ScottM

I'm not sure one short blog post could cover all the records for patheticness that this particular Caps team set. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the NHL and WHA have 30 teams between the two of them at one point? Between having no access to Eastern European players (at least no significant access) and a then much more limited US talent pool, 30 teams was WAY too much at the time. Of course, with all of that said, I think in the long run the rapid expansion paid off for the league. It forced them to look to other markets for players. Soon, there were more Americans in the game, and Europeans began to come over. In that respect, I think it helped to globalize the NHL. Also, while the Devils have had a lot more success than the Caps, winning the 3 Cups, both teams can now claim their fair share of success. As bad as the expansion looked at the time, adding those teams wasn't so bad after all.

The 1974-75 NHL season was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The Philadelphia Flyers, who were the only expansion team to have won the Stanley Cup at the time, hoisted the coveted trophy for the second consecutive season. Their star center, Bobby Clarke, won the second of three Hart Trophies of his career, and their goaltender, Bernie Parent capped off one of the best two-year runs of any goalie in NHL history. Phil Esposito, who was the only player in NHL history to that point to score 60 goals in a season, led the league – with his fourth such season – with 61 goals. Bobby Orr, the only defenseman to win the Art Ross to this day, won his second scoring title with a remarkable 135 points. While those mentioned in the paragraph above were on top of the hockey world, there was a famine in other cities. The Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals joined the league that season, and as would be expected, both floundered as expansion teams. The Kansas City Scouts posted an abysmal 15-54-11 record, but compared to their fellow freshman, they looked strong. That season, the Washington Capitals had the worst season of any team in NHL history with a beyond dreadful 8-67-5 record. For the Capitals, 1974-75 was definitely the worst of times. While every expansion team is expected to struggle, the Capitals seemed to have a few things working in their favor. Their owner, Abe Pollin, also owned the NBA’s Washington Bullets, and had built them into a successful franchise. He had built the Capital Center in 1973 for the explicit purpose of housing his two Beltway teams. Upon winning his expansion bid, Pollin immediately hired hall-of-famer Milt Schmidt as general manager. Schmidt’s playing career with the Boston Bruins was highly successful, with the team winning two Stanley Cups and Schmidt himself winning the 1951 Hart Trophy. Following his playing days, he coached the team, and despite the generally bad teams that Boston put on the ice during the Original Six era, coached them to two Stanley Cup Finals. With an owner who knew how to run a business, a brand new building to play in, and a general manager with a history of success in the league, what could go wrong? Plenty, as it turned out. As bad as the team’s overall record was, even that masked how bad the team was in some areas. The Capitals’ road record that season was a jaw-dropping 1-39-0. Their 181 goals scored was the fewest in the league that season, and their 446 goals allowed is an NHL single season record. On four occasions, they lost a game by 10 or 11 goals, though ironically, all but one of their wins came by a multiple goal margin. Statistically, their best goaltender was Michel Belhumeur, with his 5.36 goals against average, but that wasn’t good enough to win him any games, and he went 0-24-3. John Adams went 0-7-0 with a 6.30 GAA. Only Ron Low managed to win even a single game in net, and his stats were a paltry 8-36-2 record with a 5.45 GAA. The offense was no better. Tommy Williams’s 22 goals, 36 assists, and 58 points were all enough to lead the team in an era during which offense was beginning to skyrocket. Besides Williams, only Denis Dupere was able to manage 20 goals, and no one else exceeded 35 points. Over the course of the season, the Capitals were led by three head coaches. Jim Anderson, a career AHL left winger who played seven games with the Los Angeles Kings during their inaugural season began the season behind the bench, but was fired after a 4-45-5 start. Next up was Red Sullivan, who had played over 500 games in the NHL and had coaching stints with the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins. He was also shown the door after winning only two of 18 games as team boss. Finally, Schmidt himself took over coaching duties, and by the Capitals standards that year, was relatively successful, going 2-6-0. The fact that they were bad was not lost on the players, and some of them look back on the season and laugh. The team celebrated their lone road win of the season by signing a trash can in the locker room and hoisting it as though they had won the Stanley Cup. One person who still does not laugh about the disastrous season is the now 97-year-old Schmidt. When contacted for a recent Bleacher Report article, his response made very clear that it is a period he would prefer to forget. “I don’t wish to discuss that, thank you. It’s still too painful to think about.” The futility of some teams is remarkable, and few teams in NHL history have even approached the depths of the first edition of the Washington Capitals. In fact, few professional sports teams have period. It seems highly unlikely that that Capitals squad will be erased from the history books anytime soon. Even if the potential expansion to Las Vegas and Quebec City proceeds, it would be a stretch for those teams to “top” the Capitals’ record. It truly makes me wonder, just how low can a team go?

Thank you very much!

