Nitzy's Hockey Den

Monday morning after Canada's Gold Medal hockey victory I caught Liam Maguire on Vancouver's Team 1040 radio on my drive to work. He was entertaining and informative as always and I was quite interested in one point he made. Maguire called this 2014 version of Team Canada the best he had ever seen, specifically comparing them to the 1976 Canada Cup squad. To paraphrase from memory he said, "I've been watching international hockey for over forty years and this team did things the others couldn't on the defensive end." I figured I'd have a look at the 2014 and 1976 teams as well as the 1987 Canada Cup and 2002 Olympic championship versions of Team Canada. Which one was the greatest? First let's look at the raw numbers; (W-L-T GF-GA) 1976  6-1-0  33-10 1987 6-1-2 41-32 2002 4-1-1 22-14 2014 6-0-0 17-3 Each of the first three teams had at least one minor setback in the way of a loss, the most recent edition's closest thing to a...

I stumbled across these great photos in a Maple Leaf Gardens program I recently picked up. The book is from opening night of the 1965/66 campaign and has this fantastic look at the annual Maple Leaf Gardens open house which took place on Saturday, September 25, 1965. From 10am to 10pm that day some 25,000 folks filed through the home of the Maple Leafs for a look behind the scenes. Above is a great shot of the Gardens lobby area as people wait to get into the arena itself. For a small donation, the fans got into the building as well as a free Shopsy hot dog, Coke and ice-cream bar. All funds raised went toward the Hospital for Sick Children Building Fund. Below Leaf president Stafford Smythe is shown depositing a cheque of $50,000 for the fund on behalf of the Maple Leaf Gardens directors. Above, youngsters check out the dressing room that was used by The Beatles for their Gardens visit as well as the Gardens hospital room. Below, Leaf rookie Ron Ellis is shown signing...

"There are 20 guys who are extremely distraught over this," coach Dave King was quoted after Team Canada's final game of the 1984 Olympics. They had just lost by a score of 2-0 to Sweden to be denied a Bronze Medal. King continued,"It was a very difficult game for our young players to play and I didn't think we coped with the pressure as well as we could have." Goaltender Mario Gosselin said after the game that the team wanted the Bronze Medal too badly,"We tried hard, but we tried in the wrong way. We wanted to win the game in the first minute, we wanted to win as quickly as possible, we wanted too much to win." In truth, they didn't even need a win, a tie would have given the Canadians the Bronze on goal differential. Canada ended up scoring zero goals in the three final round matches and obviously could have used some more offense. King addressed that, "Certainly when you lose the last three by shutout, you think a player like Ma...

"Basically, it was a two-three system with one guy skating backwards in the middle to deflect the attack to either side," commented Canadian coach Dave King after the game against the Soviet Union. "I had heard the Calgary Flames used it when they beat the Russians on their tour, and that the Swedes and Czechs sometimes used a forward like a defenceman." Whatever it was, it didn't work as the mighty Soviets, after being held scoreless for half the game, beat Canada 4-0 to advance to the Gold Medal game. Outshot by 26-10, Canada was never really in the game. Vladimir Kovin and Alexander Kozhevnikov broke through in the second to make it 2-0. This score stood until there were just over five minutes left in the third when Alexander Skvortsov iced the game with a shorthanded marker. Nikolai Drozdetsky was given the final goal when Canadian defender Warren Anderson put one into his own net. Canada would now play Sweden for the Bronze Medal after they los...

"Miracles happen every 20 years. They happened twice, both in the States (1960, 1980). There will be no miracles here in Sarajevo." This was Canadian assistant coach Jean Perron after his team lost 4-0 to the powerful Czechs to assure a match up with the even more powerful Soviets. Canada's next game would be against the undefeated Soviet Union to decide which team would play for the Gold medal of the 1984 Olympics. Perron continued,"We're realistic enough to know we can't beat the Russians, so we have to make sure we're ready to play for the bronze medal." Against the Czechs, Mario Gosselin was his usual solid self, but this time he was actually outplayed by the opposing goaltender. "It's safe to say goaltending was the difference," continued a still dour Perron. "Mario played okay, but we needed an absolutely great performance. I think their goalie was better." "Their goalie" being Jaromir Sindel who t...

"When we first came here, I thought we might do well to be fifth or sixth," coach Dave King said. "And now..." And now, Canada had four wins in four games after trouncing Norway by a score of 8-1. Coupled with a 7-2 victory by Czechoslovakia over Finland, Canada's next game against the Czechs was essentially a medal-round match. The 4-0 record qualified Canada for the four-team medal round, but the final game of the preliminary round will count toward final medals as head-to-head games between final round teams are carried over into the medals. Behind three goals and two assist by Dave Gagner and a goal and two assists from line mate Russ Courntall, Canada surprised the hockey world by marching to the medal round. Gagner said after, "Simply, that Czech game is the most important of our lives." Just two months prior Canada had led the Czechs 2-1 after two periods in the Izvestia tournament before losing 4-2. Coach Dave King said of that game, ...

The cartoon that appeared in the Toronto Telegram upon conclusion of the 1964 Olympic hockey tournament said it all. Canada was robbed of a medal. For the first time in Olympic hockey history, Canada failed to win a medal. This was the first time Canada had utilized a true "national team" system by way of Father David Bauer. I wrote about their preparations here; http://nitzyshockeyden.blogspot.ca/2014/01/team-canada-1964-olympic-preparation.html Going into the final game of the 1964 Games, Canada needed a victory over the undefeated Soviets in order to secure a Gold. Jumping out to a 1-0 lead not six minutes into the game on a goal by George Swarbrick, Canada got the start they desired. However, after exchanging  the first four goals, they entered the final period tied 2-2. In his autobiography " Hockey In Canada, The Way It Is", Canadian star Brian Conacher wrote of that final period.  "So six months work came down to twenty minutes' effor...

