Nitzy's Hockey Den

Living in Vancouver, I am have been fully engulfed in Sedin-mania the last week or so now that the two greatest Canucks are retiring. On multiple occasions over this time I have heard the statement made in the media that Daniel and Henrik are "Shoo-Ins" for the Hall of Fame. I believe this is a case of hometown bias if not downright hyperbole. While they do have fine cases for enshrinement to the Hall (one moreso than the other), they are hardly sure things for first-year entry. The main problem is the fact that there is a large contingent of recently retired players who are more deserved of a Hall selection than the brothers. The overall volume of players that will get in before them pretty much guarantees the Sedans will not be elected on their first attempt. Let's have a look at the numbers. In order to equate varying scoring rates of different eras, I looked at Adjusted Points, Goals and Assists from Hockey-Reference.com. The website explains the metrics; "...

Time to identify another rare photo from my pals at Vintage Sports Images here in North Vancouver. The Maple Leaf is obviously Dave Keon but there is no year or any other info with the photo. The game took place in Toronto as determined by the Leafs wearing their dark blue sweaters. The Bruins wore this or a very similar gold jersey with sleeve numbers from 1958 to 1967, but Toronto only wore this particular jersey in the 1962/63 season. That was the first year the Leafs added numbers to the sleeves and the following years the Leaf crest had a thin blue outline added it. The photo has to be from the 1962/63 campaign. In that season, the Bruins dressed two goaltenders and they both wore number 1, Eddie Johnston and Bob Perreault. Their photos from around this time period, at a similar angle to the photo, are below. Bob Perreault Eddie Johnston It's obvious the goalie in the photo is Bob Perreault who only played 22 games in 1962/63 for Boston. Looking at old boxsco...

Here's a German issued card issued in 1936 as part of a set commemorating the Olympics in Garmisch-Partinkirchen, Germany. The text on the back of the card is translated; "Canada and the USA did not come to the expected final round of the gold medal, they played for the silver and bronze medal on the closing day."  Indeed, on February 16, Canada defeated the US by a score of 1-0, details of the affair described in the Montreal Gazette; "The Canadian team blanked the United States, 1-0 in a stubbornly fought game today, ensuring England's hold on her first Olympic hockey championship and giving Canada second place in the final standing. Dave Neville, brainy wingman of Montreal gave Canada victory by scoring unassisted less than three minutes after the start of the game. Neville took the puck on a faceoff pass from Alex Sinclair, centre of Port Arthur, weaved through the American defence and scored easily.  The Olympic hockey series, born of trouble, ...

Four years ago I posted a bunch of vintage (mostly German) Olympic cards from as far back as 1928,  here.  Now it's time to share a few new additions to my collection since then. The card above pictures the Soviets battling the Germans in the 1956 Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The Soviet player is the great Vsevolod Bobrov, pictured below. Bobrov topped the tournament with 9 goals in 7 games as the Soviets took home their first ever Hockey Gold medal. He would go on to coach the Russian squad in the Summit Series in 1972. The German text on the back shown below loosely translates to: "The Soviet ice hockey players took every meeting seriously. They defeated the German representation, which consisted only of players of the Federal Republic, in the final clear 8:0 goals." The Soviets won all five games in the Olympic tournament, outscoring their opponents 25-5 including a 2-0 win over Canada. The next card shows the game versus Canada which took p...

"The airmen ended the nine-country round robin tournament in a first-place tie with Czechoslovakia but a superior goal average hoisted the Maple Leaf to the top of the flagpole as the Fifth Winter Olympics drew to a close" ,  so described Jack Sullivan, Canadian Press writer as published in the Montreal Gazette on February 9, 1948. He continued: "The team which few in the Dominion gave much chance to succeed went through the tournament unbeaten to give Canada her second championship in the Winter Olympics-writing the name of the Flyers alongside that of Barbara Ann Scott, ladies figure-skating champion. Murray Dowey, 22-year old blonde netminder from Toronto, registered his fifth shutout in eight games and Wally Halder, the team's top scorer during the games with 21 goals and eight assists, fired the shot that proved to be the winner in the first period. Patsy Guzzo added the second Canadian goal in the middle period and Reg Schroeter made it 3-0 before...

Maple Leafs defencemen Travis Dermott and Justin Holl each scored their first NHL goal on January 31, 2018 against the Islanders. This was the first time Toronto had two players score their first ever goal in the same game in 33 years. On January 16, 1985 in Los Angeles, rookies Bill Kitchen and Ken Strong each tallied their first NHL marker, the boxscore is below. In a strange coincidence, the two sets of first NHL goals were both scored consecutively, and each within about five minutes of each other.  In addition, Justin Holl became the first Maple Leaf defenceman to score a goal in his first NHL game since Claire Alexander did it on November 30, 1974. Holl would add a goal the very next night in his second NHL game becoming the first Maple Leaf to score in his first two games since Daniel Marois did it in October 1988. Holl is also the first Maple Leaf defenceman EVER to score in each of his first two games. Jan. 16, 1985 For Bill Kitchen this goal would pro...

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...