Stern Message

Here in Canada there has been a disheartening news story developing this summer. An organization called Imagine Adoption, which specializes in bringing orphaned African children to good homes in Canada, has gone bankrupt, leaving as many as 450 families in limbo. Also in jeopardy is the organization's efforts to build infrastructure such as schools and medical buildings in Africa.

One of the more high profile clients was former NHL tough guy Ron Stern. He and his wife successfully adopted a baby out of Ethiopia two years ago, and the couple has used their status to help raise money for the organization in the past.

Patrick Maloney of the London Press has the full story regarding Stern. It is just another example of what a great guy NHL tough guys can be.

I always considered Ron Stern to be more than a tough guy. True, he would drop the gloves without complaint and racked up some gaudy PIM totals, but I always considered him to be more of a honest, blue collar winger who knew his job and performed it to the best of his ability. He was a surprisingly good skater, allowing him to excel at a bang-and-crash game where he was a punishing hitter. He was a guy who you had to admire because he gave it everything he had on every shift.

Although he had decent offensive numbers in juniors and in the minors, Stern could never find his scoring touch in the NHL. He only scored 75 times in his 638 game career, mostly by crashing the net for loose pucks. If he could hit 10 goals a year that was considered to be good production. He rarely handled the puck with much success. His best offensive play was to simply let his linemates carry the puck into the zone while he drove hard to the net opening up lanes for them.

Stern's best days were with the Calgary Flames, forming an effective grind line with center Joel Otto. He also played in Vancouver and San Jose, always employing his rugged game.

A Word About Reggie Fleming

In terms of NHL news, it was a pretty quiet three weeks while I was away. August, usually the slowest month, and I suspect it will really drag on this summer.

There was one big piece news came out while I was away and I would be remiss not to comment on it.

Reggie Fleming passed away after a hard battle with a debilitating stroke. He was 73. Fleming's life after the stroke became something of YouTube legend thanks to Fleming's film maker son, Chris. He posted 8 heart breaking interviews with his dad online to "influence people to come see their relatives and to spend more time with their own parents."

The YouTube links are tough to watch, especially for hockey fans who witnessed Fleming on the ice. There was no tougher son of a gun in hockey than Reggie Fleming. He was no goon, just a hard working labourer who brought his lunch pail and work boots to the rink every day.

Here's my Reggie Fleming biography. Also here are some other good links that came out while I was away:

• Remembering Reggie Fleming - NY Times
• Fleming Dies at 73 - Chicago Tribune
  

Hockey Statues

While on vacation I purposely tried to stay away from hockey as much as possible. But I was able to convince my travelling companions to go up to the Northlands area of Edmonton the night after the severe thunderstorm. That was the area supposedly hardest hit, so they wanted to go see the damage.

I agreed to drive them out that way knowing full well that we would somehow bump into this, much to their dismay:


On August 27th, 1989 the city of Edmonton erected this slightly bigger than life sized bronze statue of Wayne Gretzky just outside of what is now called Rexall Place.

The project was a bit controversial at the time. Gretzky had left for Los Angeles just one year earlier. The city and the fans wanted it done, but the Oilers did not at that time, probably thinking it was too early.

Thanks to the financial support of Molson Breweries the project went ahead. And since the city of Edmonton owned the Northlands Coliseum (Rexall Place's old name that to this day I always say out of nostalgic habit), there was no way for the Oilers to block the gesture.

Gretzky was on hand for the unveiling of the statue, as captured in this grainy newspaper clip:

That must be a real humbling/weird feeling looking up at a statue of yourself. All of which got me thinking: what other hockey statues are out there?

I've seen Rocket Richard in Gatineau and another outside of Olympic Stadium Park in Montreal. Then there's the famed Ken Dryden "thinker pose" statue at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Gordie Howe was recently immortalized at Joe Louis Arena. The Czechs honored the great Ivan Hlinka in 2008, while Denver University bronzed Murray Armstrong, a 8 year NHL veteran turned school coaching legend.

What other hockey statues are out there? Post about them in the comments section, if possible with a link to a photo or story about the statues.

Women's Hockey Teams Focus Training Camps In BC

Over the course of the next few months you will see an increasing amount of Olympic flavor here at your friendly neighborhood hockey history blog. Undoubtedly the majority of that content will focus on the men, but as long time readers of mine know I like to give the womens' game attention as well.

Swedes Come To Okanagan

I found this story of interest: Last week Team Sweden announced they would focus their pre-Olympic training in Kelowna, the mecca of the British Columbian Okanagan region. Team Sweden will train in Kelowna from Aug. 16 to 29 at Rutland Arena and then return from Jan. 21 to Feb. 4 to train at Memorial Arena.

Head coach Peter Elander said "I was looking for a Canadian town with a solid elite ice hockey environment, a walkable town centre, great training facilities and a first-class hotel."

Was there any other choice besides Kelowna? I think not.

Canada Trains In BC, Too

The Canadian women have already held a "boot camp" in northern BC, in Tumbler Ridge, waterfall capital of the province.

Now most tourists would never choose Tumbler Ridge over Kelowna (though I would) because it is so isolated. But that is exactly what Team Canada was in search of. The 26 players who are fighting for 21 roster spots spent 3 weeks up north in July, spending 6 hours a day running the Alaska Highway, increased flexibility with yoga, built strength with Tai kickboxing as well as lengthy on-ice sessions.

Be sure to check out the above links for good reads.

Brian Wiseman - The Next Gretzky Who Never Was

Dennis Kane has an excellent piece on Brian Wiseman. The former University of Michigan star's career in the NHL amounted to just 3 games with the Maple Leafs. But at one time he was touted as the next Wayne Gretzky. Check out Dennis-Kane.com for the full details.

US Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2009

The United States Hockey Hall of Fame announced the class of 2009 today. Tony Amonte, John Leclair, Tom Barrasso, Frank Zamboni and the 1998 Women's gold medal Olympic hockey team will all be enshrined later this year at a date yet to be determined.

Barrasso's inclusion should come as no surprise. The surprise I have is that he hasn't garnered more support from the Hockey Hall of Fame people in Toronto. He had a reputation as a grump, but his hockey resume is very impressive.

