Welcome to episode 4 of the Hockey Tales and Trivia show. Each show brings you short stories from the epic history of the NHL along with fun hockey trivia questions with in depth answers and our three stars of the night.
In this episode, we look at trivia questions involving a Ken Hodge trade, a St. Louis Blues assist record and a Calder Trophy winner from the mid 1960s. Our short stories look at Mike Gartner’s first NHL hat trick and an amazing feat by Boston goalie Ed Johnston. Last but not least, our three stars are from February 19, 1984.
Our first trivia question looks at a trade involving Ken Hodge.
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Which player did the Boston Bruins receive in exchange for Ken Hodge in a May 26, 1976 trade with the New York Rangers?
On May 26, 1976, the New York Rangers dealt Rick Middleton to the Boston Bruins for Ken Hodge. The trade turned out to be one of the most lop-sided in NHL history. Middleton, a young up-and-comer, was a 20 goal scorer in each of his first two season with the Rangers. He would go on to a lengthy career with the Bruins that lasted 12 years and saw him score 402 goals for the team.
Ken Hodge, on the other hand, had one full season with New York, 1976-77, when he scored 21 goals. In 1977-78, he played just 18 games for the Blue Shirts, his last action of his NHL career. He followed that up with a few years in the minors before retiring as a player.
As for Jean Ratelle, Brad Park and Phil Esposito (participants in another big trade between the Bruins and Rangers), they were all involved in a November 7, 1975 trade between the two clubs. Esposito and Carol Vadnais were sent to the Big Apple while Park, Ratelle and Joe Zanussi started anew with the Bruins.
Next up, we look at Mike Gartner’s first NHL hat trick.
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Mike Gartner Nets His 1st of 18 Career Hat Tricks (In a Game vs. Quebec Nordiques)
It was a slow start to Mike Gartner’s NHL career and a slow start to the 1979-80 season for the Washington Capitals. The guy that would go on to score 708 regular season goals had just three going into Washington’s 25th game of the campaign.
However, on December 1, 1979 at the Capital Center, Gartner had a breakout game. Hosting the Quebec Nordiques, the Caps went into the game with a dismal 4-16-4 record. After two periods, the game was tied at 2. But, the third period was owned by Washington, scoring five on Quebec goalie Goran Hogosta to win the game 7-2.
Three of those five third period goals were scored by Mike, his 4th, 5th and 6th of the season, all three assisted by Wes Jarvis. Jarvis also added a goal of his own for a four point night. Gartner was efficient, scoring the hat trick on just four shots.
Washington would turn things around slightly in that 1979-80 season but not right away. By December 12, they were 5-20-5. Gartner began scoring at a regular pace and wound up leading the team with 36. He scored 50 goals for the Capitals in 1984-85 and his 708 career goals rank him 8th all-time, parked between Phil Esposito and Mark Messier.
Gartner played 1,432 games in the National Hockey League between 1979-80 and 1997-98 with the Capitals, Minnesota North Stars, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Phoenix Coyotes. He is credited with the first hat trick in Coyotes history (after their move from Winnipeg). Mike was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001.
Our second trivia question of the show looks at a St. Louis Blues assist record.
Which player holds the St. Louis Blues franchise record for most assists in a single season?
Adam Oates set the St. Louis franchise record with 90 assists in 1990-91. What is amazing is that he did it playing only 61 games. Oates was second in the NHL that year, 32 behind leader Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings. Many of Adam’s helpers were on Brett Hull’s league leading 86 goals (also a franchise record).
Perhaps his best game of the year, Oates assisted on all five St. Louis goals in a 5-4 overtime win over the Detroit Red Wings on January 26, 1991 at the St. Louis Arena. He had helpers on a pair of Brett Hull goals along with singles by Mario Marois, Jeff Brown and Geoff Courtnall. The Courtnall goal was scored in overtime on Detroit goalie Tim Cheveldae.
This was not a career best for Oates. In 1992-93 with the Boston Bruins, Adam had 97 assists to go with his career high 142 points. That assist total did lead the NHL, two ahead of both Pat Lafontaine of the Buffalo Sabres and Doug Gilmour of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Both of those two players set records for their respective teams that year.
Next is the story of Ed Johnston becoming the last of his kind, accomplishing a feat no goalie had done since.
