Nitzy's Hockey Den

Over the last few years I have been posting all the Maple Leaf game programs I own, dating back to 1930. I keep them over at what I call the  Maple Leafs Programme Project . The long term goal is to try to collect at least one Leafs program from every year played in Maple Leaf Gardens. I believe I have 35 of the 50 seasons covered from 1930 (Mutual Street Arena) to 1979. We're getting there.  Now, I've decided to do the same for all the magazines in my collection that feature Maple Leafs covers (most are either Leafs or early Gretzky). The first one above, is a terrific looking cover of Liberty magazine from December 16, 1933. Liberty was a general interest magazine along the lines of The Saturday Evening Post  and was published until 1950. Even though this issue depicts Leafs and New York Rangers on the front, there is no corresponding article inside. So, all we get to enjoy is the terrific cover. This beauty here is from March 1948, Sportfolio magazine pictu...

Here's another great old hockey photo, this one found in the online Victoria, BC Archives. It's simply titled "Victoria Cougars players with boy in trench coat, 1952". Looking at the Society for International Hockey Research player photo database, it's fairly easy to determine the three players in the photo. From Left to Right; Bernie Strongman, Eddie Mazur, James Fodey. Winnipeg native, Bernie Strongman played for Victoria from 1949 through 1953 when he retired. He had helped the Cougars win the Lester Patrick Cup as champions of the Pacific Coast Hockey League. According to the Society for International Hockey Research database, Strongman is alive to this day, having turned 99 years old in June. Eddie Mazur played two full seasons with Victoria before being called up by the Montreal Canadiens for the 1951 Stanley Cup playoffs. After potting 43 goals for the Cougars, Mazur got into two matches for the Habs that spring, the year they lost to Bill Barilk...

With today being the day Willie O'Ree is inducted into the Builders wing of the Hockey Hall of Fame, it's a good time to share a couple rare photos of the trailblazing player. These are from the collection of our friends at Vintage Sports Images  . The first photo shows O'Ree with the Boston Bruins in what has to be the 1960/61 campaign as bespectacled Al Arbour is with Chicago. O'Ree had played two games with Boston in 57/58, but this was his only full season (mostly) in the NHL, playing 43 games and tallying 14 points. Behind O'Ree is big Bill Hay and of course in net is Mr. Goalie, Glenn Hall. This next photo shows O'Ree later in his playing career with the San Diego Gulls of the Western Hockey League. Willie starred for for the Gulls from 1967/68 to 1973/74. To narrow down the timeframe on this photo we look at the other players in the picture. Using the  SIHR  photo database it is determined that the Gull on the left side is Bruce Carmichael who wa...

What a helluva time to be a Maple Leafs fan. After literally a lifetime of suffering through mostly atrocious teams (with a few glimmering points), it appears we have finally come out on the other side. Toronto is a legitimate contender and a high-powered scoring juggernaut. I sure as hell am going to enjoy the ride, hopefully for at least a few years (please, hockey gods). After their fifth game of the 2018/19 campaign, the Leafs hold the top four spots in NHL scoring; Matthews and Rielly with 12 and Tavares and Marner with 10.  I mean, Matthews just broke Wayne Gretzky's record for youngest player with at least 12 points in their first 5 games of a season...and Rielly broke Bobby Orr's modern record for most points by a defenceman in their first five games of a season... I need to lay down. In all seriousness though, as good as these numbers are, it's fun to look at two of the greatest ever and how they came out of the gates through the years. The Great One...

Above is an action-packed photo I found in the Vancouver Archives database (I believe that's where I found it, I save so many old hockey pics sometime I forget where exactly I found them). It was labelled only with the year "1948", and clearly shows the old Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Ironmen of the Pacific Coast Hockey League.  The PCHL was a professional circuit existing from 1944 through 1952 when it became the professional  Western Hockey League. The problem with the photo is there are literally no player numbers visible, making identification difficult...difficult, but not impossible. Looking through the Society for International Hockey Research database, it's fairly easy to narrow down the Canuck who's driving the net as Scotty McPherson or Bob Drainville (see pics below). Both players were left-handed shooters who played for the Canucks in 1948/49. This would be Drainville's only season with Vancouver, while McPherson played the next two f...