Anytime there is a discussion about the greatest players in history, or the greatest player at this or that position, the conversation always starts with and is dominated by the guys with the most awards in their trophy cases. It makes sense. After all, the awards demonstrate the level of excellence that they have managed to attain. Sometimes, though, a guy who has performed well enough to merit recognition is overlooked, simply because someone else played at a level too high to be matched. The guys in this post are some of the ones who were overlooked. Today, I will count down (in my opinion) the five best defensemen to never win the Norris Trophy. First, let me give a couple of rules. I did not include players who had their primes (or entire careers) before the introduction of the Norris. Therefore, you will not find Eddie Shore on this list. Active players that have not won the Norris, but still have a reasonable shot to do so were also excluded, meaning you will not find Shea Weber on the list. Lastly, players who did not play in the NHL, or at least did not play in the NHL in their prime are not in the list, meaning, no Slava Fetisov. That said, on to the list! Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order) Tim Horton, Phil Housley, Guy Lapointe, Larry Murphy, Marcel Pronovost, Serge Savard, Sergei Zubov #5 Borje Salming Salming played 17 seasons in the NHL, spending 16 of them with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Seven times he scored double digit goals, reached the 50 point plateau five times, and was a key part of the Toronto power play. He was one of the first European to make an impact in the NHL, and dealt a major blow to the idea that European players were too soft for the North American game, reaching 100 penalty minutes in three consecutive seasons from 1981-82 to 1983-84. In each of his first seven NHL seasons, he finished in the top five in Norris voting, and he even had a fourth place finish in Hart Trophy voting in 1977. His highest finishes in Norris Trophy voting were runner-up tallies in 1977 and 1980, losing to Larry Robinson on each occasion. He was voted a first team all-star once and second team all-star five times, and played in three all-star games. #4 Bill Gadsby Gadsby played 20 seasons in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, and Detroit Red Wings. He was a star before the introduction of the Norris, and continued to be among the league's top blueliners throughout his career. His offensive numbers look pedestrian by today's standards, but when he entered the league in the 1940s, defensemen were expected to focus on defense. Even so, he set the record for most assists in a season in 1958-59 by a defensemen with 46, and scored 10 or more goals in a season four times. He is not one of the all-time leaders in PIM, but he was a hard-nosed player that toughed his way through injuries, and played a physical style that saw him hit triple digits in penalty minutes four times. Six times in his career he finished in the top five of Norris voting, and was a three time runner-up in 1956, 1958, and 1959, losing to Doug Harvey on the first two occasions and Tom Johnson on the third. He was voted first team all-star three times and second team four times. Over the course of his career, he played in eight all-star games. #3 Mark Howe Second and third places on this list were a close call. Mark Howe began his professional career in the WHA with the Houston Aeros and New England Whalers, moving to the NHL when the Whalers did. He did not have his father's famous mean streak, but was a highly effective two-way player, and strong on special teams, scoring 58 power play and 28 shorthanded goals during his NHL years. Twice he reached or eclipsed the 80 point mark, and is one of only a handful of players to register a plus/minus rating of +80 or more in a season, posting a +85 in the 1985-86 season. That season, he finished third in Hart Trophy voting. He was voted to the NHL's first team all-star team three times, and played in four all-star games. He was a top-five finisher in Norris Trophy voting four times, with three of those (1983, 1986, and 1987) being second place finishes. In those seasons, he was topped by Doug Wilson, Rod Langway, and Ray Bourque. #2 Scott Stevens In the later years of his career, Scott Stevens' penalty minutes dropped dramatically, but in his first 12 seasons, he broke the 100 PIM mark, breaking the 200 barrier four times. Those stats and his 2,875 total career penalty minutes show that he was not a man to toy with on the ice. He is probably best remembered as a shutdown, stay at home defenseman, but he made significant offensive contributions early in his career while playing for the Washington Capitals. In the 1984-85 season, he scored 16 goals on the power play alone. Most fans will probably always think of him as the anchor of the New Jersey Devils defense that, along with goaltender Martin Brodeur, led the team to three Stanley Cup championships. On seven occasions, he finished among the top five vote-getters in the Norris Trophy race. In 1988 and 1994, he finished second to Ray Bourque. On two occasions, he was on the league's first all-star team, and three times was on the second. He played in an impressive 13 all-star games. #1 Brad Park Brad Park's career is filled with irony. I personally think he is the best player in Rangers history, but while Brian Leetch won two Norris Trophies with the Rangers, Park has none. Bobby Orr is the main reason he has none, and the two of them were teammates during the 1975-76 season. If it had not been for Orr, Park likely would have been the guy to popularize the concept of the rushing defenseman. Later in his career, he shifted styles and excelled as a defensive defenseman. Park finished fifth in Hart Trophy voting three times in his career. Seven times, he had seven top five Norris finishes (all of them top three), and six of those were runner-up finishes. On four of those occasions (1970, 1971, 1972, and 1974), Bobby Orr was the man that beat him, and in 1976 and 1978, Denis Potvin topped him. He was on the NHL first all-star team five times, the second all-star team twice, and played in nine all-star games. I do not expect everyone to agree with my list, as I know opinions as to who the top five are and what order they should be in will vary, but my hope is that this post will serve to bring some added awareness about some players that, while the voters passed them over, had great careers. They may have missed the Norris by that much, but these men all earned their place in hockey history and in the Hall of Fame.

IIRC, that's the website that JR posted some links to in the shoutbox a little while back. I looked over it a bit, and there's some really cool stuff on it. A thread for it is a good idea.

I could tell a similar story about McDonald. I first remember watching hockey around 1992 or 1993. That was obviously after Lanny's retirement, but I knew who he was even as a kid. He certainly left a mark on the game.

The thing that made Lanny so great to me was the passion that he played with. He always meant a lot to his teams because of that, regardless of what his stats were like. It is true that there are several guys who put up bigger raw numbers than he did, but I'd still take him ahead of a lot of guys that put up the bigger stats.

