The Roaming Photographer: Carrie'sSportsWorld

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Tuesday, May 7, 2024

The Chicago Blackhawks

Photo Credit:
https://1000logos.net/blackhawks-logo/

Founding
On May 1st, 1926, the NHL awarded an expansion franchise for Chicago to a syndicate headed by former football star Huntington Hardwick of Boston. At the same meeting, Hardwick arranged the purchase of the players of the Portland Rosebuds of the Western Hockey League for $100,000 from WHL president Frank Patrick in a deal brokered by Boston Bruins’ owner Charles Adams(1). However, only a month later, Hardwick’s group sold out to Chicago coffee tycoon Frederic McLaughlin(1).

McLaughlin had been a commander with the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Division during World War I. This division was nicknamed the “Blackhawk Division” after Black Hawk(2), a Native American of the Sauk nation who was a prominent figure in the history of Illinois. McLaughlin named the new hockey team in honor of the military unit, making it one of many sports team names using Native Americans as icons. However, unlike the military division, the team’s name was spelled in two words as “Black Hawks” until 1986, when the team officially became the “Blackhawks”, based on the spelling found in the original franchise documents(3).

The Black Hawks began play in the 1926-1927 season, along with its fellow expansion franchises, the Detroit Cougars (now the Detroit Red Wings) and New York Rangers. The team had to face immediate competition in Chicago from Eddie Livingstone’s rival, the Chicago Cardinals, who played in the same building. McLaughlin took a very active role in running the team despite having no background in the sport. He hired Bill Tobin, a former goaltender who had played in the Western League, as his assistant, but directed the team himself. He was also very interested in promoting American players, then very rare in professional hockey. Several of them, including Doc Romnes, Taffy Abel, Alex Levinsky, Mike Karakas, and Cully Dahlstorm, became staples with the team, and under McLaughlin, the Black Hawks were the first NHL team with an all-American-born lineup.

The McLaughlin era 1926-1944
The Black Hawks played their first game on November 17th, 1926, against the Toronto St. Patricks at the Chicago Coliseum. They won their first game 4-1. The Hawks’ first season was a moderate success, as they finished the season in third place with a record of 19-22-3. However, they lost the 1927 first-round playoff series to the Boston Bruins.

Following the series, McLaughlin fired head coach Pete Muldoon. According to Jim Coleman, sportswriter for the Toronto-based Globe and Mail, McLaughlin felt that the Hawks were good enough to finish first. Muldoon disagreed, and in a fit of pique, McLaughlin fired him. According to Coleman, Muldoon responded by yelling, “Fire me, Major, and you’ll never finish first. I’ll put a curse on this team that will hoodoo it until the end of time.” The Curse of Muldoon was born – although Coleman admitted years after the fact that he had fabricated the whole incident(5) – and became one of the first widely known sports “curses.” While the team would go on to win three Stanley Cups in its first 39 years of existence, it did so without ever finishing in first place, either in a single- or multi-division format. The Black Hawks proceeded to have the worst record in the league in 1927-1928, winning only seven of 44 games.

For the 1928-1929 season, the Black Hawks were slated to play in the newly built Chicago Stadium, but due to construction delays and a dispute between McLaughlin and the arena promoter Paddy Harmon, they instead divided their time between the Coliseum, and the Detroit Olympia, and the Peace Bridge Arena in Fort Erie, Ontario, before moving to Chicago Stadium the following season.

By 1931, with goal-scorer Johnny Gottselig, Cy Wentworth on defense, and Charlie Gardiner in goal, the Hawks reached their first Stanley Cup Finals but fizzled in the final two games against the Montreal Canadiens. They had another stellar season in 1932, but that did not translate into playoff success. However, two years later, Gardiner led his team to victory by shutting out the Detroit Red Wings in the final game of the Stanley Cup Finals’ Mush March scored the winning goal in double-overtime as the Hawks beat Detroit 1-0.

In 1938, the Black Hawks had a record of 14-25-9, almost missing the playoffs. They stunned the Canadiens and New York Americans on overtime goals in the deciding games of both semi-final series, advancing to the 1938 Stanley Cup Finals against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Black Hawks goaltender Mike Karakas was injured and could not play, forcing a desperate Chicago team to pull minor-leaguer Alfie Moore out of a Toronto bar and onto the ice. Moore played one game and won it. Toronto refused to let Moore play the next, so Chicago used Paul Goodman in Game 2 and lost. However, for the third and fourth games, Karakas was fitted with a special skate to protect his injured toe, and the team won both games. It was too late for Toronto, as the Hawks won their second championship. As of 2019, the 1938 Black Hawks possess the poorest regular season record of any Stanley Cup champion.

The Black Hawks next returned to the Finals in 1944 behind Doug Bentley’s 38 goals, with Bentley’s linemate Clint Smith leading the team in assists. After upsetting the Red Wings in the semi-finals, they were promptly dispatched by the dominant Canadiens in four games.

Sources:

1. Jenish, D’Arcy (2013). The NHL: 100 Years of
On-Ice Action and Boardroom Battles. Random
Houce LLC. ISBN 9780385671477.

2. Briggs, Richard A. (1954). Black Hawks Over
The Danube: The History of the 86th Infantry
Division in World War II. Louisville, KY:
Western Recorder. Pp.7

3. https://archive.org/details/
officialnational0000unse

4. Vass, George (1970). The Chicago Black Hawks
Story. Chicago, IL: Follett Publishing Company.
ISBN 0-695-80202-X.

Friday, May 3, 2024

The Dallas Stars

Photo Credit:
https://1000logos.net/dallas-stars-logo/

1967-1993: Minnesota North Stars

The Minnesota North Stars began play in 1967 as part of the league’s six-team expansion. Home games were played at the newly constructed Metropolitan Sports Center (“Met Center”) in Bloomington, Minnesota. Initially successful both on the ice and at the gate, the North Stars fell victim to financial problems after several poor seasons in the mid-1970s.

