest player Shero coached. “Freddy did that. He was ahead of ***** ******* for using video. He was ahead of other coaches for using system hockey. He won at the minor league and NHL level and he was way ahead of his time. Sometimes we forget it’s not the National Hockey League Hall of Fame. It’s the Hockey Hall of Fame. That’s why Europeans are getting in and it’s why lots of outstanding minor leaguers from different eras never were thought about as being Hall of Famers, but probably should have been. Freddy’s NHL record is good enough to get in and put on his minor league record and he’s Hall-of-Fame material.â€

So why isn’t Freddy in the Hall? “People are talking about him now; there is a push for him now,†said Flyers founder Ed Snider. “It definitely is a bad oversight.†Keith Allen rescued Shero from minor league obscurity, where he won at every level but was buried behind others in the Rangers’ organization. “There’s a hell of a lot of people in the Hall who never had the record Freddy had,†Allen said. “I don’t know why he was overlooked. Maybe we are all at fault because he deserves to be there. And maybe we didn’t push hard enough as an organization. I’m kind of surprised he’s not there.â€

...Fred Shero was a teacher and student of the game. He was an innovator. That qualifies him to be recognized through the “builders' category†in the Hall. Colin Campbell sits on the selection committee... “Fred Shero had a long career, when you look at his minor league career,†Campbell said. “I hear a lot of players talk about what they learned from Fred Shero, guys from my era and the impact he had on them. He had an impact on a lot of coaches, too.â€

Fred Shero the student

“Some of the things he did at the time, players thought he was off-the-wall,†recalled Lou Lamoriello, general manager of the New Jersey Devils. “But I believe, too, he was somewhat of a disciple of Lloyd Percival’s hockey handbook and I remember Fred talking about that on different occasions.†Percival’s The Hockey Handbook was published in 1951, six years before Shero began his minor league coaching career. Shero reportedly memorized the book and used it as tool for future study. It was one of many books that influenced his life behind the bench. And not every book was on hockey, either.

“He was really big on John Wooden and had a lot of Wooden stuff around the house and books,†said Ray Shero, who’s known as “Son of Fred,†the GM of the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins. “Dad saw how [Wooden] used his psychology of reading people at UCLA as applicable to hockey. My dad was pretty quiet, but if he trusted you, he would engage you and talk for hours about things. “He was a big, big reader and even on Russian history. After the first Cup, he went to Russia and brought my mom for three weeks. He met with Boris Mikhailov and took Lou Vairo over there. It was a hockey seminar. He must have met with ****** ********, too. He really loved it.â€

In 1971, Allen, the Flyers' GM at the time, didn’t know Fred Shero, other than by reputation. Allen knew Shero was successful, and had a gut feeling he’d be the right coach for the team Allen was building. “He was a guy who was very successful in the minors,†Allen said. “I thought, ‘let’s have him in, look at him and see.’ I never knew him personally. I was a little older than he was. He was just so successful.†Snider took a chance on Shero because he trusted Allen. “Keith came to me and said, ‘there is this guy Shero in the Ranger organization,’†Snider said. “’Do you know him?’ ‘No, I don’t know him, but he always has a winning record and I think he would be great.’ Keith brought him in. Keith the Thief got him.â€

Fred Shero the teacher and innovator

“He had this contraption called The Apollo with ropes all over it,†Ray Shero recalled. “Guys would use it off ice. It was a tube with ropes, similar to bands we have now.†Said Clarke, “We were the first team that had off-ice training with the Apollo machine, which was weight training. No one else was doing that.†That was innovative. So was sending messages without saying a word. Or even looking at a player.

Former Rangers goalie John Davidson, who sits on the Hall’s selection committee and is president of hockey operations in St. Louis, recalls that Shero had a unique way of motivating players simply by a touch. “He was innovative in how he tried to motivate people,†Davidson said. “He could do things even through his hands. He would find ways to touch you on the bench [to send a message]. He was a man of few words.â€

Clarke said Shero’s bench strategy was simply to keep players’ minds in the game. “He’d walk up and down the bench [asking], ‘how much time left in the period?’†Clarke said. “’Bleep, Freddy, look it up yourself.’ But his game plan was, if there were five minutes left to play, this is how he wanted us to play. He wanted everyone to know how much time was left on the clock. None of us had ever seen this approach.â€

Or his approach after losses. “He would have 8 a.m. practices,†Clarke said. “If you lost a game, the next day practice was low key, almost lackadaisical. But if you won, he would work the hell out of you. He always felt if you were winning, you could get more work out of a man. If you were losing, your energy was low, and [it was like] let’s get it back and not waste it in practice. But when we won, and we won a lot, we practiced. It’s the exact opposite philosophy of coaches today, where if a team plays bad, they skate the hell out of you. He never did that. His practices were always for the purpose to get better.â€

Shero studied video, broke it down, and would then disseminate information to his players. “Freddy would break down a team off tapes and he’d always say, ‘this is the way we’re going to win the game,’†said Joe Watson, who played for Shero's Cup-winning squads. “Not the way we’re going to play, but win. Whenever he said ‘win,’ players thought, ‘well, if we do [as] Freddy says, we can win.’ Most times he was right. We believed in that and it held true in a lot of instances. “We broke down games thoroughly. We would run it on the ice at practices with the two assistants. That was before his time.â€

Shero felt that repetition of systems and drills was important for success in games. “Dad had his 'Ten Commandments,'†Ray Shero said. “I’d say nine of 10 are still applicable to today’s game. So much was repetition. He felt repetition was the key. Someone asked my dad once why he never closed practices. He answered that it was execution that won hockey games and not surprises. So why hide? Execution and repetition was the big part of his systems. Where players should go without the puck.â€

Fred Shero also broke down games off the radio. “I remember there was a Chicago-Boston game on TV and he would sit in our living room in Cherry Hill, and this [in] 1973 or 74,†Ray Shero said. “He’d have his pad, from the desk of Fred Shero, and be sitting there in the living room. I’d come home from playing and my mom [Mariette] would go, ‘shhh, dad is listening to the game.’ He had this stereo and it’s got static and he’s listening to an Islander-Boston game. I was thinking, ‘what could you possibly get off the radio?’ But he did it.â€

He also demonstrated what opponents were doing on the ice and how to defend against it. He took what others did and refined it to suit his own game. “A lot of people can be provincial,†Davidson said. “Our way is the only way to do it, the best way, and that’s that. Freddy was open-minded to the world. A lot of people in the world, if you are open-minded, you can grasp things from other cultures. You can be a better person. A better innovator. You not only become a sponge to learn, but a better teacher. You can take all the good things and apply them.â€

Toronto general manager Brian Burke won the Stanley Cup in Anaheim as a GM, though as a player he spent time in the Flyers’ system in Maine. Burke, too, saw Shero’s tactics as groundbreaking for the sport. “His use of film back then was radical,†Burke said. “He was an innovator. People remember those teams and say, Broad Street Bullies. Those Flyers were the prototype of the Islanders’ four Cup teams. They were the first team where, no matter what style you would play, we’re going to be able to match you. If you want to play hard, we’ll play hard. If you want to play skill, we can do that. Look at the guys they had on that team. [Reggie] Leach, [Rick] MacLeish. He was an innovator and his practices were much better than what most teams were doing at the time. Most practices were very simple back then, but Freddy’s were more complex.â€

Shero took the 1979 Rangers to the Stanley Cup final against Montreal. No one expected that team to upset the Islanders, let alone have a chance against the Canadiens, who won the series in five games. “He would sit and take notes himself and then come out and use them,†John Davidson said of that playoff run. “There was no two-hour dissertation. He’d make his few points and that was it. Freddy wouldn’t say a whole lot. But he would exercise his thoughts. He had people who would do a lot of work with him, like Mike Nykoluk. He used people the right way.â€

Bob Clarke said the single most noble attribute of Shero as a coach was that he never abused his players. “You absorb so much playing for a guy as long as I did, and I never realized it until later, he never, ever gave players’ [grief],†Clarke said. “He didn’t raise his voice at players. My feeling is that when coaches do that, they’re doing it for their own sake. The coach’s job is to make his players and his team better. Yelling and cursing at the guy doesn’t make him better. Freddy was the epitome of what a coach should be. He helped you get better. He never abused you in any form. That is what coaching is.â€

In the offseason, Shero conducted coaching seminars in Canada. “I remember in 1976, Freddy did a clinic at my hometown in Smithers, British Columbia,†****** said. “We had coaches from every part of Canada. It wasn’t cheap, either – I think $150. And people came a long way for three days to hear Freddy talk. They loved him.â€

Freddy Shero and the Soviet Red Army

When the Flyers defeated the Soviet Red Army in January of 1976, it was no mere coincidence. Fred Shero had not only studied how the Red Army played, but he had dissected the very essence of their attack – how they passed the puck. “He said they would win the faceoffs and then make 20 passes,†****** recalled of the Flyers’ strategy. “He told us, let them make their passes. We stood back and let them pass. They got confused because we didn’t go after them. We made them come to us. The Russians never shot the puck in or chased it. They carried it. By end of the second period they were shooting it in because they could not penetrate our blue line.â€

It wasn’t the first time that Shero had done the unconventional. In 1974, when the Flyers won their first Cup by defeating Boston, Shero told his players to allow Bobby Orr to have the puck in his own end. It was risky. “No one had ever used that approach before,†Clarke recalled. “It wasn’t so much let Orr have the puck, as every time you had it, throw it into his corner and make Orr skate back hard for it. Freddy knew it was going to be a long series and Orr would play 30-35 minutes a game. Every time we got it, we throw it into his corner, make him skate back hard, and if you got there in time, hit him. I don’t know if it took a toll on him. The fifth game, they beat us and he was by far the best player on the ice. But the sixth game here, he wasn’t quite the factor he was in some other games. And we had Bernie [Parent], too.â€

Naturally, two years later, when it came time for playing the Soviet Red Army, Clarke wasn’t surprised that Shero again used a puck strategy. “We knew how they played,†Clarke said. “They wanted to pass the puck. As soon as you left a spot, they’d pass it where you used to be. If you weren’t prepared for that, they would make you look pretty bad. Freddy said, ‘just hold your positions.’ Let them pass it around all they want. They tried that the first eight minutes of the game and we never chased them. They broke down. As long as we held our positions, they had nowhere to go with the puck. When you have to pass through a guy, it’s different, and they weren’t that good. I think that game may have changed the Russian game of hockey. After that, they started shooting the puck in. Doing things that North Americans did.†Added Burke, “Freddy was ahead of his time.â€

Freddy the Philosopher

Of course, Shero is best remembered as a bit of a philosopher. He liked to read. He would pick up things, mull them over, then flush them out on the chalkboard as sayings. Or simply make them up himself. One saying, before the Flyers won their first Cup against Boston, led to hockey immortality: Win today and we walk together forever.

“He did it on occasion,†Clarke recalled. “It wasn’t infrequent. Once every couple weeks, there would be a new one. You got used to it after awhile and [started] looking forward to them and trying to figure them out. He wanted us to think.â€

****** enjoyed the scribblings, yet couldn’t figure them out. “Being hockey players, it took a month to figure it out,†he said. “But we understood ‘win today and we walk together forever.’â€

Shero’s many inspirational sayings became legend. “In his own sort of quiet, reserved way, Freddy was brilliant,†Snider said. Even today, coaches borrow from Shero – albeit, without crediting him. Last month at the Cup final in Detroit, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, who can be both charming and obnoxious at the same time, was asked during the morning before Game 7 what it would mean if the Wings beat the Penguins that evening. “You win together today, you walk together forever. I'm a big believer in that,†Babcock said. No attribution to Shero. None necessary. Everyone at the presser knew who said it first.

...“He should be in the Hall of Fame because he took an expansion team and won a Stanley Cup in our seventh year of existence, No. 1,†Snider said. “No. 2, he was very innovative, particularly in studying other methods of play, like he did with the Russians and then used their system to dominate them in ’76. He was full of innovations. Players still revere him.â€

Ray Shero says his father “made a difference†in hockey. “He was an innovator and winner and he won at all levels,†he said. “He had an impact on people’s lives. He made the game of hockey better. ... There were a lot of big moments under him. … I believe he belongs there. I know the contributions he made.â€

It’s long overdue for the Hockey Hall of Fame to acknowledge those contributions, as well.

Coaches use an array of techniques to motivate their players. Some make fire and brimstone speeches, others use a reserved corporate executive style of communication. Fred Shero took the road less traveled. He scribbled messages on the locker room blackboard to inspire his troops... Using an eccentric, entertaining style, he began to mold the Flyers into the "Broad Street Bullies," writing on his famed blackboard, "Take the shortest route to the puck carrier, and arrive in ill humor." He stressed the importance of commitment by saying, "When you have bacon and eggs for breakfast, the chicken makes a contribution, but the pig makes a commitment."

Practices under Shero could make an outsider shake his head in disbelief. To improve stick handling, tennis balls would replace hockey pucks. To increase leg strength, skaters would push a goalie seated in a folded chair around the ice. Forwards would practice breakaways while being slashed from behind. "Nobody ever lets you score an easy goal in a game," Shero said. "Why practice that way?"

"The Fog," as Shero was called, didn’t rest on his laurels. Three days after winning his first Cup, he spent three weeks in the Soviet Union to study Russian techniques. Even with all his success, this brilliant hockey mind never took himself too seriously. "Coaches are a dime a dozen," Shero said.

]"Coaches in our country are not considered masters of anything"

, Shero told the Russians. "In fact, they're considered dummies in a lot of cases." Shero gave a lengthy presentation, dispensing whatever knowledge he had, and lapped up what the Russians had to say. Other Canadians felt they weren't getting enough out of the symposium and wanted to go home, leaving Shero to conclude the lectures were too deep for them. The irony was that the Philadelphia coach, the same man who was being harpooned at home as the father of goon hockey, a type of hockey the soviets despised, was the star of the show.

Watching the Russians, Shero decided it was useless to start attacking an opponent by taking the puck behind your own net. It allowed opponents time to get set up. From then on the Flters would counter-attack like the Russians - from the second they got control of the puck.

Another puzzle to Shero was the tight rein the Russians kept on their superstars. "A team's superstars should be able to stray from the pack," said Shero. "They made theirs conform to the system. Coaches have too much power over there."

If there could possibly be as few as three words to describe Fred Shero and his coaching ability, perhaps "eccentric, but effective" would be appropriate.

The Flyers were sometimes put through nonsensical drills until somebody, usually Clarke, would challenge their worth. "now we're getting somewhere," Shero would say. "I wanted to see who was thinking."

Shero would gather the Flyers in his hotel room at mid evening for beers. The real purpose of these meetings was to disrupt the players' barhopping and keep consumption at moderate levels, but the sessions were far less resented than any strict curfews.

The Flyers felt Shero treated them like adults. he never embarrassed them before their peers, and would sometimes go to ridiculous lengths to publicly defend them.

My teammates respected Freddie, but I should point out that when I played for him, I adored him... The players never felt alone. We always had the sense that Freddie, in his inimitable fashion, would protect us and provide us with feelings of security at the appropriate times... Freddie's dedication to the game neutralized all our doubts and misgivings, so that we rarely if ever questioned either his strategies or his style of behaviour... Freddie was adjudged a born winner by all those around him...

Freddie did more with less than anyone else in NHL history. Look at the lineup we had when the Flyers won the Stanley Cup - there were only four players on the whole team who could legimately be called special talents - Parent, Clarke, Barber, and MacLeish... He brought us together as no other coach could have... He made it clear that everyone contributed no matter how little or how much a guy was on the ice. It made everyone, especially me, put out just a little bit more for him...

In terms of his critics, and also his supporters, Freddie paid a very heavy price that, to this time is not very clearly understood. The bottom line is that Freddie won two Stanley Cups with a team that shouldn't have won it either time, if you judge by talent alone. But, thanks to Freddie, we had something going for us that others sisn't; we worked harder than any team in the league. We were the most disciplined and the most aggressive. We had developed a reputation.

Freddie is easy to get along with. He can joke with the players, even kid us about the amount of money we get. He sincerely wants to make his players better men, but he only goes so far. He opens the doors, but it's up to us to walk through them.

At first, I thought the exercises he had us doing were the kind you give to a peewee or bantam player... But then I realized they all had a purpose... Freddie is always looking to be one step ahead of the times...

There s only one Freddie Shero. that's one reason I gave him the Javelin car I won from Sport Magazine after the 1974 playoffs. When I gave Freddie the keys, he said "I've always said you have to be a little goofy to be a coach. But now I think my players are a little crazy too." I just thought Freddie deserved a gift like that. he took us to the cup. Sure, we had a good team, but he's the one who harnessed us and kept us going.

Of all the characters I've known in sports, my most unforgettable character would have to be Fred Shero... If I had to summarize Freddy's philosophy in as few words as possible, I would give you this quote by Freddy Himself. "Hockey is a children's game played by men; since it is a children's game, they ought to have fun." And Freddy's players had fun! Oh my, did all of us ever have fun!

Freddy's intent was that he wanted the players to know that in his mind, above all else, the players came first. All of his subtle little trivialities showed only one thing: It was the players alone that mattered to him.

Whether they knew it or not, Freddy understood the character of his players better than anyone else. As he put it, "In the first year, I want to know more about my players than their wives do. And what's more important, I know who's willing to do what it takes to win."

Even after his most magnificent triumph, winning the Stanley Cup for the first time, Freddy was off to Russia three days later. When asked why he didn't stay around a while to savour the success, Freddy answered succinctly, "I've already taught them everything I know. The only way they're going to get better is if I get smarter."

Everyone had a role on the team and everyone played... With that philosophy in force, all of Freddy's players felt as though they belonged and were wanted, and perhaps even more important, when crunch time came in the third period, the key players were not worn to a frazzle; they were warmed up and ready to dominate the last part of the game. Under Freddy, the Flyers became known as a team that "owned the 3rd period".

To his players, Freddy was like a good father. They didn't always understand him, but they always knew that he cared. And they trusted him.