In fact, I have no qualms with any of these choices. They all meet the Hall's long standing induction guidelines based on "ccomplishments in the game of hockey, sportsmanship, character, contributions to their team(s) or organization(s) and contributions to the game of hockey in general."

That being said, until the past few seasons Hall inclusion was seemingly guaranteed for any NHL hockey player who was born in the United States, and many players who starred at the collegiate and amateur levels. Inductees were rarely elite hockey stars, but undisputed builders of the game in America.

It is nice to see the US Hockey Hall of Fame now has real candidates to choose from.

Back In Action . . . Super Action!

Do you remember these old "Super Action" hockey cards from the early 1980s?:

This dates back to when virtually every player's card photo was taken during a standstill in the pregame warm up or a break in the action. These rare Superaction cards depicted actual hockey action, something that for some reason seemed incredibly hard for photographers of the era to do.

I am back from 3 weeks of vacation, and ready to go back into Superaction myself. I climbed to the summit of a Rocky Mountain. I survived camping with four teenage girls, who were more upset about the lack of electricity for their hair straighteners than falling trees in the midst of a wicked Edmonton thunderstorm.

But I am most relieved to have survived the best man wedding speech I gave at my brother's wedding on the weekend. Public speaking is never fun at the best of times, especially in front of a group of mostly strangers, my brother's friends several of whom all admittedly know him better than I do.

Yet I was best man, and I had to give a speech. Naturally, I compared marriage to hockey. Here are the highlights:

• Both hockey and marriage are contact sports. That being said one is definitely better played on ice than the other.
• There will be inevitable amount of face offs
• In marriage fighting penalties last longer than 5 minutes
• The side with the best power play almost always wins
• In marriage there is no Zamboni to smooth things over every 20 minutes.

I went on to talk about the key in both hockey and marriage being teamwork, and even quoted Howie Meeker!

Now that that is all over with I will be back to posting regularly. I do have a weekend getaway to the Okanagan in a couple of weeks, and a return camping trip to the Rockies at the end of August. I will be busy arranging for pre-scheduled postings for that. I also have three new hockey books to review for HockeyBookReviews.com, and tons of projects to get ready for the upcoming season. I promise this website will be updated daily, and I have some real exciting projects coming up.

Brothers: Derian Hatcher and Kevin Hatcher

Last month I made mention of Derian Hatcher's retirement. Derian was one of my favorite defensemen of all time, so I wanted to expand on my initial thoughts in a full Derian Hatcher profile.

Now also seems like as good a time as any to write up a profile on his brother Kevin Hatcher. Kevin was more skilled, but somehow I just could never quite warm up to him the same way I did for Derian. Find out why by reading my Kevin Hatcher biography.

Brothers: The Hansons

They may be fictional characters, but they may also be the most famous brothers in all of hockey. They are the Hanson Brothers.

Brothers: Keith Primeau and Wayne Primeau

Here's a treat for you - a rare NHL fight between brothers. Keith Primeau and Wayne Primeau go at it.



I'm pretty sure the Sutters had a couple of dust ups, too. I'm not certain how many times brothers have fought each other in a NHL game, but I do know who was the first to do so. Sometime back in the 1940s Ken Reardon and Terry Reardon dropped the gloves.

Brothers: Keith and Brent Gretzky

Alright, so you know enough about Wayne Gretzky already, but what about younger brothers Keith and Brent?

Keith never did make it to the NHL. But he did get on the cover of The Hockey News, and a spot in Sports Illustrated's Faces In The Crowd when he was 13. He also stole the spotlight in this 1981 7-Up commercial starring both him and Wayne.

Brent did briefly. His career as the "Not As Great One" lasted 13 games. But in that time he scored 1 goal and 3 assists for 4 points. In doing so he made sure the Gretzkys were the highest scoring pair of brothers in NHL history. Well, I guess Wayne, who left home when Brent was just three years old, helped a little too.

Wayne has another brother, Glen. Try as he might, he never really could play hockey. He was born with a club foot and it hurt too much to skate. But boy did he ever try. Here's what father Walter Gretzky said in the Terry Jones book The Great Gretzky.

"I thought none of the kids would top Wayne when it came to work. Wayne would be out on the rink in the backyard when other kids were going to the movies. He was an incredibly hard worker. All the kids are hard workers. But Glen works even a little harder. I'll look out at the rink when the rest of the kids have gone in because it's too cold out. And he'll still be there, skating around those pylons."

Last I had heard Glen was serving with the Wayne Gretzky Foundation.

Wayne also has one sister, Kim, who nowadays is a health care worker. She was quite the track and field star back in her younger days.

Brothers: Frantisek and Zdenek "Steve" Tikal

In 2002 we saw a pretty rare occurrence. Two brothers faced off against each other in Olympic competition, playing for different countries.

Robert Reichal, the NHL star was of course playing for his birth country, the Czech Republic, where he is a huge star. His younger brother Martin, who was also born in the Czech Republic, was skating for Germany. Martin never made it to the NHL, but he found the professional leagues and the lifestyle of Germany to his liking. He even became a German citizen, allowing him to compete in the 2002 games.

Believe it or not, that was not the first time two brothers competed on the same ice but for different countries. In 1960 the Tikal twins, Frantisek and Zdenek, also found themselves on opposite sides of the ice.

Frantisek, pictured, was a stalwart defenseman for the Czechs in a career that spanned 17 years. He was especially dominant in the early 1960s, helps Czechoslovakia capture the bronze medal in 1964. He was a regular player on the national team from 1957 through 1966. He was even named the best defenseman at both the 1964 and 1965 World Championships, and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2004. Father David Bauer, the legendary Canadian national team coach of the 1960s, considered Tikal the best defensman in Europe in the 1960s.

His brother Zdenek was nowhere near as good. In fact, while Frantisek is somewhat legendary in the Czech hockey scene, Zdenek was once considered a great traitor by everyone in his country. In 1948 he opted to defect from the new communist-controlled Czechoslovakia, a definite no-no.

Not a whole lot is known about Zdenek, other than he did wind up in Australia, had been playing for a club team in Melbourne, and, believe it or not, was a star player for them as they entered for the 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley, USA. He also started going by the name Steve Tikal.

