Welcome to episode 8 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.
Our first trivia question looks at the 1983-84 Calder Trophy.
By the way – Much more NHL hockey trivia can be found at our hockey trivia website.
In 1983-84, which player was the runner-up to Tom Barrasso in voting for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year?
It was a tight race between Buffalo Sabres goaltender Tom Barrasso and Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year in 1983-84. Also in the running were Sylvain Turgeon, Dave Poulin, Allan Bester and Bryan Erickson, all a healthy distance behind.
After being drafted fourth overall at the 1983 NHL Entry Draft out of the Peterborough Petes, Yzerman jumped right to the NHL for that 1983-84 NHL season. Playing the full 80 game schedule for the Detroit Red Wings, Stevie-Y scored 39 goals and assisted on 48 for 87 points to lead the team. The Wings team was full of veterans to mentor Yzerman, including Ivan Boldirev, Ron Duguay, Danny Gare and Brad Park.
Of course, Yzerman went on to a Hockey Hall of Fame NHL career, as did Tom Barrasso. Between 1983-84 and 2005-06, Steve played 1,514 regular season and 196 playoff games in the National Hockey League, all with the Red Wings. The three time Stanley Cup winner topped the 100 point plateau in six consecutive seasons, putting up a career best 155 in 1988-89 on 65 goals and 90 assists.
Yzerman was the Conn Smythe Trophy winner in 1997-98, contributing 24 points in 22 playoff games and helped the Wings to their second consecutive Stanley Cup title. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009, two years after his jersey number 19 was retired by the Red Wings.
Next up, we look back at a great December, 1967 by a Chicago Blackhawks goalie.
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Denis DeJordy’s 3 shutout December in 1967 makes Chicago fans forget about Glenn Hall
Sandwiched between the careers of legendary goalies Glenn Hall and Tony Esposito, the Chicago Blackhawks had another decent tender between the pipes. Denis DeJordy shared the Vezina with Hall in 1966-67 before Mr. Goalie was taken third overall by the St. Louis Blues at the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft.
Hall’s departure thrust DeJordy into the number one role with the Blackhawks for 1967-68. Denis didn’t disappoint with a 2.71 goal against average and four shutouts over 50 games. He played all eleven games for the Hawks in the playoffs as the team ousted the Rangers in the opening round before falling to the Montreal Canadiens in the semi-final.
He silenced the critics in the month of December, recording three shutouts. The first came on December 10 in a 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Spectrum. Denis turned away 30 shots and was helped offensively by Doug Mohns, scoring the winning goal, and Bobby Hull adding two.
A week later, on December 17, the Blackhawks hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs at Chicago Stadium. DeJordy made 29 saves in the 2-0 victory for his second shutout of the season. The game remained scoreless until the second half of the third period when Pit Martin finally scored on Toronto goalie Johnny Bower. Doug Mohns added an empty-netter to cap off the victory.
On New Year’s Eve, it took a little less effort for Denis in a 3-0 win over the expansion Oakland Seals at Chicago Stadium. He faced just 23 shots from the Seals, a team that had won just seven of their first 36 games. Dennis Hull scored the winner at 5:31 of the first period with Doug Mohns and Pit Martin rounding out the scoring.
It would take until the end of February before DeJordy would record his fourth and final blank of the campaign. He put in the work with a 38 save effort against Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens. Bobby Schmautz scored the only goal of the game at 15:48 of the first period, assisted by Dennis Hull.
DeJordy would again be number one for Chicago in 1968-69 but by the following season was expendable with the arrival of Tony Esposito. He was traded to the Los Angeles Kings where he was number one for a year before his NHL career began to fizzle out.
Our second trivia question of the show focuses on the 1980 Stanley Cup final.
Who scored the Stanley Cup clinching goal for the New York Islanders in game 6 of the 1980 Stanley Cup final?
At 7:11 of the first overtime period in game 6 of the 1980 Stanley Cup final played on May 24, 1980 at the Nassau Coliseum, Bob Nystrom of the New York Islanders put his ninth of the playoffs and second of the game past Philadelphia Flyers goalie Pete Peeters, assisted by Lorne Henning and John Tonelli. The goal gave the Islanders a 5-4 win and secured the first of four consecutive Stanley Cup championships for the team.
Along with Nystrom’s two goals, he was assessed a total of 21 penalty minutes in the game. Early in the first period, he had a fight with Bob Kelly, that came with an extra minor penalty. Later in the frame, he and Mel Bridgman were both given roughing minors and ten minute misconducts. In the third, he added to the total with a minor for holding.
Nystrom was outstanding for the Isles in those 1979-80 NHL playoffs. He scored nine goals and assisted on nine more for 18 points over 20 games. This was just less than half his regular season totals over 67 games. For Bob, it was his third game winning goal of the playoffs that year.
