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Thursday, January 7, 2010

The Wayne Gretzky Fact of the Day Blog

For those of you who have not checked out our favorite blog links in the right hand column and are not aware of Uni Watch, it's well worth checking out. It's nice to know we are not alone in our obsession with jerseys. They recently ran an interview with us which covers how we got started collecting, favorite and least favorite jerseys and the origin of this blog.

To read the interview with us, please click here.

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In other news, our little empire has recently expanded with the addition of our newest blog, The Wayne Gretzky Fact of the Day Blog. In doing our research for topics for Third String Goalie, we come across what seems like a new Gretzky milestone or fact quite nearly every day and decided to collect them all in one location. There may not be one for every day, and it's a work in progess and may even undergo a tweak of the name at some point, but there will be plenty of entries to keep you coming back.

Just don't bother using the Gretzky Name Generator. It's incredibly lame and a complete waste of your time, but we were highly amused with ourselves when we created it.

1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers Mel Bridgman Jersey

On this date in 1980, the Philadelphia Flyers NHL record 35 game unbeaten streak came to an end when they were defeated by the Minnesota North Stars 7-1 in front of 15,962 fans, the largest crowd in North Stars history.

The Flyers began the season by naming Bobby Clarke a playing assistant coach and making Mel Bridgman team captain.

The Flyers would win their first game of the season against the New York Islanders but then lose their second game against the Atlanta Flames on October 13th 9-2.

They would bounce back the next night by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 and commence the longest undefeated streak in NHL history. Two more wins would follow and then a 6-6 tie with the Montreal Canadiens had the streak at four games.

The Flyers would then go on a tear and win nine consecutive games before a tie with St. Louis would halt the winning streak, but keep the undefeated streak intact, which was now at 14 games.

The streak would continue to grow with two wins and then a tie, which was followed by another pair of wins, pushing the streak to 19 games and meant the Flyers finished the month of November undefeated.

Six ties and three wins to start December would increase the total to 28 games, tying the existing record held by the Montreal Canadiens. The Flyers would next win two more games followed by a tie and then another pair of victories to close out December undefeated and keep the streak alive at 33 games without a loss, putting them into a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA for the North American professional team record.

Victories on January 4 and 6 pushed the Flyers record to 26-1-10 and a record 35 games since their last loss back on October 13 prior to the defeat in Minnesota the next day after travelling from Buffalo the night before. The record still stands to this day.

During their streak they played every team in the league except the Washington Capitals and only twice during the 10 ties did the Flyers score the last goal to create the tie and preserve the streak. The Flyers were only outshot eight times during the streak, with the largest margin being in a tie with the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 1, 1979 when the Leafs outshot the Flyers 40-25.

After defeating the Winnipeg Jets on January 10th and losing to the Canadiens on the 12th, the Flyers would have another 11 game unbeaten to run their season record to 35-3-13. They would go 13-9-7 the rest of the way, clinching the division with 14 games left in the season and total 116 points for the year.

Despite their regular season success, the Flyers failed to capture the Stanley Cup that season. They did defeat the Edmonton Oilers during the Oilers first NHL season in round one of the playoffs before knocking off the New York Rangers in round two. They got their revenge on the North Stars for ending their winning streak by beating them in five games to advance to the finals, but came up short against the New York Islanders in six games.

Ken Linseman led the Flyers that season with 79 points from 22 goals and 57 assists, while Reggie Leach hit the magic 50 mark to lead the team in goals. Linseman also led the club in playoff scoring with 22 points in 17 games, although their evenly balanced scoring saw three other players with 20 or more points. Phil Myre and Pete Peeters split the goaltending duties with Myre playing in 41 games and Peeters 40, with Peeters superior record of 29-5-5 easily out pacing Myre's 18-7-15 mark. The Flyers 20 ties that season was within 4 of the league record and prevented them from making a run at the all time single season team points record of 132 despite their long unbeaten streak.

Today's featured jersey is a 1979-80 Philadelphia Flyers Mel Bridgman jersey as worn during the Flyers record setting unbeaten streak.

Bridgman played 17 seasons in the NHL, totalling 977 games, 252 goals and 449 assists for 701 points. He was the first overall pick in the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft by the Flyers.

He would play for Philadelphia, the Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings and finish his career with the Vancouver Canucks. He would later be named the the first general manager of the Ottawa Senators.


Here is Mel Bridgman doing what the Flyers did best.



Wednesday, January 6, 2010

2006-07 Minnesota Wild Pavol Demitra Jersey

On this date in 2007, the Minnesota Wild participated in the Teammates for Kids patch program, in which every player in the NHL wore a Teammates for Kids patch on their jersey for one home game between January 4th and January 13th.

All of the approximately 650 jerseys were then auctioned off for charity, with the patched Pittsburgh Penguins jersey worn by Sidney Crosby on January 7, 2007 selling for $12,131.

The Teammates for Kids Foundation was founded by country music star Garth Brooks in 1999 to contribute to nonprofit organizations that serve and benefit children. The concept has pro athletes contribute based on performances in games, such as $500 for each goal scored, which the foundation then triples. To date over $75 million has been distributed.