Some critics label the Flyers a violent team. Yet, these critics will applaud if Clarke or MacLeish or Schultz is dealt a stiff bodycheck. The flyers are an aggressive team, no doubtm and they are going to stay aggressive. But aggression alone doesn't win games and a championship. It takes discipline, teamwork, conditioning, and a system.

...In the last 30 years, since the beginning of the red line, we have done nothing in center ice. Every other team does the same thing: if they get the puck over to the center; if the wings are covered, they shoot it in. The Russians have advanced beyond that stage already. Instead of shooting the puck in, they will create openings. I picked up this technique from the Russians, and ours is the only team in the NHL that has been using this method of play... The Russians are creating openings even in their own zone. They will weave and cut to get away from the wings and create openings.

...the Russians believe in five-man units and all working together. Every man knows exactly what the other man is going to do in every situation. When I played defense and our center had the puck, I had no idea what he was going to do. In a typical game, the wings may have had some idea of what the center was going to do, but generally, we never worked as a five-man unit.

For instance, the left winger would have the puck deep in the corner, and I could stand free all night and never get the puck. He was going to do what he wanted, and nobody knew what he was going to , not even the coach. But the Russians don't play that way and neither do the Flyers.

...Take the Flyers, for instance. We had no reason, if reason is to be culled from statistics and scouting reports, to win the 1974 Stanley Cup. There were other teams in the NHL with superior personnel. Some of the players are even considered by pundits today as the best in hockey history. But the Flyers won the championship. The explanation goes beyond statistics and averages. There is no mathematical formula that can explain courage and confidence, and I doubt one will be forthcoming.

...My system demands economy of motion. We don't have to beat anyone to pass the puck. We don't believe in carrying the puck. To us, the name of the game is passing.

...Motivation takes many forms, but regardless of the specifics it has to be positive... I try to harp on the positive aspects of the game as much as possible. I will hit the negative aspect lightly, but I know it will register.

...I know my personnel. I know who to humour and who will not be humoured. The players are all individuals; they have the right to be different. Therefore, they can't all be treated the same. Some are more sensitive than others, some are more intelligent and some are more hardworking than others. The coach who tries to handle all his players the same way is not successful for long.

"A typical hockey fan would probably tell you Frank Mahovlich is a great player because he scored 49 goals one year. But if I put Frank Mahovlich in a corner and send someone in to check him, he'll throw a blind pass into the slot every time. just to keep from getting hit. That kind of careless pass can send the other team on a three-on-two if it's intercepted. The mark of a great player? Hardly. You won't see one of our players throw the puck away like that. It takes courage to take a hit in the corer but our players will accept that to make a good pass.

Talent-wise, this team doesn't compare to Montreal. Aside from Clarke and Parent, we don't have a man who could make their squad, but when we have to beat them, we do. Why? Because Montreal relies on one individual to have a super game or make the super play. With them, everything is one on one. To win against good competition, you have to set up two-on-ones and three-on-ones which is what our team does. It takes discipline and self-secrifice. It probably wouldn't work in Montreal because the players want to put the puck in the net themselves. I'm lucky. There isn't a selfish man on the team.

So I can't be worried about the so-called experts. They are so busy trying to explain why the great New York Rangers and Boston Bruins keep losing, they don't take time to consider why a team like ours keeps winning. it's no secret, the answer is plain enough to see, if only they'd bother to look."

The Flyers haven't lost a game in two months. Why? It's The System, say the players.

The Flyers are undefeated over their last 20 games. Why? It's The System, say the coaches.

The Flyers haven't lost a playoff game yet this year. Why? It's The System.

The Flyers lost four regulars to injuries during the playoffs last year and still won the Stanley Cup. Why? It's The System.

the Flyers lost the NHL's best goaltender and they're still 2-0 in the semifinals. Why? It's The System.

The way the Flyers speak to reverently about The System, yo'd swear the diagrams had been etched into stone atop Mt. Sinai.

"Under Freddy's system, everyone has got a definite place to be under every circumstance," says ***** ******. "After a while, you know, you just know, where everybody on your team is gonna be. Hell, you can pass the puck without even looking."

"There's no way to beat The System. I mean, the only way you can beat it is if someone isn't where he's supposed to be, or if the other team just plain has more talent all the way around than you and they play to their potential all night."

Fred Shero's system is a distillation, a borrowing, a little from here, a little from there, of other teams' systems, with, of course, his own modifications and alterations. And he is always tinkering.

Shero also planned to distribute a 300-word essay on the basics of skating, emphasizing the proper stance, stride, arch of the back and bend of the knees. "Nobody is ever too smart to improve," Shero said. "These basic rules also apply to pros. If they take them home and read them, they might register. I could stand at center ice and read them but the players would laugh at me or not listen. They don't have time for lectures. So they get them in writing. If just one man improves his speed or does more helpful exercises, it's worth it."

Win or Lose, Freddie Shero is Freddie Shero. he'll talk away the night, He'll think up new answers to old questions... As a coach who excels in motivating athletes, he knew it was his job to dispel some of those negative thoughts (after losing three straight games to NYI to tie the semifinals)... If they stave off embarrassment tonight, Freddie Shero will deserve much of the credit.

And like all geniuses he has his own ways of creating. The methods are different from those long accepted ones not understood by the masses. Once, during this series with Buffalo, he wanted his team to clear the puck in a manner not used during the season. His players doubted the change, so he allowed them to use the old way through a whole period, demonstrating its futility.

"Guys like Esposito and Orr are going to play a lot for themselves", Shero said. "If Boston loses they're not going to blame Esposito and Orr. Of course not. They'll look at the statistics; they'll see all the goals they scored; they'll say the rest of the team let them down. That is why we'll prevail in the end. What a coach has to realize, a team's like a family. You've got to find a way to work together, live together, laugh together. Build that togetherness or they're going to die. You don't have togetherness if they're sitting on the bench and you don't tell them why. If I don't play them, that's a crime, i think. You run into injuries, what then? it's hard to do anything when you've been sitting on your tail for a month." Total dedication to the team. That is what Shero has built on a foundation so strong that even success couldn't destroy it.

They have downgraded individualism to a crime and uplifted teamwork to an art and a virtue. The Flyers almost magically converted the work ethic into the WORK ETHIC. "A lot of times," said bernie Parent, "we do not understand Freddie, but we believe in him."

Let's face it, Shero is the NHL's answer to Rumplestiltskin, weaving gold from straw. He has taken blah players such as *** ******, **** **********, ***** ********** - so average you can't tell them from mediocre - and made them big winners. Shero simply wrote a hockey symphony and taught his men how to play it.

Apart from Clarke, the supreme digger, there are two virtuosos on the team - Rick MacLeish and Bernie Parent. Shero is absolutely right when he said that most of his guys aren't good enough to make the Canadiens' lineup.

Mysterious, off-beat personality... Deep-thinking, imaginative, innovative coach and strategist... Likes to diagram plays with Xs and Os in football fashion... Always developing new methods of doing things... "None of us can figure him out or understand him, but he's a great coach to play for," says team captain Bobby Clarke... has tremendous rapport with players... A great motivator... Other coaches have adopted many of his ideas...

A try-anything strategist... Has interrupted practice sessions by tossing volleyball on ice and telling players to have some fun...Collects quotes and scrawls inspirational messages on loceker room blackboard...

Still "The Fog", but made things clearer for the Rangers... Credited with develping defensive system that pulled team past preliminary for the first time in five years and into the final... Pieced together team that challenged for second place... remained patient with young defense...

BEST COACH - Fred Shero, ***** **** tie

BEST COACH - Al Arbour (Fred Shero, Billy Reay, Scotty Bowman)

BEST COACH - 1 Scotty Bowman 2 Al Arbour 3 Fred Shero

“Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must first set yourself on fire.â€

Eighteen choirboys never won the Stanley Cup, and they never will.

 

[seventieslord]

With the 432nd pick in ATD2010, The Regina Pats are pleased to select:

Harry Percival Watson, LW

- 6'1", 207 lbs
- Member of the HHOF
- Stanley Cup (1943, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951)
- Top-20 in goals 7 Times (2nd, 9th, 12th, 15th, 17th, 17th, 19th)
- Top-20 in points 3 Times (7th, 16th, 20th)
- Top-10 in playoff goals 3 times (2nd, 4th, 8th)
- Top-13 in playoff points 3 Times (6th, 7th, 13th)
- Only 150 PIM in 809 Games
- 7-Time All-Star Game Participant
- From 1947-1956, Watson was 4th in goals and 12th in points. Richard, Howe, and Lindsay had more goals, and among the 11 with more points, only three are not surefire top-100 players.

Throughout his career, Watson was best known for his offensive ability, which he combined with a quiet, even temperament on the ice to complement his strong leadership. A left wing who was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in 1923, Harry Percival Watson played 14 seasons in the NHL on four different teams from 1941 to 1954.

...The next season he went to the Detroit Red Wings, where he was an instant hit. In his first year there his 13 goals helped the Red Wings finish first overall in the regular season. In the playoffs he was dominant as the Wings beat Boston in four straight games to win Stanley Cup.

...in Toronto he quickly teamed up with center Syl Apps and tough guy **** ******** to form a scoring trio feared around the league. This troika helped the Leafs win the Stanley Cup four times during Watson's nine seasons at Maple Leaf Gardens, giving him a total of five Cup wins in his career.

As an individual, Watson's best year was with the Leafs in 1948-49. He led the club in scoring with 26 goals and, unbelievably, didn't record a single penalty minute throughout the season. He also scored the eventual Stanley Cup-winning goal that year en route to a 4-0 swamp of his old team, the Red Wings. Leafs fans also remember Watson as the one who assisted on Bill Barilko's legendary overtime Cup-winning goal in 1951...

Overall, Watson played in 809 regular-season games in the NHL, scoring 236 career goals to go with 207 assists for 443 career points. In addition to his five Stanley Cup wins, Watson's teams succeeded in making the playoffs in nine of the 14 years he played. He also played in seven All-Star games, usually as a member of the Cup-winning team.

Watson was a big and brawny left wing with an easy going manner. He was quite aggressive and could fight, but never pushed things too far and consequently did not get a great many penalties... he had a very deceptive style of skating and at times appeared to be hardly moving and then would break like a flash.

He did not play in the 1951 semifinal due to injurues, but was prominent in the final against the Canadiens.

The little-known Watson went on to help the Leafs win four Stanley Cups by adding some toughness and scoring on the wing. The rugged native of Saskatoon was one of the NHL's most feared fighters, although he did not get into many tussles since the opposition usually avoided him. For more than nine seasons Watson was a steadying influence on the Leafs.

He patrolled the wing with a strong skating stride, had a hard shot and was a good finisher for a playmaker like Apps.

Watson was tough along the boards and could handle the rough stuff with ease. In the third game of the 1948 semifinal series, burly Boston Bruins defenseman ****** ********* went after Watson and learned to regret it as the normally mild-mannered winger dropped his gloves and pummelled ********* fast and furiously, smashing his nose with one of his punches...

...his all-round game made him one of the first "power forwards" in the NHL.

...a mild-mannered LW with the ability to be a great scorer and the strength of a prize fighter...

From 1952 to 1955, Harry's career was unspectacular but efficient. What the Leafs did achieve in those years was to a great extent the result of Harry's hard work and leadership.

********, Barilko, Mortson, Watson - with those guys on the prowl, other teams learned to keep their heads up.

Harry Watson could duke it out pretty well but only if he was mad, so opposing coaches always told their teams not to wake him up.

Kenny Reardon of the Canadiens said, "With his weight, skill, and speed, Harry Watson is always a handful."

Watson was a physical LW who played the game aggressively but within the rules. He was a deceptively fast skater who was used to check the opposition's top scorers, but had a good scoring touch of his own.

Proved to be a reason for victory (for Detroit)... Helped Toronto to the 1948 cup despite a bad knee... Made a key play that led to Barilko's cup-winning goal...

At 6'1" and 205 pounds, Watson was head and shoulders above everyone in the league during his heyday. But he was as gentlemanly as he was big and never played an intimidating style of hockey. Instead, he earned his respect through teamwork and leadership.

A great bear of a left winger who defied the expectations created by his intimidating size...

Then it was so long to Harry Watson - keep him happy and he was a winger who'd get you 20 goals a season with a broken leg, just as easy as falling off a log.

There seems to be a consensus among veterans of the six-team era when they remember Harry Watson. Watson, they agree, was a force to be reckoned with when agitated... "I guess I was always classified as a lazy hockey player," he explains. "I guess because I tried to play my position. I didn't try to play center and right wing because I was a left winger. I tried to do my job. They also classed Gordie Howe as a lazy player. I always wished that I was as lazy as he was because he was one exceptional hockey player."

On at least two occasions Gordie Howe actually codified this attitude by making private agreements of mutual non-hostility with opposing players. "In one of my early Detroit training camps, before I turned pro, we had an exhibition game in Toronto. As I skated into the corner early in the game, Harry Watson skated in beside me, ready to cream me. But just before he lowered his shoulder, he yelled, 'look out, kid!' and I just had time to relax and take the hit without getting hurt. Later in the game, when I was about to hit him, I returned the favour by calling, 'Look out, Mr. Watson!" He took the hit in stride, and as he skated away, he said to me, 'I can see we're gonna get along fine, young fella.' He was a big, strong man, and for fifteen years after that he always covered me when we played the Leafs. And he never once took advantage, and neither did I."

When the Leafs got a penalty, a Metz brother and Harry Watson would check them into embarrassed helplessness.

Harry Watson was a remarkable hockey player... Watson is remembered as a hard-working leader. Fast and strong, the bulky left winger possessed great offensive and defensive ability... While in Toronto, he was often given orders to check opponents like Gordie Howe and Maurice Richard... Even though he was seldom penalized, Watson was no wimp...

I remembered Harry Watson as a bull-strong and highly opportunistic left-winger...

Harry Watson played left-wing, another of those solid citizen types… Patrol the wing, check diligently, popping goals almost as an afterthought

Harry Watson patrolled the left wing with a quiet efficiency. He was known for his offensve ability complemented by deceptive speed, physical strength and capable defensive skills... He joined the Black hawks in 1954, providing leadership and experience.

One of the top power forwards of the era, Watson was a good skater who had a powerful shot. A durable and consistent performer, Watson was respected by the opposition for his toughness and goal-scoring abilities.

****** ********* was the Boston casualty. his nose was badly splattered when he clashed with big Harry Watson in a fist-swinging duel. Dr. Horace McIntyre, Leafs physician who has been checking the health of pro hockey players for more than two decades, says he has never seen a nose so badly smashed.

Harry Watson played with the authority of the rugged 200-pounder that he is, shrugging off his opponents like water from a duck's back.

Ted Lindsay, spotting Watson approximately 40 pounds, clashed with the big boy. He took one blow from the Toronto left winger, and then retreated, but fast.

Nearest thing to a fistic outbreak among many threats happened late in the second was when Harry Watson, who had handed out severall stiff checks, was high-sticked by Lindsay.

Watson's very bigness gives him somewhat of a lazy, ambling appearance as he patrols his left side in effecive fashion, but when he gets the puck he picks up top speed in about a stride and a half and presents a pretty picture as he whirlwinds towards the enemy's net.

...Watson, the only leaf with more than 10 goals other than the Kennedy line, trails numerous other lefties in the points department, but we guarantee, without checking, that there are not many, if any, with a better defensive record.

...The big fellow is respected by his opponents. He sometimes takes too much from some of the chippier types but once aroused, can be relied upon to give a good account of himself.

...There isn't a southpaw winger in hockey today that we'd like to trade for Watson, and that includes messrs. Smith and Lindsay.

Harry Watson decked *** ******* behind the Chicago goal. "You can't do that; I didn't have the puck!" complained ******* to which Watson replied, "What d'ya mean I can't? Are you a prima donna?"

"We're trying to sharpen up the left wing spot," said King Clancy following yesterday's session. "Outside of Harry Watson, we're not getting the best out of the players on that side."

Harry Watson and his 200 pounds were an ongoing concern for the Wings. The big guy flattened Howe a couple of times. Early in the third period, he knocked down his check, Howe, and Pronovost, in quick succession.

"One guy who has been playing hockey for me in this series has been Harry Watson," said Smythe. "He has been checking Howe most of the time and Howe hasn't done anything with the teams at even strength."

CLUTCH PLAY:

In the 1948 finals, Watson opened the scoring in game 1, a 5-3 win, then scored the winner in game 3, a 2-0 game. Watson was outstanding in the cup-clinching game:

Watson and Kennedy were outstanding, both getting two goals.

And turned the tides in game 2 in the 1949 semis:

Boston led at the end of the second period... Watson sank the Bruins in the final, getting two nice goals.

Watson also scored the OT winner to put the Leafs ahead 3-1 in the 1951 finals:

Harry Watson came onto the ice, took a quick pass from Bentley, poked the puck past Doug Harvey, beat him to it, and then shot it past *******'s kicking left leg.

Then, Watson played a part in one of the most memorable goals of all-time, first by a clutch backcheck with the goalie pulled:

Little hope was left for a Toronto reprieve as ** ******* was yanked with one minute and 53 seconds remaining. Then, strategy paid off and in this instance we suggest that rookie NHL coach *** ******* out-mastered veteran NHL coach Dick Irvin.

Primeau sent out the players who had figured most prominently in the scoring in the series: Kennedy, Smith, Sloan, Watson, Bentley and Mortson. Irvin countered with his good checking line: Mosdell, Curry, ***** and Johnson and Bouchard on defense.

A brief three-second scramble and another faceoff was ordered. Irvin sent out Lach to replace Mosdell, but changed his mind. Mosdell almost broke loose, but Harry Watson raced madly down the ice to grab the puck and save the situation.

Then, he started the play that led to the goal:

Watson flattened a rolling puck and passed to ****** who went behind the Canadiens net and passed out to Barilko. The big blond defenseman drilled it home at 2:53 to win the game and the Cup.

