MLD 2012 Bios (pic, quotes, stats, accomplishments, everything)

[tarheelhockey]

The Polar Twins select:

Udo Kiessling, D

International Hockey Hall of Fame - 2000
Olympic Bronze - 1976
World Championship All-Star Team - 1987
German Elite League MVP - 1977, 1984, 1986
German Elite League champion - 1977, 1979, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988
German Elite League Defenseman of the Year - 6x
German Elite League All Star - 15x
First hockey player to participate in 5 Olympics
First German to play in the NHL - 1981

Season | Team | GP | G | A | P | PIM
1972-73|SC Riessersee G-P|40 | 8 | 6 | 14
1973-74|Augsburger EV|36 | 16 | 6 | 22
1974-75|9 SB Rosenheim| 34 |20 | 18 | 38
1975-76| SB Rosenheim|34 |30 |22 | 52
1976-77| Cologne|46 | 13 | 21 | 34
1977-78| Cologne|39 |16 |18 | 34
1978-79| Cologne|40 | 28 |32 | 60
1979-80| Duesseldorf EG | 48 | 39 |44 |83 |84
1980-81 | Duesseldorf EG | 39 | 14 |29 |43 |93
1981-82 | Minnesota North Stars | 1 |0 |0 | 0 |2
1981-82 | Duesseldorf EG | 38 | 15 |22 |37 |54
1982-83 | Fuessen EV | 21 | 12 |13 |25 |52
1982-83 | Cologne EC | 9 | 4 |0 |4 |2
1983-84 | Cologne EC | 45| 9 |19 |28 |74
1984-85 | Cologne EC | 36 | 14 |26 |40 |38
1985-86 | Cologne EC | 37 | 18 |27 |45 |41
1986-87 | Cologne EC | 42 | 10 |34 |44 |70
1987-88 | Cologne EC | 46 | 12 |27 |39 |76
1988-89 | Cologne EC | 31 | 11 |24 |35 |38
1989-90 | Cologne EC | 35| 7 |15 |22 |45
1990-91 | Cologne EC | 35 | 7 |13 |20 |36
1991-92 | Cologne EC | 42 | 11 |23 |34 |38
1992-93 | Landshut EV | 44 | 9 |19 |28 |50
1993-94 | Landshut EV | 44 | 3 |16 |19 |74
1994-95 | Landshut EV | 41 | 7 |15 |22 |40
1995-96 | Landshut EV | 50 | 3 | 19 | 22 |44

(I did my best to translate German articles into coherent English)

Udo Kiessling is considered to be the best defensemen in the history of German hockey.

Kiessling, often described as Germany's hockey "heart,"

Though small by NHL standards, he was a physical defender.

The North Stars became interested in Kiessling's services and signed the 5'10" 180lb blueliner to a contract late in 1982, though they had been pursuing him as early as 1979.

By 1987 Kiessling proved to be one of the best defenseman outside of the NHL.

but Udo Kiessling will go down in history as one of the best players Germany ever produced. Kiessling, a rugged defenseman with talent...

In a poll of readers of the German Eishockey News, he was chosen the best German defenseman of all time, receiving 4,921 votes to 3,871 for second-place xxxxxx, who scored the winning goal in overtime to give the Colorado Avalanche the Stanley Cup in 1996. ...

Although West German fans viewed him as an ambassador of the sport, some Canadians playing in the Bundesliga called him the dirtiest player in the league and charged that the referees protected him because of his stature.

West Germany’s UDO KIESSLING also played exactly one NHL game, for the Minnesota North Stars at the end of the 1981-82 schedule. Kiessling, who had been pursued by North Stars general manager xxxxxx on several occasions, was actually on an ‘amateur’ try-out deal. Minnesota offered Kiessling a full contract, but the defenseman wanted to return to Europe to play for his country at the 1982 IIHF World Championships in Finland and turned it down.

His popularity can be mostly impressed by his fans who created the following hymn on him: “Er ist kein Mensch, er ist ein Tier und spielt in Köln mit der Nummer 4†(He is not a man – he is an animal – and he plays in Cologne with number 4).

Strong-willed, consistent -- he is a model professional hockey player. Coach Hans Zach sees in him a "militant nonsmoker" and points to his strict renunciation of alcohol consumption. ...

The great "old man" of German hockey was nothing special as a child. "As a talent Udo was always mediocre. 70 percent of it came from hard work," said his father Gerhard [ed: former coach of the East German national team, a real nice guy]. ...

His fighting spirit, not limited to the playing field, has earned him few friends. ...

After a few training sessions and two games [with the North Stars] Kiessling had had enough. "Sat on the bench, shot against the post, escaped a mass brawl by accident, experienced everything," was his summary.

By the age of five, Udo Kiessling had already played for Prussia's junior team, where no one else was younger than ten. Fans paid five marks to see the nimble tot.
...
Even professional managers in North America have become aware of the family team. The New York Rangers and Canadian clubs have made offers to the Kiesslings.

...when Udo Kiessling split two US defenders...

Headline: "Germany's Gordie Howe"

In time, he would surpass even the achievements of the most famous German forward of the day, Erich Kuhnhackl. Kiessling's day is still going.

"He was sort of the Bobby Orr of Germany."

-----------------------------------



Clearly, the big issue with Kiessling is establishing some frame of reference for how his talents would translate to elite competition. Our only direct reference is his Olympic and, to a lesser extent, World Championship experience. However, we also have to keep in mind that Kiessling was playing for a West German team that was perpetually fending off relegation, so it's not like he had a whole lot of chance against Team Canada or Team USSR.

Let's look at his Olympic record first:

1976 - At age 20, Kiessling was already coming off his 4th domestic professional season. He managed only 1 assist in 6 games as West Germany won a very surprising bronze medal.
1980 - In Lake Placid, Kiessling managed to scored a goal against Jim Craig and the Americans. He finished with 2 goals and 2 assists in 5 games, but the Germans got crushed including a 11-3 loss to the Czechs.
1984 - Kiessling scored 2-1-3 as the Germans managed a respectable 4-1-1 record including a tie with Sweden.
1988 - Despite losing the first 2 games to Canada and Finland by a combined score of 16-1, Kiessling led the Germans to a respectable 4-4 record and scored 1-5-6.
1992 - Now in his late 30s, Kiessling was shut out as the Germans went 3-4-1, including a tie of Team Canada.

By means of comparison:
- In the 3 Olympics they shared, Fetisov scored 12-21-33 in 22 games while Kiessling scored 6-8-14 in 19 games.
- In 1984, both Chelios and Kiessling scored 3 points. No Canadian or American defenseman had more than 3.
- In 1988, an aging Kiessling put up an identical stat line to a young Brian Leetch.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Kiessling was on the level of Chelios or Leetch in the grand scheme. They were youngsters, whereas he was already on the back nine. But clearly he was not chopped liver next to them either, putting up identical points against identical competition at those specific junctures in time.


World championship records are a bit of a pain to track down, so rather than go through it all I'm just going to use Kiessling's prime accomplishment as an example of his ceiling. Here's the 1987 WC All Star Team:

Krutov - Truntschka - Makarov
Fetisov - Kiessling
Hasek

Not half-bad company for him to be in.


Domestic scoring is even more difficult because the records are definitely incomplete and of questionable face value. The best I can do here is try to triangulate his NHL "conversion rate" by looking at the NHL-experienced players around him:

- In 1980, Kiessling scored 83 points, virtually identical to xxxxx who scored 84 as a forward. xxxxxx had just come to Germany after being point-per-game in the AHL for a couple of years. Prior to that, he had played a couple of full seasons for the Rockies and had been worth about a half-point per game in the NHL. That same season, yyyyyy scored 44 points -- previously he had played in Cleveland where he also was worth about half a point per-game.
- Fast-forward to 1986, Kiessling scored 45 points in 37 games. On his team was a young zzzzzz, who was about a year removed from jumping to the NHL where he would be worth about 15-20 points per full season. Zzzzzzz trailed Kiessling by 14 points despite playing 8 more games.

With full apologies for how completely unscientific this method is, we could look at Kiessling next to xxxxx, yyyyy and zzzzz and conclude that if they all joined an NHL club we would see zzzzzz scoring ~20 points a season, yyyyyyy scoring ~40, and xxxxxxx scoring perhaps ~50. Kiessling would land somewhere around 25-50 points per season. In theory, anyway.


Conclusions: There is a hell of a lot of missing data, so we can't draw any hard conclusions, but we can reasonably deduce the following:
- Kiessling would have been a decent support scorer on an NHL blue line, scoring maybe 40-50 points in his peak seasons (mid-1980s numbers, mind you!) and then declining back into the ~30 point neighborhood during the early 1990s.
- It's just plain impossible to know how his defense would have translated, but we know he really got under the skin of Canadians who played against him. He would not have been a bad defender in the NHL, we can be pretty certain of that.
- The big picture is a guy who contributes offensively, plays at least decent defense with an agitating edge, and does these things year-in-year out with a very high compete level till a freak injury forces his retirement at 40. When on his game and at his best, he had a higher gear that might elevate him into "3rd All Star" territory.

 

[Dreakmur]

Don Smith !!!​

Scoring Accomplishments:
1907: 1st in FAHL
1908: 5th in MHL
1909: 5th in OPHL
1910: 4th in CHA and 10th in NHA, or 6th overall
1911: 3rd in NHA
1912: 5th in PCHA
1913: 8th in NHA
1914: 7th in NHA (10th in Goals, 6th in Assists)
1915: (4th in NHA Assists)
1916: (14th in NHA Goals)

185 games
191 goals
20 assists
211 points
Over 2.25 PIMs/game

5’7†160 lbs, which was average for his era

Smith served in WW1 during the 1916-17, 1917-18, and 1918-19 seasons.

Donald Smith, born in 1895, was an outstanding hockey player in Cornwall, Ottawa, and Pembroke. He played professional hockey, and was a speedy skater, great stick handler and possessed a lot of fighting ability.

Centre Donald Smith was considered a consistent and steady hockey player, and was just what the Renfrew Millionaires were looking for in the 1911-12 season.

Smith first joined the National Hockey Association as a member of the Shamrock team after playing three years in Cornwall, and two years in other leagues. He then moved to the Renfrew Millionaires, playing on a line with Odie Cleghorn and Bobby Rowe.

It was a good decision for Smith, with his year as a Millionaire marking his career high of 28 goals in the 16 game season, landing him in third place on the scoring list.

When the Millionaires franchise closed, he moved with teammate Bert Lindsay to play for Victoria. Like many of the former Millionaire players, in 1913 Smith returned to the National Hockey Association.

He continued to play in the league for another eight years; seven with the Montreal Canadiens and one with the Montreal Wanderers before retiring in 1921.

He left hockey without having won the Stanley Cup but with a reputation for being a clean player, well-liked and respected by all who had played with and against him.

Donald Smith was a steady all-around hockey player. He started with Cornwall in 1905 and played with them for three years. Don spent a year in the MHL and one in the OPHL before joining the Shamrocks in the NHA.

Smith skated with Renfrew only for the 1911-12 season, centering a line with Odie Cleghorn and Bobby Rowe. Don was noted for being a clean player, leaving the rough stuff to his teammates. He preferred to concentrate on scoring the goals.

Tempers became frayed and the player mixed it up quite freely. Roy McGiffen and Don Smith were active with firsts and sticks.

Donald Smith, the speedy center of the Voctoria team, is the leading scorer to date in the Pacific Coast Hockey league.

When the all-star hockey team, under the management of At Ross, left for the coast last night, the players went without Donald Smith, the sensational player of the Canadiens team. A year ago, Smith played at the Coast League, and last fall when Lester Patrick told him his salary would be cut, he decided to ply with Canadiens in place of going back to the coast. Over the matter, the Patricks notified Art Ross that they would not accept Donald Smith as one of the all-stars, nor allow him to play in any of the games. Smith confirmed the report last night himself. Smith made himself a general favorite whit the local hockey public all winter, and was one of the most effective players in the National Hockey Association.

Donald Smith, the star forward of the Canadien hockey team of a year ago, arrived in town last night…

Donald Smith was the star of the visitors and played as good a game as any man on the ice; indeed it would not, perhaps, be saying too much to label him the star of the match. But he worked himself to death in the first and second periods and with him all in and later relieved, the Canadiens were not dangerous.

Donald Smith, the hard working little Wanderer forward, still tops the list with a total of seven goals to his credit.

Previous to going overseas Don Smith was conceded to be one of the best hockey players in the National Hockey Association.

Smith played with the Canadiens when they won the title and later on was transferred to the Wanderers, with which club he was playing when he enlisted for overseas service.

1907: FAHL
100% of 1st place Bud McCourt

1909: OPHL
64% of 1st place Tommy Smith
88% of 2nd place Newsy Lalonde

1910: NHA
58% of 1st place Newsy Lalonde
71% of 2nd place Ernie Russell

1911: NHA
76% of 1st place Marty Walsh
88% of 2nd place Dubbie Kerr

1912: PCHA
70% of 1st place Newsy Lalonde
73% of 2nd place Harry Hyland

1913: NHA
44% of 1st place Joe Malone
49% of 2nd place Tommy Smith
70% of 2rd place Harry Hyland

1914: NHA
62% of 1st place Tommy Smith
64% of 2nd place Gordie Roberts

1916: NHA
42% of 1st place Newsy Lalonde
50% of 2nd place Joe Malone

 

[Rob Scuderi]

D Marty Burke

494 Games played
x2 Stanley Cup wins

AST Voting record: 5 (1932), 1 vote in 1938

Defenceman Marty Burke played nearly 500 games in the 1920s and '30s. He was a adept at taking opposition forwards out of the play and feeding the puck up to his forwards. He could also play a nastier brand of hockey if matters on the ice required it.

The Toronto native played with the St. Mary's junior and senior squads before spending two years with the Stratford Indians of the OHA senior league. After playing the 1926-27 season with the Port Arthur Ports, Burke joined the Montreal Canadiens for eleven games then was loaned to the Pittsburgh Pirates for the remainder of the schedule. He returned to Montreal the next year and remained a member of their defensive brigade for nearly five years. He was an integral part of the club that won consecutive Stanley Cups in 1930 and 1931.

Following a trade, Burke spent the last 16 games of the schedule on the Ottawa Senators before returning to Montreal for the 1933-34 season. On October 3, 1934 he was part of a major trade that saw Lorne Chabot and Howie Morenz join him in Chicago in return for Lionel Conacher, Roger Jenkins, and Leroy Goldsworthy. Burke spent over three years solidifying the Hawks defense then returned to the Canadiens early in the 1937-38 season. Burke retired that spring then spent a year coaching the senior Saskatoon Quakers.