It would be a short Olympics for Zdenek, however. The first Australian game came against Czechoslovakia, and they lost 18-1. But the Czechoslovaks seemed to have another goal in mind - exacting revenge on Zdenek for his defection. As if under direct orders the Czechoslovaks went head hunting for Zdenek because he was a traitor. Eye witness accounts suggest on his very first shift he was speared in the neck by a Czech player.

Obviously you would have to think that would put Frantisek in a pretty odd spot. After all, he had not seen his brother in 12 years, and secret service police were most certainly keeping the two of them apart so that they could not speak to each other. On top of it all, Frantisek had to watch his teammates go after his long lost twin brother.

According to Seamus O'Coughlin's book Squaw Valley Gold, it was actually Frantisek who ended Zdenek's night. "They collided and the brother from Australia separated his shoulder," he wrote. It ended his Olympic tournament, as he never played another game.

For what it is worth Frantisek was never assessed a penalty in the game, so if the story is true it may have been a clean hit.

What I am unclear of is if the two twin brothers were ever reunited. Frantisek appears to have stayed in the Czech Republic until his death in 2008, which would mean he would not have gained travelling freedoms until the fall of communism around 1990. Zdenek's story beyond the 1960 Olympics is a complete mystery. Did he live long enough to return home and reunite with his brother and family?

Brothers: Don, Dan and Dave Maloney

Picture here are Dan and Don Maloney. Not pictured is a third brother to play for the Rangers, Dave Maloney.

Relive The 2009 Stanley Cup With New Book, DVD

Andrew Podnieks and HB Fenn have come out with The Year of the Penguins: Celebrating Pittsburgh's 2008-09 Stanley Cup Championship Season. The colorful 184 glossy page book relives the Penguins magical season and exciting NHL playoffs.

Buy The Book: | Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com |

You can also pick up a similar product in the 100 minute documentary 2009 Stanley Cup DVD that is also already released.

Buy The DVD: | Amazon.ca - Chapters - Amazon.com |


Stay tuned, I expect to announce giveaway copies soon.

Brothers: Pavel and Valeri Bure

Pavel Bure, the Russian Rocket, was the NHL's most exciting player in the 1990s. He was one of the few players in hockey history to get you out of your seat on a nightly basis.

Valeri Bure was his brother. He was much quieter in stature, but he was a crafty, serviceable NHL forward for over 600 NHL games.

In the picture above the two brothers are enjoying the moment as they captured the silver medals at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

By the way, there was a second set of brothers celebrating on that Russian team - defensemen Dmitri and Boris Mironov.

Meet Tretiak In Toronto Next Week

Either click on the image below or this link for more information on your chance to meet Vladislav Tretiak

Surviving Edmonton

This is Mark Laforest, a career minor league goalie who got into 103 NHL games. I best remember him backing up Ron Hextall in 1987-88, and for his lengthy fight with fellow goalie Sean Burke later on with the Leafs in 1990.

His obvious nickname was Trees. Which is why I'm bringing his name up.

I'm interrupting my NHL brothers series and my vacation to check in on the internet and what all I've been missing while camping through Alberta.

Fortunately for me, trees are missing me. I was camping in Edmonton when a severe thunderstorm hit. Local radio was reporting sightings of funnel clouds, although I do not think any such beast was officially recorded.

But the winds were horrendous nonetheless, especially for us tenters. We were very lucky, though. Not 20 feet from our campsite a large elm tree crashed to the ground, sending us not-so-happy campers scurrying. It actually landed, with no room to spare, in between the tent and the picnic table of our neighbors, who thankfully had not yet returned from their day out.

Other than that, the trip has been amazing - lots of hiking, camping, and wildlife sightings followed by some big city fun. Now I'm off to Vancouver for my brother's wedding.

While I will have slightly more regular internet service this week, I basically plan to let GHL continue on with our NHL Brothers special. Enjoy everybody!

NHL Twins

In our continuing look at brothers in hockey, today we take a look at NHL twins.

The most famous twins are of course the Sedin twins, pictured to the right quite a few years ago. They look conjoined here in this photo.

But the Sedins are actually one of five set of twins to play in the NHL. In fact, there is another set of identical twins in the NHL right now, and they are also from Sweden.

That's right. Not everyone realizes that Dallas forward Joel Lundqvist is the twin brother New York Rangers superstar goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

I remember a few years back Henrik was named by some magazine as one of the sexiest men in pro sports. Wouldn't Joel have to automatically be included, too?

The other three twins to play in the NHL are:

Chris and Peter Ferraro
Rich and Ron Sutter
Peter and Patrik Sundstrom (also of Sweden)

Hockey's Battling Brothers: The Plager Brothers

Here's a classic article by Stephan Altman from the April 1971 issue of "Hockey."

The Plagers: Hockey's Battling Brothers


"The puck goes off into the corner. Plager digs it out; sends it back to the point to Plager; a lateral to the other side for Plager. . ." Sound like double talk? Not really. A St. Louis Blues fan actually could hear such a broadcast this year. for the past few years, the name Plager has been synonymous with tough aggressive hockey. The Blues' aggressive style is in triplicate - in the form of Barclay, Bob and Billy Plager.

The Plagers are tough; just ask anyone who had the audacity to challenge any one of them. Said one opposing player after a bench emptying brawl against the Blues last season, "It doesn't matter which is which. They all hit the same."

Thanks to the boys' father, Gus Plager, the brothers grew up knowing that the only way to settle differences was with their fists, preferably in a boxing ring.

"Around our house we had more fights amongst the three of us," said Bob, the second oldest. "The older guy was right until the younger guy could prove he was wrong. We had boxing gloves at home but there was to no fighting in the house. So we went out in the backyard to settle it and dad would referee. That's the way he was. We'd go until one guy would get beat up and that was the end of the fight."

Probably the greatest intramural Plager battle took place in Bob and Barclay's junior days when Bob was with Guelph and older brother Barclay was with Peterborough. What started out as a typical hockey brawl wound up an all out pier-sixer.

"I'll never forget that one," laughed Bob in a quieter moment recently. "We started out on the ice. We were going at it pretty good for about ten minutes. Finally they got us separated and we were sent to the penalty box. But we were still too hot, and we started again in the box. This time we were both thrown out of the game and sent to our respective dressing rooms. But we never got that far. We battled right underneath the stands for another ten minutes before we finally looked at each other, wondering what we were fighting about in the first place. The funny thing is that neither of us really got the better of it. The fans really got their money's worth that night."