With a population of less than 3,000, Hanna, Alberta is not a town one would expect to produce a large amount of famous residents. This small town on the Canadian prairies proves just how wrong first impressions can be. Hanna can lay claim to being the birthplace of the multi-platinum recording artists Nickleback. Of greater interest to hockey fans, however, is the fact that hockey hall-of-famer Lanny McDonald is among the town’s natives. McDonald was never difficult to spot thanks to his trademark red, bushy mustache, and his heart was just as prominent. A crowd favorite everywhere he played, McDonald won over fans across the league because of his hard work and commitment to the game. If there was ever a player that people wanted to see meet with success, it was Lanny McDonald. Growing up, McDonald was a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and dreamed of one day suiting up in a Leafs jersey. While playing junior hockey with the Medicine Hat Tigers, McDonald proved quite capable of playing at the highest levels of hockey, scoring 114 points in 68 games and 139 points in 68 games in the 1971-72 and 1972-73 seasons respectively. Thanks to such impressive performances, he caught the attention of NHL teams, including his childhood favorite Toronto, who chose him with the fourth overall draft pick in the 1973 NHL draft. McDonald made an instant impact in his Maple Leafs debut, registering two assists. He also received the first injury of his NHL career following a check by Rick Martin. Playing without a helmet for the only time in his professional career, McDonald received a concussion and a cut requiring stitches. Feeling that the injury affected his performance in the early part of his career, he chose to wear a helmet for the remainder of his career despite the fact that he was not required to, and despite the macho attitude of the era. Whether it was the concussion, the step up in the level of competition, something else, or some combination of factors, McDonald’s first two seasons in the NHL were not up to the standard he or the fans expected. In 1973-74, he managed only 14 goals and 30 points in 70 games, and the next season posted 17 goals and 44 points in 64 games. Patience paid off, however, and in his third season, McDonald had a breakout year with 93 points. The next season, he posted his first 40 goal season, which would be the first of four consecutive and six total such seasons. In the years before McDonald joined the Maple Leafs, the team had struggled. Following their 1967 Stanley Cup championship, Toronto did not win a playoff series until the 1974-75 season, and missed the playoffs completely in some of those seasons. For a franchise with a history as proud as that of the Maple Leafs, results like those were not acceptable, but McDonald appeared to be a large part of what the Maple Leafs were missing. Three years before drafting McDonald, Toronto drafted Darryl Sittler with their first round draft choice. The season before McDonald came along, Sittler began to hit his stride. Once McDonald began to develop, the Maple Leafs not only had two legitimate star scoring threats, but two threats with good chemistry, as the two became great friends. From the 1974-75 season through the 1978-79 season, the Maple Leafs won at least one playoff series every year, advancing to the NHL semi-finals in 1978. After a decade of limited success, Toronto appeared to be on the verge making a breakthrough, but the return of a Maple Leafs legend would put a stop to that. In 1979, Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard brought back for Leafs coach Punch Imlach as general manager. Ballard and Imlach were both staunchly anti-union, and Sittler was prominent in the NHLPA. Because of this, Ballard and Imlach both butted heads with Sittler, something that would prove to be the downfall of the Leafs. Imlach immediately announced that Toronto only had five or six good players, and that the rest of the team needed to improve. The pair at the helm of the Toronto ship made a series of controversial decisions during the 1979-80 season. Head Coach Roger Nielson was highly popular with the players, but with the team finding less success in the 1978-79 season as in the previous campaign, Ballard and Imlach chose to fire him. Both desired to trade Sittler, but were unable to because he had a no-trade clause and asked for $500,000 to waive it. As such, they decided to do the next best thing, and traded McDonald – Sittler’s best friend on the team – to the Colorado Rockies, a move that was unpopular among the fans and the team. The decisions made seemed to set the Maple Leafs back, and the team would not win another playoff series until 1986. McDonald, meanwhile had been traded to a dreadful team on which he was one of the few bright spots. The Rockies missed the playoffs in both 1980 and 1981, but he would not languish in the wilderness for long. Midway through the 1981-82 season, McDonald was traded to the Calgary Flames. It was a homecoming of sorts, since Calgary is just over 200 kilometers from Hanna. McDonald would make a nice hockey home for himself in Calgary as well, and the Flames are the team with which most fans associate him. His most successful personal season took place in Calgary when he scored 66 goals and 98 points in the 1982-83 season. He was awarded a captains’ “C” in 1983, which he would share with Doug Risebrough and Jim Peplinski until his 1989 retirement. Thanks in no small part to McDonald, the Flames were one of the top teams of the 1980s, and their battles with their provincial rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, are now legendary. In 1986, the Flames advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, but fell to the Montreal Canadiens in a five game series. As the 1988-89 season approached, a couple of significant milestones also approached. McDonald was only 12 points shy of 1,000 career points, and eleven goals shy of 500 career goals. Unfortunately, because of injuries suffered over the two previous seasons, and with many believing it would be his final NHL season, neither was a sure thing. Despite being limited to only 51 games, he reached both milestones, collecting his 1,000th point on March 7, 1989, and his 500th goal on March 21, with just four regular season games ahead of him. Even with those accomplishments, McDonald’s career was not complete. He still lacked the greatest accomplishment of any player: winning the Stanley Cup. In 1989, the Flames once again made their way to the Stanley Cup Finals. Once again, they faced the Montreal Canadiens. The series was hard-fought, with every game being decided by one or two goals. The Flames won the first game, and then dropped the next two games, losing game three in double overtime. Calgary then stormed back to win three consecutive games, and became the only visiting team to win the Stanley Cup on Montreal ice. McDonald finished his career on a high note personally, scoring a goal in the final game of the series – the last in his career. After the final whistle, McDonald was the first player to hoist the Cup, fulfilling the greatest dream of every player. Few players have been as loved by the fans or respected by other players as Lanny McDonald. He lived out the dream of many a small-town Canadian boy, and did it with heart matched by few and exceeded by none. The Man from Hanna deserves his revered spot in hockey history.

The one hockey game I've had the privilege of attending was just a few months after this in Jackson when the Bandits played in the ECHL. It was with the church youth group, and I remember a lot of the parents being scared to death after hearing about this and our church youth director having to try to ease their minds. I don't think I would have forgotten this anyway, but that makes me remember it even more vividly. I always had a soft spot for Knutsen after this happened. He seems to be a classy guy, and I hate to see how he was eaten by guilt over something that he wasn't really responsible for. I couldn't put everything I found into the article, but if I were to add one more thing, it would be what happened when Knutsen's son first learned about the incident at age eight. After reading about it online, he asked his dad, "Did you really take a shot that killed a girl?" He was just being an eight-year-old, and he expressed sympathy for his dad and Britannie, but that still had to sting. I can't even begin to imagine, nor would I want to, what Brittanie's family went through. To have it happen at any time is tragic, but so close to her birthday when the game was a birthday present? I'm at a loss for words for that. To be perfectly honest with you all, this was hard to write. A lot of the details of this tore at my heart. But I still feel like these stories need to be told. I don't really know how to fully express my thoughts and emotions about it either.