Eddie Johnston: The Last NHL Goalie To Play Every Minute Of A Season For His Team
On March 22, 1964, Ed Johnston played all 60 minutes of the 70th and last game of the 1963-64 NHL season for the Boston Bruins. When that clock ran down, Johnston became the last ever goalie to play each and every minute of a season for his team.
On this night, Eddie faced 40 shots from the Chicago Blackhawks, the 17th time he would see more than 40 shots in a game during the 1963-64 campaign. In fact, Boston allowed less than 30 shots just 12 times. Leading the way for the Blackhawks this night Ab McDonald and, of course, Bobby Hull with seven each.
Johnston made a valiant effort, as he always did, to keep his last place team within reach of a win. He allowed four goals in this one but Chicago goalie Glenn Hall allowed only three in the 4-3 Blackhawks win. There were the little victories, though. He kept Stan Mikita off the scoresheet and limited the Golden Jet to no goals and just a single assist.
Not surprising, Ed led the NHL in both shots on net and saves. Even though his Bruins finished last, six points behind 5th place New York, Johnston got some consideration for the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, tying for 10th in voting with Tim Horton of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Now, for the third and final hockey trivia question of the show:
Which player won the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year in 1965-66?
In tight voting, Brit Selby of the Toronto Maple Leafs was awarded the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year in 1965-66. He finished just ahead of runner-up Bert Marshall of the Detroit Red Wings with Gilles Marotte (Boston Bruins), Bernie Parent (Boston Bruins) and Garry Peters (New York Rangers) also in the running.
In that 1965-66 NHL season, Selby scored 14 and assisted on 13 for 27 points over 61 regular season games. These were nearly career high numbers, just behind his 15 goals and 30 points with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1967-68.
In that rookie season, Brit recorded his only NHL hat trick. On January 15, 1966 at Maple Leafs Gardens, Selby had three goals in a 6-1 win over the Boston Bruins. All three were scored on Boston goalie Bernie Parent. He led with six of the 47 shots put toward Parent in the game.
Between 1964-65 and 1971-72, Brit Selby played 347 regular season and 16 playoff games in the National Hockey League with the Maple Leafs, Flyers and St. Louis Blues. From 1972-73 to 1974-75, he played 153 regular season and 23 playoff games in the WHA with the Quebec Nordiques, New England Whalers and Toronto Toros. He helped the Whalers to an Avco World Trophy championship in 1972-73.
Each episode, we go back to a random date in NHL history and pick our three stars of the night. The date we look at now is February 19, 1984.
Third Star – Steve Larmer of the Chicago Blackhawks
In a game between teams with nearly identical records, it was not surprise that the game was tied late in the third and looking like overtime would be necessary. However, with just a minute left on the clock, Steve Larmer scored his second of the game and 28th of the 1983-84 NHL season to give the Blackhawks a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Blues.
The goal was assisted by Tom Lysiak and scored on St. Louis goalie Mike Liut. Rick Paterson also had a pair of goals for Chicago while Joe Mullen and Greg Paslawski had two goal games for the Blues.
Second Star – John Tonelli of the New York Islanders
On his only shot on goal in the game, John Tonelli scored the game winner at 3:40 of overtime to give the Islanders a 5-4 win over the New Jersey Devils. Tonelli also had two assists for a three point game. This was a game nearly blown by the Isles, holding a 4-1 lead more than halfway through the third period. The Devils scored three in just over seven minutes to force overtime.
Taking the loss for the Devils was former New York goaltender Glenn Resch. It wasn’t a great night for Chico, allowing the five goals on just 18 shots. The game featured a pair of shorthanded markers, one by New York’s Anders Kallur and the other by New Jersey’s Tim Higgins.
First Star – Ivan Boldirev of the Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens and Ivan Boldirev was in on all six goals for the visitors. Boldirev scored the first three goals of the game then assisted on the next three. His first two were scored within a span of 33 seconds early in the first period.
The game featured more rapid-fire scoring. In the third, Eddie Johnstone scored the final Detroit goal at 14:06 to make the score 6-0. 12 seconds later, Gary Nylund broke the shutout. 17 seconds after than, Gary Leeman scored for the Leafs, making it three goals in just 29 seconds.