Although defense is the usual Plager position, all three brothers started out as goaltenders.

"The reason for this was simple," explained Billy, the youngest. "We were the only family on the block, back home at Kirkland Lake, to have a set of goalie pads. So we were the goalies."

"I think we were all pretty good goalies," added Bob. "But there wasn't much action. Besides, nobody really wrote much about the goalies where we came from. It was the fellows up front who got all the coverage. Also, how often could a goalie hit someone?"

As far as straight hockey is concerned, Bob has the most NHL experience, seeing big league action in parts of six campaigns. He first came up to the Rangers in 1964-65, when the Broadway Blueshirts would have settled for any defenseman who showed even the slightest amount of promise.

"Those were pretty bad days for the Rangers," smiled Bob. "I really didn't play with them, though. Emile Francis gave me my shot, but I guess I really didn't madke the best of it."

Bob lasted for a little over two years in the New York organization before being shipped to the St. Louis Blues shortly after that club was born. The deal which sent him to the Gateway City was an interesting one. The Blues had drafted Ranger defenseman Rod Seiling as part of the original expansion draft, but New York GM Emile Francis wanted him back. The Blues were willing to oblige, but they wanted another defenseman in return. Bob Plager filled the order, and the St. Louis management have been happy ever since.

"Bob has improved every year he has been in the league," said his former coach Scotty Bowman. "His ruggedness is often built up in the papers so much that his hockey ability is overlooked. Sometimes he may look a little awkwards, but he always gets the job done.

Barclay, oldest of the Plager pugilists, is by Bob's own admission, "the best hockey player among us." Yet it was not until rather late in his career that he finally got a chance with the Blues in the NHL (he's still on the sunny side of 30.) His early pro career resembled a railroad timetable as he performed in various cities and cow-towns throughout the eastern half of the North American continent. In addition to his family trait of aggressiveness and a knack for picking up penalties, Barclay has also been an adept scorer. His 32 points last year for St. Louis was high for a defenseman on that club.

"For some reasons, Barclay never really got a chance to prove himself in the NHL, despite his fine minor league record," said Bowman. "We knew all along that he had fine puck-handling ability to go alonger with his reputation as to go along with his reputation as a fighter. It was no surprise that he's done as well as he has."

Billy, the baby of the family, is also the smallest, but not necessarily the meekest. After a fine junior career, during which he starred both in goal and on defense, Billy was promoted to the Minnesota North Stars after spending only one year in the Central Hockey League. At that time, North Star GM Wren Blair felt, "Billy is an outstanding prospect. If he keeps working and dedicates himself no matter where he plays, he'll make the grade. He has a good attitude and will the best of the three Plagers."

Just barely 25 years of age, Billy sees the bulk of his big league career ahead of him. "Billy is one of our finest prospects," said the new Blues coach Al Arbour during training camp. "He has natural ability and a willingness to make it big."

One of the most interesting moments in the Plager household came when young Billy was still with the North Stars. A game between the Blues and the Stars was being telecast throughout the United States and Canada, giving the nationwide audience its first chance to see all three Plagers in action at the same time. The most interested parties in the viewing audience were a couple in Kapuskasing, Ontario - Mr and Mrs Gus Plager. When asked which team they were rooting for the sly papa merely grinned and said, "I'm just hoping each of my sons just does his best out there. With all three boys now on the same team, this pressing problem for the Plager clan has been resolved.

As much as the Plager boys quarrel among themselves, heaven help anyone who tries to take one of them. He is likely to get the same treatment - but in triplicate. Once while Billy was playing in the Central League and Bob was toiling in the American circuit, Bill was cut by an opposing playing. When Bill told Bob of the incident, the latter promptly marched into the Baltimore Clippers front office and asked if he could go to Omaha in the Central Hockey League to help out his brother. Needless to say, the Baltimore management refused, but the incident clearly shows that blood is thicker than ice.

The Plagers are an exciting bunch (just ask the St. Louis fans), and a talent bunch (just ask some opponents in the NHL). Together they form the basis of the great Blues defense that has kept them at the top of their division since thier inception. The Blues are going to win a lot of hockey games in the next few years, partly due to the inspired play of the battling brothers.

Papa Plager will be very happy.

--

Somewhere I saw a great line that Papa Plager was nicknamed Squirrel - because he raised three nuts!

Brothers: Mark Howe and Marty Howe

They will forever be in the enormous shadow of their father, Gordie Howe, but brothers Mark Howe and Marty Howe were pretty good players in their own right.

In particular Mark Howe was a special player. He had the rare ability to be a dynamic offensive forward or a stalwart defenseman. He probably should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Marty Howe also played up front and back on the blue line, but he was best known as a quiet, defensive rearguard.

Gordie had one other son, Murray. He became a doctor.

Did you know that Gordie Howe did have a brother who also played in the National Hockey League? Vic Howe played 33 games with the New York Rangers.

Brothers: Bill and Bun Cook

Teaming together with the elegant Frank Boucher, brothers Bill and Bun Cook dominated the National Hockey League. They were so good that old time hockey fans would tell you the great Soviet lines of 1970s and 1980s were similar in style to Boucher and the Cooks.

Bill Cook was the Rangers first goal scorer, first captain, and first Hall of Famer led the Rangers to their first Stanley Cup. Though he is long forgotten, some have said he may have been the greatest right winger of all time. Better even than Maurice Richard or Gordie Howe!

While Bill was the sniper and Boucher was the playmaker, Bun Cook was the glue of the line. He was a real innovative player, generally credited with inventing the drop pass.

Very good for you if you already knew of the Cook brothers. But even hockey's diehard history buffs forget that there was a third Cook brother. Bud Cook only played in 51 NHL games.

Brothers: The Conachers

One of the early great brother combinations in hockey was the Conacher family. All three brothers ended up in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

There was Charlie Conacher. Back in the 1930s he starred on Toronto's Kid Line with Joe Primeau and Busher Jackson. He was Bobby Hull before Bobby Hull was even born. With his heavy shot they called him The Big Bomber.