In 1978, the North Stars merged with the Cleveland Barons (formerly the California Golden Seals), owned by George III and Gordon Gund. With both teams on the verge of folding, the league permitted the two failing franchises to merge. The merged team continued as the Minnesota North Stars, while the Seals/Barons franchise records were retired. However, the Gunds were the merged team’s principal owners, and the North Stars assumed the Barons’ place in the Adams Division to balance out the divisions. The merger brought with it many talented players, and the North Stars were revived – they reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1981, where they lost in five games to the New York Islanders. However, by the early 1990s, declining attendance and the inability to secure a new downtown revenue-generating arena led ownership to request permission to move the team to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1990. The league rejected the request and instead agreed to award an expansion franchise, the San Jose Sharks, to the Gund brothers. The North Stars were sold to a group of investors that were originally looking to place a team in San Jose, although one of the group’s members, former Calgary Flames part-owner Norman Green, would eventually gain control of the team(1). In the following season, the North Stars made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, only to lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

After the 1990-1991 season, the North Stars suffered through declining profits coupled with distractions and uncertainty caused by relocation attempts. The team’s fortunes were further impeded by the terms of the settlement with the Gund brothers, in which they were permitted to take several North Stars players to San Jose. In their final two seasons in Minnesota, the team adopted a new logo that omitted any reference to the word “North” from “North Stars”, leading many fans to anticipate the team heading south(2). Green explored the possibility of moving the team to Anaheim to play at a new arena (which is now the Honda Center) under construction(3) and intended to call them the Los Angeles Stars. However, in 1992 the league decided to award an expansion franchise to The Walt Disney Company to play in Anaheim’s new arena, this franchise eventually became the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

1993-1998: relocation and early years in Dallas

In 1993, amid further attendance woes and bitter personal controversy, Green obtained permission from the league to move the team to Dallas, from the 1993-1994 season, with the decision announced on March 10th, 1993(4). Green was convinced by former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach that Dallas would be a suitable market for an NHL team(2). With the team’s move to the Southern United States, Green decided to drop the “North” adjective but otherwise retained the “Stars” nickname, which in its shortened form quickly proved popular as it matched the state of Texas’ official nickname as “The Lone Star State.” An NHL franchise in Dallas was an experiment for the league, as at that time the Stars would become one of the three southernmost teams in the league along with two recently created expansion teams in the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers as the league’s first real ventures into southern non-traditional hockey markets. The Stars would move in Reunion Arena, built in 1980, the downtown arena already occupied by the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Dallas Mavericks.

To quell the ensuing controversy surrounding the North Stars move to Dallas, the NHL promised that the Twin Cities would receive an expansion franchise shortly; that promise was fulfilled in 2000 in the form of the Minnesota Wild.

With the league changing the names of the conferences and divisions that season, the newly-relocated Stars were placed in the Central Division of the Western Conference, although these teams were essentially continuations of the Norris Division and Campbell Conference respectively, both of which the North Stars had been part of. The first NHL game in Dallas was played on October 5th, 1993, and was a 6-4 win against the Detroit Red Wings(5). Somewhat ironically, Minnesota native Neal Broten scored the first Stars goal in Dallas. Though the Stars were relatively still low on the Dallas-Fort Worth sports pecking order upon their arrival, the popularity of the team grew rapidly and the immediate success of the team on the ice, as well as Mike Modano’s career-best season (50 goals, 93 points) helped spur the team’s popularity in North Texas. The Stars set franchise bests in wins (42) and points (97) in their first season in Dallas, qualifying for the 1994 playoffs. The Stars further shocked the hockey world by sweeping the St. Louis Blues in the first round but lost to the eventual Western Conference Champion Vancouver Canucks in the second round. The Stars’ success in their first season along with Modano’s spectacular on-ice performances, would be an integral part of the Stars’ eventual franchise success in the immediate years to come

The almost immediate success of the Stars was also helped by the long legacy of minor-league hockey in the area. Both incarnations of the Central Hockey League (CHL) had two teams in the area, the Dallas Black Hawks and the Fort Worth Texans (CHL) for years before the Stars’ arrival. The two teams were bitter rivals, and some of the traditions and famous rivalry incidents, including what is thought to be the first known use anywhere at an athletic event of “Rock and Roll Part 2” by the Fort Worth Texans and the famous “10 Cent Beer Night” near-riot in 1978 helped create awareness of hockey. Amateur and youth hockey in North Texas were also extremely popular because of the long presence of the minor league teams.

1. Cameron, Steve (1994). Feeding Frenzy! The
Wild New World of the San Jose Sharks.
Taylor Publishing Co. pp. 29–38.

2. “The 35 Biggest Moments in Modern Dallas
History” Dmagazine.com Archived from the
original on May 20, 2011. Retrieved
September 16, 2011

3. Dillman, Lisa; Stephens, Eric; Cooper, Josh.
“How the Mighty Ducks took flight, an oral
history” The Athletic. Archived from the
original on May 2, 2022. Retrieved
May 2, 2022.

4. "Patrick Plus: Thanks, Norm Green". Star
Tribune. Archived from the original on April
19, 2016.
Retrieved April 14, 2016.

5. “Dallas Stars First Game October 5, 1993
Broten Goal” St. Cloud Times. October 6,
1993. P. 19. Archived from the original on
August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2022.

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Anaheim Ducks

Photo Credit: https://digitalbytnp.com/product/anaheim-ducks-logo-svg-anaheim-ducks-
bundle-svg-nhl-hockey-svgpngdxfeps/

Start of a franchise (1993-1996)

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were founded in 1993 by The Walt Disney Company. The franchise was awarded by the NHL in December 1992, along with the rights to a Miami team that would become the Florida Panthers. An entrance fee of $50 million was required, half of which Disney would pay directly to the Los Angeles Kings to “share” the Los Angeles media market(1). On March 1, 1993, at the brand-new Anaheim Arena – located a short distance east of Disneyland and across the Orange Freeway from Angel Stadium – the team’s name was announced. The team’s name was inspired by the 1992 Disney film The Mighty Ducks, about a struggling youth hockey team who, with the help of their new coach, became champions(2). Philadelphia-arena management specialist Tony Tavares was chosen to be team president(2), and Jack Ferreira, who previously helped create the San Jose Sharks, became the Ducks’ general manager(3). The Ducks selected Ron Wilson as the first head coach in team history(4). The Ducks and the expansion Florida Panthers team filled out their rosters in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft and the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. In the former, a focus on defense led to goaltenders Guy Hubert and Glenn Healy being the first picks, followed by Alexei Kasatonov and Steven King(5). In the latter, the Ducks selected as the fourth overall pick Paul Kariya, who only began play in 1994 but would turn out to be the face of the franchise for many years(6). The resulting roster had the lowest payroll of the NHL at only $7.9 million(7).

Led by captain Tony Loney, the Ducks finished the season 33-46-5, a record-breaking number of wins for an expansion team, which the Florida Panthers also achieved. The Ducks sold out 27 of 41 home games, including the last 25, and filled the Arrowhead Pond to 98.9% of its season capacity. Ducks licensed merchandise shot to number one in sales among NHL clubs(8), helped by their presence in Disney’s theme parks and Disney Stores(9). The lockout-shortened 1994-1995 NHL season saw the debut of Paul Kariya, who would play 47 of the team’s 48 games that year, scoring 18 goals and 21 assists for 39 points. The Ducks had another respectable season, going 16-27-5.

