Hartford Whalers Legends

Ron Francis

2011-11-21T22:48:00.001-08:00

Very quietly Ron Francis was one of the best centers in the history of the National Hockey League history. He finished his career with 549 goals, 1249 assists (2nd best of all time) and 1798 points (4th best). He won two Stanley Cups, three Lady Byng trophies, a Selke trophy and a Clancy trophy.

Yet somehow he was always hockey's best kept secret. He was never named to an All Star team, never played for Team Canada, and never mentioned in the same breathe as the game's top centers of his era such as Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Mark Messier or Joe Sakic.

Picked fourth overall by Hartford in the 1981 Entry Draft, Ron excelled for years in relative obscurity with the Hartford Whalers. For almost a decade Francis was the Hartford Whalers. He was their leading offensive threat while also being their top checker. He was their specialty teams specialist, face-off specialist and most importantly he was their leader.

Francis, like Gretzky, thought the game better than most. He somehow exceeded the sum of his parts. He was a choppy skater, deceptively quick but not pretty to watch. He had good size and used it effective, but was anything but imposing. He was never a dazzling or charismatic player, just a greatly efficient one.

Francis, a cousin of Whalers goalie Mike Liut, played 10 seasons in Hartford, receiving the team's MVP honors four times and leading the team in scoring five times and in assists seven times. He is the Whalers all-time NHL leader in goals (264), assists (557), points (821) and games played (714).

Even though the Whalers never found much playoff success and relations were crumbling, it was still a surprise when later in his career Francis was traded in a blockbuster deal to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Negotiations over a new contract were at a stalemate, and relations between the franchise and its key player were fragmenting. The Whalers even went as low as to strip Francis, universally hailed as one of the greatest leaders in the game, of the team captaincy.

Ron immediately had an impact in Pittsburgh. Francis played a huge part in helping the Penguins win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, in 1991 and 1992. While continuing to be a top defensive center man, Ron enjoyed his finest scoring season in Pittsburgh. In 1995-96 he was often moved on to left wing with Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. Francis would score 27 goals and lead the league with 92 assists for 119 points.

Francis became the glue of a very talented Pittsburgh Penguins team. Playing in the huge shadows of scoring sensations Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, it was Francis' defensive contributions and quiet offensive genius that was the missing ingredient in Pittsburgh. The Pens' two Stanley Cup victories were largely, but typically quietly, due to Ron Francis.

In 1998-99 Ron Francis returned to his roots, sort of. He rejoined the Whalers franchise, long since moved to Carolina where it was known as the Hurricanes. He was a big part of the growth of the NHL in a hockey-sparse locale. His best season came in 2002 when he scored 77 points and led the surprising WhalerCanes to the Eastern Conference championships.

After a brief stop in Toronto, Francis announced his retirement in the summer of 2005. He expanded his WhalerCanes franchise marks to 16 seasons, 1,186 games, 382 goals, 793 assists and 1,185 points. His career marks were 549 goals, 1249 assists (2nd best of all time) and 1798 points (4th best of all time).

Pat Verbeek

2011-11-21T22:48:00.000-08:00

Would you believe me if I told you there was a hockey player who scored 522 career goals, scored nearly 1,100 career points, earned 2,905 penalty minutes, hoisted the Stanley Cup, and has one of the coolest nicknames of all time, but he's not likely to make it to the Hockey Hall of Fame any time soon.

Well that's exactly the situation Pat Verbeek, known to Rangers fans as "The Little Ball of Hate," finds himself in.

No one ever considers Verbeek in the Hall of Fame debates even though he achieved lofty career goal and point scoring levels in a 19 year career. That's partly because he played with a lot of bad teams and partly because the 500 goal plateau has been devalued in recent years.

It is also because never was Verbeek an all star, a trophy winner, or an elite player in any season. What he was was a very durable and consistent performer who always gave his all.

At just 5'9" and 195lbs, Verbeek was a stocky sparkplug who never let his lack of size effect his play in the NHL. In fact, he was one of most ornery and most effective physical players in his era. He was a kamikaze hitter and a real irritant, often drawing many penalties. Though he was rugged and strong, he always played the game on the edge and was prone to taking bad penalties himself.

There was no big secret to Verbeek's finesse game. His shot was the key to his attack, as it was both deadly accurate and quickly released. Almost all of his goals came somewhere near the goal crease. A miniature version of Phil Esposito or Tim Kerr, the pint sized Verbeek was always crashing the crease with great zeal, picking up garbage goal after garbage goal.

Though he had to rely on others to get the puck to him, he was a consistent and reliable scoring threat. Eight times he scored over 30 goals, including 46, 44, 43 and 41 goal seasons.

He was never elegant, but it all adds up to a 522 goal career. But amazingly, Verbeek's career almost ended before it took off.

In the summer of 1985, Verbeek was looking forward to his third NHL season but still had yet to establish himself as a goal scoring threat. His destiny as such seemed almost certainly ruined in a bizarre farming accident. While working a corn-planting machine on his Ontario farm, Verbeek sliced off his thumb and badly lacerated three other fingers. With his brother's help, Verbeek was rushed to the nearest hospital some 20 miles away in Sarnia, but they did not bring the severed portion of the thumb with them. They had to rely on their father to find the thumb and bring it in time for successful 6 hour reattachment surgery. All of this happened in mid May, and through intensive rehabilitation Verbeek was fully recovered by August. He never experienced any detriment to his hockey career.

Kevin Dineen

2011-11-21T22:47:00.000-08:00

Kevin Dineen has lived in virtually every corner of North America living hockey.

Born in Quebec City during the years when his father was playing for the local AHL team, his only childhood home was the local rink in whatever minor league city his father was located to coach, though he spent much of his childhood in Seattle. After a junior stop in Toronto, a college stop in Denver, barnstorming tours with the Canadian Olympic team and finally the NHL where he is best remembered as the heart of the Hartford Whalers, Dineen is now following his father's footsteps and coaching in the minor leagues.

Not surprisingly, Dineen has had great success, and one would have to think a spot behind a NHL bench isn't far behind. What is his secret to his success? He expects and demands from his players exactly what he brought to the ice when he played - 100% effort.

Dineen was a special player. He thoroughly understood the game of hockey, an obvious coach's son. He was extremely rugged despite average size. He was as fearless as he was tough, working the wall and rolling out of corners with tenacity. He battled NHL warriors much bigger than he, even though he suffered from Crohn's Disease.

But he combined guts and desire with underrated skill. His skating was excellent. His strong legs gave him great acceleration and speed. But he also was blessed with incredible balance and agility on his skates. That talent aided him in the physical game because he would rarely be knocked off the puck, but also in the offensive game with his surprising ability to get open.

Once he was open, usually from a soft pass from the great Ron Francis, he had strong shooting instincts. He practiced religiously to get his shot off quickly. With his shoot first mentality, Dineen scored 355 goals in his career, including a career best 45 in 1988-89.

Best remembered as a Whaler, Dineen scored the last goal in Whaler history and the first goal in Carolina Hurricanes history. But most Whaler/Canes fans will remember his overtime goal in game 6 of the Adams Division Final in 1986 that forced game 7 in a memorable playoff series that was eventually won by Montreal.

Dineen also played a number of years in Ottawa and Columbus, but his favorite non-Hartford/Carolina memories must have come in Philadelphia where he had the opportunity to work under his father, the newly hired coach of the Flyers. He would later captain the team.

Because of his skating and disciplined physical play, Dineen was also a regular with Team Canada. Throughout his career Dineen represented Canada at the 1984 Olympic Winter Games in Sarjevo and again in 1985 at the World Championships where the team won a silver medal. He was also a member of that magical Team Canada that beat the Soviets in the 1987 Canada Cup tournament.

Dave Tippett

2011-11-13T18:24:00.000-08:00

A collegiate champion, Olympic silver medalist, and NHL coach of the year, Dave Tippett is a man used to leadership and coaching success.

A native of Moosomin, Saskatchewan, the left wing played for the Prince Albert Raiders before heading south to play collegiate hockey. Between 1979 and 1981, Tippett was an offensive standout helping the Raiders win the Century Cup in 1981.

Tippett then notched 28 goals, 59 assists and 87 points in his two years at the University of North Dakota. As captain, he helped lead a squad full of future NHLers to both the MacNaughton Cup (regular season championship) and the NCAA championship in 1982.

Despite his record, Tippett was overlooked in the NHL draft. Instead, he played a full season with Dave King's national team and was chosen as Team Canada's captain at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo. While the team did not win a medal that year, Tippett was finally able to catch the attention of the NHL, signing with the Hartford Whalers. He immediately played the last 17 games of the 1983-84 season.

While unable to become an offensive leader at the NHL level, over the next six years in Hartford Tippett built a reputation as a solid defensive winger who could contribute a handful of goals and assists. His efforts did not go unnoticed by the team, as he was named alternate captain, and earned Community Service, Unsung Hero, Mr. Hustle, and Best Defensive Forward awards.

In 1990, he was traded to the Washington Capitals, where he spent another two years as a steady third and fourth line wing.

Chosen to represent Canada again at the 1994 Albertville Olympics, he came home with a silver medal. Tippett then spent just two more years in the NHL, signing one-year deals with first the Penguins, then the Flyers. In 1994, he moved to the IHL Houston Aeros, first as a player/coach, and then as head coach.

Taking a cue from his old UND coach Gino Gasparini, from 1995-1999, Tippett built a reputation as a coach with tremendous work ethic. He coached the Aeros to two 50 win seasons, and in 1999 he coached the team to the Turner Cup Championship. That year he was also awarded IHL Coach of the Year.

Tippett's next stop was LA, where he became an assistant coach for the LA Kings. During his time in LA, the Kings make postseason appearances all three seasons. Prior to this, they made the postseason only once in the previous six years.

On May 16, 2002, Tippett was named head coach of the Dallas Stars. In his first season in Dallas, the team posted the best record in the Western Division and second-best record in the league on their way to capturing the division title. Tippett also earned the fourth highest point total for a rookie coach with 111 points.

In six years of coaching the Stars, his teams won two Pacific Division titles (2002-03 and 2005-06), made five postseason appearances and one Western Conference final appearance (2008).

On September 24, 2009, Tippet was named head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes just hours after Wayne Gretzky stepped down. Under his guidance, the team finally earned their first 50 win season (in Jets/Coyotes history) en route to their first playoff berth since 20002. After a hard-fought series, the Coyotes were eliminated in seven games by the Detroit Red Wings. For his efforts in turning the Coyotes into a successful team, Tippett was named Jack Adams coach of the year.

Despite the uncertain circumstances in Phoenix Tippett remains one of the most highly regarded coaches in the game.

Contributed by Jennifer Conway

Bobby Crawford

2011-08-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

Belleville, Ontario's Crawford family is quite the success story. Father Floyd, a former minor league player and coach, raised four sons to play professional hockey. Marc you probably know about, but more for his NHL coaching career than his 176 NHL game playing career. Lou was a long time minor league player who got a couple stints in the big leagues, totaling 26 games. Pete never made it to the big leagues.

And then there is Bobby Crawford, who exploded for a 36 goal NHL season in 1983-84 with the Hartford Whalers, but otherwise, like his brothers and father, was a minor league sensation, too.

Like younger brother Marc, Bobby starred with the Cornwall Royals in junior hockey. The two played together in Bobby's last junior season, 1978-79. By that time Bobby set a high standard with a storied junior career that included 121 and 132 point seasons.

The St. Louis blues drafted the small but fiesty forward 65th overall in 1979, but aside from 30 sporadic games over the next 4 seasons he was buried in the minor leagues. Crawford made the best of those days on the bus. He was an all star forward and helped the Salt Lake Golden Eagles capture two Central Hockey League championships.

The Blues left Crawford unprotected in the waiver draft just prior to the start of the 1983-84 season. The Whalers were quick to pick up three St. Louis players in that draft - Mike Crombeen, Mike Zuke and Crawford.

Crawford found a home on the right side of center Greg Malone and left winger Torrie Robertson. Crawford was a shooter, and Malone a playmaker, so it was a good fit. Crawford scored 36 goals and 61 points. Sylvain Turgeon was the only Whaler to score more goals, with 40.

Crawford's success was short lived. His offense dried up some the following season, scoring 14 goals in 45 games before a bad knee injury ended his season. He returned in 1985-86 to score another 14 goals, this time in 57 games, but his role as an offensive marksman with the Whalers was lost.

Crawford tried hanging on to a NHL role as a 4th liner, first in Hartford and with the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals. He played with zest and speed, but did not have the strength to excel in the plugger role. He also was not particularly solid defensively. It was a fairly short experiment. Crawford would finish his career playing in Germany.

In 246 NHL games Bobby Crawford scored 71 goals and 71 assists for 142 points. He added one lone assist in 11 playoff games.

In retirement Crawford returned to Connecticut and founded the Connecticut Clippers Jr. B team.

Adam Burt

2011-07-05T20:10:00.001-07:00

Adam Burt was one of those many defensemen who were quietly reliable - but never spectacular - night in and night out during his 737 NHL game career. As a result, history is likely to all but forget about him.

Born in Detroit, Michigan. He grew up as a rink rat as his father worked at the Olympia Arena. Burt learned to skate on the same ice his idol skated on for so many years - Gordie Howe.

Burt crossed the border into Ontario to play junior hockey for the North Bay Centennials of the OHL. In 1987 he was drafted 39th overall by the Hartford Whalers in the NHL Entry Draft.

Big Burt would become a mainstay with the organization, following the team to Carolina as part of the franchise's location. As he matured into a NHL regular he became a coach's favorite because he was always consistent and enthusiastic. As a veteran coaches would often pair Burt with the newcomers.

Despite his size he was not a notably strong or aggressive player. Instead he was a heady defender, using his smarts as an excellent one-on-one defender. He had a very active stick, often poking away the puck from the attacker. He made smart, safe outlet passes but rarely rushed the puck out of the zone as his foot speed was only average.

Offensively Burt offered little, though he was shoe-horned into a second power play unit role due to a lack of depth in Hartford. He more or less was there to hold the blue line and fire from the point, although once in a while he would surprise everyone with a sneak into slot for a one timer.

Also briefly playing with Philadelphia and Atlanta late in his career, Adam Burt scored 37 goals, 115 assists and 152 points while accumulating 961 PIMs in 737 career games. He added a lonely assist in 21 playoff contests.

According to Wikipedia, in his post-hockey life Burt became a noted born-again Christian, serveing on the pastoral staff of Morning Star New York in Manhattan, New York. He also work with a sports ministry out of Austin, Texas called Champions for Christ.

His journey with God began as an 11 year old, although it was not until he was drafted in 1987 that he fully committed to the Lord. And he fully believes the Lord helped him become a NHL player.

"[God] taught me how to practice," explained Burt to Living Light News Online. He quotes Colossians 3:23 - "'Whatever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto man.' Even when my coach wasn't looking at me I was busting hard and not just going through the motions, because God was watching me."