Then there was Lionel Conacher, The Big Train. As good as he was at hockey, he was even better at other sports. He was so good at lacrosse, football, wrestling, boxing and baseball he was dubbed Canada's Greatest Athlete. That was confirmed in 1950 when he was named as Canada's athlete of the first half century.

Lastly there was Roy Conacher. The youngster played in the 1940s, in the shadows of his brothers. He was a goal scorer who retired in 1952 with 226 goals in 490 games. It was not until 1998 that he would be included in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Here's a YouTube clip on the Conacher brothers.





The Conacher's NHL family relations did not end there. Charlie's son Pete played in the NHL, while Lionel's son Brian did too. As did Murray Henderson, a nephew of Charlie, Lionel and Roy.

Brothers: Frank and Peter Mahovlich

Frank and Peter Mahovlich not only starred in the National Hockey League, but also with Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series.

Brothers: Ken and Dave Dryden

Today our look at NHL brothers takes a look at a unique set of brothers - goaltenders Ken and Dave Dryden.

Something special happened in NHL history on March 20, 1971. That night marked the first time two brother goaltenders played against each other as Dave played against his brother Ken. Ken at the time was a late season rookie call up who would later that year go on to lead the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup.

Buffalo coach Punch Imlach wanted a brother-against-brother match up right from the opening faceoff. His reasoning was that Dave had more NHL experience than Ken, and would give his team an edge against the powerful Habs that night. However Montreal wanted no part of that and started veteran starter Rogie Vachon instead. Upset at Montreal's unwillingness to allow NHL history to happen, Imlach made a late change and started Joe Daley in net instead of Dave.

With the Habs leading 2-0 in the second period, Vachon had to leave the game due to an injury. Of course Ken Dryden had to go into replace the injured veteran. Before the referee could drop the puck to resume the game, Imlach surprised all in the Forum by pulling Daley, and replacing the healthy goalie with Dave Dryden. Finally Imlach, always a showman, had the showdown he wanted from the beginning.

The game ended with Montreal winning 5-2. Ken allowed 2 goals on 13 shots, Dave allowed 3 goals on 20 shots.

Brothers: The Stastnys

Today's set of brothers are Slovakia's famous Stastny brothers: Peter, Marian and Anton.

Brothers: Bobby and Dennis Hull

In today's special brothers series we take a look at Bobby Hull and Dennis Hull.

Brothers: Henri and Rocket Richard. Oh Yeah, Claude, Too!

Maurice Richard and his much younger brother Henri Richard, both Hockey Hall of Famers, may be the best one-two brother punch in hockey history.

But did you know the Rocket and the Pocket Rocket had another hockey playing brother?

Claude Richard, dubbed the Vest Pocket Rocket, is pictured above to the left of his famous brothers. This rare photo of three Richards together on the ice came from training camp in 1959.

Claude was 16 years younger than Maurice, and one year younger than Henri. Claude never cracked the Montreal line up. He was said to be a good scorer in the Hull-Ottawa area where he played senior hockey. But he was too slow of a skater to play NHL hockey in the 1950s.

Brothers: Max, Doug and Reg Bentley

Pictured above are Brothers Max and Doug Bentley, two of the most celebrated players of their day.

Together with Bill Mosienko they formed the "Pony Line," powering the Chicago Black Hawks. All three having scored 200-plus career goals and earning enshrinement into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Max was nicknamed the "Dipsy Doodle Dandy" for his dazzling skating. He won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's MVP in 1946 and won two consecutive Art Ross Trophies as the league's leading scorer. He finished his career with 245 goals and 299 assists.

Doug was a Blackhawk from 1939-52 and like his brother, was an Art Ross Trophy winner (1943). A four-time All-Star, Doug finished his career with 219 goals and 324 assists.

During the Pony Line days Mosienko may have been an honorary brother, but Max and Doug did have another brother who played in the National Hockey League. In fact he played in Chicago for 11 games, scoring 1 goal and 2 assists before returning to Saskatchewan. Meet Reg Bentley.

Brothers: Phil and Tony Esposito

In today's brothers series we take a look at Phil Esposito and Tony Esposito.

Going To The Chapel . . .

Hey look, it's Wayne Gretzky. This photo is 21 years old now proving marrying model/actress Janet Jones was no gamble.

The Gretzky wedding, like anything involving Gretzky, was bigger than life (click for video). It was Canada's royal wedding, with television coverage coast to coast and enough newspaper print to fill 100 scrapbooks. 1000s of people lined the streets.

So I'm going to the chapel in a couple of weeks, too. No, I ain't getting married! But my brother is. And I get to be the best man.

Today I leave on vacation. I am off hiking and camping through my usual stomping grounds, the Canadian Rockies, the first of two trips there. Then it is off to Edmonton so my girlfriend and her three kids can get some retail therapy. Then I'm going down to Vancouver just in time to throw on a tux, make a speech, and fly home.

To pass the time while I am away I have pre-scheduled daily posts with a very special and fitting feature. For the rest of the month we will be taking a look at hockey's famous brothers, complete with unique pictures and memories of each player.

I will have sporadic internet, but should there be any big news in the coming days, I will most likely not be posting on it until August.

So with that in mind. . . let's take a look at some of hockey's greatest brother combinations!

Joe Sakic

Joe Sakic was born July 7, 1969, in Burnaby, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver. The son of Croatian immigrants, young Joe learned English as his second language (Serbo-Croatian was spoken in his home). As a result, he was a very soft-spoken youth, a trait he carried with him through to his hockey career.

Sakic turned a lot of heads during his junior career, culminating in a 160-point explosion and the Canadian Major Junior Player of the Year award playing for the Swift Current Broncos in 1987-88. He made his NHL debut with the Quebec Nordiques the following season. Quebec traded Dale Hunter, their long time tough guy and heart and soul player, to the Washington Capitals to get Sakic in the 1987 Entry Draft.

Sakic joined a Nordiques team clearly on the decline. By 1988, Quebec had clearly fallen out of the top tier of NHL teams. The new decade saw the team's two franchise players, Peter Stastny and Michel Goulet, playing elsewhere. Young Sakic quickly found himself carrying les Nords all alone.