Paul Kariya era (1996-2003)

During the 1995-1996 season, Paul Kariya was chosen to play for the Western Conference in the 1996 NHL All-Star Game as the lone Ducks representative. At the time of his selection (January 1996) Kariya was ranked 14th in the league scoring with 51 points (23 goals and 28 assists) over 42 games, although the Ducks were a low-scoring team. Then a mid-season blockbuster deal with the Winnipeg Jets improved the franchise. The Ducks sent Chad Kilger, Oleg Tverdovsky, and a third-round pick to the Jets in return for Marc Chouinard, a fourth-round draft pick, and right winger Teemu Selanne. Following the trade, Ducks center Steve Rucchin, commented, “Paul [Kariya] had a lot of pressure on him…He single-handedly won some games for us this year…Now that we have Teemu, there’s no way everybody can just key on Paul.(10)” These three players formed one of the most potent lines of their time(11). Although the trade proved to be an important effort in the team, they still finished short of the playoffs, losing the eighth spot in the Western Conference to the Winnipeg Jets based on the number of wins(12).

During the 1996-1997 season, Kariya became team captain following Randy Ladouceur’s retirement in the off-season(14), and led the Ducks to their first post-season appearance after recording the franchise’s first winning record of 36-33-13, good enough for home ice in the first round as the fourth seed against the Phoenix Coyotes(14). The Ducks trailed 3-2 going into Phoenix for Game 6. Kariya scored in overtime to force the franchise’s Game 7, which they won. However, in the second round, they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champions the Detroit Red Wings in a four-game sweep. After the season, Ron Wilson was fired after saying he would like to coach the Washington Capitals(15). Pierre Page succeeded him. The Ducks started out slowly in 1997-1998, in part because Kariya missed the first 32 games of the season in a contract dispute. He came back in December, but on February 1st, he suffered a season-ending concussion when the Chicago Blackhawks’ Gary Suter cross-checked him in the face. With Kariya playing only a total of 22 games that season, the Ducks missed the playoffs and fired Page(16). The Ducks followed that season up by finishing sixth in the Western Conference in 1998-1999 with new head coach Craig Hartsburg. However, they were swept by Detroit again, this time in the first round.

In the 1999-2000 season, the Ducks finished with the same number of points as the previous season, but a much more competitive Western Conference had them miss the playoffs by four points behind rival San Jose Sharks(17). Despite this, the Mighty Ducks scored more goals than the conference-champion Dallas Stars. In the following season, 2000-2001, the Ducks ended up performing worse, as Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne’s point production significantly declined from the previous season – Kariya went from 86 points to 67 points and Selanne went from 85 points to 57 points. Selanne was subsequently dealt to San Jose at the trade deadline for Jeff Friesen, Steve Shields, and a second-round draft pick, while head coach Craig Hartsburg was fired during the season. The team ended up with a losing record and last place in the Western Conference that season. Without Selanne, Kariya’s numbers continued to drop in the 2001-2002 season with new coach Bryan Murray. The Mighty Ducks finished in 13th place in the Western Conference.

Western Conference champions 2002-2003

The Mighty Ducks did not reach the post-season again until the 2002-2003 season with head coach Mike Babcock. They entered the playoffs in seventh place with a 40-27-9-6 record, good enough for 95 points. In the first round, the Ducks were once again matched up with the Detroit Red Wings, the defending Stanley Cup champions. They shocked the hockey world by sweeping the Red Wings in four games. Steve Rucchin scored the series-winning goal in overtime in Game 4. In the second round, the Ducks faced the Dallas Stars. Game 1 turned out to be the fourth-longest in NHL history, with Petr Sykora scoring in the fifth overtime to give the Mighty Ducks the series lead. The Ducks would finish off the Stars in Game 6 at home. On the team’s first trip to the Western Conference Finals, they were matched up against another Cinderella team, the sixth-seeded, three-year-old Minnesota Wild. Jean-Sebastien Giguere strung together three consecutive shutouts and allowed only one total goal in the series in an eventual sweep.

The 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, to be played against the New Jersey Devils, had multiple interesting storylines. Anaheim forward Rob Niedermayer was playing against his brother Scott, while Giguere faced off against fellow French-Canadian goaltender Martin Brodeur. The series began with the home team winning the first five games. In Game 6 at home, Kariya was knocked out from a hit by Devils captain Scott Stevens. However, Kariya would return in the second period and score the fourth goal in the game. In an exciting third period, the Mighty Ducks defeated the Devils 5-2 to send the series back to New Jersey for Game 7. Anaheim, however, could not complete their winning streak, as they lost a hard-fought Game 7 to the Devils 3-0. For his brilliant play during the post-season, Giguere was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the playoffs. He became only the fifth player in NHL history to have won the trophy as a member of the losing team. Giguere posted a 15-6 record, 7-0 in overtime, with a 1.62 goals against average, a .945 save percentage, and a record 168-minute, 27-second shutout streak in overtime.

Sources:

1. "NHL expands to Miami and Anaheim in
entertaining twist". The Washington Post.
December 11, 1992. Retrieved August
27, 2022.

2. "Disney Hopes 'Ducks' Make a Splash in
O.C. " Los Angeles Times. March 2, 1993.

3. Norwood, Robyn (October 21, 2004).
  "Mighty Ducks Hire Ferreira as General
Manager". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved
May 1, 2014.

4. Norwood, Robyn (October 21, 2004).
"Mighty Ducks Hire Ferreira as General
Manager". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved
May 1, 2014.

5. Norwood, Robyn (May 30, 1991).
  "Ducks Are Already Defensive : Hockey
: Goalies Hebert and Healy are first players
taken by Anaheim in expansion draft".
Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 1, 2014.

6. Norwood, Robyn (May 30, 1991). "Ducks
Are Already Defensive : Hockey: Goalies
Hebert and Healy are the first players taken by
Anaheim in expansion draft". Los Angeles
Times. Retrieved May 1, 2014.

7. Penner, Mike (January 2, 1994). "1993: The Year
in Review. The Mighty Ducks Steal the Show :
Ducks: Diamond in a Rough Year". Los Angeles
Times. Retrieved May 1, 2014.

