Nitzy's Hockey Den

14 cents Recently, I picked up this beauty at a collectibles show. A 63 year-old game program from the old Western Hockey League. The game was at the Victoria Memorial Arena between the visiting Vancouver Canucks and the hometown Cougars on January 11, 1954. The Cougars featured up-and-coming 24 year-old Andy Hebenton who would score 21 goals this season, his fifth of top-level minor pro hockey. After an 80 point season for Victoria in 1954/55, Hebenton finally graduated to the New York Rangers and stayed in the NHL until 1964.  On the other end of the scale, 35 year-old Billy Reay was in his first season as player/coach with Victoria after eight full years playing with the Montreal Canadiens. In 1957, Reay took over as Head Coach for Toronto Maple Leafs and in 1963 he began a 14 year stint as Head Coach in Chicago with the Black Hawks. All-time great, Lester Patrick 70 year-old Lester Patrick was the President of the Cougars after having been inducted into the Hockey Hall...

A quarter of the way through the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have three of the top four scoring rookies in the NHL. The top five rookies in points are as follows: (G-A-Pts) Patrick Laine, Winnipeg 12-6-18 Auston Matthews, Toronto 8-8-16 Mitch Marner, Toronto 7-9-16 William Nylander, Toronto 6-9-15 Zach Werenski, Columbus 5-10-15 The Leafs have their best rookie crop in at least a generation. In looking at the top three Toronto rookies on their own, it can arguably be said that they are the best Leafs crop of first-year players in over 85 years. Sure, Toronto has had some nice rookie groups enter the league at the same time through the years; 1985/86 Wendel Clark, Steve Thomas & Dan Hodgson 1982/83 Peter Ihnacak, Walt Poddubny, Dan Daoust 1979/80 Laurie Boschman, Rocky Saginiuk, Rick Vaive, Bill Derlago 1973/74 Borje Salming, Lanny McDonald, Ian Turnbull, Inge Hammarstrom 1955/56 Dick Duff, Billy Harris, Earl Balfour 1952/53 George Armstrong, Tim Horton, Ron ...

Recently I picked up this stick at the Vancouver Flea Market for a fairly reasonable price. It's signed by members of the Maple Leafs 1988/89 squad. I wasn't necessarily in the market for a late-80's signed Leaf stick, but it was a price I couldn't pass up. It actually makes a nice foil for my signed Leafs 62/63 stick, a team that finished first place in the NHL and won the Stanley Cup. The 88/89 team, not so much. Gary Leeman Led by Eddie Olczyk's 90 points, Gary Leeman's 75 and Vinny Damphousse's 68 (who are all on this stick) the Buds finished with 62 points, only one ahead of last overall Quebec. Olczyk was in his second and best season with the Leafs. He would be traded to Winniped in 1990 for Mark Osborne, Dave Ellett and Paul Fenton. His 90 points in 88/89 ended up being his career high. This year proved to be Leeman's breakout season as the following season he would notch the second ever 50 goal campaign in franchise history with 51. Of c...

Yep, Me and "Red" Kelly So, I met "Red" Kelly last week.  Actually, I didn't JUST meet the hockey legend, I chatted with him for twenty minutes. This encounter didn't just take place on the street or in a restaurant, it happened in the museum-like basement of Ultimate Leaf Fan, Mike Wilson.  As a member of the Society for International Hockey Research, I was lucky enough to attend the Meet and Greet event for their Annual meeting in Toronto last week. This was graciously held at the home of Mike Wilson, who told me he is not the self-proclaimed "Ultimate Leaf Fan" but was bestowed this moniker by none other than ESPN. Anyway, as a lifelong Leaf fan and collector myself, I was excited enough to gain entry to the Ultimate Leaf Den. Little did I know I would also meet one of the greatest living hockey players there as well.  Mike Wilson  Bathroom door with Original Maple Leaf Gardens Signage After I picked up my nametag and met ...

I recently picked up a bunch of 1970s NHL media guides at the flea market, lots of great covers. The first one is the second year of the Washington Capitals showing goaltender #30, John Adams which is a strange choice seeing as he played only eight games for the inaugural Caps. He went 0-7 and posted a 6.90 GAA. The next two are Bruins guides showing many of the team's all-time greats. The 76/77 guide shows some wacky charicatures of Don Cherry, Jean Ratelle and Brad Park. The 76/77 New York Islanders guide combines some blurry, fast-paced action as  well as a dejected looking Denis Potvin. The Sabres 74/75 guide pictures Rick Martin sporting some simply fantastic 70s sideburns. 72/73 North Stars guide looks like a version of the Odd Couple featuring Cesar Maniago and Gump Worsley. Bill Goldsworthy is the cover boy of the 74/75 media guide. Speaking of wacky charicatures, the 76/77 Los Angeles Kings guide shows Butch Goring being hoisted upon the shoulders ...

Four goals in a debut for Auston Matthews. What else can be said about a feat that was the very first of it's kind in National Hockey League history, nothing. However, one of the more interesting things about his four goal game, is the fact it was the first hat trick by a Maple Leafs rookie in well over thirty years. The last Leaf rookie to score three in a game, Dan Daoust in 1983. February 16, 1983, Toronto beat the visiting St.Louis Blues by a score of 6-3 behind the 24 saves of Rick St. Croix. The Leafs went into the game with a 14-30-10 record, the Blues not much better at 19-29-11. Daoust notched his first at 17:47  of the first beating Mike Liut to make it 2-0 Toronto. The assists went to John Anderson and Gaston Gingras. He made it 3-0 with an unassisted goal at 11:14 of the second. Two and a half minutes later he assisted on Rick Vaive's 38th goal of the year to make it 4-1 Toronto.  After the Blues made it 5-3, Daoust completed his hatty 6:35 into the third ...

As the NHL prepares to commence it's 100th anniversary season, it is interesting to look at the hockey world of 100 years ago. Not 1917, which was the first the year of the NHL but the National Hockey Association of exactly 100 years ago and the fall of 1916. The NHA signalled the beginning of its final campaign with a pre-season All-Star game of sorts that took place on December 17, 1916 in Toronto. Yes the season began a fair bit later 100 years ago. The game pitted the newly formed powerhouse 228th Battalion hockey team formed of military players in the Toronto area and an All-Star team consisting mainly of the other Toronto NHA entry, the Blueshirts, reinforced by eastern players Newsy Lalonde, Didier Pitre and Jack Marks. As described the following day in the Toronto World, the match was no contest but still entertaining; "Wonderful Speed Displayed By Soldiers' Hockey Team Saturday night's pro. hockey season opener deserved a bigger attendance than was...