National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 31 teams: 24 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada; the Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season. The National Hockey League was organized on November 26, 1917, at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal after the suspension of operations of its predecessor organization, the National Hockey Association, founded in 1909 in Renfrew, Ontario; the NHL took the NHA's place as one of the leagues that contested for the Stanley Cup in an annual interleague competition before a series of league mergers and folds left the NHL as the only league left competing for the Stanley Cup in 1926. At its inception, the NHL had four teams—all in Canada, thus the adjective "National" in the league's name.
The league expanded to the United States in 1924, when the Boston Bruins joined, has since consisted of American and Canadian teams. From 1942 to 1967, the league had only six teams, collectively nicknamed the "Original Six"; the NHL added six new teams to double its size at the 1967 NHL expansion. The league increased to 18 teams by 1974 and 21 teams in 1979. Between 1991 and 2000, the NHL further expanded to 30 teams, it added its 31st team in 2017 and has approved the addition of a 32nd team in 2021. The league's headquarters have been in New York City since 1989 when the head office moved there from Montreal. After a labour-management dispute that led to the cancellation of the entire 2004–05 season, the league resumed play in 2005–06 under a new collective agreement that included a salary cap. In 2009, the NHL enjoyed record highs in terms of sponsorships and television audiences; the International Ice Hockey Federation considers the Stanley Cup to be one of the "most important championships available to the sport".
The NHL draws many skilled players from all over the world and has players from 20 countries. Canadians have constituted the majority of the players in the league, with an increasing percentage of American and European players in recent seasons; the current NHL Champions are the Washington Capitals, who defeated the Vegas Golden Knights four games to one in the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals. The National Hockey League was established in 1917 as the successor to the National Hockey Association. Founded in 1909, the NHA began play one year with seven teams in Ontario and Quebec, was one of the first major leagues in professional ice hockey, but by the NHA's eighth season, a series of disputes with Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone led team owners of the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs to hold a meeting to discuss the league's future. Realizing the NHA constitution left them unable to force Livingstone out, the four teams voted instead to suspend the NHA, on November 26, 1917, formed the National Hockey League.
Frank Calder was chosen as its first president, serving until his death in 1943. The Bulldogs were unable to play, the remaining owners created a new team in Toronto, the Arenas, to compete with the Canadiens and Senators; the first games were played on December 19, 1917. The Montreal Arena burned down in January 1918, causing the Wanderers to cease operations, the NHL continued on as a three-team league until the Bulldogs returned in 1919; the NHL replaced the NHA as one of the leagues that competed for the Stanley Cup, an interleague competition back then. Toronto won the first NHL title, defeated the Vancouver Millionaires of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association for the 1918 Stanley Cup; the Canadiens won the league title in 1919. Montreal in 1924 won their first Stanley Cup as a member of the NHL; the Hamilton Tigers, won the regular season title in 1924–25 but refused to play in the championship series unless they were given a C$200 bonus. The league refused and declared the Canadiens the league champion after they defeated the Toronto St. Patricks in the semi-final.
Montreal was defeated by the Victoria Cougars of the Western Canada Hockey League for the 1925 Stanley Cup. It was the last time a non-NHL team won the trophy, as the Stanley Cup became the de facto NHL championship in 1926 after the WCHL ceased operation; the National Hockey League embarked on rapid expansion in the 1920s, adding the Montreal Maroons and Boston Bruins in 1924. The Bruins were the first American team in the league; the New York Americans began play in 1925 after purchasing the assets of the Hamilton Tigers, were joined by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The New York Rangers were added in 1926; the Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Cougars were added after the league purchased the assets of the defunct WCHL. A group purchased the Toronto St. Patricks in 1927 and renamed them the Maple Leafs; the first NHL All-Star Game was held in 1934 to benefit Ace Bailey, whose career ended on a vicious hit by Eddie Shore. The second was held in 1937 in support of Howie Morenz's family when he died of a coronary embolism after breaking his leg during a game.
