tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-182604222024-03-18T05:48:31.988-04:00Greatest Hockey Legends.comJoe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.comBlogger8038125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-60505753667962066972024-01-24T21:03:00.003-05:002024-02-12T21:59:12.366-05:00Welcome to GreatestHockeyLegends.comGreatestHockeyLegends.com is the preeminent website dedicated to celebrating and honoring the greatest legends in the sport of hockey. It is a comprehensive online resource where hockey enthusiasts, fans, and historians can delve into the rich history of the game and learn about more than 3300 iconic players who have left an indelible mark on the sport.The website features a vast collection of Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-24712631840880655972023-12-20T12:00:00.000-05:002023-12-20T12:00:00.143-05:00When the NHL played games on Christmas Day
This is the cover image of the December 24th, 1947 issue of The Hockey News.Note the Lee Kavetski artwork prominently featured on the front page. Even warring hockey players offer peace and happiness at Christmas time!Back in those days the National Hockey League were still playing games on Christmas Day, believe it or not. And they weren't always so friendly to each other.The Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-50112710225785804692023-12-17T16:50:00.000-05:002023-12-17T16:50:12.820-05:00Hartland MonahanHartland Monahan, a forward who played 334 games for six NHL teams, passed away in December 2024. He was 72.Born and raised in Montreal, he helped the Montreal Jr. Canadiens win the Memorial Cup as junior hockey champions in 1970. That team featured none other than Gilbert Perreault, but it was Monahan who scored the winning goal in the final Memorial Cup game.Selected by the California Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-17695945508872721132023-12-16T00:54:00.001-05:002023-12-16T00:54:07.519-05:00Howie Morenz Played For The Boston Bruins?As unthinkable as it may seem, did you know that Howie Morenz played at least one game with the Boston Bruins?And he played a game with the New York Americans the same week!In case you don't know, Howie Morenz was arguably the Montreal Canadiens first true superstar. He was an electrifying skater - nicknamed The Mitchell Meteor and the Stratford Streak which referenced where he was from with his Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-3614078157738712012023-12-14T00:22:00.003-05:002023-12-14T00:22:47.932-05:00NHL Skaters Who Wore #1Has a NHL skater ever worn jersey #1? The answer is yes - five NHL skaters - non goaltenders - have worn the number seemingly reserved for puck stoppers.There is no actual rule that states the #1 is strictly reserved for goaltenders. It's just very historically synonymous with the position.The NHA - forerunner to the NHL - introduced identifying sweater numbers in 1911. They pretty simply Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-91864952923769658272023-12-05T23:47:00.000-05:002023-12-05T23:47:49.859-05:00Don BlackburnHockey is not usually a place for stability. Just ask Don Blackburn, one of the many well travelled players in the long history of the game. In a professional career that spanned from 1958 to 1976, Blackie played in 16 different cities across 7 leagues!The bulk of his career was spent toiling in the minor leagues, but he did have a good run in the big leagues. He totalled 185 in the NHL (scoring Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-73984988731648610902023-12-05T22:57:00.002-05:002023-12-05T22:57:22.423-05:00Bob RivardBob Rivard, a minor league scoring star, passed away on the first day of 2023. The 83 year old had suffered from Alzheimer's for several years.Born in Sherbrooke, Quebec in 1939, Rivard played his junior hockey with a young Scotty Bowman with the Peterborough Petes in Ontario.In the years before the NHL Entry Draft, Rivard was property of the Montreal Canadiens but never came close to playing Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-30772162611647813672023-12-05T20:01:00.003-05:002023-12-05T20:01:31.199-05:00Wayne MaxnerWayne Maxner was a long time coach, best known for three stints in Windsor where he is a legend with the OHL Spitfires, as well as with the London Knights. He also coached the NHL's Detroit Red Wings.But not everyone realized that Maxner was also a NHL player. He was a playmaking winger with the Niagara Falls Flyers, playing with the likes of Terry Crisp and Gary Dornhoefer. Those two went on to Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-24227800013234289242023-12-04T23:17:00.000-05:002023-12-04T23:17:26.122-05:00Leigh VerstraeteFormer Toronto Maple Leafs forward Leigh Verstraete passed in August 2023 following a two year illness. He was just 61.Verstraete was born in Pincher Creek, Alberta but grew up in Calgary. As a youth he played every sport you could think of, but hockey was his calling. He became a crowd favorite with the WHL's Calgary Wranglers. He was known more for his penalty minute totals than any Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-11753618092053971222023-12-04T21:38:00.000-05:002023-12-04T21:38:17.622-05:00Sandy MacGregorI recently learned that Sandy "Sam" McGregor passed away in November 2023.MacGregor was a Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatter junior star who went on to play many seasons with the AHL Baltimore Clippers in the 1960s. He got into 2 games with the New York Rangers in the 1963-64 season. But beyond his two game appearance he refused to report to the Rangers farm team, and arrangements were made for him to Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-2364454460899945022023-12-04T00:10:00.005-05:002023-12-04T22:06:03.224-05:00Was there actually a dollar sign jersey? The website HockeyGods.com uploaded this photo recently. It is of the 1912 Calgary Athletic Club hockey team that challenged for the Allan Cup in amateur hockey supremacy in Canada.A quick study of the photo shows that the goaltender is wearing a different sweater than everyone else. And then there is the quick realization that the goaltender's sweater features a very large dollar sign!I Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-34798275408458211232023-12-04T00:10:00.003-05:002023-12-04T00:10:42.629-05:00Stephen Holland's Hockey ArtStephen Holland is a well noted artist in the sports world. With a stroke of his paint brush he is able to capture the essence of the athletes he portrays.And he must be a big hockey fan. How else do you justify including Sylvain Lefebvre in a collection that includes Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin.I have a Gretzky Canada Cup lithograph proudly in my office. Though IJoe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-61689208952290090142023-12-03T18:45:00.002-05:002023-12-03T18:45:24.428-05:00Beautiful Game Worn Canucks Jersey The Vancouver Canucks have had a number of ugly jerseys over the years. Despite the condition of this game worn gem, this wool sweater from the 1950s is not one of them.That's right. 