Nitzy's Hockey Den

"I got started on the curved stick by accident. One day in practice my blade cracked up the middle. I bent it into a curve to break it but it wouldn't give. So I fooled around, playing with it. Now I can't use a straight stick anymore. I tried Lou Angotti's the other day. Every shot I took at the net went in the corner." This was Stan Mikita describing how he came to use a curved blade, from an article by Al Stewart in Maple Leaf Gardens Official Hockey Magazine from a game between Toronto and Chicago, April 18, 1967. One assumes that his sticks came from the factory with the wicked curve already included, but there was still many modifications needed to be done. Following, are some fantastic photos of Mikita and Assistant Trainer, Don "Sockeye" Uren customizing the sticks of one of hockey's all-time greats. Mikita explains how the trainer works the end of the stick, " 'Sock' sort of rounds the top of the sticks for me before I tape the...

Here's a cool recent addition to the Den, a 1955 game program of the old Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League. What's neat for myself as a Maple Leafs fan, is that this was the only season that Leaf legend Johnny Bower tended goal for the Canucks (see photo below). The game against the visiting Victoria Cougars was one of the last few of the 1954/55 Western League campaign. The Canucks and Cougars were fighting to stay in a playoff position, and Bower was battling for the lowest Goals Against Average in the circuit. Vancouver would emerge victorious, shutting out Victoria by a 3-0 score. The Victoria Daily Colonist wrote of the match;  " Cougars gave it a good try last night but they wound up scoreless...the shutout enabled Canuck goalie Johnny Bower to tie Cougars Marcel Pelletier for the league lead having six blankings. Bower also took the leading the averages. He allowed 2.77 goals per game while Pelletier's average rose to 2.776. Edmonton's Glen Hall...

Here is another unidentified hockey photo, this time involving the Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. For starters, it's a really cool shot clearly showing Habs great, Jean Beliveau being restrained by an official. The player he's trying to get at, seems to be longtime Maple Leaf #10, George Armstrong. Let's start there.  Both Beliveau and Armstrong began their careers in the early 1950's and played through 1970/71. The Leafs added numbers to their sweater sleeves for the 1962/63 season and they added a tie-down to the neck for 1958/59, so that narrows it down somewhat. Looking closely at the left of the photo, hovering in the back beyond the full glare of the photographer's flash bulb (notice the photo is taken ON the ice as was common back then), is the easily identified Leaf, Sid Smith. In addition, we see that Smith is wearing the captain "C" which he only did for one season, 1955/56. Now we're getting somewhere. The Maple Leaf directly behind...

It's been a while since I've done an unidentified vintage hockey photo, heck it's been a while since I've done ANY post. Let's change that. I recently came across a few more great old hockey pics that need identification. The one above picturing the Maple Leafs and Red Wings is a fun one. Firstly, It's easy to identify the Leaf on the left as Bob Pulford. He was a staple of the Leafs in the late 1950's through the 1960's. The other Leaf appears to be Bert Olmstead based on his face alone. He was a Leaf from 1958 through 1962, so that narrows the date down a bit. When we look at NHL Uniform Database  we see that Toronto wore this specific sweater only in those same seasons ('58 - '62). The team added numbers to the sleeves in 1962/63, so this photo definitely pre-dates that season. Now, to the Red Wings goalie. of course, Terry Sawchuk wore number one and tended goal for the majority of Detroit's games over this timeframe. This guy is NOT Sawc...

Dec. 28, 1979 Living in Vancouver for the last 30 years, I have managed to collect a fair amount of Canucks game programs featuring Wayne Gretzky on the cover. Here are the six earliest examples from my collection. The first one, pictured above is from The Kid's rookie NHL season. He was mere months into his career and had produced 51 points in 32 games to that point. Of note, his surname was still being spelled wrong back then. The Oilers won 5-3 this evening behind the goaltending of the immortal Jim Corsi who stopped 37 of 40 Canuck shots. Gretzky beat Curt Ridley in the second period for his 19th goal on the season and only point of this game. The next one is from Gretz's second NHL season. This was near the end of his second campaign and had collected a new NHL record of 157 points through 78 games. The Oilers dominated by a score of 7-2 with Gretzky beating Richard Brodeur for his 54th of the year. He also had an assist on Brett Callighen's 2nd goal of the game. Apr. ...

Time to share some of my favourite Gretzky magazine covers from my collection. The Great One was a deservedly a cover choice of multiple publications throughout the 1980's. These are my Hockey Illustrated covers featuring The Kid. The first one, above is the season preview issue prior to the 1980/81 NHL season. Wayner was the cover boy for the next two season preview specials as well (why not?). Another thing consistent on all three covers is the rise of the New York Islanders and their Stanley Cup wins. I included this April 1982 issue with Dale Hawerchuk on the cover since Gretzky is the back cover subject. Pretty sure I had this one hanging up in my bedroom as a kid. May 1983, Stanley Cup playoff preview. Gretz and the Oilers still trying for their first Cup, and once again the Islanders and their Cup run is highlighted. 1984/85 season preview with not one, but two photos of Gretzky on the cover. The Oilers have finally won their first Cup and are on the hunt for a dynasty of th...