Nitzy's Hockey Den

The Vancouver Public Library recently released some terrific old hockey photos online, the one above  was titled simply Vancouver Canucks vs Skyhawks Hockey Fight, April 14, 1948. It shows some heated action in the penalty box, but does not name any of the players pictured. The Skyhawks were the San Diego entry in the old Pacific Coast Hockey League. Checking the Society for International Hockey Research Database, the bleeding #10 of SanDiego is identified as Arley Carlson. Left-Winger Carlson was 24 years old at the time in his fifth professional season. In 1947/48 he posted 12 goals, 41 points in 43 games for the Skyhawks. Carlson was born in Virginia, Minnesota and would go on to star with the amateur Rochester (Minnesota) Mustangs for seven years. Virgina, Minnesota is also the hometown of Jeff, Jack and Steve Carlson of the movie Slap Shot fame. From what I can find,  although his age would fit, Arley Carlson is not the father of the movie brothers, but the odds are...

I recently picked up an old issue of Hockey Digest at the local flea market from December 1979, (OK it was a part of a self-bought Christmas present...self-buying your presents is really the only way to go). One of the first articles in the magazine was titled as shown above, "Here Are The All-Star Teams of The 1980s!". In the article, author George Vass makes bold predictions on who would be the stars of the next decade. The All-Stars of the 80s were selected as seen below: The author makes the rather bold statement while selecting his teams of the 1980s;  "In fact, though it's taking a risk considering that injuries can cut short the most promising careers, it's possible to pick hockey's All-Star Team of the 1980s with  the assurance that one is not likely to be very far off." Well...he was indeed very far off in his picks. The problem was, there was a slew of Stars, Hall of Fame players,and All-Time greats  just starting their careers in ...

Montreal Arena, site of Toronto's first NHL game 100 years ago today, the NHL and the Maple Leafs franchise began. The Montreal Wanderers defeated the Toronto Arenas by a score of 10-9. Below are a few descriptions of that very first game from newspapers of the day. Toronto World newspaper, Dec 20, 1017 "About 700 people witnessed the initial professional hockey game of the season at the Arena, when the Wanderers won from Toronto by a score of 10-9. The play was somewhat ragged at times, and the visiting team (Toronto) was weak in goal. The Torontos had the better of the argument most of the game, but neither Hebert, who was the Toronto goalkeeper in the earlier part of the game, nor Brooks, in the second session, stopped the Wanderers shots as they might have done. Wanderers used Lindsay thruout and he proved more serviceable to the home team than either Hebert or Brooks." "The visitors' forwards, Skinner, Denneny and Noble, were fast and good shots, an...

Here's a great shot of the Leafs in their room from the good people at Vintage Sports Images . The two main players are easily identified as Dick Duff and Billy Harris; but the question is, when was the photo taken? Duff and Harris played together on the Leafs  from 1955/56 February 22, 1964 when Duff was dealt to New York Rangers in the Andy Bathgate trade. The photo could be from any one of these nine seasons, or could it? Checking the NHL Uniform Database  it is confirmed that the Maple Leafs added a tie-down to their sweater collar for the 1958/59 season. Therefore this photo can only be from 1955/56, 56/57 or 57/58. These three seasons were the first three in the NHL career of Billy Harris, by the 57/58 campaign he produced 16 goals and 44 points. That same season, Duff scored 26 goals and 49 points. They finished first and second in Maple Leafs point scoring that year.  A really nice photo behind the scenes of hockey life in the 1950's.

This little beauty is the latest addition to The Den, Punch Imlach's Hockey Tips issued by Chex cereal in 1962. This 32-page, thick-stock paper, full colour booklet was originally obtained by sending in two box-tops of Chex cereal. The one I picked up is in just about perfect shape and looks real nice on the shelf with the   How to Play Goal Booklet by Johnny Bower  and the  How to Play Forward Booklet by Dave Keon  that were put out by Coca-Cola a few years later. Coach Punch covers all the facets of hockey with the help of his star players on the Maple Leafs. Red Kelly helps illustrate the golden rule of hockey, "Always keep that head up". As a defenceman, Tim Horton apparently must "Stop the puck with his body, hands, stick, and so on." Not sure what "so on" refers to, but it probably hurts. Dave Keon reminds us that when stick-handling, "Stick blade lies flat on ice". I can attest by experience, this is true. The Big ...

Here's a very cool vintage hockey photo that came to me with zero identifying information. It's from my pals at Vintage Sports Images  and shows a melee between some old Leafs and Wings. Simply looking at the faces, we can see that the #19 Leaf at the left is the one and only Bill Barilko and the Red Wing on the right looks to be a very young Red Kelly.  Barilko and Smythe A young Leonard "Red" Kelly  Let's start with Barilko. Although more known for wearing his retired number 5, Barilko actually wore #19 more than any other number during his career with the Leafs. He only wore 5 in 1950/51, when he scored the Stanley Cup overtime winner. The previous two seasons, Barilko sported # 19, and his first two years he was #21. So, seeing Barilko with #19 in this photo means it can only be either 1948/49 or 1949/50.  In regards to Red Kelly, he began his career with Detroit in 1947/48 and by 1949/50 he was named to the 2nd All-Star Team, his first of eight...

Here's another great old image from the archives of Vintage Sports Images here in North Van. This one is a great action shot of the Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins. In net for the Leafs is obviously Johnny Bower, but who are the rest of the guys? At first glance, the #19 Leaf appears to be Kent Douglas and checking the photo records it sure seems so. Also, Toronto wore this specific uniform with the bordered Leaf logo from 1963/64 through 1966/67. Douglas was the only player to wear #19 in that period. As for the Bruins #19, the only ones to wear it over this time frame were Doug Mohns, Reggie Fleming and John McKenzie. Pie McKenzie was a right-shooter and the guy in the photo is not Doug Mohns. It has to be Reggie Fleming in 1965/66 as he was traded to the Rangers on January 10, 1966 for...McKenzie. Doug Mohns Reg Fleming So, if it's 65/66 we can now easily visually identify the Bruin in the back as Tommy Williams using various photo databases. Williams was a...