"I'm amazed," Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president Murray Costello said of Mario Gosselin,"The kid is so cool out there, relaxed, picking them off, right under control. This little guy, in this kind of pressure and he's having fun at it. He loves it." Canada had just beaten Finland by a score of 4-2 to win their third game of the 1984 Olympic tournament with Gosselin turning aside 24 of 27 shots. The perfect start to the Olympics was surprising to even coach Dave King, "Even as a coach you have to be surprised they're playing so well. They're really on top of their game. You talk about the peaking process, I guess that's what we're going through right now." Kirk Muller gave Canada a 1-0 lead after a period as Finland's chances were kept too a minimum. Canada peppered Finnish goalie Kari Takko with 17 shots in the period and 16 more in the second as Finland took the lead. King said,"I thought it was a good...

The previous time Canada met Austria in Olympic hockey  was in 1956 at Cortina, Italy. Canada won 23-0. So an 8-1 defeat was marked improvement for the Austrians. Canada improved to a 2-0 record in the 1984 Olympic hockey tournament with the decisive victory. Kirk Muller with a pair of goals as well as markers from Dave Donnely and Pat Flatley had Canada up 4-0 by the halfway point of the match. Coach Dave King replaced goaltender Mario Gosselin after stopping all 11 shots he face through two periods if only to rest hime. The first shot directed Darren Eliot's way by Eddy Lebler bulged the twine to make it 6-1 Canada 20 seconds into the third, but that was as close as it got. Next up for Canada would be the Finns. Austrian coach Gregory Holst, whose team lost their opener of the tournament 4-3 to Finland said, "There's a great difference between the Finns and the Canadians. The Finn don't bodycheck, but they are very fast skaters. They play a very complicated sys...

Less than 24 hours before the first game of the 1984 Olympics, Canadian goaltender Mario Gosselin was under the impression that he would not be allowed to compete. The problem was that two years prior, Gosselin had dressed as back-up for John Garrett of the NHL's Quebec Nordiques due to an injury to Dan Bouchard. At the time, Gosselin was a member of the Quebec Junior League's Shawinigan Cataractes having been drafted by the Nordiques in the third round of the 1982 draft. Although he never got into the game with the Nords, just prior to the Olympics it was believed this was enough to disqualify him from amateur status. Gosselin went to bed the night before the first game against the defending Gold medalist USA still thinking he was ineligible. He was awoken in his room after midnight by someone saying he was wanted on the telephone. "It was a Quebec talk show. The guy on the line said, 'Mario, you're playing. It's all been cleared up.' It was...

These are actual cards from my collection that were issued for various Winter Olympic games either as souvenirs or as premiums in cigarette packages. The rear of this card is translated; "Hockey is the fastest fighting game in the world. In no other sport, the other situations as lightning, is required of players next greatest skill and presence of mind so precise technique. Canada is the motherland of this game. His team accomplished miracles services was not only Olympic champion, but was not beaten in the whole of Europe by any opponent." The University of Toronto Grads coached by soon-to-be legendary Conn Smythe represented Canada in the 1928 Olympic Games of St.Moritz, Switzerland.  After taking the Allan Cup title in 1927 beating Fort William 2-1-1 in a best of three final, the Grads steamrolled through Europe on the way to Olympic gold. Undefeated in their 12 game Euro tour in conjunction with the Olympics, they were led by Left Wing Dave Trottier and Ce...

These are actual cards from my collection that were issued for various Winter Olympic games either as souvenirs or as premiums in cigarette packages. The rear of this card is translated; "Gustav Jaenecke, the captain of the German team and its best player in ice hockey tournament of the Winter Games." Indeed he was the best player for the Germans in the 1936 Olympics, perhaps even the best of all-time. Beginning  as a 17 year old with his hometown Berliner Schlittschuh-Club in 1925 he would score 370 goals in 417 club-team matches. Representing Germany in international play from 1926 through 1941 he counted another 71 goals in 91 games.  In total, Jaenecke was a member of 13 German league championship teams, most of any player ever. In addition his Berliner SC won two Spengler Cups. With the national side, he won Olympic bronze in 1932 and another bronze and a silver in the World Championships of 1934 and 1932 respectively. In addition to his great skill at...

This first card I was sent by my friend Bruce who I play hockey with, the second one is from my collection. They are from separate German sets from 1936 depicting the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partinkirchen. Both cards show the German Olympic hockey team, and yes, the first one pictures them giving the Nazi salute. Amazingly, one of the players on this team, perhaps the best player was a Jewish man named Rudi Ball. Ball was born in 1911 in Berlin to a German father and Lithuanian Jewish mother. He took to the game of hockey at age 15 and by 17 he was starring for his hometown Berliner SC. The speedy, 5'4" Ball tallied 11 goals in 13 games and would suit up for the German National squad for the first time the following year. On both teams he was joined by his good friend and fellow star, Gustav Jaenecke. Together they led the Germans to the Silver medal in the 1930 World Championships. By now Ball and Jaenecke were outright stars for Berliner SC and the natio...