HOCKEY FUN FACTS!!!

FUN FACT#1



* The H on the Habs sweater stands for "Hockey", not "habitant", as is commonly rumoured. Montreal is technically the “Club de Hockey Canadien”, and were once the "Club Athletique Canadien"...hence the "A" that once sat in place of the modern "H". Habitant is a nickname, but is not the reason for the letter.

FUN FACT#2


* The Stanley Cup has only had two years off since becoming the NHL's top prize; the 2005 NHL lockout, and the final series of the 1919 playoffs were cancelled due to the 'Flu epidemic...one player even died, Joe Hall.

FUNFACT #3


* The Stanley Cup has been surrounded by story and myth, but it has had a fun life. It has been thrown in the river, urinated in, found at the bottom of Mario Lemieux's swimming pool, travelled to a live combat zone, been left behind by the players and once used as a vase by the person who found it, children have been baptised in it, and oh, so much more.

FUN FACT #4


The Calgary Flames had the chance to draft Martin Brodeur, but blew it big time, trading with New Jersey for an earlier pick...Calgary chose bust Trevor Kidd, while NJ waited their turn and took Brody...

HOCKEY FUN FACT #5


•Bernie Geoffrion is credited with bringing the slapshot to the NHL in 1951. He was given the nickname “Boom Boom” because his shot was so hard and fast.

HOCKEY FUN FACT # 6


•The first player who accumulate more than 300 penalty minutes in a single season was Philadelphia Flyer Dave Schultz, who had 348 penalty minuted in 1974. The next year, he broke his record with 472 penalty minutes, still the record.

FUN FACT #7


•The World Hockey Association was a rival hockey league from 1973 to 1979. Hockey legends Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, and Wayne Gretzky played in the league, but it couldn't compete with the NHL. Four current NHL teams came from the WHA. The Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers (now Carolina Hurricanes), Quebec Nordiques (now Colorado Avalanche), and Winnipeg Jets (now Phoenix Coyotes).

FUN FACT #8



Most Bizarre Penalty

Randy Pierce of the Colorado Rockies was so thrilled with his goal at 19:27 of the third period in their franchise's first win over the New York Islanders in 1979, he picked the puck up off the ice as the goaltender tried to return it to the linesman for a face-off.

Pierce kissed the puck and was given a two minute penalty for delay of game.

FUN FACT #9


Only Player to be Suspended for Life

Billy Couture was known for his brutality after being fined and suspended many times by the league and even his own teams (Canadiens and Bruins).

Following a 3-1 loss to Ottawa by which Boston was eliminated from the 1927 playoffs, Couture became the only player in history to be suspended permanently from the NHL for attacking referee Gerry LaFlamme.

FUN FACK #10


The only game postponed due to injury was between the Nashville Predators and the Detroit Red Wings. Jiri Fischer suffered a heart attack on November 21st in 2005 while sitting on the bench. The Wings and Preds met again in January and carried on with the game.

FUN FACT # 11


Hockey was first brought to North America when British soldiers stationed in Nova Scotia, Canada, played the earliest games. By the 1870s, a group of college students at McGill University in Montreal were organizing games and had developed the first known set of hockey rules. In accordance with this new set of regulations, known as the "McGill rules," a puck was substituted for a rubber ball and the number of players on a team was set at nine. The National Hockey League was formed in 1910; there are currently 30 clubs competing in the National Hockey League.

FUN FACT # 12

•In the 1985-86 season, Edmonton Oilers center Wayne Gretzky scored 215 points, breaking his own record that he set four years earlier. Of the top 10 best-scoring seasons of all-time, “The Great One” has eight of them.

FUN FACT #13


The best ice for professional hockey is approximately 3/4 of an inch thick and is held at 16 degrees Fahrenheit for proper hardness. The thicker the sheet of ice becomes, the softer and “slower” it is. Commercial ice shows often perform on “warmer”, slower ice.

FUN FACT #14


The Bill Barilko story.
Barilko scored the overtime goal against the Montreal Canadiens' Gerry McNeil in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final on April 21, 1951 to clinch the Cup for the Maple Leafs. Four months later, on August 26, 1951, he joined his dentist, Henry Hudson, on a flight aboard Hudson's Fairchild 24 floatplane to Seal River, Quebec for a fishing trip. On the return trip, the single-engine plane disappeared and its passengers remained missing. On June 7, 1962 a helicopter pilot (Ron Boyd) discovered the wreckage of the plane about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Cochrane. The Maple Leafs finally won the Stanley Cup that year, after not winning it at all during the eleven years that he was missing. The Tragically Hip's song "Fifty Mission Cap" (from their 1992 album Fully Completely) features Barilko's tragic story and the absence of the Leafs championship until the year he was found (1962).

FUN FACT #15


History of Hockey: Early Years

The game of Hockey has been around from the time of early civilization. Some of the reports find the earliest origin of the game 4000 years back. Field hockey was reportedly played even before the birth of Christ. Basically known as the “ball and stick” game, it was played since ancient times in places diverse as Rome, Scotland, Egypt and South America

FUN FACT # 16


The First NHL Season

The 1917-18 season was the first in NHL Hockey history. The NHL began its first season with very few teams. In the history of NHL players, five teams began the season, but the “Montreal Wanderers” backed out in January of 1918 after their Montreal rink was burned down. With these humble beginnings, the NHL that we enjoy today stumbled its way onto the scene.