God may have helped him achieve his dream of playing in the NHL, but Burt believes God has bigger plans for him.

"I really feel like my whole life has been gearing up to this point," says Burt. "I want people to know that Jesus is alive and well. He's got a great plan for their life, a destiny, a calling."

Rick Ley

2011-04-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

Rick Ley might be best known as Pat Quinn's assistant coach during the 1994 Stanley Cup run and then the man who replaced Quinn the following season where he remained as Canucks bench boss until game 73 of the 1996 season. A great friend of Quinn's, Ley was hired later by Quinn to join his coaching staff when he joined the Toronto Maple Leafs

Ley also had been a successful coach at the minor league level prior to joining the Canucks, and before that he was a star defenseman with the World Hockey Association's New England Whalers. How good was he in those wild and crazy days of the WHA? Ley's number 2 hangs high in the rafters of the old Hartford Civic Center right beside Gordie Howe's #9. He was a solid NHL defenseman for 310 games, but was a WHA standout for almost 500 contests!

Born in Orillia, Ontario, Ley was a star with the OHA junior team - the Niagara Falls Flyers. In 4 years at Niagara Falls, Ley twice lifted the Memorial Cup. His first championship (1965) came in his rookie year but he soon became the team's best player and leader. He was captain of the 1968 championship team. That was quite a feat considering some of his teammates included the likes of Bernie Parent, Bill Goldsworthy, Gilles Marotte, Derek Sanderson and Don Marcotte!

Ley was drafted 16th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1966, and aside from 19 games in the minors in his rookie season was a regular on the Leafs defense starting in 1969. However he was never able to quite establish himself as the star defenseman like he did in junior.

After 4 years with the Leafs, Ley jumped ship to the rival league - the WHA. He signed on with the New England Whalers. He would stay with the organization throughout the entire history of the team in the WHA, and joined the team once they merged with the NHL.

Ley was a star in the WHA. As in his junior days, Ley's statistics were not as impressive as many, but his play was. He was a constant threat to win the WHA's trophy for best defenseman (Dennis A. Murphy Trophy), though he would only capture that title once - the WHA's last season of 1978-79.

"If every coach could instill Rick Ley's desire in all of his players he would fill arenas everywhere and acquire a taste for champagne in the spring" wrote famed hockey writer Zander Hollander of Ley.

Every once in a while Ley's exuberance would get him into trouble. Once such incident unfortunately scars Ley's career and one of the top international hockey events ever - the 1974 WHA-Soviet Summit Series.
Following the conclusion of the 1972 Summit Series, there was a definite yearning for another showdown between the Soviet's best and Canada's best. The NHL wasn't prepared to undergo such an undertaking. The WHA, ever the opportunist and desperate for the marketing exposure, was.

Another September, another 8 game series between the Red Army and the best Canadian born WHAers. Standing beside the grand old names of hockey like Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull, was Rick Ley. Ley's job was simple. To maximize his aggressive style of defense in order to intimidate the great Valeri Kharlamov, arguably the greatest of the Soviet forwards.

The first 5 games featured many smaller clashes and confrontations between the mean-tempered Ley and the slick skating Kharlamov, who also had a bit of a mean streak. However by game 6 the Soviets had a commanding lead in the series, and Canada had become frustrated and lost its composure. No one more so than Rick Ley.

Game 6 will forever be remembered for Ley's cheap and dirty play. The game was played in Moscow's Luzhniki Ice Palace, as in the 1972 Summit Series. The Soviets had the game decided long before the final whistle as they took advantage of many power play opportunities to score a 5-2 victory. With less than a minute to play in the third period, the animosity between Ley and Kharlamov intensified. Kharlamov reportedly poked at Ley and mockingly looked at him. This triggered Ley's temper. Ley dropped the gloves and immediately started pounding on the Soviet's star player. Kharlamov had never likely been in a fight before, as it simply wasn't part of Soviet hockey.

With Ley's 40 pound weight advantage, Kharlamov was left laying on ice that was redder than his jersey.

Fan reaction was outrage, in both the Soviet Union and Canada. Canadians were ashamed of Ley's lack of sportsmanship. The Soviets threatened to pull out of the tournament because of this, and even worse, called for Ley to be jailed. Remember, this game was played in Moscow during the height of the cold war.

The next day Ley came to his senses and tracked down Valeri Kharlamov and apologized to him in person. Kharlamov reportedly responded by saying "Its okay, these things happen between hockey players."

The Soviets would go on to win the series against the oldtimers of the WHA. The seventh and clinching game for the Russians was marred with controversy of a completely different sort. With the game tied at 4, Bobby Hull, the Golden Jet, scored at the buzzer. The referee did not count the goal, and replays would prove his call to be the right one.

All told, Ley played in 310 NHL games, scoring 12 goals and 84 points. He had more success in the WHA, where he played in 478 showdowns, scoring 35 goals, 210 assists and 245 points.

Stew Gavin

2011-03-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

Stew Gavin was an aggressive checking utility forward who could play either wing. An unsung - and often unnoticed - hero, Stew was a valuable member of 3 NHL teams over his career. His biggest asset was his skating ability. His superior speed combined with good anticipation earned him a 13 years as a valuable checker, penalty killer and playoff warrior.

Stew was drafted 75th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1980 Entry Draft after three seasons with the Toronto Marlboros.

Gavin split his first pro season in 1980-81 between the Maple Leafs and New Brunswick of the American Hockey League. That season he went all the way to the AHL playoff championship with New Brunswick. Stew graduated to the NHL club on a full-time basis in 1981-82 and he played five seasons with the Leafs organization. Those 5 seasons were pretty bad times for the Leafs, who struggled immensly.

Prior to the 1985-86 campaign Stew was traded to the Hartford Whalers in exchange for Chris Kotsopoulos. It was in his first season with the Whalers that Gavin produced his best offensive season with 26 goals, 29 assists and 55 points. He spent three seasons in Hartford recording a second 20-goal campaign in 1986-87 while also being awarded Hartford's Unsung Hero Trophy in 1986.

In 1988, Gavin became a member of the Minnesota North Stars. He spent five years in Minnesota where he was named the North Stars 1988-89 Choice Player of the Year, voted by team management and media. He was also played a big role in helping the Stars reach the Stanley Cup Finals in 1991.

Stew finished his career in 1993 with Minnesota with career totals of 130 goals, 155 assists and 285 points in 768 regular season games while adding 34 points in 66 playoff contests.

Corrie D'Alessio

2011-03-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

Cornwall Ontario's Corrie D'Alessio took advantage of a full US Scholarship to play for Cornell University, a school not known for its hockey but had produced NHLers Ken Dryden and Brian Hayward. While the next coming of Ken Dryden he was not, he impressed the Vancouver Canucks' Brian Burke enough to convince Pat Quinn to select him with the 107th overall pick in the 1988 Entry Draft. Burke was in charge of player development and scouting at the time.

D'Alessio would graduate in 1991. His collegiate hockey career included 48 wins, 36 losses and 6 ties in a school record 94 games. D'Alessio went to the Canucks training camp but knew he would start the year with their affiliate team in Milwaukee. He struggled to a 9-14-2 record with a 4.01 GAA.

The off season saw Brian Burke leave his post as the Canucks director of player development to become the General Manager with the Hartford Whalers. One of the first moves Burke had to make was to move unhappy backup goalie Kay Whitmore. He sent him to his old team, the Canucks, in exchange for D'Alessio and future considerations. Burke described D'Alessio as "a really good kid."

While D'Alessio spent most of his season with the Whalers' AHL affiliate, he did get his only taste of NHL action when he replaced starter Sean Burke. D'Alessio played 11 minutes, making 3 saves while not letting in a single goal.

D'Alessio struggles in the minor leagues led to an early retirment for Corrie. He hung them up in 1994 and turned to the corporate world.

Greg Carroll

2011-03-05T19:13:00.000-08:00

Playing on a line with Morris Lukowich and Don Murdoch, Greg Carroll had a spectacular junior career with the Medicine Hat Tigers where he scored a fine 171 points (60 goals and 111 assists) in just 71 games during his sophmore season in 1975-76. That great junior season convinced the Washington Capitals to select him in the 1st round, 15th overall in 1976, ahead of players like Brian Sutter, Reed Larson and Randy Carlyle.

The Cincinnati Stingers of the rival WHA also selected him in their amateur draft, and that's where he signed. His pro rookie season for the Stingers was pretty good as he collected a fine 54 points (15 goals and 39 assists) in 77 games. Then his WHA career turned into a game of ping pong, bouncing between the Stingers and the New England Whalers until his release in September, 1978.

The Washington Capitals, one of the 1970s most dreadful hockey teams, signed Carroll, desperate for help. He would compete half a season in the American capital before being traded to Detroit. The next year he returned to the Whalers, now known as Hartford and as part of the NHL. He scored 13 goals and 32 points, but remained a disappointing player given his promise.

It turned out Greg Carroll had some serious off ice concerns that must have hampered his dedication to the game.

In the summer of 1980 Greg was arrested together with 20 other persons in a series of raids by drug squad detectives who had been attempting to break up cocaine rings in Edmonton. The police netted more than $500,000 worth of cocaine. Greg was released on bail but had to do time in jail on a charge of possessing narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.

Because of this stupid act Greg's career was all over at only 23. He may have had plenty of solid NHL seasons ahead of him that he just wasted.

Geoff Sanderson

2011-02-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

Geoff Sanderson was a bit of a funny case. He was blessed with amazing speed and had a nose for the net. Six times in he scored over 30 goals in a season, topping out at 46 goals in 1992-93. At the top of his game Sanderson could be compared to a poor man's Mike Gartner.

The problem was Sanderson was not always on the top of his game.

He relied on full-out speed to drive wide on a defenseman, either driving straight to the net or backing the defenseman enough to fire away. Sanderson liked to shoot as often as possible, and he had an excellent release. On the power play he liked to set up on his off wing for one-timers.

For all his years in the NHL, Sanderson never seemed to learn how to make better use of his speed. He went full out, but rarely used various gears to really throw off defenses. As a result he was a bit predictable. Especially in tight checking games where his speed was neutralized. The wiry Sanderson was not nearly as effective in such games, as he did not have the muscle or the temperament to battle through.

In fairness, Sanderson, much like Tony Tanti in his prime, never really had a lot of help from his teammates. He had few elite teammates to help him achieve more. With his speed and shot he should he could have been a 50 goal scorer on stronger teams.

Sanderson, one of the rare NHL players born in the Northwest Territories, was drafted 36th overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1990 NHL draft. Playing alongside playmaker Andrew Cassels he became a very good goal scorer in six seasons in Hartford before he and the whole franchise transfered to Carolina.

Sanderson only lasted half a season in Carolina before being traded to the Vancouver Canucks. Mike Keenan, known as a tyrant of a coach by many players, did not take to Sanderson well and after just nine scoreless games he was moved to Buffalo.

Sanderson struggled through a couple of seasons in Buffalo and his career seemed all but over. The Columbus Blue Jackets picked up the veteran speedster in the 2000 Expansion Draft, reviving his career. Twice more Sanderson would top 30 goals.

After 4 seasons in Columbus Sanderson returned to his vagabond ways to end his career, playing short stints in Vancouver, Phoenix, Philadelphia and Edmonton.

Warren Miller

2011-02-14T10:45:00.000-08:00

Warren Miller was one of hundreds - even thousands - of unheralded role players in National Hockey League history. He went about his job with a great deal of effort but little fanfare.

"I know what my job is" said Miller. "I'm not known as a scorer, but if I get the ice time, I'll get 20 goals or so. Plus I'll do the other things."

Those other things were what Miller did most. A honest NHL laborer, Miller was best known for checking the opposition, either by shadowing his man or by applying a determined forecheck. He worked doggedly to get the puck away from the opposition, only to fire into the opposition's zone and then quickly change on the fly, so that a more offensive player could retrieve it and hopefully create a scoring opportunity.

Miller was selected by the New York Rangers in the 1974 NHL entry draft. He wasn't much of a prospect at that time, as suggested by his 21st round, 241st overall selection. Miller opted to stay at the University of Minnesota rather than take his chances at the pro level. That turned out to be the best thing Warren Miller ever did for his hockey career, as he blossomed over the next three years, as he aided his squad to 2 NCAA championships, and one runner up!

In the spring of 1976 he opted to join the Calgary Cowboys of the WHA rather than the Rangers. He spent three seasons in the rebel league, bouncing around with Calgary, Edmonton, and Quebec before finally finding his niche with the New England Whalers.

Unfortunately for Miller, the WHA collapsed following that 1978-79 season. The Whalers joined the NHL but most of their players were dispersed back to teams that originally owned their NHL rights. Miller finally moved to New York City.

His stay in New York was not a good one.

"(It) was really a wasted year for me," he said. "I was disappointed in my ice time. I'd get the odd shift here and there, but that was about it. When you're used like that, people become skeptical."

In the off season the Whalers, led by coach Don Blackburn, inquired about his services. They came to an agreement that saw an undisclosed amount of cash go to the Big Apple in exchange for Miller.

"Warren Miller is golden," exclaimed an elated Blackburn at the time. "He can play for me any day. We can always find a spot for a player like him."

Despite not being used much in New York, Miller made a good impression on his coach, the legendary Fred Shero.

"I was talking to Freddie Shero one time about Miller," continued Blackburn. "He said that there were days that he didn't feel like going to practice. That the team was down and so was he. But there was one guy he could count on, one guy who would always be going, even in practice. Miller, Freddie said. Just watching him work made Shero's whole day!"

Miller was equally happy to return to Hartford, and be reunited with Blackburn.

"Blackie has always shown a lot of confidence in me. That helps quite a bit. I think that management wanted me to get at least 20 goals. I knew I could if got to play." Miller said.

And that's exactly what happened. Miller got to play regularly on the Whalers third line, which was generally a checking line. He also was a regular on the penalty killer unit. With the extra ice time Miller scored 22 goals and a like number of assists in 77 games. 3 of Miller's goals came in one game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Miller gave a lot credit for his success to coach Blackburn, but also to his hockey gloves.

"I found an old pair of gloves at the practice rink. They're torn and loose, but they feel great. I think that I'm handling the puck better, I mean, I can feel the stick in my hands."

Miller finished that 1980-81 season with a strong performance at the World Championships, as his Whalers missed the playoffs. Miller scored 3 goals and 5 points, as he utilized his speed on the bigger ice surface to perfection.

The 1981-82 season started off with great promise for Miller. He was named to Team USA at the second Canada Cup tournament. He continued his great work ethic, and was rewarded with 2 goals there.

But back in Hartford, things were not looking as bright. Coach Blackburn was fired late in the previous season. How would a new coach alter Miller's ice time? Larry Pleau answered that question by reducing it unfortunately, and Miller's production slipped. He still played in 74 games and was a regular, but he scored only 10 goals and 22 points.