Herbie Gardiner will be missing from the defence, having been sold to Chicago where he is acting as manager. In his place there will be the find of last season, Marty Burke. This youngster was loaned by Canadiens to Pittsburgh last year and twice during the season he turned back his former mates and was actually responsible for their defeat by the Pirates on their own ice. Mantha will pair with Burke on the regular defence, making one of the strongest back-lines in the major league.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6UNhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=a2MNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2527,1028278&dq=marty+burke+hockey&hl=en

Marty Burke, who came to the Hawks from Canadiens with Morenz and goalie Lorne Chabot, will team with big Art Coulter on the first defence line.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=y3ljAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6nkNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1893,697793&dq=marty+burke&hl=en

The Habitant defense star, Marty Burke and Sylvio Mantha, with George Hainsworth in goal, did the rest, checking the fast skating Chicago forwards into submission.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bk1ZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=M0gNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4697,1450286&dq=marty+burke &hl=en

Marty Burke, regular defence star...on the ailing list.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Q6tlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xIgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1782,97805&dq=marty+burke&hl=en

Marty Burke will likely be back with them against the Hawks and the defence will be accordingly strengthened. Canadiens' defence did not look any too good against Ottawa with the sturdy Irishman sitting on the bench in civvies.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=728tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=JYwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6857,2274783&dq=marty+burke&hl=en

Marty Burke started the play. He moved up the ice in characteristic weaving fashion, and as Owen met him with a crushing body check, he passed over to Larochelle on the right...Again Thompson blocked it, but this time the puck bounced out to the left, and George Mantha, hurtling in at breakneck speed, beat Oliver to the rubber...The red light flashed and the game was over. They pushed young Mantha to the dressing room with hearty thumps on the back to the tune of ringing cheers, but few noticed that Marty Burke, who had started the play was helped off in fainting condition from the smashing check he took from Owen when he passed over to Larochelle

....With the two Mantha brothers in a starring role, the remainder of the team filled feature positions. Marty Burke was a huge strength on the Canadien defence, taking men out of the play with deftness and pounding out body checks with a viciousness that approached those of Eddie Shore.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAAAIBAJ&pg=6561,4939281&dq=marty+burke&hl=en

On the Canadien defence, Marty Burke, stood out like a beacon. For stamina as well as for effective blocking, Burke has been a standout during the playoff series. On Saturday night he played practically for sixty minutes, not spectacularly, but precisely and brilliantly.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PnItAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XIwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=994,1980462&dq=marty+burke&hl=en

On defense, Sylvio Mantha and Marty Burke repeatedly broke up the New York attack, although the Cook brothers, Bill and Bun, got past them for three scores.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FFVZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UEgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5212,2727367&dq=marty+burke&hl=en

An injury to Frank Boucher put the Rangers out of calculations for winning of the Stanley Cup. Frank Boucher, second high scorer in the league, and Ranger candidate for the most valuable player trophy, suffered a broken collar bone in a crash with Marty Burke, of the Canadiens.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=SiRkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WHsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1528,1455330&dq=marty+burke&hl=en

Chicago gets a husky, hard-hitting left defenseman in Marty Burke, Toronto born veteran...Burke, not the rushing type of defense player has scored less than 20 goals as a pro.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_BA_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=204MAAAAIBAJ&pg=4483,1635976&dq=marty+burke&hl=en

...and an added thrill came in a third period fight between Cy Wentworth and Marty Burke.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LKMxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CqwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3961,266861&dq=marty+burke&hl=en

Marty Burke and Baldy Northcott got into a fight and also were handed misconduct tickets.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2nljAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6nkNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1661,2713200&dq=marty+burke&hl=en

The winning goal came after Boston's forwards neglected to chase Burke very strenuously, for the Irishman is not considered dangerous as a rusher. They paid for their mistake with the game, for Burke, stick-handling his way down the left boards, espied Larochelle way over on the right rink boards.

Just as the Bruins defense moved to check, Burke, the Irishman sent a perfect, rink-wide pass on Larochelle's blade, and the latter coasted in from the right before firing from about 10 feet out.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LBRKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_x0NAAAAIBAJ&pg=1437,225940&dq=marty+burke &hl=en

The Montreal Canadiens: 100 years of Glory by D'Arcy Jenish

The game ended when defenseman Marty Burke broke up a Boston attack and carried the puck down the ice. Center Pit Lepine was on his left; winger Wildor Larouchelle was open on the right. Burke passed to Larouchelle at a bad angle. The crowd rose to its feet. Larouchelle faked a shot to the far side. Tiny Thompson shifted that way. Larouchelle pulled the puck back, snapped his wrists, and picked the opening.

 

[Hedberg]

LW/RW Craig Simpson

6'2, 195
Shoots Right
London, Ontario, Canada

247 G, 250 A, 497 Pts in 634 GP
1988, 1990 Stanley Cup Champion
2nd in Goals, 1987-88
2009 Battle of the Blades Champion

Edmonton Oilers Heritage:

Simpson is one-half of the answer to a unique trivia question. He and Dave Andreychuk are the only two players in NHL history to score 50 goals while playing for two teams [in the same season].

As an Oiler, Simpson flourished, scoring 43 more goals before the end of the season, and giving him 56 on the year. Simpson finally realized the potential the scouts had seen when he registered 84 points in 42 games for the Michigan State University Spartans in 1984-85.

Unfortunately, the punishment and cross-checks Simpson received from NHL defencemen took their toll; chronic back injuries forced him to retire after playing just 46 regular-season games over two seasons with the Sabres. At the age of 28, Simpson realized that his body could no longer take the punishment that comes with being an NHL player.

Edmonton Oilers Legends:

Craig Simpson was the best junior player available in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft after a splendid two years at Michigan State University. The 6'2" 190lb left winger scored 45 goals and 141 points in just 88 games with the Spartans.

The Toronto Maple Leafs picked first overall and were highly interested in the London, Ontario native, but the feeling was not mutual. Craig had told the Leafs that he would never play for them. The Leafs decided to take tough defenseman (who would be moved to left wing later) in Wendel Clark, leaving the Pittsburgh Penguins to snatch up the clever goal scorer.

Simpson would come to Edmonton and instantly become part of their high powered power play. He finished the season by scoring 43 goals in 59 games with the Oil. In total that season, Craig scored 56 goals and 90 points - all career highs. Craig, at best an average skater in every regard, spent much of his time on the left wing with Mark Messier and Glenn Anderson. He added 13 more goals in 19 playoff games as the Oilers won the 1988 Stanley Cup.

Simpson's offensive performance would dip following his career year. He fell off to 35 the following year and 29 in 1989-90. However the 1990 playoffs proved to be Simpson's finest moments. The Oilers, without Wayne Gretzky, won the Stanley Cup. While much of the credit went to team captain Mark Messier and goaltender Bill Ranford, it was Simpson that led all playoff shooters in goals (16) and points (31).

Simpson's production would gradually slip to the point where he was a 20 goal scorer as opposed to a league leader in that category. Part of the reason was Simpson's style of play. He often parked his body in front the opposition's net and absorb punishment given by monstrous defensemen who would hack and whack at his body. His back would eventually go out and cause him to retire prematurely.


I will always remember Simpson as a tireless, fearless worker, sacrificing his body to score goals. After all, he was a power play specialist, with 37% of his career goals coming with the man advantage But in actuality he was an excellent passer, too. On the Edmonton power play he was basically restricted to the front of the net because he his amazing hand-eye coordination made him one of the best in the business in terms of tip-ins and deflections. But he had great vision and hands, and on most other teams he would have been the go to guy with more complimentary assist totals.

The Hockey Writers - All Time Oiler's Roster

Craig Simpson gets the nod on the right side [2nd line], in his 7 seasons as an Oiler he averaged 31 goals per year with a total of 185 in those years, good for 7th on the all-time Oiler list.

 

[Hedberg]

RW Allan "Scotty" Davidson

6'1, 195
Shoots Right
Kingston, Ontario, Canada

7th in NHA Points, 13-14
8th in NHA Points, 12-13
1914 Stanley Cup Champion
Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame

Selected by Tommy Gorman at RW for his all-time team in 1928

42 G, 13 A, 55 Pts in 40 NHA GP

Rememberance: Allan “Scotty†Davidson

When war broke out in 1914, Allan “Scotty†Davidson of Kingston enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force and was sent to Europe. One thing that stood out about the enlistment of Scotty Davidson is that he was something of a public figure. Just 22, he was the captain of the Toronto Blueshirts, the reigning Stanley Cup champions. In March, Toronto had defeated the Montreal Canadiens in a two-game total-goals series to be crowned NHA champions and the new holder of the Stanley Cup. The Cup-winning goal was scored by Scotty Davidson. Toronto would later sweep a three-game Cup challenge from Victoria in which Davidson’s physical play was a key factor. The 1914 Cup was the first ever won by a Toronto team. Recognized as one of the best wingers in the game (in 1925, when picking an all-time hockey team, MacLean’s magazine picked Davidson as the best right wing to have ever played), Scotty combined size, speed, skill and toughness in the manner that has always been popular. He had a heavy shot that he used to score 42 goals in 40 career NHA games (along with 133 penalty minutes) and was second overall in assists in 1913-14 with 13. While still a junior, he led Kingston to a pair of OHA titles.

As a solider, he achieved the rank of lance-corporal. He served in France and Belgium and was noted for bravery, having reportedly rescued a wounded officer while under fire. He would be killed in action by machine gun fire on June 16, 1915. His name is recorded on the Vimy Memorial in France.

Legends of Hockey:

Allan "Scotty" Davidson was a one of the more phenomenal talents of his time. He dominated in junior and was an impact player in the NHA before he was lost while serving his country in World War I. He was remembered as a powerful skater with a lethal shot who back-checked responsibly and played the game cleanly.

In 1912-13, Davidson was signed by the Toronto Blueshirts of the NHA. He lined up at right wing and quickly made himself indispensable with 19 goals in 20 games. The next year he scored 23 times and was a leader on the squad that won the Stanley Cup in 1914.

Greatest Hockey Legends:

A junior star in Kingston, n 1912 he moved on to the Toronto Blueshirts of the National Hockey Association, forerunner of the NHL. In 1913-14 he captained Toronto to a Stanley Cup championship. He ranked in the top ten in goals for the second season in a row. He also displayed his playmaking ability by finishing 2nd in assists that season.

IHHOF (Ron Ellsworth):

Born in Kingston, Ont., on March 6, 1892, Allan M. (Scotty) Davidson would develop into one of the best players of hockey's early era. Even though he was good enough to play in the senior ranks at the tender age of 16, he stayed in junior hockey and first rose to prominence as the captain of the Kingston Junior Frontenacs. Under Davidson's leadership on the ice, the Frontenacs won two consecutive Ontario Hockey Association championships, in 1910 and 1911. He played briefly for the Calgary Athletics during the 1911-12 season before returning east and joining the Toronto Blueshirts of the National Hockey Association. Playing right wing and defence, the swift-skating Davidson scored 19 goals in 20 games for the Blueshirts during the 1912-13 season, and he had an ever better season in 1913-14. Davidson, the team's captain, scored 23 goals and added 13 assists in 20 games during the regular season and he then led the Blueshirts to a 6-2 total-goals win in a two-game series against the Montreal Canadiens to win the Stanley Cup.

After the season ended, the Blueshirts accepted a Stanley Cup challenge from the Victoria Aristocrats of the Pacific Coast Hockey League. The challenge was ruled unofficial because the Victoria team had not applied to the Stanley Cup trustees, so even if the Aristocrats had won the series, the Stanley Cup would have stayed with the Blueshirts. But as it was Davidson's Blueshirts swept the series in three straight games.

Kingston's Capt. James Sutherland, who had coached Davidson in Kingston, expressed the view that Davidson was "as good as any player to ever patrol a wing position." He added: "Scotty Davidson was such a great wing player and also an Eddie Shore on defence, and those kinds do not come into action every day." Edward Allan, a sportswriter for the Toronto Mail and Empire who had followed hockey for 30 years, said Davidson was one of the best and added that Davidson could skate backward faster than most players could skate foreward. And Montrealer Ernie Hamilton, who, as a coach, had taken teams to Kingston to play against Kingston clubs, remarked that Davidson's shot was so hard it knocked a Montreal goalie right back into the net. "i never saw such hard shooting."

Ottawa Citizen, Jun 23, 1915

Allan was on the championship Toronto Pro. team in 1913-14 and was considered the best forward in the National Hockey Association.

Ottawa Citizen, Jan. 26, 1946 (quoting Frank Nighbor)

Scotty was on the other wing and he was young, big and powerful. So on occasions he would skate over and ask me if it was getting tough and if so to let him know and he would come over and give someone or other the works. Scotty was a great lad. He could skate and he could shoot and if he had lived he would have been one of the outstanding players of all time.

The Calgary Daily Herald, Feb 29, 1912

Scotty, the famous point man, is some defence kid and few are able to get past him. He was considered the star man of the east and was picked for the All-Star team that toured America.

 

[Dreakmur]

Billy Gilmour !!!​

Awards and Achievements:
Hockey Hall of Fame (1962)
4 x Stanley Cup Champion (1903, 1904, 1905, 1909)

1904: Montreal City Hockey League 1st All-Star
1905: ECAHA 1st All-Star
1907: Montreal City Hockey League 1st All-Star
1908: ECAHA 1st All-Star
1909: ECAHA 1st All-Star

Lester Patrick’s All-Time Team named in 1927
Russell Bowie called Gilmour the second best player he ever faced

Offensive Accomplishments:
Goals – 4th(1903), 9th(1909)

Play-off Goals – 3rd(1903)

Gilmour was named to the Montreal City Hockey League first All-star team in 1907 and was an Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association first team All-star in 1908 after finishing the season with 11 goals in 11 games. Along with his scoring prowess, Gilmour was regarded as one of the greatest stickhandlers of all time.

…

Billy Gilmour was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962.

The Gilmour boys and Frank McGee were going great guns. The clean-playing Bowie got into a jangle with Billy Gilmour.

To start with, I would pick Paddy Moran, or Quebec, and Percy Le Sueur, of Ottawa, for goal. In their heyday, Moran and Le Sueur were two of the smartest goalers I ever saw in action. For the defense positions, I think I would like to name Ernie “Moose†Johnson and “Hod†Stuart, although there are a host of others who could qualify. When I think of a centre ice player, the name of Frank McGee comes to my mind. He was the pivot man of the famour “Silver Seven†of Ottawa. In the days of the “Silver Seven†hockey was played by seven men on each team. A player known as the “rover†was the seventh man. The name of “Dubby†Russell Bowie could not be left off the line-up of any all-time selection. “Bubby†was buolt like a grey-hound and was a super-star at all times and never had an “off nightâ€. Hockey has developed very few super-stars who could skate with the one and only “Cyclone†Taylor. He was one of the speediest skaters that ever performed with a stick and puck. Tom Phillips, the Kenora flash, Si Griffis and Billy Gilmour are other great players what I have no hesitation in selecting.

