Welcome to episode 7 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 indepth answers and our three stars of the night.
In this episode, we look at trivia questions focused on goaltender offense numbers, Conn Smythe Trophy history and the 1961 Stanley Cup playoffs. We also take a look back at the 1973 Stanley Cup final and a big game in a losing cause for Dale Hawerchuk. Our three stars are from Halloween 1976.
Our first trivia question looks at the offensive numbers of NHL goalies.
By the way – Much more NHL hockey trivia can be found at our hockey trivia website.
Who holds the NHL record for most points in a game by a goalie?
On February 10, 1993, the Calgary Flames hosted the San Jose Sharks at the Saddledome. It was ugly. The Flames won 13-1 and Jeff Reese became the only goaltender in NHL history to record three points in a game.
In the match, Reese assisted on two goals by Robert Reichel and one by Gary Roberts. Despite the score, Jeff was also fairly busy between the pipes. San Jose managed 27 shots with just Johan Garpenlov getting one past. Arturs Irbe and Jeff Hackett shared the misery for the Sharks, allowing a combined 13 goals on a modest 36 shots.
The game featured two players with six points: Theo Fleury and Reichel. Gary Suter had five points while both Reichel and Ronnie Stern had hat tricks. Stern was also involved in the only fight. Fleury was a +9, one off the NHL record set in 1977 by Tom Bladon of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Next up, we look back at the 1973 Stanley Cup playoffs.
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Yvan Cournoyer Clinches Stanley Cup For Montreal Canadiens In 1972-73
The Habs were a dominant team in 1972-73, losing just ten games during the regular season. Montreal met the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup final after eliminating the Buffalo Sabres in the quarter-final and the Philadelphia Flyers in the semi-final. Chicago put up a fight, scoring 15 goals in their two wins in the round but, ultimately, the Canadiens took the series in six games.
On May 10, 1973, Yvan Cournoyer solidified his Conn Smythe Trophy win, scoring the winning goal in game six while adding two assists. The teams went into the third period tied at four goals apiece. Cournoyer scored his 15th of the playoffs on Tony Esposito at 8:13 of the third, assisted by Jacques Lemaire to put the Habs ahead. The Blackhawks would not respond and the game ended 6-4.
Cournoyer assisted on a second period goal by Frank Mahovlich and the final goal of the game, scored by Marc Tardif. Yvan ended the playoffs with a team leading 15 goals and 25 points over 17 games. At the time, the 15 markers were a playoff record, one more than the 14 Frank Mahovlich scored with the Habs in 1970-71. The record is now shared by Reggie Leach and Jari Kurri, both with 19.
For Yvan, this was the sixth of eight Stanley Cup champions he would be part of during his NHL playing career, all with Montreal. The Conn Smythe was his only major individual award. Cournoyer was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1982.
Our second trivia question of the show focuses on the history of the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Who was the first player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy while playing on the losing team?
Roger Crozier of the Detroit Red Wings was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1966, despite his team losing in the Stanley Cup final to the Montreal Canadiens. Over 12 playoff games that year, Crozier posted a 2.34 goals against average and .914 save percentage.
In the opening round against the Chicago Blackhawks, Roger had a 21 save 7-0 shutout in game two to tie the series at 1-1. Gordie Howe led the Red Wings offensively with four points on a goal and three assists.
In the final game of the final series, game 6 at Detroit Olympia on May 5, 1966, Crozier allowed goals by Jean Beliveau and Leon Rochefort before shutting down the Habs over the last half of regulation tie. Norm Ullman and Floyd Smith scored for Detroit to force overtime. At 2:20 of the first extra frame, Henri Richard got one past Crozier to win the game, series and Stanley Cup championship.
Since, just Glenn Hall (1967-68), Reg Leach (1975-76), Ron Hextall (1986-87), J-S Giguere (2002-03) and Connor McDavid (2023-24) have won the award as playoff MVP while playing for the runner-up. The Conn Smythe Trophy was introduced for the 1964-65 NHL season and Jean Beliveau was the first ever recipient. Patrick Roy is the only three time winner.
Next is a story of Dale Hawerchuk putting up a 4 point game against the Edmonton Oilers but the Jets still coming out with a loss.
Dale Hawerchuk’s 4 Point Game Can’t Push Winnipeg Over Edmonton
On January 4, 1985, Dale Hawerchuk and the Winnipeg Jets were visiting the Edmonton Oilers at Northlands Coliseum. At 1:10 of the third period, Hawerchuk had his team up 4-3, scoring three of those goals and assisting on a Perry Turnbull marker. Unfortunately, this was Edmonton in 1985 and the Oilers stormed back with 4 straight goals to win 7-4.