That was a tough year for Miller, but nowhere near as tough as 1982-83 would prove to be. He struggle with his confidence all year long. He was in and out of the lineup, and ended up scoring just 1 goal and 10 assists in 56 contests. That proved to be Miller's last season in the National Hockey League.

While the flashy players always get the headlines, its the hard working skaters who do the "other things" that are the soul of hockey. Skaters like Warren Miller.

Tom Martin

2011-02-14T10:38:00.000-08:00

Tom Martin appeared in 92 NHL contests and played pro hockey for 7 years. But his biggest claim to fame occurred in junior hockey. In January of 1983 the Seattle Breakers of the Western Hockey League traded the young left winger to the Victoria Cougars in exchange for a used bus.

"It might have been the best deal I ever made" joked Seattle's owner, John Hamilton.

"I heard the bus was a really nice one" said Martin, a couple of years later.

Martin was playing in his hometown of Kelowna, British Columbia when the Winnipeg Jets took him 74th overall in the 1982 entry draft. The following season the 6'2" 200lb tough guy actually joined the University of Denver but dropped out to focus strictly on hockey and jumping to the Western Hockey League. He joined Victoria in 1983 and went on to score 30 goals and 75 points as an over-aged junior. He also added 261 penalty minutes.

The following three seasons Martin spent primarily in the American Hockey League. He appeared in 24 games with the Jets in those three years, scoring twice and accumulating 91 penalty minutes But Martin's third pro season was cut short by injuries. The injuries were a big enough concern for the Jets to allow Martin to walk away as a free agent to Hartford.

Despite scoring 1 goal and 2 assists in just 5 games with the Whalers in 1987-88, he was quickly sent back down to the American league where he had his best season as a pro. He accumulated 28 goals and 61 assists for 89 points along with 344 penalty minutes. Martin was named an AHL First All Star.

Martin's season impressed the Minnesota North Stars enough to claim him on waivers early in the 1988-89 season. However Hartford quickly claimed him back on waivers when Minnesota tried to demote the winger to the minors. Martin finished the season in Hartford for his only full season in the NHL. Martin scored a career high 7 goals and 13 points in 38 games.

Martin split the following season with the Hartford Whalers and their AHL affiliate in Binghamton. However Martin was unable to rediscover his all star form of a couple of years ago and struggled.

Martin signed with the LA Kings in 1990 but only played 22 games with their AHL affiliate before suffering a career ending injury.

In all, Martin played 92 NHL games while scoring 12 times and assisting on 11 others for 23 points. He also added 249 penalty minutes. He was held pointless in 4 playoff games.

But he will always be remembered as the player who was traded for a used bus.

Steve Chiasson

2011-01-13T14:51:00.000-08:00

On May 2nd, 1999 the Boston Bruins scored a 2-0 win to knock out the Carolina Hurricanes from the Stanley Cup playoffs. Just hours later, 'Canes defenseman Steve Chiasson was killed when he was thrown from his pickup truck in a one-vehicle accident. He was just 32 years old. Chiasson is survived by wife Susan, sons Michael and Ryan and daughter Stephanie.

The Hurricanes had just arrived in Raleigh on their charter flight from Boston. A number of players went to directly to a party hosted by teammate Gary Roberts. After a couple of hours there, Chiasson decided to go home. Since he just lived nearby, he thought he'd get into his truck and drive home early in the morning. A couple of teammates attempted to stop him, including Kevin Dineen. Chiasson wouldn't share a cab with his close friend, or wait to catch a ride with Ron Francis who lived on the same block as Chiasson.

Chiasson's 1996 Chevrolet pickup truck went off the right side of the road and then veered back over the left and flipped, ejecting him from the vehicle. The ejection was an indication Chiasson was not wearing a seat belt. Preliminary investigations, based on evidence at the scene and interviews with those who earlier had been with Chiasson, indicated alcohol and speed were factors in the fatal accident.

''This is a terrible tragedy,'' NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. ''When a young life ends prematurely, when a young family loses a husband and father, words cannot begin to express our sorrow. Our thoughts and our prayers are with Steve's wife, Susan, and their three children.''

'Canes GM Jimmy Rutherford said ''He was not the designated captain, but was understood as being an honorary captain. He was the kind of guy everybody wanted to be around, certainly a big member with his teammates and a real ordinary guy that loved the game of hockey and loved the people around him.''

A native of Barrie Ontario, Chiasson was a solid defenseman who was good at everything though did nothing spectacularly, although he had a booming shot.. He was a good skater who over came a choppy stride. He was positionally solid who was calm under fire. A competitive warrior, he often played hurt. A top four d-man on just about any team in the league, Chiasson was at his best when he was cast as the #3 or #4 blueliner.

Steve was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings 50th overall in the 1985 Entry Draft. The following year Steve was returned to his junior team - the Guelph Platers. It was a season to remember for Chiasson, as he guided the Platers to the Memorial Cup championships where he was named the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the tournament's most valuable player.

In 1986-87, Chiasson made the Red Wings but was used sparingly. He appeared in limited ice time in 45 games, scoring 1 goal and 4 assists. For Chiasson it was an apprenticeship more than anything. His apprenticeship continued the following season, when he appeared in 29 games. He also saw 23 games in the minors as the Wings sent him down to get some playing experience. Part of the reason of Steve's failure to play more in his first two years was a lack of maturity, both physical and emotional. He also lacked the conditioning to be a big time NHLer.

By 1988-89 Chiasson's apprenticeship had been completed, and he showed that he learned his many lessons. He excelled in 65 games, scoring 12 goals and 35 points for 47 points.

That was just the beginning for Steve. For the next 5 seasons he was arguably Detroit's best defenseman. Here's a quick rundown on the 5 seasons.

1989-90 - scored a career-high 14 goals leading all Detroit defensemen in scoring with 42 points (14g, 28a)

1990-91 - an injury plagued season saw Steve play in just 42 games and scoring 3 goals, 20 points.

1991-92 - rebounded from serious injuries to post a strong season - 10 goals, 34 points and a career high +22.

1992-93 - Steve's best offensive season with 12 goals and 50 assists for 62 points. Steve's great play was rewarded with his only All Star game appearance.

After that incredible 1992-93, Steve came back to reality a bit in 1993-94. He scored 13 goals and 46 points while continuing his strong two way play.

While the Red Wings were developing into a strong Cup contender, they felt they lacked a proven goaltender. On June 29, 1994, the Wings got their veteran in Mike Vernon from Calgary. Unfortunately for Steve, it was him who was sacrificed in order to get Vernon. While the Wings would go on to be the class of the NHL in the late 1990s, Chiasson played in relative obscurity in Calgary for 2 years, and later with Hartford/Carolina.

Chiasson's offensive exploits all but dwindled since his days with the Red Wings. But don't think that Chiasson wasn't a valuable member on the blueline. He was a rock steady performer that any team in the league would have liked to have had on their side.

The Hartford Whalers traded for Chiasson, on March 5, 1997, a deal that brought immediate dividends to the club. In his very first game as a Whaler, Chiasson scored a goal was voted the game's number one star. He finished the year as an integral part in Team Canada's gold medal-winning performance at the 1997 World Championships in Finland, contributing three assists at the tournament.

In 1997-98, Chiasson produced another solid season, notching 34 points in 66 games with the Carolina Hurricanes. He led all 'Canes defenseman in scoring.

Chiasson was limited to 28 games due to a shoulder injury in 1998-99, managing to produce nine points and a plus-seven mark. He was also one of Carolina's most productive players in their very first post-season action, contributing three points in six playoff games.

In 751 career games, Chiasson scored 93 goals and added 305 assists.

''This morning we lost one of our teammates, but more importantly, a friend,'' teammate Glen Wesley said. ''We'll all miss him.''

Brian Glynn

2010-12-10T19:02:00.000-08:00

Brian was one of the few NHLers born in Germany, though he grew up in Western Canada. The gigantic defenseman spent three years in Saskatoon in the WHL where he impressed scouts with his stay-at-home defensive play and decent mobility for such a gigantic player.

Drafted 37th overall by the Calgary Flames in 1986, Glynn turned pro in 1987-88. He played well while being spotted in and out of the lineup as he apprenticed in the NHL.

Glynn took a step backwards the next two years. He spent most of his time in the minors. In 1989-90 he was named as the IHL's best defenseman as he scored 17 goals and 61 points and accumulated 164 penalty minutes!

The Flames moved Glynn to Minnesota early in the 1990-91 season in exchange for cagey veteran Frank Musil. It was a good move for Glynn, who would immediately get a chance to play. However he was never able to show what he showed in the minors, and soon fell out of favor in Minnesota.

The Edmonton Oilers picked up the journeyman partway through the 1991-92 season but lost him to Ottawa in the 1994 expansion draft. Glynn's confidence reached an all time low in Ottawa as the team struggled and Glynn was placed on the waiver wire to be demoted to the minors. However Pat Quinn took a chance on Glynn and picked him up on the waiver wire for the remainder of the 1994 season. Glynn played very well in a defensive role as the Canucks reached the Stanley Cup final!

The Canucks lost to the New York Rangers in 1994, and later that summer they lost Glynn. Due to a deep blue line, Glynn was again left exposed on the waiver wire at the beginning of the 1994-95 season. The Hartford Whalers were quick to snatch up Glynn.

Glynn played sparingly over the next two years in Hartford, and ended his North American career in the minor leagues in 1996-97. After that he headed over to Germany where they paid him big money to play, partly because he was German by birth.

Glynn was one of those guys that always left coaches and fans frustrated. He was so huge, and very mobile. He was solid defensively and made sharp, accurate breakout passes. But he lacked a mean streak. He always played his best when he was aggressive, but he was reluctant to do so.

Randy MacGregor

2010-11-28T19:36:00.000-08:00

Randy MacGregor was a diminutive but fiesty right winger out of southern Ontario. He carved out a decent minor league career. After being passed over by both the NHL and WHA because of his size, MacGregor joined the Broome Dusters (no joke) of the lowly NAHL in 1973-74. He transferred with the franchise to Binghamton in 1974-75. Binghamton would become home for Randy, as he played there for the next 9 seasons. The team soon merged with the American Hockey League and MacGregor showed he could play at the higher level, consistently scoring 20 goals and over 100 PIM a year.

When the Hartford Whalers signed an affiliation agreement with the Binghamton franchise in 1981, they too signed MacGregor, with the sole purpose of keeping the popular spark-plug in that city. In fact, his #11 jersey was retired by the organization, although the number returned to circulation when the New York Rangers formed an affiliation with the team in 1991.

"Goldy" MacGregor was having a fine season with the baby Whalers in 1981-82 - 23 goals and 50 assists in 71 games, plus 115 PIM. The NHL Whalers, suffering through a less than memorable season, were giving their prospects a look-see by the end of the year and that included MacGregor! He got his only NHL call-up and responded well. He scored on his only shot on goal - at the time of this writing is the only player since 1967 expansion to score on his only shot on goal - and added an assist and a minor penalty, in two games.

Randy slumped through a bad 1982-83 season though, scoring just 13 goals in 62 AHL games. He was released at the end of the year and signed on with Adirondack of the AHL for one final season of professional hockey.

In 1998 MacGregor, Ken Holland and Dusters team founder Jim Matthews were the first people inducted into the Binghamton hockey hall of fame.

John Cullen

2010-09-03T15:42:00.000-07:00

John Cullen's courageous come-back attempt ended November 27, 1998. John announced his retirement as a player and accepted an offer to become an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

John missed the entire 1997-98 campaign due to non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

John was diagnosed with cancer in March 1997 after a grapefruit-sized tumor was discovered in his chest. He underwent lengthy chemotherapy and was deemed cancer-free by doctors 13 months later.

Six months into the treatment, John learned the chemotherapy had not completely eradicated the cancer, forcing a bone marrow transplant and radical chemotherapy in Boston.

The Fort Erie, Ontario native played college hockey at Boston University where he was a perennial all star. Because of his lack of size, he wasn't drafted in the NHL Entry Draft, but Buffalo did make him the 10th selection of the 1986 supplemental draft.

John never played with Buffalo. After finishing his college, he turned pro with the IHL's Flint Spirits. In his first professional season, John scored 48 goals, 109 assists and 157 points in 81 games!! He added 26 more points in 16 playoff games. Needless to say, John cleaned up at the post season awards dinner. He was named a First Team All Star, league MVP, top scorer and top rookie (shared with Ed Belfour). Not a bad first impression!

During the 10 pre-season games in 1988 John impressed the Pittsburgh Penguins enough to offer him a contract. The Pens already had Mario Lemieux but were looking for a second line pivot-man. They found him in John.

"I had been dreaming about playing in the NHL probably since I was about 10 years old. Both my father Barry and uncle Brian had played in the NHL and I wanted to make it there as well," John said.

In his first ever NHL game John was paired with Phil Bourque and Kevin Stevens on the third line.

"I remember getting my first ever NHL point in my debut. I got an assist on a goal that Coffey scored. Because he was such an amazing player and had done so much for the game, I'll never forget that first point. It was late in the third period and I was carrying the puck in the Washington zone. Then I passed it over to Coffey. He just took a slapshot and it went into the net, beating Clint Malarchuk, who was playing goal for the Capitals. I didn't keep the puck though. I never was big on things like that," John said.

John's first NHL season was 1988-89. He scored 12 goals and assisted on 37 others. The following season he exploded with 32 goals and 60 assists for 92 points.

John took his game to the next level in 1990-91. In his first 65 games with Pittsburgh he scored 31 goals and 63 assists. But then the hockey world was shocked by one of the biggest trades in NHL history. John was sent to Hartford with Zarley Zalapski for long time Whalers Ron Francis, Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings. That trade had deep implications on both franchises. With the leadership and defensive abilities of Francis and Samuelsson, Pittsburgh turned into Stanley Cup dynasty, winning two consecutive Stanley Cups. Meanwhile, John struggled with less talented linemates in Hartford. Francis and Samuelsson were the heart and soul of the Whalers and many say the franchise was never the same since that trade. Hartford eventually relocated to become the Carolina Hurricanes.

After only 96 games in Hartford, John was sent to Toronto for future considerations. With the Leafs, John was wearing the same number (19) as his father had donned in the original six days.

"It was exciting to play in Toronto," said John, who grew up in Guelph,Ontario, located an hour's drive northwest of Toronto. "I idolized the Maple Leafs when I was growing up. And I it was neat that my dad played for the Leafs and that we wore the same number."

By this time the fiesty center's confidence had been totally shot, due to serious neck and back problems. After a decent start in Toronto, John had a disastrous 1993-94 campaign and found himself without an NHL team by season's end.

