A look at the second game Team Canada played in Sweden, tying 4-4 after winning 4-1 the night previous. Coach Sinden was far from happy with his team's effort in the victory and decidedly less-so with last second draw salvaged on a Phil Esposito last minute short-handed goal. From the files Ted Blackman of the Montreal Gazette and Dan Proudfoot of the Globe and Mail. "Do they think it's Viet Nam?" asked Owe Sterner, brother of Ulf Sterner, Sweden's most respected player. Following are highlights of the evening's violence: At 17:02 of the first period Bill Goldsworthy is penalized for cross-checking. Infuriated, he makes a spearing motion at a Swede's face. Esposito inquired of referee Franz Baader before the game if he knew all the rules. Baader shows he does by giving Goldy a spearing minor which carries an automatic misconduct. At the end of the first period, Espo reacts to subtle fouls by Borje Salming by cross-checking him as the teams leave the ...
This is a cool item I recently came across while looking through the great site, Classicauctions.net. Below is pictured a program from early in the 1976/77 season of the Seneca Nationals a Toronto area Junior B squad. Most will be familiar with this team as one of Wayne Gretzky's stepping stones to greatness. He had played the previous year with the Vaughan Nationals and scored 60 points in 28 games in a season which he started as a 14 year old. This 76/77 year, he would tally 72 points in 32 games. What is interesting is the program has a list of Gretzky's team mates during this early part of his career. Somewhat amazingly, this junior B team would produce, not only Wayne Gretzky, but three other NHLers and a total of 6 professional players. Bill Gardner , brother of Paul Gardner was almost a year older than Gretzky and scored 102 points in 68 games this season. He would go on to have two more 100 point years in the OHL with Peterborough and be drafted in the fourth round by C...
Ron Hextall did not deserve the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1987....there, I said it. I recently caught game seven of the '87 finals on ESPN Classic, where the Oilers beat the Flyers 3-1. Hextall was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy to the disdain and boos of the Northlands Coliseum. Hextall was (and remains) the fourth player to win the trophy in a losing cause. Even as a teenager following these playoffs as they happened, I thought this was an injustice. Upon further inspection, I believe he only won because he was a rookie, and was the "sexy" pick as opposed to the proper pick. When looking at his numbers, it's hard to figure why he won. Hextall finished with 15 wins, 11 losses and a GAA of 2.77. Oilers, Grant Fuhr went 14 and 5 with an average of 2.46. I realize that stats cannot tell the whole story, but even if we dig further the award doesn't seem justified. His .908 Save Pct was the same as Fuhr's and tied for third behind Ken Wregget and Kelly Hrudey. Also,...
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