Today’s edition of Annals of the Ice is different. Everything in hockey history is not positive. I think we do ourselves, the sport, and those who participate in it no favors if we ignore the sadder moments. The events I write about in this post may be the saddest events in the history of the NHL, but I hope it will make us all think about the human side of the game we love so much. It seemed like a routine play. Columbus Blue Jackets forward Espen Knutsen fired a shot that deflected off of the stick of Calgary Flames defenseman Derek Morris. The puck sailed into the stands, a new puck was brought in, and after the faceoff, the game continued. It had happened countless time before, and the game always continued. It was March 16, 2002. Brittanie Cecil was four days away from her 14th birthday. Brittanie was a big sports fan, and her father bought the tickets as a birthday present. By all accounts, Brittanie was extremely excited about the game. Her parents were divorced, and she lived with her mother and stepfather. The family was moving on the day of the game, and her mother was sick from food poisoning, but her stepfather decided to let her go to the game anyway. Despite the busyness of the household and her younger sister Kristina Sergent’s begging her to stay home, Brittanie went to the game with her stepmother. The fateful moment came about halfway through the second period. The Blue Jackets led the game 1-0 when Knutsen fired the shot. Unable to reach Knutsen in time to make a play against his body, Morris used his stick to deflect the puck. Once over the glass, the puck struck Brittanie in the head before deflecting off of another fan. With the players, coaches, and officials unaware that anything serious had happened, the game continued. Those at ice level were not the only ones of the severity of Brittanie’s injuries. After realizing she was bleeding from where the puck had hit her, Brittanie turned to her stepmother. Other than the gash above her nose she seemed fine. She walked to a first aid station located inside Nationwide Arena under her own power. The only suggestion to those around that anything was amiss was the jacket that she held against her forehead to control the bleeding. The truth was far different. Brittanie had more than a gash. The impact of the puck when it struck her forehead had fractured her skull and torn a vertebral artery. Britannie was taken to the hospital for examination and stitches. Later that night, she suffered a seizure, but by the time her family arrived at the hospital, she seemed to be her normal self. When her grandfather walked in, she held up the puck that had hit her and said smiling, “I got a souvenir.” By the next day, she seemed to be well on her way to recovery, but a CT scan failed to find the tear in her vertebral artery. On March 18, 2002, two days after the hockey game she attended, and two days before turning 14, Brittanie Cecil died from bleeding on her brain. She developed a high fever and slipped into a coma from which she would never awaken. The next morning, Espen Knutsen walked into the locker room at Nationwide Arena expecting to begin preparation for that night’s game against the Minnesota Wild. He was unprepared for the mood that he found, much less the news he received, when he entered. Teammate Ray Whitney took him aside and told Knutsen about Brittanie’s death. Knutsen immediately broke into tears. Kevin Dineen, who occupied the locker next to Knutsen’s put his arm around Knutsen, trying to console him and reminded him that it was an accident. There was no consoling Knutsen. Even though he knew it was an accident, he could not help but feel responsible. Blue Jackets Coach Dave King met privately with Knutsen later in the day, but fared no better in his attempts to comfort him. Blue Jackets general manager Doug MacLean attended Cecil’s funeral and spoke on behalf of the team. Brittanie’s mother, Jody, hoped Knutsen would attend the funeral so that she could tell him that she did not hold him responsible, but only MacLean attended. He made the decision to attend the funeral instead of his players to shield them from the inevitable media circus. Brittanie’s family, however, could not escape said circus. They were hounded by media at the funeral, with one media member going so far as to fake offering condolences to Brittanie’s stepfather in an effort to get an interview. The family was unable to live in their new house for a week following the funeral because of the constant attempts by the media to contact them. Even after the immediate aftermath of Brittanie’s death passed, complete relief from the pressure of the media did not subside. For months and years after Brittanie’s death, the requests continued. Following Brittanie’s death, MacLean saw to it that nets were installed at the ends of the ice in Nationwide Arena. At first, the nets met with angry reactions from fans, but MacLean was insistent that they remain. Brittanie Cecil was the first (and to date only) fan to receive fatal injuries at an NHL game, and MacLean had no intention of seeing the number increase on his watch. Within a few months, every other NHL arena would follow suit, and the NHL would mandate such nets. As a tribute to Brittanie, the Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings observed a moment of silence before their game the following Thursday, and the Blue Jackets wore the initials “BNC” on their helmets for the rest of the season in her honor. Knutsen’s career quickly went off track after the incident, and he never was able to return to form after the incident. For years, he struggled with feelings of guilt and responsibility for what happened. The 2003-04 season was his final season playing in North America, after which he returned to Norway. It was years before he returned to the United States or met with Brittanie’s family, but the day that Brittanie’s mother long dreamed about finally took place nearly nine years later. In December of 2010, Britannie’s mother, her grandparents, her sister, and her sister’s stepsister had a private meeting with Knutsen in Nationwide Arena. Brittanie’s family told Knutsen about her, and her mother was finally able to tell him that she did not blame him and never had. She told Knutsen about how her family was hounded by the media following her daughter’s death. Knutsen shared his feelings about the incident and what it was like to be vilified after the incident. After the meeting, Brittanie’s mother visited the seat where her daughter was sitting during the incident. Such a meeting could never erase the pain that anyone involved felt following the tragedy, but one can hope that it provided some degree of closure for Brittanie’s family and for Knutsen. It is easy to forget while watching a hockey game that all involved are just as human as we are. The players on the ice have the same emotions as we do, and they all fight their own battles just like we do. The same can be said for everyone of the thousands of fans at each and every game. Espen Knutsen, Brittanie Cecil, and her family are no different.

I'm 31, so I've only ever seen these teams by way of video, and therefore haven't seen as much as you did, but they were a lot of fun to research. The Flyers had more than their share of characters in the 70s. Everyone thinks about the toughness they sported in the 70s, but they had a lot of skill too. Those two Stanley Cup winners were some of the most complete teams in hockey history.