The Pittsburgh Penguins came calling once again, signing him as a free agent for the second time in his career. He responded well with 37 points in a third line role during the lockout-shortened 48 game schedule. Still, he was but a mere shadow of the player who was emerging when he first left the Steel City.

John moved on to Tampa Bay for the following two years. He was an important cog in the Lightning's anemic offense for two seasons before it was discovered he had cancer.

In 621 NHL games over parts of 10 seasons for Pittsburgh, Hartford, Toronto and Tampa Bay, John has 187 goals and 363 assists. He enjoyed his finest season in 1990-91, when he established career highs with 39 goals and 71 assists for the Penguins and Whalers. John participated in two NHL all star games .

Hartford Whalers Greatest Players

2010-02-17T02:03:00.000-08:00

Tommy Abrahamsson
Mikael Andersson
Dave Babych
Andrew Cassels
Kevin Dineen
Jim Dorey
Ron Francis
John Garrett
Gordie Howe
Mark Howe
Marty Howe
Sami Kapanen
Chris Kotsopoulos
Mike Liut
Greg Millen
Joel Quenneville
Paul Ranheim
Mike Rogers
Al Smith
Blaine Stoughton
Pat Verbeek
Scott Young
Zarley Zalapski

Thommy Abrahamsson

2010-02-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

Long before the Sedin twins, Sweden offered hockey fans the Abrahamsson twins.

Thommy was one of Sweden's greatest players of the 1970s. North American fans had a chance to witness that for themselves when he and twin brother Christer signed with the WHA's New England Whalers for the 1975-75 season.

Christer was plagued by injuries and never really amounted to much in the WHA and never made it to the NHL. Thommy's subtle brilliance was on display for New England area fans, starring on defense for three seasons in the WHA (scoring 28 goals and 95 points in 203 WHA games) before returning home to Leksands for three more years. He returned to the Whalers in 1980-81, who of course by now had joined the NHL. Injuries limited him to 32 NHL games where he scored 6 goals and 17 points.

Thommy would return to Sweden to continue playing while also scouting for the Whalers and operating his sporting goods store he and Christer had opened up some years earlier.

I mentioned that Thommy was a star player in Sweden before coming to North America. He represented Sweden at five world championships as well as the 1972 Olympics. He was the Swedish Player of the Year in 1973. A small furor erupted when the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation purposely left Thommy off of the 1976 Canada Cup squad. Other players threatened to boycott the team unless he was included, but he diffused the situation by encouraging his teammates to go without him.

Mikael Andersson

2010-01-16T17:58:00.000-08:00

Mikael Andersson was a tremendously gifted skater. His speed was the key to his game. He had a great wrist shot but didn't utilize it nearly enough, especially early on in his career. And he tended to over-handle the puck. Though he lacked the strength to be a physical presence in the NHL, Andersson became an effective checker by using his quickness to pounce on loose pucks.

The Sabres selected Mikael in the first round of the 1984 NHL entry draft, making him the first Swedish player to be picked by the Sabres that highly. Although he would attend the Sabres training camp in 1984, he returned to Sweden for another year before coming to North America in the 1985-86 season.

Mikael struggled throughout his career as a Sabre. In his rookie season he played in 32 games, but scored just once. After that uninspiring debut, Mikael spent most of the 1986-87 season in the minor leagues. He appeared in 16 games with the Sabres that year and registered just 3 assists. Sabres fans quickly were becoming impatient with the young Swede, who was another in a list of what appeared to be bad draft choices by general manager Scotty Bowman.

Andersson split the 1987-88 season between the Sabres and the minors. His 3 goals and 20 assists in 37 games proved to be his best season in Buffalo. However in 1988-89 he appeared in just 14 contests, picking up just 1 point That proved to be Mikael’s final year in Buffalo, although a lengthy NHL and hockey career remained ahead of him.

Mikael was picked up by the Hartford Whalers in the pre-season NHL waiver draft prior to the beginning of the 1989-90 season. The move proved to be a good one for Mikael, who played the majority of his season in the NHL with the Whalers. By 1991-92 he was able to register his best year as an NHLer - scoring 18 times while collecting 47 points and totalling an impressive plus-18.

The timing for Mikael's breakout year couldn't have been better as he gained free agency status that summer. He exercised his right to shop his services around the league and signed on with the expansion Tampa Bay Lightning. He would enjoy 8 seasons in the Florida sunshine.

A late season trade to Philadelphia in 1999 followed by a short stint with the New York Islanders in 2000 rounded out his NHL career. However he did return to his native Sweden to continue playing.

While most Sabres fans will remember Andersson as one of Bowman's draft busts, his career stats suggest otherwise, particularly hi 761 NHL games played. In that time he collected 95 goals and 264 points and just 134 minutes in penalties. He also enjoyed a storied international career including 3 world junior championships, 3 world championships, 1 Canada Cup and 1 World Cup, plus the 1998 Olympic games.

Not a bad career at all.

John Garrett

2009-10-06T15:43:00.000-07:00

John Garrett has enjoyed a very successful career as a popular hockey television analyst. But today's generation might not realize that he also enjoyed a lengthy career as a professional goalie.

John was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in 1971 but as a rookie he got caught in a numbers game. John recalled that 13 goalies were at the Blues camp in his rookie season. Needless to say it was quite a glut for goalies, especially since the Blues knew ahead of time that they would go with Ernie Wakely and Jacques Caron as their tandem. (Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante retired in the summer of 1971). John was sent to Kansas City to play his first season of pro hockey. He put up an impressive effort as a rookie in the CHL, including posting a league high 3 shutouts.

The following summer the Blues looked to lighten their load of goalies and shipped John to the Chicago Blackhawks organization in exchange for Christian Bordeleau. Obviously the news wasn't great for John's career as Chicago had Tony Esposito just embarking upon his incredible career and Gary "Suitcase" Smith was a more than capable back up. John was eventually sent to the Richmond Robins of the AHL where again he played solidly before his team was beaten badly in the playoffs.

With his shot at the NHL all but non-existent in the Hawks organization, Garrett signed with the WHA's Minnesota Fighting Saints. It was a great move for John. He not only got a hefty pay increase but also became a workhorse goalie in a league of higher caliber than the usual minor leagues.

"The WHA was good for me. They didn't pay much attention to defence. The good defencemen were well paid to stay in the NHL, so you had the John Arbors and Rick Smiths, guys who would the 5th or 6th defencemen in the NHL, and they were first or second on WHA teams."

Despite the weak defense, Garrett gained respect as a strong goaltender who would often play the bulk of the games. In the WHA he played in 323 career games, playing almost .500 hockey with a record of 148-151-15. He had 14 shutouts (including a league high 4 in 1976-77) and a career 3.52 GAA.

Garrett played 6 strong years in the WHA - almost three full seasons with Minnesota before a stint with the Toronto Toros, 2 years with the Birmingham Bulls and one final season with the New England Whalers. The Whalers claimed Garrett as a priority selection when the team merged with the NHL in 1979.

Garrett went on to help the Whalers for 2 and 1/2 seasons in the NHL. Though his stats are less than impressive, they aren't indicative of his play. Garrett played strongly, especially in the Whalers first NHL season when they made the playoffs.

Garrett was traded to Quebec in 1982. Larry Pleau had taken over the GM's role on the team and wanted to get rid of the Whaler's "old guard" and replace them with Pleau's handpicked men.

Garrett played parts of two seasons in Quebec but was happy to leave as it was tough for his wife and kids to be living in the mostly French town. He was traded to Vancouver which was better from a personal standpoint, but not necessarily a professional one.

"When I got there (Vancouver), I was the back up to Richard Brodeur and played in 50 games in two years. That was tough."

But as John goes on to explain, not as tough as the following years.

"The next year Harry's (GM Harry Neale) contract wasn't renewed. Jack Gordon took over and Tom Watt became the coach. Brodeur was getting to the end of the line and they wanted a younger goalie to be his back up. They didn't want two 33 year olds sharing the job. They had Frank Caprice and Wendel Young coming up."

John was eventually asked to go play in the American Hockey League, which he did for 3 games before he made up his mind to retire.

John retired with 207 NHL games under his belt. 68 of those games resulted in wins, with 91 losses and 37 ties. He had a bloated 4.27 GAA and just one shutout (with Vancouver)

Wayne Gretzky Stole Garrett's Car

One of the most famous stories involving John Garrett came during the 1983 All Star Game. Garrett was acquired by the Canucks less than a week prior to the game. However Richard Brodeur, the Canucks number one goalie and all star representative, suffered a broken eardrum courtesy of a Dan Daoust wild shot. As a last minute replacement, Garrett was asked to fill in for the Campbell Conference All Stars despite playing the whole first half in the Wales Conference.

Garrett had a great game too, and was the favorite to win game MVP honors, which of course earns you a brand new car, except a guy named Gretzky put on a goal scoring clinic in the third period. Gretzky's 4 goals in one period instantly became all star legend.

"I had about 15 saves total up to about the six minute mark of the third period" recalls John in Dick Irvin's great book In The Crease. "I knew Lanny McDonald from playing with him at the World Championships one year and he kept talking to me after I'd make a save: 'Hey Cheech, you got the tires....the glove compartment.....hey, great stop. Now you've got the steering wheel.' Then about the six minute mark Gretz scores and makes 4-2. On his next shift he scores again. 5-2. Lanny comes back to me after each goal, 'Oh oh, There go the tires...Oh oh, there goes the steering wheel.' The very next shift 99 scores again. Now he's got the hat trick. And then he gets another goal on his next shift. I mean, he takes four shifts and scores four goals. Guess what. I didn't win the car."

Surrendering to Mr. Hockey

Garrett is also the answer to a great trivia question as he was the goalie that gave up Gordie Howe's 1000th professional goal.

"We played them in Birmingham and Gordie was standing in front of the net and the pass came to him, a one hopper, and he picked it off about three inches above the ice and nailed it. I got a picture of the play with the puck in the net behind me, and Gordie signed it, 'Thanks for all the help!'"

Interview With Chris Kotsopoulos

2009-10-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

This is Chris Kotsopoulos. He was a no-nonsense defenseman in the 1980s. He did not have a lot of skill, but he had lots of heart, desire and physicality. He played hard and had that mean streak that GMs wish every defenseman had. As a result, he was a sought after commodity, holding down a NHL job for 9 seasons.

Nowadays Kotsopoulos runs his own blog, Kotsy's Korner, where he shares his thoughts on the goings on with the New York Rangers.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Chris Kotsopoulos. Here's our conversation:

GHL - As a kid, what team did you cheer for, and who were your idols?

- Growing up I cheered for the Boston Bruins. Tough to do while living in Toronto. Bobby Orr was my main hockey idol.

GHL - Did you always play defense? Were you always a physical player?

- I started out playing hockey as a forward and then switched over to defense around 11 or 12 years old. Yes, I was always a physical player - and I enjoy it.

GHL - You took a bit of an unconventional route to the NHL, especially for the 1970s. You only played on season of major junior, before enrolling in Canadian university, Acadia.

GHL - What made you decide to go this route?

- I had a run in with the head coach the next season in Windsor, Wayne Maxner. I expected to be traded, but it never happened. I played a little bit with Collingwood tier 2 Junior A. I quit hockey for a while. Then, the only option that I had to get back into hockey was to go to Acadia University.

GHL - Was schooling always important to you? What did you study? Did you ever complete your studies?

- I think, back in the 70s, getting your High School degree was the most important thing. At Acadia, I was basically in the general arts program. I wasn't sure if I was going to continue or not. I always had the dream of just getting back and playing in the NHL. I did not complete my studies.

GHL - You left school to turn pro in the minor leagues, playing in Toledo with no affiliation to a NHL team. What made you decide to go this route?

- I was playing hockey in a Summer league with Carl Brewer's Koho International. A coach from the Streetsville Junior B League named Tom Barrett asked me if I wanted an opportunity to try out for a pro hockey team and I said sure. He then got me a tryout with the Toledo Gold Diggers. I saw peers of mine that I grew up and played with getting drafted in the NHL that I knew I was at least as good as or better then them, in my mind. It gave me the inspiration to give it a shot.

GHL - The following season you signed with the New York Rangers organization. Who discovered you? Did you have interest from other NHL teams? Why did you pick New York?

- Through the head coach in Toledo, Ted Garven. He asked me to step into the office one day. In the office was Dan Summers. He was a scout for the New York Rangers. He offered me a chance to go to camp the next season in Richmond, VA with the New York Rangers. From there, I made the New Haven Nighthawks, which was the top farm club of the Rangers. I was only signed to an AHL contract. At the end of the season there was interest from Vancouver, Philadelphia, and the New York Rangers. I picked New York because I was most familiar with it and familiar with the organization.

GHL - When did you realized making the NHL was not an impossible dream?

- When I was around 16 years old. Playing in Windsor. I knew that I had the ability, I just needed the chance.

GHL - Who helped you the most in your development as a (pre-NHL) hockey player?

- My parents, obviously. They drove me everywhere. Tom Barrett was also very helpful. Ted Garven, the coach of Toledo. Lastly, Parker McDonald the head coach of the New Haven Nighthawks. All these people were helpful in my development as a hockey player. They all encouraged me and gave me a chance.

GHL - You are off to your first NHL training camp. What was that like? Who took you under their wing, so to speak?

- I was excited but a little nervous at the same time. Obviously, I was unknown at the time. No one really took me under their wing.

GHL - A year later you made the Rangers. Tell us about that team and your teammates. Who was your partner and what was your role?

- It was the toughest team that I ever had played on. Fred Shero started the season as the head coach and then Craig Patrick took over. We struggled through most of the year and basically limped our way into the playoffs. But we were able to beat the Kings and the Blues. Unfortunately we were defeated by the Islanders in the playoffs. I never really had a partner, we all sort of played with everybody. We had a rotation there because of the injuries the team had. We all learned how to play with each other. My role was just to be a tough stay at home defensemen.

GHL - Phil Esposito and Ron Duguay were on that team. There must have been some crazy times off the ice?

- It's a secret and it's gonna stay a secret. Sorry!

GHL - Tell us about your first NHL goal.

- I remember following up the play and it was Barry Beck that made a drop pass to me and I one timed it past Don Beaupre in Minnesota.

GHL - Describe the Islanders/Rangers rivalry back then. Was that the best rivalry of all time?

- The rivalry was pretty intense and tough. All of the games were very physical. I remember the national anthem in MSG and they were throwing fish on the ice trying to hit Denis Potvin with it. It was kind of shocking, but it happened. I would say it was one of the best rivalry's the NHL had at the time.

GHL - You only played one year with the Rangers, but they are the team you still consider your heart to be with. Why is that?

- There's no other place to play, in my mind. The fans and the city appreciates hard working players. The memories were great there for me.

GHL - You were a tough, no-nonsense defenseman, who would drop the gloves without thinking twice. According to HockeyFights.com your first fight was against none other than Terry O'Reilly. What do you remember about that one?