In spite of that, Joe performed remarkably well. He notched 102 points in 1989-90, not bad for a second-year player under any circumstance, but quite extraordinary considering he did it playing for a team that posted a pathetic 12-61-7 record. The next season, Quebec went 16-50-14 as Sakic scored 109 points, coming just two goals shy of a 50-goal season in the process (a distant second in scoring on the team, at 59 points, was a promising Swedish rookie named Mats Sundin).

Extraordinary numbers in the face of adversity, yet a lot of people didn't even notice. Why? The fact Joe was playing for a terrible team in a small market certainly didn't help matters, but Sakic also proved to be near fanatical about shunning attention, preferring instead to express himself with his trademark wrist shot. Some years later, one former teammate commented that Sakic, who despite being by this time well-established as a team leader, rarely made locker room speeches more profound than, "OK boys, the bus leaves at noon."

Sakic led the Nordiques in scoring in four of their final five seasons, with Sundin besting him by 11 points in 1992-93. The fortunes of the Nordiques changed dramatically after the blockbuster trade with Philadelphia for Eric Lindros, as did the personality of the team. When the franchise moved to Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche, it became known for outspoken, animate players such as Patrick Roy, Claude Lemieux and Peter Forsberg, as well as its storied and often bitter rivalry with the Detroit Red Wings. Yet in marked contrast, it was the quiet Croatian-Canadian who wore the "C" for the Avs throughout.

It wasn't until Joe’s Conn Smythe Trophy-winning performance with the Avalanche in 1996 when he finally got his due from the mainstream sports media. Since then, Sakic has been the team player everyone wants to have. Neil Smith and the New York Rangers tried to lure him away in the 1997 off-season, but Colorado matched the Rangers’ offer sheet – and their multi-million dollar signing bonus up front – to keep him in Denver despite being in the middle of constructing a new arena at the time. It’s worth noting that it was Joe Sakic, not John Elway, who captained a Colorado-based team to a major sports championship first.

He would go on to win another Stanley Cup championship in 2001, the same year he won the Hart and Byng trophies. He was the hero in 2002 when he led Canada to the Olympic gold medal. He was named as the tournament MVP.

His 625 goals and 1,641 points in 1,378 games place him 6th all time in NHL scoring history, trailing only Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Gordie Howe, Marcel Dionne, Steve Yzerman and Mario Lemieux.

Yet a story book ending was not in the cards for Sakic. A debilitating back injury - coupled with a freak snow blower accident - allowed him to play in only 15 games in his final season, and just 44 in the season before that. Sakic desperately wanted to conclude his career with a chance to play in the Olympics in his hometown of Vancouver in 2010, but the injury would not allow him. When it became obvious he would not be able to play in the Olympics, he tried desperately to rehab his back enough to play in late 2009 season farewell games in Vancouver and in Denver. Again, no go.

Fate deals a hard hand sometimes. It's too bad Joe Sakic, like so many hockey players, never got to finish his career under his own circumstances. The classiest player of his generation left the game quietly, but a first ballot Hall of Fame ticket was waiting for him in 2012.

Remembering the Toronto Granites

I'm not sure why this piece came out now, but Neil Stevens of the Canadian Press has a nice piece remembering the 1924 Olympic gold medal champion Toronto Granites:

The odd thing about what nine hockey players did for Canada in 1924 was that, when they were doing it, they had no idea of the importance of their accomplishment.

The Toronto Granites had won the national senior championship and thus were selected to represent Canada in the hockey tournament during what was dubbed the International Week of Winter Sports in Chamonix, France, as a prelude to the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. Eight countries were entered and the Granites, coached by Frank Rankin of Stratford, Ont., outscored opponents 110-3 in five games to win the championship.

Dave Burrows - Hockey's Most Underrated Player No Longer

This is Sports Illustrated's 2009 Stanley Cup championship commemorative issue.

David Sabino dedicates part of the issue to the greatest players in Pittsburgh Penguins history. All the usual suspects are there: Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Sidney Crosby, Jaromir Jagr, Jean Pronovost, Rick Kehoe up front; Stanley Cup winners Tom Barrasso and Marc Andre Fleury in net; and Paul Coffey, Larry Murphy and Ulf Sameulsson on defense.

There was one other player named on the blue line. Most people don't know of Dave Burrows, but I have long contended that he was one of the most underrated hockey players in history. It's great to see him get some recognition, finally.

Jihlava's Famous Holiks

Earlier this summer I mentioned that Bobby Holik retired. I am only getting around now to fully profiling Holik, largely because I wanted to include his entire family. His father Jaroslav Holik and uncle Jiri Holik are hockey legends in the Czech Republic. His sister, Andrea Holikova, defected to the West to become a top tennis player in the world. She would later marry Frantisek Musil, giving Bobby Holik a NHL playing brother-in-law.

Click the links above to learn more about each of the famous Holik family from Jihlava, Czech Republic.

Soviet Hockey Robots

One of the most amazing things about the old Soviet Union/Canada Cold War of hockey was that we knew so little about the Russian players we admired. We quickly learned that they were great hockey players, but nothing else. They were portrayed as robots, not as people. The only images we saw of them outside of hockey was in military gear.

Which makes my find earlier this year all that more amazing, to me anyways. It is a set of hockey postcards distributed in Russia back in 1984. It gives us a glimpse at the human side of these hockey robots/disciples of communism that we were expected to dislike.

Take a look at these great and much younger images of some of hockey's all time greats:

Vladimir Myshkin and Vladislav Tretiak

Alexander Maltsev and Sergei Makarov

Sergei Shepelev and Igor Larionov

Vyacheslav Bykov and Helmut Balderis


Andrei Khomutov and Sergei Skvortsov

Vladimir Krutov and Sergei Kapustin

Sergei Starikov and Viacheslav Fetisov


Vasily Pervukhin and Alexei Kasatonov


Vladimir Zubkov and Irek Gimaev


Zinetula Bilyaletdinov and Sergei Babinov

Mikhail Vasiliev and Sergei Zhluktov

Canada and Russia may be on a collision course for gold at the 2010 Olympics. The eternal rivalry between hockey's two top countries is nearing another amazing peak.

Nowadays we know the Russians quite well, and even like them better than many Canadian players. I hear of more kids wanting to be Alexander Ovechkin than Sidney Crosby nowadays. It's not like back in the 1970s and 1980s, when politics and society would never allow you to admire a Russian hockey player, even though we all secretly did anyways.