The Great Depression and the onset of World War II took a toll on the league. The Pirates became the Philadelphia Quakers in 1930 folded one year later; the Senators became the St. Louis Eagles in 1934 lasting only one
Ebbie Goodfellow
Ebenezer Robertson "Poker Face" Goodfellow, "Ebbie" for short, was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Goodfellow played in the National Hockey League for fourteen seasons with the Detroit Red Wings from 1929 to 1944 as both a forward and defenceman. Goodfellow helped the Red Wings win three Stanley Cups, back to back in 1935–36 and 1936–37, another in 1942–43, he was captain of the Wings for five seasons, including winning the first Red Wings MVP as a defenseman in 1939-40. He played on the team until 1942. Goodfellow was the first Red Wing to have won the NHL's Hart Trophy for the 1939–40 season. Goodfellow was the first Red Wing to receive this award and one of only four Red Wings in history to win the Hart. After retiring from playing, Goodfellow coached in the American Hockey League and with the Chicago Black Hawks of the NHL. While still a junior, Goodfellow signed a contract with the professional Saskatoon Sheiks of the Western Canada Hockey League on December 25, 1924.
When Saskatoon called him up in December 1926, he refused to report and played senior hockey with the Ottawa Montagnards of the Ottawa City Hockey League instead. While playing in Ottawa, his professional rights were traded to Detroit Olympics of the AHL for $4,000 in February 1927. Goodfellow was a member of the Montagnards' 1927 -- 28 senior championship team. In 1928, he played with the club for one season; the following year, he signed with the Detroit Cougars of the NHL, starting a fourteen-year career in the NHL with the franchise. Goodfellow was a high-scoring forward and the original center in a famous line with Herbie Lewis and Larry Aurie. During the 1930–31 season, he scored 25 goals and 48 points and was second to Howie Morenz in overall league scoring. After three seasons Ebbie switched to defence for the benefit of the team. Position switches were rare in the NHL, but it was as a defenceman that he won the Hart Memorial Trophy in 1940 and three All-Star Teams. Goodfellow displayed more versatility during the 1942–43 season.
He missed most of the season due to injury, but when coach Jack Adams was suspended during the 1943 playoffs, Goodfellow agreed to serve as coach during the suspension. Detroit went on to win the Stanley Cup in 1943, Goodfellow's name was engraved on the Cup for a third and final time, he was one of the last NHL players to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup as both player and coach as league rules changed and playing coaches were eliminated. Goodfellow retired to the private sector the following season after knee problems began to slow him down. At the start of the 1947-48 season he was persuaded out of retirement by the St. Louis Flyers of the American Hockey League. In his two years as coach of the Flyers, Ebbie was able to lead them from last place to the AHL Western Division Championship, the team's highest achievement at that time. Succeeding Charlie Conacher, Goodfellow became the coach of the Chicago Black Hawks for the seasons of 1950–51 and 1951–52. After little success with the Black Hawks, Goodfellow retired from the NHL for good.
Goodfellow was a founding member of the Detroit Red Wings Alumni Association, a charitable organization formed in 1959 and still in operation today. Goodfellow was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1963 and served for twenty-one years on the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee. Ebbie was an avid golfer and one time caddy master at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, he died of cancer on September 10, 1985 in Sarasota, Florida and is buried at White Chapel Cemetery in Troy, Michigan. Goodfellow's date of birth is incorrectly printed as 1907, he was born in 1906. NHL Second All-Star Team - 1935–36 NHL First All-Star Team - 1936–37, 1939–40 Hart Trophy - 1939–40 Hockey Hall of Fame - 1963 Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame Michigan Sports Hall of Fame - 1968 Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database Ebbie Goodfellow at Find a Grave
Randy Carlyle
Randolph Robert Carlyle is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is the former head coach of the National Hockey League's Toronto Maple Leafs and the Anaheim Ducks, he won the Stanley Cup in 2007 with the Ducks during his first stint with the team. As a player, Carlyle dressed for over 1,000 games between the Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg Jets, winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL's best defenceman in the 1980–81 season and serving as a captain of both the Penguins and Jets. Carlyle is of Finnish descent, was raised in Azilda, just northwest of Sudbury, Ontario. Carlyle appeared in 12 games with the Sudbury Wolves in the 1973–74 OHA season, earning eight assists, he played in four playoff games with Sudbury, going pointless, as the Wolves were swept by the Kitchener Rangers in the first round. Carlyle became a regular on the Wolves' blueline in 1974–75, as he scored 17 goals and 64 points in 67 games to finish tied with Dave Farrish in points among defencemen on the Wolves.