8. Norwood, Robyn (August 16, 1996). "THE NHL
: Epilogue : The Kings and Mighty Ducks Have
at Least One Thing in Common-They Are Two of
the 10 Teams That Managed Not to Qualify for the
Stanley Cup Playoffs. Yet the Assessment of Their
Seasons Says a Lot About the Teams-One That
Surpasses All Expectations, and Another That
Lived Up to None. : MIGHTY DUCKS: They
Had to Climb a Matterhorn, but They Were a
Real NHL Team". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved
May 1, 2014.

9. Norwood, Robyn (August 16, 1996). "THE NHL:
Epilogue: The Kings and Mighty Ducks Have at
Least One Thing in common is Two of the 10
Teams That Managed Not to Qualify for the
Stanley Cup Playoffs. Yet the Assessment of
Their Seasons Say a Lot About the Teams-One
That Surpasses All Expectations and Another
That Lived Up to None. : MIGHTY DUCKS:
They Had to Climb a Matterhorn, but They
We're a Real NHL Team". Los Angeles Times.
Retrieved May 1, 2014.

10. Brown, Frank (February 12, 1996). "For
Ducks, There's No I in Teemu". Daily News.
New York. Retrieved July 8, 2011.

11. Farber, Michael (December 3, 2001).
  "Stuck Duck". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved
July 28, 2011.

12. Farber, Michael (December 3, 2001). "Stuck
Duck". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 28,
2011.

13. "Ducks History – Captains and Coaches".
Anaheim Ducks. Retrieved September 1, 2011.

14. "Ducks entering unfamiliar waters". Sun
Journal. Associated Press. April 16, 1997.
Retrieved July 13, 2011.

15. "Ducks entering unfamiliar waters". Sun
Journal. Associated Press. April 16, 1997.
Retrieved July 13, 2011.

16. Jack Thompson (June 16, 1998). "Mighty
Ducks Change Again, Fire Coach Page
After 1 Season – tribunedigital-
chicagotribune". Chicago Tribune.
Retrieved September 27, 2016.

17. "Ducks' Failure to Pick Up the Pace Led to
a Stumble – times". Los Angeles Times.
April 10, 2000. Retrieved September 27,
2016.

Friday, April 26, 2024

San Jose Sharks

Photo Credit:
https://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/2689172009/SanJose_Sharks/2009/Jersey_Logo

Formation

Professional hockey in the Bay Area can be traced to the San Francisco Shamrocks of the Pacific Coast Hockey League from 1944 to 1950. The Shark's origins began with the San Francisco Seals of the Western Hockey League (WHL) when they were awarded an expansion franchise for San Francisco on April 23rd, 1961, to former Vancouver Canucks owner Coleman (Coley) Hall, on the condition that an ice surface is installed in the Cow Palace. The Seals won three WHL championships and were renamed the California Seals in 1966, playing their games at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

The following season, the California Golden Seals joined the NHL and played their seasons from 1967 to 1976, who were neither successful on the ice nor at the box office. Gordon and George Gund III became minority owners of the Seals in 1974 and were instrumental in their move to Cleveland in 1976 and a 1978 merger with the Minnesota North Stars, which they purchased that year. They had long wanted to bring hockey back to the Bay Area and asked the NHL for permission to move the North Stars there in the late 1980s, but the league vetoed the proposed move. Meanwhile, a group led by former Hartford Whalers owner Howard Baldwin was pushing the NHL to bring a team to San Jose, where a new arena was being built. Eventually, the League struck a compromise: the Gunds would sell their share of the North Stars to Baldwin’s group, with the Gunds receiving an expansion team in the Bay Area to begin play in the 1991-1992 season and being allowed to take a certain number of players from the North Stars to their new club(1). In return, the North Stars would be allowed to participate as an equal partner in an expansion draft with the latest Bay Area team. On May 5th, 1990, the Gunds officially sold their share of the North Stars to Baldwin and were awarded a new team for the Bay Area, based in San Jose. The owners paid the league an expansion fee of US$45 million(1) and the new franchise was approved on May 9th (2).

Over 5,000 potential names were submitted by mail for the new team. While the first-place was “Blades”, the Gunds were concerned about the name’s potentially negative association with weapons, and west with the runner-up “Sharks”(3)(4). The name was said to have been inspired by the many sharks living in the Pacific Ocean. Seven varieties live there, and one area of water near the Bay Area is known as the “red triangle” (hence the triangle in the team’s logo) because of its shark population.

Matt Levine – the team’s first marketing head – said of the new name, “Sharks are relentless, determined, swift, agile, bright and fearless. We plan to build an organization that has all those qualities.”(5)

Cow Palace years (1991-1993)

For their first two seasons, the Sharks played at the Cow Palace in Daly City, just outside San Francisco, a facility the NHL and the Seals had rejected in 1967. Pat Falloon was their first draft choice, leading the team in points during their first season. The team was placed in the Campbell Conference’s Smythe Division. George Kingston was their first head coach during their first two seasons(6). Though the 1991-1992 roster consisted primarily of NHL journeymen, minor leaguers, and rookies, the Sharks had at least one notable player when they acquired 14-year veteran and former Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Doug Wilson from the Chicago Blackhawks on September 6th, 1991. Wilson was named the team’s first team captain and All-Star representative in the inaugural season. However, the Sharks’ first two seasons saw the typical struggles for an expansion team. The 71 losses in 1992-1993 is an NHL record and they also suffered a 17-game losing streak, while winning just 11 games and earning a mere 24 points in the standing. Kingston was fired following the end of the 1992-1993 season.

Despite the Sharks’ futility in the standings, the team led the NHL’s merchandise sales with $150 million, accounting for 27% of the NHL’s total and behind only National Basketball Association champions Chicago Bulls among all North American leagues(7). Several team “firsts” happened in the 1992-1993 season. On November 17th, 1992 San Jose goaltender Arturs Irbe recorded the first shutout in team history, defeating the Los Angeles Kings 6-0. On December 3rd, against the Hartford Whalers at the Cow Palace, right winger Rob Gaudreau scored the first hat-trick in franchise history; he also scored the team’s second-ever hat-trick nine days later against the Quebec Nordiques.

The inaugural year also saw the introduction of the San Jose Sharks mascot, “S.J. Sharkie”. On January 28th, 1992, at a game against the New York Rangers, the then-unnamed mascot emerged from a Zamboni during an intermission. A “Name the Mascot” contest began that night, with the winning name of “S.J. Sharkie” being announced on April 15, 1992(8).