Hockey's Cold War may be back, but it will never be the same as the good ol' days.

Sunday Funnies

America's Best Hockey Player?

Happy 4th of July everybody.

While most of our American friends are watching baseball, having barbeques and watching fireworks, I thought it would be a good time to ask this question: Who is the best American hockey player of all time?

Brett Hull? Pat Lafontaine? Chris Chelios? Mike Modano? Neal Broten? Jeremy Roenick? Brian Leetch? Last year I listed my top 10. You tell me who you think is the best American hockey player of all time in the comments section below.

Also, here's a look at America's first two hockey superstars - Hobey Baker and Moose Goheen.

Canada Invites 46 To Summer Camp

Just one day after I speculated about who would be invited to Team Canada's 2010 Olympic Orientation Camp, Hockey Canada announced the list of invitees.

The roster consists of 46 players, including five goaltenders, 16 defencemen and 25 forwards. 40 of the players have senior international experience, either at the Olympics, IIHF World Championship or World Cup of Hockey/Canada Cup. 36 of the 46 players played for either the National Junior Team or National Men's Under-18 Team.

It is a bit of an big roster to work with, but hey this is Canada and there are a lot of worthy candidates to consider. The camp will run from August 24-27 at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary.

Just to be clear, all players in the NHL (and beyond, for that matter) remain eligible for inclusion on the Canadian Olympic team. Just because a player is not at the orientation camp does not mean he may not be making the team. That being said, the 2002 and 2006 Canadian Olympic teams were comprised entirely of players who had been invited to camp.

Here's the roster broken down by position, with my commentary following.

Goaltenders - Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, Cam Ward, Marc Andre Fleury and Steve Mason. The only surprise for me here is they went with more than 4 goalies. It seems to me that 4 is the perfect number to run practices and scrimmages, allowing for each goalie to get adquate time between the pipes. Mason had an incredible first year, but he will need to be every bit as good to start the upcoming season. Some people are noting the exclusion of veterans Chris osgood and Marty Turco. I don't think it makes a huge difference. If healthy, Brodeur and Luongo are on this team, leaving only the third goalie spot open. Chances are high that third goalie will never play anyways. Good on Canada for bringing the young guys for the future.

Defense - Jay Bouwmeester, Dan Boyle, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Robyn Regehr, Dion Phaneuf, Marc Staal, Shea Weber, Francois Beauchemin, Brent Burns, Drew Doughty, Stephane Robidas, Mike Green, Dan Hamhuis, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook. Just five of these 16 defenseman have Olympic experience, but those are five are likely to make the team - Bouwmeester, Boyle, Niedermayer, Pronger and Regehr. Again, 16 seems like a bit of big number, and I'm surprised to see Robidas, Hamhuis and Beauchemin included. I like all three, but if they make the Olympic team it is because Canada's blue line is decimated with injuries.

Forwards - Sidney Crosby, Shane Doan, Simon Gagne, Dany Heatley, Jarome Iginla, Rick Nash, Joe Sakic, Martin St. Louis, Eric Staal, Joe Thornton, Vincent Lecavalier, Jeff Carter, Ryan Getzlaf, Milan Lucic, Patrick Marleau, Andy McDonald, Brendan Morrow, Corey Perry, Mike Richards, Derek Roy, Patrick Sharp, Ryan Smyth, Jordan Staal, Jonathan Toews and Dan Cleary.

Cleary may be the only surprise here, but the biggest surprise has to be the omission of Boston Bruins star center Marc Savard. Despite his gaudy offensive totals and his improved defensive game, he continues to get no respect. He may have been in tough to crack the top 13, but he should be at the camp.

Ryan Smyth's inclusion raised a few eyebrows, as many suspect he is past his prime and will not be included at the Olympic level any longer. I think it is a good move by Canada to bring him to the camp though, as his war stories from all his international experience will inspire the younger players.

I am particularly happy to see Milan Lucic at the camp. His game is still rough around the edges and he likely will not be at his prime until say the 2014 Olympics, but he is a big game player who can make an amazing impact with his physical play. Given the 2010 Olympics are going to be played on the "small" NHL regulation sized ice, Lucic could be a force.

I first suggested Lucic should be a candidate early last season. I asked around for some feedback from others and I was politely acknowledged. Jason Kay of The Hockey News said "we'll wait and see" and James Mirtle of The Globe & Mail bluntly replied with three words - "Not a chance."

Now I realize Lucic is still a real long shot. But given that the 2002 and 2006 Olympic teams were made up entirely of players who had been invited to the orientation camp, I have to think Lucic now has a chance.

2009 NHL Free Agency

I am in from camping for a little bit. I wanted to keep up with most of the NHL free agency news. No doubt you have too, following all the happenings on national television or on other top websites.

Here's just a few thoughts:

1. Daniel and Henrik Sedin stay in Vancouver. I can not emphasize enough how happy I am with this move. My long time readers know I am a life long Vancouver Canucks fan, and I also am a fan of the increasingly rare days when the core of a hockey team stayed together for a generation. I truly despise all the player movement that there is nowadays. Maybe I am just an old fogey talking, but I can't seem to form an emotional bond to a particular team when the key players are constantly changing. One season the player is supposed to be our hero, the next he is the arch enemy, and vice versa. The Sedins represent an emotional attachment for me and for many other Canucks fans. Many Canucks fans felt the same about Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi, but for me the emotional ties have been lacking since Mike Keenan and Mark Messier chased Trevor Linden and Martin Gelinas out of town. I always want the Canucks to win the Stanley Cup, but I want to see the Sedins factor in that significantly.

Of course, hockey decisions have to me made with the mind, not the heart. Taking the emotion out of it I do realize the Sedins are not quite at hockey's highest elite level with the Sidney Crosbys and Alexander Ovechkins. But in the summer of 2009, I truly believe keeping the Sedins was the smartest thing the Canucks could do.

The 2009 free agency pool really lacked star power. Of the big names to switch teams, I would only place Marian Hossa, Marian Gaborik and Jay Bouwmeester ahead of the Sedins. Had the Canucks either let the Sedins go, they would be forced to enter the bidding war for Hossa and Gaborik, almost certainly overpaying. The Sedins are the Canucks top line, the heart of their offense. Replacing them would mark a huge cultural change. Some fans argue with merit that that change needed to take place, but there was no real replacements in line.

