Nitzy's Hockey Den

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...