- I honestly don't recall the fight. I do remember my first game against the Bruins was an exhibition game in New Haven where I had played the previous year. The Bruins were just loaded with tough and physical players: Wensink, Jonathan, Secord, Cashman, and O'Reilly. I do remember getting into a couple of scraps that night.

GHL - You also fought the likes of Joey Kocur, Bob Probert and Willi Plett. Who was the toughest guy you fought? Who was the most overrated?

- The toughest guy that I fought would have to be Bob Probert. But I'd also put Larry Playfair in that category. There's also many more! I'll leave it at that.

GHL - What do you think about fighting in today's NHL? Is it on its way out of hockey? What do you think about the instigator rule?

- I think that they are trying to deter the fighting in today's NHL, but I think that it's a mistake. Whether people want to hear it or not, fans still enjoy it. The instigator rule sucks. It's almost like people are trying to trick you into dropping your gloves now. Sorry, but that's the way I feel.

GHL - We've heard this a lot lately - there is not as much respect on the ice as there used to be. Do you think this is true?

- Absolutely. There's no respect left. Clean hit gets retaliated on now. why? I don't understand it. Hitting always has and always will be part of hockey. If you keep your head down, you deserve to get hit.

GHL - As a defenseman who was the toughest forward to stop? Gretzky? Lemieux?

- Individually, I would go with Lemieux. He was big, strong, and had the moves.

GHL - What advice would you give to young defensemen today? What should they work on most?

- The game is faster in this day and age. Your decision making has to be quick. Move the puck fast to get it going up the ice. As long as the puck isn't in your end of the ice, they can't score against you. It's all about speed now a days. I do feel sorry for the stay at home defensemen that can't touch the men in front of the net, that's ridiculous.

GHL - Would you recommend young players go to the Canadian junior leagues or US College?

- Not everybody makes it to the NHL. It's a tough call. If you're a really good player, your best way to the NHL would be through the Canadian Juniors. If you're looking to get an education and have preparation for the event that you may not make it to the NHL, I would recommend the college route.

GHL - After one season in the NHL you were traded to Hartford, from New York, the city you truly loved. How hard was that to deal with?

- At first it was very hard to deal with. Hartford was a struggling franchise in the NHL. I had a tough time coming from, what I consider a first class organization in New York. Things were just a bit different in Hartford and I'll leave it at that.

GHL - You spent 4 pretty good years in Hartford. What was your favorite memory of the Whalers?

- Winning the Budweiser Cup for the best defenseman in my first year, thanks to Mark Howe. Howe was my partner and he made it pretty easy.

GHL - You played with some pretty good players there. Could you briefly comment on a few:

- Ron Francis. You could just tell that he had the knowledge of the game. He was just a smart hockey player. Just a solid and steady center. His Hall of Fame induction proves that.

- Mark Howe. Very, very underrated and fantastic player. He could skate and shoot. Like I said earlier, without Mark Howe I do not win that Budweiser Cup.

- Mark Johnson. A very talented and gritty player. He wasn't very big. We had some run ins early on, but we learned to appreciate each other.

- Greg Millen. Very athletic and a bit of a showman as a goaltender. Very good goaltender but I just wish he would have stayed in his crease more, haha.

GHL - You were moved to Toronto where you put in 4 more years with the Leafs. As a boy growing up in Southern Ontario, how special was it to pull on that Leafs jersey?

- It was great. I grew up in the city of Toronto. Although I was a Boston fan, I did watch the Leafs growing up. It was an honor to play for my home city.

GHL - What was your impression of Harold Ballard?

- He was a great businessman. I'm probably one of the only ones that will say this, but I liked Harold Ballard. I was one of the only players who could call Harold Ballard by his first name. Did he know much about hockey? Probably not. But he knew how to make money. He was a character.

GHL - What was it like to play with Wendel Clark?

- I had just gotten traded to Leafs and Wendel was drafted the same year. He was just a fireball his first season. Hitting, fighting, and scoring. Just a tough kid from Western Canada. He didn't have the size but he had the stones to take on anyone. Sometimes I look back and wonder had he not taken on everyone, would his back be OK? I warned him in his first year that he can't keep going after all the tough guys all the time. He had to pick and choose his spots better. Unfortunately, as time went on, his back started to give out on him, as we all know. It was great to play with him.

GHL - Your time in Toronto was a bit mixed, with you struggling for ice time at times. What happened in Toronto?

- I have to disagree with you about struggling for the ice time. When I was healthy, I played a regular shift - and more. I believe that my injuries, and I had a few, kept me out of a lot of games. Ice time was never a problem there when I was healthy.

GHL - What was the worst injury you ever had?

- I tore my groin and part of the muscle came off the pelvis bone. It took the Leaf doctors over a season to finally figure out what was wrong. I believe it was the beginning of the end of my career once I got that injury. I was never the same after that.

GHL - After a brief stint in Detroit, you retired. How tough was the transition from hockey to retirement?

- It's tough. For all these stars of the game, there are more people like me that played the game. I wasn't particularly happy about the NHL when I retired. I think a lot of guys feel that way when it's finally done.

GHL - You enrolled in a NHL/NHLPA program to help ease the transition to "real" life, learning broadcasting. Do many players take advantage of this program?

- Not as many as there should be. I think it's a great experience. We, as hockey players, felt in control when we were on the ice. When you're in a studio though, you feel like a rookie again. It was tough, but worth it.

GHL - You work on broadcasts at Quinnipiac. How did you get involved in that? Are you hoping to move up the ranks, perhaps all the way back to the NHL?

- I got involved with it through the Life After Hockey Program. One of the teachers there was Bill Schweizer, who has covered the NFL, NHL, MLB, and NCAAMB. He asked me if I would like to try it and I said "sure". It's been a great experience. It depends on "moving up in the ranks". I don't want to say never.

GHL - You also have taken up new media, writing for The Fourth Period and now you have your own blog, Kotsy's Korner. What made you decided to write online? What is the best thing about blogging?

- The Life After Hockey Program, doing the radio at Quinnipiac, and being encouraged by many people gave me the motivation to give blogging a try. I get to see every Rangers game as well either in person at MSG or on TV. The Rangers are my first love, so I chose to focus my blog primarily around them. The best thing about blogging is getting to speak my mind and getting to hear the responses from the fans. I really enjoy interacting with the fellow Rangers and NHL fans that come onto my blog.

GHL - Have you always been a writer?

- No, I have not. It's not that easy!

GHL - You have one son, Cody. Does he play hockey?

- No, he never played hockey. He was a great High School Football Player though and he is the designer of Kotsy's Korner. I owe a lot to him.

Scott Young

2009-06-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

When looking back at Scott Young's statistics, the one thing that surprised me is how often he moved around the NHL. I thought he was a fantastic support player, which is probably what made him so desirable by other teams. They were willing to pay a nice price in hoping Young would breakout with his new team.

I best remember Young with the Hartford Whalers, who drafted him 11th overall in 1986, and with St. Louis, where he played in 5 seasons, the most of his many tenures. He also played with Pittsburgh, Quebec/Colorado, Anaheim and Dallas.

I also remember Young as a very important member of Team USA in the late 1980s and through the 1990s as well as the 2002 Olympics. Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, he always answered the bell when his country needed him, playing in three world juniors, three Olympics, three world championships, the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and two stints with the US national team regular season.

I remember being intrigued by Young at the 1986 draft. He was an all star defenseman at Boston University, but also utilized as a swing man who would play forward, most notably at the World Juniors. He played right wing for most of his NHL career, probably because of his average size, but I always have considered the rare players who could excel both at forward and on defense to be the most intelligent and valuable players in hockey.

I remember someone on Hockey Night In Canada once referred to Scott Young as a "hockey machine." It was a pretty good quote. He excelled in so many facets of the game.

Young had a very heavy slap shot, which caught more than a few goalies by surprise. He liked to tee up one timers near the top of the right face off circle, and was often used on the right point on the power play.

He definitely had a shooter's mentality, firing away whenever possible, and darted in front of the net for rebounds and loose pucks. But what he wasn't was a finisher. He had a career year in St. Louis in 2000-01 with 40 goals, otherwise he was a 20 goal, 50 point threat.

Raised as a defenseman, it comes as no surprise that Young was a diligent defensive forward. He read plays well, had good anticipation and an active stick, as well as the speed and quickness to get to pucks first. He was a regular on the PK unit as well as the PP unit. He was not a physical player by any stretch, which limited him a bit in the true checker's role.

He was a reliable performer game in and game out, and in the playoffs. With his speed, shot and ability to read plays he played a long time, 1181 games in total plus 141 more in the playoffs. He scored 342 goals and 756 points in the regular season, plus 44 goals and 87 points in the Stanley Cup post-season.

Sami Kapanen

2009-06-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

Big Georges Laraque forgot to remind Sami Kapanen to smile for this great photo. I guess Kapanen shouldn't be too pleased, as he is about kiss the glass thanks to a man who is twice as big he is.

I always enjoyed Sami Kapanen, the speedy little Finnish waterbug of a hockey player. He was constantly in motion. He didn't just keep his feet moving, he kept them motoring. He was one of the fastest players I've seen, and just a fantastic competitor.

His skating skills were deeper than just speed. He had an excellent acceleration, and he knew how to change gears on a defenseman. He had good agility and balance on his feet, with a low center of gravity that he learned to maximize to make him hard to knock off the puck. He was good at reading the play develop and knew when to dart in and out of traffic.

Kapanen, like most Europeans, had a play maker first mentality, but he was not afraid to use his fine wrist shot, especially off of the rush. He used possibly the shortest stick in the league, which made puckhandling a breeze for him.

He was a tiny guy, but played without fear. He played a spunky game and put himself in harm's way knowing his speed would draw penalties.

He was also very intelligent, playing a sound defensive game. In fact, he was so good defensively that in 2004 playoffs the Flyers would drop Kapanen back on defense for two rounds when injuries surprised them. Kapanen played positionally well, and rushed the puck out of the zone nicely.

The three time Olympian (Finland won bronze in 1994 and 1998) was best known as a member of the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes. He was a constant 25 goal, 55 point threat. Had Carolina had a little more depth at the time, I think Kapanen could have upped his totals some.

Kapanen finished his career as a real nice utility player in Philadelphia for 4 seasons. His scoring totals went down, but he was very much appreciated by his coaches and teammates.

Andrew Cassels

2009-06-07T19:39:00.000-07:00

This is Andrew Cassels. If you ever needed a definition of a heady hockey player, it was Andrew Cassels.

Cassels was a very intelligent player, blessed with terrific hockey instincts. A poor man's Adam Oates, he was one of the best play makers of his generation. He was a creative puck mover, as good a puck distributor on his back hand as on his forehand. He knew when and where to move the puck. And he knew his targets inside out, as he spent countless hours in practice as the set up man for various shooting drills.

Born just outside of Toronto, Cassels could have been mistaken as a European NHLer from the 1980s - he had a reputation of hating to shoot the puck, and of being soft.

Cassels did score 204 career NHL goals (in 1014 NHL games), most of which were tap-ins from rebounds near the crease. He did have very quick hands and great hand eye coordination, and was not usually guilty of over-passing when in tight on the net. He probably could have scored more goals this way but he did not always fight through his check to get to loose pucks.

At 6'0 and 190lbs, Cassels was not big enough to be a number on center, which he was often asked to be in Hartford, his best known NHL stop. He was an easy shutdown for bigger checking centers. A nortorious quick starter, as the season wore on he tended to get run down and fatigued, and by playoff time he was not nearly as effective, as his playoff resume might suggest.

Unlike a lot of successful smaller players, Cassels did not have great skating to compensate for lack of size and strength. He had good speed, but he lacked quick acceleration. He also lacked agility and balance, making him easy to push off the puck.

But I always really liked Cassels. In addition to being intelligent, crafty and creative, he backchecked regularly and even blocked shots. He was a regular on both specialty teams.

I first really noticed Cassels back in 1986, when he was with the Ottawa 67's. With 66 assists and 92 points, he was the Ontario League rookie of the year that season and Montreal made him a 1st round selection in the 1987 NHL draft. The next year Cassels was the OHL scoring champion with 151 points, including an amazing 103 assists.

Thanks to years of watching Wayne Gretzky, I definitely had an appreciation for skilled play making centers. I watched Cassels as closely as I could from British Columbia, anxious to see him succeed.

I was surprised to see Montreal give up on Cassels after just two pro seasons. True, his first NHL season was nothing legendary, with just 6 goals and 25 points in 54 games. Still, the Canadiens were in need of offensive centers at the time. They had Guy Carbonneau and Brian Skrudland to check, with a young Brent Gilchrist following in their footsteps. But they lacked a true offensive dynamo down the middle. I think they wanted to give that spot to a young Francophone player who never really panned out named Stephan Lebeau. That, and the arrival of veterans Denis Savard and Kirk Muller made Cassels expendable in Montreal. He was traded to Hartford for a 2nd round pick in 1992. Montreal picked Valeri Bure.

I was happy to see Cassels head to Hartford. By 1992-93 he became the Whalers top line center and a regular on both specialty team units. He formed great chemistry with speedster Geoff Sanderson on left wing.

Cassels enjoyed six solid seasons with the Whalers, but he was not part of the franchise move to Carolina for the 1997-98 season. Instead the newly minted Hurricanes traded Cassels and a prospect goaltender named Jean Sebastian Giguere (I bet you did not remember he was part of either the Hartford or Calgary organizations!) in exchange for Trevor Kidd and Gary Roberts.

A lot was expected of Cassels in Calgary, and by most measuring sticks he was a disappointment. He lasted only two seasons under Brian Sutter's grinding, chip-it-in, chip-it-out, style of hockey, a style Cassels was not suited for. He posted totals of just 44 and 37 points before he was let go as a free agent.

In the summer of 1999 Cassels was reunited with Brian Burke, who was formerly GM in Hartford. Burke, now GM of the Vancouver Canucks, gambled wisely on Cassels, who put three solid seasons in Vancouver. In his first two seasons in Vancouver, he would lead the team in assists and finish second in scoring.

The Canucks let Cassels walk in the summer of 2002, as the younger Brendan Morrison and Henrik Sedin emerged as top centers. Cassels, wanting to finish his career close to his home in Toronto, signed on with the Columbus Blue Jackets, where he would be reunited with Geoff Sanderson. In his first year he was a surprise hit, scoring 20 goals and 68 points. But injuries derailed his 2003-04 season, as he had just 6 goals and 26 points in 58 games.

Cassels did not want to end his career on that note. After the lost 2004-05 season due to the NHL lockout, Cassels signed on with the Washington Capitals for the 2005-06 season. It seemed like a good fit, with Washington looking for a playmaking center for their young star Alexander Ovechking. But Cassels, who did not play at all during the lockout, had a disastrous season. With the new rules cracking down on obstruction, the game was too fast for the aging veteran. He was released after Christmas.