FUN FACT #17


Wayne Gretzky (1979-1999)

He was arguably the best player ever to play organized hockey. His stats are almost mind boggling when you compare them to players today or players from the past. Wayne Gretzky played 20 seasons in the NHL and won the Scoring Title (Art Ross) 10 times, MVP (Hart) 9 times, the Stanley Cup 4 times and was the only player to have a 200 point season and he did it 4 times. His all time career stats were 894 Goals, 1963 Assists and 2857 Total Points.

FUN FACT #18


WORST HOCKEY FIGHT EVER!!!!!! LMFAO




http://www.break.com/index/the-worst-fight-in-hockey-history.html

FUN FACT #19


Largest NHL Family

Louis and Grace Sutter of Viking, Alberta, produced six sons who appeared in NHL uniforms: Duane, Brent, Brian, Darryl, and twins Ron and Rich.

Their collective careers spanned 25 years from 1976 to 2001, with Ron being the last to retire. For five seasons, between 1982 and 1987, all six brothers were in the league at the same time, and four were captains of their teams.

Brent, Brian and Darryl all went on to become NHL head coaches.

FUN FACT #20


NHL CALENDER


Aug. 23-26 - World Hockey Summit, Toronto.

Sept. 17 - Training camps open.

Sept. 21 - Preseason games begin.

Oct. 7 - Regular-season begins.

Oct. 7-10 - NHL Premiere Games, at Helsinki, Finland (Carolina vs. Minnesota); Prague, Czech Republic (Phoenix vs. Boston); Stockholm, Sweden (Columbus vs. San Jose).

Nov. 6 - Hall of Fame Game (Buffalo at Toronto).

Nov. 8 - Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Toronto.

Dec. 26-Jan. 5, 2011 - IIHF World Junior Championships, Buffalo, N.Y.

Jan. 1 - NHL Winter Classic. Washington at Pittsburgh (Heinz Field).

Jan. 30 - All-Star game, Raleigh, N.C.

April 10 - Regular-season ends.

April 13 - Stanley Cup playoffs begin.

FUN FACT #21


10 Hockey Terms You Should Know

bulge the twine To score a goal that hits the back of the net.

butterfly Style of goaltending where the leg pads are on the ice, glove and blocker are out and the goalie resembles a butterfly.

cycle the puck When a team has puck possession in the other team’s zone and they continually pass the puck around to each other, attempting to find an open teammate for a clear shot at the net.

full strength Each team has all five players and their goalie on the ice. Also called even strength or five on five.

Gordie Howe hat trick When a player scores a goal, gets an assist and has a fight in the same game. Named after the legendary number 9 from the Detroit Red Wings.

healthy scratch When a player is not included in the starting lineup, or roster of players, but not because of injury.

one-timer When a player passes the puck to a teammate, who then shoots the puck immediately, without stopping the puck first. Also called a one-time shot.

rental player At the trade deadline, a team may pick up a player that can help them for the short term but they may not have any intention of keeping that player for the next season.

special teams Each team has two "special" teams. These are combinations of players who are particularly good in certain situations. One is the power-play unit when a team has the man advantage and one is the penalty-kill unit for shorthanded situations.

trade deadline The day and time past which GM's are not allowed to trade players between teams. It is the final chance to trade before the playoff run.

Friday, September 24, 2010
Teams Notes
Chicago at Detroit 7:00 PM
Pittsburgh at Columbus 7:00 PM
Nashville at Carolina 7:00 PM
Philadelphia at Toronto 7:00 PM
Ottawa at Montreal 7:30 PM
Minnesota at St. Louis 8:00 PM
Colorado at Dallas 8:30 PM
Anaheim at San Jose 10:30 PM

Saturday, September 25, 2010
Teams Notes
NY Rangers at New Jersey 7:00 PM
Columbus at Pittsburgh 7:00 PM
Toronto at Buffalo 7:00 PM
Carolina at Atlanta 7:00 PM
Florida at Boston 7:00 PM
Montreal at Ottawa 7:00 PM
Detroit at Chicago 8:00 PM
Washington at Nashville 8:00 PM
St. Louis at Dallas 8:00 PM
Philadelphia at Minnesota 8:00 PM
Tampa Bay at Calgary 9:00 PM
San Jose at Phoenix 10:00 PM
Anaheim at Vancouver 10:00 PM
Phoenix at San Jose 10:30 PM

Sunday, September 26, 2010
Teams Notes
NY Rangers at Detroit 5:00 PM
Minnesota at Montreal 7:00 PM
Vancouver at Edmonton 8:00 PM
St. Louis at Colorado 9:00 PM

Monday, September 27, 2010
Teams Notes
Buffalo at Toronto 7:00 PM
Florida at Montreal 7:30 PM
Atlanta at Nashville 8:00 PM

Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Teams Notes
Chicago at Pittsburgh 7:00 PM
Minnesota at Columbus 7:00 PM
Boston at Washington 7:00 PM
Buffalo at Ottawa 7:00 PM
Philadelphia at New Jersey 7:00 PM
Dallas at Colorado 9:00 PM
Phoenix at Calgary 9:30 PM
San Jose at Vancouver 10:00 PM
Anaheim at Los Angeles 10:30 PM

Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Teams Notes
Detroit at NY Rangers 7:00 PM
Washington at Boston 7:00 PM
Nashville at Atlanta 7:00 PM
NY Islanders at Philadelphia 7:00 PM
Carolina at Florida 7:30 PM
Toronto at Ottawa 7:30 PM
Calgary at NY Islanders 9:00 PM
Phoenix at Edmonton 9:00 PM
Vancouver at San Jose