In the playoffs, Carlyle scored 3 goals and 9 points in 15 games as Sudbury were eliminated by the Toronto Marlboros in the second round. Carlyle continued to improve offensively: during the 1975–76 season, he scored 15 goals and 79 points in 60 games to lead the Wolves defence, finish fourth in team scoring. Carlyle had an impressive playoff, scoring 6 goals and 19 points in 17 games as the Wolves were eliminated by the Hamilton Fincups in the final round. Carlyle was drafted into the National Hockey League by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round, 30th overall, of the 1976 NHL Entry Draft. In his first professional season, 1976–77, he spent the majority of the year with the Maple Leafs in the NHL, scoring 5 assists in 45 games in his rookie season. In nine Stanley Cup playoff games with the Leafs, Carlyle had one assist as the Maple Leafs were eliminated by the Philadelphia Flyers in the quarter-finals. Carlyle had spent some time of the 1976–77 season with the Dallas Black Hawks of the Central Hockey League, scoring 2 goals and 9 points in 27 games with the club.
Carlyle split the 1977 -- 78 season between the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 21 games with Dallas, he scored 17 points. With Toronto, he scored 13 points in 47 games, helping the Leafs into the 1978 playoffs. In seven playoff games, he recorded one assist as the Maple Leafs were eliminated by the Montreal Canadiens in the semi-finals. On June 14, 1978, Carlyle was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Dave Burrows. Carlyle joined the Penguins for the 1978–79 season, where in 70 games he had significant improvement offensively, scoring 13 goals and 47 points to lead all Penguins defencemen in scoring. However, in seven playoff games, Carlyle went pointless as the Penguins were eliminated by the Boston Bruins in the quarter-finals. Carlyle saw his offensive production slip in the 1979–80 season, when he scored 8 goals and 36 points in 67 games, although he still led the Penguins defence in scoring. In five playoff games, Carlyle scored one goal as the Penguins were again eliminated by Boston, this time in the preliminary round.
Carlyle had the best season of his career in the 1980–81 season: in 76 games, he scored 16 goals and 83 points to lead all NHL defencemen in scoring. In the 1981 playoffs, Carlyle scored four goals and nine points in five games as the Penguins were eliminated by the St. Louis Blues in the preliminary round. After the season, Carlyle was awarded the James Norris Memorial Trophy for the NHL's best defenceman in the regular season. Carlyle had another successful season in 1981–82, when he scored 11 goals and 75 points in 73 games, helping Pittsburgh into the 1982 playoffs. In five playoff games, he scored a goal and four points, as the Penguins were eliminated by the New York Islanders in the Patrick Division semi-finals. Carlyle ran into injuries in the 1982 -- 83 season. However, his offensive production remained impressive, as he scored 15 goals and 56 points to lead the Penguins blue line; the Penguins struggled during the season, missed the playoffs. Carlyle struggled in the 1983–84 season, scoring only 3 goals and 26 points in 50 games, his lowest totals since joining the club in 1978.