The St. Louis Blues made three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup Finals from 1968-1970, making them the first post-Original Six era expansion team to make it to the Finals. While the feat is impressive, it seems a little less so when considering that the six expansion teams were put into their own division, and one of them had to make the Finals. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Blues’ combined record in those three series was 0-12. Prior to the 1970-71 season, there was a realignment in the NHL, and for a few years, the Finals were once again matchups between Original Six teams. In 1974, however, one of the new teams made a breakthrough – the Broad Street Bullies. The Philadelphia Flyers won the regular season crown of the Western Division of the NHL in their first season, 1967-68, albeit with a losing record. The gap between the existing teams and the expansion teams was so great that all of the Original Six teams, save the Detroit Red Wings, posted a winning record. Other than the afore mentioned St. Louis Blues, no non-Original Six squad managed to post an above-.500 record through the 1971-72 season. A change took place in 1972-73 when the Buffalo Sabres, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers all finished the season with more wins than losses. That season, one of those three teams – the Flyers – began to set themselves apart from their fellow newcomers. They were the only non-Original Six team to make it to the NHL semi-finals, and they earned themselves their now famous nickname from their hardnosed play. The “Broad Street Bullies” name came from Jack Chevalier and Pete Cafone of the Philadelphia Bulletin following a 3-1 win on January 3, 1973 over the Atlanta Flames. In his recap of the game, Chevalier wrote “They're the Mean Machine, the Bullies of Broad Street and Freddy's Philistines.” In the accompanying headline, Cafone wrote, “Broad Street Bullies Muscle Atlanta.” The biggest bully of the bunch was left wing enforcer Dave “The Hammer” Schultz. Schultz’s 259 PIM were the most on a team with six players that amassed 100 or more penalty minutes. However, it was not only enforcers like Schultz delivering punishing play to Philly’s opponents. Right winger Gary Dornhoefer posted 79 points in 77 games, but also racked up 168 penalty minutes. Even star center Bobby Clarke, who excelled as a two-way forward was well known for his gritty, grinding style of play. Clarke won the first of his three Hart Trophies in 1973. He and his team put the league on notice in 1973, but that season was only a hint of what was ahead. In 1973-74, the Flyers made a huge jump in the standings, improving from 85 to 112 points. Only the Bruins (with 113 points) had a better regular season record. All the while, the Bullies were still at their game. Seven players reached 100 PIM, this time including Clarke, and once again led by Schultz, who posted an NHL record 348. A key addition to the team for the 1973-74 season was Bernie Parent, an original member of the Flyers. Parent was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the middle of the 1970-71 season. After spending a season and a half with the Leafs, and spending the 1972-73 season with the Philadelphia Blazers of the WHA. After his stint in the WHA, Parent wished to return to the NHL, but did not want to return to Toronto. A trade was worked out to send Parent’s NHL rights back to the Flyers, and Parent posted one of the best single seasons for a goalie in the history of the NHL. His 47 wins set an NHL record that stood for 33 years, and his 1.89 GAA, 12 shutouts, and 4,314 minutes played also led the league. Parent’s play reduced the Flyers’ goals allowed from 256 to 164, helping the Flyers establish themselves as one of the best squads in the NHL. In the playoffs, the Flyers swept the Flames in the first round, followed by a seven game series against the New York Rangers. Finally, they met the Boston Bruins in the Finals. It seems fair to say that the Bruins were at the strongest point in their history. They had won the Cup in 1970 and 1972, and had the likes of Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, and Johnny Bucyk on their roster. The Flyers, however, were more than up to the task, and took down the B’s in six games. Parent, with a playoff GAA of 2.02, took home the Conn Smythe, as the Flyers became the first expansion era franchise to win the Cup. The 1974-75 season was more of the same for Philadelphia. Bobby Clarke won his second Hart Trophy, while Parent once again led the league in wins (44), GAA (2.03), and shutouts (12). The Flyers 51 wins were the most in the league, and their 113 points tied with the Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens for the most in the league. Reggie Leach joined the Flyers in 1974, and the now famous LCB line was created. Once again, six Flyers eclipsed 100 penalty minutes, and Dave Schultz smashed his NHL record from the previous season posting an amazing 472 PIM – a single season record which still stands and has hardly been threatened. The 1975 playoffs even looked similar to the playoffs from the year before. Once again, the Flyers won in a sweep in the first round (this time against the Maple Leafs), before a hard-fought seven game series against a New York team in the second round (this time the Islanders). For the second straight year, the Stanley Cup Finals presented a first. The year after the Flyers became the first expansion team to win the Cup, they and the Sabres gave the hockey world its first Finals matchup between expansion teams. In the series, the home team won each of the first five games, but in game six, the Flyers broke the streak and won their second consecutive Cup. Parent, who posted a 1.89 GAA and four shutouts in the playoffs won his second Conn Smythe Trophy. An interesting side note about that particular Flyers team is that it is the last team to win the Stanley Cup with an all-Canadian roster. The 1975-76 season was another great season for the Flyers. Bobby Clarke won his third Hart Trophy in four years, and they improved on their record from the year before with 118 points, but they were denied dynasty status when they became the first of four consecutive victims of the Canadiens dynasty of the late 1970s. They say that nice guys finish last. Well, the Broad Street Bullies were not “nice guys” and did not finish last. They ushered in a new era for the NHL. Even without the third Cup, the Flyers still marked a shift in the balance of power in the NHL, and will always be remembered for such. Sometimes, it does pay to be a “Bully.”

It's also an interesting note that one of the guys who played for Bowman in St. Louis was Al Arbour. The same Al Arbour that replaced him as Blues coach, and went on to a legendary coaching career of his own. It looks like Joel Quenneville will pass Al for second place in wins this coming season, but having the top two winningest coaches in league history for so many years associated with a team from its earliest days is rather remarkable.

@TropicalFruitGirl26 Thanks for weighing in, and thanks for the kind words! All in all, I'd say the process was relatively well done, though the St. Louis thing was rather bizarre. The Vancouver omission didn't die out, either, and there was actually a threat of a lawsuit before the city received a team in 1970. You're right about it not being all that long ago. All of this happened less than 50 years ago. That's not a lot of time for a complete face lift, but it happened. One can only hope it continues.

From the 1942-43 season through the 1966-67 season, the NHL was an extremely elite club, comprised only of the so-called “Original Six.” While somewhat of a misnomer since only two of the six were founding members of the NHL and the league had previously had as many as ten teams, the name was still appropriate since they were the only surviving franchises from the league’s early years. The league long proved resistant to the idea of change and expansion until a series of events more or less forced the owners’ hands. In the 1960s, the NFL and MLB both received multi-million dollar television contracts. At the time, the NHL had no such national arrangement in the United States. There was a major difference between the NFL and MLB and the NHL, however. With the NFL-AFL merger, the new league had 24 teams. Major League Baseball had 20 teams in the mid-1960s. Both numbers were a far cry from the much smaller number of teams in the NHL. Due to this, the league was told in 1965 that a national television contract would not be forthcoming without expansion. The lack of a television offer was not the only thing pressing on the NHL to expand. There were rumors that a TV contract with the Western Hockey League was in the works, and that the WHL had plans to become a major league and challenge the NHL for the Stanley Cup. The NHL had reigned as the undisputed king of the sport since 1926, when the older version of the WHL folded. Such an uprising by another league would be earth shattering to say the least. The prospect of another league challenging the NHL was a very real threat at the time, as the WHA would prove just a few years after this incident. Prior to the expansion in 1967, there were no teams west or south of Chicago, meaning that most of the continent was unserved by the league. Since the WHL had teams based in Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, it appeared well-poised to begin filling in that gap. The NHL was not the only professional sports league to face competition in the 1960s. The NFL had received stiff enough competition from the AFL to force a merger, and the Continental League in baseball, though it never played a game, helped to accelerate expansion in Major League Baseball. Additionally, the ABA appeared in 1967 – the same year the NHL expanded – with the intent of forcing a merger and expanding the NBA. The combination of those factors was enough to convince the NHL and its team owners that the time for expansion had arrived. In March 1965, League President Clarence Campbell announced that a new division would be created, adding six teams to the league. The new teams were to be given their own division to ensure they would receive an equal share of playoff revenues despite the guaranteed competitive gap. The expansion fee was to be two million dollars. Applications were received from prospective owners in Baltimore, Buffalo, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Twin Cities of Minnesota, and Vancouver. Interest was also expressed by groups from Cleveland and Louisville, though no formal applications were received from those cities. The San Francisco Bay Area and Vancouver were deemed “acceptable cities” by the league, while Los Angeles and St. Louis were considered potential expansion locations (though no application was received from the latter), and some expected Baltimore to receive a franchise. However, when the locations for the teams were announced, there were a few surprises. Baltimore’s bid was rejected because its arena was too small. The biggest surprises were the inclusion of St. Louis and the exclusion of Vancouver. Canadian fans – including Prime Minister Lester Pearson – were outraged that Vancouver was not awarded a franchise. Speculation as to why ran rampant. Many blamed Toronto Maple Leafs owner Stafford Smythe who, following a failed business deal in the west coast city, had said that Vancouver would not receive an NHL team in his lifetime. It was also said that Smythe and Montreal Canadiens David Molson did not want to share CBC television revenues with another team. Others, however, said that Vancouver’s presentation was simply weak, and that that was the true reason for the city’s failure to secure one of the new franchises. Meanwhile, the Chicago Black Hawks were determined to have a team placed in St. Louis, despite the lack of an application from the Midwestern city. The Black Hawks owned the St. Louis arena, and wanted a team placed in St. Louis so they could unload the arena. At the insistence of the Black Hawks, an ownership group was found, and one of the franchises was placed in St. Louis. Ironically, the team that nearly was not was the most successful of the expansion teams in their first years, qualifying for the Stanley Cup Finals in 1968, 1969, and 1970. When the dust cleared, the Los Angeles Kings, the Minnesota North Stars, the Oakland Seals, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the St. Louis Blues emerged. As far as the NHL was concerned, the immediate results of the expansion were mixed. The league did receive increased television exposure in the U.S., but not to the extent hoped. The league also fended off the potential challenge of the WHL, but did not prevent the arrival of the WHA. Whether or not the expansion is considered an immediate success or not, there can be no doubt that it did pave the way for the long term growth of the game. The 1967 expansion marked the beginning of a new era. Over the following years, the league would continue to grow through further expansion and the WHA merger. The continued addition of new teams necessitated that teams look to new talent pools, resulting in an increase in the number of American and European players in the league. The NHL that we know today is the product of that first round of expansion. Nineteen sixty-seven was one of the most pivotal years in hockey history.