Cassels played in 16 NHL seasons, for a total of 1015 games, recording 204 goals and 528 assists for 732 points. In seven of his seasons he led his team in assists.

Zarley Zalapski

2009-05-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

Zarley Zalapski, hockey's ZZ Top, had one of the greatest names in NHL history. He also had all the tools to be a great defensemen, but he never could put it altogether for any length of time.

He was big at 6'1" and 210lbs, and tutored under defensive coach extraordinaire Dave King for three years with the Canadian Olympic team program in the late 1980s. His defensive game was sound, but he frustrated everyone by refusing to impose his size in a physical manner. Zalapski simply did not have the temperment to dominate a game with physicality, and ultimately it hurt his overall game. Too often he got caught playing the puck instead of dominating the body.

The key to his game was his skating, as he was a tremendous skater, blessed with speed, power and agility. He always had great instincts as to when to jump into the rush and when not to.

That was about the only instinctual part of his game, and that was his downfall. He had real difficulty reading the play, be it offensively or defensively. His hockey sense, as they say, was almost non existent.

Zalapski was a tease of a player. Offensively he was not a great playmaker, despite his career 285 assists. He was not great head manning the puck out of the zone. He also showed little creativity while manning the point position on a power play. Instead of distributing the puck like a true power play quarterback, he never wavered from his desire to simply blast away from the point with his heavy slap shot. Problem was his shot did not regularly get through traffic. Instead of taking a litte off his shot to ensure greater likelihood of getting through for tips and rebounds, Zalapski continued to just pound away.

The hockey sense failed him defensively too, as too often he had trouble reading the oncoming attack. A skilled attacker could trick Zalapski into committing to a play he should not have, therefore opening up lanes for the attacking team.

Zalapski was drafted 4th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1986. With his size and skating ability, and with Dave King's influence, expectations were high once Zalapski joined the NHL following the 1988 Olympic games. The Edmonton-born defenseman was so highly thought of even the Oilers could not pry him out of Pittsburgh as part of the big Paul Coffey trade.

Zalapski was showing signs of achieving his potential after three seasons, but he was a key piece of the big trade that brought Ron Francis, Grant Jennings and Ulf Sameulsson from Hartford. That trade, which saw Zalapski, John Cullen and Jeff Parker go to Hartford, turned out to be terribly lopsided, as the Penguins went on to win the Stanley Cup the following two years. The Whalers, without their franchise player Francis, lost their soul and soon would move to Carolina.

Zalapski put up solid numbers in his first two seasons in Hartford. In 1991-92 he scored career highs with 20 goals and 57 points. The following year he improved to 65 points, thanks to 14 goals and 51 assists. He was the Whalers' all star game representative in 1993.

Yet all was not right in Hartford. Because the famous trade was so lopsided, and because the team struggled so mightily after Ron Francis' departure, there was a lot of pressure placed on Zalapski. Because of the franchise's troubles maybe he was never really appreciated like he should have been.

Late in the 1993-94 season Zalapski was traded along with James Patrick and Michael Nylander in exchange for Gary Suter, Paul Ranheim and Ted Drury. Zalapski's offense dried up in Calgary. He played solidly enough, but his lack of production was not what Calgary had hoped for. They had acquired Zalapski's point shot knowing that Al MacInnis' days in Calgary were likely to come to an end. When MacInnis left in 1994-95, Zalapski was unable to fill in for the legendary power play point shooter.

A terrible knee injury forced Zalapski to miss all but two games in the 1996-97 season. The resulting surgery took away much of Zalapski's mobility, rendering him a liability at the NHL level. More injuries limited him to just a combined total of 75 games over the next three NHL seasons. By 1999 he was a minor league player struggling to find his game. He was clearly unable to keep up with the speed of the NHL game. He even was being used as a forward at times.

A proud athlete, Zalapski headed to Europe in 2000. Playing for six season in Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria, it was a great move as he was able to find his passion for the game again and enjoy the game once again.

Al Smith

2008-03-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

Nicknamed "The Bear" because of his large size, Al Smith was a solid big league netminder throughout the 1970s. He played with some bad teams in the National Hockey League, but was a top goalie in the World Hockey Association. In fact in 1978 he was so honored as the best of the WHA's puck stoppers.

Al played his junior career in Toronto with the Marlboros of the OHA, thus making him a prospect of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Toronto native would turn professional in 1966, but would play almost exclusively in the minor leagues. He was called up to the Leafs to participate in just 9 games through the 1969-70 season..

Al's big break came in the summer of 1969 as the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired the goalie in the Intra-League Draft. Smith became a fan favourite in Pittsburgh as he would often involve himself in after-the-whistle melees. He also battled admirably while the play was on, but ultimately wasn't good enough for the weak Penguins team. In two seasons with the Pens, Al posted a total of 24 wins in 92 games played.

In 1971-72 Al found himself packing his bags to Detroit, again thanks to the Intra-League draft. He would play just one season in Detroit, posting a respectable record of 18 wins, 20 losses and 4 ties with 4 shutouts.

Al made the jump to the World Hockey Association in 1972. For the next three seasons he became the workhorse goalie for the New England Whalers. He posted 3 consecutive 30+ win seasons, and led the Whalers to the Avco championship in 1973.

After three seasons in the WHA, Smith made his return to the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres, where he played from 1975 to 1977. However he is more famous for his departure than any other point during his stay in Buffalo. He had played sparingly in his two seasons in Buffalo as he was relegated to the backup role behind Gerry Desjardins. Regardless, he continued to work hard in practice and he earned the respect of his teammates for his work ethic and upbeat attitude. But when Desjardins was felled with a lengthy injury during the 1976-77 season Al was upset when Punch Imlach vetoed coach Floyd Smith's decision to play him, and instead start the previously untested rookie Don Edwards. Smith, with the support of his teammates, had had enough and walked out on the team, forcing the Sabres to go with two rookie goalies in Edwards and Bob Sauve.

Smith resurfaced in a familiar place in 1977-78. He returned to the Whalers of the WHA and led the league in wins and goals against for the 1977-78 season, winning the Ben Hatskin Trophy as the league's top goaltender. He was also named to the first all-star team. He remained with the Whalers through their merger with the NHL in 1979-80. He would spend one final season in the NHL in 1980-81 with the Colorado Rockies.

The popular Smith retired with 74 wins, 99 losses and 38 ties in 233 NHL contests. He added 10 shutouts and a career goals against average of 3.46. In the WHA he found more success - 141 wins, 98 losses and 15 ties in 260 games. He posted another 10 shutouts and a career GAA of 3.25.

Greg Millen

2008-02-10T22:16:00.001-08:00

Greg Millen was the 102nd overall draft pick of the 1977 Entry Draft. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins, he was returned to junior hockey for the 1977-78 season. He ended up playing with the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds which featured a 16 year old phenom named Wayne Gretzky.

Millen had a much better Penguins training camp in 1978. With veteran goalie Dunc Wilson retiring in the summer, a position opened up for one of the Pens young goaltenders. Millen beat out Gord Laxton for the back up spot. Millen did well, sporting a 14-11-1 record with 2 shutouts and a 3.37 GAA.

Millen's status in Pittsburgh quickly grew. The next season he gradually overtook the starting goalie role, playing in 44 games (18-18-7) and by 1980-81 was without question the Pens go-to guy. He played in 63 contests for a less than great team. He went 25-27-10 with an inflated 4.16 GAA.

The summer of 1981 was an interesting one for Millen. The Pens dragged their feet on resigning Millen. A free agent subject to compensation, Millen reached a deal with the Hartford Whalers and wanted to use it as leverage with the Pens. However the Pens never answered Millen as GM Baz Bastien was on a golfing vacation. Assuming that the Pens weren't interested, Millen signed with the Whalers, even though he really would have liked to have stayed in Pittsburgh. Baz Bastien was surprised by the events. The Pens got Kevin McClelland and Pat Boutette for the Whalers signing of Millen.

Millen served the Whalers well as their #1 goalie for the next 4 years. He was the Whalers workhorse, even leading all goalies in games played in 1982-83. Unfortunately for Greg, the Whalers weren't the strongest team during the early 80s, and his stats suffered for it. He lost a lot more games than he won, but played admirably and always kept an upbeat attitude.

Greg was traded to St. Louis on February 21, 1985. Packaged with Mark Johnson, Millen was traded for Mike Liut and Jorgen Petterson. Liut was one of the better goalies in the league but the Blues were under some financial hardship at the time and traded Liut away. Millen had the unenviable task of replacing Liut while playing with a team that was stripping down to trim the budget.

Millen and the Blues struggled for quite a while in St. Louis, but by 1988-89 he resurfaced as a strong goaltender once again. He led the league in shutouts with 6, including 3 in a row. He finished the year with a 22-20-7 record and a 3.38 GAA.

Millen played well in 1989-90 but found himself out of the picture just before Christmas 1989. With a young Curtis Joseph ready to take over the role of starter from Millen, the Blues traded Millen to Quebec who were in desperate need of a veteran goalie.

Millen originally refused to report to the Nordiques. The St. Louis Blues had made Millen some promises but backed out of them by trading him, leaving Millen dejected.

Millen did report, and enjoyed his time in Quebec. "They treated me really well" he said. "Sometimes I think they are too good to their players. They try to make up for the fact that a lot of people don't want to be there."

Even though Millen was happy personally, he was unhappy professionally.

"It wasn't working. I wanted to finish my career with a chance to win a Stanley Cup and there was no chance there."

Having said that, Millen asked for a trade and got it on March 5, 1990. Packaged with Nordiques legend Michel Goulet and a draft pick to Chicago for Mario Doyon, Everett Sanipass and Dan Vincelette.

Millen enjoyed finishing the season with the Blackhawks. Playing under Mike Keenan, who Millen described as "a totally new experience," Millen backstopped the Hawks into the playoffs. The Hawks were considered to be a good contender for the Cup, which of course is exactly what Millen had desired. However the Hawks ran into Mark Messier and the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the playoffs, and Millen and the Hawks season was over.

1990-91 proved to be the weirdest for Millen. Eddie Belfour had arrived as the Hawks number one goalie and Keenan's favorite netminder. However to everyone's surprise Keenan brought in Jacques Cloutier to back Belfour up. Millen appeared in only 3 games all year, and sat in the press box otherwise. Millen had quickly fallen out of favor with Iron Mike.

Millen became New York Rangers property in the summer of 1991 but moved him to Detroit before he finished his minor league conditioning stint. He played in 10 games for the Wings before retiring at season's end.

Millen posted a 215-284-89 in 604 contests. He posted 17 career shutouts and a career 3.87 GAA. In the playoffs he went 27-29 with a 3.42 GAA.

Millen went on to become a highly respected hockey broadcaster, most notably with Hockey Night In Canada.

Jim Dorey

2008-01-19T16:38:00.001-08:00

"You'll be a New York Ranger for a long time" is what Jim Dorey was told when he was acquired by the Rangers late in the 1971-72 season.

Dorey played just one game with the Rangers. It turned out to be his last game in the National Hockey League.

Dorey was picked up from Toronto, where the aggressive rearguard made some impressions with his rugged play over 4 NHL seasons. None other than the legendary Tim Horton had predicted big things for Dorey, which was one reason the Rangers acquired him in exchange for Pierre Jarry.

Unfortunately for Dorey, his season was ended in his first game with the Rangers, as he suffered a badly separated shoulder.

Dorey's contract was up that summer. One of the main reasons the Leafs gave him away was that they thought he would sign with the World Hockey Association. And that's is exactly what happened. Dorey jumped at an offer to join the upstart New England Whalers. The money he was offered was simply something he "couldn't refuse."

Shortly after, the Rangers other star players were being approached by WHA teams. Perhaps shocked by the loss of Dorey to the New England Whalers, the Rangers were forced to hand out huge contracts to players like Brad Park, Vic Hadfield and Rod Gilbert in order to keep their team in tact.

"By jumping to the WHA, I made a lot of Rangers wealthy men. After I left, the Ranger brass promptly signed all their players to huge contracts. And it was all because of me," Dorey recollects.

In 4 seasons in the National Hockey League, Dorey, nicknamed Flipper because of his tendency to flip the puck high over the heads of everyone in order to clear the zone, was known as a big lumbering defenseman who took many penalties. In fact in his rookie season he established a then-record 48 penalty minutes in one game en route to a 200 PIM season!

The WHA featured a much weaker collection of defensemen, which allowed Dorey to develop into more than just a physical spare part. He was named to the post season all star team in 1973, his first season in the Association, after scoring 7 goals and 63 points in 75 games. He also led all WHA scorers in assists in the playoffs with 16 in 15 games. Same goes for his 41 penalty minutes.

The following season Dorey played in 77 games with 6 goals and 46 points.

The Whalers moved Dorey back to the city where his major league career started part way through the 1974-75 season. The Whalers sent him to the Toronto Toros in order to complete an earlier transaction that saw New England acquire Wayne Carleton.

Dorey continued to play well with the Toros. He finished the year with a career high 16 goals plus 40 assists for 56 points and up that total in 1975-76 to 60 points based on 9 goals and 51 assists.

The Quebec Nordiques acquired the veteran for the 1976--77 season. He had a good first year in the provincial capital, scoring 13 goals and 47 points. However the following two years would not be as kind to Dorey. Injuries limited him to just 58 games in total, and just 1 goal and 12 points.

Despite a respectable career in the WHA, many people remember an ugly incident involving WHA tough guy Gordie Gallant.

"Gallant suckered Paul Baxter of our team and Gallant went to the penalty box to serve a major, two minors and a misconduct. The coach made it clear he expected me to do something about Gallant. It was the last time we'd be facing Birmingham because the league was about to fold. But what could I do? The guy would be in the penalty box for all but the last few moments of the game."

"So I led a four-man rush out of the Quebec zone, then stopped at center ice, right in front of the penalty box. I wheeled and sent a slap shot right at Gallant's head. He ducked and the puck struck a photographer standing behind him, knocking him flat."

The incident ended up in the land of the law. Dorey was fined $9,999.99 in small claims court.

But Dorey, described as an undisputed leader with a knack of annoying fans while on the road by Zander Hollander, won't be remembered for that. Instead he'll be remembered for his rock hard style of defense and his fine seasons in the World Hockey Association. He scored 52 times and added 232 helpers for 284 points in 431 WHA games, while adding 617 well earned PIMs. In the NHL he had 25 goals and 99 points in 232 games in addition to 553 minutes in the box.

Dave Babych

2007-09-21T16:22:00.001-07:00

There were two stages to Dave Babych's career.

There was early Dave Babych, the junior superstar, the 2nd overall draft pick and the offensive defenseman. And then there was the later Dave Babych, a really solid defensive rearguard who quietly but effectively remained an solid defender.