Pavol Demitra broke into the NHL with the Ottawa Senators, who drafted him 227th overall in 1993. After three partial seasons with the Senators, Demitra was traded to the St. Louis Blues and finally became an NHL regular in 1997-98. He would play for St. Louis for eight seasons before signing with the Los Angeles Kings following the NHL Lockout in 2005. After one season in Los Angeles, Demitra was traded to the Minnesota Wild at the 2006 draft in order to team him up with fellow Slovakian Marian Gaborik.

After two seasons in Minnesota, which included being named team captain for October of 2007, Demitra would leave to sign with the Vancouver Canucks.

He has participated in three NHL All-Star Games, in 1999, 2000 and 2002, all while with St. Louis and was also named the winner of the Lady Byng Award in 2000. His highest scoring season was in 2002-03, when he scored 36 goals and 57 assists for 93 points. His highest single season goal total was 37 in 1998-99.

Demitra has an extensive international career, beginning with playing for Czechoslovakia in the 1992 European Junior Championships, followed by playing for the Czech Republic in the 1993 World Juniors, where he won a bronze medal.

Since 1996, Demitra has skated for Slovakia. He has been in the World Championships in 1996, 2003 (earning bronze), 2004, 2005 and 2007. Additionally, he has played in both the 1996 and 2004 World Cup of Hockey and the Olympics in 2002 and 2006.

Today's featured jersey is a Minnesota Wild Pavol Demitra jersey with the addition of the Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation patch as worn on January 6, 2007 in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

The Wild wore their green jerseys on the road for their first three seasons before it became their home jersey in 2003-04 and remain in use through the 2006-07 season before the change to the new Reebok Edge jerseys dictated teams could have only a home and road jersey during the Edge jersey's introductory season. With the Wild's red alternate throwback style jersey far outselling the other styles, the green jersey was the one chosen to be retired.

During it's six seasons of use, the green jersey was frequently patched, having been seen with the 2003 (Nick Schultz) & 2004 (Pierre-Marc Bouchard) Young Stars Game patch as part of the NHL All-Star weekend festivities, the season long 2004 NHL All-Star Game patch, which was also worn once with the 2004 Hockey Fights Cancer patch (captain Brad Bombardir), the season long 2005-06 Minnesota Wild Year Five patch, the NHL Cares/Katrina patch during the first period of their game on October 5, 2005 as well as today's featured Teammates for Kids patch on January 6, 2007.

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Minnesota Wild G 06-07 jersey photo MinnesotaWildG06-07B.jpg
Minnesota Wild G 06-07 jersey patch photo MinnesotaWildG06-07P.jpg

Today's video is an enlightening look into Demitra's journey from a youngster in Czechoslovakia, where the ultimate goal was the World Championships to the Olympics, to seeing the world change and participating in the NHL becoming a new possibility and the adjustments needed after coming to North America.


Demitra had the perfect timing to score a hat trick on Hat Night in Los Angeles. The results were swift and predictable.


Tuesday, January 5, 2010

1990-91 Soviet Red Army Pavel Kostichkin Jersey

In anticipation of tonight's 2010 World Junior Tournament Championship Final between host Canada and the United States, we take a look back at perhaps the most famous, and notorious, moment in World Juniors history, for on this date in 1987, "The Punch-up in Piestany" took place.

The scene was the final game of the 1987 World Junior Tournament in Piestany, Czechoslovakia. At the time the format of the tournament was a round-robin phase, with the final standings determining the medalists.

Canada brought a 4-1-1 record into the final game, while their arch-rivals the Soviet Union were out of medal contention at 2-3-1 and could only hope to spoil Canada's chance at the Gold Medal.

To capture the gold over Finland, the Canadians needed to beat the Soviets by five goals to equal Finland's record of 5-1-1 but surpass them on the tie-breaker of goal differential. Had Canada won by less than 5, silver would have been theirs and even a loss still would have seen them take home the bronze.

Going into the game, the Canadians were worried about the choice of the inexperienced Hans Ronning as the referee, and sought to have the assignment changed due to an earlier incident in the tournament which involved a pre-game fight between the Canadians and Americans in which Canadian Captain Steve Chaisson was ejected by Ronning, who was not even present on the ice at the time, thus barring Chaisson from the game versus the United States plus their following game against Sweden.

The opening faceoff of the game was met with elbows and a retaliatory cross-check, neither of which were penalized and set the tone for the escalation of hostilities that were to follow.

Five minutes into the game, Theo Fleury scored for Canada and celebrated by sliding across center ice on his knees, using his stick as a machine gun, "firing" at the Soviet bench. The first period would concluded with Canada ahead 3-1, slashes going uncalled and tempers getting short.

By the halfway point of the second period each team had another goal, making the score 4-2 in favor of Canada. With two players in the penalty box for each team following a scuffle, two players collided after a faceoff, Everett Sanipass and Sergei Shesterikov, and a fight broke out between the two of them. Things got worse when Pavel Kostichkin hit Fleury with a two-handed slash, which lead to a second fight breaking out. Things then escalated to the point that all the players on the ice were brawling, but what really sent the situation spiraling completely out of control was when Evgeny Davydov left the Soviet bench to come to the aid of a teammate.

