The ultimate Canada Cup match ever performed occurred on this date. Plus, the best participant in NHL historical past reported to his first-ever skilled and NHL coaching camps precisely one yr aside. The THW time machine has its engines heat and is able to take again by the last decade. Let’s climb aboard!
Ultimate Canada Cup Champion Topped
The final Canada Cup championship sport was performed on Sept. 16, 1991. The match was changed with the World Cup of Hockey in 1996. Six international locations competed within the 18-day match: Canada, america, Finland, Sweden, the Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia.
The US beat Finland within the semifinals, with Canada dispatching Sweden to arrange the matchup for the best-of-three championship sequence. Canada gained the primary sport, 4-1, and appeared to clinch one other match victory on the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario.
Mark Messier opened the scoring on the 13:39 mark of the primary interval, and his future New York Rangers’ teammate, Steve Larmer, doubled the lead simply 20 seconds later. The Individuals fought again with two objectives within the second interval. Jeremy Roenick scored on the ability play to get them on the board earlier than Kevin Miller tied the sport about seven minutes later.
Larmer’s shorthanded purpose, about 12 minutes into the third interval, proved to be the game-winner. His teammate with the Chicago Blackhawks, Dirk Graham, iced the sport with an empty-net purpose within the last minute of play.
Canada gained the ultimate sport with out the companies of Wayne Gretzky, who was injured within the earlier sport. He nonetheless led the match with 12 factors (4 objectives, eight assists). Goaltender Invoice Ranford was named probably the most beneficial participant of the match as he went 6-0-2 with a sterling 1.75 goals-against common (GAA). Canada gained 4 out of the 5 Canada Cup tournaments ever performed. Their solely defeat within the championship got here in 1981 after they misplaced to the Soviet Union.
Two Corridor of Fame Lessons Introduced
The Hockey Corridor of Fame added seven new members on this date. First, on Sept. 16, 1996, Bobby Bauer and Borje Salming had been added as gamers, and Al Arbour was voted in as a builder.
Bauer was a proper winger who starred for the Boston Bruins within the Nineteen Thirties and Nineteen Forties. He was part of two Stanley Cup championships and gained the Girl Bing Trophy 3 times for being the sport’s most gentlemanly participant. He scored a career-high 30 objectives throughout his last season of 1946-47.
Salming was one of many first European-born gamers to star within the NHL. The defenseman performed 1,099 video games for the Toronto Maple Leafs over 16 seasons, scoring 148 objectives and 768 factors whereas posting a plus-150 score. The six-time All-Star’s last season within the league, 1989-90, was spent with the Detroit Crimson Wings.
Arbour performed 626 video games as a defenseman and gained three Stanley Cups, however he was inducted into the Corridor of Fame for his work behind the bench. He was the top coach of the New York Islanders for all 4 of their championships within the early Eighties. When he retired, his 782 profession wins had been the second-most in NHL historical past.
Two years later, on Sept. 16, 1988, Roy Conacher, Michel Goulet, and Peter Stastny acquired the nod as gamers and builder Athol Murray was additionally voted into the Corridor of Fame.
Conacher joined his brothers Charlie and Lionel, who had been inducted in 1961 and 1994, respectively. He scored 226 objectives and 427 factors in 490 video games for the Bruins, Crimson Wings, and Blackhawks between 1938 and 1952. He gained a pair of Stanley Cups win Bauer and the Bruins in 1939 and 1941.
Goulet was a five-time All-Star in 15 seasons with the Quebec Nordiques and Blackhawks. He scored 456 of his 548 objectives with the Nordiques, together with 4 straight seasons of not less than 53 objectives between 1982-83 and 1985-86. He performed 1,089 complete video games earlier than struggling a career-ending concussion in 1994.
Stastny was a teammate of Goulet’s in Quebec for a decade. He and his brothers, Anton and Marian, defected from Czechoslovakia in 1980 and all signed with the Nordiques. Peter performed 977 video games and scored 450 objectives and 1,239 factors. After 10 seasons with the Nordiques, he performed 4 extra with the New Jersey Devils and 23 last video games with the St. Louis Blues.
Murray was a Toronto-area Catholic priest who began the well-known Notre Dame Hound hockey crew. Among the many over 100 former Hounds who had been drafted into the NHL are Wendel Clark, Curtis Joseph, Rod Brind’Amour, Brad Richards, and Vincent Lecavalier.
Wayne Gretzky Stories to Camp
On Sept. 16, 1978, Gretzky took half in his first coaching camp as knowledgeable as he joined the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Affiliation (WHA). He performed in eight video games for the Racers earlier than his contract was bought by the Edmonton Oilers. He scored 46 objectives and 110 factors over 80 video games in his lone WHA season.
When the Oilers had been absorbed into the NHL following the 1978-79 season, they correctly protected Gretzky. He joined his teammates for the primary day of NHL coaching camp, on Sept. 16, 1979, on the College of Alberta’s Varsity Enviornment. He scored 51 objectives and 137 factors in his first NHL season, profitable the Hart Trophy for being the league’s most precious participant.
Odds & Ends
The Bruins bought the contract of left wing Joe Klukay on Sept. 16, 1952, from the Maple Leafs. He performed in 150 video games for the Bruns, scoring 33 objectives and 66 factors. In 1954, he was traded again to Toronto for defenseman Leo Boivin, who had a Corridor of Fame profession with the Bruins.
The Blues traded goaltender Wayne Stephenson on Sept. 16, 1974, to the Philadelphia Flyers for the rights to Randy Andreachuk and a second-round decide within the 1975 NHL Novice Draft.
He backed up Bernie Mother or father throughout the Flyers’ 1974-75 championship season. He began 40 video games throughout the 1975-76 season. The Blues used the draft decide to pick defenseman Jamie Masters, who performed in simply 33 NHL video games. Andreachuk by no means performed within the league.
Completely happy Birthday to You
A complete of twenty-two present and former NHL gamers had been born on Sept. 16. The primary to play within the league was John Chad, born on this date in 1919. He scored 15 objectives and 37 factors in his 80 video games for the Blackhawks within the Nineteen Forties. The newest is Nikita Alexandrov, who performed 23 video games with the St. Louis Blues final season.
Left wing Eric Vail, born on Sept. 16, 1953, performed probably the most video games of this group. He suited up in 591 video games for the Flames, in each Atlanta and Calgary, and the Crimson Wings between 1974 and 1982. He additionally had probably the most objectives (216), assists (260), and factors (476).
Different notable birthday boys embody Rick Lanz (63), Kevin LaVallee (63), Patrik Stefan (44), Dustin Tokarski (35), Braden Holtby (35), Anthony Mantha (30), and Brady Tkachuk (25).
*Initially constructed by Greg Boysen
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