 

[Dreakmur]

“A classic example of a superb goaltender yoked to a mediocre hockey club... almost singlehandedly guided the Rangers to the final round of the 1950 Playoffs, only to see them fall to the mighty Wings in the final game...The Ranger coach during that cinderaella season, remembered his inspiring heroics with the defenseless blueshirts. "He never had great protection. Yet he always came up with a better than average record and very often with a sensational performance."...A courageous netminder who constantly played with a painful assortment of injuries that would have kept lesser men on the sidelines.” – Fischler’s Hockey Encyclopedia

“He was a tower of strength for the Rangers for which he was eventually rewarded with the Hart trophy.” – Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 3

“He liked to yap during games, directing his team like a sergeant directing a military offense. He was a roving goaltender with the skating and stickhandling abilities of a forward...” – Ultimate Hockey

”A superb skater, it was not unusual to see him carrying the puck down the ice… It wasn't until Jacques Plante starred with Montreal a decade later that other goalkeepers exhibited strong puckhandling and playmaking skills.

During the late 1940s, the New York Rangers used him on the point during powerplays late in a handful of games. "That was Frank (Boucher's) idea all the way. I used to do a lot of skating and shooting in practice, so he decided to try it in a game. I'd only come out half way up the blueline. It only happened four of five times," he laughed.” – Legends of Hockey

” There were times when he must have felt he was wearing a bullseye on his sweater instead of the diagonal ‘Rangers’ his teammates wore. He joined the Blueshirts at the start of the 1945-46 season, and was only fortunate enough to see post-season play twice while on Broadway (1948 and 1950). But he made his mark as one of the best Rangers netminders ever.

He never played in front of a big, rugged group of defensemen, but his goals against average slowly dropped. His best season came in 1949-50, when he posted a 2.62 average and six shutouts, which helped the Rangers make the playoffs and in very close reach of the Stanley Cup. For that performance, he was awarded the Hart Trophy as the MVP of the League, only the second goalie to receive the honor (Roy Worters of the Americans was the first). His five shutouts in 1946-47 led the league in that category.” – New York Rangers official website

” Despite his relatively short 10-season NHL career (1945-1953), he quickly became one the most popular players in Rangers’ history. He was voted the team’s most valuable player three times, and won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP in 1950, only the second goalie in League history to win the award at the time. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973.

It was the 1950 team that was his most memorable. Despite finishing fourth in the regular season standings, the Rangers surprised the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and played the Detroit Red Wings in the finals. Madison Square Garden was booked with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, so the Rangers got only two “home” games at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The balance of the series was played at the Olympia in Detroit.” – New York Rangers official website

"Deserves the purple heart for leading a band of journeymen to the seventh game of the finals. Saved 92% of the shots that he faced, even though it was often a barrage. Held Montreal to only seven goals in five games. Stopped 39 shots in final game loss to Detroit. Circus in New York cut back on the Rangers home games in the final." -- Legensd of Hockey

“He is to the Blueshirts what Joe DiMaggio is to the Yanks.” – New York Daily News

“During the 1940s, the 5’11" he was considered tall and was aggressive in (and out of) the crease. One of his trademark moves was a pokecheck.” – Legends of Hockey

“When you threw it in the corer, he would just go out and get the puck. He really forced us to change the way we came into the zone. No one other than Jacques Plante later on was doing that.” – Gordie Howe

“To appreciate the greatness of him, you must remember that he played on some very weak New York teams...You would be going in on him and that stick would come out like a serpent’s tongue, you’d be on your fanny in no time.” – Ted Kennedy

“He was the best pokechecking goaltender I had ever seen. If he missed you with his stick, he was so big, he would knock you ass-over-teakettle with his body.” – Emile Francis

With our 19th selection, McGuire’s Monsters are pleased to select a back-up goalie who we feel is strong enough to be a bottom end starter. He was never part of a team that won the Stanley Cup, but he did carry his mediocre team to the finals once. Please welome….



Chuck Rayner!!!

“Glenn Hall ranks Rayner second, behind Sawchuk, in his assessment of historic talent... Rayner was a star, if not in the record books, then certainly among his peers...” – A Breed Apart

Awards and Achievements:
Retro Conn Smythe (1950)
Hart Trophy (1950)

3 x Second Team All-Star (1949, 1950, 1951)
AHL Second Team All-Star (1941)

Hart Voting – 1st(1950), 4th(1947), 7th(1949)

Hockey Hall of Fame (1973)
Honoured Member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame

3 x New York Ranger MVP (1946, 1947, 1949)

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Yuri Liapkin, D

Yuri Liapkin had a reputation of one of the strongest and most reliable Soviet blueliners in the 1970's. A crafty stick handler and puck carrier, Liapkin had a relatively soft puck-moving style and, unlike many of his defense teammates, wasn't very impressive speed wise. His strongest parts were his amazing tactical sense of the game and mastery of hockey improvisation. Liapkin was a high scoring defenseman known for his accurate shooting and contribution into his team attacks. Arguably, one of the best moments in his career was when Shadrin, Tsygankov and Liapkin managed to kill a 2-man advantage in a key game against the Chechoslovakian squad and became the heroes of the 1976 Olympics.

-highest scoring defenseman (either team) at the Summit Series.

Yuri Liapkin was the Soviet's highest scoring blueliner, and arguably the best Soviet defender ever. He also was a major influence on the strong Soviet powerplay.

- 246 points (168-78) in 515 RSL games
- top-10 in points in the Russian league among defensemen: 1T, 1T, 1T, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2T, 2, 3, 5

Ok.. this turned out to be extremely lucrative. He played from 1965-1979, and ONLY in 1979, his final season where he played about half the schedule, did he not score in the top-10 among defensemen. I think it's fair to say that his offensive contributions are incredibly underrated.

- 37 points (11-27) in 61 international games
- among Russian defenders in points internationally (top-3s only): 1T, 1T, 1, 1, 1
- these include 1st in points in '72 Summit Series, '76 Super Series

 

[Leafs Forever]

â€He was a dangerous scorer who spent the bulk of his career in the 1920s with the Montreal Canadiens. At his peak he topped the 15-goal mark four straight years and played a gritty style when necessary.†– Legends of Hockey

A strong skater with dangerous offensive skills.... He let his opponents know that despite standing 5-foot-7 and weighing only 155 pounds, he would not be intimidated by underhanded tactics. Fouls were returned in kind and as a result, the diminutive forward led the NHL in penalty minutes. His 24 goals in as many games were good enough for second place in the league and the scrappy forward finished fourth overall in the scoring race.
– ourhistory.candiens.com

The Toronto St.Pats are happy to complete our high flying fourth line by selecting a man who knows our Morenz and Joliat very well...



BILLY BOUCHER

Awards and Achievements:
Stanley Cup Champion (1924)
2 x Stanley Cup Finalist (1924, 1925)

Scoring:
Points – 12th(1922), 3rd(1923), 3rd(1924), 7th(1925)
Goals – 8th(1922), 2nd(1923), 2nd(1924), 9th(1925)
Assists – 12th(1923), 3rd(1924), 3rd(1925), 11th(1926)

Led Montreal Canadiens in scoring in 1923 and 1924

Play-off Points – 3rd(1923), 4th(1924), 3rd(1925)
Play-off Goals – 2nd(1923), 3rd(1924), 2nd(1925)

Led 1924 Stanley Cup Challenge in points and goals.

1922-1925
3rd in Points
3rd in Goals
4th in Assists

1922-1926
3rd in Points
3rd in Goals
5th in Assists

1922-1927
5th in Points
5th in Goals
9th in Assists

1922-1928
5th in Points
5th in Goals
10th in Assists

 

[Leafs Forever]

“He was an excellent two-way player throughout his career†– Legends of Hockey

“In a vote conducted at the time by daily newspapers in Toronto and Montreal, he was named to an All-Star team along with such greats as _______, Harvey Pulford, Frank McGee, Alf Smith, and _______†– Legends of Hockey

“He was a fine back-checker and an accomplished "marker" of opposing players.†– Ultimate Hockey

“He was considered the best player hockey had even seen at his position and that he was renowned for his speed and his gentlemanly play.†– Honourer Members

“He was probably the most useful member of the club for he was a tireless skater, a great beck checker, and a fine scorer in his own right….. worth his weight in gold.†– Montreal Gazette

The Toronto St.Pats are proud to select, a man who was one of the greatest two-way players of his era..



BLAIR RUSSEL!

Ultimate Hockey's “Best Shadow†of 1900-09

Points – 6th(1900), 4th(1901), 5th(1902), 7th(1903), 3rd(1904), 2nd(1905), 3rd(1907)
Goals – 6th(1900), 4th(1901), 5th(1902), 7th(1903), 3rd(1904), 2nd(1905), 3rd(1907)

 

[Leafs Forever]

Credit to Mr.Bugg for providing quotes and stats

Quotes on how his team played while he was team trainer:

The style of hockey seems to be the only one known and people consider it quite proper and legitimate for a team to endeavor to incapacitate their opponents rather than to excel them in skill and speed ... slashing, tripping, the severest kind of cross-checking and a systematic method of hammering Marlboroughs on hand and wrists are the most effective points in Ottawa's style.-Toronto Globe

GF/GA of his teams as coach:

1908- 86 GF (1st), 51 GA (2nd)
1909- 117 GF (1st), 63 GA (2nd)
1910- 89 GF (3rd), 66 GA (3rd)
1911- 122 GF (1st), 69 GA (2nd)
1912- 99 GF (1st), 83 GA (3rd)
1913- 87 GF (3rd), 81 GA (2nd)

Second coaching stint with Ottawa:

"Manager Pete Green changed his system Saturday night and caught the Toronto team flat-footed. Instead of laying his men back at the start of the match, the Ottawa coach opened up a cyclonic attack, and Ottawa had two goals in the bag before the Torontos settled down."- The Toronto World, January 24th 1921

GF/GA of teams in second stint:

1920- 59 GF (2nd), 23 GA (1st by over 20 goals)
1921- 49 GF (1st by ten goals), 23 GA (again, 1st by over 50%)
1922- 106 GF (1st by eight goals), 84 GA (1st, by 13 goals)
1923- 77 GF (3rd), 51 GA (1st)
1924- 74 GF (1st), 54 GA (2nd)
1925- 83 GF (4th/6), 66 GA (3rd/6)

Green’s Senators won games with superb goaltending and defense. The late hockey historian Stanley Coleman writes in his trilogy The Trail of the Stanley Cup that the 1921 Senators used a “Kitty bar the door technique which their opponents found very frustrating.†Indeed the Senators led the NHL in defense from 1920-23 which begs the question: was this a reflection of Green’s hockey philosophy or did he simply lead with his strength and push the right buttons?-Matthew Dibiase

"Ottawa used their safety-first five man defensive system and St.Pats used very poor judgement in trying to get through. Coach Green's system won a champion for Ottawa last season, and unless the other teams find a way to offset it, the Senators will repeat this year."- Globe and Mail, December 30, 1920

""Pete" Green has the best material in the league, and in the second, he has perfected a system that to date has baffled all attempts to break it down. He uses a five-man defensive system, goes on the assumption that nine out of every 10 players will not pass the puck, and instructs his players to play the man. It is a defensive system, the kind that has received many hard knocks in the past, but the results obtained by Ottawa are proof that Green knows what he's doing."- Globe and Mail, January 17, 1921

The Toronto St.Pats are happy to select, a coach who led a team elite in all aspects to a dynasty, to head our own team to victory...


Pete Green!

Awards and Achievements
6 x Stanley Cup Champion (1909, 1910, 1911, 1920, 1921, 1923)

 

[Dreakmur]

“A burly right winger with the desire of Rocket Richard and the physical prowess of Gordie Howe…played a very similar style to that of Gordie Howe - a hard and physically dominating style, overpowering his opponents, going through them instead of around them. But like Gordie he had some great skills as well, especially his nose for the net.” – Greatest Hockey Legends

“He had it all - he was an intelligent hockeyist, charismatic, and a physical force. If he were around for us to see play today we would be in awe of his uncanny stickhandling skills, his "hard and fast" skating, and his fantastic shooting ability. And if you were an opponent of him you surely wouldn't want to get on his bad side for his temper and mean streak were among the most volatile of his era.” – Keith Lenn

“He was a remarkable blend of brains, beauty and brawn. He was an outstanding stick-handler, a hard and fast skater, and had an incredible shot. He was a huge physical presence with a mean streak.” – Ultimate Hockey

“Considered by many to be the greatest right winger ever to play the game, he was an undeniably focused and gifted competitor…” – Canadian Sports Hall of Fame

“He was a remarkably gifted and rugged competitor who served as the catalyst on the New York Rangers' famous Bread Line” – Legends of Hockey

“He's my choice for the best right winger hockey ever knew. He was better than The Rocket and, in my estimation, better than Gordie Howe as well……he had a very hard wrist shot from close in and could score equally well backhand or forehand" – Frank Boucher

"Nobody fooled around with him because he was tough - real tough...he was the best (right winger) we ever played against.” – Undrafted Player

”He (Joliat) picked an all star team (at the request of W.A. Howard, a writer for Canadian National Magazine) confined to players who played against him during his 16 years as a professional. He puts Benedict or Gardiner in goal; Shore and Noble on defense; Nighbor at centre; with Cook and Jackson on the wings. It's a well balanced unit”. – Montreal Gazette, 1954

With our 2nd round selection, McGuire's Monsters are proud to select a forward who can do it all. He provides an uncommon blend of size, skating, skill, intelligence, and toughness. This man truly brings everything to the table. Please welcome.....



Bill Cook!!!

Awards and Achievements:
2 x Stanley Cup Champion (1927, 1933)
5 x Stanley Cup Finalist (1927, 1929, 1932 1933, 1937)

GM’s First Team All-Star (1928)
3 x First Team All-Star (1931, 1932 1933)
Second Team All-Star (1934)

Hart Voting – 2nd(1927), 2nd(1933)

3 x WCHL First Team All-Star (1924, 1925, 1926)

Scoring:
WCHL Points – 1st(1924), 1st(1925), 1st(1926), 7th(1923)
WCHL Goals – 1st(1924), 1st(1926), 4th(1925)
WCHL Assists – 1st(1924), 1st(1925), 2nd(1923), 6th(1926)

NHL Points – 1st(1927), 1st(1933), 4th(1930), 4th(1931), 4th(1932), 7th(1929), 10th(1928)
NHL Goals – 1st(1927), 1st(1932), 1st(1933), 2nd(1931), 5th(1935), 6th(1929), 6th(1930), 10th(1928)
NHL Assists – 3rd(1930), 6th(1933), 8th(1929)

Play-off Points – 2nd(1928), 3rd(1933), 5th(1932), 8th(1934)
Play-off Goals – 2nd(1928), 3rd(1933), 4th(1932), 6th(1931), 8th(1927)
Play-off Assists – 1st(1928), 3rd(1932), 4th(1934), 6th(1933)

Cook's NHL prime was from 1927 to 1935. Here is where he ranks within those years:
3rd in Points
1st in Goals
8th in assists

2nd in Play-off Points
3rd in Play-off Goals
3rd in Play-off Assists

One of the most remarkable things about Bill Cook’s career is that he only joined the NHL after turning 30 years old. By the time he was putting up these numbers, he was already past his prime!

 

[seventieslord]

With the 476th pick in ATD10, The Regina Pats are pleased to select:

Teppo Numminen, D

- 6'2", 198 lbs
- Top-15 In Norris Voting 4 Times (7th, 9th, 11th, 11th)
- Top-15 In Points by Defensemen 4 Times (6th, 6th, 13th, 14th)
- Career Adjusted +148 Through 2007-08
- #3 Defenseman on a President's Trophy Winner at age 38 (2007)
- On Ice for 47% of his team's PPGA in his career (average defenseman with 500 GP post expansion was on ice for 37%)
- 3-Time All-Star Game Participant
- Played in 7 consecutive Best-on-Best International Tournaments, scoring 4 Goals and 7 Assists in 36 Games
- Helped Finland to Silver in 1988, 3rd in 1991, Bronze in 1998, 2nd in 2004, Silver in 2006
- Played in 5 other men's tournaments (WC, WEC, Olympics) from 1987-1997, scoring 9 Goals, 10 Assists in 32 Games

Finnish Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Teppo Numminen gained a well-earned reputation as the "iron man" of the NHL. When Philadelphia center Rod Brind'Amour missed his team's home opener of the 1999-00 season, Numminen became the league's new leader in consecutive games played, not having missed once since December 15, 1995. He'd compiled three consecutive seasons without missing a game and 1998-99 was the fifth time in his NHL career that he'd gone all season without missing one.

But the "iron man" streak was only one aspect of Numminen's game. He also played in the 1999 All-Star Game, starting on the World Team, and led the entire Phoenix defensive corps in goals, assists and points. Numminen, who had spent his entire NHL career with the Winnipeg/Phoenix franchise, entered the league in 1988 after spending several seasons with the Finnish league team Tappara.

...Establishing marks for consecutive games played, Numminen was a perennial leader on the Coyotes in the average minutes per game category. In other words, he not only plays in all of his team's games, he gets plenty of ice time as well.

...Numminen's international career has seen him represent his homeland on numerous occasions which include, six World Championships (1987, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2004), four Olympic Games (1988, 1998, 2002 and 2006), one World Junior Championship (1988), two Canada Cups (1987, 1991) and two World Cups (1996 and 2004).

...The typically modest Finn has been quick to deflect the attention away from himself after becoming the league's ironman, though, preferring instead to give credit to something more ephemeral - fate. "I've been lucky", he said... "You play so much ahd you don't want to let your team down, so it's a big challenge. Every game is an opportunity to play well and help your team."...

Numminen has a fine complement of finesse skills. He's a very good skater, possessing speed, quickness, and agility. He's a very mobile player, able to challenge the puck at the both bluelines, and he also has the ability to change gears up and down within a stride. His hockey sense is good and will improve as he continues to become acclimated to NHL tempo. He passes the puck really well and he can rush with it too, making him a threat to become an attacker - although so far he plays a conservative game. Teppo can find the open man and make not just the correct play, but a great one if given time. He shoots the puck in stride well... He's got all the skills, now let's see if he has the guts.

He gets good reads of the ice and uses his vision and anticipation in conjunction with his puckhandling to orchestrate rushes from the Jets' zone. He'll also use his skating skill to support an offensive rush as a late attacker... a good playmaker, has little trouble finding open men at both ends of the ice.

It is a pleasure to watch Numminen skate. He has a long, graceful stride and an effortless shift from forward skating to backward skating and up again. He may take some extra time making decisions with the puck in the attacking zone, but he is far more automatic - and far more persistently correct - making decisions in the defensive and neutral zones, which is why he is a good penalty killer.

Numminen looks to pass first, looks to carry second as a method of clearing the puck from his defensive end. In center ice, he does not hesitate for an instant if the situation calls for the puck to be drilled around the boards and into the attacking zone. Though European players tend to want to make a play at the blueline, Numminen wants to make the play that will work for his team. The main thing to him is that the puck keep moving... He gets few assists because few teammates are willing to go to the net to look for garbage goals from his rebounds.

***** will no doubt try to keep Bure away from that trio and for the most part, will be successful. But even though Paddock won't admit it, the guy he REALLY wants on the ice when Bure is out there, is defenseman Teppo Numminen.

Numminen is just a good, solid defenseman. While not particularly fast, he is fairly agile on his skates and very seldom gets beat one on one. He makes the right play, the easy play, that gets you out of the defensive zone... Numminen sees the ice well and moves the puck well... Numminen bumps more than Phil Housley or ******* ******** and is more effective physically to get the job done. He is able to skate with opponents and get the stick on them. He also accepts the body bombs in the corners... Numminen is a quiet, real solid person. He is never a problem in the dressing room.

BEST DEFENSIVE DEFENSEMAN: Best Defensive Defenceman: Ray Bourque (8), Chris Chelios (4), Scott Stevens (3), Teppo Numminen (1)...

An outstanding offensive defenseman, he plays somewhat in the shadow of Phil Housley... Numminen brings plenty of his own gifts to the rink, however. An excellent skater, he moves through the various zones gracefully and with good speed and acceleration. He has a hard shot from the point, and will sneak into the high slot for centering leads. For much of last season he was the team's most reliable defender... Tough enough to survive the rigors of the NHL, Numminen nonetheless manages to stay away from penalty trouble... Experts in Winnipeg and around the Central Division who see him a lot agree Numminen is among the most underrated defensemen in all of hockey. The Jets certainly know they have a blue-chipper.

WILL - Play in both ends
CAN'T - Be ignored as a catalyst
EXPECT - Good puckhandling
DON'T EXPECT - Irresponsible play

Not the fastest skater on the ice, he is nevertheless one of the most graceful and elusive. He has the ability to skate with the puck and evade the most tenacious checkers. Very smart, he knows when to carry the puck and when to pass it off. He has a good point shot and is an accomplished penalty killer.

WILL - Cover lots of ice
CAN'T - Be underestimated
EXPECT - Excellent puck work
DON'T EXPECT - A one-way player

He has good first-step speed... clever and intuitive

WILL - Survive on skating
CAN'T - Be outfoxed defensively
EXPECT - Great passing
DON'T EXPECT - Him to get nasty.

A solid player, easily the best Winnipeg defenseman, and his +12 is a real achievement on this team. Just finished his 7th season in Winnipeg, which means he has the patience of a saint.

The most underrated defenseman in hockey.

By his own admission, Numminen isn't a flashy player. but he is steady and one of the top-15 defenseman in the NHL. Last year the Jets put rookie ***** **** on Numminen's flank in the hopes that the rookie would learn from watching the team's best defender... Numminen has long been underrated and underappreciated, but that is starting to change.

WILL - Move the puck well
CAN'T - Beat him with fakes
EXPECT - Lots of assists
DON'T EXPECT - Many penalty minutes

Numminen's agility and anticipation make him look much faster than he is. A graceful skater with a smooth change of direction, he never telegraphs what he is about to do. His skating makes him valuable on the first penalty killing unit. He will not get caught out of position and is seldom bested one on one. If he is under pressure, Numminen is not afraid to give up the puck on a dump and chase... He would rather dish off than rush, and is a crisp passer, moving the puck briskly and seldom overhandling it. He is terrific at making the first pass to move the puck out of the zone... Numminen is uncannily adept at keeping the puck in at the point, frustrating opponents who try to clear it out around the boards. He can intentionally shoot the puck wide for tip-ins. He is not afraid to pinch, either... Numminen plays an acceptable physical game... He'll employ his body as a last resort, but would rather use his stick and gain the puck. He is even tempered and not nasty... Numminen is underrated. He is not a Norris Trophy type, but no NHL team would hesitate to take him and put him on their top pair... A complete, if not elite, defenseman.

He's probably the most underrated defenseman in the NHL. Numminen has a complete game and goes about his business so efficaciously that he's often taken for granted. He could be an MVP on just about any team.

"We are proud to name Teppo as our new captain," said Coyotes general manager Mike Barnett. "Teppo is a first-class individual who is well-respected in our locker room and around the NHL.

"He is an elite player with an incredible work ethic. He leads by example and will serve as the perfect role model for our younger players."

Numminen is a finesse guy who, technically, might be the best in the league. ***** is very similar to Numminen, positionally very sound.

His steady defensive play and calming influence in the locker room makes him an essential player on the Coyotes.

The "all-underrated" team tag has become kind of a cliche now. Suffice it to say Numminen does not have the flashy numbers or playing style to merit Norris consideration, but is just a notch below the game's elite defensemen... Smart and reserved... plays hurt... Surely it would have helped his cause if he had played for some successful teams... he is respected throughout the NHL, though.

"Teppo Numminen has played 15 great seasons for this franchise," said Coyotes general manager Michael Barnett.

"He is our captain, he plays hard every night and is a leader on and off the ice. He is the consummate professional who is admired and respected by his teammates."

...Only two current NHL players have a longer tenure with their original franchise than Numminen -- Detroit's Steve Yzerman and New Jersey's Ken Daneyko.

"Teppo Numminen has literally been our franchise player," Coyotes general manager Mike Barnett said in a release. "He is a first-class individual. He has been an on-ice leader and a role model for all of our players.

"We will always remember his 15 years of service and dedication to this organization."

Numminen has been the team's captain for the past two seasons and has notched at least 30 points the last six seasons.

"Teppo Numminen is a talented player who adds veteran leadership and experience to our defensive corps," Stars GM Doug Armstrong said in a statement.

"He plays a solid game on both ends of the ice and is the consummate professional. We're very excited to add him to our team."

On the surface, the veteran Finn - who re-signed another one-year deal last summer - didn't exactly look like a great fit on the young and gun Sabres. But he was just want the Sabres wanted, a puck-moving blue-liner oozing with experience.

"The type of player he is and the way the game changed after the lockout, our pro scouts thought that he would be a very good fit for us," said Regier. "We were looking for a veteran presence, to stabilize and teach young players and lead by example. He has the game down to a science. He's so effective and efficient."

A puck-moving defenceman has become more than ever a premium in the new NHL. Numminen doesn't stand out on television and he'll rarely make the highlight reel, but watch the face of his teammates light up when bringing up his name.

"The one thing that I think hockey fans probably don't notice is his ability to get us out of our zone," star goalie **** ****** said Friday after the pre-game skate. "He makes smart passes. When he's under pressure he knows where his outlets are. He's one of the smartest defencemen I've seen at using his leverage and using his smarts to battle for pucks."

"And it's the five-foot passes that he makes that are sometimes the best ones all night."

The crackdown on obstruction and hooking has allowed opposing forwards to forecheck unabashed, putting more stress than ever on retrieving defencemen to make the right decision - quick. That's Numminen's forte.

"There's always something to be said to having a veteran, savvy defenceman that can make any type of real stressful play look easy," said head coach Lindy Ruff. "And I think that's what he does. Under pressure, he's the guy that hangs unto it and will find the open man."

Sabres defenceman **** ****** says there is no better example on how to play the position.

"He has the eye for the game, so to speak," said ******. "He may not be the fastest guy but he's always in the right position, he's usually right where he should be."

Numminen smiled at the sight and familiar smell. This, finally, was back where he belonged after missing all but one game last season because of a faulty heart valve that was surgically repaired.

"It's been a long road," Numminen said. "It's great to be back doing things you love to do. I lost a big part of my life last year, but now I'm back. And I'm really enjoying it."

... "When I watch him play, it's just effortless, and it rubs off on all the other players," goalie **** ****** said. "I think we were missing him for a while last year."

Defenceman ******** ****** specifically pointed to Buffalo going 14-18 in one-goal games and the 14 times the team lost by squandering a lead after two periods as examples of the difference Numminen could have made.

..."Those points were big for us, and I think that's the main reason we have him back here now," ****** said.

...As for Numminen, Ruff has difficulty quantifying the impact his veteran presence will make.

"I've never seen a guy so happy," Ruff said. "He doesn't take a practice for granted. He doesn't take a game for granted. It's refreshing to talk to him, to watch him. He's a great example for our young players."

Numminen's reputation as a steady, durable player earned him the position of (assistant) captain with Dallas and Buffalo. He also enjoyed a brief reign as the NHL's "iron man" after playing all 82 games in each of the Coyotes' first three seasons in Phoenix.

But after his jump to the NHL, a couple other veterans – Teppo Numminen and ***** ***** – helped Butler acclimatize himself to the league. Like Butler, neither play with a particular show of flash, but the St. Louis native noted that what he picked up from them was their smart, responsible positional plays that always allow them to make an impact.

“Teppo had an outstanding career and he did a good job of making me feel comfortable when I was out there, talking to me,†Butler noted. “He’s such a smart player. If you watch the way he plays he makes few mistakes, passes are dead-on, he’s always in the right spot, always taking away a passing lane.

Is one of the most underrated defensemen in NHL history. Makes a consistent first pass and is a great co-pilot on the power play. Sound positioning is the secret to his success.

Teppo's Prime

He was never quite an all-star defenseman, but for nearly a decade he was universally regarded as a great #1 defenseman. Look at his yearly rankings in THN's top-20 defensemen:

1995 | 13
1996 | 17
1997 | 19
1998 | 15
1999 | 13
2000 | 6
2001 | 9
2002 | 10

Teppo Past His Prime

Most Points By a Defenseman 40+:

Player | GP | G | A | PTS*6 | PTS/G
Raymond Bourque* | 80 | 7 | 52 | 59 | 0.74
Chris Chelios | 79 | 6 | 33 | 39 | 0.49
Tim Horton* | 74 | 4 | 24 | 28 | 0.38
Rob Blake | 64 | 6 | 21 | 27 | 0.42
Doug Harvey* | 70 | 2 | 20 | 22 | 0.31
Chris Chelios | 69 | 2 | 19 | 21 | 0.30
Tim Horton* | 78 | 2 | 18 | 20 | 0.26
Chris Chelios | 66 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 0.29
Teppo Numminen | 57 | 2 | 15 | 17 | 0.30
Tim Horton* | 69 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 0.25
Allan Stanley* | 64 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 0.27

 

[Dreakmur]

Cy Denneny!!!


Awards and Accomplishments:
5 x Stanley Cup Champion (1920, 1921, 1923, 1927, 1929)
Art Ross Winner (1924)


Scoring Accomplishments:
Points – 1st(1924), 2nd(1918), 2nd(1922), 2nd(1923), 2nd(1925), 2nd(1926), 3rd(1921), 4th(1919), 5th(1916)
Goals – 1st(1924), 2nd(1918), 2nd(1921), 3rd(1916), 3rd(1922), 3rd(1923), 4th(1919), 4th(1925), 4th(1926), 8th(1927)
Assists – 1st(1918), 1st(1925), 2nd(1926), 3rd(1923), 4th(1922), 8th(1919)

Play-off Points – 1st(1923), 2nd(1922), 2nd(1924), 3rd(1921), 3rd(1927), 4th(1919)
Play-off Goals – 1st(1922), 1st(1923), 1st(1927), 2nd(1921), 2nd(1924), 5th(1919)
Play-off Assists – 4th(1919)

Cup Challenge Points - 2nd(1921), 2nd(1923)
Cup Challenge Goals - 2nd(1921)
Cup Challenge Assists - 1st(1920), 2nd(1923)


5-Year Peak: 1922-1926
1st in Points, 107% of second place Babe Dye
2nd in Goals, 95% of first place Babe Dye
1st in Assists, 111% of second place Reg Noble

10-Year Peak: 1918-1927
1st in Points, 132% of second place Babe Dye
1st in Goals, 122% of second place Babe Dye
2nd in Assists, 93% of first place Frank Nighbor


Consolidated Scoring Accomplishments:
Points - 2nd(1918), 2nd(1925), 3rd(1924), 3rd(1926), 4th(1922), 5th(1921), 8th(1919), 10th(1916), 11th(1927)
Goals - 1st(1924), 2nd(1921), 3rd(1916), 3rd(1923), 4th(1925), 6th(1916), 6th(1922), 6th(1926), 8th(1919), 8th(1927)
Assists - 1st(1925), 2nd(1926), 4th(1918), 10th(1922), 10th(1923)

Play-off Points - 3rd(1921), 3rd(1927), 6th(1919)
Play-off Goals - 1st(1927), 2nd(1923), 5th(1921), 7th(1919), 7th(1922), 10th(1924)


Scoring Percentages:
Points - 100(1925), 99(1924), 98(1921), 96(1918), 92(1923), 91(1926), 85(1922), 67(1916), 66(1919), 64(1927)

Best 6 Seasons: 576
Nest 6 Seasons: 343


Team Scoring:
Points - 1st(1918), 1st(1921), 1st(1923), 1st(1924), 1st(1925), 1st(1926), 1st(1927), 2nd(1916), 2nd(1919), 2nd(1922), 4th(1920)

Point Lead Percentage - 230, 183, 148, 144, 134, 121, 104

One of the top-scoring left wings of his era, he topped the 20-goal mark eight times in his stellar career. Although he wasn't the swiftest skater, he used his shot to deadly effect. Much to the chagrin of opposing netminders, he also became one of the first players to experiment with a curved stick… He was a productive scorer despite the fact that he was often in charge of protecting his good-natured linemates Jack Darragh and Frank Nighbor.

....

One of the most dangerous shooters in league history… He contributed valuable leadership and savvy while helping the Beantowners win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history by defeating New York Rangers in 1929.

Though best remembered as a sniper, he was also quite the physical player, not afraid to mix things up with the opposition…

After joining the Senators in 1917, he made protecting Frank Nighbor and Jack Darragh, his sweet-natured linemates, job one. Later, he played with Punch Broadbent. The two were referred to as the "Gold Dust Twins" on account of their ability to keep opposition bad boys honest…Short and stocky, he looked more like a bulldog than a goal-scorer. Not an exceptionally fast skater, he possessed one of the more accurate shots of his day and was one of the first players to use opposing defensemen as screens...

A rough-and-tumble type of player… sometimes cast into an enforcer’s role when looking out for smaller, mild-mannered players… a fantastic scoring machine…

Although he was small in stature, Cy was chunky and knew how to take care of himself. In fact he was the policeman for the mild mannered Nighbor and Darragh. Broadbent was more his type and they were sometimes called the Gold Dust Twins when cleaning up the opposition.

When Sprague Cleghorn was carrying on his vendetta with Ottawa, Denneny's policing duties brought him more than a fair share of Cleghorn's sticks and elbows.

Contemporary Reports:

A fight between Lalonde and Denneny occurred in the game, and Lalonde was blamed as the starter of the trouble. He was checked by Denneny in a scrimmage near the Ottawa nets, and was prevented from getting a shot. He retaliated by clinching with Denneny and the pair engaged in fisticuffs. They were separated, and Lalonde poked Denneny in the mouth with his stick, the upshot being that they began to mix it up with each other, and both players were given a match penalty.

In this chapter Randall created a little excitement when he mixed matters with Cyrill Denneny. The two started into furnish a lively battle, but both were banished...Denneny attempted to start a fracas with Mummery, but the Blue Shirts Hercules grasped him around the waist in a bear-hug and held him helpless until the Ottawa's temper cooled.

Something of a general fracas was precipitated by Denneny and Corbeau coming to blows just after the former had scored Ottawa's fourth goal. They clinched and were rolling around on the ice before officials could separate them...

Ottawa played magnificant hockey with Sprague Cleghorn, Cy Denneny, and Clint Benedict as the Outstanding heroes.

Corbeau and Denneny came to blows in the second period, and each drew a major. They swung at one another and then grappled.

Denneny shone in all departments except shooting, and in this particular he was way off-colour. He got in the Seattle defense at least a half-a-dozen times, and was either outguessed by Holmes, hit the letter, or shot wide.

Denneny was the most bothersome of the Ottawa crew owing to the fact that he was let sail down unchecked nearly every time he had the puck. He packs a bad shot, and the result was that he grabbed all three of the Ottawa goals.

Boucher and Denneny did strong comebacks...

The most effective man on the ice for either team was "Cy" Denneny. He led the attack by the Senators at all times, and his pace never slowed during the game.

Their olive crab uniform is a negative looking garment, and their lack of finish was painfully apparent against such smooth and subtle performers as Nighbor, Denneny and Boucher. ... Cyrus Denneny played a fine game on his wing and helped in two timely counters. His back-checking was a big feature.

Hooley Smith and Denneny on the wings played their positions to perfection. ... Billy Boucher worked hard throughout but was too closely looked ater on his side of the ice by brother George and Cy Denneny to get many shots on Connell.

Cy Denneny, while never flashy, played a steady game throughout. His shooting was always deadly.

Clever pokechecking by Smith and Denneny on the Ottawa forward line often broke up the New York attacks almost before they got started.

Denneny sniped one of his heady goals and drove a dozen other near-goals at Lehman from all angles. He backchecked well and his all-around game was great.

Adams and Denneny played sound hockey while they were on the ice and each came very close to scoring, Denneny on several occasions with his whistling shots from the portside gave Benedict plenty of trouble. ... Jack Adams and Cy Denneny, the ever reliable veterans, subbed effectively and held the fort when Ottawas were riddled by penalties.

Cy Denneny sank the good ship Boston with all hands on board when he blazed in that third goal. He checked Shore at the Ottawa blue line, streaked away through centre and then swerved wide on the weakened Boston defense. As he rounded the outer coron, he sent himself and crashed the puck at the net with such force that, although it hit Winkler's pad, it swept on and nestled in the near corner of the twine.

Denneny is reputed to be the laziest player in the league

It is probable that Denneny who did quite well against Canadiens may well be started out Saturday night. Cy imparts a steadying influence, and his shot is always a potent offensive weapon.

Denneny sailed through to cut loose one of his famous drives from left wing. It was like one of Cy's old time smoking drives and it shook Benny from stem to stern. A moment later Cy was rushing through to try a repeater when Ward spilled him headlong with an intended trip.

Despite his high goal average, Denneny hadn't had a hard shot as weing men go, but he was craft itself close in, and mst of his tallies were scored in faking the netminder out of position. Cy used his head as well as his stick to compile his great record. Some of his shots that beat goaltenders never left the ice.

 

[Dreakmur]

“He was a fearless, frightening player. His headlong rushes and all-out physical game left enemies in his wake and himself often injured, though he showed extraordinary toughness in playing while he was in pain.” – Legends of Hockey

“Tough, strong, and determined.... one of the league’s most ferocious competitors, a rock-ribbed defenseman who would go to any length to help his team come out on top.” – ourhistory.canadiens.com

“He would barge down the ice in the most direct line to either the opponent's net or his check, and he loved the body-contact game….It was all in a time when hockey was extremely rough and tough, and no player was tougher than him.” – Greatest Hockey Legends

“He knew that the shortest distance from one point to another is a straight line. Able to anticipate the play, he usually managed to be at the right place at the right time, often making a significant impact in the process.

A devastating body-checker and one of the strongest men in the game, he carved out a reputation as someone to be avoided. There was a price to pay for intruding on his territory and very few trespassers got away without paying the consequences.

As handy with his gloves dropped as he was when they were firmly gripping his stick, he played the role of enforcer when things got rambunctious. His attempts at mediation went largely unappreciated by referees and he was habitually among the league leaders in penalty minutes.

Even when he was carrying the puck, he posed a threat to his opponents, frequently preferring to skate through them than around them when leading rushes out of the Montreal end.” – ourhistory.canadiens.com

“Inducted to the Hall in 1966, he was one of the most fearsome and intimidating defensemen of his era. He enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces after the 1941-42 season and didn’t return to the NHL until 1945-46. For his dedication overseas, he was awarded Field Marshall Montgomery’s Certificate of Merit for acts of bravery during battle. Reardon was a five-time all-star in just seven NHL seasons.” – THN’s Top 10: War Veterans

With our second 5th round selection, McGuire’s Monsters are very pleased to select a terrifying physical player who leads by example and protects his team mates. Please welcome Don Cherry’s boyhood idol, and a perfect yin to Lidstrom’s yang…..

“I couldn't skate, I couldn't shoot, and I wasn't very intelligent. But I was spectacular.”

Ken Reardon!!!

Awards and Acheivements:
Stanley Cup Champion (1946)
Allan Cup Champion (1943)

2 x Retro Norris Winner (1947, 1950)

2 x First Team All-Star (1947, 1950)
3 x Second Team All-Star (1946, 1948, 1949)

Hockey Hall of Fame (1966)
Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame (1996)
Honoured Member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame
Selected to Manitoba’s All-Century Second All-Star Team

Scoring:
Points among Defensemen – 2nd(1947), 2nd(1948), 3rd(1950), 5th(1949), 9th(1942)
Goals among Defensemen – 3rd(1947), 3rd(1948), 7th(1946)
Assists among Defensemen – 1st(1950), 3rd(1947), 3rd(1948), 4th(1949), 9th(1942)

Play-off Points among Defensemen – 3rd(1947), 5th(1946)

Over his 10 year career, excluding the war years, Reardon was one of the elite offensive defensemen. Here’s where he ranked from 1941-42 and 1946-50:

2nd in Points among Defensemen
2nd in Assists among Defensemen

 

[Dreakmur]

“He was a high scoring defenseman overshadowed by other great blue liners of his time.
Names like Eddie Shore (who was often Hollett's defensive partner), Dit Clapper and Art Coulter dominated the era. However it was he who was often topped the offensive leader board from the point. In fact, in 1944-45 while with the Detroit Red Wings, he became the first defenseman to score 20 goals in one season.

…dubbed Flash because of his great speed on skates…an extraodinary offensive presence from the rear and he had great versatility…also take turns as a forward while on the penalty kill…his performance in the 1945 playoffs were quite legendary in Detroit...†– Greatest Hockey Legends

“…offensively-gifted defensemen like him and Wally Stanowski helped shatter that stereotype, jumping into the rush and contributing to their team's offense.†– Legends of Hockey

“…he developed rapidly into a superb rushing defenseman under the tutelage of Eddie Shore and Dit Clapper. He was an excellent stickhander and before long his goal production began to mount. He became very adept at setting up scoring plays as his assist total indicates.†– The Trail of the Stanley Cup

“He impressed everyone with a destructive body check that sent King Clancy to the ice.†– Who’s Who in Hockey

With our 7th selection, McGuire’s Monsters are very pleased to add an offensive catalyst to the blue line. Please welcome the man they called “Flashâ€â€¦


William Hollett!!!

Awards and Achievements:
2 x Stanley Cup Champion (1939, 1941)

First Team All-Star (1945)
Second Team All-Star (1943)

Red Wings captain from 1943 to 1946

Scoring:
Goals – 10th(1942)

Points among Defensemen – 1st(1939), 1st(1940), 1st(1943), 1st(1945), 2nd(1935), 2nd(1941), 2nd(1942), 4th(1944), 9th(1937)

Play-off Points – 3rd(1943), 4th(1941), 5th(1945)

Play-off Points among Defensemen – 1st(1939), 1st(1941), 1st(1943), 1st(1945), 2nd(1940), 5th(1938), 5th(1946)

Hollett’s prime lasted from 1939 to 1945. Here’s where he ranks within that time frame:
1st in Points among Defesemen
1st in Goals among Defensemen
2nd in Assists among Defensemen

1st in Play-off Points among Defensemen
2nd in Play-off Goals among Defensemen
1st in Play-off Assists among Defensemen

 

[seventieslord]

With the 492nd pick in ATD2010, The Regina Pats are pleased to select:

Marty Walsh, C

A scoring star with dazzling skill but also a ton of grit, defensive ability, and infectious work ethic. A superb fourth liner that I hope you'll take the time to learn about.

- 5'7", 155 Lbs.
- Member of the HHOF
- Stanley Cup (1909, 1911)
- Stanley Cup Finalist (1906)
- Two Time Pro Scoring Champion (1909-ECHA, 1911-NHA)
- Runner-up In Scoring Race to Russell Bowie (1908-ECAHA)
- Two Time CIHU Scoring Champion against other HHOFers (1904, 1906)
- Stanley Cup Scoring Leader with 13 of his team's 20 goals (1911)
- 2nd In Stanley Cup Scoring (1910)
- 149 Goals, 19 Assists, 168 Points, 190 PIMs in 69 Top-Level Games
- 25 Goals, 18 PIMs in 8 Stanley Cup Games

Marty Walsh was one of the few players on the roster of the great Ottawa Senators teams of 1909 to 1911 who was not born in that city. He was born in Kingston, and played his early hockey with Queen's University where the team won the Intercollegiate Union title in 1906 and mounted an unsuccessful challenge against the Ottawa Silver Seven for the Stanley Cup. He turned pro with the Canadian Soo of the IHL in 1906-07 but broke his leg during the year and appeared in only seven games of the 24-game schedule before joining the Senators the following year. In his first year with Ottawa, he led the league with 27 goals in nine games, including a seven-goal outburst against Montreal on March 7, 1908.

He added to his records the following season by scoring 42 goals in just 12 games as the Senators went on to capture the Stanley Cup as champions of the ECHA with a 10-2-0 record. Walsh scored six goals in a 12-3 opening game victory against Galt in the Cup challenge of January 5 and 7, 1910 as Ottawa went on to a two-game, total-goals victory by a margin of 15-4. The Senators made another successful Cup defense later in the same month, this time against Edmonton, but lost the sacred bowl to the Montreal Wanderers because Montreal won the 1909-10 NHA title.

The Senators were back as Cup holders the following season after having won the NHA crown and assuming the title from the Wanderers. Ottawa defended its title against a challenge from Port Arthur in March 1911 by a two-game score of 21-8. In the second game of the series, played on March 16, 1911 in Ottawa, Walsh scored an amazing ten goals in the Senators 14-4 victory.

Marty Walsh was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962.

Marty Walsh was one of the most remarkable goal scorers of his day. In a playoff game against Port Arthur in 1911, he scored 10 times, placing him at the top of the list for single game totals. A newspaper reported the next day "this is a decidedly great performance for Walsh not only tallied at will, but he did a great deal of checking as well and was on top of the rubber from beginning to end." In five seasons with Ottawa he scored an unbelievable 137 goals in 62 games!

Walsh first came to prominence while playing for Queen's University in 1906, when they challenged the Ottawa Silver Seven for the Stanley Cup. Even though Queen's was defeated, Walsh's superb play against Ottawa superstar Frank McGee did not go unnoticed. The Silver Seven immediately made Walsh an offer when McGee retired in 1906. Accepting a contract in the International Hockey League instead, Walsh headed south of the border in 1907.

...Walsh captured the scoring title during his first two seasons and was instrumental in Ottawa's Stanley Cup wins in 1909 and 1911. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of fame in 1962.

When the Ottawa Silver Seven turned back the challenge of Queens University in decisive fashion in 1906, Frank McGee found the opposing centre Marty Walsh a worthy opponent. Consequently after McGee's retirement the Senators tried to get the college star... Walsh was the star center for Ottawa, and lanked by *******, **** and Darragh the Senators won the Stanley Cup twice... Marty was a very nimble and tricky skater with the knack for always being in a position for a shot, as his great scoring record shows.

An explosive goal scorer who could singlehandedly turn a game into a rout

A multitalented centerman who impressed even the great Frank McGee...

He may not have had a long career, but it was spectacular nonetheless. Walsh was a centreman, a forward who scored almost at will.

A superb skater...

Walsh's debut in big-time hockey was against the powerful Silver Seven:

One player stood out for Queens, however, and that was Marty Walsh.

Marty Walsh at rover for the Queens seven was not surpassed in brilliancy by any member of the Ottawas. The little fellow did good work for his team, but it counted for very little, owing to the fact that he received poor assistance...

Marty Walsh, crack hockey player from Kingston, may play with Ottawa this season... Marty appeared in Ottawa two years ago, playing on the forward line of the Queens hockey club when it challenged for the Stanley Cup. He was easily the star of the Queens aggregation... Walsh soon proved his mettle in the International league, but had a bone in his ankle broken.

Several Ottawa players, who figured in the international league last year, and who played against Walsh, state that, before he was injured, the little Kingston player was the "whole tip" on the Soo team. Walsh, while small of stature, is very fast, an excellent stickhandler,and has plenty of sand - something that he is apt to find handy in the Eastern Canada league.

Walsh has the earmarks of a winner and will probably make good all right.

Marty Walsh was the bad boy of the lot; the Ottawa centre was out of the game five times tor a total of 21 minutes.

Marty Walsh tallied four times through pretty work close in on the nets.

Walsh was the best man on the team, and worked ceaselessly for the good of his team.

Marty Walsh the Only One With Any Class - Ottawa Defence the Main Strength... The forward division played punk hockey as a whole - all but Walsh, who was right on the job all evening, scoring five goals.

A good example of Walsh's ability to seize victory from the jaws of defeat:

just when things looked blackest, the brace that saved the day and which incidentally prevented a big slump in hockey interest in Ottawa came, two clever goals by Marty Walsh within as many minutes. From that on, Ottawas were masters of the situation...

The proposition to play Patrick at rover, Bruce Stuart at center and switch Marty Walsh to one of the wings was also made, but the Kingston boy shook his head. Walsh is too valuable a man in mid-ice and will be kept there.

Walsh was one player that the O'Briens ultimately couldn't get to come to Renfrew, but not for a lack of trying. Ottawa had to pony up for him to stay:

yesterday Renfrew started on a final effort to round out their team...They sent one man to Kingston to intercept Walsh... on arrival in Ottawa both Walsh and **** saw officers of the Ottawas... both have been offered positions in the city. They are to receive big increases in salary from the Ottawas, and have been assured the best of treatment.

Marty Walsh, who is conceded to be one of the best forwards in the Dominion, has received an offer of $2500 for ten weeks' play, a bonus of $200 if he plays the complete season and a guarantee of a position at $1200 per annum, good the year round.

A good example of a strong team letting up on a weak team that they're dominating:

To Marty Walsh again go the scoring honours. Marty started his terrible shooting early in the fracas and continued to go right to the finish, getting seven goals in all. Marty got four goals in succession, thus establishing a record... He was a puzzle that neither Lehman nor ****** could solve. He is going faster than ever... Had they wished to rub it in, they could have probably made their total twenty. In the latter part of the second half, Walsh, Stuart, ***** and ******* actually threw away beautiful openings.

There was seldom a time that one or more of the visiting seven was not occupying a spot on the penalty bench. Marty Walsh was the worst offender, being ruled off five times. Walsh gave an otherwise brilliant exposition of stickhandling, as, barring his strenuous tactics, he was the finest individual performer on the ice, and scored four goals.

Marty Walsh the workaholic:

There has been in evidence an element of misfortune which again asserted itself on Saturday when Marty Walsh, champion goalgetter of the east took ill. Marty was feeling sick all week... His physician believes Marty has been over-working himself.

Les Canadiens gave Ottawas a hard run last Saturday but the Ottawas were not by any means up to form on that occasion, and with Marty Walsh in condition and back at center, they will be a vastly improved aggregation tonight.

In some articles, the distances of the goals were recorded. Not sure if meters or feet are used, but Marty Walsh managed to score from 15 "units" away, when 8 of the game's 12 goals were within 4 units:

Marty Walsh scored two in the first five minutes of play after neat combination attacks with Stuart and *******, settling Haileybury's fate... Walsh following this up with another goal in 15 minutes, this being the longest of the entire match.

The Walsh-******-**** combination is as good as any that the Ottawas have had since the Silver Seven went out of business.

Marty's undrafted teammates knew who their meal ticket was:

The most interesting announcement was that Marty Walsh had chosen to hold down his old position at center.... The question of releasing Marty was never seriously entertained... The officers seemed particularly pleased over his re-signing... Marty's return was likewise hailed with delight by ****, ******* and *****.

Walsh and **** figured in some magnificent combination plays.... Both are showing rare form for so early in the season... Walsh is just as aggressive and scrappy as ever. He bagged a handful of goals and missed as many more, being from beginning to end right in the thick of the fray.

A great quote showing that Walsh was consistently outsmarting Lalonde defensively and breaking up rushes:

slippery Marty also getting the fifth after 15 minutes of play... Marty Walsh sustained his long reputation at center, carrying the puck oftener (sic) than any man of the fourteen, breaking up attack after attack with surprising consistency and netting three of the Ottawa goals. By his work last night Marty wins out in the race for NHA scoring honours... Walsh was repeatedly applauded for his clever work... Every time Lalonde grabbed the puck Pete Green would shout, "Get him Marty... get his body, he won't pass it" and Green's tip proved the correct one for Lalonde invariably retained the rubber until the Ottawa forward robbed him of it when Newsy would slap his stick on the ice in disgust.

A couple quotes that show Walsh saved his very best for the biggest games - the cup matches:

It was all Ottawa in the opening period. Walsh scoring the first in fourteen minutes on a shot whose rebound he received. Marty also registered the next after Ridpath had nursed it from end to end...In the third period Walsh made it 5 to 2 on Darragh's pass...Mallen was smothered by Walsh...

Walsh found the going so easy in mid-ice that his team-mates fed him for six goals, the Kingstonian getting four more on individual play. The champion goal-getter of the N.H.A. on one occasion went from end to end and slapped it in while lying on the ice. It was his night on, and Walsh played probably the greatest game of his career. Neither **** nor ******* extended himself.

No one distinguished himself in the first except Walsh, who gave Joe Hall many an anxious moment... ******* flipped it out and Walsh hoisted it in, giving Ottawa a lead that was never overtaken.... the third and last period was a repetition of the many preceding "last periods" of this season's games. Have you seen the Ottawa line tearing up the ice four abreast?... Have you seen them coming back with equal speed and purloining the rubber before their opponents secured an opening?... Have you seen Walsh cutting a zigzag course from goal to goal, shooting and passing with tantalizing effectiveness?... Well that's what happened on Saturday.

Interesting how Walsh was said to not be brilliant by the Toronto newspaper, yet, he had just completed one of the most dominant scoring seasons of all-time. He sure sounded brilliant in the Ottawa papers, and if he wasn't brilliant, he must have scored all those goals with his dogged work ethic:

Marty Walsh, centre, is the champion scorer of the National Hockey Association. Walsh is a graduate of Queen’s University, and was as an amateur one of the greatest outside wings in the Inter-Collegiate Football Union. He is 28 years old, and has been playing with the Ottawas for four seasons. Walsh, while not brilliant, is perhaps the hardest and most effective worker on the Ottawa team. He weighs 164."