Resources:

1. https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/golden
-knights-nhl/cost-of-nhl-expansion-team-goes
-from-2-million-to-500-million/

2. https://records.nhl.com/franchises/san-jose-
sharks/season-by-season-record

3. Donovan, Michael Leo (1997). The Name
Game: Football, Baseball, Hockey & Basketball
How Your Favorite Sports Teams Were Named.
  Toronto: Warwick Publishing.
  ISBN 1-895629-74-8.

4. Donovan, Michael Leo (1997). The Name
Game: Football, Baseball, Hockey & Basketball
How Your Favorite Sports Teams Were Named.
Toronto: Warwick Publishing.
ISBN 1-895629-74-8.

5. Gilmore, Tom (September 7, 1990). "Sharks
Are Coming – NHL Team Named". The San
Francisco Chronicle. The Chronicle Publishing
Co. p. D1. Retrieved April 21, 2007.

6. https://www.hockey-fans.com/pacific/sharks/

7. Sims, Calvin (December 14, 1992).
  "In Disney's Hockey Venture, The Real
Action Is Off the Ice". The New York Times

8. Decade of Teal: 10 Years With the San Jose
Sharks. Woodford Publishing, Inc. 2001. p. 105.

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Edmonton Oilers

WHA years 1972-1979

On November 1st, 1971, the Edmonton Oilers became one of the 12 founding WHA franchises. The original owners were “Wild Bill” Hunter (1920-2002) and partner, Dr. Charles “Chuck” Allard (1919-1981)(1) (father of Vancouver lawyer Peter Allard)(2) who, a decade later, also brought the Second City Television (SCTV) sketch comedy TV series to Edmonton(3). Hunter also owned the Edmonton Oil Kings, a junior hockey franchise(4), and founded the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League (now known as the Western Hockey League (WHL))(4). Hunter’s efforts to bring major professional hockey to Edmonton via an expansion NHL franchise had been rebuffed by the NHL. So, he looked to the upstart WHA instead. It was Hunter who chose the “Oilers” name for the new WHA franchise. This was a name that had previously been used as a nickname for the Edmonton Oil Kings in the 1950s and 1960s (5). Hunter also served as head coach during the 1972-1973, 1974-1975, and 1975-1976 seasons.

After the newly founded Calgary Broncos folded before the commencement of the inaugural WHA season, the Oilers were renamed the Alberta Oilers as it was planned to split their home games between Edmonton and Calgary. Possibly for financial reasons or to allow for a less complicated return of the WHA to Calgary, though, the team ultimately played all of its home games in the Edmonton Gardens and changed its name back to the Edmonton Oilers the following year(6). They won the first game in WHA history 7-4 over the Ottawa Nationals(7).

The Oilers drew fans with players such as defenseman and team captain Al Hamilton, goaltender Dave Dryden and forwards Blair MacDonald and Bill Flett. However, a relatively little-noticed move in 1976 had an important impact on the history of the franchise. That year, journeyman forward Glen Sather was acquired by the Oilers(8). It turned out to be his final season as a player and he was named player-coach late in the season, moving to the bench full-time after the season. Sather was the coach or general manager of the Oilers for the next 23 years(9).

Although the Oilers’ on-ice performance for most of the WHA’s history was mediocre, they remained relatively well-supported and financially stable by WHA standards. In 1976, Hunter and Allard sold the franchise to Vancouver real estate tycoon Nelson Skalbania, who later became notorious for flipping property, both real and franchised(10). Skalbania soon made local businessman Peter Pocklington a full partner, then sold his shares to him the following year. The team’s fortunes improved dramatically in 1978 when Pocklington acquired underage player Wayne Gretzky(11), as well as goaltender Eddie Mio and forward Peter Driscoll, for cash, from Skalbania’s recently folded Indianapolis Racers(12).

His first year of WHA experience prevented Gretzky from being an official 1979-1980 NHL rookie; his first and only WHA season, 1978-1979, saw the Oilers finish first in the WHA standings, posting a league-best 48-30-2 record(13). However, Edmonton failed to win the championship, as they fell to the Winnipeg Jets in the Avco World Trophy Final. Dave Semenko of the Oilers scored the last goal in WHA history in the third period of the final game, which they lost 7-3(14).

The Oilers joined the NHL for 1979-1980, along with fellow WHA teams, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and the Jets following a merger agreement between the two leagues. Of these four teams, only Edmonton has avoided relocation and renaming; the Jets became the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996 and the Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997(15).

Entry into the NHL 1979-1983

The Oilers lost most of the players from 1978-1979 when the NHL held a reclamation draft of players who had bolted to the upstart league as they were allowed to protect two goaltenders and two skaters(16). Originally, Gretzky was not eligible to be protected; under the rules of the time, he normally would have been placed in the Entry Draft pool. However, Pocklington had signed him to a 21-year personal services contract to force the NHL to admit the Oilers and allow the Oilers to keep Gretzky(17).

Upon joining the NHL, the Oilers were placed in the Campbell Conference’s Smythe Division. They were mediocre during the regular season in their first two seasons, finishing sixteenth and fourteenth respectively. However, because 16 of the 21 NHL teams made the playoffs at the same time, the Oilers were still able to get their young players experience in the playoffs (they made the playoffs in their first 13 years in the NHL)(18). They won only one playoff series in their first three NHL seasons, though, upsetting the Montreal Canadiens in 1980-1981. Gretzky set new NHL records in 1980-1981 for assists (109)(19) and points (164)(20). Also, they still had great draft positions. This allowed the Oilers to put together a young, talented, experienced team quickly. Within three years, Sather and chief scout Barry Fraser had drafted several players who would have an important role in the team’s success, including Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey, Kevin Lowe, Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog(21).

The Oilers improved in 1981-1982, finishing second overall. Grant Fuhr emerged as the starting goaltender and he set a rookie record by going undefeated in 23 straight games(22). However, Gretzky stole the show by setting the single-season record for goals with 92(23) and becoming the first player in NHL history to score 200 points (with 212)(20). Gretzky’s accomplishments helped the Oilers become the first team to score 400 goals in a season, a feat they accomplished for five straight years(24). However, they were upset by the Los Angeles Kings in five games (Game 3 of this series, the Miracle on Manchester, saw the Oilers take a 5-0 lead into the third period, only to lose 6-5 in overtime)(25)(26).

In 1982-1983, the Oilers finished third overall in the NHL. They advanced all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals (losing only once in the process) before getting swept by the defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders(27). During this season, Gretzky, Messier, Anderson, and Kurri all topped 100 points, with Coffey not far behind at 96(26). After the season, Lee Fogolin resigned as captain of the Oilers, picking Gretzky as his successor(28).