Babych, whose jersey #44 was every bit his trademark as his bushy moustache, was the top rated defenseman in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. He was also the consensus #2 overall prospect, trailing only Canadian Major Junior Hockey League player of the year, Doug Wickenheiser.

History might suggest that Denis Savard should have been the first overall pick, or that Larry Murphy and Paul Coffey were the better defensemen. After all, all three made it to the Hockey Hall of Fame. But the Winnipeg Jets were convinced that the 6'3" 215 complete package was the best player in the draft.

Babych grew up in Edmonton, dreaming of playing in the NHL alongside his brother Wayne. Dave would dominate with Portland of the WHL, combining size and skating and puck movement. He was a gifted offensive blueliner, but also a very good positional defender.

Babych joined the Jets in 1980. It was not easy for the 19 year old rookie, as the Jets were the league's worst team and too much pressure was placed upon the young Babych. Still, he was Winnipeg's best player, posting 44 points and representing the Jets in the NHL all star game. He would post 4 consecutive successive seasons of at least 57 points, including a career high 74 (13 goals and 61 assists) in 1982-83.

Despite his personal successes in Winnipeg, he remained a league secret. The Jets improved, but were never serious contenders in the old Smythe Division. Babych's scoring exploits were also dwarfed by the likes of Ray Bourque, Mark Howe, Murphy and especially Paul Coffey. The Jets grew impatient, and traded their defensive kingpin to Hartford in November, 1985, receiving rugged winger Ray Neufeld in return.

Babych played 5 and 1/2 seasons in Hartford, suffering from the same anonymity and lack of team success. His scoring prowess also went down in the lower scoring Adams Division, but he was probably the best defenseman the NHL Whalers ever had.

In 1990 it looked as though his career may have been over. Having been able to escape the injury troubles that plague his brother, the 10 year veteran had his wrist fused. It was doubtful if he'd ever be able to shoot a hockey puck again.

The Whalers dropped him, but Pat Quinn and the Vancouver Canucks gave Babych a chance to reclaim his NHL career. He was able to bounce back very nicely, playing 7 seasons in Vancouver. Babych supplied veteran leadership and a steadying influence in the back end, though he never scored more than 32 points.

The 32 points came in the 1993-94 season, which also hosted Babych's career highlight. Forming a reliable pairing with Gerald Diduck, Babych helped the Canucks reach his only Stanley Cup finals. The Canucks came within a goal post in game 7 of winning the Stanley Cup, but the chalice would escape Babych's grasp.

Babych is eternally grateful to Pat Quinn for giving him a chance to get his career back on track and to play for 10 more years during the big money era.

"Luckily Pat Quinn took a chance on me," Babych told Jeff Rud in the book Canucks Legends.

"(After the wrist surgery) you couldn't stickhandle the same way, you couldn't move the puck the same way, you couldn't shoot the same way. So you knew if you didn't change your game you were kind of hooped.

"Pat basically told me: 'Babs, I don't care if you get a point or score a goal. I really don't car. I just want you to play solid hockey."

Babych lasted seven years in Vancouver before he was exiled, like Quinn and so many members of that 1994 team before him, by new owners John McCaw and coach Mike Keenan.

Babych would play parts of two more seasons in Philadelphia, but a broken foot proved to be mighty cumbersome to Babych. As it turned out, the Flyers medical staff misdiagnosed the injury and rushed him back to service. Arguing successfully that the misdiagnoses prematurely ended his career, Babych was awarded $1.37 million in a civil lawsuit against the Flyers.

Dave Babych will likely go down in hockey history as a forgotten man. That is unfortunate as Babych was an upper echelon defender in the 1980s and very solid NHL citizen. It total he played 1195 NHL games, scoring 142 goals and 723 points.

Joel Quenneville

2007-06-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

Joel Quenneville has become a top coach in professional hockey, often referred to as "Coach Q" But Joel also enjoyed a long career as a solid defenseman before he focused his attention towards coaching.

Also known as "Herbie," Joel survived through 13 NHL seasons through intelligence and dependability. A poor skater by NHL standards, Joel learned quickly how to play within his limitations to make himself into a valuable NHL commodity. Although he put up some impressive numbers in junior hockey, Joel played a conservative and unspectacular defensive game at the NHL level, always making the safe play. This didn't win him many accolades with the media or the fans, but his coaches and teammates truly appreciated Quenneville's subtle yet important contributions

Quenneville, who actually considered quitting hockey in junior to study medicine, was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs 21st overall in 1978. He had just come off of a 27 goal, 103 point season with the Windsor Spitfires and the Leafs were hoping he could become an offensive presence in the NHL. The Leafs quickly lost their patience with Quenneville however as it became more obvious that at the NHL level he would be more of a role player. The Leafs included Quenneville in the big Lanny McDonald trade to Colorado in exchange for Pat Hickey and Wilf Paiement.

Quenneville played 3 1/2 seasons with the Rockies/New Jersey Devils before he was traded again in the summer of 1983. He actually was traded to Calgary with Steve Tambellini for Phil Russell and Mel Bridgeman on June 20th, 1983. However a couple of weeks later, on July 5, 1983, the Flames moved Joel and Richie Dunn to Hartford for Mickey Volcan.

While it must have been a tumultuous couple of weeks for the Quenneville family, it proved to be a blessing for Joel. He enjoyed his best NHL seasons in "the Insurance City." Twice he was named as the Whalers most valuable defenseman (1984 and 1985) and he played a big role in helping Hartford win the Adams Division championship in 1987.

In 1991 Quenneville quietly finished his NHL playing career. He was sold to Washington where he played only 9 games and spent most of the year in the minors. In 1991 he signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. He was to be a playing assistant coach for the Leafs minor league team in St. John's Newfoundland. It was in St. John's that Joel met Marc Crawford. The two worked really well together and both went on to successful coaching careers. In fact Quenneville reached the top of his class in 2000 when he won the Jack Adams award as the NHL's best coach that season after compiling an impressive 51-20-11-1 record for a .695 winning percentage.

Not too bad for a guy who used to spend his summers working as a stock broker in Hartford. Quenneville was an unheralded and under-appreciated player. He scored 54 goals and 190 points in 803 games, but his true worth was helping to develop young defensemen and quietly taking care of his own end. He is going to get more headlines as a NHL coach for many years to come.

Mike Liut

2007-06-25T20:11:00.001-07:00

By all standards, Mike Liut had a stellar career highlighted by his fantastic 1981 season.

Liut finished second in Hart Trophy balloting - a true rarity for a goaltender of any era - while leading his St. Louis Blues to the Smythe Division championship. The only player to get more votes that season was Wayne Gretzky.

Liut had an unbelievable season. His 33-14-13 record was among the best in the league, though he didn't have as much as help as some of the other goaltending leaders. Thus the NHL named him a First All Star. To make up for his Hart Trophy snub, Liut's true measure of success was in winning the Lester B. Pearson award. The trophy named after the great Canadian Prime Minister was given out annually to the player deemed to be the best that particular season, as voted on by the players themselves! You can't get a much higher honor than that.

In the absence of recently retired Ken Dryden, Liut had become arguably the best goalie in the game right out of nowhere. He was very similar to Dryden in many ways. He was an articulate man who took the American college route to the NHL while the practice was still fairly uncommon. He was a big octopus of a goalie, much like Dryden before him. And after leading the NHL in wins in his first year, Liut had established himself as one of, if not the best goalie in the National Hockey League with his incredible sophomore year. (note: Liut didn't win the Vezina trophy, as at that time the award was still given to the goalie with the best GAA, not necessarily the best goalie in the league.)

When it came time to select Team Canada for the 1981 Canada Cup, Liut was an obvious choice. Once Billy Smith went home with a broken finger, Liut was the man expected to lead the team between the pipes. Liut wasn't his midseason self in the September tournament. He played well, but wasn't as dominating as he was the previous year with St. Louis. He looked shaky at times, and rarely looked brilliant. Yet Canada had floated through the round robin tournament undefeated.

Despite his less than expected performance, head coach Scotty Bowman stuck with Liut over Don Edwards, who was Bowman's goalie with the Buffalo Sabres. Liut was given the green light to play in the final game of the 1981 tournament against the Russians.

The rest as they say is history. As fans at the Montreal Forum and around Canada and the world on television sets at home watched in disbelief, the Soviets lit up the red lamp behind Liut 8-1. Canada had played well in the first half of the game, but the Soviets, particularly Sergei Shepelev, were able to pounce often on Liut in the second half of the middle period. Then in the third period, with Canada seemingly deflated and surrendered, the Russians added 5 more goals to completely humble Liut and the Canadians.

Liut was never quite the same after that. He went on to an enjoyable long career in the NHL, with St. Louis and later Hartford and Washington. He was often the most valuable player on some weak teams, especially in Hartford. In fact he finished runner up in Vezina trophy voting in the summer of 1987.

Despite his fine 1986-87 season which saw him post 31 wins and a league leading 4 shutouts with the Whalers, Liut was overlooked for Team Canada for the 1987 Canada Cup, much like he was in 1984. For all the respect that Liut had earned in his long NHL career, it was as if he was never forgiven for the 1981 debacle

"That all goes back to the disastrous game in 1981" recalled Liut at the time. "That's a game I'm going to have to live with for the rest of my life. That's just the way it is."

In fairness to Liut, it wasn't his fault entirely. The defensemen and forwards in front of him were flat and later quit on him. And when Canada suffered its worst defeat in history, somebody needed to be named as the scapegoat. Why not the goalie who let in 8 goals?

Liut said he didn't take his omission from future Canada Cup invitations personally, though deep down you know he would have liked to have the chance to redeem himself.

"I'm disappointed in a way, but it really doesn't ruffle me." said Liut of the 1987 tournament where his chances of playing would have been slim regardless with Grant Fuhr and Ron Hextall invited to camp. "There's my family and rest and golf and another NHL season to prepare for. I really don't mind."

Liut also didn't like the Canada Cup format.

"We're all better at Christmas than we are in September. The guys who play in the Canada Cup pay a big price."

Liut then pointed admiration in the direction of the New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers players who routinely showed up for international play.

"For 4 years the Islanders played into June, and then there was a Challenge Cup and Canada Cup and so on. Hey, that's hard on anybody. You get only one or two months off and you're at it again. A pace like that is bound to take its toll."

"I think the Edmonton players probably best understand what the Islanders had to go through because, now, they have to go through the same thing."

"Players have to pay a big price to represent their league and Canada and the United States" continued Liut, forgetting to mention the various European countries that had NHL representatives. "It's an honor, to be sure, but the players have to pay a big, big price."

Mike Rogers

2007-06-25T20:07:00.000-07:00

Mike Rogers, all 5'9" of him, was one of the more underrated players of the 1970s and 1980s

"He could do it all," says his former New England (WHA)/Hartford Whalers teammate Gordie Howe - a hockey expert if there ever was one. "He was quick as a cat and very strong for his size. And he could play all night!"

Another one of hockey's all time greats, Dave Keon, had this to say about Rogers: "Not many guys could skate better than Rogers." Keon, of course, is one of hockey's most effortless skaters himself.

The Calgary born Rogers was a junior standout with his hometown Calgary Centennials in the early 1970s. In his final season in the WCJHL, Mike scored an amazing 67 goals and 73 assists for 140 points in 66 games, often playing with Danny Gare on his wing. Yet his small size scared off NHL teams as the trend was for huge, monstrous physical players, as demonstrated in Philadelphia and Boston.

The Vancouver Canucks did draft Rogers 77th overall (in the 4th round). One would have to wonder how the Canucks fortunes might have changed had Rogers ever played with the Canucks. But he did not, as he opted to jump to the rival league, the WHA, where the Edmonton Oilers drafted him 61st overall in their draft.

"It wasn't a matter of money," Rogers said of his decision to go to the WHA. "The Canucks informed me they would send me to the minors and Edmonton told me that I was a big pick and that they intended to play me. I didn't want to go the minors so I signed with Edmonton."

Rogers stepped into the league right away and impressed, scoring 35 goals, 48 assists and 83 points. He also won the Paul Daneau Trophy as the WHA's most gentlemanly player after picking up only one minor penalty all season long!

In 1975-76 Mike got off to a slow start so the Oilers traded him to the New England Whalers. With the Whalers Rogers statistics never exceeded the 83 points of his rookie season, but he was a constant 25-30 goal, 70-80 point threat. He also developed into a good all around player as he played on a line with the great Gordie Howe and Gordie's skillfully talented son Mark.

When the WHA folded in 1979, the Vancouver Canucks didn't act on their right to claim Rogers, as they took the advice of coach Harry Neale that he was not good enough for the National League.

How wrong Harry was in this case!

Rogers stayed in New England with the now renamed Hartford Whalers. He erupted to a new scoring level once he arrived in the NHL. He is one of only 4 players (guys named Gretzky, Lemieux and Stastny are the others) who scored 100 points in his first 3 NHL seasons! He scored 44 goals and 105 points in 1979-80 and duplicated the 105 points in 1980-81 based on 40 goals and 65 assists!

The Whalers traded Mike to the New York Rangers in 1981-82 but he didn't slow down. He had a nice 38 goal, 65 assists for 103 points. Rogers would continue to be a solid offensive contributor for NYR the next three years, but his point totals tailed off to the 65 point range.

By 1985-86 Mike spent most of the year in the minors, although was acquired by the Edmonton Oilers and finished his career where it started, with 8 games in the Alberta capital.

Mike did play one more season of pro hockey after that, playing with HC Ambri-Piotta in Switzerland..

In total, Mike played in 484 NHL games and scored an impressive 202 goals, 317 assists and 519 points, while collecting just 184 PIM. He played in 17 playoff games, picking up 13 assists but scoring just once.

Gordie Howe

2007-06-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

Gordie Howe was once quoted as saying "Hockey is a man's game." In the game of hockey, Gordie is the man.

Hall of Famer Bill Gadsby claimed "He was not only the greatest hockey player I've ever seen, but also the greatest athlete."

The right winger was a giant in his time at 6'1" and 205 lbs. He had the build of a heavyweight boxing champion. And he knew how to fight.

Part of the legend of Gordie Howe is his unmatchable toughness. He had "windshield wiper elbows" and like to give "close shaves" to anyone who dared to challenge. Ask any hockey experts who they'd choose as the toughest NHLer ever, and most would put their money on Gordie Howe against anyone else.

Those who knew Gordie away from the rink would never believe his on ice instincts.

"Despite an even temperament and a real distaste for combat, there is a part of Howe that is calculatingly and primitively savage," Mark Kram wrote in Sports Illustrated in 1964. "He is a punishing artist with a hockey stick, slashing, spearing, tripping and high-sticking his way to a comparative degree of solitude on the ice."