Dale scored twice in the first, his 22nd and 23rd of the 1984-85 NHL season, both assisted by Paul MacLean. At the end of one, it was a 2-2 tie between Hawerchuk and the Oilers. After Randy Gregg scored the go-ahead goal for Edmonton early in the second, Dale tied it up with his 24th of the campaign – Hawerchuk 3, Oilers 3 after 2.
Outside of Hawerchuk and MacLean, there wasn’t much going on with the Winnipeg offense. On the Edmonton side, Wayne Gretzky quietly went about his typical 3 assist game with Jari Kurri and Jaroslav Pouzar each scoring two. The Oilers hammered away with 42 shots while Andy Moog had a relatively quiet night facing just 25.
For Hawerchuk, 1984-85 was his only year reaching the 50 goal plateau and he had a career best 130 points. His goal total placed him tied for seventh with Bobby Carpenter of the Washington Capitals and he was third in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, a distant 78 points behind Gretzky’s 208.
Now it’s time for the third and final hockey trivia question of the show:
When the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 1960-61, who led the team in the playoffs with 15 points?
Over 12 games in their 1961 Stanley Cup championship run, defenseman Pierre Pilote led the Chicago Blackhawks with 15 points on three goals and 12 assists. Over 70 regular season games, Pilote had just six goals.
Pierre had points in every game except game four in the final series against the Detroit Red Wings. He made up for it in game five with a three point game on a goal and two assists. Also, the 1960-61 NHL penalty minute leader by a 20 PIM margin over runner-up and teammate Reg Fleming sat just four minor penalties in the post season.
During the regular season, Bill Hay led the Blackhawks with 59 points while Bobby Hull led the team with 31 goals. In the playoffs, Hull finished just a point behind Pilote while Hay dropped to seven points. Stan Mikita was the team’s goal scoring leader in the post season with six.
As for their opponents in the final series, the Detroit Red Wings were led by Gordie Howe. Mr. Hockey scored four and assisted on eleven for 15 points in eleven games. Alex Delvecchio tied Howe for the team goal scoring lead.
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 October 31, 1976.
Third Star – Dick Redmond of the Chicago Blackhawks
At Chicago Stadium, the Washington Capitals perhaps were sending a message that in their third year, they might not be as much of an easy win. After the first, the Caps led 3-1. The lead was 4-2 until Dick Redmond went to work with three minutes left in the second. Redmond scored his second of the season at 17:01 to bring the Hawks within one.
Grant Mulvey tied the game at 5:26 of the third with his second of the game, assisted by Darcy Rota and Pit Martin. At 11:12, Redmond scored his second goal of the game, putting his team up by a goal. That would be the final marker in a 5-4 Chicago win with Dick getting the game winner. In the losing cause, Guy Charron scored a pair of goals for Washington while putting ten of the 32 shots on Chicago goalie Tony Esposito.
Second Star – J.P. Leblanc of the Detroit Red Wings
In the second one-goal game of the night, J.P. LeBlanc led the Detroit Red Wings to just their third win in the first eleven games of the 1976-77 NHL season in a 6-5 win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. LeBlanc opened the scoring at 15:18 of the first period with his first of the campaign, assisted by Buster Harvey and Terry Harper. This ignited a three goals in 1:59 flurry for the Red Wings and they were up 3-0 at the first intermission.
After the Rangers put up three straight to start the second, LeBlanc assisted on a Buster Harvey goal late in the second to again give Detroit the one goal advantage. Just over a minute later, Dan Maloney put the Wings up 5-3.
The two-goal lead held until 15:40 of the third when Walt Tkaczuk scored for the Rangers. Then, with 37 seconds left in the game, Rod Gilbert tied the score with his fifth of the season. It was looking like the game might end in a 5-5 tie but J.P. LeBlanc had other plans. 17 seconds after the Gilbert goal and with 20 seconds left in the game, he scored the game winner, assisted by Mike Bloom and Danny Grant. For Grant, it was his third helper of the game.
First Star – Bobby Clarke of the Philadelphia Flyers
On this Halloween, Bobby Clarke certainly haunted the Minnesota North Stars at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Bobby was in on six of his team’s nine goals in a 9-1 blowout. Clarke scored a pair of goals while assisting on markers by Reggie Leach, Paul Holmgren, Rick MacLeish and Bill Barber for a six point game.
The first of Clarke’s goals was scored shorthanded at 2:02 of the first with Tom Bladon in the box for charging. His second was on the power play with Minnesota’s Dennis O’Brien serving two or less for interference. Pete LoPresti was the goaltending victim for all nine goals.
It should be noted that Paul Holmgren put up the Gordie Howe Hat Trick with a goal, assist and second period scrap.