Sources:

1. Riess, Steven A. (March 26, 2015). Sports in
America from Colonial Times to the Twenty
-First Century: An Encyclopedia: An
Encyclopedia. Routledge. ISBN
9781317459477.

2. https://historyproject.allard.ubc.ca/law-
history -project/profile/peter-allard-qc

3. https://docspike.com/download/charles
-alexander-allard-md-frcsc-facs-1919-1991-3_pdf

4. https://web.archive.org/web/20101113222758/
http://www.whl.ca/page/whl-history

5. https://web.archive.org/web/20101009142207/
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2010/09/17/
nhl_team_names/

6. http://hockey.ballparks.com/WHA/Alberta
Oilers/index.htm

7. https://web.archive.org/web/20101117123740/
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=426216

8. https://oilerslegends.blogspot.com/2006/11/
glen-sather.html

9. https://www.hhof.com/HonouredMembers/
MemberDetails.html?type=Builder&mem=
b199701&list=ByName#photo

10. Stewart, Monte (2004). Calgary Flames:
Fire on Ice. Heritage House Publishing Co.
ISBN 9781551537948.

11. https://edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/
nhl/edmonton-oilers/edmonton-oilers-history
-wha-team-acquires-wayne-gretzky-peter-
driscoll-and-eddie-mio-from-indianapolis-
racers-for-825000-nov-2-1978

12. Eddie Dario Mio, Legends of Hockey,
retrieved November 10, 2010

13. Eddie Dario Mio, Legends of Hockey,
retrieved November 10, 2010

14. Eddie Dario Mio, Legends of Hockey,
retrieved November 10, 2010

15. Eddie Dario Mio, Legends of Hockey,
retrieved November 10, 2010

16. 1979 NHL Expansion Draft, The Home
of the Oilers, archived from the original on
November 29, 2003, retrieved
November 11, 2010.

17. McCurdy, Bruce (January 26, 2010), "Happy
birthday, Wayne": the 21-year, personal
services contract, The Copper and Blue,
retrieved November 4, 2010.

18. Edmonton Oilers, Hockey-Reference.com,
retrieved November 11, 2010

19. NHL & WHA Single Season Leaders and
Records for Assists, Hockey-Reference.com,
retrieved November 19, 2010

20. NHL & WHA Single Season Leaders and
Records for Points, Hockey-Reference.com,
retrieved November 11, 2010

21. McCurdy, Bruce (June 24, 2010), Class of
1980: Best Oilers draft ever?, The Copper and
Blue, retrieved November 11, 2010.

22. Grant Fuhr, Hockey Draft Central, retrieved
November 11, 2010^ NHL & WHA Single
Season Leaders and Records for Goals, Hockey
-Reference.com, retrieved November 11, 2010

23. Standings for the Edmonton Oilers of the NHL,
The Internet Hockey Database, retrieved
November, 11, 2010

24. Standings for the Edmonton Oilers of the NHL,
The Internet Hockey Database, retrieved
November 11, 2010

25. 1981–82 NHL Season Summary, Hockey-
Reference.com, retrieved November 11, 2010

26. Miracle on Manchester, Still Greatest NHL
Playoff Upset of All Time, The Hockey Writers,
April 29, 2010, retrieved November 11, 2010

27. 1982–83 Edmonton Oilers Roster and Statistics,
Hockey-Reference.com, retrieved November
11, 2010

28. Lee Fogolin-Like Father, Like Son, Edmonton
Oilers Heritage, archived from the original on
December 8, 2010, retrieved November 11, 2010

Friday, April 19, 2024

Minnesota Wild

Photo Credit: https://www.nhl.com/wild/

Preparations of a new franchise

Following the departure of the Minnesota North Stars after the 1992-1993 season(1), the state of Minnesota was without an NHL team for seven seasons. Saint Paul mayor (and future U.S. Senator) Norm Coleman began a campaign to either recruit the relocation of an existing franchise to the city or award an expansion franchise to a Minnesota-based ownership group. These efforts came close to success in the mid-1990s when Minnesota interests purchased the original Winnipeg Jets intending to relocate the franchise to Minnesota; however, arena negotiations at the Target Center fell through, and the Jets instead relocated to Phoenix, Arizona.

Following the failed attempt to relocate the Jets, the NHL announced its intention to expand from 26 to 30 teams. Businessman and Minnetonka native Bob Naegele Jr. became the lead investor for an application to the NHL for an expansion franchise and, ultimately, the first majority owner. On June 25th, 1997, the National Hockey League (NHL) announced that Minnesota had been awarded an expansion franchise, to begin play in the 2000 – 2001 season. The six finalist team names for the new NHL franchise (Blue Ox, Freeze, Northern Lights, Voyageurs, White Bears, and Wild), were announced on November 20th, 1997(2). Jac Sperling was named chief executive officer of the Minnesota team(3), Doug Risebrough was named general manager, Tod Leiweke was named president, and Martha Fuller was named chief financial officer.

The team was officially named the Wild at an unveiling at the Aldrich Area on January 28th, 1998, with the song “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf playing over the arena’s speaker system. The Minnesota Wild announced its first major sponsorship agreement with MasterCard from First USA. It was the earliest the First USA had ever signed an agreement before a team began play (31 months). The state of Minnesota adopted legislation in April 1998 to loan $65 million to the City of Saint Paul to fund 50% of the estimated $130 million project costs for the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul. The legislation also provided that only $48 million of the loan needed to be repaid if the team met the requirements to have an agreement in place during the lease term with the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission. The City of Saint Paul issued an additional $65 million in bonds, with roughly 90% of the debt service on the bonds and the repayment of the state loan coming from scheduled rent and payment instead of taxes from the Minnesota Wild. Deconstruction of the Saint Paul Civic Center began soon after. Designs were announced for the Xcel Energy Center and a groundbreaking ceremony for the Xcel Energy Center was hosted in Saint Paul.

The Minnesota Wild announced a 26-year partnership agreement with the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission (MASC). The Minnesota Wild-MASC partnership is the first partnership of its kind between a private professional sports team and a public amateur sports organization. Doug Risebrough was named executive vice president/general manager of the Minnesota Wild(4) and the Xcel Energy Center was completed and ready for use.

