More Trivia Fun

This is from Don Weekes' All-Star Hockey Challenge (Greystone Books, 2000).

Firsts: part 1

• Jean Beliveau was the first hockey player on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
• Phil Esposito was the first NHLer to score 100 points.
• Gordie Howe was the first player to win the Hart Trophy 5 times.
• Jaromir Jagr was the first European player to lead the NHL in scoring.
• Jean Ratelle was the first player to score 100 points for 2 teams.
• Mike Gartner was the first NHLer to get 30 goals in 15 straight seasons.
• Kevin Stevens was the first player to get 100 points and 200 PIM in the same season.
• Borje Salming was the first European-trained player to play in 1,000 NHL games
• Craig Simpson was the first player to score 50 goals, split between 2 different teams in one season.
• Mike Bossy was the first rookie to score 50 goals in one season.

Select Lists from List Trivia book

"The Three Stars and Other Selections" by Jefferson Davis and Andrew Podnieks (ECW Press, 2000)

Five Players Born on February 29

1. Henri Richard, 1936
2. Kari Eloranta, 1956
3. Dan Daoust, 1960
4. Jim Dobson, 1960
5. Lyndon byers, 1964

Ten Records Wayne Gretzky Never Broke

1. Most Points in One Game - Darryl Sittler, 10
2. Most Seasons - Gordie Howe, 26
3. Most games - Gordie Howe, 1,767
4. Most Goals in One Game - Joe Malone, 7
5. Most Assists in One Period - Dale Hawerchuk, 5
6. Most Points in One Period - Bryan Trottier, 6
7. Most Regular Season OT Goals, Career - Steve Thomas, 11
8. Most 30+ Goal Seasons - Mike Gartner, 17
9. Longest Consecutive Goal-Scoring Streak - Harry Broadbent, 16
10. Any Time Record (i.e. fastest goal from start of game, period, etc.) 

Fighting in hockey term paper

I did a term paper this past term for my English Comp II class in which it had to be an argumentative paper, and I chose fighting in hockey. Some friends expressed interest in reading it, so here is the copy I passed in.

I wanted to fix it up quite a bit before sharing it because it was basically passed in last minute and I'm not very proud of it. I did a lot more research and hard work on it than the final draft here would lead you to believe, but I simply ran out of time and had to pass it in about 5 mins before the drop box closed for the semester. I'm not sure when I will actually get around to the revisions, so I am sharing what I sent to my teacher.

To my surprise, I got a 97%, which was just enough to catapult me into passing the class. When I went into this assignment, I was not actually anti-fighting, but I wanted to write about hockey and it seemed easier to take the anti-fighting stance for the sake of argument. I learned a lot of fascinating information and most of it, I did not even get the opportunity to discuss here. I definitely plan on returning to this sometime soon and rewriting it so that I am properly proud of it and that it reflects all the hard work that I put into it. For now though, here is the original copy.

Note: a big part of this grade was properly APA formatting the paper, so I assume I did that correctly given the high grade that I got. It really cock-blocked me from concentrating on other parts of the paper though.

Embedded below.

Game Review: Bruins 3, Sabres 1 (March 8)

Bruins Sign Veteran Goaltender Marty Turco as Tuukka Rask is out 4-6 Weeks; Turco subsequently spelled name Tuurcco

What a whirlwind of a day for the Bruins! Fans waiting for several hours after they were promised a statement on the extent of Tuukka Rask's injury sustained against the Islanders on Saturday. Seemingly moments later, the Bruins announced the signing of former Dallas Star and Chicago Blackhawk and current wanderer Marty Turco. Chiarelli seemingly wasted no time in searching for a new back-up for Tim Thomas, a difficult situation to resolve when the trade deadline is long gone and the team's minor league goaltenders are not quite ready for or trusted with the responsibility of giving the team a chance to win while still allowing Tim Thomas to stop and catch his breath after expanses of 5 games in 7 days or something equally ridiculous that the Bruins currently face on the schedule (because the NHL schedule-makers are the most incompetent entity in the league - including referees.)

Only a few hours after the Bruins released this statement regarding Tuukka Rask's injury, Peter Chiarelli then announced the signing of veteran goaltender Marty Turco, to a one year contract. The contract has a few significant stipulations due to the nature of the situation: (1) Because Turco is a UFA returning to the NHL after playing in another pro league during the season, he must clear waivers first after the contract is signed (think of Nabokov last year when he tried to sign with Detroit and got snapped up by the Islanders); and (2) Because Turco was signed after the trade deadline, he may not participate in the playoffs this season should he clear waivers. Although an annoying policy, it is certainly justifiable to keep teams honest and, as I will explain below, this particular circumstance may be perfect for strictly regular season play from Turco.

Tuukka is said to be sidelined for 4-6 weeks, at which point the Bruins will be in the final games of the regular season, or already in the first or second round of the playoffs. Turco's ineligability to play in the postseason is irrelevant because Tuukka should be back by then. In the next month or so before we get there, however, the Bruins definitely needed more reinforcements in net. AHL goaltenders Khudobin (injured) and Hutchinson (sucks or something) were not adequate enough to provide any relief to Tim Thomas over the course of the final stretch leading into April where the Bruins have several back-to-back games, a West Coast road trip, and a span of no more than one day off between games for a few weeks. 

While Thomas is clearly the Bruins starting goaltender by now, he cannot be expected to play in every single game for the rest of the season. This poses two significant risks: (1) over exhaustion from playing that many games in such a short span of time will make him vulnerable to injury, and (2) will certainly drain some very important long-term rest to prepare for the brutality of the playoffs (especially if he is going to perform the way he did last year).

"Review of Literature Found in my Basement" Volume 1: "Hockey Now!", Part 1: Masked Marvels

Hockey Now! by Mike Leonetti with photography by Dan Hamilton. 1999, Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books Ltd.

1. Masked Marvels! - Top goalies
2. Rearguards! - Defensemen who are on the ice in all key situations
3. Blueline Attack! - Defenders who can lead the offense
4. Power Forwards! - Players willing to use their size and strength to get the puck
5. Play Makers! - softest hands in hockey
6. Snipers! - pure goal scorers
7. Hit Men! - players who change the course of a game with a crunching checkk
8. Young Guns! - new players with star potential

Can you guess the players that lead the league in each category 13 years ago?

The first chapter, Masked Marvels, looks at the 11 best goaltenders as of 1999 and is reviewed below.

3/1/12: Bruins 4, Devils 3 (OT)!!

My pic (from warmups).

What a game!! Krejci hat trick to win it in overtime in perfect view...absolutely made up for the atrocity of the Rangers shutout...this is why it is always worth it to spend all the money you have in the world on tickets. This is the type of game I will always remember as one of my favorites, although several this year and last year have been so great. I decided to wear my Savvy jersey instead of my Peverley jersey cause I felt that the Savvy jersey had some luck drawing me to wear it, as it has been quite lucky in the past.