Fun With Numbers From The Hockey Compendium:

Walsh's 1909 and 1911 scoring titles were among the most dominant offensive seasons in pro hockey history. A few numerical measures from hockey's stats bible demonstrate this:

Quality of Victory, Points, 1909-2001 - PPG leader's margin of victory over 2nd place

Name | League | Year | % Lead in PPG
Keats | WCHL | 1922 | 60%
Gretzky | NHL | 1984 | 57%
Lemieux | NHL | 1993 | 51%
Gretzky | NHL | 1986 | 51%
Gretzky | NHL | 1983 | 48%
Gretzky | NHL | 1982 | 44%
Gretzky | NHL | 1985 | 41%
Gretzky | NHL | 1987 | 36%
Dunderdale | PCHA | 1913 | 35%
Taylor | PCHA | 1918 | 34%
Morenz | NHL | 1928 | 34%
Howe | NHL | 1953 | 34%
Lalonde | NHA | 1910 | 34%
Walsh | ECHA | 1909 | 31%
Dye | NHL | 1923 | 30%
Hull | NHL | 1966 | 30%
T.Smith | NHA | 1915 | 29%
Lemieux | NHL | 1996 | 27%
Cowley | NHL | 1939 | 26%
Taylor | PCHA | 1913 | 26%

Individual Scoring Domiance, 1909-1930 - Player's GPG divided by league GPG

Name | League | Year | ISD
Lalonde | NHA | 1910 | 0.54
Dye | NHL | 1925 | 0.53
T.Smith | NHA | 1915 | 0.52
Taylor | PCHA | 1918 | 0.52
T.Smith | NHA | 1913 | 0.51
Malone | NHA | 1913 | 0.50
Joliat | NHL | 1925 | 0.49
T.Smith | NHA | 1914 | 0.46
Walsh | ECHA | 1909 | 0.46
Keats | WCHL | 1922 | 0.45
Walsh | NHA | 1911 | 0.44

Ideal Goals - A formula that uses the same logic as most adjusted stats, (schedule length, goals per game averages, roster size) except these ones go back to 1909

Name | League | Season | Ideal Goals
Esposito | NHL | 1971 | 78
Br.Hull | NHL | 1991 | 76
Gretzky | NHL | 1984 | 75
Lemieux | NHL | 1993 | 75
Lemieux | NHL | 1989 | 73
Cook | NHL | 1927 | 73
Lemieux | NHL | 1996 | 72
T.Smith | NHA | 1913 | 71
Lalonde | NHA | 1910 | 71
Malone | NHA | 1913 | 71
Morenz | NHL | 1928 | 70
T.Smith | NHA | 1915 | 70
Gretzky | NHL | 1982 | 69
Conacher | NHL | 1934 | 69
Bure | NHL | 2000 | 68
Conacher | NHL | 1932 | 68
Hull | NHL | 1992 | 68
Conacher | NHL | 1935 | 68
Dye | NHL | 1925 | 67
Conacher | NHL | 1931 | 67
Taylor | PCHA | 1918 | 66
Bo.Hull | NHL | 1967 | 66
Neely | NHL | 1994 | 66
Weiland | NHL | 1930 | 65
Howe | NHL | 1953 | 65
Bo.Hull | NHL | 1969 | 65
Esposito | NHL | 1972 | 65
Mogilny | NHL | 1993 | 65
Walsh | NHA | 1911 | 64
Bo.Hull | NHA | 1966 | 64
Esposito | NHA | 1974 | 64
Walsh | ECHA | 1909 | 63
Selanne | NHL | 1998 | 63
MacKay | PCHA | 1915 | 63
Kurri | NHL | 1985 | 63
Stewart | NHL | 1926 | 63
Bailey | NHL | 1929 | 63
Cook | WHL | 1926 | 63
Irvin | NHL | 1926 | 63
Cook | NHL | 1932 | 62

(note - two WHA seasons were on this list; they were removed as I don't believe it qualified as top-level hockey)

Grittiness Backed Up By PIMs

Here is a list of drafted forwards born within 4 years of Marty Walsh, and two undrafted ones (1880-1888) - Walsh appears to have been one of the scrappier star forwards of his time. (Note that only Bowie, Lalonde, Taylor and Tommy Smith were top-5 in goals in their league more often among this generation! - Smith's total of 5 includes twice in the OPHL, a slightly lesser league.

Name | DOB | GP | G | PIM | G/GP | PIM/GP | GP w/PIM* | Top-2s in Goals
Ernie Russell | 1883 | 112 | 215 | 419 | 1.92 | 3.74 | | 3
Bruce Stuart | 1881 | 104 | 111 | 280 | 1.07 | 3.33 | 84 | 0
***** ***** | 1883 | 65 | 150 | 211 | 2.31 | 3.25 | | 2
Newsy Lalonde | 1887 | 254 | 329 | 769 | 1.3 | 3.03 | | 7
Marty Walsh | 1884 | 77 | 174 | 208 | 2.26 | 2.70 | | 3
Tommy Phillips | 1883 | 45 | 71 | 100 | 1.58 | 2.56 | 39 | 0
Pud Glass | 1884 | 103 | 109 | 221 | 1.06 | 2.15 | | 0
Tom Dunderdale | 1887 | 289 | 226 | 527 | 0.78 | 1.82 | | 3
Didier Pitre | 1883 | 239 | 267 | 433 | 1.12 | 1.81 | | 3
Tommy Smith | 1886 | 175 | 274 | 288 | 1.57 | 1.65 | | 5
Cyclone Taylor | 1885 | 228 | 246 | 355 | 1.08 | 1.56 | | 5
Russell Bowie | 1880 | 82 | 249 | 43 | 3.04 | 1.39 | 31 | 9
Frank McGee | 1882 | 41 | 135 | 56 | 3.29 | 1.37 | | 2
Blair Russell | 1881 | 69 | 109 | 68 | 1.58 | 1.36 | 50 | 1
**** ****** | 1884 | 61 | 146 | 19 | 2.39 | 0.31 | | 2

* Some players had seasons where PIMs were not recorded; to avoid skewing results, their PIMs are divided only by the number of games they played in seasons where PIMs were recorded. This only counts top-level hockey: NHA, PCHA, St-Cup, ECAHA, ECHA, OPHL, CAHL, FAHL, IHL, CHA.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

What is this man’s most impressive accomplishment?

3 straight Stanley Cups as a role player to start his career?

Leading the NHL in +/- in 1981?

2nd Team NHL All-Star Team in 1982?

Representing Canada at the 1982 Canada Cup and 1983 World Championships?

Or proudly displaying this hairstyle on national television in the 21st Century:

Brian Engblom, D

-6’2, 200 lbs
-“Honoured Member†of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame

-AHL First All-Star Team (1977)
-Eddie Shore Award (AHL Most Outstanding Defenceman) (1977)
-Stanley Cup championships (1977, 1978, and 1979)
-NHL Second Team All-Star (1982)
-Represented Canada in the 1982 Canada Cup and 1983 World Championships

-Led the NHL in +/- in 1980-81
-2nd in +/- in 81-82
-8th in Norris voting in 1981
-6th in Norris voting in 1982

Fun Fact: Brian Engblom was Scott Stevens’ first regular partner in the NHL.

After healing from a broken jaw early in his tenure, he gradually established himself as a good, rushing-type defenseman. He was never a prolific scorer, but he managed to play a well-balanced game with effective coverage in his own zone.

Being consistently good at dealing with 2-on-1's against you, can be a great source of pride for you as an individual, espacially if you have limited offensive skills. They don't show up on the score sheet, but the coach and your goalie will know.

-The closest thing I could find to a concise quote about being a defenseman on Brian’s blog

http://www.hockeyplayer.com/?q=content/art-2-1

Here’s a picture of him as a hockey player:

 

[seventieslord]

With the 519th pick in ATD2010, The Regina Pats are absolutely delighted to select:

Eddie Oatman, F/D/Rover (mostly RW)

- 5'8", 155 lbs
- Stanley Cup (1912)
- Stanley Cup Finalist (1916, 1922, 1924)
- Top-10 in Goals in his league (OPHL, NHA, PCHA) 10 times (3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th, 6th, 6th, 7th, 7th, 8th, 10th)
- Top-10 in Assists in his league 13 times (1st, 1st, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 6th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 9th)
- Top-10 in Points in his league 12 times (3rd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 6th, 6th, 7th, 7th, 7th, 7th, 8th, 10th)
- Top-10 in PIM in his league 11 times (2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 5th, 5th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 10th)
- On pace for 3rd in Goals, 1st in Assists, 3rd in points in 1917 NHA before 228th Battallion's season was cut short (finished 8th, 3rd, 7th, included above)
- 1st or 2nd on his team in scoring in 10 of 11 seasons from 1910-1920 (5X 1st, 5X 2nd)
- PCHA 1st All-Star Team (1914, 1915, 1916)
- PCHA 1st/2nd All Star Team 7 other seasons (1913, 1918, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923)
- OPHL 1st All-Star Team (1910)
- According to The Trail, 12th in pre-merger goals, behind Lalonde, Malone, Denneny, Pitre, Smith, Bowie, Nighbor, Cleghorn, Dunderdale, Foyston, and Roberts.
- Very consistent player. Along with Mickey MacKay, Oatman is the only player to play 5+ PCHA seasons and have 15+ points in each of them.
- 203 Goals, 106 Assists, 309 Points in 320 top-level games
- 6 goals, 2 assists, 8 Points in 21 top-level playoff games
- Career continued for 6 more seasons in American pro leagues AHA & CAHL, then played until 1939 in Saskatchewan and Duluth, retiring at age 50.
- Was captain of six pro teams

Professional hockey may be the most physically challenging of all sports.The strenuous leg exertion - the grueling player contact - the playing arena coldness - the ice hardness, all takes their toll on the player. The professional career is fewer than a dozen years. Bobby Hull's 20-year career is exceptional. To play 32 years in the demanding sport should be impossible, yet that is the extraordinary accomplishment of Eddie Oatman.

While there is relatively little known about his personal life, the Internet did reveal information about his hockey career. Though Eddie never played in the National Hockey League, he was among the elite goal scorers of his era. During his 32 years playing professional ice hockey, Eddie was picked 10 straight seasons as an all-star with the Pacific Coast Hockey Association. He was a star with the Quebec Bulldogs when it won the 1912 Stanley Cup. Eddie played with clubs that won five league championships, and he was a successful coach and captain of five different hockey teams.

...He signed with New Westminster Royals. In the 1914-15 season, he was named to the PCHA all-star team. The Royals became the Portland Rosebuds and Eddie became the team captain. The following year, he also was its coach and was an all-star again when the club won the league championship. However, the Montreal Canadians won their first Stanley Cup title beating Portland three games to two in a best-of-five playoff. With Portland's near victory over Montreal, expectations grew for their chances in the 1916-1917 season, but these hopes ended when Eddie enlisted in the Canadian armed forces as part of the 228th Battalion.

When the 228th Battalion secured a franchise in the NHA for the 1916-17 season, Oatman joined the roster. But when the 228th was sent to Europe for military action in the First World War, Oatman was discharged "for special circumstances." The following season Eddie went back to Portland, again as its coach and captain. When the Rosebuds suspended operations, Eddie joined the Victoria Aristocrats as their captain and remained with the team for the next five years. As result of another player's injury, he saw action with the Vancouver Millionaires when they lost the Stanley Cup to the Toronto St. Pats in 1922.

Eddie was traded to the Calgary Tigers in 1923-24. He helped the team win the Western Canada Hockey League title, but were denied a Stanley Cup championship when they again lost to the Montreal Canadiens. From 1924 to 1926, he was the Tigers' coach and captain, leading them to back-to-back championships in 1924 and 1925. Unfortunately, pro hockey collapsed in the West after the 1925-26 season, but he continued to play minor-league hockey. Eddie was the team captain of the Minneapolis, Minnesota, club in the American League in 1927. Then, for the next three years, he played for the Boston Tigers in the Canadian-American League (1928-1930), and as their captain led them to the league championship in the 1929. In 1931, he played as captain for the Buffalo Majors in the American League. He later served as a player-coach in Yorkton, Prince Albert and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, until his hockey-playing career ended when he was 50.

Eddie died 24 years later in 1973 at age 74. Although hockey was his life, Eddie was a barber by trade and found time to marry and have one son. There is a triangular stone for him at the Springford Cemetery, Oxford County, Ontario, where he is buried next to his brother Russ. He was also the subject of a Ripley's "Believe It Or Not" article for playing 32 years in professional hockey and is featured on at least two trading cards.

Following his death, Ed's family tried unsuccessfully to have him inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

...He played a few games on defense with Ernie Johnson and then took over his regular RW spot with ******** and *******. The next year playing rover and RW with the Royals, he made the PCHA All-Star team, in spite of being out two weeks with a broken toe. The team was moved to Portland where he repeated on the All-Star team when the Rosebuds won the championship but failed to win the cup... When the 228th Battallion secured an NHA franchise, Oatman was in the lineup and although their best player, earned some unfavourable publicity when the battallion went overseas... he returned to Portland where he played Rover... had four years with Victoria playing rover and RW, and also did a spell on defense with Clem Loughlin... He outlasted his old teammates Joe Malone and **** ********. He was a first class player, numbered amongst the elite who scored over 200 goals.

Was Eddie Oatman a star?

Those who were there, frequently said he was.

Waterloo without Oatman is like a ship without a rudder.

...Eddie Oatman is a dandy, Eddie's heady and he's handy,
He is sure the real candy, as he more than once has shown...

Oatman is considered by many to be one of the best men in the N. H. A.

Eddie Oatman, star rover of the New Westminster Royals...

The Stanley Cup championship team had been riddled by the Western raid, losing three of its finest players, Prodgers, Oatman, and ********.

Eddie Oatman, the clever forward who figured so prominently on the Portland club's lineupin the World Series agains the Canadiens last season...

Two top PCHA stars Eddie Oatman and Art Duncan had signed up... it started to look as if Oatman's real role with the 228th was as a ringer for the hockey club.

In Eddie Oatman, late of Portland, now with the 228th, and Gordon Keats, who will again be with Torontos, the local N.H.A. clubs have two of the best centre players in the game.

According to Frank Patrick, the National Hockey Association, in signing Eddie Oatman and Art Duncan, has secured two of best players in hockey today... "Of Oatman, I have nothing but admiration. He is a wonderful player, and the fact that during his four years service on the coast he was selected as an all-star each season shows clearly that he is one of the stars of hockey."

Eddie Oatman, the Tillsonburg player, who has been performing on the Pacific Coast for a number of seasons, but who is now a member of the 228th Battallion, made his initial appearance and featured the practice with his work. To say that he will be one of the sensations of the NHA is no exaggeration. He is a natural hockey player, is very speedy, and has the weight to carry through the opposing defense.

Eddie Oatman, Who will play on the forward line for the 228th Battalion N. H. A. team this winter. He is one of the best forwards in the game.

Eddie Oatman, former NHA star...

He was a first class player

Lester Patrick, his coach for five years in Victoria said Oatman was one of the greatest players of his time. Frank Selke referred to Oatman as a gentleman and a fine team player.

How did Oatman play?

For the past few drafts we really haven't had much evidence in regards to Oatman's play and that was a big question mark on him as a pick. Thanks to some old newspaper research by overpass and myself of actual in-game descriptions, we finally have many clues. Oatman was a well-balanced offensive player who was probably a better playmaker than goalscorer. He was chippy and gritty, a very hard worker, responsible defensively, and he could skate and shoot.

Oatman did a lot of fighting, and was finally chopped down by McNamara, the Renfrew captain. Both were chased to the ice box for the balance of the match, about ten minutes of playing time remaining.

Here's Oatman taking on a guy 3 inches taller and 35 pounds heavier:

A fist fight marked the closing minutes of the game... Ross and Oatman were the principals... There had been considerable rough play preceding the trouble, and Oatman, who is no drawing-room player himself, was a mark for some hammering. Smaill bored in on Quebec, but was checked by Oatman, who got the puck, but Smaill didn't let him pass, and gave him the knee. Following this, Oatman was thrown agains the rail by Ross. This so enraged the Quebec player that he struck the Wanderer point with his stick. Ross tried to retaliate but was prevented. Both players were then disqualified... With Oatman in the lead, the unruly pair skated to the penalty box, and as Oatman started to mount the rail, Ross, angered at the crack he received, pulled off his glove and struck Oatman a hard blow over the eye with his bared fist... Oatman was eager to continue the fray, but peacemakers kept the two belligerents separated.

Eddie Oatman the Worker - Eddie Oatman is without a doubt the hardest worker in the league, and is effective. When Ottawas came down here a few weeks ago, he had **** played to a standstill and he did the same thing with Sprague Cleghorn last week, and last night he kept Payan guessing.

Fred Taylor, the sensation of the N. H. A. for many years, stood out head and shoulders above every other player on the ice. Other players who showed exceptional class were: Eddie Oatman, late of Quebec, *****, of Winnipeg, and Si Griffis, the former Kenora player.

Look at the review of the 1913 NHA/PCHA All-Star Game. Seems Oatman was the only noteworthy western player on a team that featured Taylor and The Patricks:

Nighbor and Ross played a brilliant game for the Easterners, while Oatman was the only Westerner who played a good game.

In the last period Griffis and Oatman came together and both were sent off for ten minutes for fighting.

Westminster's showing has been the surprise to date... The defense of Oatman and Johnson is one of the best ever seen at the coast.

As a sequel to the fistic battle which was staged between Cully Wilson, who had the reputation of being the “bad man” of hockey in the East last season, and Eddie Oatman in Seattle Tuesday night, a warning went out from the office of President Frank Patrick yesterday that a repetition of such a scene would bring down a suspension, with the possibility of a more drastic penalty... Wilson, of the Seattle club, and Oatman, of Portland, collided shortly after the opening of the final period, both being sent off for fifteen minutes each and fined. Several stitches were necessary to repare Wilson’s anatomy and Oatman’s head.

Lalonde of the Montreal team and Johnson and Oatman of Portland were threatened with arrest for striking eachother with sticks and fists.

Moose Johnson, with Oatman as his chief assistant, made many daring and spectacular raids on the Canadien cage.

Half a minute later Oatman stole up while the whole Canadien team was gathered up in a convention around the cage and jabbed the puck through with the point of his stick.

Some interesting quotes from an article following a game between the 228th Battallion and a team of NHA all-stars:

At the end of the game, when you would have expected to see the overworked regulars show signs of tiring, it looked as though they could have left Oatman, ******, and a goalie on the ice and still played rings around the all-stars... The Blueshirts were called the all-stars, probably because Lalonde, Pitre, and ***** journeyed upon from the east to don skates... Oatman and ****** were the pick of the soldiers. The way those boys went down made the fans gasp. Each scored three goals. Oatman gets back with his man faster than ******* does, and that's saying a lot... Oatman went through the whole team to score 228th's fifth... ***** went down for a shot on ********, then Oatman took it all the way back and scored.