So forget the McGees, we got four slots to fill and the three Gilmours and Art Moore fit nicely, particularly Billy and Art. Billy was the best of them. From the first practice he stepped onto the ice it was obvious he was as good as any of our veterans, as good as Rat, better than Spittal, or Fraser. Billy Gilmour had the goods, and when he was out there with his brothers if was remarkable. They’d played together their entire lives, knew just where they’d be, just how they’d turn and when, worked the combination plays bang-bang-bang, flawlessly, and they could score.

In the mountain of skills necessary to play this game, scoring is the peak. There are millions of good skaters, fewer good passers, fewer still with the anger and hatred bred thoroughly enough to allow them to compete at this level, then fewest still those with a knack for scoring, the soft hands, the fine timing, the incredible patience while in the flurry, and Billy Gilmour was one of the best. He was our star of the future, Ottawa’s hope, eighteen years old at the time, and age most kids were still in junior.

This is the season I got that foghorn so all the idiots could hear me out there, but I don’t use it much when Billy Gilmour’s got the puck. It’s a spectacle, even that first season, and I remember just watching him, losing myself in his play and forgetting to criticize, that’s how good Billy was. Or I should say, could be. He wasn’t from Sandy Hill but he wasn’t far from it, and he’d decided to go to McGill and get a college education, which would forever interfere with the Ottawas and his hockey.

I clapped my pucks together quicker, harder. Spitall’s a mental case, Moore’s built like a strongbox, Harvey already holds the respect of the league. What a combination with Billy Gilmour and his exceptional skills, with Bouse in goal, what a possibility…

…

Look at the Gilmours, probably the most heralded brothers ever, more than Bruce and Hod Stuart, more than the Patricks, and they deserved it. To this day I’ll state that Billy Gilmour was one of the most skilled players I’ve ever seen, but he quits the Ottawas after ten weeks and goes to school.

It is always interesting to learn what hockey players think of opponents’ ability. It is perhaps the best method of rating any player. Dubbie Bowie claims the Silver Seven was the greatest team he ever played against for all-around class and ranks Winnipeg Victorias next. Frank McGee, he thinks, is the greatest individual star he ever competed against with Billy Gilmour, winger of the Silver Seven, a close second.

The practice of choosing all-star teams in major hockey is not a modern development. The practice dates back as early as 1905 when The Toronto News gathered a consensus among sports followers and hockey writers and published the first all-star team of record.

….

Herewith is listed the first all-star team in major hockey, drawn from the players of the Eastern Canada Hockey Association which, though an amateur league, was the major loop of the era. It is listed as follows:
Goal: Paddy Moran, Quebec Bulldogs
Point: Harvey Pulford, Ottawa
Cover point: Art Moore, Ottawa
Rover: Russell Bowie. Victorias
Centre: Frank McGee, Ottawa
Left wing: Blair Russell, Victorias
Right wing: Billy Gilmour, Ottawa

While there is faith in the ability of the Champions t cope with the best which may be sent against them under ordinary conditions, in the present instance, it is an entirely different proposition when the probable absence of both Frank McGee and Billy Gilmour must be figured upon.

"Billy†Gilmour and Frank Patrick, the stars of last year’s McGill team, will both be on the Victoria line-up against Shamrocks at the Arena tonight.

From the face Gilmour carried the disc to the back of the nets and passed out to Bowie who scored.

…

Gilmour was banished for putting Marshall into the side in too strenuous style.

Victorias had a great pair of wingers in Blair Russel and Billy Gilmour. Gilmour’s effectiveness was noticeable in the poor showing made by Johnston until near the end. He had Johnston beaten at every possible angle, except possibly speed, and at that he was not far in the rear. Russel, on the other side, fought it out with Blachford, and although both did good work, Russel carried off the honors on the hour’s play. Time and again he tore down the side from behind his line and caught a pass just at the right moment and swung the disc with lightning shots in on the Wanderer defence. Both he and Gilmour were checking back tirelessly until the last ten minutes of play.

Gilmour’s most brilliant play, and perhaps the most brilliant play of the match, was made when the teams were battling for that first goal in the second half. He lost and then recovered on his wing, and, winding in and out through half a dozen players, circled around to the front of the net and let drive with only Hern in front of him. The shot was a foot high and landed in the promenade, or Vics might have made it 4 to 0. The crowd cheered Gilmour again and again as the teams lined up for the face in front of the nets.

…

Hale and Gilmour met in a collision in trying to cut Johnston off, and Hale received a jab from the end of the Wanderer man’s stick.

…

Johnston was ruled off for tripping Gilmour. The latter dodged in through the Wanderer defence and passed to Bowie, who failed to handle it.

Bruce Stuart’s bad knee gave out once, but he continued to play after a short rest. At another time Stuart rapped his head against the ice when he went down under Ross and Gilmour…

The Cobalt hockey team, not discouraged by the failure of their efforts to land Bruce Stuart, Edgar Dey, and Billy Gilmour, of the Ottawa professionals, are still after another member of the local team.

Hopes of getting Frank Patrick back are said to have been abandoned by the Renfew hockey club. They are after McNamara for the point and intend to give both the Cleghorn boys a trial. The men now in view are: Lindsay, McNamara, Gilmour, Taylor, Lalonde, Rowe, the Cleghorns and Fraser.

Renfew will miss Bobbie Rowe, one of the steadiest and cleverest stick-handlers in the game. Around the nets Bobbie has only one peer, and he is Billy Gilmour.

I think it has been my pleasure to have watched the best the game has produced including Fred (Cyclone) Taylor, Alf Smith, Billy Gilmour, Bruce Stuart, Newsy Lalonde, and I could on and on naming of that type.

Harvey Pulford hit McGimsie again and Billy Gilmour slashed Giroux over the head.

 

[Dreakmur]

Mark Streit !!!​

Awards and Achievements:
Swiss League Champion (2001)

Swiss National Team Captain (2006-)
New York Islanders Captain (2011-)
Zurich Lions Captain

Norris voting – 8th(2009), 10th(2010), 13th(2008)
All-Star voting – 10th(2009), 13th(2008), 13th(2010)

NHL All-Star Game participant (2009)

Offensive Accomplishments:
Points among Defensemen – 3rd(2008), 7th(2009), 8th(2010), 9th(2012)

Percentages – 95, 89, 88, 71, 54

11 Points in 22 Olympic games
36 Points in 74 World Championship games

World Championships
1999: Led Switzerland in scoring, 2nd in Goals among defensemen, 8th in PPG among defensemen
2005: Led Switzerland in scoring, 11th in Points, 2nd in Points among defensemen, 2nd in PPG among defensemen
2009: Led Switzerland in scoring, 9th in Points among Defensemen, 5th in PPG among defensemen

Olympics
2002: 12th in PPG among defensemen
2006: Led Switzerland in scoring, 9th in Points among defensemen, 7th in PPG among defensemen
2010: 9th in Points among defensemen, 10th in PPG among defensemen

Swiss National League A
1999: 9th in Points among defensemen
2002: 9th in Points among defensemen
2003: 5th in Points among defensemen
2004: 2nd in Points among defensemen
2005: 2nd in Points among defensemen

Has a booming shot and is capable of quarterbacking the point on the power play. Moves the puck swiftly up the ice. Owns plenty of veteran savvy.

Mark Streit was born December 11, 1977 in Englisberg, Switzerland. The 9th round, 262nd overall selection of the Montreal Canadiens in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, Streit honed his skills in his homeland before making his North American debut in 1999-00.
An solid defenseman, Streit split his first season in North America between the Springfield of the AHL, Utah of the IHL and Talahassee of the ECHL. A five-time member of Switzerland's World Championship team (2000-2004) and a member of its Olympic team in 2002, Streit opted to return to his homeland after only one season in North America. Over the course of the next five seasons Streit suited up for Zurich of the Swiss Elite League before returning to North America in 2005-06 as a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

As a member of the Canadiens, Streit became a regular on thee club's blue line through the 2005-06 season. He set career highs in the 2006-07 season only to have them beat the following season. His most offensively productive season came in 2007-08 when Streit finished tied for second in power play scoring among NHL defenceman. In the 2008 off-season however, the New York Islanders signed the free-agent defenceman to a 5-year contract.

In February 2006, Streit represented his homeland for the second time at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy and later that spring made his sixth appearance at the World Championships in Latvia.

 

[Rob Scuderi]

RW Bill Fairbairn

Overpass's figures: 658 GP, 42 ESP, 11 PPP 22% usage 1.24 rating, 36% PK usage .97 rating

70s VS #2
72
72
63
56
51
35

35 (13+22) PTS in 54 playoff GP

3x Top 10 in SH goals: 4th (1972), 7th (1973), 8th (1974)

Bill Fairbairn, who was nicknamed Bulldog as a junior, was a tenacious two-way hockey player who loved to hit.

"I used the boards a lot, grinding it up and down one side," explained Bill as described his style of play. "I stayed on my wing and used the boards as sort of a cushion you might say. It was a pretty hard cushion, but a cushion nonetheless."

But unlike many pugnacious wingers of his day, Fairbairn was fair, pardon the pun. He was a very clean player for the most part. He only accumulated 173 PIM in 658 regular season games. His highest PIM seasonal total was 53 PIM in 1971-72, and that was uncharacteristically high for the little guy.

Fairbairn found a home with Dave Balon (later Steve Vickers) and Walt Tkaczuk on the "Bulldog Line." The trio were renowned for their hard hitting, hard forechecking style. Though defense was their primary concern, the line chipped in offensively as well. Fairbairn scored more than 20 goals 4 times and even topped the 30 goal mark in 1972-73. In all Fairbairn played with Rangers for 7 years. He was a consistent 60 point contributor who was at his best when he was running into people and causing havoc with his spirited, "bulldog-like" play.

Right-winger Bill Fairbairn was an exemplary two-way forward who played 658 career games with three different teams. He recorded four-20 goal seasons in his career and was best known for staying with his check and introducing his man to the boards whenever possible.

In 1969-70 Fairbairn impressed as a rookie with 23 goals and 56 points. Originally slated to be a checker, the industrious forward replaced the injured Bob Nevin on a line with Dave Balon and Walt Tkaczuk. The "Bulldog Line" was so proficient that Nevin was relocated to another slot when his health returned.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=727,2997072&dq=bill+fairbairn&hl=en

Balon scored only 10 goals his first term back but enjoyed his best season ever last year with 70 points, joining linemates Walt Tkaczuk and Bill Fairbairn as the second highest scoring line in the NHL.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=5710,428505&dq=bill+fairbairn&hl=en

The Rangers, who smothered Hull with three different players – Bruce MacGregor, Bill Fairbairn and Rob Stewart…

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AIBAJ&pg=2122,1039787&dq=bill+fairbairn&hl=en

While New York’s 50-goal man, left winger Vic Hadfield, has given the Canadiens plenty of trouble, Bowman singled out right winger Bill Fairbairn as a particular thorn in the Canadiens’ efforts.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AIBAJ&pg=3076,2645118&dq=bill+fairbairn&hl=en

“That was the most important two minutes of the game,†Francis said. “Walt Tkaczuk and Bill Fairbairn sure did a good job of penalty killing.â€

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=876,3304318&dq=bill+fairbairn&hl=en

In a way though, that was appropriate. Fairbairn is known as “an honest hockey player†in National Hockey League circles. No flashy moves or classy style, just dead-ahead determination and hard work.

Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame:

He joined the Rangers in 1969-70 and was teamed with Walt Tkaczuk and Dave Balon on the checking line that, due to their style, was dubbed the “Bull Dog Line.†Fairbairn’s rookie season was very impressive; he had 23 goals, 33 assists and finished as runner up for the Calder Cup. He continued as a regular and helped the Rangers make it to the 1972 Stanley Cup Finals. That year he was invited to play in the Summit Series. However, his wife Lloydene was due to give birth during that time so Fairbairn declined the invitation.

The Rangers, The Bruins, and The End of an Era by Jay Moran

So you would dig it out in the corners more than shoot it on your line.

“Well, me and Wally were the diggers and the passers and Davey Balon was usually the goal scorer. And later on Steve Vickers, you know? He would place himself at the side of that net and he’d put everything in.

Boston Bruins: Greatest Moments and Players by Stan Fischler

“In Tkaczuk and Fairbairn,†said Gilbert, “we have the best penalty killers in hockey.â€

Comments from Coach Emile Francis following game 4 of 1972 Stanley Cup

Francis said the turning point in the game came in the second period just after a Chicago goal by Pat Stapleton made it 3-2 at 12:10. Bruce MacGregor of the Rangers was penalized 1.5 minutes later and Chicago had a chance to tie the game.

"That was the most important two minutes of the game," Francis said. "Walt Tkaczuk and Bill Fairbairn sure did a good job of penalty killing."

news.google.com/newspapers?id=RyJlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KYgNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3076,2645118&dq=bill+fairbairn&hl=en

They did it because of almost flawless penalty killing by Walt Tkaczuk and Bill Fairbairn.

news.google.com/newspapers?id=ifNOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FgIEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5321,6191048&dq=bill+fairbairn&hl=en

Bill Fairbairn, who also killed penalties during the game, scored the other New York goal, batting a rebound during a power play past Montreal goalie Ken Dryden to open the scoring.

news.google.com/newspapers?id=I91gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=228NAAAAIBAJ&pg=3437,1096151&dq=bill+fairbairn&hl=en

 

[Velociraptor]

Craig Janney, C

Position: Centre
HT/WT: 6'1", 190 lbs
Handedness: Left
Nickname(s): "Nifty"

- 2 Top-10's in Lady Byng Voting (4, 6)
- 8th in 1991 C All-Star Voting
- Stanley Cup Finalist in 1991
- scored 188 goals and 563 assists for 751 points in 760 games, adding 170 penalty minutes.
- scored 24 goals and 86 assists for 110 points in 120 playoff games, adding 53 penalty minutes.

Top 10 Finishes:
Assists - 4x - (5, 6, 7, 9)
Playoff Assists - 2x - (2, 4)
Playoff Points - 2x - (9, 10)

Wayne Gretzky is without doubt the greatest playmaker of all time. Now Craig Janney certainly isn't the second best of all time, but he may have been the second best of his era. Adam Oates and Doug Gilmour also deserve recognition as the best set up man not named Gretzky in the 1990s.

Janney was the puck feeder for some great players, most notably Cam Neely in Boston and Brett Hull and Brendan Shanahan in St. Louis. He was an extraordinary puck master, creating space for his line mates with slick moves. He possessed great hockey sense, much like Hall of Famer Jean Ratelle.