This was not the first overtime game for New York in the 1979-80 post season. The team needed extra time in seven of 21 games. They were 6-1 over those seven games. In the first game of the final, it was Denis Potvin scoring on Peeters 4:07 into the first OT, assisted by Nystrom and Tonelli.
Next is a story of how Mario Lemieux scored five goals in five different ways.
Super Mario Has Magnificent 5 Goal Game Ushering Out 1988 On New Year’s Eve
It’s the only time the feat has been accomplished in the history of the NHL. It’s incredibly unlikely that it will ever happen again. On December 31, 1988, Mario Lemieux scored five goals against the New Jersey Devils in five different ways. Mario’s five markers included these situations: even strength, shorthanded, powerplay, penalty shot and empty net.
It started at 4:17 of the first period when Lemieux scored his only even strength goal of the game, assisted by Rob Brown. 3:33 later, he added a shorthanded marker with Phil Bourque in the box for holding. Before the first period was over, Mario had the hat trick with his third goal of the game, this time on the powerplay, assisted by Paul Coffey and Gord Dineen.
In the second period, Lemieux was awarded a penalty shot at 11:14 and scored on Chris Terreri. That ended Terreri’s night and Bob Sauve played the remainder of the game. The goal was also a shorthanded goal with Dan Quinn serving two for hooking. It was his only goal of the second but Mario assisted on three powerplay goals (Rob Brown, Dan Quinn, Phil Bourque).
The Devils were able to keep Super Mario off the scoresheet in the third period until there was just a second left. Lemieux scored his fifth of the game into the empty net, assisted by Jay Caufield, with Sauve on the bench for the extra attacker.
The game ended in an 8-6 win for the Penguins at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena with Lemieux a part of each of the eight goals. The performance overshadowed Kirk Muller’s five point game for New Jersey with two goals and three assists.
Now it’s time for the third and final hockey trivia question of the show:
Who was the first player to have a 50 goal season with the Calgary Flames?
Lanny McDonald not only became the first Calgary Flames player to score 50 in 1982-83 but that year he became the only player in franchise history to top the 60 goal plateau. McDonald finished the season with 66, placing him second in the NHL, just five behind leader Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers.
A bit of a trick question. Guy Chouinard scored exactly 50 goals in 1978-79 but when the franchise was still in Atlanta. Chouinard is the only player from the Atlanta Flames to reach the milestone. Interestingly, many of Lanny’s goals in 1982-83 were assisted by Chouinard.
In the history of the Calgary Flames, to date, six others have scored 50 or more in a single season: Joe Nieuwendyk, Hakan Loob, Joe Mullen, Theoren Fleury, Gary Roberts and Jarome Iginla. The next highest total after McDonald’s 66 is the 53 Roberts scored in 1991-92. Both Nieuwendyk and Iginla accompished the feat twice with the Flames.
Lanny: My Life in Hockey
The autobiography of Lanny McDonald — from junior hockey to Stanley Cup champion.
Buy on AmazonEach 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 25, 1978.
Third Star – Ron Low of the Detroit Red Wings
In a battle of two evenly matched teams at the Omni in Atlanta, Georgia, Ron Low was the key to the Detroit Red Wings earning a single point in a 2-2 tie with the Flames. Low faced 40 shots and allowed just two goals, one by Guy Chouinard and one by Bob MacMillan.
Low took on nearly double the shots than his opponent Dan Bouchard who faced 21. Detroit got goals from Nick Libett and Dennis Polonich. Polonich’s erased a 2-1 Atlanta lead midway through the third and was the final goal of the game.
Second Star – Jerry Korab of the Buffalo Sabres
In an ugly 13-3 win over the Cleveland Barons at the Richfield Coliseum, defenseman Jerry Korab put up a five point game on two goals and three assists. Danny Gare also had five points with a hat trick and two helpers. Gilbert Perreault came out with four assists. The Sabres were missing sniper Rick Martin but that did not stop their offense one bit.
First Star – Hardy Astrom of the New York Rangers
In his first NHL game and his first of only four with the New York Rangers, Hardy Astrom made 29 saves to out-do Ken Dryden and the Montreal Canadiens at the Forum. He allowed goals by Jacques Lemaire, Yvan Cournoyer and Steve Shutt but came out with a 6-3 win.
It was a team effort by the Rangers with eleven different players recording a point. Pat Hickey, Don Murdoch, Walt Tkaczuk and Steve Vickers all had two point games with Murdoch scoring the game winner.
Astrom would play a total of 83 games in the National Hockey League between 1977-78 and 1980-81 with the Rangers and Colorado Rockies. He would return to Sweden to finish out his pro career.