Early years and (2000 – 2009)
Marian Gaborik Era

The Wild named Jacques Lemaire their first head coach and the team picked Marian Gaborik third overall in the first round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. Gaborik scored the first-ever goal for the Wild in their franchise debut on October 6th at Anaheim(5). The Wild played their first-ever home game on October 11th against the Philadelphia Flyers and skated to a 3-3 tie(6). Minnesota native Darby Hendrickson scored the first-ever home goal for the Wild. The most notable game of the year was the first visit of the Dallas Stars, who had formerly played in Minnesota as the Minnesota North Stars. The Wild rode an emotional sellout crowd of over 18,000 to a 6 – 0 shutout in Dallas’ first regular season game in Minnesota since a neutral-site game in 1993(7). The season ended with Scott Pellerin as the leading scorer with 39 points while Wes Walz, Darby Hendrickson, and Gaborik paced the team with 18 goals each(8)(9).

The Wild got off to a strong start in the 2001 – 2002 season by earning at least one point in its first seven games. However, the Wild finished last place again with a record of 26-35-12-6. En route, there were signs the Wild were improving, as second-year speedster Gaborik had a solid sophomore season with 30 goals, including an invite to the NHL YoungStars Game, and Andrew Burnette led the team in scoring with 69 points(10).

Gaborik spent much of the 2002 – 2003 season vying for the league scoring crown before slumping in the second half, and the Wild, in their first-ever playoff appearance, made it to the Western Conference Finals before being swept 4-0 by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Previously, the Wild had beaten the favored and third-seeded Colorado Avalanche in the first round in seven games, coming back from a 3-1 series deficit and winning both Game 6 and 7 in overtime. Brunette scored the series-clinching goal, the last of Patrick Roy(11). In the Western Conference semi-finals, the Wild beat the fourth-seeded Vancouver Canucks, again in seven games, and began after being down 3-1 in a series. In the process, the Wild became the first team in playoff history to capture a seven-game series twice after facing elimination during game 5(12).

When the 2003 – 2004 season started, the Wild were short-handed with both Pascal Dupuis and Gaborik holding out. After struggling in the first month, the Wild finally got their two young star left-wingers signed, but both struggled to get back into game shape as the Wild struggled through much of November. In a deep hole, the Wild did not make it to the playoffs, despite finishing the season strong, with wins in five of their last six games as they finished last in the competitive Northwest Division with a record of 30-29-20-3(13). Along the way, the Wild began to gear up for the future, trading away several of their older players who were part of the franchise from the beginning, including Brad Bombardier and Jim Dowd.

The 2004 – 2005 season was canceled due to an NHL lockout. Former Wild player Sergei Zholtok died from a heart condition in the arms of Minnesotan and former Wild player Darby Hendrickson

Sources:
1.
https://history.vintagemnhockey.com/page/show/815245-minnesota-north-stars-1967-1993-

2.
https://web.archive.org/web/20080408030257/http://fans.nhl.com/members/Ninh/blogs/3925

3.
https://web.archive.org/web/20080108111626/http://wild.nhl.com/team/app"service=page&page=NHLPage&bcid=tea_Sperling

4.
https://web.archive.org/web/20081006195537/http://wild.nhl.com/team/appservice=page&page=NHLPage&bcid=tea_Risebrough

5.
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/ducks-tame-wild-1.207952

6.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wild-ties-flyers-in-home-debut/

7.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stars-cant-go-home-again/

8.
https://web.archive.org/web/20220827051529/https://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters ?reportType=season&seasonFrom=20002001&seasonTo= 20002001&gameType=2& playerPlayedFor=franchise.37&filter=games Played,gte,1&sort=goals&page=0&pageSize=50

9.
https://web.archive.org/web/20220827051526/https://www.nhl.com/player/marian-gaborik-8468483#stats

10.
https://web.archive.org/web/20220827063438/https://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters report
Type=season&seasonFrom=20012002&seasonTo=20012002&game Type=2&player PlayedFor=franchise.37&filter=gamesPlayed,get, 1&sort=points,goals,assists&page=0&pageSize=50

11.
https://web.archive.org/web/20220827063438/https://www.nhl.com/ wild/news/a-goal-to -remember/c-669215

12.
https://web.archive.org/web/20220827063439/https://www.nhl.com/wild/news/ 2003-bertuzzi-trash-talk-073120/c-317746278

13.
https://web.archive.org/web/20180222165359/https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/MIN/2004.html

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Florida Panthers

Photo Credit: https://sportslogospot.blogspot.com/2011/06/florida-panthers-
inspired-by-predators.html

Early years (1992 – 2000)

Blockbuster Video magnate Wayne Huizenga was awarded an NHL franchise for Miami on December 10^th, 1992, the same day The Walt Disney Company earned the rights to start a team in Anaheim that would become the Mighty Ducks. At the time, Huizenga owned both the newly founded Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB) and a share of the National Football League (NFL)’s Miami Dolphins. The entry fee was $50 million. Huizenga announced the team would play at the Miami Arena, sharing the building with the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Miami Heat, until a new arena was built. Offices for the team were only established in June 1993, while Vice President of Business Operations Dean Jordan conceded that “none of the business people, myself included, knew anything about hockey”(1). The new franchise would be the first professional ice hockey team in Miami since the folding of the Tropical Hockey League in 1939(2).

On April 20^th, 1993, a press conference in Ft. Lauderdale announced that the team would be named the Florida Panthers, with former New York Islanders general manager Bill Torrey as president and Bobby Clarke as general manager. The team is named for the Florida panther, an endangered species of large cat endemic to the nearby Everglades region(3). Once the logos and uniforms were unveiled on June 15^th, the team also announced its financial commitment to the panther preservation cause(4). Huizenga had held the Panthers trademark since 1991 when he purchased it from a group of Tampa investors who sought to create an MLB team in the Tampa Bay area(5).

The new franchise joined the NHL for participation in the 1993-1994 season, along with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The Panthers’ and Ducks’ roster were filled in both the expansion draft and the 1993 NHL Entry Draft in June 1993, hosted by Quebec City;(6,7) that draft produced ten players who would eventually be a part of the 1996 Eastern Conference-winning team(8).

The Panthers’ first major stars were former New York Rangers goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck, rookie Rob Niedermayer and forward Scott Mellanby, who scored 30 goals in Florida’s inaugural season. Their first game was a 4-4 tie on the road against the Chicago Blackhawks, while their first win was a 20- shutout of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Thunderdome before a then-NHL record crowd of 27,227. The Panthers had one of the most successful seasons of any expansion team league history, finishing just two points below .500 and narrowing missing out on the final 1994 playoff spot in the East. Their first-year success was attributed mainly to the trap defense that first-year coach Roger Neilson implemented. This conservative style was widely criticized by NHL teams; some even suggested that the Panthers were ruining the game (10). While the team executives expected the audience to consist of mostly “snowbird” Canadians living in Florida, the Floridians soon embraced the Panthers. Helped by Miami’s other teams having middling performances, the club averaged 94% capacity at the 14,500-seat Miami Arena and sold 8,500 tickets in 100 days.