With the Penguins rebuilding, on March 5, Carlyle was traded to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for the Jets' first-round draft pick in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft and future considerations, completed on May 1 when the Jets sent Moe Mantha to the Penguins. Carlyle finished the 1983–84 season with the Jets. However, due to injuries, he appeared in only five games with the club. In three 1984 playoff games, Carlyle recorded two assists as the Jets were swept by the Edmonton Oilers in the Smythe Division semi-final. In his first full season with the Jets, in 1984–85, Carlyle's offensive production went up, as he scored 13 goals and 51 points in 71 games. In eight playoff games, Carlyle had one goal and six points as the Jets were eliminated by Edmonton in the division final. After the season, Carlyle finished seventh in voting for the Norris Trophy. In the 1985–86 season, Carlyle tied his career-high with 16 goals, matching his total from 1980–81, added 33 assists for 49 points in 68 games to lead the Jets defence in scoring.
However, due to a late season injury, Carlyle did not appear in any playoff games, as the Jets were swept by the Calgary Flames in the division semi-final. Carlyle once again tied his career-high in goals with 16 in 1986–87, as well as added 26 ass
Herb Gardiner
Herbert Martin Gardiner was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Calgary Tigers of the Western Canada Hockey League and the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League. Additionally, he was the head coach of the Black Hawks for part of the 1928–29 NHL season. Gardiner was a member of the WCHL champion Tigers in 1924 and in 1927 won the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player after playing every minute of every game for the Canadiens, he coached several minor professional teams in Philadelphia following his retirement as a player. Gardiner was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1891, Gardiner first played senior hockey in that city in 1908 before moving on to other pursuits, he began a career as a banker in 1909. He stopped playing for four years as he took on a job as a surveyor for the Canadian Pacific Railway, he joined the Canadian Army in 1915 and fought for three years in World War I before earning a medical discharge.
Returning from the war, Gardiner settled in Calgary, Alberta. Returning to hockey, Gardiner joined the Calgary Wanderers of Alberta's Big-4 League in 1919 shifted to the Calgary Tigers one season later, he turned professional at the age of 29 in 1921–22 when the Tigers joined the newly formed Western Canada Hockey League, established himself as one of the league's top defencemen. He was a key member of the Tigers' team. Gardiner and the Tigers lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup final, but his performance impressed the Montreal organization; when the WCHL collapsed in 1926, the Canadiens purchased his rights and invited him to join their team. Gardiner made his NHL debut in 1926 at the age of 35 and showed himself to be one of the league's top defenders. Playing on a rebuilding Montreal team, he was said to have played every minute of every game for the Canadiens, a feat that earned him the nickname of "the ironman of hockey", he was named the winner of the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player, nine votes ahead of Bill Cook of the New York Rangers.
As of 2010, Gardiner remains the second-oldest player to win the award, after Eddie Shore and along with Wayne Gretzky is one of only two players to be named most valuable in their first year in the league. Gardiner again appeared in all 44 games the Canadiens played in 1927–28, but was loaned to the Chicago Black Hawks to start the 1928–29 NHL season. Serving as a player-coach in Chicago, Gardiner appeared in 13 games as a player, but posted a dismal 5–23–4 record as coach. Montreal recalled him from Chicago in February 1929 and he finished his NHL career with the Canadiens, his rights were sold to the Boston Bruins following the season, Boston named him player-coach of their Canadian-American Hockey League affiliate, the Philadelphia Arrows. Gardiner remained with the team, renamed the Philadelphia Ramblers, joined the American Hockey League in 1936 as an affiliate of the New York Rangers, he led the Ramblers to the Calder Cup finals in 1937 and 1939. Gardiner continued coaching until 1946.
In 1947, efforts were made to relocate the suspended Montreal Maroons franchise to Philadelphia. The organization named Gardiner the general manager of the proposed Philadelphia Maroons but the team was never launched, he remained in Philadelphia following his retirement, living in the city until his death in 1972. Gardiner was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958, is honoured by the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame. Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database
Brian Leetch
Brian Joseph Leetch is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 18 National Hockey League seasons with the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins. He is considered one of the top defensemen in NHL history, being noted for his skating and playmaking abilities, he and fellow Rangers teammate Mike Richter were inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008. Leetch was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto the following year. In 2017 Leetch was named one of the'100 Greatest NHL Players' in history. Leetch accumulated many individual honors during his 18-year career, he was a two-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL's best defenseman and was the first American-born winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP for his performance during the Rangers' run to the 1994 Stanley Cup championship. Leetch is one of only five NHL defensemen to score 100 points in a season with his 102-point campaign in 1991–92, he won the Calder Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the Year in 1989 and his 23 goals that season remain an NHL record for rookie defensemen.
Leetch's number 2 was retired by the Rangers on January 24, 2008. During the ceremony, longtime teammate Mark Messier referred to Leetch as the single "Greatest Ranger of All Time." Although he was born in Corpus Christi, his family moved from there three months after he was born settling in Cheshire, Connecticut. This is. In high school, he starred in baseball and hockey, first at Cheshire High School, at Avon Old Farms; as a sophomore, his 90-mph fastball helped the Cheshire Rams baseball team to a state championship and, as a senior at Avon Old Farms, he set the school record for strikeouts in a game with 19. Hockey, was the sport in which he most excelled; as a sophomore at Cheshire, he scored 50 assists, earning All-state honors. In two seasons with Avon Old Farms he scored 90 assists in 54 games; these numbers were remarkable for a defenseman. NHL scouts were starting to take notice and the New York Rangers chose Leetch as their first-round pick in 1986, making him the first player drafted that year who did not play major junior hockey.
Following in the footsteps of his father Jack, Brian enrolled at Boston College in the fall of 1986, like his father, would become an All-America defenseman for the Eagles. After one season at Boston College, he played for the US Olympic team at the 1988 Games in Calgary, making his NHL debut, eight days with the New York Rangers on February 29, 1988 versus St. Louis. Leetch tallied his first NHL point in the game with an assist on Kelly Kisio's goal, he finished out the 1987-88 season with 14 points in 17 games. In his first full NHL season, Leetch notched 71 points, including a rookie defenseman-record 23 goals, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as well as being selected to the NHL All-Rookie Team; as the Rangers developed into a championship-caliber team, Leetch won increasing respect from fans for his quiet demeanor and entertaining, offensive-minded play. In 1992 he became the fifth defenseman in history, the only American defenseman, to record 100 points in a season and was awarded the Norris Trophy.
Leetch was the last NHL defenseman to record 100 points in a season. In 1994 he again matched his career high of 23 goals in the regular season as the Rangers won the Presidents Trophy; that year the Rangers' 54-year championship drought ended with a 7-game Stanley Cup victory over the Vancouver Canucks. Leetch is only the second player in league history, as well as the only non-Canadian, to win the Calder Trophy, the Norris Trophy and the Conn Smythe Trophy in their career; the only other player to do so was Bobby Orr. He was the Captain of the 1996 championship team representing the United States of America in the World Cup of Hockey. Following the Rangers' Cup win in 1994, Leetch remained a fan favorite and team leader, serving as Captain from 1997–2000 after the departure of Mark Messier to the Vancouver Canucks. In 1997 he again won the Norris Trophy and the Rangers made a surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were defeated by the Philadelphia Flyers; the next years, were marked by disappointing team performances that saw the Rangers miss the playoffs every year.
After the unsuccessful 2004 campaign, the Rangers traded most of their high-priced veterans. Leetch was set to play the 2004–05 season with the Maple Leafs, due to the 2004–05 lockout, the last year of his contract expired, he became a free agent. Leetch was signed by the Boston Bruins to a one-year, $4-million contract, for the 2005–06 season. During this campaign, he would score his 1,000th career point. Leetch would retire following the season's end. In 1998, he was ranked number 71 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. During most of the 2006–07 season Leetch received contract offers from nearly every NHL team, but accepted none, although he made no formal a
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. They are members of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League and are one of the Original Six teams of the league. Founded in 1926, the team was known as the Detroit Cougars from until 1930. For the 1930–31 and 1931–32 seasons the team was called the Detroit Falcons, in 1932 changed their name to the Red Wings; as of 2019, the Red Wings have won the most Stanley Cup championships of any NHL franchise based in the United States and are third overall in total Stanley Cup championships, behind the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Wings played their home games at Joe Louis Arena from 1979 until 2017, after playing for 52 years in Olympia Stadium, they moved into the new Little Caesars Arena beginning with the 2017–18 season. The Red Wings are one of the most popular and successful franchises in the NHL. Between the 1931–32 and 1965–66 seasons, the Red Wings missed the playoffs only four times.
