This Day in Hockey History: Feb 18th

1918 - Montreal Canadiens' goalie Georges Vezina recorded the first shutout in NHL history, blanking Toronto 9-0.

1967 - Montreal's rookie goalie Rogie Vachon played in his first NHL game. His first shot was a breakaway by Gordie Howe. Vachon made the save.

1980 - Vancouver Canucks traded former first round picks Billy Derlago and Rick Vaive to Toronto in exchange for left winger Tiger Williams and right winger Jerry Butler.

1981 - Hartford Whalers retired Gordie Howe's uniform number 9

1981 - 20-year-old Wayne Gretzky became the first player in NHL history to score five career hat tricks before the age of 21, when he had five goals and two assists in a 9-2 Oilers' win against St. Louis. It was also Gretzky's first career 5-goal game.

1983 - Lanny McDonald became the first player in Calgary Flames history to score 50 goals in a season. BUF 5 - CGY 1

1989 - Wayne Gretzky scored two goals and five assists in career game #754, to give him a career total of 1,800 NHL points.

1989 - Joe Nieuwendyk scored the 100th goal of his NHL career as the Flames lost 4-3 to the visiting Bruins. It took him 134 games to reach 100, tying him with Maurice Richard for second fastest 100 goals in history. Mike Bossy had 100 in 129 games.

2004 - Ottawa Senators acquired winger Peter Bondra from the Washington Capitals, in exchange for winger Brooks Laich and a second-round draft pick in 2005.

Happy Birthday to Alexander Mogilny, Andy Moog, Thomas Gradin, Dick Duff, Nik Antropov, Ab McDonald, Tom Johnson, Moe Lemay, Kris King, Blake Comeau, Wally Kilrea, Goldie Prodger, Marty Howe and Cody Hodgson.