Very true, but two unprovens give you a better shot than one unproven.

I don't understand that trade at all. It seems like too much of a risk from Edmonton's viewpoint. Reinhart is totally unproven. I'd be ecstatic if I were an Isles fan. Edmonton may have one-upped Buffalo.

Thank you again, good sir. I always appreciate your input on these too, as you always have something to say that adds to the conversation.

Last night, the Chicago Blackhawks hoisted the Stanley Cup. Even though it was the Blackhawks’ third title in six seasons, it was the first time in 77 years that Chicago won the Cup on home ice. The events of this week make a look back at the 1938 Finals seem very appropriate. To say the least, that series was one of the most unusual in history. The 1937-38 Black Hawks posted a dismal 14-25-9 record in the regular season, the third worst of the eight teams in the league that season. They took third place in the American Division, which, at the time, was good enough to qualify for the playoffs. They scored 97 goals on the season – a league low – and allowed 139 goals – the second worst mark in the league. The Black Hawks edged out the defending champion Red Wings by two points to claim the final American Division playoff slot despite the fact that Detroit’s goal differential was eight goals better. The Chicago roster was also unusual. There were eight Americans who laced up skates for the Black Hawks over the course of the season, which was more than the combined total of the other seven teams. The Black Hawks even experimented with an all-American roster early in the season. The teams with the next highest total of Americans in their lineup were Detroit and the New York Rangers, who each employed two U.S. natives. In fact, the sport was then so heavily dominated by Canadians that there were a grand total of 22 non-Canadians to play in the NHL in the 1937-38 season. Expectations for Chicago were understandably low when the playoffs began. In the first round, the Black Hawks squared off against the Montreal Canadiens, who, despite finishing third out of the four teams in the Canadian Division had a winning record. Montreal won the first game of the best of three series to immediately put the Black Hawks on the verge of elimination, but Chicago came back to win the next two games to advance. That scenario would repeat in the second round against the New York Americans, as the Black Hawks would again respond to an opening game loss with two straight wins to advance. For their efforts in winning the first two rounds of the playoffs, Chicago earned the right to face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Finals. It was Toronto’s fifth finals appearance of the decade. As the winners of the Canadian division, the Leafs earned a first round bye and defeated the league-best Bruins in a two game second round sweep. Toronto was a hands-down favorite to win the Cup. To make matters worse for the Black Hawks, their goalie, Mike Karakas, broke his toe just before the series began. NHL teams of that era did not make a habit of carrying backup goalies on road trips, and there was not enough time for them to bring their emergency netminder Paul Goodman, who was at his home in Winnipeg, into Toronto for game one. Black Hawks coach Bill Stewart wanted to use Rangers great Dave Kerr in game one. Kerr lived in Toronto, and under league rules as they then existed, would have been eligible to play, but Maple Leafs manager/owner Conn Smythe refused. The Maple Leafs told the Black Hawks that there were only two goalies that they would permit Chicago to use: 40-year-old retired goalie Jake Forbes who had been out of the league for five years, and minor league goalie Alfie Moore. Of the two options, the Black Hawks found Moore to be preferable. Johnny Gottslieg, a left winger for the Black Hawks was friends with Moore and went to find him. When he did, another problem arose: Moore was in a tavern and was fall-down drunk. The Black Hawks filled him with coffee and put him under a shower to sober him up, and surprisingly, Moore led them to a game one victory. As if Chicago did not have enough goaltending drama, after the game, NHL President Frank Calder ruled that Moore was ineligible. He announced that the win would be allowed to stand, but that the Black Hawks would have to find another goalie for game two. Enter, Paul Goodman. With their official backup goalie in net, the Hawks were not as fortunate as Toronto managed to tie the series. In fact, Chicago did not only lose the game, they gave up five goals, further highlighting the problems the Black Hawks had in net. Desperate for a goaltender that could help them win the series, Chicago devised a plan that would allow Karakas to play. In game three, Karakas took the ice wearing a steel toe boot to protect his broken toe. Top goaltender back in net, Chicago won game three, and since the Finals were then a best-of-five series, pulled within one game of the Stanley Cup. In today’s NHL, the Stanley Cup is brought into town when a team is on the verge of a championship, just in case a presentation is called for. In 1938, that was not the case. Frank Calder did not believe that the Black Hawks would win game four. In fact, he was so convinced that they would not, that instead of having the Cup shipped to Chicago, he ordered it taken to Toronto, in anticipation of game five. There would be no game five. A 4-1 victory by the Black Hawks clinched the team’s second Stanley Cup. One of the most unusual Finals series in history had yielded one of the most unlikely results in history, and undoubtedly the most unusual aftermath in history. The 1938 Chicago Black Hawks gave us one of the greatest Cinderella stories of all-time, even if it did not have the stereotypical storybook ending. It might not have been the ending they envisioned, but it was definitely one for the history books.

Gordie Howe wrote the foreward for the book "Bluelines and Bloodlines," and talked about this story. He talked about how little recognition his wife is given for her part. I'll go this far: If not for her, it never would have happened. What are the odds that Mark and Marty would have been chosen by the same team had they waited another year or two for the "normal" draft? Would Gordie have still been able to get himself back into shape after a couple more years? Even if he could, my first question might have prevented him from playing with both of his boys. Nice story about Dineen too. That's funny. Lol

Every summer, NHL teams take their picks of the top prospects in the game. Today, the entry age is 18, but until 1979, the lower limit was 20. The reduction in the eligibility age resulted from the NHL-WHA merger since the WHA did not have a minimum draft age. The upstart league’s draft policy led to one of the most famous and unlikely examples of family member teammates. Following the 1970-71 Gordie Howe retired after a stellar 25-year NHL career. At the time of his retirement, he was the NHL’s all-time leader in goals, assists, points, and games played. In one respect, however, his career was incomplete. For years, Mr. Hockey had dreamed of one day having the opportunity to play alongside his sons, but a wrist injury had seen to it that his dream would never come true. There was one person who was unwilling to let the dream die. Mrs. Hockey – Gordie’s wife Colleen – had a thought. While it was true that the NHL had a rule that forbad the drafting of teenage players, she was not sure if the WHA had such a rule in place. If not, she saw a potential opening to bring her husband’s dream to life. Colleen had her secretary put in a call to WHA president Gary Davidson and asked him if there was an arrangement in place between the WHA and the U.S. and Canadian amateur associations that would prevent 19-year-old Marty and 18-year-old Mark from being drafted. The answer was no. She then placed a call to her husband’s former teammate Bill Dineen, who was coaching the Houston Aeros and told him her idea. Dineen and his assistant Doug Harvey both liked the idea and decided to follow up on it. They also called Davidson, and upon receiving the same answer, they decided to act. The Aeros plan was to sign Goride and draft Mark and Marty in the 1973 Professional Draft on the technicality of their receiving $60 per week as members of the Toronto Marlboros junior squad. When Mark was chosen, there was an uproar, but Davidson ruled that no rules had been broken. However, Colleen Howe was not the only one that had the idea of the Howe family playing together. Bobby Hull, who had signed with the Winnipeg Jets upon the creation of the WHA suspected something was up after Mark was chosen. He tried to convince Jets officials to draft Gordie. Hull’s idea was that if the Aeros really wanted to get all three Howes on their squad, they would at least have to pay the Jets for Gordie’s rights. Jets officials, however, did not take Hull’s concerns seriously. After the dust cleared, the Aeros had selected Mark in the first round, Marty in the third, and Gordie went unchosen. Part one of Mrs. Hockey’s plan was complete. Next, Colleen moved on to convincing her husband that this was his chance to fulfill his dream. In order to make a comeback, Gordie would have to undergo surgery on his wrist and overcome the rust that would have developed from two years away from the game. On top of that, he was now 45 years old. Would Mr. Hockey seriously consider such an outrageous idea? Absolutely. Gordie underwent the wrist surgery and signed a contract with the Aeros. It was time to live the dream. For a while, however, it all seemed too good to be true. Gordie felt the effects of his age, his time away from the game, and his previous injuries. For a while, it appeared that the dream would end in training camp. However, as training camp progressed, Gordie started feeling better and better, and before long, he was back into full playing form. The Howe family’s first year in the WHA was a highly successful season. Mark won the Lou Kaplan Award as the WHA’s rookie of the year and Gordie won the newly renamed Gordie Howe award as league MVP. The Aeros as a team won the Avco Cup as league champions. As we know from history, Mr. Hockey and his boys had a few more seasons together, but the Boston Bruins made an offer that could have ended it after one year. In the 1974 NHL Draft, the Boston Bruins selected Mark in the second round. They offered him a contract of $225,000 a year, which was a 40% increase over his WHA salary. Some things, though, are more important than money, and there was no question in Mark Howe’s mind as to what he should do. He declined the offer, deciding that playing with his father and brother was more important. The family unit would remain together. The Howes spent three more years with the Aeros and won another Avco Cup. By the end of their stint with the Aeros, the Detroit Red Wings had developed an interest in Mark and Marty. They did not, however want Gordie as an active player. Once again, blood proved to be the most valuable asset, and the three signed with the New England Whalers. The Howes spent the last two years of the WHA’s existence with the Whalers, and then had one final season together in the NHL with the now Hartford Whalers. In 1980, Gordie Howe retired again, this time permanently. In the last seven seasons of his career, he not only extended his legend with his still very skilled play, but fulfilled a longtime dream. Without the vision of his beloved wife, it might never have happened. Even with all the records he set and the four Stanley Cups he won, Gordie felt that the greatest part of his career was the opportunity to play with his sons. And why not? After all, blood is thicker than water.

We hockey fans remember all too well the last time the Stanley Cup was not awarded. A decade later, the feelings of anger and betrayal are still very real to many. It is much less likely that the average fan could name the only other year since the inception of the trophy that no Stanley Cup champion was crowned. If you find yourself unable to do so, do not feel bad, because it was nearly a century ago, and the reason it happened makes the importance of the 2004-05 lockout pale by comparison. 1919 MONTREAL CANADIENS SEATTLE METROPOLITANS SERIES NOT COMPLETED The inscription on the Cup does not seem so eerie when one does not know the story behind it, but the seemingly innocuous etching tells the story of a tragic scenario. Before we go into the details, let us set the scene at the time of the cancellation. Prior to 1927, the Cup was awarded to the winner of a series between the NHL champion and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association champion. The series was a best-of-five match held in Seattle, and was contested between the Montreal Canadiens and the Seattle Metropolitans. Since the two leagues had differing rules, the series alternated between NHL and PCHA rules. Seattle won games one and three under PCHA rules, and Montreal won game two under NHL rules. Game four, held under NHL rules ended in a scoreless tie after a twenty minute overtime period. After a debate about which league’s rules to use, it was finally decided that game five would be played with NHL rules and that any future game which saw regulation end in a tie would feature continuous overtime until a winner was determined. That tie would later loom large, and the overtime decision was too little, too late. The Canadiens tied the series in another overtime contest in game five. The Metropolitans carried only one extra player and their players were exhausted because of the consecutive games with extra time. On the last play of the game, an exhausted Cully Wilson went to the bench, with the intention being for Frank Foyston to replace him. Foyston, however, was too exhausted to move, and the shorthanded Seattle squad surrended the game-winning goal. Following the game, some Seattle players had to be taken to the hospital, and others had to be carried home. Things probably looked very grim for the PCHA champs at that point, but a much more serious issue would soon rear its ugly head for Montreal. Game six was to be held on April 1, two days after game five, but the game was cancelled just hours before the scheduled start time. The influenza pandemic struck and devastated the Habs’ roster. Louis Berlinguette, Billy Coutu, Joe Hall, Newsy Lalonde, and Jack McDonald were all hospitalized or bed-ridden. Montreal owner and manager George Kennedy, who also became ill, decided he had no option but to concede the series to the Metropolitans. Considering that the two Seattle wins under PCHA rules were by a combined 14-2 score, and Montreal’s wins under NHL rules were by a combined 8-5 score, the concession could have been considered fair, but Pete Muldoon, the Seattle player-manager, refused to accept the forfeit, since the reason that the Canadiens were short-handed was an unavoidable illness. Kennedy then requested permission to use players from the PCHA’s Victoria Aristocrats, but was denied permission by league president Frank Calder. With Montreal unable to continue, and Seattle unwilling to accept a win they had not earned on the ice, the only option remaining was the cancellation of the series. The failure of the series to crown a series was, sadly, not the worst part of the outcome. On April 5, Joe Hall succumbed to the illness and became one of the many victims of the outbreak. George Kennedy appeared to recover, but his health remained poor, and he died from flu-related complications on October 19, 1921. Worldwide, the tragedy was magnified exponentially. Total infections numbered 500 million – over one-fourth of the world’s population – and reached the most remote points of the earth. The death toll was massive, falling in the 50 million to 100 million range, making it one of the most devastating natural disasters in world history. There are times that the study of sports can teach us about life. It is difficult to relate to numbers as large as those we see associated with the overall pandemic, but when we are given names, it becomes personal. It is even more personal when the names are those of people with whom we have come to know through our love of the sport. This tragedy also reminds us that there are things that are more important than sports. They can give us a relief from the daily grind, and they are certainly fun to watch and discuss, but let us never forget the personal side of it. The pox be on us if we do.

Yeah, there was some great hockey back then. I'm not so sure about the styles of the era though. I think some of the fashions of the 90's need to stay there. The Rhinos' color scheme may just be one of them. Lol

There have been many clever and – ahem – interesting franchise proposals across the map of professional sports. Memphis once campaigned for an NFL team to be named the Hound Dogs in honor of its most famous resident. The Miami Marlins were almost named the Flamingos. And, would you believe that the NBA almost had a member franchise known as the Boston Unicorns? As creative and bizarre as some franchise proposals have been over the years, few can lay claim to having been as colorful as a proposal for an NHL expansion team in the mid-1990’s – The Hampton Roads Rhinos. Southeast Virginia is certainly not the first place that one would normally think of as a hockey hotbed. Even so, talk of an NHL franchise began in the early 1990’s, before the NHL began to rapidly expand in the Sunbelt. By 1994, the Hampton Roads Sports Authority had conducted a study on the viability of a team in the region. An NHL franchise seemed most likely because of the lower expansion fee charged by the NHL compared to other major professional sports leagues, and the group concluded that such a franchise could be successful thanks to the success of the ECHL’s Hampton Roads Admirals. Of course, there could be no team without an arena, and the Sports Authority recommended the construction of a 20,000 seat facility to host the team since then-existing buildings were too small. Such a study is a long way from an actual proposal, but a formal proposal was not far away. Enter, George Shinn. In 1988, the North Carolina native successfully brought the NBA to Charlotte with the birth of the Hornets. In 1996, he turned his attention to the NHL, considering Raleigh and the Hampton Roads region as potential locations for an expansion team. Eventually, Shinn decided to make a bid to the NHL team to be located in Norfolk. The selection seemed logical since, at the time, the Hampton Roads metropolitan area was the largest MSA in the United States without a team in any of the four major leagues, but the bid was no lock. The NHL had plans of adding four teams, but competition such as Atlanta, Columbus, Hamilton, Houston, Nashville, Oklahoma City, and St. Paul made the bid a long shot. Shinn submitted his application on November 1, 1996. He announced that the team would be named the Rhinos, and would have the rather unusual color scheme of blue, purple, and teal. He began a season ticked drive in hopes of improving the chances of his bid, with a goal of selling 10,000 by January 1, 1997. Despite a less than stellar result, Shinn and the Rhinos’ ownership team remained optimistic about their chances, no doubt buoyed by an agreement in principle with the localities in the region to build an arena to host the team. With an agreement in hand, Shinn and his partners met with NHL officials, including commissioner Gary Bettman to pitch their idea. The presentation seemed to be successful, as some that were in attendance stated that the Rhinos had moved into fourth place alongside Columbus. Shinn had previously stated that if he were not awarded an expansion franchise that he would consider purchasing another team and moving it into the region. After his presentation, he was not the only person that considered Norfolk as a potential relocation site, as Hartford Whalers owner Peter Karmanos, Jr. said that he would consider moving his team to the area if Shinn were unsuccessful. As bright as things now looked for the Rhinos, the roof caved in as quickly as their hopes were raised. In February, the league turned down Shinn’s bid, citing the East Coast location, the relative small size of the market, and the metropolitan area’s lack of political unity. If any hopes of a Norfolk-based team survived, they now existed only in relocation. Those chances soon dissipated when the Whalers moved to Raleigh to become the Carolina Hurricanes. With the two cities separated by a drive of less than three hours, there was now no chance of a franchise moving to the area, and the Rhinos disappeared from hockey’s radar once and for all. In spite of the disappointing result for hockey fans in southern Virginia, the memory of the Rhinos lives on. The credit for that no doubt belongs to Shinn who in spite of overwhelming odds gave the concept a fighting chance thanks to a clever idea and an outstanding job of marketing. It is amazing how well a team that never stepped onto the ice can be remembered.

That may not have been an exceptionally large goal tally for that era, but it was very high for a player with the style of Tiger Williams. You also have to take into consideration that had he not been traded in his 30 goal season, he would have been second on the Leafs team in goals and he led the Canucks in goals the year he scored 35. No matter how you look at it, that is impressive. Was he a world-class goal scorer? No. A good one? Yes. A good one for an enforcer? Very much so, like very few others.