Between the 1966–67 and 1982–83 seasons, the Red Wings made the playoffs only two times. However, from 1983–84 to 2015–16, they made the playoffs 30 times in 32 seasons, including 25-straight from 1990–91 to 2015–16, at the time the longest streak of postseason appearances in all of North American professional sports. Since 1983–84, the Red Wings have tallied six regular season first-place finishes and have won the Stanley Cup four times. Following the 1926 Stanley Cup playoffs, during which the Western Hockey League was reported to be on the verge of folding, the NHL held a meeting on April 17 to consider applications for expansion franchises, at which it was reported that five different groups sought a team for Detroit. During a subsequent meeting on May 15, the league approved a franchise to the Townsend-Seyburn group of Detroit and named Charles A. Hughes as governor. Frank and Lester Patrick, the owners of the WHL, made a deal to sell the league's players to the NHL and cease league operations.
The new Detroit franchise purchased the players of the WHL's Victoria Cougars, who had won the Stanley Cup in 1925 and had made the Finals the previous winter, to play for the team. The new Detroit franchise adopted the Cougars' nickname in honor of the folded franchise. Since no arena in Detroit was ready at the time, the Cougars played their first season at the Border Cities Arena in Windsor, Ontario. For the 1927–28 season, the Cougars moved into the new Detroit Olympia, which would be their home rink until December 15, 1979; this was the first season behind the bench for Jack Adams, who would be the face of the franchise for the next 36 years as either coach or general manager. The Cougars made the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in 1929 with Carson Cooper leading the team in scoring; the Cougars were outscored 7–2 in the two-game series with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 1930, the Cougars were renamed the Falcons, but their woes continued, as they finished near the bottom of the standings though they made the playoffs again in 1932.
In 1932, the NHL let grain merchant James E. Norris, who had made two previous unsuccessful bids to buy an NHL team, purchase the Falcons. Norris' first act was to choose a new name for the team—the Red Wings. Earlier in the century, Norris had been a member of the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, a sporting club with cycling roots; the MAAA's teams were known by their club emblem and these Winged Wheelers were the first winners of the Stanley Cup in 1893. Norris decided that a version of their logo was perfect for a team playing in the Motor City and on October 5, 1932, the club was renamed the Red Wings. Norris placed coach Jack Adams on a one-year probation for the 1932–33 NHL season. Adams managed to pass his probationary period by leading the renamed franchise to its first-ever playoff series victory, over the Montreal Maroons; the team lost in the semi-finals to the New York Rangers. In 1934, the Red Wings made the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time, with John Sorrell scoring 21 goals over 47 games and Larry Aurie leading the team in scoring.
However, the Chicago Black Hawks defeated the Red Wings in the Finals, winning the best-of-five series in four games to claim their first title. Two seasons the Red Wings won their first Stanley Cup in 1936, defeating Toronto in four games. Detroit repeated as Stanley Cup champions in 1937. In 1938, the Red Wings and the Montreal Canadiens became the first NHL teams to play in Europe, playing in Paris and London; the Wings played nine games against the Canadiens and went 3–5–1. They did not play in Europe again until the pre-season and start of the 2009–10 NHL season, in Sweden, against the St. Louis Blues; the Red Wings made the Stanley Cup Finals in three consecutive years during the early 1940s. In 1941, they were swept by the Boston Bruins, in 1942, they lost a seven-game series to Toronto after winning the first three games. However, in 1943, with Mud Bruneteau and Syd Howe scoring 23 and 20 goals Detroit won their third Stanley Cup by sweeping the Bruins. Through the rest of the decade, the team made the playoffs every year, reached the Finals three more times.