Janney was quick to dish off acclaim as he is to dish off the puck.

"I've been pretty fortunate to play with some terrific goal scorers," said the unpretentious center. "The guys who pass the puck are only as good as the guys who put it in the net. That's the real hard job, the scoring. I've been fortunate to play with guys like Neely, Hull and Shanahan."

One of the best puckhandlers and playmakers in the NHL, Craig Janney has averaged nearly a point per game in a little over 13 years of big league play. His creativity and knack for fooling defenders with an ability to find the open man made him one of the highest-scoring forwards in the 1990s.

 

[Velociraptor]

Keith Crowder, RW

Position: Right Wing
HT/WT: 6'0", 200 lbs
Handedness: Right

- 3 32+ goal seasons
- 6 23+ goal seasons
- scored 223 goals and 271 assists for 494 points in 662 games, adding 1354 penalty minutes.
- scored 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 points in 85 playoff games, adding 218 penalty minutes.

Top 10 Finishes:
Power Play Goals - 2x - (5, 9)

Greatest Hockey Legends

Keith was a hard-nosed winger and crowd favourite in Boston for almost a decade in the 1980's. He not only was tough but he could score as well. Keith was a working man's player who often had to do the "dirty work". He didn't mind it though and mixed it with solid and steady offensive production.

His hard work and great attitude, as well as his fine start in Springfield (a team leading 30 points in 26 games) made the Bruins call him up on December 13,1980. Keith never looked back from that moment on, and never played another minor league game.

The Bruins fans loved this kid. He continued to play solid two-way hockey on the checking line with Kasper and Cashman the following season. Keith had 44 points (23+21) and amongst other things had the second longest point streak (7 games) on the club that 1981-82 season. The highlight during season was when Keith set up his brother Bruce for a goal on February 24, 1982 vs Hartford. It was the first time they had combined on a scoring play since they were teammates on their hometown junior C team in Essex.

In 1982-83 Keith saw a lot more ice time due to the fact that his linemate Steve Kasper got injured. Keith was moved up from the checking line to a more offensive one and Keith responded with 35 goals and 74 points as the teams third best scorer. His fine offensive production was a welcomed addition. Keith won the prestigious "Gallery Gods offensive player of the year award", given by the most respected Garden fans.

Keith's fearless style of hockey caught up a little with him as he sustained nagging injuries for the rest of his career. He had shoulder, rib, abdominal and hand injuries among other things. His production fell to 52, 43 and 33 points.

Like [Keith Crowder], he can use his formidable size to control the crease area and punch a loose puck or two by a fallen goalie.

 

[Rob Scuderi]

RW Real Cloutier

2x Bill Hunter Trophy Winner (WHA’s Art Ross)
1x WHA 1st All-Star Team
3x WHA 2nd All-Star Team

4x Top 5 in Goals in WHA – 2 (1976), 2 (1977), 4 (1978), 1 (1979)
3x Top 10 in Assists in WHA - 3 (1977), 4 (1978), 8 (1979)
4x Top 3 in Points in WHA – 3 (1976), 1 (1977), 2 (1978), 1 (1979)

2x Top 10 in PPG in NHL – 9 (1980. 15th overall in Points that year), 8 (1982. 18th overall in points that year)

Joe Pelletier:

Cloutier and Lafleur would be compared throughout their brilliant careers. Lafleur of course went on to become the National Hockey League's most explosive player in the mid to late 1970s. Real also starred in Quebec, but in the rebel league, and put up equally mind-boggling goal scoring totals. Many argued that Cloutier was every bit as explosive and good as The Flower. Looking at Cloutier's statistics makes it hard to argue that. Lafleur - a three time NHL scoring king with 6 consecutive 50 goal seasons including a career high 60 in 1977-78 - never quite had as fine a statistical season as Cloutier, although many dismiss Cloutier's stats since they were in the loosey-goosey, less-defensive WHA.

Lafleur and Cloutier finally had a chance to go head to head when the WHA folded in 1979 and its remaining teams including the Quebec Nordiques merged with the NHL. Lafleur had a monstrous year scoring 50 goals and 125 points while Buddy put up a very respectable 42 goals and 89 points on a weak squad.

LOH:

By the age of 20, Cloutier improved on his offensive numbers, scoring 66 goals and 75 assists for 141 points to lead the league. In the playoffs, Cloutier led the Nordiques to their only Avco Cup championship, beating Bobby Hull and the Winnipeg Jets in a tough seven-game series. Cloutier had 14 goals and 27 points in the 17 post-season games.

Cloutier kept his scoring streak going the next year, potting 56 goals and 129 points. In 1978-79, Cloutier won his second scoring title, notching 129 points for the second year in a row. His 75 goals was the second-highest single season total in WHA history behind Bobby Hull's record of 77. At the end of the season, the WHA disbanded and the Quebec Nordiques were one of four clubs to be absorbed by the NHL.

During his first year in the NHL, Cloutier scored 42 goals and 89 points in 67 games, proving he could score there as well. Injuries limited his playing time to 34 games in 1980-81, but he still managed 31 points. With his health back for the 1982-83 season, Cloutier had a 97-point season but his totals dropped by 30 points the following year. After nine years in the Nordiques' organization, Cloutier joined the Buffalo Sabres in 1983-84. In 74 games he had 60 points. In 1984-85 he played part of the season with Flint of the IHL, Rochester of the AHL and four games with the Sabres, where he was held off the scoresheet.

Despite being only 28, Cloutier retired from professional hockey when it had become apparent that his game had begun to erode. Many argued that his deterioration was more mental fatigue or simply a flickering desire to continue playing, as opposed to an erosion of his physical skills. Cloutier was the fourth leading scorer in WHA history with 566 points, trailing only Andre Lacroix, Marc Tardif, and Bobby Hull.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=3629,3978404&dq=real+cloutier&hl=en

“Cloutier is playing very well,” Dineen said. “He seems to be concentrating on his defensive play, which makes him a complete player.

The second period killed us. Cloutier came down and no one stood him up and he scored two goals.”

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=1147,4697413&dq=real+cloutier&hl=en

Hard work does not always produce goals, and Real Cloutier knows that better than most.

Cloutier has been one of the Quebec Nordiques’ hardest-working forwards in the young National Hockey League season, but until Monday night he had yet to beat an opposing goaltender.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=5426,1692567&dq=real+cloutier&hl=en

“He’s playing so well,” said Garrett, who has been around the World Hockey Association for seven years. “Every shot he takes is on net. It’s simply amazing.

“No matter what league he plays in, he’ll be a great player. He’s so young, yet so spectacular. He plays with such confidence.”

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=4513,1070300&dq=real+cloutier&hl=en

“The Canadiens have Guy Lafleur,” say the Nordiques, “but we have Cloutier.”

“Cloutier,” says Rejean Houle, who was a teammate at Quebec for several WHA seasons, “is right behind Lafleur as a right-winger. He’ll score a lot of goals in the NHL.”

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=4071,4848887&dq=real+cloutier&hl=en

For a budding star, however, Cloutier maintained a modest attitude toward his scoring feats.

“I’m not worried about records,” said Cloutier, who turned in the seventh five-goal performance in WHA history.

Cloutier, whose National Hockey League rights are the property of Chicago Black Hawks, said he would like to renegotiate his contract with the Nordiques. He is working on the second year of a three-year deal, and the Hawks are rumored to be talking about making large deposits in CLoutier’s bank account if he’ll jump leagues.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=2491,3316023&dq=real+cloutier&hl=en

“He is pretty good. I’ve got to admit that he and Marc Tardiff, anybody who can take that amount of harassment they do, they are just gentleman players,” (Lesuk) said.

 

[Dreakmur]

Todd Marchant !!!​

Awards and Achievements:
Stanley Cup Champion (2007
Represented USA at 1994 Olympics

Selke voting – 7th(2003), 8th(2000), 10th(2001)… also votes in 2007 and 2008

Scoring Accomplishments:
Short-Handed Goals – 5th(1995), 5th(2001), 5th(2010), 6th(2002), 10th(2007), 11th(1995), 20th(2009)

Peak Years: 1995-2010
4th in Short-handed goals, 88% of 2nd place Petr Bondra


He was on the ice for 45% of his team's PP goals against, 26th all-time among post-expansion forwards (as of 2009). And he did this over 1038 games, more than a lot of guys in front of him.

-28 career SHGs (24th all-time), despite playing in a generally defense-first era.
-5 times top 10 in SHGs (4 SHGs twice and 3 SHGs three times)
-tied the NHL record for 3 SHGs in a single playoff series

 

[Rob Scuderi]

LW/C Don Grosso

x1 Top 5 Goals (1942)
x1 Top 5 Assists (1942)
x1 Top 5 Points (1942)

x1 Stanley Cup championship

"The Count" was his nickname, which seemed appropriate, because Don Grosso was a guy Detroit could count on in the big games.

Signed away from the senior Kirkland Lake, Ont. Blue Devils late in the 1938-39 season, Grosso scored once and assisted on the game-winner in a 3-2 victory over Chicago.

"Gosh," Grosso exclaimed after the heady debut. "I'm so happy I can hardly speak."

The pesky left-winger's best years came while he skated with center Sid Abel and right-winger Eddie Wares on Detroit's "Liniment Line." "It was called that because one of us was always hurt," Grosso explained. "That's because we got so much ice time on our regular shift, killing penalties and on the power play."

Grosso's best regular-season performance came in 1941-42, when he registered 23-30-53 totals to finish third in NHL scoring and establish a new Detroit single-season mark for points. Three other times, he netted 15 goals and Grosso garnered 47 points in 1943-44.

Known as a money player, Grosso saved some of his best hockey for the playoffs. During the 1942 post-season, Grosso tallied a Stanley Cup-record 14 points, eight of them coming in Detroit's seven-game loss to Toronto in the finals.

His hat-trick in Game 3 of the 1943 finals at Boston paved the way for Detroit's 4-0 win and left the Bruins down to their last gasp.

Grosso, whose colorful nickname was the result of his uncanny resemblance to Dracula, was finally counted out by the Wings in 1944-45, traded to Chicago in mid-season as part of a package which allowed Detroit to grab perennial all-star defenseman Earl Seibert.

http://redwings.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=43810

Don Grosso Refuses to Bother About Individual Feats, However, Concetrating on Winning Stanley Cup. Detroit Sniping Star Picks Up $15 More.

A modern record for scoring in the Stanley Cup playoffs is being fashioned slowly by Don Grosso but the Detroit Red Wings' great hockey center isn't even thinking of it. "All we want is that Stanley Cup," Grosso declared in the dressing room after the Red Wings beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-2, tonight for the second straight time in the best-of-seven series for the historic hockey trophy.

Grosso scored twice tonight to run his goal-total to eight and equal the record now held by Cecil Dillon, a former member of the New York Rangers. The former Kirkland Lake senior amateur star also counted twice in the first game which his team won, 3-2."Funny thing, I'm playing better in the playoffs against Toronto than I ever did during the season," Grosso said. "I only picked up four points-three goals and an assist-against the Leafs during the regular schedule."

Grosso, who got $75 for his goals the first game from Harry Jacobson, No. 1 Detroit fan, picked up another $15 from the same source in the second game-but not for his scoring. "I offered $5 for a body check-that is a good clean check which put the man on the ice-and Grosso bowled over three of them," Jacobson explained. "Syd Abel got $5 and here's the payoff, Jimmy Orlando, a defenceman who was considered a cinch to pick up the most money, didn't get any.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AJ&pg=4112,1396528&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

Led by their phenomenal clutch player, Center Don Grosso, The Wings belted home three third period goals Sunday night...Grosso broke a 1 to 1 tie early in the third period and then set up what proved to be the winning marker by Eddie Wares.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AJ&pg=5161,2987331&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

Don (Count) Grosso is a guy who believes in living up to a reputation. Around the National Hockey League the slippery Detroit forward is known as a "money player." So, rather than let his boosters down, Grosso stepped out last night before 12,723 customers at Olympia to prove them right. All he did was bang home the payoff goal that carried the Red Wings to a 4-2 triumph over Toronto Maple Leafs in the opening game of the best-of-seven semi-final playoff series between the clubs.

"Well," said a hard-bitten individual in the press box, "it's about time the Skinny Guy-meaning Grosso-put this game out of its misery." The words were no sooner out of his mouth than there was a face-off to the left of the Toronto goal. Sid Abel, Detroit centre, beat Bud Poile of the Leafs to the draw. The puck flashed out to Gaye Stewart of Toronto. It had been meat for Grosso. And Grosso knew it. So what's he do but steal it off Stewart's stick and fire from a range of 20 feet, low and hard into the corner of the cage just out reach of Goalie Broda's outstretched stick and leg.

That goal came at 6:06 of the last period. But Grosso was not through yet. The cheers which greeted his initial effort were still re-echoing from the rafters when the Skinny Guy went to work again. Once again it was Sid Abel who got him started. He got the puck at mid-ice and sent Grosso on his way down left wing with a bounce pass off the side-boards. Don streaked to within 35 feet before letting fly. Broda blocked his bullet drive to the corner but the rebound came out to Eddie Wares, who was coming in from right wing, and all he had to do was slam it into a yawning cage.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=4215,4806664&dq=don+count+grosso&hl=en

Cruising in the wake of their slippery centre-ice star, Don Grosso, Detroit Red Wings made every stride a winning one last night at Olympia as they launched their bid for possession of that battered emblem of world hockey supremacy, the Stanley Cup, by beating Montreal Canadiens, 2-1.

The team's leading scorer over the season, and the third-ranking sniper in the league, Grosso delivered both the Red Wings goals against the Canadiens and was a stand-out performer of a dull show every minute he was on the ice. Grosso's first counter, which came at 11:32 of the first period, was a masterpiece of firing accuracy. Fed the puck by Defenseman Jack Stewart at the Detroit blue line, the Wing centre steamed down the left wing with two Montreal players in hot pursuit. Bouchard overtook him just as crossed into enemy territory but Grosso shook himself free, feinted a drive and then cut loose with a wicked wrist shot that landed high in the short side of the cage. He had less than a six-inch target at which to fire and his aim couldn't have been better. Goalie Bibeault never even saw the puck.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AJ&pg=2073,6161711&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

Don Grosso has changed from a player who last year went only when the spirit moved him into just about the best forechecking centre ice player in the league.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AJ&pg=3832,3283865&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

Detroit's Don Grosso put on a brilliant three-goal scoring exhibition for the 14,480 fans and continually kept the Bruins bottled up by harrying defensive tactics.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AJ&pg=2360,1339342&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

The Detroit Red Wings clinched the National Hockey league championship [President's Trophy, not Stanley Cup] last night by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2 to 1, on Don Grosso's goal with four minutes to play.