Gordie had a nasty habit of never forgetting and always getting even. One hockey legend serves as a fine example of this would have been an exchange with Maple Leaf defenseman Bob Baun. In 1957, Baun knocked Howe down with vicious intent. Howe had to be helped to the bench. 10 seasons later in 1967, Baun was playing for Oakland and was defending Howe on a one-on-one rush. Howe took a shot and the follow through of the stick caught Baun in the throat. Baun was down on the ice bleeding. Howe mercilessly stood over him and said "Now we're even."

While few in the game were tougher than "Mr. Hockey," even fewer were more talented. In his prime in the 1950s and 1960s he was routinely described by coaches as the smartest player, the finest passer, the best playmaker and the most unstoppable puck carrier in the game. Aldo Guidolin, an opponent of Howe back in the early days, understatedly remarked "Gordie plays a funny kind of game; he doesn't let anyone else touch the puck!"

Gordie Howe not only outperformed everybody, but outlasted everybody. Gordie played from 1946 until 1980. In his last season he was a 51 year old grandfather playing with and against players the were old enough to be his son! Howe played 33 seasons in the pros. One with Omaha of the USHL, 26 in the NHL (25 with Detroit) and 6 with the WHA.

While Wayne Gretzky has since dwarfed all of his statistical achievements, Howe dominated the game over many different eras.

His credentials speak for him. He won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player in 1952, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1960, and 1963. He led the NHL in scoring in 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957 and 1963. He finished in the top 5 of NHL scoring in 20 consecutive seasons. He was a 21 time All Star.

During the 1950s the standard argument was "Who's better? Howe or Maurice ("The Rocket") Richard. Upon The Rocket's retirement, Richard admitted Howe was the best. "Gordie could do everything" he said.

When it comes to who is the greatest player of all time, one of Howe's chief rivals is the Boston Bruins stand out Bobby Orr. Howe was already a NHL star when Bobby Orr was born in 1948, and was still in the big leagues when Orr retired in 1979. No skater can compare to Howe when it comes to the test of surviving time.

It's too bad the New York Rangers did not have a crystal ball. They were the first NHL team to discover him, and at age 15 invited him to their junior training camp in Winnipeg. A homesick Howe performed poorly and wanted to go back to the family farm in Saskatchewan. The unimpressed Rangers never thought twice about it, and let the quiet kid go without signing him to their organization.

The next year, a Red Wings scout discovered him and invited him to the team's training camp in Windsor, Ontario. A more mature Howe impressed, as the Red Wings acquired his playing rights. Two years later, at 18, Howe was playing in the NHL.

Howe did not set the league on fire right away. Howe spent more time establishing his physical reputation in that time, scoring a total of only 35 goals but dropping the gloves with any and all comers. The Red Wings were able to convince him that he would be better served to stay out of the penalty box, the ambidextrous shooter scored 35 goals in 1949-50, second in the NHL to Rocket Richard's 43.

A playoff game in March 1950 defines the essence of Gordie Howe. It happened in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Red Wings bitter rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs. The result almost ended his life, never mind his hockey career. Teeder Kennedy was carrying the puck when Gordie attempted to intercept him. A fraction of a second before impact, Kennedy pulled up, catapulting Gordie head first into the boards. He laid crumpled on the ice with a fractured skull. He was considered extremely lucky to survive such a blow and was told he'd never play hockey again. The next year he was the league's scoring leader by 20 points. It was the first of four consecutive Art Ross trophies as scoring champion.

His 1951-52 MVP season was even sweeter. After leading the NHL in scoring (86 points) and goals (47), he led Detroit to an 8-0 record in the playoffs in its sweep to the Stanley Cup.

In 1952-53, Howe became the first player to score at least 90 points, notching 95, with a career-high 49 goals. The Red Wings, who were upset by Boston in the first round of the playoffs that season, rebounded by winning the Cup in 1954 and 1955, giving them four championships in six years. The Wings enjoyed one of hockey's greatest dynasties, but it proved to be Howe's last Stanley Cup.

Howe would continue to dominate in this six-team, 70-game era. He became the NHL's career scoring leader in 1960 when he passed Richard's 946 points on Jan. 16, 1960. In 1962-63, Howe won his sixth MVP and scoring championship (86 points). On Nov. 10, 1963, he became the league's all-time leading goal scorer with 545, passing Richard again.

In 1968-69, in the second year of expansion, Howe achieved his first 100-point season. On the day before his 41st birthday, he scored four points in the season finale to give him 103.

Gordie retired from the Detroit Red Wings in 1971 to take a front office job. But after two years of inactivity, Gordie made one of the most astonishing come backs in pro sport history. At the age 45, he signed with the Houston Aeros of the WHA where he was teammates with his two sons Mark and Marty. The Howes lead their team to the WHA title twice under his leadership.

In 1977 he and his boys joined the WHA's New England Whalers. When the Whalers joined the NHL as the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80, Gordie made his triumphant return to the NHL at the unthinkable age 51! He drew capacity crowds as the fans wanted to see the 50 year old grandfather play against the young stars like Bryan Trottier, Marcel Dionne and Wayne Gretzky. In the Whalers first year they made playoffs. Then-Whalers president Howard Baldwin credited Howe, who scored 15 goals, with that feat. Howe wasn't exactly in his prime at that age, but he didn't look out of place on many nights either.

Over a period of 32 years (combining NHL and WHA totals) Gordie Howe scored 1071 goals 1518 assists and 2589 points. Only Wayne Gretzky's career totals are better. Howe was a gifted power forward, an accomplished defensive player, a feared giant and the only player to have dominated three different eras - postwar NHL, the Golden Era of the 1960s and the Expansion Era.

Mark Howe

2007-06-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

Make no mistake: Mark Howe was not Gordie Howe, his legendary father. But Mark too was a great player.

Gordie Howe was a fearsome physical presence and a goal scoring machine. Mark Howe was one of the steadiest, cleanest and most accomplished players of the 1970s and 1980s.

Mark, born in Detroit where his Canadian father played for 25 years, was member of the U.S. Olympic silver medal-winning team as a 16-year-old in 1972. He followed that up by moving to Toronto where he played junior hockey with the Marlboros. Howe led the Marlies to the Memorial Cup championship, leading the way with 4 goals and 8 points in the 3 game finals.

Mark, and his brother Marty (who also played on the Marlies championship team), jumped to the pro ranks in 1973-74 when they signed with the WHA's Houston Aeros. Coming out of retirement was father Gordie in one of the most remarkable comebacks in sporting history. The father and his two sons played on the same line - a highlight of each players career.

Mark certainly wasn't as robust or physical as his legendary father, but then few ever have been. Mark instead relied on a high skill level. He was a constant scorer and playmaker in the WHA. He relied on his strong hockey sense and puck handling skills

In 1978-79 the Howes left Houston after 4 years and joined the New England Whalers where the trio starred for 2 years before the WHA folded as a league. When the remaining teams of the defunct WHA merged with the NHL, Mark's value to the renamed Hartford Whalers became obvious as he was claimed as a priority selection by the team. Former WHA teams were allowed to keep only two players and the remainder were placed into a league wide dispersal draft.

Howe played primarily as a left winger in Hartford, but by 1981-82 he was playing more and more on the blue line. He would play the rest of his career on defense. Playing on the blue line really brought out the best in Howe. His vision of the ice plus his elite intelligence allowed him to control the game like a quarterback.

Howe suffered one of the worst injuries in hockey history on December 27, 1980. Late in the third period Howe crashed heavily into the goal cage and impaled himself on a metal post at the center of the net. The post is no longer used, thanks to the injury. Howe was taken away on a stretcher, treated in hospital for a deep laceration to his left thigh and buttock. The puncture narrowly missed the base of his spine. Had his spine been effected, Howe almost certainly would have never been able to play again..

Howe played three seasons with Hartford before being moved to Philadelphia in a blockbuster of a trade. It was with Philadelphia that Mark would have his best years. Converted permanently to defense from forward, Howe became one of the best defenders of the 1980s. While he never actually won the Norris Trophy, he was routinely among the top candidates for the best defenseman in the league standings, finishing runner up three times.

The transition to defense was Mark's proudest achievement. Very few players in NHL history have had a career let alone a star career split between a forward and defense position. Blessed with excellent skating, speed and agility, Howe's defensive approach was definitely more finesse than physical. His uncanny ice vision and tremendous passing allowed him to control the game. He added a valuable dimension to a physical Flyers defense - he provided the ability to rush the puck out of the zone or make a beautiful break out pass.

Backed by Howe's composure and great hockey sense, the Flyers became the NHL's best team in the East during the middle years of the 1980s. Unfortunately for Howe and his teammates, the Western half featuring the Edmonton dynasty was stronger and the Flyers didn't win the Cup while Howe was there, despite two memorable Stanley Cup final showdowns with Edmonton in 1985 and 1987.

After 10 fine seasons with Philadelphia, the two parties went different ways in 1992. The Flyers felt that Howe was at the end of his career as back injuries limited him to just 101 games in the previous three seasons. In fact Howe had back surgery in 1991 and was told not to play anymore as doctors feared for his health. Howe persisted and signed with the Detroit Red Wings, helping to solidify a young blue line. However the Detroit Red Wings were willing to bring Mark home. Fulfilling a childhood fantasy, he would play for the team his father made famous for the next three seasons, although he continued to miss lots of time with back injuries.

Howe retired in 1994-95. He scored 197 goals, 545 assists and 742 points in 929 NHL games, plus another 61 points (10 goals, 51 assists) in 101 post season affairs. Mark added 504 points in 426 WHA games.

Marty Howe

2007-06-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

Marty Howe is Gordie's other hockey playing son.

Mr. Hockey is also the father of Mark Howe, who carved out his own all star career in the NHL. Marty Howe however was never an all star. Instead he was more of a defensive player with little flair other than his bloodlines.

Marty, Gordie's first born, was not to be underrated though. Being a Howe he was naturally very strong, and actually was recruited by colleges for his football ability, although he never seriously pursued those options. He played an unspectacular form of defense, also spending some time at forward on the famous "Howe line" in the WHA - a line comprising of father and sons. In the WHA he was a serviceable defenseman, twice helping the Houston Aeros capture the Avco Cup championship.

Once the WHA folded he appeared in only 2 full NHL seasons out of 5 pro seasons after 1979. Injuries depleted his seasons and often he was farmed out by the Hartford Whalers. It wasn't until the Boston Bruins acquired his rights in 1982-83 that he played his first full NHL season, playing 78 games, scoring a goal and 12 points. He returned to Hartford in 1983-84, dressing for 69 games. In 1984-85, Howe played his final 19 games in the NHL with the Whalers. The totals on his NHL career were 197 games played, two goals, 29 assists, and 31 points.

Marty loved hockey, which is not surprising considering the family he was born into. He's been a coach in the low minor leagues since the 1990s. In fact at one point while with the Colonial Hockey League's Flint Bulldogs in 1992-93, the team became so depleted by injuries that Marty came out of retirement, and played 3 games himself!

While Marty is not in the same class as his brother Mark, he is not the worst hockey playing son of Gordie Howe. That would probably fall on the shoulders of the youngest sibling Murray. Murray played as a child and recreationally, but his passion was academics. He became a successful doctor.

Blaine Stoughton

2007-06-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

Blaine Stoughton was a fantastically skilled hockey player. Nicknamed "Stash," Blaine had a way of stashing pucks into the back of the net. His first four seasons as a member of the NHL Hartford Whalers he scored at least 43 goals. Two of those years he scored more than 50, including in 1979-80 when he and LA's Charlie Simmer led the league in goals with 56. Blaine also had a 52 goal season in the WHA.

Blaine thrived on fast paced, loosey-goosey hockey games where there wasn't a whole lot of defense being played. But once the game became very physical or very tight, Stoughton frustrated many fans and hockey people by seemingly disappearing in such contests.

Blaine was born in Gilbert Plains, Manitoba, but first gained prominence on the hockey scene in Flin Flon where for 4 years he starred with the WCJHL's Bombers. He had a relatively quiet first year with the Bombers, scoring 19 goals and 39 points in 59 games, but as his 181 PIM suggests, he answered the physical bell when older players tried to test out the newcomer.

Blaine was off to a great start in his second season with Flin Flon in 1970-71. But then a nasty incident occurred. Blaine accidentally speared Don Dirk of Medicine Hat right in the eye. Dirk escaped serious injury, but Blaine was suspended for 29 games. He still finished the year with an impressive 26 goals and 24 assists in 35 games, and tore up the league in the playoffs with 13 goals and 26 points in 17 games.

Blaine played in 68 games in 1971-72 and led the league with 60 goals and finished third in the league in scoring. In his draft year in 1972-73, he scored 58 goals which was good enough for 5th overall. He really cemented his status as one of hockey's top young guns. He was drafted 7th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1973.

Blaine was never happy in a very short stay with Pittsburgh however. He felt he deserved to play in the NHL, but after a lackluster 34 game rookie season he was sent to the minor leagues where he was a big part of an AHL championship team in Hershey. However Stoughton demanded to be traded.

The trade occurred on September 13, 1974. It was a great one for Pittsburgh as they received a young Rick Kehoe from Toronto in exchange for Stoughton. Kehoe went onto become one of the greatest players in Penguins history, while Stoughton went onto two indifferent and disappointing seasons with the Maple Leafs.

After finishing the 1975-76 season back in the minor leagues, Stoughton jumped to the rival World Hockey Association for the 1976-77 season when he signed with the Cincinnati Stingers. He finally blossomed into a 52 goal, 104 point scorer in Cincinnati, much to the chagrin of Leafs fans.

The chagrin wouldn't last too long in Toronto. Over the next two years, Stoughton returned to his indifferent play. Over the next two seasons, he scored only 38 goals total. He was traded from Cincinnati to Indianapolis to New England in that time as well, leaving much to be desired in each city.

The move to New England proved to be good eventually, but not until the Whalers became the NHL Hartford Whalers in 1979-80. That's when Stoughton, often taking wonderful dishes from Mike Rogers, tied with Charlie Simmer for the lead league in goals with 56. He also topped 100 points. Finally, Blaine had reached the levels once predicted for him at this level.

Unlike in his one previous season in the WHA, Blaine proved that it was no fluke this time around. Despite missing the first month of the 1980-81 season in a contract dispute, he still registered 43 goals. He returned to the 52 goal level in 1981-82 when he played a full season, and had a 45 goal season in 72 games in 1982-83.

Blaine slowed down in the 1983-84 season, and was even traded to New York in hopes that a reunification with old partner Mike Rogers would revive his scoring abilities. However it didn't work, and he spent most of his days a Ranger in the minor leagues.

Blaine retired in the summer of 1986 although he did resurface in Italy two seasons later. He later went on own and operate a sports bar in Boca Raton, Florida before getting back into the game as an assistant coach with the Whalers farm team in Springfield starting in 1993. By the late 1990s he headed an investment group that purchased the Austin Ice Bats of the Western Professional Hockey League.