I recently picked up this hockey magazine from November 1978 for two reasons; a Maple Leaf (Tiger Williams) is pictured on the cover, and there's an article about a young Wayne Gretzky inside. Written by Shirley Fischler, wife of Stan and a renowned hockey writer herself.  Fischler describes the 17-year old Gretzky as having "fresh good looks" in "well-worn khaki jeans, denim t-shirt and Philadelphia Phillies baseball cap". Gretzky is quoted,"I let my agent, Gus (Badali), carry the money. I just want enough cash to pay my expenses."He also states, "In my life, girls always came third, after hockey and school." Adorable. What I really like are the fairly rare photos of Gretz in a pre-season photo-shoot wearing the Indianapolis Racers jersey. He of course played a mere 8 games for Indy, collecting 6 points. The trade to Edmonton on November 2, 1978 happened likely as this magazine was hitting the newsstands. The rest is history...

As the Vancouver Norvans and Nanaimo Clippers finished tied with 29 points in the Coast League standing, two points behind Victoria, they would play each other in the best-of-three Semi-final. Before they could do that however, league President Jack Ryan ordered that they play a two-game total game series to determine the out-right second place finisher. The winner would be granted home ice advantage for the Semifinal. Norvan playing/coach Tip O'Neill figured his squad had "an even chance" of taking second place. He admitted that former NHLer Dave MacKay had added considerable  strength to the Clippers but added, "The fact that Victoria Bapcos beat them proves they are not unbeatable, and we were never worried by Victoria." Vancouver Feb. 20- Nanaimo Clippers Defeat Norvans in Opening Match, 9-2 "Nanaimo Clippers defeated Vancouver Norvans 9-2 here tonight to go into a seven-goal lead in the two-game total-goal playoff series to decide second place i...

Ex-NHLer Jack Riley The addition of Jack Riley, who had recently been reinstated as an amateur, continued to pay off for the Vancouver Norvans Shipyard squad;The Vancouver Sun headline blared; "NORVANS ALONE ON TOP, Jack Riley Spearhead Of Shipyard Offense Before 4000 at Forum."  The Daily Colonist exclaimed, " Norvans Register Over Clippers to Take First Berth Vancouver Hockey Squad, Paced by Jack Riley, Scores 7-3 Victory Over Nanaimo in Coast Ice League - Breaks First-Place Tie With Victoria Bapcos - Second Period Rough."  The headline and byline said it all, The Daily Colonist went on to describe the rough match; " Jack Riley, recently reinstated pro, paced Norvans with two goals while Frank Pietrosky, Ken Barker, Johnny Ursaki, Bill Nelson and Norm McQuade supplied the others. Jackie Mann was the only Nanaimo scorer, netting all three of his team's goals."  The Vancouver Sun wrote;  "Sticks were high and so were Nanaimo tempers...there wa...

Red Beattie, a veteran of over 300 NHL games with Boston would  score 15 goals in 41/42 tied for the Norvans lead The four-way tie of all the teams in the Coast League was short-lived. On January 5, 1942 a league ruling changed up the look of the standings; " NANAIMO-Commisioners of the Pacific Coast Intermediate Hockey League, in a special meeting here yesterday, upheld the protest of Victoria Bapcos against use by Nanaimo Clippers of three allegedly inelligible players in a December 20 game and ruled that he game in question be replayed on a date to be set later by the clubs involved.  Victoria had protested Nanaimo’s use in a game at Nanaimo, December 20 of Red Carr, Jack Mann  and Fergy McPherson, despite the fact the three had been given match penalties in a game the previous night at Victoria which Nanaimo won 2-1. Clarence Campbell, former N.H.L. referee now at Victoria taking an officers’ training course with the militia, will be appointed to handle Victoria g...