...and then at 15:51 of the last period Grosso smashed Sid Abel's rebound past pudgy Walter (Turk) Broda.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AJ&pg=2831,3002207&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

Don Grosso performed the three-goal "hat trick" tonight while personally conducting his Detroit Red Wings to a 4-0 shutout over the Boston Bruins in their third game of the Stanley Cup final before an overflow crowd of 14,880 at the Boston Garden.

Grosso lost little time getting his first tally, for, during the fourth minute of play, he succeeded in planting himself firmly on the edge of the Boston crease before Eddie Wares rifled an angle shot at Frankie Brimsek. When that goalie kicked out that shot, Grosso flipped it back into his net with the greatest of ease.

About six minutes later, while Jack Crawford, the Bruins most dependable defenceman, was in the penalty box, the Red Wings put on a terrific push against Brimsek. Frankie kicked out three steaming close-ups in rapid-fire order before Grosso caught him out of position and fired into the opening.

The Bruins were a hopelessly beaten outfit when Grosso completed his "hat-trick," with a bit more than a minute to go. As was the case all night, he had little trouble filtering through the Boston defence to the crease and launched his third scoring shot from close range after taking Wares' accurate pass-out.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AJ&pg=5758,1474805&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

Don Grosso exploded through the Ranger defence and Captain Red Hamill scored the first counter on a short shot.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=5150,154727&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

Marksman for what proved the game-winning counter in that third period was Don Grosso. The Thin Man connected from dead in front on a pass from Eddie Wares. He used Leo Lamoureux, Windsor's contribution to the Canadiens, as a shield in fooling Bibeault with his slap shot from eight feet out. Just to make victory sure, Eddie Wares followed the fashion set by Grosso who fed the cake up into the goal mouth from out on left wing as Wares came charging in from the other wing to bat him home.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AJ&pg=4192,3368666&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

Center Don Grosso of the Detroit Red Wings has played six weeks with his left wrist in a cast, it was disclosed Tuesday. Now that his secret is out he intends to stay right in the line-up against the Rangers at New York Thursday night. Grosso, 27 year old veteran of three major league seasons, set a club scoring record of 53 points last seasons.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AJ&pg=5456,5846276&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

Don Grosso was the star of the week-end. The stalwart Sault Ste. Marie product had two goals and three assists in Detroit's two games. He scored Wings' second goal against Toronto, and had a goal and three assists against Canadiens.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AJ&pg=1158,1666111&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

Don Grosso, 23-year-old Kirkland Lake, Ont. youth who was playing his first professional hockey game, scored his first major league goal during a flurry in front of the Chicago net in the second period.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=4875,942117&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

Don Grosso picked up the rubber and slapped it into Turk Broda's pads. The cake came bounding well out in front this time to Don Deacon, who trapped it neatly and let fly.

To single out any member of those crippled Red Wings out for individual mention would be unfair. From the towering Goodfellow down to the rawest recruit, Don Grosso, they played grand hockey. They gave no quarter and asked none. They simply beat the Leafs at their own game.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=4035,216680&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

Detroit, off to a bad start through the defeat at Chicago, has received another setback in word that Don (Count) Grosso, brilliant rookie forward, will be out for three months with a broken hand.

news.google.com/newspapers?id=QyFkAAAAIBAJ&sjid=TXsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3912,392021&dq=don+grosso&hl=en

The first two Detroit scores were blistering 45 and 40-footers rifled in by Don Grosso and Bill Quackenbush.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=849,5974433&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

In fact from then on the Wings forced the play and their offensive efforts paid dividends in the last minute of play when Don Grosso steamed in from left wing to score the prettiest goal of the evening on a pass from Goodfellow.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=6239,913680&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

Both teams were at top speed as the game opened, and in the fourth minute of play, Bill Jennings' short goal on a pass from Don Grosso was quickly matched...

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AJ&pg=1677,4655665&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

A crowd of 13,328 fans saw the rookie center accept a pass from Don (the Count) Grosso in the Toronto zone and move in to elude Broda from point-blank range for the deciding tally.

news.google.com/newspapers?id=q31HAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wP4MAAAAIBAJ&pg=1079,2314489&dq=don+grosso&hl=en

It was a bitterly contested game high-lighted by a slugging match between the Wings' Don Grosso and Bob Dill of the Rangers. Under the new league code, the two principals were permitted to slug it out. Spectators called it a draw.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=5638,702040&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

Things sailed smooth along from there until the last minute of play and then everything happened at once. Grosso and Goldup did a stick waving act just inside the Toronto defense zone and then tangled again a minute later over along the boards. This time Grosso planted his stick under the Toronto rookie's chin and lifted him completely over the boards.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...BAJ&pg=4146,485871&dq=don+grosso+hockey&hl=en

 

[Rob Scuderi]

D Mike O’Connell

11th in scoring among defensemen 1980-85
AST voting: 7 (1983), 10 (1984), one additional year with a vote

Ice time among defensemen: 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 4th, 5th

In Boston, O'Connell's 2nd and 3rd place finishes in ice time were behind Ray Bourque and/or Brad Park.

Joe Pelletier:

He would find he could be a dominant player in hockey despite his size, and would give up football to chase hockey dreams.

Blessed with great skating ability and a terrific understanding of transition offense,

Although he played behind Ray Bourque and Brad Park, O'Connell, who often teammed with Mike Milbury, emerged as an offensive force. For the next five seasons he was a fixture on the power play, and grew into an all star performer. Not only did he play in the 1984 all star game, but he scored 18 goals and 60 points.

A good modern day comparable for O'Connell would be Brian Rafalski. Not only are they similar sized defensemen, but both were strong offensive contributors thanks to their skating, passing and offensive reads and pinches. O'Connell relied on his heavy shot perhaps more than Rafalski, but both were really crafty. Both were also solid defensive players, relying strong positioning and angling, rarely getting beat one on one. O'Connell was a noted shot blocker who was relied on to rush the puck out of the defensive zone.

LOH:

Defenceman Mike O'Connell was an excellent skater with a host of offensive gifts. He was key performer on the power play and helped his team's transition game without neglecting his defensive responsibilities.

The crafty playmaker was a constant in the Bruins' lineup for the equivalent of over five seasons and was often teamed with steady Mike Milbury. In 1982-83 he recorded a plus/minus mark of +44 and helped Boston reach the semi-finals. The next year he set career highs with 18 goals and 60 points and was a participant in the NHL All-Star Game.

Mike O’Connell of the Detroit Red Wings was suspended for eight games by NHL Executive Vice President Brian O’Neill yesterday as a result of a match penalty for deliberately injuring Doug Evans of the St. Louis Blues in a game last week. O’Connell struck Evans in the face with a stick Nov. 27.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AIBAJ&pg=4594,2241304&dq=mike+o-connell&hl=en

Veitch and O’Connell are both “defensive-minded defensemen,” Devellano said, and will report to the Red Wings Tuesday.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AIBAJ&pg=4103,3619728&dq=mike+o-connell&hl=en

Pederson, who has netted quite a few goals in the latter situation, says, “The power play has worked well this season because everybody passes well and point men Ray Bourque and Mike O’Connell have cannons from the blue line.”

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AIBAJ&pg=5960,4679784&dq=mike+o-connell&hl=en

Breakaway: From Behind the Iron Curtain to the NHL by Tal Pinchevsky

Their replacements, hard-nosed defensemen Darren Veitch and Mike O'Connell, represented a philosophical shift among the Red Wings brass. Lacking a physical presence had left Yzerman vulnerable and unprotected.

 

[Rob Scuderi]

LW Butch Keeling

Goals: 3, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21

Joe Pelletier:

Words that commonly described him as a player were "underrated," "consistent," and "reliable." Keeling was known as a big and strong player, although he was clean and rarely took penalties. He was a solid goal scorer, though not much of a set up man. His best season came in 1936–37 when, playing on a line with Phil Watson and Dillon, he led the Rangers with a career-high 22 goals, the third highest total in the league. In the playoffs he notched three goals and five points before bowing to the Detroit Red Wings.

LOH:

Left-winger Butch Keeling was a fine goal scorer who also competed well in the playoffs. He spent a dozen years in the NHL, mostly with the New York Rangers, and won a Stanley Cup in 1933 with the Blueshirts.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAAIBAJ&pg=5087,395288&dq=butch+keeling&hl=en

Butch Keeling, hard-shooting left winger of New York Rangers, may have only a couple more years of big-time hockey in his system – “I’ll be lucky if I stay up that long,†he says – but chances are you’ll see his name decorating the sports pages for many years. Butch has settled down to make a living for life out of sport.

On the ice he’s an exceptionally fast skater, fearless and occasionally rough, anyway rough enough that the league’s more notorious bad boys leave him strictly alone.

Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol. 2 by Charles L. Coleman

Keeling was a big and strong player who was fated to perform always in the shadow of the great Cook-Boucher-Cook line. But the second lines of Keeling-Murdoch-Thompson or Keeling-Murdoch-Dillon were no pushovers. They more than held their end up as the Rangers made the playoffs nine of the ten years Keeling was with them.

Butch was a clean player and very seldom started fights but knew how to take care of himself.

He was on a Cup winning team in 1933 and almost made it again in 1937 when in his eleventh year he led the team in scoring, on a line with Phil Watson and Cecil Dillon.

Who’s Who in Hockey by Stan Fischler

There have been few sturdier forwards in the NHL than Melville "Butch" Keeling.

He was always revered on Broadway for assisting on Bill Cook's sudden-death goal in 1933 that won the Rangers their second Stanley Cup.

New York Rangers: Millenium Memories by The New York Daily News

Then came the “break.†Levinsky sent Ossie Asmundson, Ranger forward, sprawling with a too-heavy body check and was banished. Joe Primeau and Murdoch got tangled up in another face-off and suddenly Keeling spurted up to the scramble, poked the puck clear and started away. The crowd of 13,500 rose almost as one man as Keeling raced over the Toronto blue line, pulled Clancy over his way and tossed a pass on Cook’s stick.

Eddie Shore and That Old-Time Hockey by C. Michael Hiam

Playing defensively at the start of the third frame, the Bruins held back and let the Rangers carry the attack. Patrick’s men, swooping in on Thompson with four-man sorties, got nowhere until that sharpshooter Butch Keeling unexpectedly (to Thompson anyway) let fly from the blue line and scored.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=5219,3838342&dq=butch+keeling&hl=en

“Butch is one of the great players of all time,†Patrick remarked. You never knew what he would do as an individual, but as a unit in team play he was tops.â€

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=3269,2671661&dq=butch+keeling&hl=en

The third Rangers’ goal came from a passing play. Butch Keeling slipped the disc smartly to Paul Thompson from a corner. Thompson drove cleanly into the back of the goal cage.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=1429,1702421&dq=butch+keeling&hl=en

Right on their heels come three speedsters of the Rangers, “Butch†Keeling and the two Cook boys, Bill and “Bun.â€

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=4093,3170677&dq=butch+keeling&hl=en

The second Ranger line made it a two goal margin soon after they took the ice. Butch Keeling passed out from the corner to Murray Murdoch, who sank the shot in good form.

Smith made it two Senators in the penalty box after a moment of fast and rough play and another Keeling to Murdoch pass brought a fourth Rangr goal, timed 6:05.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=1938,4279990&dq=butch+keeling&hl=en

The game was cleanly played, though 19 penalties were imposed for eager, robust checking. Jackson was sent off for the only major when his swing stick-end drew blood from Ching Johnson’s face in the first period. Butch Keeling and Finnigan traded body checks freely as the game drew to a close, the former going off three times and the latter twice in the last session.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=4019,1022494&dq=butch+keeling&hl=en

With the Rangers striving desperately to score after the Hawks had counted twice, Butch Keeling and Ingram threw away their sticks and went to fighting with fists. The pair were separated however, and play resumed after Keeling had been given a major penalty and Ingram a two-minute trip to the penalty box.

 

[Dreakmur]

Steve Sullivan !!!​

Awards and Achievements:
Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (2009)

Selke votes in 2001, 2003, and 2007

Scoring Accomplishments:
Points – 16th(2004)
Assists – 9th(2004)

Point Percentages – 84, 78, 69, 67, 64, 59, 53, 50, 47
Goal Percentages – 63, 59, 57, 54, 51, 50
Assist Percentages – 88, 77, 71, 59, 54, 52, 49, 48, 45

2000-2004:
22nd in Points, 79% of 2nd place Joe Sakic
35th in Goals, 66% of 1st place Jaromir Jagr
16th in Assists, 81% of 2nd place Jaromir Jagr


Short-Handed Goals - 1st(2001), 8th(2006), 10th(2007), 20th(2004)

 

[Hedberg]

RW Rich Preston

6'0, 185
Shoots Right
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

127 G, 164 A, 291 Pts in 580 NHL GP
133 G, 152 A, 285 Pts in 388 WHA GP

1975, 1979 Avco Cup Champion
1979 WHA Playoff MVP
4th in Selke Voting, 1980

Chicago Blackhawk Legends:

Rich Preston was a fantastic defensive forward during the 1980s with Chicago, also spending 2 seasons in New Jersey. He was also a standout in the WHA.

In the final season of the WHA, Ruskowski and Preston joined the Winnipeg Jets, and lead the team to the Avco Cup championship. Preston, with 8 goals in 10 playoff games, was named as the post-season MVP.

When the WHA collapsed in 1979, Preston joined the Chicago Blackhawks. Preston immediately stepped into a Chicago lineup and scored 31 goals and 61 points, turning many heads.

As the Blackhawks team got stronger over the coming couple of seasons, Preston was relegated more to a defensive role, a role which he enthusiastically took on and excelled at. He was a student of the game and had a good understanding of any situation on the ice. He was a key penalty killer for Chicago as well.

An aggressive player despite an average build, Preston was excellent in the corners, a poor man's John Tonelli. Preston was also a super team guy in the dressing room as well. He had a contagious attitude. His up beat and positive attitude helped young players and other veterans alike.

Legends of Hockey

Preston launched a successful four-year stint in Houston where he developed into an outstanding two-way player who, as he put himself, was a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. At least, until he joined the Winnipeg Jets for the WHA's final season in 1978-79. During the playoffs, Preston was stellar, being voted as the MVP of the tournament. His Jets won the last Avco Cup ever awarded.

 

[Rob Scuderi]

C Mikko Koivu

Selke Finishes: 5, 8, three votes for T37 another year

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wild/130030443.html?refer=y

Mikko Koivu got a big taste of what it's like to celebrate the pinnacle of success this offseason. A hundred thousand hockey fanatics flooded downtown for one gargantuan party to celebrate the championship of a team Koivu captained.