In 1946, one of the greatest players in hockey history came into the NHL with the Red Wings. Gordie Howe, a right winger from Floral, only scored seven goals and 15 assists in his first season and would not reach his prime for a few more years, it was the last season as head coach for Adams, who stepped down after the season to concentrat
Doug Harvey (ice hockey)
Douglas Norman Harvey was a Canadian professional hockey player who played in the National Hockey League from 1947 until 1964, from 1966 until 1969. He is regarded as one of the greatest defencemen to play the game, winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the league's top defenceman seven times. In 2017 Harvey was named one of the'100 Greatest NHL Players' in history. Harvey played minor league hockey in Oxford Park, Notre Dame de Grace in his native Montreal, Canada began his professional career with the Montreal Royals of the Quebec Senior Hockey League where he played from 1945 to 1947, helping them win the Allan Cup, he played one season with the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League. He made the jump to the Montreal Canadiens of the NHL in the 1947–48 NHL season and remained with the team until 1961. Under coach Dick Irvin, Harvey was named to the All-Star team 11 consecutive times, beginning in the 1951–52 NHL season, he won his first of seven James Norris Memorial Trophies as the league's best defenceman.
In an era when the defenceman's role did not include scoring points, Harvey used his skating speed and passing ability to become a factor in making the Canadiens a high-scoring team. He earned all with Montreal. In 1954, however, he scored a Cup-losing own-goal when he tried to block a shot by Tony Leswick of the Detroit Red Wings with his glove but instead tipped it past goalie Gerry McNeil. McNeil was so crushed by the goal that he retired to coach junior hockey the next season, but returned to the Habs in 1956. Harvey became an outspoken critic of the hockey establishment. In Harvey's day, players were paid a pittance compared to the millions being earned by the team owners. A superstar such as Harvey, who today would be paid millions, was earning less than $30,000 a season at the peak of his career while playing every game in front of sell-out crowds. Harvey was one of the first to help organize the players association which so infuriated the Canadiens’ owners that in 1961 they traded him to the lowly New York Rangers.
One of the individuals secretly blacklisted by the league owners, Harvey responded by winning still another Norris Trophy as a Ranger. He remained with New York until 1963, played for several minor league teams before finishing his NHL career in 1969 with the St. Louis Blues. Harvey served as player-coach during his first season in New York but was never comfortable with this dual role. In addition, he was listed as Coach for the Kansas City Blues, the farm team affiliate for the St Louis Blues in 1967-68. In 1964 Harvey, Gump Worsley, Red Berenson played for the Montreal Jr. Canadiens in a game against the Soviet national team. Harvey played 50 minutes during the 3–2 loss. Well into his forties, with limited education and no other skills besides hockey, Harvey eked out a living playing in the minor-pro leagues and with an assistant coaching tenure in the World Hockey Association. Although he was unanimously voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973, because of his involvement with the players' association, his sweater number wasn't retired by the Montreal Canadiens until 1985.
For years, Harvey battled alcoholism while suffering from bipolar disorder. In 1985 he was offered a job with the Montreal Canadiens as a scout. For three years, Harvey lived in the private railway car of Olive and John Diefenbaker, purchased years earlier by Joe Gorman, T. P. Gorman's son, placed at the Connaught Park Racetrack entrance. Harvey's last Stanley Cup victory came in 1986, when the Montreal Canadiens were once again the winners, he died three years due to cirrhosis of the liver, only a week after his 65th birthday, was interred in the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery in Montreal. In 1998, he was ranked number 6 on The Hockey News' list of the Top 100 NHL Players of All Time, he was the highest-ranking deceased player on the list at the time. The government of Canada honoured Doug Harvey in 2000 with his image placed on a Canadian postage stamp. In 2002, a book on his life was published. Titled Doug: The Doug Harvey Story, it was written by William Brown, with a foreword by his former teammate Jean Béliveau.
His #2 jersey was retired by the Montreal Canadiens on October 26, 1985. The former Confederation Arena renamed itself to Doug Harvey Arena in 1986