In August 1994, general manager Clarke left to work for the Philadelphia Flyers; Bryan Murray was brought in from the Detroit Red Wings as his replacement(11). Another close brush with the playoffs, finishing the lockout-shortened 1994-1995 season again in ninth,(12) Neilson was fired following an argument with Murray regarding Ed Jovanovski, whom the Panthers chose as the number one overall pick at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.(13) Doug MacLean, who had been the team’s player development director, was promoted to coach.(13) The team then acquired Ray Sheppard from the San Jose Sharks and the NHL trade deadline and looked towards the playoffs for the first time.

The Rat Trick and a trip to the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals

A very unusual goal celebration developed in Miami during the 1995-1996 season. On the night of the Panthers’ 1995-1996 home opener, a rat scurried across the team’s locker room. Scott Mellanby reacted by “one-timing” the rat against the wall, killing it. That night, he scored two goals, which Vanbiesbrouck quipped was “a rat trick.” Two nights later, as the story found its way into the world, a few fans threw rubber rats on the ice in celebration of the goal. The rubber rat count went from 16 for the third home game to over 2,000 during the playoffs.(14)

In the 1996 playoffs, as the fourth seed in the East, the Panthers faced the Boston Bruins in the first round and won in five games. Bill Lindsay’s series-clenching goal is still a trademark image for the run the third-year franchise went on. The Panthers went on to upset the top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers in six games followed by the second-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins in seven (with Tom Fitzgerald scoring what would end up being the game-winning goal) to reach the Stanley Cup Finals against the Colorado Avalanche, another team making its first Finals appearance.(15) The Avalanche, however, swept the Panthers in four games. Despite losing in the Finals, the Panthers set a record for the most wins by an expansion team in their first postseason appearance with 12 victories (this record would later be broken by the Vegas Golden Knights during their inaugural season in 2017-2018). For his team’s surprising success, Bryan Murray was honored as NHL Executive of the Year. (16)

The Panthers began the next season with a 12-game unbeaten streak but faded in the second half of the season after trading second-line center Stu Barnes. They lost in five games in the first round of the playoffs to the Wayne Gretzky-led New York Rangers. The team would plummet in the 1997-1998 season. After a 7-12-4 start, the Panthers first Doug MacLean, replacing his for the season with general manager Bryan Murray. The change did not aid matters, as Florida posted a franchise-worst 24-43-15 record, including a 15-game winless streak. This season also marked the end of goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck’s time in Florida; amid that streak, he was shelled by the Chicago Blackhawks and never played another game for the Panthers. In the following off-season, Vanbiesbrouck signed with the Flyers as a free agent.

1.
https://web.archive.org/web/20131105212732/http://sportsillustrated.cnn .com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1009015/1/index.htm

2.
https://books.google.com/books id=5g_r5MsuEf4C&dq=%22Tropical+Hockey+League%22&pg=PA124

Friday, April 12, 2024

The Boston Bruins

photo credit: https://thehockeynews.com/news/nhl-logo-rankings-no-7-boston-bruins

In 1924, (1) the National Hockey League decided to expand to the United States. The previous year in 1923, Thomas Duggan received options on three NHL franchises in the U.S. and sold one to Boston grocery magnate Charles Adams. The team was one of the NHL’s first expansion teams, and the first NHL team to be based in the U.S. Adam’s first act was to hire Art Ross, a former star player and innovator, as general manager. Ross was the face of the franchise for the next thirty years, including four separate stints as coach.

Ross came up with “Bruins” for a team nickname, a name known for brown bears used in classic folk tales. The team’s nickname also went along with the team’s original uniform colors of brown and yellow, which came from Adams’ grocery chain, First National Stores. (6)(7)

December 1st, 1924, the Bruins won the first ever NHL game played on U.S. soil,(8) against the Montreal Maroons at Boston Arena, with Smokey Harris scoring the first-ever Bruins goal, (9) spurring the Bruins to a 2-1 win. This would be one of the few high points of the season, as the Bruins only managed a 6-24-0 record and finished in last place in its first season. The Bruins played three more seasons at the Arena, after which they became the main tenant of the Boston Garden. (10)

The Bruins improved in their second season to a winning record, but they missed out on the third and final playoff berth by one point to the expansion Pittsburgh Pirates. In their third season, 1926-27, Ross took advantage of the Western Hockey League to purchase several Western stars, including the team’s first great star, defenseman Eddie Shore. Boston qualified for the then-expanded playoffs by a comfortable margin.

In their first-ever playoff run, the Bruins reached the Stanley Cup Finals where they lost to the Ottawa Senators in the first Stanley Cup Finals to be between exclusively NHL teams. In 1929 the Bruins defeated the New York Rangers to win their first Stanley Cup. Standout players on the first championship team included Shore, Harry Oliver, Dit Clapper, Dutch Gainor, and goaltender Tiny Thompson. The 1928 – 1929 season was the first played at Boston Garden. The season after that, 1929-1930, the Bruins posted the best-ever regular season winning percentage in the NHL (.875, a record which still stands) and shattered numerous scoring records, but lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The 1930s Bruins teams included Shore, Thompson, Clapper, Babe Siebert, and Cooney Weiland. The team led the league five times in the decade. In 1939, the team captured its second Stanley Cup. That year, Thompson was traded for rookie goaltender Frank Brimsek. Brimsek had an award-winning season, capturing the Vezina and Calder Trophies, becoming the first rookie named to the NHL's first All-Star team, and earning the nickname “Mr. Zero.” The team skating in front of Brimsek included Bill Cowley, Shore, Clapper, and “Sudden Death” Mel Hill (who scored three overtime goals in one playoff series), together with the “Kraut Line” of center Milt Schmidt, right winger Bobby Bauer and left winger Woody Dumart.

Shore was traded in 1940 to the struggling New York Americans for his final NHL season. In 1941the Bruins won their third Stanley Cup after losing only eight games and finishing first in the regular season. It was their last Stanley Cup in 29 years. World War II affected the Bruins more than most teams; Brimsek and the “Krauts” all enlisted after the 1940-1941 Cup win and lost the post-productive years of their careers at war. Cowley, assisted by veteran players Clapper and Busher Jackson, was the team’s remaining star.

Here are a few photos to go along with the many names mentioned: