Who Was The First American Born Captain To Win The Stanley Cup?

This achievement belongs to Derian Hatcher who won the Stanley Cup as a captain of the Dallas Stars in 1999. Hatcher started his career with the Stars some 10 years earlier after being drafted by the then Minnesota North Stars in the 1990 NHL Entry draft.

Hatcher is famous for his massive physique (height of 6 ft5 and weight of 235 lbs) and physically punishing style that made him one of the most fearsome defensemen in the league.

Hatcher scored in his first game as a Minnesota North Star on October 12, 1991 in a 3-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings. He continued to dominate the Stars’ blueline even after the move to Dallas, contributing 1,380 penalty minutes, 223 assists and 71 goals during his career with the Stars.

The hulking blueliner signed a $30 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings in 2003, but did not have much success in Detroit, having his contract bought out in 2005. Later in 2005 he became a member of the Philadelphia Flyers and went on to become an interim captain for the Flyers a year later.

Hatcher was also part of the US national hockey team for most of his career and even participated in two Olympic Games, suiting up for Team USA in 1998 and 2006.

After suffering a severe knee injury during the 2008-09 NHL season, Derian Hatcher announced his retirement in June 2009. Hatcher is currently a player development coach for the Philadelphia Flyers, the place where he ended his National Hockey League career.

Who Captained The Detroit Red Wings Before Steve Yzerman?

Steve Yzerman is a true legend in the history of the Detroit Red Wings. He served as the team’s Captain from the 1986 until his retirement in 2006.  Though his career as a player has ended, the people of Detroit still call him ‘The Captain’.

But, because Yzerman was the Captain of the Red Wings for two decades, many people forget that he took over the captaincy from Danny Gare prior to the 1986-87 NHL season.

Danny Gare was born in Nelson, British Columbia in 1954 and played for the Detroit Red Wings from 1981-82 to the 1985-86 season. Those were some of the leanest years in the history of the Red Wings franchise. This lack of team success somewhat explains why Danny Gare is more renowned for his career as a Buffalo Sabre, where he spent the 8 previous seasons from 1972 to 1982 .

Gare Most remembered As A Sabre

The Buffalo Sabres made the right winger famous for his quick wrist shot. Gare’s achievements throughout his 17 year hockey career include two seasons of over 50 goals, with the most memorable one being 1979-80 when he scored 56. Those 56 goals left him tied for the league lead with Charlie Simmer of the Los Angeles Kings and Hartford Whalers sniper, Blaine Stoughton.

Danny Gare participated in two NHL All-Star Games, 1980 and 1981. In 2005 his number 18 was retired by the Buffalo Sabres – an honor that has been granted to only six players in the history of the franchise. Gare still holds many team records for the Sabres, but none for the Detroit Red Wings. Gare’s time in Detroit was forgettable, but the career of Detroit’s next Captain, Steve Yzerman, certainly was not!

The Largest Margin Of Victory In NHL History

During the second World War, several NHL players were called into active duty leaving some teams short handed for the hockey season.  In 1944, the New York Rangers were especially bad.

The team went winless in the first 15 games, won just 6 games the entire season, and were victims of blow-out scores on several occasions.

Goaltender Ken McAuley amassed a record Goals Against Average of 6.24, giving up 310 Goals in just 50 Games. Surprisingly, the 23 year-old McAuley played all 50 games that season and was even brought back the following season, where he played 48 games for the Rangers.

The Relentless Red Wings

The Detroit Red were on the giving end of some of those beatings, outscoring the Rangers by a total of 67-26 in the 10 games they played against each other that year. Of all the games, it was one that took place on January 23, 1944 that has withstood the test of time and remains in the NHL record books.  On that night the most lopsided game in history took place as the Detroit Red Wings beat the New York Rangers 15-0.

Don Cherry would not have approved of the sportsmanship, or lack thereof, displayed during this game.  The Red Wings scored five goals in the final six minutes of the game, running the score from an already 10-0 shelling to the final total of 15-0.  Red Wing forward Syd Howe scored a hat trick in the final six minutes of the game. Howe, throwing some salt in an already gaping wound, scored 6 more goals in 12-2 drubbing of the Rangers just a week later.

Not surprisingly, the New York Rangers did not win another game that season.  They would miss the playoffs for the next four years, and made the post season just twice in the following 11 years.

Do you think we’ll ever see a more lopsided game in the National Hockey League?

Source:Hockey Reference

NHL Season Predictions!

Thank goodness it’s Pucktober! And not a moment too soon for us hockey fans!

The 2009-2010 NHL regular season officially gets underway tonight, and I’m stoked. I’ll bet you are too.

This season promises to be filled to the brim with interesting teams, players, stories and controversies. We had a very busy off season that saw a great draft in Montreal, a lot of players changing addresses in free agency, a tug of war over the Phoenix Coyotes, yet more turmoil within the NHLPA, and announcements of Olympic hockey team hopefuls.

No matter which team you follow, there’s something to look forward to, or to keep a very close eye on for signs of trouble. These things all set up the kick-off to the season, that begins tonight. Yes, TONIGHT! Mere hours from now! To quote Terrell Owens: “Getcha popcorn ready!”

Here’s some things I’ll be keeping a close eye on as the season goes along:

• Are the Penguins a dynasty in the making?
• Are the Red Wings going to take a step back? Competition is stiffer and a lot of their players are potential Olympians (will fatigue get to them?)
• Are the Blackhawks poised to overtake the Wings in the Western Conference’s Central Division?
• Can the Maple Leafs, with their lack of offensive punch grind their way to the playoffs through “truculence”?
• Will the Canadiens’ radical facelift pay off for GM Bob Gainey?
• Will the Los Angeles Kings’ & St. Louis Blues’ plethora of young horses bring them back to respectability?
• Is Jacques Lemaire going to turn the 2009-10 Devils in to the 1995-96 Devils?
• How are the top 3 picks of John Tavares, Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene going to fare with their teams?
• The Vancouver 2010 Olympic games…what’s better than Olympic hockey?
• Who will be the first coach to lose his job this season?
• Are the Bruins going to be as good without Kessel as they were last year with him? Can Thomas repeat his Vezina performance?
• How is Alex Kovalev, who left his heart in Montreal, going to perform with the new look Senators?
• Are the Flyers going to pound everyone in to submission? Will Ray Emery keep it on the rails?
• Will the San Jose Sharks, specifically Marleau and Thornton finally make a name for themselves in the playoffs?
• Will “Mr. Glass”, a.k.a. Marian Gaborik stay healthy long enough to make the Rangers competitive?
• Will we hear from Gretzky again this year?

Add your storyline in the comments below. Surely there are tons of other topics worth following this coming year that I have not listed here.

Joe Sakic Versus Steve Yzerman

The following is a compilation of hockey links from the NHL Digest Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/nhldigest.  I’ve added some additional comments around these links.  I hope you enjoy them!

Joe Sakic’s Retirement

With Joe Sakic expected to officially retire on Thursday, Adrian Dater wants to know who was better – Sakic or Yzerman? http://ff.im/-4Yxzr

That’s a tough call.  Both had the intangible qualities of leadership and both are certainly in the best class of people both on and off the ice.

Adrian outlines some statistics in his article- They are eerily similar!

Stanley Cups Yzerman 3, Sakic 2.
Career pointsYzerman 1,755, Sakic 1,641.
Career playoff points: Sakic 188, Yzerman 185.
Postseason goals: Sakic 84, Yzerman 70.
Conn Smythe trophies: Sakic 1, Yzerman 1.
Olympic MVP awards: Sakic 1, Yzerman 0.

Sakic’s retirement and the turnover rate of Avalanche coaches got me thinking. How cool would it be if Joe Sakic pulled a “Gerry Cheevers” becoming the team’s coach the following season after his retirement?

According to @weeklyslapshot the name even (kinda) works: “Easy to confuse Joe Sakic with Joe Sacco… LOL”

Both players were very influential to me as a young hockey player and their careers so close statistically, it comes down to just Stanley Cups. That said, if I had to choose, I choose Steve Yzerman.

Free Agent Signings

@dchesnokov reported that former Detroit Red Wing and free agent, Jiri Hudler, will play for Dynamo Moscow of the KHL (per Sovetsky Sport).

Kuklas Korner had a translation of Hudler speaking on why he signed in Moscow  http://ff.im/-4YxWa

The article at Kuklas Korner has some great speculation as to the actual advantages to this signing for the Detroit Red Wings.  In particular, Detroit doesn’t have to give up anything in the form of money or draft picks and they retain Hudler’s NHL rights.  It is possible that when Detroit clears some salary cap space, in a year or two, that Hudler could be lured back to the Red Wings.

The Anaheim Ducks have signed Saku Koivu to a one-year, $3.25 million contract. via TSN http://ff.im/-4XYB4

There was much speculation that Koivu would go to Anaheim to play with Teemu Selanne for one season prior to Selanne’s retirement.  That speculation came true and Koivu stated for the record that Selanne did influence his decision to join the Ducks.

According to @TBLightning http://twitpic.com/9pn47 – The Tampa Bay Lightning have agreed to terms with former Minnesota Wild defenseman Kurtis Foster.

More Hockey Links

RT @BladeTape Gillian Ferrari & Jayna Hefford have signed with BladeTape for the ‘09-’10 hockey season! 2 of the best female players around!

Does anyone know of any certified medical doctors that have played in the NHL other than Randy Gregg?

Wednesday was also useless NHL Trivia day over at the NHL Digest Facebook page – check it out!  http://bit.ly/a7LfI

Historical NHL Free Agent Signings on July 6

July 6th has typically been a busy day over the course of history. With some quality free agents still available, is there any reason to believe that this season will be any different?

If history is any indicator, we might see some of those available free agents signing contracts today!

Historical July 6 NHL Free Agent Signings

July 6, 2004 – Phoenix Coyotes signed free agent defenseman Sean O’Donnell, who had been with the Boston Bruins.

July 6, 2004 – Ottawa Senators signed free agent goaltender Dominik Hasek.

July 6, 2004 – Los Angeles Kings signed free agent Craig Conroy, who had been with the Calgary Flames.

July 6, 2001 – Minnesota Wild signed free agent Andrew Brunette. Brunette went on to lead all 2001 Free Agents – in scoring, with 69 points in 2001-02.

July 6, 2001 – Boston Bruins signed free agent left wing Rob Zamuner.

July 6, 2000 – Philadelphia Flyers signed free agent Michal Sykora.

July 6, 2000 – Los Angeles Kings signed free agent Stu Grimson.

July 6, 1999 – New York Rangers signed free agents Valeri Kamensky and Stephane Quintal.

July 6, 1998 – Nashville Predators signed free agent Tom Fitzgerald, and named him the first Captain in team history.

July 6, 1994 – Philadelphia Flyers signed free agent Craig MacTavish

July 6, 1983 – Detroit signed free agent goaltender Ken Holland, who went on to play 3 games with the Red Wings in 1983-84, finishing with a 4.11 GAA.

*Incidentally, Holland was named the Red Wings General Manager in 1997.

July 6, 1983 – Boston Bruins signed free agent Geoff Courtnall

July 6, 1978 – The Islanders signed John Tonelli as a free agent. Tonelli went on to star with the Islanders’ four Stanley Cup Winners.

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