Koivu was treated like royalty, getting to twirl with the president on stage, and getting to address the screaming, crying, drinking crowd that considered him the king of heroes. Unfortunately for Wild fans, this gala took place across the Atlantic in Helsinki, Finland, rather than on the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

In May, Koivu helped lead Finland to its first world championship in 16 years. "I think people here don't understand how big a deal it is for us when you win it," Koivu said. "When you see people running in the streets and swimming in the water fountains naked, it was just nuts."

Nobody's surlier after a defeat than Koivu. The man despises losing, so you know the past three years have been no fun. "Frustrating," Koivu snapped.

"It was fun to be part of that team, but it made me more hungry," said Koivu, 28, who was drafted by the Wild 10 years ago and begins his seventh NHL season without ever getting past the first round of the playoffs. "I want to be part of a team that has success here. It's a lot more fun to win than lose. I remember the feeling of winning [in 2007 and 2008]. You know when your team is good. I want to get back to that."

"I have very, very high hopes for Mikko," first-year coach Mike Yeo said. "One thing I already started talking to Mikko about is I'm going to push for that guy to win the Selke Trophy [NHL's best defensive forward]. I don't know if he's going to win the Hart [MVP] next year, but I believe he can win the Selke. In order to do that, you have to get a lot of points, but you also have to be great defensively."

And Koivu says he will not alter his game. He hopes to score more, but he won't cheat to do so. "The points will be there if we play good hockey, but I take pride for my defense and I believe it's a big part of winning hockey," Koivu said.

Heatley mostly played with star center Joe Thornton, who likes to hold the puck and draw defenders to him, in San Jose. "There's more movement with Mikko, more give-and-gos, quicker passes," Heatley said. "Mikko is one of the best. Having played against him, you know he's such a great player. But when you play with him, you realize how good he actually is and the plays he can make and what he sees out there."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wild/blogs/98605189.html

First, as I joked with Koivu in an email last night, at some point over the next eight years, there’s a good bet one of us strangles the other. Koivu is one of the most intense athletes I’ve ever covered. And I’ve got a tendency to lose my skull. Koivu hates to lose, so if you fumble over a question or ask a pointed question after one of those losses, he’s liable to get fire in his eyes, aim, fire and make you feel about 3 feet tall.

I asked Fletcher about Koivu’s cap hit on yesterday’s conference call, saying he’s giving this to somebody who doesn’t score 40 or 50 goals. Fletcher replied, “How do you know?”

Hey, very true. But what I meant is Koivu probably could pop in 35 or 40 if he really wanted to, but the reality is he really doesn’t want to.

What makes Koivu such a unique player is the completeness. He’s proudly told me on 100 occasions that he refuses, and I mean it when I say refuses, to cheat offensively if it means being a defensive liability. He was taught the game by a coach – his father, and he believes you win by consciousness to the defensive side of the puck.

Koivu got 71 points last year, doing it on a bum knee and with a shredded shoulder for more than half and half the year, respectively. Imagine how many points Koivu could get alongside a sniper. Koivu’s an assist machine, yet he’s never played with a game-breaker (remember Marian Gaborik really never played with Mikko at even-strength). Antti Miettinen scored 20 next to him last year. But let’s be honest, he should have had 40.

You can’t analyze Koivu by his, say, goal scoring because of the reasons I said above. He forgoes goals for other areas. Sometimes I wish he wouldn’t. But he does and will continue to. And you can’t analyze Koivu by his stats because the Wild’s scoring depth can’t compare to other teams.

And it’s not just the lack of snipers he plays with. Last season, Brunette, Koivu and Miettinen faced an opponent’s top checking line and two best defensemen pretty much 82 games on virtually every shift. When the Wild improves its depth, then maybe Koivu won’t be checked as hard and you can start using statistical analysis to determine Koivu’s worth.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/143727266.html?refer=y

"You just see it in practice, it just raises the level of our practice," Yeo said of Koivu's presence. "It just raises the level of everything that's going on. It should provide a big lift for our group."

The Wild is 8-16-3 without Koivu this season, and the year's downfall began in December when he missed four games because of a knee injury. "You look at what's happened with us, I think if anything we should all appreciate how valuable he is to our organization," Yeo said. "Certainly we lost some other guys, but he's such a warrior in the way he goes out. His will to win is so high that it's infectious on the rest of the group."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/137177343.html

Seven seasons into his NHL career, Mikko Koivu is finally an All-Star.

"It's about time," said former linemate and present Chicago Blackhawk Andrew Brunette. "I’d put him against anybody head-to-head and you’re going to come up with the better end of the stick."

Koivu called it a big honor, but if you know Koivu, he rarely likes talking individually. So I asked him if he’ll be able to enjoy this.
“When it’s time for that,” Koivu said. “I don’t think right now. We’re in the middle of a road trip and it’s a game day and a tough stretch coming up for us. When the time comes, you’re able to enjoy it and probably even more realize what’s happening. Right now, of course, you’re happy about it, but at the same time you want to focus on the game and road trip.”

Koivu, who has led the Wild in scoring in each of the past three seasons, leads the Wild again this season with 33 points in 39 games. A potential Selke Trophy candidate for best defensive forward, he leads the NHL’s second-worst offensive team with a plus-9 rating.
GM Chuck Fletcher talked about how he hopes this is the type of recognition that will make folks leaguewide realize how good Koivu is. He hopes this is the type of recognition that makes writers realize he warrants Selke votes.

“I’m stunned he doesn’t get more recognition,” Fletcher said. “He’s only concerned about winning games and individual stuff is not what drives him. I personally feel for our franchise it’s important that he gets more recognition and today’s a great first step in that direction.”
Fletcher mentioned how you realize his value when Koivu’s not in the lineup.

Koivu is the Wild’s second all-time leading scorer with 350 points in 472 games. He ranks first on the all-time list with 245 assists, third with 105 goals, second with 79 multi-point games, second with nine shorthanded goals and second with 1,169 shots. His 26 shootout goals rank sixth in NHL history – three behind leader Jussi Jokinen.

Coach Mike Yeo on Koivu: “He truly deserves it. For all our ups and downs, we’re still in a pretty good spot, and we’ve had some success this year. And you have to look at him and what he contributes to this team – the leadership that he brings, the will to win that he plays with everyday, how good he is on both sides of the puck. …”

http://www.startribune.com/printarticle/?id=161391995

Last season, the Wild was the best team in the NHL until Koivu hurt a knee. In the second half, the Wild fell apart when Koivu hurt a shoulder. The season before, the wheels came off the track when Koivu broke a finger. At the very least, the Wild no longer should be an annual Mikko Koivu injury from disaster.

And while the production and clutch style that Parise brings should pay dividends to the NHL's lowest-scoring team of last season, what often is overshadowed with Parise is how exceptional he is defensively and how his work ethic and commitment to winning are worn on his face.

Kind of like ... Koivu.
"Maybe we can teach this to the younger kids coming," Koivu said.

=http://www.startribune.com/printarticle/?id=145931875

Frankly, the Wild’s improved play of late, I think, proves just how big of a loss Mikko Koivu was. That’s why it’s incumbent on GM Chuck Fletcher to fix this problem. It’s inexcusable that the Wild annually is a Mikko Koivu injury away from disaster. Koivu’s presence stabilizes everything. His presence allows others to get better matchups, it allows others to play their appropriate roles, it forces teams to respect his line, it allows him to take the big faceoffs and play the big special-team shifts.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wild/132663298.html?refer=y

Mikko Koivu is "not that big on stats," and General Manager Chuck Fletcher says the Wild captain's "value goes beyond stats."

"To define Mikko by statistics is to miss the whole point of what he's all about," Fletcher said after signing Koivu to a seven-year, $47.25 million extension on July 15, 2010.

Coach Mike Yeo raved about Koivu after Monday's practice, saying, "Nobody feels like practicing today. Not one guy in there. They're all tired, they're all sore, and you come back from that West Coast trip and now you've got three days of practice. To me, he worked so hard [Monday] that the rest of the group had no choice but to work like that."

Yeo then praised Koivu's defensive-zone coverage this seasons, calling that part of his game "outstanding."

But Koivu makes $7.29M this year...and presumably doesn't make that kind of loot solely to work hard in practice and be good defensively. Last Thursday in Edmnton, Heatley led up a 3-on-2 up ice. Heatley fed Koivu between the circles -- a prime shoooting area. Instead of shooting, Koivu passed back to Heatley, who didn't seem to expect the puck back. By the time Heatley got a shot off, he was at an awkward angle and backhanded the puck over the net. Yeo wants Koivu to have more of a "shooter's mentality."

"He's been shooting more pucks. But for me, I think he can bring a whole other level there."

Koivu always has been even-keeled. "I think I'm still getting shots like I usually do," he said. "I just need to keep shooting."

http://www.startribune.com/sports/wild/132752978.html?refer=y

Foster said the Koivu Bros. share identical intensity, comparable moves and skating styles. "The only difference is Mikko is a lot bigger," Foster said. "Saku's the wily veteran. He takes his optional."

 

[Velociraptor]

Morris Lukowich, LW

Position: Left Wing
HT/WT: 5'9", 170 lbs
Handedness: Left
Nickname(s): "Luke"

- 1 acknowledgement for WHA Second All-Star Team (1979)
- 1 time WHA Champion (1979)
- 1 top-19 in NHL Points
- 1 top-18 in NHL Goals
- Finished 17th in 1982 Selke Voting
- Played in two NHL All-Star Games (1980, 1981)
- scored 199 goals and 219 assists for 418 points in 582 games, adding 584 penalty minutes.
- 2 assists for 2 points in 11 playoff games, adding 24 penalty minutes.
- scored 132 goals and 87 assists for 219 points in 228 WHA games, adding 317 penalty minutes.
- scored 15 goals and 13 assists for 28 points in 27 WHA playoff games, adding 57 penalty minutes.

WHA Top 10 finishes:
Goals - 2x - (2, 9)
Points - 1x - (6)

Greatest Hockey Legends

Little Morris Lukowich was an explosive player - both in terms of speed and scoring. He also added a bit of sandpaper to his game, playing with admirable grit.

The early years for the NHL Jets were pretty tough, as the team lost way more games than they won. But Lukowich was one of the few bright spots on many nights. He scored 35 and 33 goals in his first two seasons respectively, before notching his best NHL numbers in 1981-82. Lukowich found the net 43 times and collected 92 points. For his efforts Morris was invited to the NHL All Star game for the second year in a row, playing on a line with Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier.

Legends of Hockey

The move paid off as [Lukowich] became a prolific goal scorer during his two seasons in Houston and his final WHA campaign with the Winnipeg Jets. Lukowich remained with the Jets as they drifted into the NHL in 1979. The Penguins attempted to exercise their rights to the talented winger, but the Jets played their priority selection card to retain his services.

In the NHL, Lukowich remained a potent goal scorer and playmaker. He appeared in the NHL All-Star Games of 1980 and 1981. He also played for Team Canada at the 1981 World Championships.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Aug 31, 1978

The Pittsburgh Penguins said yesterday they are ready to meet all contractual demands by high-scoring left wing Morris Lukowich

Daily News of Los Angeles - Sep 18, 1986

Only once in Morris Lukowich's first five NHL seasons had he failed to score at least 30 goals

 

[VanIslander]

RW/D Haldor/Harold "Slim" Halderson, the 6'3 200 lbs. fast and physical rusher up the right side known for his stickhandling and passing. He began on a military team in Winnipeg, as an 18 year old helping take it to the Allan Cup, where he scored 4 goals and 7 points in the 4 games, adding 6 PIMs. He then joined the Winnipeg Falcons, becoming the right hand man to Frank Fredrickson. Slim averaged over a goal a game, an assist a game and two PIMs per game in the 1920 season in which he headed again to the Allan Cup, this time with the Falcons, he scoring 4 goals, 10 points in the 6 games, with 6 PIMs. The impressive 20 year old joined Team Canada for the 1920 Olympics and scored 9 goals in 3 games, including the first goal ever by a hockey player in an Olympic Finals, in the gold-medal win, second only to Fredrickson in tourney scoring. He then played in Saskatoon for a season before moving out to play five years in Victoria, moving from right wing back to right defense. In his first season in the PCHA he was a 2nd team all-star and in his second year he was a 1st team all-star, both seasons top-3 in blueline scoring (he would two years later be a 2nd team all-star one more time in Victoria, the season the Cougars were in the WCHL). Thereafter his points production decreased and his penalty minutes increased substantially. He scored a total of 21 points over his last three seasons in Victoria but amassed 172 PIMs. Yet, when it mattered most, he scored again, in two trips to the Stanley Cup. In 1925 he scored 2 goals and an assist in the 4 game cup series plus had 8 PIMs. The following year had had a goal and another 8 PIMs in the Stanley Cup series in a cup win, dishing out as 'stiff bodychecking' as the opposition defenders Cleghorn and Coutu had in the series (according to a Calgary Herald article Mar 24, 1925). When the Victoria franchise was bought up and moved to Detroit, Slim went along and scored the first ever goal for the Detroit Red Wings organization. He played the 2nd most games in the NHL that season, perhaps due to being traded midseason from Detroit to Toronto. His first year in the NHL would also be his last. After 10 seasons of pro hockey, Slim went down to the Can-Am, then AHA, for the next 10 years of his 20 year career, where his scoring increased (seven seasons there he was top-5 in blueline scoring), and his penalty minutes went up even more. He was immediately an all-star at the AHA level, an honor he received twice more eventually. He only missed 15 of 764 scheduled games over 20 years, a remarkable feat to a guy described as 'rugged', who got into skirmishes from time to time, had a lot of penalties, and played defense, perhaps a testament to his size and constitution.

A clever all-around player with exceptional stick-handling ability. The long-haired gentleman figures prominently in the Falcon attack and is known for his generosity with the puck, having figured in many tallies with a well-directed assist.

http://www.winnipegfalcons.com/playersteam.html

... with his great puck carrying ability, his tenacity of purpose and his unselfishness when he saw a chance to pass

http://www.winnipegfalcons.com/falcons/

Slim Halderson was a great puck carrier. He could weave his way down the right wing with uncanny control over the puck. Slim, who was six foot two inches tall, travelled down the ice at a much faster clip than the actions of his long limbs indicated. A few long strides and he'd be down to the other end of the rink before the opposition expected.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?p=32107523&highlight=halderson#post32107523

Slim Halderson featured with his rugged play which did not please the Montreal fans.

About halfway through the final period the "feuds" ended when Halderson and Boucher hooked up in a short rough and tumble, and other players on each side took part in the battle."

"Siebert cleared a dangerous attack and rushed. the crowd booed when Halderson stepped into him.

The Cook brothers started attacks of their own account, but the defense of Halderson, Loughlin.. was too strong.

