Mystery Hockey Photo #2

Time for another mystery hockey photo. This one shows the New York Islanders visiting Detroit. Clearly pictured is Bryan Trottier and Billy Smith of the Isles and Paul Woods and Claude Loiselle of the Wings. In front of Woods is an Islander who's name ends in "EN" and has either number 2 or 7 on his helmet.

The Wings are sporting jerseys with fancy-style numbers, and thanks to http://www.nhluniforms.com/RedWings/RedWings14.html we find that they wore these only for the 1982/83 season. A look at the records shows the Isles visiting Detroit twice during the season on Nov. 3 and Dec. 8. The rosters for each game are unavailable but Billy Smith played in both matches, so that doesn't narrow it down.

Claude Loiselle played in only 18 games this season, and a quick search allows us to pinpoint the game in this photo.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G2Q_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=nVMMAAAAIBAJ&dq=claude%20loiselle%20wings&pg=2018%2C1993793

Loiselle was apparently sent back to his junior team in Windsor on Nov. 23, 1982. His total games played to that point, 18. Therefore, he could not have played in the game against the Isles in December. The game in the photo then is from Nov. 3, 1982 a game that saw Detroit tie New York 3-3.

The Islander player in front of Woods is Mike McEwen who wore number 2 and 16 that year. Stefan Persson wore number 7, but the name in the photo definitely ends in "EN".

Another hockey photo mystery solved.

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