Hossa would have been a 12 year commitment. Gaborik would likely have been an $8M commitment, a ridiculous sum for such an injury prone player. In the Sedins the Canucks kept their top two forwards. They are very good on offense and quite solid on defense. They are remarkably durable, rarely missing a shift let alone a game. They can be counted for 160 points. They are very popular in Vancouver, a solid piece of any marketing campaign.

At $6.1M each, they come in at a cap friendly number for first line players. Five years is just about perfect for each party. The Canucks get them for the remainder of their prime years, but are not committed to their declining years. The Sedins will be 33 when they are next up for contract talks. That could give them one last shot at big cash call to finish their careers.

All in all, a good deal for both sides, and for the fans.

2. Tampa Bay Makes A Smart Move. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but for the first time in the Koules/Barrie/Lawton disastrous reign of error, the Tampa Bay Lightning made a real nice move signing Mattias Ohlund. After acquiring giant Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman with a no brainer of a draft selection, I kind of worried about Hedman (or any other young player) entering the Tampa Bay mess. But after watching Ohlund very closely for all of his career, I can certainly attest that there is no better defenseman to take Hedman under his wings. Ohlund is an extremely competent defenseman in all areas, though flashy in none. Even before this move I saw Hedman as a bigger version of Ohlund. Having Ohlund mentor Hedman is a very good thing for Tampa Bay Lightning fans.

The Bolts also got Matt Walker at $1.7M a year for 4 years. Walker impressed in Chicago after seemingly coming out of nowhere. I like Walker's play and intensity, but I hope his progress does not stall in Tampa. In Chicago he had gotten a lot of good coaching from Joel Quenneville. Coach Q is not only one of the best coaches in the game, but a former long time NHL rearguard himself, playing a similar style to that of Walker.

One question though - How is it any player can sign with a new team just 15 minutes after the deadline has passed? I suspect the Canucks allowed Ohlund to talk with any team in advance, out of respect for his many years of service. But does anyone really believe teams and players and agents aren't talking to each other before they are supposedly allowed to talk?

3. Colorado Snags Craig Anderson. It was hardly the biggest news of the day, but I think it may have been the savviest. Looking to improve their goaltending situation, the Colorado Avalanche are rolling the dice on Craig Anderson with a 2 year deal worth $1.8M per year. I really like Anderson, as he has shown in the past couple of seasons that he may be ready for the big time. He had a real strong season with at-times struggling Florida team last year. The Avalanche are weaker than the Panthers, so improving the blue line in front of him is necessary. But I think when we look back at the free agency signings a year from now we will be saying Craig Anderson was a real steal.

4. The Marians. I already touched on the Marians a bit in my Sedin commentary. Why any team signs any player to 12 year contracts I do not understand. I realize this is done to lower the salary cap number, but has no one noticed that NY Islanders goalie Rick Dipietro basically has not played in 2 years after signing a 15 year contract. The injury does allow for cap relief at some point, but in the mean time it becomes very hard to replace their contributions to the line up. As for Gaborik, he may be one of the top 5 most dynamic players in the NHL, and he will finally be set free from the stifling Minnesota system. I hope he does well, because it will be fun to watch. But history tells us he will miss a lot of time with injuries. At $7.5M a season that could be a costly gamble.

5. Montreal's new look. The new era in Montreal seems to be about overpaying. First they acquired Scotty Gomez in a trade. Forget about his ridiculously inflated $8M per year salary, they actually had to give up at least one good prospect in addition to solid player Chris Higgins to get him. Then they went out and landed his old New Jersey linemate Brian Gionta, who at 5'8" is hardly the remedy for the Habs size and grit problem. And they're paying him $5M a year even though his goal scoring totals have dwindled significantly since the lockout? Sharpshooter Mike Cammalleri may look good on Gomez's left wing. At $6M he better have a good season to earn that money.

That's a grand total of $19M a year for Canadiens' new first line. That will only add to unbelievable pressure in Montreal.

Some other quick observations:

- Substituting Martin Havlat for Gaborik in Minnesota was a smart move. They are in many ways identical players, but Havlat saves the Wild $2M to $3M a year.

- Brian Burke could only land Mike Komisarek, a nice addition and at a better price than I expected. There is always a premium on defenseman when it comes to free agency. Still, why is it so many star players avoid Toronto?

- Mike Knuble's big body presence will be a nice fit in Washington.

- Karlis Skrastins may be the most underrated player in the league. Good job Dallas

- Erik Cole's best days are behind him, but he still works really well with Eric Staal. Cole's $2.9M contract is much friendlier now.

- Edmonton tried to make some noise by signing the biggest name on the goaltending UFA list. The market was all theirs really, as not a lot of teams were looking for a starting goalie. There was not a lot to choose from, either. Still, Edmonton is now on the hook for 4 years of an aging Nikolai Khabibulin. He played very well last year, but has been up and down over his career. I don't like Edmonton's gamble. If they wanted a veteran goalie, they should have ponied up to keep Dwayne Roloson.

- Roloson is headed to the Islanders with a two year deal by the way. Remember what I said earlier about team's not learning from the Rick Dipietro contract. Signing Roloson must mean the Islanders are fearing Dipietro's days are done.

- Montreal also upgraded their defense signing Jaroslav Spacek and Hal Gill at decent numbers. Both are solid veterans, but, despite Gill's intimidating size, neither are punishing physical players. Montreal has lacked grit for years, and will continue to be a middle of the pack team until they get some sandpaper.

Son of German Legend Coming To Canada?

The Windsor Spitfires traded up to land German forward Tom Khunhackl with the 24th pick in the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft last week.



He is the son of German hockey legend Erich Khunhackl,a 6'5" giant who was inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall-of-Fame in 1997 and was named Germany’s ice hockey player of the century in 2000.

“His dad was the Wayne Gretzky of Germany and he has the package,” his agent, Rollie Thompson, said.

There is no guarantee Khunhackl, who is eligible for the NHL draft in 2010, will come to North American for the coming season. Regardless, he is already highly regarded. The Red Line Report ranks him No. 4 among Europeans for next year’s draft and International Scouting Service has him at No. 5.