"...his 200 pound frame was lean and gangly. He had a loose-limbed skating style that looked awkward at first, but his rushes down the wing, combined with his defensive savvy, allowed him to play for 20 years in leagues across North America... a good puck carrier who would get a head of steam going down his right wing and then continue across center when he entered the offensive zone.... rugged play"

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?p=22007133&highlight=halderson#post22007133

Harold Halderson was known as "Slim" throughout his long career. He was a strapping 6'3" in an era were most players were much smaller, but his 200 pound frame was lean and gangly. He had a loose-limbed skating style that looked awkward at first, but his rushes down the wing, combined with his defensive savvy, allowed him to play for 20 years in leagues across North America. He achieved lasting recognition in Canada for his play at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.

During an early practice, coach.. was trying hard to keep the players from straying from their positions. One of the worst offenders was Halderson, a good puck carrier who would get a head of steam going down his right wing and then continue across center when he entered the offensive zone. Halderson bumped heads with another player during a drill designed to keep him on his part of the ice. A few minutes later, he again carried the puck across his imaginary line and the coach smacked the winger across the seat with his stick to stop him. Halderson apologized, saying, "It must have been the bump on the head."

...After watching the speed with which Canadians like Slim Halderson could shoot the puck, Sweden's goaltender hurriedly found some cotton padding to wrap around himself... Halderson scored against the Czechs with ease, finishing with seven goals in a 15-0 victory... The Swedish team advanced to the Gold medal game. Halderson scored the first-ever goal in an Olympic final just over a minute in. He added another in the third period as Canada won 12-1.

Slim Halderson was throwing his weight around quite a bit but he found the Montreal defense ready for him...

Siebert cleared a dangerous attack and rushed. the crowd booed when Halderson stepped into him... Halderson relieved a rush and coasted through the Montreal defense and caught Benedict napping to make it 4-0.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showpost.php?p=20761370&postcount=831

 

[Velociraptor]

Mario Marois, D

Position: Defenseman
HT/WT: 5'11", 190 lbs
Handedness: Right

- 2 Top-11 finishes in D All-Star Voting (11th, 11th)
- scored 76 goals and 357 assists for 433 points in 955 games, adding 1746 penalty minutes.
- scored 4 goals and 34 assists for 38 points in 100 playoff games, adding 182 penalty minutes.

Norris Voting Record:

8th (86-87), 9th (83-84)

Top 10 Finishes:
Plus/Minus - 1x - (7)

Legends of Hockey

Defenceman Mario Marois was a fine playmaker with a hard shot from the point that also thrived by playing it rough in his own end. He suited up for over 950 games with five different clubs during a solid career.

During his first full season in the NHL, the scrappy defender scored 31 points and showed poise while helping New York reach the Stanley Cup finals. The Rangers opted to trade Marois to the Vancouver Canucks early in 1980-81 since they had a glut of bodies on defence. In March of that season, the rugged blueliner was sent to the Quebec Nordiques where he settled in for nearly five seasons.

Marois' offensive talent suited the Nords' fast-paced game and his tough work on defense pleased coach Michel Bergeron. His crisp passes and willingness to fend off opposing forwards made him a valuable asset to the club when it reached the semi-finals in 1982 and 1985. Early in the 1985-86 season, Marois was sent to the Winnipeg Jets for veteran defenceman Robert Picard. He continued to play tough and jump in on offense but the Jets were stuck in a rut of playing fairly well in the regular season then running into the Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Oct 21, 1990

The North Stars killed the first penalty, but the Blues scored on the next two - with Ronning and defenseman Mario Marois doing all the creative work. ...

 

[BillyShoe1721]

D Sergei Babinov

18 goals in 162 career Soviet National Team games
39 goals in 452 career Soviet League games
13th all-time in games among defensemen for Soviet National Team
9x Soviet League Champion
4x World Championships Gold Medalist
Silver Medalist, 1976 World Championships
Bronze Medalist, 1977 World Championships
1979 Challenge Cup Winner
1981 Canada Cup Winner
1976 Canada Cup Bronze Medalist

Sure enough this came to pass, and what was about to happen next was the ultimate shock to Canada's system yet witnessed- even more so than in the final game of the 1979 Challenge Cup. Tikhonov and the coaching staff had gone through the reels and devised a plan to keep Gretzky's behind the net antics at bay. Soviet defenders like Sergei Babinov and Zinetul Bilyaletdinov would be sure of that.

http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/rainbowcountry/1981.html

...the marvelously mobile Sergei Babinov...

Ferguson had his eyes riveted on defenceman Sergei Babinov. If he could take a Soviet player home with him, Babinov would be the one. His style was so close to the NHL style, Ferguson said.

-The Red Machine

"They also added a good hitter in Sergei Babinov," he said. "In the old days the Russians were afraid to go into the corners

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en...cp.r_qf.&fp=99c9b085f494f99b&biw=1366&bih=638

Defensively, the Soviets will rely on the likes of Yuri Liapkin and Sergei Babinov.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AIBAJ&pg=5512,1346452&dq=sergei+babinov&hl=en

Their forwards, including Boris Mikhailov and Valery Kharlamov, are still flying but their defense, lacking Alexander Gusev and Sergei Babinov from last year's team, is suspect.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=J05VAAAAIBAJ&

sjid=dz4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=3082,673612&dq=sergei+babinov&hl=en

The Soviets have brought along a bunch of magnificently skilled, swift-skating youngsters, anchored by such brilliant veterans as Vladimir Petrov, Alexandr Maltsev, Valeri Vasiliev, Sergei Babinov, Vachislav Fetisov, Sergei Makarov and Vasily Pervukin.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AIBAJ&pg=3687,2398632&dq=sergei+babinov&hl=en

Kulagin benched superstar Valeri Kharlamov after 34 minutes and benched star defenseman Sergei Babinov shortly thereafter. In justice to the muscular and aggressive Babinov, it should be explained that he injured his knee in the match with the American Saturday.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAAIBAJ&pg=831,534560&dq=sergei+babinov&hl=en

In addition to the vaunted speed, passing and shooting abilities of the Soviets, they have added another element: ruggedness. Ron Caron, director of hockey operations for the Blues, noticed.

"This is the best I have seen the Russians perform," said Caron "And they could last a long time because they can skate!"

"I saw defenseman Sergei Babinov drop three Canadiens in about eight seconds. First, Bob Gainey, who's a tough guy, went to clash with Babinov and went down on his fanny. Then, Guy Carbonneau tried to pick up the play and Babinov dropped him.

"Then, (Chris) Nilan said, 'Come see me,' "added Caron, referring to the Canadiens enforcer. "Babinov dropped him with a body check along the boards. They went at it and Babinov got two minutes for roughing and Nilan got four minutes for roughing and high-sticking. And it cost Montreal a goal."

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...AAIBAJ&pg=4723,567650&dq=sergei+babinov&hl=en

In 1972, all the bodychecking had been one way: Canadians gave, Soviets took. But now the Soviets, especially defencemen like Sergei Babinov, were capable of administering the occasional crunching body check.

"He is about as close to our style as any of their defencemen," said Bowman. "He's chunky, a Leo Boivin style. He likes to hit people and he gives the puck to his partner a lot rather than control the play.

http://books.google.com/books?id=0c...CEEQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=sergei babinov&f=false

 

[BillyShoe1721]

C Billy McGimsie

1902-03 regular season: 10 goals in 5 games (1st in the Manitoba loop)

1903 Challenge Match vs. the Ottawa Silver Seven: Scored 3 of his team's 4 goals over two games.

1903-04 regular season: 16 goals in 11 games (1st in his league)

1904-05 regular season: 28 goals in 8 games (2nd in his league, 1 goal behind Tommy Phillips, who had just returned from the East)

1905-06 regular season: 21 goals in 9 games (3rd in his league behind Billy Breen and Tommy Phillips)

Billy was fairly small for a centerman, only 5'8" and 145 pounds, but what he lacked in size he more than made up for in speed and agility. McGimsie was one of the fastest forwards of the day, as well as one of the finest passers. Playing with future hall-of-famers Tommy Phillips, Tom Hooper, and Si Griffis, Billy had unlimited options. Many times he would simply take it to the net himself and pop it in. McGimsie would later claim that it was the Thistles' incredible front line that invented the modern tic-tac-toe passing game in an era where players would simply lift the puck down to the other end of the ice and then chase after it. Based on newspaper articles of the day describing the Thistles' play, he was not exaggerating with his bold assessment.

McGimsie's scoring prowess took flight the following year, when Rat Portage native Tommy Phillips returned from playing hockey in the east to bolster the Thistles' offensive attack. Billy scored an incredible 28 goals in only 8 games to pace the league and lead the Thistles to the M.N.H.A. championship, setting up a rematch with the Silver Seven, who were in the midst of a three year Stanley Cup championship run. Unfortunately, Billy failed to register a goal in the rematch, though the Thistles made the three game series much closer than the Ottawa squad expected. Afterwards, due to some suspicions that the hometown Ottawa ice was doctored to slow McGimsie and the speedy Thistles down, there could be found some eastern hockeyists intimating that the wrong team won.

McGimsie scored early in the second game to pace the Thistles to a 6-2 half time lead. He also made several nifty passes to teammates Phillips and Hooper, who neatly deposited the pucks into the Wanderers' nets. After a furious comeback by Montreal that made it 6 all, McGimsie made one final rush down the ice with teammate Roxy Beaudro that resulted in the game winning goal.

http://hobokin.net/mcgimsie.html

Billy McGimsie had been badly cut and bruised in the first series against the Silver Seven two years prior. He was known at the time for his skating and "dribbling", an early term for stickhandling.

http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2007/01/kenora-thistles-1907-stanley-cup.html

The first of them to enter the Thistles' lineup was Billy McGimsie. He was slick on the ice, easily deking around older players. He even capped off his first game by scoring the winning goal.

The rink rats ended their first season in the adult league in second place. The dazzling play of McGimsie, Phillips, and Hooper was earning Rat Portage new respect.

The "blood-stained-avalanche" continued to roll over the competition. Billy McGimsie was the Thistles' greatest threat. Goaltenders had little hope of stopping him.

http://books.google.com/books?id=k5...CDEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=billy mcgimsie&f=false

Captain Tommy Phillips was their Wayne Gretzky, a star scorer who many considered the greatest player of his day. Big Si Griffis, though he could play defence as well as forward, was their Mark Messier. Billy McGimsie was Jari Kurri...

http://books.google.com/books?id=pM...CDsQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=billy mcgimsie&f=false

Rat Portage's speedy and handsome winger Billy McGimsie had shown great assurance in his daring rushes, scoring twice

https://www.google.com/search?q=bil...cp.r_qf.&fp=a31ce0937b330555&biw=1366&bih=638

 

[seventieslord]

Bryan McCabe, D

- 6'2", 220 lbs
- NHL 2nd All-Star Team (2004)
- Placed 4th, 9th in Norris Voting
- Placed 4th, 9th, 14th in All-Star Voting
- Top-15 in Scoring by Defensemen 4 Times (3rd, 4th, 10th, 13th)
- Top-5 in Playoff Scoring by Defensemen 2 Times (4th, 5th)
- Career adjusted +101
- Durable: 69+ games in 13 of 14 seasons, has seven 82 game seasons (tied with Recchi, Iginla, Kariya, H.Sedin for most 82-game seasons since 1996)
- Never lower than 3rd in team TOI. Has been 1st or 2nd in 11 of 14 seasons.
- Averaged 24.13 minutes per game for 1135 games for teams that were, on average... average.
- Best defenseman points percentages: 98, 96, 85, 73, 73, 61

McCabe played just two-and-a-half years with New York, but did serve as the team's captain for a season. He, Todd Bertuzzi and a third-round pick in 1998 were sent to Vancouver for Trevor Linden in February, 1998. McCabe's stay on the Canadian west coast was short-lived as he was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks which in turn was even shorter. After just one year in the Windy City, McCabe was sent to the Maple Leafs in October, 2000.

In the 2001 playoffs McCabe played the finest hockey of his young NHL career. "It was a lot of fun," said McCabe who was making his first appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs. "I'm not satisfied though. It was tough losing in the second round." After a disappointing second round loss in the 2001 playoffs, McCabe and the Leafs looked to rebound in 2001-02. Having posted a career high in points with 29 the previous year, McCabe broke out offensively in 2001-02 scoring 17 goals and 43 points and was instrumental in Toronto's run to the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes. Although Toronto lost the series in six games to the upstart Hurricanes, the team fought to the bitter end, tying the game in the dying seconds before losing in overtime.

McCabe's totals dipped in 2002-03 and the St. Catherines native missed his first games since the 2000-01 season. Coming off a sub-par year offensively, McCabe rebounded in 2003-04, registering a career high 53 points (16-37-53). He bettered those totals over the next two seasons with the Leafs, registering 68 points in 2005-06 and 57 in 2006-07.

A hard-nosed defender... Prior to his third NHL campaign, the Islanders surprisingly named the 22-year-old the sixth captain in team history... Over his five-year stint with the Maple Leafs, McCabe has blossomed into the team's No. 1 defenseman. In 2003-04, he finished fourth in the Norris Trophy voting and was named to the NHL's Second All-Star Team. In 2005-06, he has picked up where he left off before the lockout and has been at or near the top of the points-list for NHL defensemen throughout the season.

An offensive defenseman, McCabe has a mean streak and doesn't mind throwing his weight around. He has good speed up and down the ice (but he isn't as quick side to side). He has a good shot, which he leans into hard, using his size and weight to increase the shot's velocity. As a rookie, he spent most of his concentration on playing a solid brand of defense, which the team desperately needed. He's a big talker on the ice - not baiting opponents, necessarily - but keeping his head in the game by constantly chattering with his partner and other teammates. the Islanders love McCabe's toughness and his offensive promise. They're also impressed with how he made the transition from juniors, where he was more of a freewheeling player, to the NHL, where he played a more low-risk style. Not many rookies would have been able to demonstrate that poise and maturity.

Has made a successful transition to the NHL... a vocal guy who annoys opponents, which keeps him in the game, He isn't easily intimidated. Has a sixth sense for offensive opportunities and a booming slapshot. not a great skater... For a rookie, McCabe was a consistent performer. Although results will show that he did put his tremendous offensive instincts on hold to better concentrate on his defensive duties, the kid still has a lot to learn in his own end... he'll be a good one.

McCabe's offensive game was supposed to be ahead of his defensive aspects, but he sat back and studied the game a bit in his rookie season. He is still hesitant in his own zone and will get caught, but he is willing to work to improve. McCabe has tremendous offensive instincts. He knows when to jump up into the attacking zone. He has a heavy, major-league slapshot. McCabe moves the puck well and it won't be long before he s running the team's power play. McCabe's skating style is unorthodox. It's not fluid, and there appears to be a hitch in his stride. When he has the puck or is jumping into the play, he has decent speed, but his lack of mobility defensively is one of his few flaws. McCabe loves to play and loves to compete.