Randall and Oatman tried to compete for the “Bad Man” championship held for so many years by Joe Hall. They only succeeded in getting in wrong with everybody. The public likes good, hard, square body-checking, but not slashing and chopping, and cross-checking with the stick.

Oatman and G. McNamara each accounted for two, while Arbour and Prodgers bulged the twine on passes from Oatman…Scoring six goals for his team, “Goldie” Prodgers was the star of the evening. He was closely followed by Eddie Oatman…

For the Soldiers, Eddie Oatman stood out among the remainder of the team, except ********. Oatman's stickhandling was first rate, but he received little to no support from his wings.

Noble and ******* outlasted their checks and were going great guns at the finish. For the soldiers, Oatman played a horse of a game. He did a prodigious amount of work and was always dangerous.

With but 51 seconds separating the two clubs from an overtime contest, Eddie Oatman, the leader of the visitors, snagged a pass from Dunderdale and banged the rubber past Goaler C. Holmes for the point that won the fastest battle of the year.

Eddie Oatman and Ernie Parkes did the relief work, and both were good. Oatman has speed and a shot.

The Cameron-Oatman argument was certainly a dandy while it lasted. Oatman smothered a Cameron rush rather rudely, and the Irish defenser objected by clouting Oatman one in the ribs. Oatman raced at him, knocked him down, and then patted him on the head with his stick, raising a hickey about the size of a powder puff. The coast boy was inclined to (parcel?) more of Cammy’s sparse hair when Noble horned in with a cross-check behind Oatman’s ear that laid him flat on the ice. Referee Smeaton, who is a husky chap, tossed Noble to one side and waved the original battlers to the bench for a 10-minute term and fined them $15 each.

Duncan and Randall were already in the skookum house for mussing each other about a bit, so that left it four a side. With the ice cleared the coast people had lots of room to manoeuvre in, and they kept Roach as busy as a one-armed paperhanger in flytime, but they did not get one by until 18 minutes had passed and sides were normal again. Oatman got that one. The Irish were thoroughly beaten at this point and just filled in the time... Adams and Skinner and Oatman were the firebrands of the forward line, and the all played swell hockey...

And a few quotes from when Oatman was a 41-year old man playing in Buffalo. He was still a prominent player, and the leader of the team.

The Buffaloes made it 3-0 when St. John rammed one home after taking a pass from Oatman.

...a few seconds later, Oatman sought to use his blade on Timmins...

Oatman broke away from a melee mid-rink and skated into the Green defense, where Mulligan and Headley bodychecked him. Clayton came racing back, bumping Eddie out of a falling posture to a skating position, and Eddie went through to pick it up in front of Timmins. It was a simple matter to score as timmins lurched out to smother the shot.

Two minutes later again oatman came down and went to the side, passing back to Heyd on the other side. Heyd made a short pass to St. John, and he likewise fired it in.

Coach Eddie Oatman, a star in the old Pacific Coast League days and still able to hold his own as a defenseman

Eddie Oatman ought to be qualifying one of these days as a veteran hockey player. He's in his 26th season as a professional puckster. But he can still handle that disc in the St. Paul central league.

Oatman's Legacy

Oatman was already touted as the longest-playing pro player ever, but this Chicago newspaper wasn't aware he was still playing in Saskatchewan. At this point, he still had three years to go:

The longest hockey career on record is attributed to Eddie Oatman, who started as an amteur in (1907) and finished with St. Paul in 1935.

Oatman's not in the Hall. Is he just a guy who played with a bunch of hall of famers?

Far from it. Oatman was considered a star in his own right, and he had remarkably little support from other HHOF forwards, so he is in fact the complete opposite of "a guy who played with a bunch of hall of famers". See the below chart indicating how often all of the HHOF PCHA forwards and rovers (and Bernie Morris, because we all know he is as good as those guys) played on the same team as eachother: (need to play 10 games to be considered a "season played")

I did not include Jack Walker. Despite being in the HHOF, he was not an offensive catalyst and he would only skew the results of the other HHOF players in this chart. Ditto Jimmy Gardner who played one PCHA season with Oatman at the end of his career, in which he had 7 points. Tommy Dunderdale's 1923 season is also excluded as he was at the end, scoring 2 goals in 27 games as a sub. All other "eligible seasons" counted saw the player score at least 9 points, 70 of the 78 with 15+ so these are all good seasons by good players we are talking about. Harry Hyland is excluded simply because he had no effect on the other players - he played one PCHA season with no HHOF help.

Name | Elig. Seasons | TD | EO | FFo | MM | BM | CT | BS | FFr | JA | GR | FB | FN | DP | NL | TP | DI | Total Help from HHOFers | Per Season| Incl. Oatman
Gord Roberts | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2.7| 2.7
Barney Stanley | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2.5| 2.5
Frank Nighbor | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2.0| 2.0
Didier Pitre | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.0| 2.0
Cyclone Taylor | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | N/A | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1.9| 1.9
Mickey MacKay | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1.7| 1.7
Jack Adams | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1.3| 1.3
Bernie Morris | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1.1| 1.1
Frank Boucher | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.0| 1.0
Neswy Lalonde | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.0| 1.0
Tommy Phillips | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 0 | 1 | 1.0| 1.0
Dick Irvin | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1 | 1.0| 1.0
Eddie Oatman | 10 | 6 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0.9| 0.9
Frank Foyston | 9 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0.9| 0.9
Frank Fredrickson | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.5| 1.3
Tommy Dunderdale | 11 | N/A | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0.4| 0.9

The list is sorted by number of HHOF forward teammates per season (that column does not include seasons with Oatman as a teammate; the next column does). Dunderdale had the least help among these players, with "only" Oatman to get him the puck most years. Frank Fredrickson had the second least, with just two seasons of Dunderdale, plus Oatman. If you include Oatman as someone who "helped" Dunderdale and Fredrickson (and you should), then Oatman, with 0.9 top players up front per season, had the least offensive help throughout his PCHA career, along with Dunderdale and Foyston.

How much did Dunderdale help Oatman?

Tommy Dunderdale and Eddie Oatman played together for six seasons. Dunderdale and Oatman were born just two years apart so they were at fairly the same points developmentally in the years that they played together. Here are their combined stats from those six seasons:

Name|GP|G|A|Pts
Dunderdale| 126|81|37|118
Oatman| 119|59|56|115

Dunderdale was scoring 30% more goals per game than Oatman, but Oatman was also getting 60% more assists per game than Dunderdale. Oatman actually had a slightly higher points-per-game average.

Furthermore, aside from 1912, when there were no assists recorded, the PCHA gave out assists at the rate of 0.47 per goal. This put playmakers like Oatman at a disadvantage as far as point production went - one's point production would be heavily driven by their goalscoring, not their playmaking. Oatman was a much better playmaker than goalscorer, and Dunderdale the opposite. This is what the stats of two players like this might have looked like in modern times, with closer to 1.5 assists given out per goal:

Name|GP|G|A|Pts
Dunderdale| 126|81|111|192
Oatman| 119|59|168|227

Then, would you be so sure of who the better player was?

Oatman's place in PCHA History

Oatman played on some mediocre teams, but it's been shown that he was still known as a star individually and he did not leech off of his HHOF linemate. He was a tough little player with good skills and known as a leader, team player and hard worker. Offensively, how did his PCHA numbers shake out when all was said and done?

Name | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GPG | APG | PPG | Best 5 G | Best-5 A | Best-5 Pts
Cyclone Taylor | 130 | 159 | 104 | 263 | 65 | 1.22 | 0.80 | 2.02 | 1, 1, 1, 2, 2 | 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 | 1, 1, 1, 1, 1
Tommy Dunderdale | 241 | 194 | 60 | 254 | 494 | 0.80 | 0.25 | 1.05 | 1, 1, 1, 3, 6 | 3, 4, 5, 6, 6 | 1, 1, 3, 3, 5
Smokey Harris | 252 | 156 | 90 | 246 | 416 | 0.62 | 0.36 | 0.98 | 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 | 1, 1, 2, 2, 4 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 7
Mickey MacKay | 192 | 159 | 82 | 241 | 193 | 0.83 | 0.43 | 1.26 | 1, 1, 2, 5, 6 | 1, 2, 2, 2, 4 | 2, 2, 2, 3, 5
Bernie Morris | 167 | 155 | 76 | 231 | 137 | 0.93 | 0.46 | 1.38 | 1, 2, 2, 2, 4 | 1, 2, 2, 2, 3 | 1, 2, 2, 2, 4
Frank Foyston | 202 | 174 | 53 | 227 | 133 | 0.86 | 0.26 | 1.12 | 1, 1, 2, 3, 4 | 5, 5, 7, 8, 11 | 2, 3, 3, 4, 4
Eddie Oatman | 195 | 129 | 81 | 210 | 278 | 0.66 | 0.42 | 1.08 | 3, 3, 4, 5, 6 | 1, 3, 4, 4, 5 | 3, 3, 4, 4, 6
Jack Walker | 186 | 82 | 58 | 140 | 31 | 0.44 | 0.31 | 0.75 | 4, 7, 9, 9, 11 | 3, 4, 4, 4, 6 | 4, 8, 9, 9, 10
Frank Fredrickson | 105 | 93 | 46 | 139 | 83 | 0.89 | 0.44 | 1.32 | 1, 3, 4, 4, DNP | 1, 2, 2, 3, DNP | 1, 2, 2, 3, DNP

This list is sorted by career points. Note that Oatman falls just short of Frank Foyston in this category, but 50% ahead of the next-highest, Jack Walker, a hall of famer.

Playmaking was Oatman's specialty. Check out the assists per game column. Note that Oatman is well behind Cyclone Taylor, along with everyone else, but right there with Bernie Morris, the 2nd-best offensive player in PCHA history, Mickey MacKay, a bonafide superstar, and Frank Fredrickson, another HHOFer who played probably his four best seasons in the PCHA and none of his declining years. Oatman is also the only one whose stats include some games played as a defenseman, which assumedly hindered his production somewhat.

Don't forget Oatman starred for 4 seasons in the east, too

Don't make the mistake of labelling Oatman as mediocre because he's 7th all-time in PCHA points. When you factor in his seasons played in the east, his career totals don't look much different from two bonafide HHOFers and top-200 picks, Mickey MacKay and Frank Foyston.

Their career paths are pretty similar. They all started in the east, (Foyston had 3 NHA seasons, MacKay none, Oatman 2 plus one in the OPHL) then went to the PCHA for the league's duration (Oatman was with the 228th for one of those years) then went to the WCHL/WHL when the PCHA was done with. MacKay and Foyston then played in the NHL. All three of them played their last top-level pro game between the ages of 35y10mo and 37y2mo. All had a period of decline that hurt their career average as they aged. Here are their career totals, counting all top-level pro games played: (OPHL, NHA, PCHA, WCHL, WHL, NHL)

Name | GP | G | A | Pts | GPG | APG | PPG
Oatman | 344 | 206 | 102 | 308 | 0.60 | 0.31* | 0.895*
Mackay | 394 | 242 | 111 | 353 | 0.61 | 0.28 | 0.896
Foyston | 361 | 240 | 81 | 321 | 0.66 | 0.22 | 0.889

* Oatman's APG average is based on 330 GP, not 344, as he played 14 games in the OPHL where assists were not recorded. His PPG average does include those games though.

Oatman's only a hair below MacKay (2%) in career goal output per-game, and about 10% above in assists per game. Foyston scored goals about 10% better than either of them, but MacKay and Oatman had 27% and 41% more assists per game than him. The points per game stat is favourable to goal scorers when talking about oldtimers; in modern times with assists more abundant, Oatman just may have led the group in points per game.

It's time Oatman got the respect he deserves. We'll take him as a 4th liner over anyone. The criticisms of the past are debunked - he was not a nondescript player, he was known as a star. Contemporaries spoke highly of him. We now know how he played. He was maybe not quite a hall of famer, but his career numbers stack up pretty well with some hall of famers. And he didn't play with hall of famers, rather, he played against them much more often.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Wilf Paiement, RW

-6th in goals in 1977
-10th in points in 1978
-40 goals, 57 assists, 97 points in 1981

-All Star Games in 1976, 77, 78

-4 Times multiple Short Handed Goals (5 in 77, 2 in 78, 2 in 80, 3 in 82)

-Represented Canada in 3 World Championships (77, 78, 79)

-Co-winner of Best Forward at 77 World Championships with Sergei Makarov

Wilf Paiement was a big, aggressive, at times cocky right winger. He had a good level of skill to go with that grit
...
The big right winger with good skating ability also racked up 134 PIM. His combination of scoring prowess and physical play had NHL scouts drooling.

In 1974, he was chosen 2nd overall in the NHL Amateur Draft by the expansion Kansas City Scouts. The team's lineup was weak, but Paiement played a solid two-way game, establishing himself as a scorer who, like his older brother, could fight very effectively.

 

[Dreakmur]

“Carol "Cully" Wilson was the Left Coast's answer to Joe Hall. Wilson was a mean, moon-faced goblin of a man who specialized in running star players.†– Ultimate Hockey

“He was a talented goal scorer who also attained success in the PCHA, NHA, minors and senior leagues.†– Legends of Hockey

â€One of the bad men of hockey, who although an excellent player always seemed to be embroiled in fisticuffs or stick swinging duels... did not back away from the biggest players in the game... fiery... very prominent with the Metropolitans for four years... Cully was again in a cup series against Canadiens. He managed to check Morenz in such a way that the Canadien star was injured and put out of action. However, no penalty was awarded as it was probably not deliberate (or it was clean).†– Trail of the Stanley Cup

â€When it comes to calling stars, little Cully Wilson cannot be well overlooked for he did some clever work...†– Toronto Star, 1914 Cup Finals

â€Cully Wilson had become the bad man of the league and was ready to mix it up with anybody.

Tempers ran high when these teams met and the climax came February 26th at Seattle. Cully Wilson was carrying a chip on his shoulder and tangled with everybody. He picked Mickey MacKay for a vicious crosscheck that resulted in a compound fracture of the jaw for the clean playing Vancouver rover. Wilson was assessed $50 and a match penalty. In the game at Vancouver a week later, Wilson skated over to the press box to shake hands with MacKay, who was out for the season.†– Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1

â€the Mets, led by Foyston and Wilson, swamped the millionaires. Frank Foyston was the star and bad boy Wilson played a good game.†– Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1

â€The fans gave Wilson a good going over but he played steady hockey and stayed out of trouble.†– Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1

â€Joe Hall and Cully Wilson kept the game nicely spiced with their rough play. Hall was picking on Walker while Wilson, as usual, took on everybody.†– Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1

â€After a poor start, Montreal got Cully Wilson from Toronto and made a better showing in the second half of the schedule.†– Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1

â€â€¦ veterans Rusty Crawford and Cully Wilson shone on the forward line…†– Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1

â€Morenz was hurt about halfway through when hit by Cully Wilson, who got no penalty from referee Art Ross. Morenz had the ligaments of his left shoulder torn and the collarbone chipped.†– Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 1

â€Hay added another marker in the second period following a pretty piece of work by Cully Wilson, who worked the disk through the entire Ranger team and then passed to Hay directly in front of the net, the latter scoring.†– New York Times

With our 20th selection, McGuire's Monsters are pleased to select a player who combines skill, toughness, and aggitation. Please welcome...



Cully Wilson!!!

Awards and Achievements:
2 x Stanley Cup Champion (1914, 1917)
PCHA Champion (1919)
WCHL Champion (1924)

PCHA First Team All-Star (1919)
WCHL Second Team All-Star (1924)

Scoring:
NHA Points – 6th(1915)
NHA Goals – 4th(1915)
NHA Assists – 4th(1915)

PCHA Points – 6th(1916), 5th(1918)
PCHA Goals – 6th(1916), 5th(1918)
PCHA Assists – 5th(1916), 3rd(1918)

NHL Points – 7th(1920), 9th(1923)
NHL Goals – 8th(1920), 7th(1923)
NHL Assists – 9th(1922)

WCHL Points – 7th(1924), 7th(1925)
WCHL Goals – 6th(1924), 8th(1925)
WCHL Assists – 8th(1924), 9th(1925)

He was also a great play-off performer:
- Led Toronto with 3 goals in the 1914 Finals
- Led Seattle with 4 assists in the 1917 Finals
- Led Calgary with 5 goals in the 1924 Finals

 

[Leafs Forever]

Credit to TheDevilMadeMe for providing many of thse quotes

In addition to an exemplary career as a defenseman, He contributed to the development of hockey through his off-ice endeavors. He recorded 85 goals in 167 regular-season games and provided stability and savvy in the defensive zone.

In 1905 he made his first appearance for a major hockey organization by scoring 10 goals in eight games for the Westmount franchise in the Canadian Amateur Hockey League. He rapidly earned the distinction of being one of the top rushing defensemen in the game.

The following year he skated for Brandon of the Manitoba Hockey League. His play attracted the attention of the Kenora Thistles, who worked out a loan agreement with Brandon in time for their Stanley Cup challenge against the Montreal Wanderers in January 1907. During the two-game set, he received numerous ovations from the Montreal crowd. Although he didn't score, he made a number of quality offensive rushes that contributed to Kenora's Stanley Cup win. A year later, hiss services were purchased by the Wanderers in a move that strengthened an already formidable outfit. He was a key reason the Red Bands finished at the top of the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association standings and then beat back the Stanley Cup challenges from Winnipeg, Toronto and Edmonton. -legendsofhockey

In late 1910, he rejoined the Wanderers, putting up four seasons there before joining the Ottawa Senators. "Ross played like an eel," XXXXX once said. "He was one of the greatest stickhandlers I ever saw. He could spin on a dime, and he was so tricky there was no blocking him."-http://www.hockey-notes.com/1910_hockey_artross.html

He was viewed as a fearless player who never backed down from a fight in his life. Ross' highest PIM total was in 1913-14 with the Wanderers in the NHA. In 18 games, he spent 74 minutes in the penalty box! From 1912-17, Ross would never spend less than 55 minutes in the penalty box in one season despite only averaging 18 games per season in the NHA.

