Nitzy's Hockey Den

I came across this terrific article in the newspaper archives of The Nelson Tribune dated January 30, 1901. It's a write-up about a the first game of the Stanley Cup challenge between the Winnipeg Victorias and the Montreal Shamrocks. The article itself is bordering on the hilarious as it really is merely a play-by-play account of the action on the ice. I mean, a literal play-by-play report of the entire game; from offside calls, goaltenders stopping the play, pucks getting 'lifted' into the grandstand and on and on. Check it out below and replay the action in your imagination. MONTREAL, January 29, 1901.—The hockey game between the Victorias of Winnipeg and the Shamrocks of Montreal was faced off at 8:10 p.m. The game was very even. Johnson secures puck, loses it, and Grant lifts. Brennan secures puck, going down to Victoria's goal. Brown makes a good stop. Bain shoots on goal off-side. First game for Shamrocks in six minutes.  Dan Bain Off again, Trihey...

I read in a few places how today is the anniversary of Wayne Gretzky reaching the 100 point plateau in 1983...in 34 games played. Below are the top scorers through December 18, 1983: (GP-G-A-Pts) Gretzky          34 37 63 100 Kurri               34 28 38 66 Trottier            33 22 33 55 PStastny          34 17 38 55 Nicholls           34 22 30 52 Bossy               27 24 23 47 Savard             33 22 25 47 Tanti                32 25 21 46 Federko           32 20 26 46 Dionne             34 14 32 46 Pederson          32 14 31 45 Messier             33 13 32 45 Deblois             33 16 2...

On Wednesday, March 24, 1971 the Montreal Canadiens held a Jean Beliveau Day prior to that evening's match with the Philadelphia Flyers. Their captain was winding down his illustrious career and this was fourth-to-last regular season home game. Beliveau and the Canadiens would of course extend his career and the season all the way to a Stanley Cup victory of Chicago almost two months later. This night however, was Beliveau's special one. "I must admit," Beliveau said, "For one of the few times in my career, my mind wasn't on hockey the past few days. I found the first period quite difficult but started getting back into the game in the second and third periods." Montreal beat the Flyers 5-3 and Beliveau assisted on Montreal's second goal, the 15th of the year from John Ferguson. Ferguson commented on the goal, "I had a lot of time and a lot of room. But when you get a pass like that from Jean it makes a difference." Prior to th...