1950s. The record books tell you that the Vancouver Canucks started in the National Hockey League in 1970, which is true. But before that they existed dating back to the 1945 in the old Western Hockey League (Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-19389817599596596732023-12-03T18:24:00.003-05:002023-12-03T18:24:35.827-05:001981 Canada Cup ringsThere was a time I considered myself to be a bit of an expert on the Canada Cup of Hockey. And I still geek out when I learn anything new about the tournament. I had no idea of the existence of 10k gold and diamond rings issued to the players of Team Canada in 1981 until now.The November 2023 offerings from ClassicAuctions.net included this ring that was formerly from the personal collectionJoe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-62597227821245559612023-11-20T00:55:00.006-05:002023-11-20T00:56:08.988-05:00The Unknown Members of the 1980 Canadian Olympic Team
One of the cool old features in The Hockey News was the Where Are They Now feature. They were instrumental in establishing my love of learning about players I previously didn't know. Usually only one player was profiled in each article but in this November 25th, 1983 special previewing the upcoming 1984 Olympic Games in Sarajevo Eric Duhatschek looked back at what became of the Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-51848429587165297762023-11-15T12:00:00.012-05:002023-11-15T20:40:43.699-05:00Duke's Embarrassing Breakaway Gaetan Duchesne, known as Duke to his teammates, was a really solid defensive forward in the 1980s and first half of the 1990s - an era not exactly known for defensive play. Duchense idolized Bob Gainey and Doug Jarvis, two of the all time defensive greats.Duchesne played over a thousand NHL games, most notably with the Washington Capitals and the Minnesota North Stars. While he was a very Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-87739912701785008332023-11-13T12:00:00.027-05:002023-11-13T12:00:00.139-05:00Two Sides of Tom Barrasso
The April 5th, 2002 issue of The Hockey News highlighted "The Two Sides of Tom Barrasso" late in the Hall of Fame goalie's career.Yes, there was temperamental and surly person off the ice, well noted for his disdain of hockey media. Even teammates did not always what to think of the brash, very confident netminder. While he may have rubbed a few people the wrong way off the ice, Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-15012586388961551202023-11-12T11:30:00.001-05:002023-11-12T11:30:00.126-05:00Hockey Hall of Fame Welcomes Pierre TurgeonJoe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-53446271647058806432023-11-11T21:00:00.001-05:002023-11-11T21:00:00.134-05:00Hockey Hall of Fame welcomes Mike VernonJoe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-74318759318267168472023-11-11T17:30:00.001-05:002023-11-11T17:30:00.136-05:00Hockey Hall of Fame Welcomes Henrik LundqvistJoe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-84431509559079033652023-11-11T12:00:00.001-05:002023-11-11T12:00:00.141-05:00Canadian War Hero and Olympic hockey player Hubert BrooksHubert Brooks had an unusual Olympic experience.In 1948 Brooks was part of Ottawa based Royal Canadian Air Force Flyers who were representing Canada in hockey. Despite being part of the team, he never actually took to the ice as he served as a spare player. The left winger from Bluesky, Alberta (though he grew up in Ottawa and Montreal) officially never participated in the Olympics at all, but Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-64170829828541567382023-11-10T12:00:00.001-05:002023-11-10T12:00:00.132-05:00The Very First Hockey Hall of Fame Draft Class
Probably the greatest value offered by the recent opening of The Hockey News archives is the first hand accounts of players, teams and events of long, long ago.Everything is so well documented in the past 30-40 years, both in digitized print and especially video. One day a kid will be curious to see for him or her self who was better - Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin - and will go to Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-43242225885017126792023-11-09T12:00:00.001-05:002023-11-09T12:00:00.143-05:00Pankhurst Played For National Team At Age 14Boy Wonder Gabe Pankhurst must be one of the youngest hockey players ever to play for his country's national team.At the age of 14 Pankhurst played for England's national team in 1947. The record shows he played in 2 games, one of which was a 3-3 tie against Sweden.Just how did he make the team?Firstly, a bit of background. While some records show Pankhurst being born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-20305641490443698202023-11-08T12:00:00.000-05:002023-11-08T12:00:00.143-05:00The Other Howie MorenzHockey has many great examples of family connections within the sport. The Sutters, the Stastnys, the Hulls, the Richards, the Apps, the Tkachuks, the Espositos and now the Hughes.But to date there has only been on family legacy that can claim four generations.That would be the Morenz/Geoffrion family lineage.Howie Morenz of the Montreal Canadiens was one of hockey's first true superstars. He wasJoe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18260422.post-81162842176404147662023-11-06T12:00:00.001-05:002023-11-06T12:00:00.131-05:00Heinz Schupp This is a photo of vintage can of Heinz soup. I got this photo from BBC's website. Apparently back in 2017, someone in Wales donated a 50+ year old can of soup to a food bank. But why would I be posting a photo of this can of Heinz soup?I recently learned of a hockey player of yesteryear whose name was Heinz Schupp! With a name like that I had to some digging, though I didn't get very Joe Pelletierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01906327400250923397noreply@blogger.com0