Eddie Emberg; First Player Ever to Debut in Playoffs and Score


Colorado Avalanche defenceman, Cale Makar made NHL history in the first round of the 2019 playoffs by scoring a goal in his NHL debut that was also a playoff game. He is only the seventh player to ever do this. It's a fairly eclectic list with really only one guy (Brind'Amour) who became star in the league. I was interested in finding out about the very first player to have his debut in a playoff game and score a goal, a guy I had never heard of, Eddie Emberg.
A look at the statistical record of Eddie Emberg shows his only NHL games took place in the 1944/45 post-season. He played two games for the Canadiens scoring his one and only goal in his debut match, the question is which game was actually his first? A check of NHL.com's boxscore records determines Emberg's first game was March 29, 1945 in the first round against Toronto. This was the fifth game of the series that the Leafs were ahead three games to one, but game five belonged to the Habs. Montreal kept the series alive by beating Toronto 10-3, the newspaper headlines declared the surprise and concern for the Leafs.
I found one newspaper clip that mentioned Emberg "Up from Quebec Aces with Nils Tremblay for the game". 22 year-old Emberg would score ten points in seven playoff games for the Aces of the Quebec Senior League that same season. He also played game six with the Habs as Toronto rebounded from the embarrassing defeat and eliminated Montreal with a 3-2 win. The Leafs went on to defeat Detroit in seven games for the Stanley Cup.
Eddie Emberg never graced an NHL ice sheet again. He would star in the Quebec League for the next decade, leading the loop in scoring with 67 points in 40 games for Valleyfield in 1946/47. 
Boxscore of March 29, 1945
Game Five vs. Toronto.





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