McCabe is not afraid to drop the gloves, and can handle himself in a bout. He is a sturdy bodychecker... he is big and strong and shows leadership... his performance exceeded even some of the more optimistic expectations... he proceeded cautiously, but improved throughout the season... McCabe has a wonderful attitude and is a possible future team captain.

WILL - Move the puck
WON'T - Carry Isles alone
EXPECT - Strength on puck
DON'T EXPECT - To push him around

gradually improved throughout the season and was a bright spot in an otherwise bleak year... strong, mobile and physical when required... showed remarkable poise and maturity... considering he didn't have the benefit of a Bourque to guide the way, his performance is even more impressive.

the least talked-about up-and-coming blueliner on Long Island, he quietly passed his sophomore test with honours... McCabe's defensive style and gritty play will earn him rave reviews, but his offensive style will be limited by his skating ability. Some say he'll grow into a Scott Stevens-type blueliner... feisty, tough defenseman. Makeup of a true leader. never-quit attitude. Makes a good first pass and can support the offense. Booming shot.... awkward skater. Growing pains in his zone as he's sometimes caught out of position, but that improved a lot in the second half.

He was asked to be one of the Islanders' top cops last season, which is a waste of his abilities. He is not tough, but he is very competitive... He handled a lot of tough checking assignments against other team's top physical lines... He moves the puck well and can run an NHL powerplay... He is maturing into a reliable, all-around defender.

Defensively, McCabe plays well positionally and doesn't get mesmerized by the puck. He kills penalties well and blocks shots... pushes himself and competes hard.

He doesn't have a classic, fluid stride, but he can get to where he's going...has strong leadership qualities.

briefly impressed with the Canucks but fell into a lengthy mid-season slump before recovering late in the year... gritty rearguard is coveted for his competitiveness, leadership and steady defense but has also displayed the mobility and skills to be a bigger offensive contributor in time... logged over 30 minutes a game down the stretch as Marc Crawford's most reliable blueliner.

A team player who will go to war...

Former Islanders' captain was thrust into a major role during Boris Mironov's holdout last fall and stumbled to a -21 before settling down in the second half... Feisty, aggressive blueliner was guilty of trying to do too much early on, but after midseason, began to display the steady, two-way defense that had prompted management to cough up the 4th overall pick at the '99 draft.

In good physical condition...

a pretty good acquisition for Toronto... may have finally found a home after being bounced around the league. He still baffles people at times with some of the decisions he makes, but overall, he was probably the Leafs' best defenseman last year. he's physical and has quite a bit of offensive skill. Furthermore, he's good at making the first pass out of the zone and blessed with above-average wheels. McCabe, a good team player, became the triggerman of the PP last year and tied for the team lead in +/-... will probably face more pressure in 2002 to continue as the Leafs' best all-around blueliner...

McCabe's offensive upside gave the Maple Leafs the confidence to trade ***** ******... took full advantage of the extra PP time... McCabe understands that the physical part of the game is a major element of his success... the trade for McCabe from Chicago was daytime robbery. He played well after the deal and topped himself last season. McCabe is not an elite defenseman but he is not far below that. McCabe had a big playoffs going up against other teams' top lines.

building on a breakthrough performance in the 2001 playoffs, continued to grow exponentially... scored 17 goals, 2nd among NHL blueliners, and even managed to take it to another level in the playoffs... A spirited and mobile all-around workhorse, McCabe has matured into a tough, low-risk defender while steadily gaining confidence in his puckcarrying abilities and power play skills, including an uncanny ability to get shots through traffic (led the team in icetime, hits and blocked shots in the playoffs)... a Norris trophy nomination can't be far away based on his development since arriving in Toronto...

Everything finally clicked for McCabe last season as he displayed toughness, offensive production and the ability to lead a blueline. He dwarved his previous highs in goals and points, while becoming a team leader on the Leafs. McCabe plays in all situations but is most dangerous on the PP, having perfected the one-time slapshot from the top of the slot. His reckless style makes it seem as if he's out of control at times, but he's quickly losing his bad habits... he's now the unquestioned leader of the Toronto blueline.

Routinely handles checking assignments against other teams' top lines.

The most noteworthy aspect of McCabe's 2002-03 season may have been his Mohawk-style haircut, which earned him derision from teammates and opponents alike. Certainly, his performance was less than hair-raising as much was expected following his great 2002 playoff showing. Instead, he returned to his inconsistent ways. When on, he is a physical force and an uncomfortable foe to line up against. However, he lacks hockey sense and doesn't always make the best decision with the puck.

looked out of shape and lethargic during a late-season stay with HV-71 which promptly earned him a ticket home... finished among the top blueliners in 2003-04 in both goals and points, to become the first Maple leaf defenseman in 23 years to earn a berth on a postseason NHL all-star team. Tough, mobile workhorse plays a spirited physical game and bolsters the PP due to a gift for getting his high-powered shot on target... however, his game can suddenly unravel at inopportune times...

Teams have watched video and realize the key to stopping the Leafs with the man advantage is nullifying the terrifying shot of point man Bryan McCabe

Bryan is a big, strong, hard-hitting defenceman who also possesses the ability to be a goal-scorer and play on special teams. He will be counted on to play an integral role on our defence and to help bring future success to our franchise.

"He's done a great job as captain... He leads by example everyday. I've been really impressed with Bryan, the way he's carried himself. He probably learned a lot from playing with guys like Mats (Sundin)."

Helped absorb the loss of Jay Bouwmeester while delivering a work ethic and consistency unmatched by many of his teammates... stepped up to lead the club in scoring over the final quarter, propelling him over 40 points for a fifth time... tough, hard-shooting workhorse plays a spirited physical game most nights.. awkwardly mobile... top speed is solid but can be sluggish in turns and pivots... a powerplay weapon thanks to good hands and a high-powered shot... varies up delivery speeds and methods... namely moving laterally to create open lanes... accountable player who shows up to do battle... can get burned 1-on-1 due to poor reads and positioning, yet has managed to simplify his game and focus on reducing braincramp errors... focused on making smarter puckmoving decisions last season... albeit still gives up possession too hastily at times, especially under intense pressure.

Playing in Florida must be quite a culture shock after spending much of your time in Toronto. the fans turned on McCabe during the end of his tenure in Leafland - wrongfully so - and the move to Florida has allowed him to be the defenseman he is without constantly being criticized for it. the fact is, McCabe's not the best defender, but he can move the puck and has an absolute cannon from the point on the power play. Coach DeBoer has correctly utilized McCabe in an offensive role, over 4 minutes per game on the PP, and has played him against fair, but not overly difficult competition. Within that role, McCabe has produced solid offensive numbers at even strength and on the man advantage.

 

[seventieslord]

Bob MacMillan, F

5'11", 185 lbs
- 13th in Goals Twice (1978, 1979)
- 3rd in Assists (1979)
- 5th in Points (1979)
- 7th in LW All-Star Voting (1978)
- 3rd in RW All-Star Voting (1979)
- 25% PK usage for teams 3% below average
- Best points percentages: 83, 58, 49, 48, 48, 44
- Best ES points percentages: 99, 63, 63, 53, 53, 52
- Led his team in scoring in 1978, 1979 (following trade), and 1980
- Career Adjusted +64
- Played 68+ games in 12 of 13 pro seasons

MacMillan spent his first two years as a professional playing for the Minnesota Fighting Saints but jumped to the NHL in 1974. "Mack the Knife" as he was known, split that campaign between the New York Rangers and their farm team in Providence and it would take a trade to make him a full-time NHL player.

MacMillan was dealt to the St. Louis Blues in September of 1975 and he blossomed with them by scoring 20 goals and 52 points in his first full year in the league. The following year he upped his point total but it wasn't enough to stop his from being traded yet again during his third year with the team. MacMillan was shipped to the Atlanta Flames in a big six-player trade and it was down in Georgia where he enjoyed his greatest success.

With the Flames MacMillan exploded offensively lighting the lamp 31 times in the 52 games he spent with them following the trade. During his first full year in the red and orange, MacMillan scored 37 goals and 71 assists for 108 points. His line mate, Guy Chouinard, managed 50 goals and finished just one point back of MacMillan. Not only was his offensive prowess impressive, but he only received fourteen minutes in penalties during the entire season and was given the Lady Byng Trophy as the league's Most Gentlemanly Player.

When the Flames franchise shifted to Calgary, MacMillan went with them, but he couldn't reproduce his scoring successes, though he was still a productive player. During the 1981-82 season he was on the move again as a part of the package that brought Lanny McDonald to Calgary.

MacMillan spent two and a half seasons with the Colorado/New Jersey franchise before moving on to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1984 to play his final season in the league.

Bob MacMillan has done himself, his family and his native Prince Edward Island, proud. He accomplished something that only one other Maritimer has been able to do, in being named the N.H.L.'s Lady Byng Trophy winner for the 1978-79 season. Certainly a worthy recipient of the trophy, which is emblematic of the player judged to have displayed the most gentlemanly conduct matched with playing ability, the Charlottetown native, performing with Atlanta Flames, amassed 108 points in 79 games, made up of 37 goals and 71 assists and drew only 14 minutes in penalties.

Robert Lea MacMillan was born in Charlottetown on September 2, 1952. Raised by his mother after his father passed away, Bobby grew up idolizing his hockey playing older brother Billy [inducted 1985], who had played in both the Olympics and the N.H.L. A product of the Charlottetown Minor Hockey System, Bob was one of eight players who graduated from the Charlottetown Junior Islanders of the early 70s and go on to a professional hockey career. After finishing his time in Junior Hockey with St. Catharines’ Black Hawks, Bob was drafted by the New York Rangers in 1972, but chose instead to perform in the W.H.A. with Minnesota for two seasons. He eventually moved to the Rangers in 1974-75 and played 22 games with the Broadway Blue Shirts before being shipped off to Providence of the American Hockey League for the remainder of the season. In September 1975, Bob was traded to St. Louis where he spent almost two seasons. During his first season with the team, Bob equalled one rookie record and broke another two; he scored 20 goals to equal the rookie record of **** ******, established in season 1971-72, picked up 32 assists to break the rookie-record of 30 established by *** **** in the 1974-75 season, and amassed 52 points to beat **** ******'s rookie-record set in 1971-72.

These records are impressive, but it was upon moving to Atlanta in 1977 that Bobby really found his shooting eye. In 52 games with the Flames, he averaged a point a game, potting 31 goals and garnering 21 assists. The following season would be the best of his hockey career: he more than doubled his number of points and was awarded the prestigious Lady Byng Memorial Trophy. In honour of this incredible accomplishment, Bobby was inducted into the P.E.I. Sports Hall of Fame on July 16, 1979.

In the spring of 1978, Bob MacMillan was chosen as a member of Team Canada when they took part in the World Championships in Prague; the team placed third. Professionally, Bobby continued to play for the Atlanta Flames, which became the Calgary Flames in 1980. He then played for the Colorado Rockies in the 1981-82 season, followed by two seasons with the New Jersey Devils.

Both Bob MacMillan and Don Lever were popular players in the dressing room, on the ice and with the fans. They were well-liked among the players, and everyone on the team thought of them as friends.

Noted for his speed and streaky scoring

Versatility is one of Bob's big assets. He can play LW if needed, and his defensive capabilities are also considerable. He's durable, and rarely misses a game.

valuable addition to the Blues...concentrated on defense until the Blues encouraged him to open up on offense...

A hard-hitting LW, he has impressed Blues fans for the past two seasons with his technique on the ice and scoring knowhow.

Versatile forward who can play center, LW, or RW. Led Blues in scoring with 58 points... Noted for hustle and reputation as team player... Has not missed a game in two years... Good checker who excels as a penalty killer and in winning faceoffs... Fast, energetic skater.

Bob is a valuable player for the flames because of his consistent top-level play and his versatility. He's a tough competitor and works extremely hard in the corners.

While his career has rocketed, MacMilan remains reserved... "In St. Louis, even though Bobby was greatly competitive and even though he could skate really fast, he had absolutely no one to back him up," said Flames LW ****** **********. "Now he doesn't have to think about his well-being, because he's got us." It must be remembered, though, that Bob MacMillan must be caught before he can he hit, and that's no small order for opposing players. "He's not really a big man, but his strides are deceptively long. His moves come at you so fast. A guy like Gil Perreault, he can do everything well, but if you slow him down by 10 miles an hour, he wouldn't be as exceptional. With Bobby, you make a play on him in a hurry or he'll be around you. There isn't a defenseman in the league that wouldn't like to get him against the boards, but they've been trying since the season started and they haven't done it yet."

The Big Mac... Blossomed as a big goal scorer after trade... Tough and versatile... Can play either wing or center... Also durable, having played in all 80 games in each of last three seasons... used on faceoffs and penalty killing... would play goal if you asked him.

Midway through the third period, Bob MacMillan seized control in the corner and passed to ******** in the faceoff circle. the rookie center scored.

"We always thought he was the best player on the Blues, but I think it would be ridiculous to say we expected him to score the way he's been scoring," said GM Cliff Fletcher.

MacMillan signed his first pro contract with the WHA's Minnesota Fighting Saints and played two seasons. "It was the worst mistake of my life," said MacMillan. "the players were out of shape and had lousy attitudes. It wasn't what I thought pro hockey would or should be like."

A 1978-79 poll of coaches found him to be the NHL's most underrated player

Bob gets breakaways with his good moves and exceptional skating ability.

Mac the knife... can slice a defense to shreds... Has emerged as a bonafide star... Broke every major offensve club record and won Lady byng trophy... Leader on one of league's most potent offenses... Mostly a RW but can play center too... swift skater with a bullet for a wristshot... voted team's MVP... a hustler.

Teriffic offensive player... also gentlemanly... swift skater with devilish wristshot... always a good interview.

Bob sees a great deal of action on power play and shorthanded situations on ice for the flames.

Utility forward Bob macMillan...

Useful, versatile veteran who can play all forward positions... Regards his 108-point season as "a bit of a fluke". Strong skater, excellent defensive player who is a good penalty killer... He's been a key worker since trade from Blues.. Easy going and gregarious, he's been a favourite interview of many reporters because of his frank, funny views on hockey and other matters.

New Jersey's Bob MacMillan, out of control, plowed into (the goalie) on the play. The goalie suffered a concussion and was held in hospital overnight.

versatile player with good skill in all areas of the game... Excellent skater.

Mack the knife, slices through defenses with blazing speed... good skater, scorer and defensive player... almost never in penalty box... Was big fan favourite in Atlanta... possesses excellent shot and savvy to go along with it.

Was heartthrob of Devils' young female fans... can play any positon... excels as penalty killer...