February 17, 1915 saw Ross square off in a fight with Toronto Blueshirts' player XXXX which ended up with both players being arrested for assault. The fine of $1 each was paid in total by XXXX who lost a coin toss to Ross while in jail. Referee Cooper Smeaton was almost arrested as well for his inability to control the fracas, but he escaped without penalty.-http://hockey-blog-in-canada.blogspo...visionary.html

... two years in Ottawa, where he introduced the "kitty bar the door" defensive alignment that baffled teams preferring a freewheeling offensive game. He then returned to Montreal to close out his playing career with the Wanderers.-legends of hockey

It was while Ottawa was travelling to Montreal for the 1915 NHA championship that Ross invented "kitty-bar-the-door" hockey, thinking that the fast, powerful Wanderers could be stopped by stringing three defensemen across the width of the ice, 30 feet in front of the goalie, defying any Montreal forward to skate through. The confident Wanderers, playing on home ice, even had a fleet of taxis waiting outside the rink to take them to the railway station so they could head west to meet Vancouver for the Stanley Cup. Their pride and Art Ross's defensive shell ensured that the taxis came in handy for the Ottawa Senators instead, who won the round on goals and caught the train to the coast.-Michael McKinley

The Toronto St.Pats are proud to select, a tremendous early all-around defenceman who was one of the greatest innovators of the game....


ART ROSS!

Awards and Achievements
2 x Stanley Cup Winner (1907, 1908)

 

[Dreakmur]

“Taffy Abel was the first U.S.' born player to earn a regular spot in the National Hockey League. He was one of his era's biggest skaters, standing 6 feet 1 inch and weighing over 225 pounds. At a time when forward passing was not allowed in the offensive zone, he was a bruising defensive force to be reckoned with.†– Legends of Hockey

“At 6'1" and 225lbs, he was a giant of a man by the standards of the day, and he liked to use his size to his advantage. Under the rules of the day (the NHL did not allow forward passing until 1929) the hard hitting Abel quickly emerged as a quality defenseman… His solid play and intimidating size earned him a spot of the US Olympic team… Never known for his offensive capabilities, Abel was a scary stay- at- home defenseman…†– Greatest Hockey Legends

“the Black Hawks made a deal to bring the tough Clarence "Taffy" Abel to the team. Abel was 6'1" and 225 pounds, and his partnership with the smaller but quicker Wentworth, who was three inches shorter and over 50 pounds lighter, was the most formidable pair in the league. Abel would use his size and strength to clear the front of the net, while Wentworth's skill and positional play let him steal the puck from opposing forwards along the boards… Abel and Wentworth solidified the Chicago defense…†– Legends of Hockey

“…backed by Taffy Abel and Ching Johnson on defense, made the Rangers a formidable opponent every night.†– Legends of Hockey

â€Abel was a savage bodychecker.†– Ultimate Hockey

“His impressive Olympics catapulted Abel's stature. In 1926 the expansion New York Rangers signed Abel and teamed him with the equally mean-spirited Ching Johnson to form one of the most physical defensive pairings in the league. They quickly established their NHL reputation as well, as their physical intimidation was an important piece of the Rangers' Stanley Cup championship puzzle just two years later.

Abel and Johnson's finest moment came in those 1928 playoffs. With goalie Lorne Chabot falling to an eye injury during game 2 of the finals against the Montreal Maroons, 45 year old coach Lester Patrick donned the goalie equipment for the first time in his life and played goal. Abel and Johnson played the game of their life, protecting their inexperienced goaltender en route to one of the most unexpected victories in Stanley Cup playoff history. One report suggests Abel and Johnson allowed only 3 shots on goal against Patrick.†– Greatest Hockey Legends

“Huge for his era with a quick-temper, he was a ferocious body checker, and struck fear into most of his opponents.†– sports-reference.com

“Wentworth soon settled in on a defensive line with big Taffy Abel. The pair formed a fantastic hard hitting defensive duo.†– Greatest Hockey Legends

“In the 1928 Stanley Cup playoffs defense became especially important to the Rangers when their goalie, Lorne Chabot, was injured in the second game of the finals against the Montreal Maroons. New York's 45-year-old manager and coach, Lester Patrick, put on the pads and filled in for Chabot ' despite never having played goal in the NHL before. With Abel and Johnson clearing the zone and protecting their inexperienced netminder, the Rangers won the game and eventually the Stanley Cup.†– Legends of Hockey

"Taffy, a big, chubby, fair-complexioned man inclined to fat, was nearly as bald as Ching. But he was quick and light as a feather on his feet, something like Jackie Gleason. I almost said he was a good bodychecker, but really, Taffy simply placed his body in peoples' way and bunted. When he hit a man there was no damage; it was like being hit with a fat pillow." – Frank Boucher

“Taffy Abel was the other defenseman. They used to call them the 'sultan of suet' and the 'mountain of mutton.' Taffy was about 235… When he handed out a body check, you were really shook up. When they ran into Taffy, they bounced off him like a rubber ball.†– Bun Cook

“When I first started it was (Taffy) Abel and (Ching) Johnson with New York. They were tough.†– Red Horner

“…killers like Eddie Shore and Taffy Abel…†– Toe Blake

With our second 15th round selection, McGuire’s Monsters are pleased to select another hulking blueliner to add some muscle. He excels at the defensive game, especially crease-clearing and battles along the boards. Please welcome the man they call “Taffyâ€â€¦.



Clarence Abel!!!

Awards and Achievements:
2 x Stanley Cup Champion (1928, 1934)
4 x Stanley Cup Finalist (1928, 1929, 1931, 1934)
Olympic Silver Medalist (1924)

Ulimate Hockey’s “Best Bodychecker†of the 1930s.

First American to become a regular NHLer.
Charter Member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame (1973)

 

[seventieslord]

With the 549th pick in ATD2010, The Regina Pats are pleased to select:

Vic Stasiuk, LW/RW

- 6'0", 185 lbs
- Stanley Cup (1952, 1954, 1955)
- Stanley Cup Finalist (1957, 1958, 1961, 1963)
- Top-15 in Goals 5 Times (7th, 9th, 10th, 13th, 15th)
- Top-15 in Assists 4 Times (9th, 9th, 10th, 15th)
- Top-15 in Points 4 Times (9th, 11th, 11th, 15th)
- Top-10 in Playoff Goals 4 Times (7th, 7th, 8th, 9th)
- Top-10 in Playoff Assists 3 Times (4th, 9th, 10th)
- Top-10 in Playoff Points Twice (8th, 10th)
- 10th in Points in the NHL From 1956-1962. Among the top-20 scorers, only Beliveau had more PIMs
- WHL MVP Runner-up (1953, when he was already an established NHL player)

...It was not until he reached Boston in 1955 that he hit stride as an accomplished two-way player who could score goals and rub his opponents the wrong way. With the arrival of Johnny Bucyk, the "Uke Line" was born. The trio consisted of Stasiuk on the right.... and Bucyk over on the left side. For about the next five seasons, the "Ukes" terrorized the opposition while reaching an unprecedented level of scoring. In 1957-58, all three linemates topped the 20-goal plateau?an NHL first.

In 1960, the "Ukes" were disbanded. Stasiuk rounded out his NHL days with the Detroit Red Wings in 1963. From there he played for the Pittsburgh Hornets of the AHL before completing his on-ice career with the Memphis Wings of the CHL in 1966.

"You have to have enthusiasm and a love of this game to play. You must keep interested and not get distracted. I can't understand a player who isn't enthusiastic. If you're not enthusiastic, you've got no business out on the ice."

The man who said that was a fellow named Vic Stasiuk. Enthusiasm, not to mention hard work a dedication, work trademarks of Stasiuk, both as a player and a coach.

Like most farm boys from Alberta, Stasiuk was never afraid of hard work. But he learned an early lesson about love of the game from a one-armed rink attendant.

"Before we were in our teens, we were on skates playing hockey against anyone who'd play us," Stasiuk recalled in the February 1970 issue of Hockey Pictorial magazine. "I remember Bill Hutchinson, a one-armed man who used to be the rink attendant at an outdoor rink we used to play on in Lethbridge. He was a lot older than we were, but he loved hockey and he'd get out there and play against us. Now that I'm older I realize just what love of the game this man had, and how his example really helped me in my own career. Without two arms for balance, hockey is really tough, and there he was, up against a lot of youngsters, just for the love of it. It was a lesson for all of us."

Stasiuk is best remembered as a member of the Boston Bruins famous "Uke Line" of the late 1950s... Stasiuk joined the Bruins in 1955, after several years suffering in Detroit's deep system despite earning a Stanley Cup championship. Joining the Bruins was a great reprieve for him. The following five seasons were his most productive years of his career. He scored 19, 24, 21, 27 and 29 goals, earning the Bruins MVP award in 1958-59.

The Uke Line was broken up in 1960. The media reported it was because of poor defensive play by the trio. Stasiuk disputed that point vehemently. It was said that the bitterness led to his trade back to Detroit.

His second go around in Detroit was a little better. He got the chance to play on left wing with Gordie Howe.

On the Uke line, Vic and I used to do a lot of the skating. ******, who wasn't a great skater, was the one we'd set up.

I first met Vic with the Edmonton Oil Kings. I watched Vic quite a bit and admired him from the first time we met. Vic is what you call an honest hockey player. This is the way he coaches the California Golden Seals. He wants everybody to be the way he was when he played. Vic was the type who worked hard all day. He'd skate up and down that right wing side until he was blue in the face. He'd forecheck, backcheck, do everything.

Vic is a fiery fellow. He is a very dedicated hockey man. Sometimes when we played together, after a game we'd be up all night arguing about what went wrong. When we lived together, it seemed as if we were always talking, eating, sleeping hockey. Vic's that type of person, just totally dedicated to hockey. Sometimes you can go overboard. You can't live hockey 24 hours a day because it's just too tough, but Vic does this.

As a junior, I was a hard worker and a backchecker. that's what got me into the NHL, I think... I wasn't a scorer in Kansas City but Mud must have liked what he saw because he told Jack Adams if he had a chance to get me, he should... It was so hard to play for the Red Wings in those years, but I kept trying. They had so many good players and they didn't use too many. The Red Wings were a two-line team... There were four or five of us trying to play on the third line, but we seldom got on the ice... Ted Lindsay always treated me like a Red Wing and always complimented me. "You've got a good shot, use that goddamned thing," he would say... The Red Wings sent me to the Edmonton Flyers in 1953 with the hope that I might become a scorer. I almost won a scoring title down there. I played very well down there, so good that Adams decided to give me a full cut of Detroit's 1954 Stanley Cup playoff money shares...

(in game 6 of the 1955 Stanley Cup Finals) I was backchecking in the first period, and the puck came in my corner. I picked up the puck, went behind Sawchuk, and I was thinking, off the boards and out. But I peeked around Sawchuk and saw Delvecchio. Montreal came rushing up and I threw a perfect backhand pass right through the slot, which you should never do. It deflected to him and he went down and scored (the first goal of the game).

When I was traded back to Detroit in 1961, it was Sid Abel who picked me up. "You should have never gotten traded, Vic," he said. "I'm going to play you on left wing with Gordie Howe and Alex Delvecchio."... Ken Dryden told me he had a story for me. He said he was in a line with Red Kelly, and he had asked him, "What was the reason for the demise of the Red Wings in the 1955-56 season? Was it the trading of Terry Sawchuk?" Dryden said that Kelly had told him, "No, it was the trading of Vic Stasiuk." "Are you kidding me?" I asked. Dryden said that's what Red told him. He said Red said I was there every day, worked hard at practice, and I was on the verge of becoming a key player.

Terry went on to state that Jean Beliveau gave him the most trouble with his screening and Vic Stasiuk for interfering with the goalie.

Another key contributor was rugged winger Vic Stasiuk...

Stasiuk was known for his "heavy" shot; not only was the puck a threat in terms of velocity, but when it hit you, it had significant extra sting.

Stasiuk was a lumbering skater whose tenacity outdid his skills.

He was an energetic part-time contributor to the Detroit Red Wings' Stanley Cups, and showed signs of blossoming talent by chipping in five goals in the 1955 Playoffs.

We also had tough guys like Lou Fontinato and Vic Stasiuk along...

Big fellow who can play either wing... Hardest worker who never lets up.

Stasiuk attributed the success of the Uke Line to one majoe element, radar. "We played extremely well together. The secret to our success was that as a unit we had an uncanny ability to know where we were on the ice at any given moment. It was like we had radar."

One of Stasiuk's greatest disappointments was the demise of the famous trio. "It all started with Boston writer Leo Monahan. A story he wrote in the Boston paper stated that the Uke like scored less goals than their opposing lines. I took that up with Leo and asked him to pull out his statistics. He said he had no records, but that's what management quoted him." Stasiuk, little to Leo's knowledge, did keep a very good record of goals for and goals against, which was not a common statistic back then. He knew those were not the right numbers. "I had the records, he didn't."

Adams wasn't much for lady byng winners. He tolerated Kelly because there were heavy-handed hewers of wood backing Red up, tough nuts such as Leswick, Pavelich, Stasiuk, Reise, and Pronovost.

Stasiuk's crushing hit on the Rangers' Red Sullivan was credited with turning the tide when Boston upset New York in the 1958 Semifinals.

Montreal's defensemen were happy the best goalie of all-time prevented them from having to face Stasiuk in the corners:

Part of the credit for this, according to Dickie Moore, goes to a roaming Jacques Plante. "The Red Wings used to generate all their offense by dumping the puck into our corners. From there they would send their big guys like Vic Stasiuk... into the corner, bang around, and get the puck towards the front of the net... What Plante did was go and play the puck in the corner, and pass it up to our defensemen. By doing that he completely took away any advantage Detroit may have had. Our defensemen didn't take as much of a pounding (anymore)..."

Stasiuk was a solid six foot one and 185 pounds who could hustle and dig the puck out of the corners.

A hulking left winger who liked to use his body in heavy checking... Stasiuk could be intimidating...

Stasiuk wasn't kidding when he said it was tough to be a full-time player on those early 50s Wings... but he was a valued member still:

The Wings have a 10th forward, Vic Stasiuk, who is used as a "swing man", filling in on any of the lines...

What the wires didn't pick up, was Dann's admittance that there are some really tough guys in the NHL. He mentioned Richard, Flaman, Howe, Watson, Kelly, Ezinicki, Lindsay, Johnson, Stasiuk, and Geoffrion. He warned all, and his friend Sundry, that it would be advisable to stay away from that group unless they wished to start collecting their pension cheques early.

Stasiuk started swinging after Bolton carried him into a corner, and lanky Hugh never landed a blow while taking a few about the head.

A nice passage relaying Stasiuk outmuscling the rather strong Joe Klukay:

Joe Klukay trapped it about four feet in front of the Leaf goal. Klukay squirmed around, trying to herd Stasiuk out of the play but the Detroit player stabbed the puck with his stick and knocked it into the Leaf goal just as Lumley rushed out hoping to smother it.

Boston coach Milt Schmidt said, "Stasiuk was probably the best Detroit forward in the playoffs last season..."

A nice example of a Stasiukian effort:

Stasiuk made it 3-1 by reaching out to deflect a blast from Mohns. Mohns' shot would have missed the net but Stasiuk's lunge made it pay off.

Apparently Glenn Hall wasn't joking when he said Stasiuk had quite the shot.

And Stasiuk's shot did tear a hole in the back of the net, in my opinion and the opinion of many other people, excluding the goal judge. Funny thing about that goal (not allowed) was that Stasiuk, using a defenseman as a screen and ******* as a decoy, apparently assumed that he had missed the upper corner. *******, however, had a better angle. He immediately began yelling for justice and pointing to the tell-tale strands of broken net, even while play went on.

Vic Stasiuk, barrelling right winger...

The cannonballing Vic Stasiuk, who skates through many a man he can't go around...

And Sawchuk's anecdote about Stasiuk interfering with goalies was apparently quite true as well:

Boston's smooth operating power play was in full swing. Bower was off to the right of his net and his goal stick was being held by Vic Stasiuk when the puck went out to *******. Bower, leaving Stasiuk holding the goal stick, took off. He flew sideways through the air across the goal month... the puck struck him on the chest.

Recently Abel sent **** *******, Murray Oliver and *** ******** to Boston in exchange for *** ****** and Vic Stasiuk. His reasoning was that they would beef up the Wings defensively and prevent that late season sag.

"I think we would have beaten Canadiens if Stasiuk had been playing," Adams said... "He helps Howe a lot. Some feel that Howe doesn't really need much help. But when Stasiuk and his muscles are charging up and down left wing, an opposing team can't use all its strength in slowing Howe. A little aid like that is all Howe needs, some nights, to be as good as he ever was."

"Stasiuk's knee won't be 100%, but it won't stop him from playing," said Abel. "He'll have his knee taped, of course, but he has played that way before."

The deal that brought Vic Stasiuk... to Detroit from Boston late in the season has meant a great deal to Detroit... Stasiuk is so delighted to be playing on a line with Howe that one gets the impression he would do it on crutches if he had to. He goes out there with his left leg taped from high on his thigh clear down to his ankle... In the third period he went behind the Toronto goal for the puck and struggled for it with Tim Horton... Stasiuk tried to get the puck out and Horton blocked it. "I made a bad play the first time," Stasiuk said. "But I was lucky - the puck came back to me and I got it out."... He got it out to Howe, who was cruising in the faceoff circle. Howe wound up his backhand, hit it like a chip shot so fast that Bower could scarcely make a move... when the crippled Stasiuk got it out to Howe, it was in. And that was the game.

Stasiuk was the key figure in turning Detroit from a non-aggressive, ineffective team into one which forced the play, kept the Leafs off balance, and contributed to a thoroughly disorganized Toronto effort. Howie Meeker, former Leaf, nominated Stasiuk as "the star of the game". "Checking and skating are the most important aspects of hockey. I'd have to put checking first in a series like this. And he was checking. He mixed with the toughest Leafs, knocking them down, setting the example for the rest of them, and they picked up from him." Despite a shoulder injury which recently hampered his work, Stasiuk has been playing on a line with Norm Ullman. it's been one of the Wings' more effective units, and Stasiuk, always a mixer in the game's rougher, tougher going, has been prominent.