This opened the floodgates, as nearly all the players from both benches spilled onto the ice, and a dozen separate fights broke out, Greg Hagwood's nose was broken by a head-butt and Stephane Roy was beaten by two Soviet players. This was in part due to two Canadians, Jimmy Waite and Pierre Turgeon remaining on the bench.

Unable to control the situation, Ronning and his linesmen left the ice and tournament officials famously turned off the arena lights in a desperate attempt to end the brawl.


Eventually the combatants tired themselves out and the fighting ceased, but by that time the IIHF ordered the game suspended and then held an emergency meeting, with the nine delegates voting 8-1 to expel both teams from the tournament, costing Canada a medal of any sort.

With the expulsion of Canada and the Soviet Union, Finland took home the gold, with Czechoslovakia and Sweden being awarded the silver and bronze.

The Canadians were extended an invitation to join the tournament banquet and medal ceremony, but stated they were not interested. Officials responded by ordering Canada out of the arena within a half-hour and they were subsequently escorted out of Czechoslovakia by armed soldiers!

Charges flew in the aftermath, as Alan Eagleson claimed the voting would have been different if the Soviets were in line for a medal as well, while Don Cherry suggested the brawl was a deliberate Soviet conspiracy to get Canada disqualified.

The event spawned our all-time favorite hockey quote ever:

"You don't like to see 20 kids punching 20 other kids.
It's not a disgrace. It's hockey." - Michael Farber

The events of that day have been chronicled in the book, When the Lights Went Out.

Speaking of books, Theo Fleury has a biography out, Playing With Fire.

Today's featured jersey is a CCM 1990-91 Soviet Red Army Pavel Kostichkin jersey from his days in the Soviet Hockey League. Kostichkin was eventually drafted in the tenth round by the Winnipeg Jets in 1988, but spent his career in Europe, outside of a season with the Moncton Hawks of the AHL. He would eventually play in leagues in Russia, Denmark, Finland and Belarus, before retiring in 2005.


This jersey is the cornerstone of the Third String Goalie Collection and always the first one mentioned when we are asked to name our favorite. With it's bright colors, hammer and sickle logos and name on the back in Cyrillic, it's a prime example of what a hockey jersey should look like and represents the most powerful club in hockey outside of North America.

Russia Red Army 89-90 F
Russia Red Army 89-90 B

Bonus Jersey: We are also featuring a 1997-98 Calgary Flames Theo Fleury jersey, Kostichkin's counterpart in the Piestany brawl.

This jersey features the Game ONe Japan patch worn during the season opening games in Tokyo, Japan in 1997.

Calgary Flames 98-99 F
Calgary Flames 98-99 B
Calgary Flames 98-99 P Calgary Flames 98-99 C

Our video selections today feature the brawl between Canada and the Soviet Union, followed by Don Cherry's postgame comments and then the debate between Don Cherry and Michael Farber which spawned out favorite quote.




Monday, January 4, 2010

1991-92 Minnesota North Stars Bobby Smith Jersey

On this date in 1992, Bobby Smith of the Minnesota North Stars played in his 1,000th career game in a 4-3 win over Vancouver.

Smith had an outstanding junior career with the Ottawa 67's, including scoring 135 points in 64 games in 1976-77 and following that with 192 points in 61 games the next season - over a three point per game average! His 123 assists and 192 points still stand as OHL league records.

Smith was subsequently drafted first overall by the last place Minnesota North Stars in the 1978 Amateur Draft and went on to capture the Calder Trophy following a rookie campaign in which he scored 30 goals and 74 points in 80 games.

Interestingly, the North Stars used their second round pick in 1978 to draft Smith's Ottawa 67's linemate Steve Payne. Further picks that year would net 1980 USA Olympic team member Steve Christoff and eventual team captain Curt Giles.

Prior to Smith's rookie season, the NHL allowed a deal where the Cleveland Barons owners George and Gordon Gund were allowed to merge their franchise with the North Stars franchise under the Gund's ownership and would play as the North Stars in the Baron's place in the Adams division. This allowed the North Stars to add players such as Mike Fidler, Al MacAdam, Greg Smith and reacquire fan favorite J. P. Parise and goaltender Gilles Meloche.

The North Stars were able to show a 25 point improvement in the standings, but failed to qualify for the playoffs in the rugged Wales Conference despite having 5 more points than the Vancouver Canucks of the Campbell Conference.

Further additions in the 1979 Entry Draft would net the North Stars Craig Hartsburg, Tom McCarthy, Minnesota native and 1980 USA Olympic team member Neal Broten, who would join the team the following season.

This influx of talent over the course of two seasons paid off in 1979-80, as MacAdam, Payne and Smith all topped 80 points during the regular season and the North Stars qualified for the playoffs after a 23 point improvement in the standings. The North Stars would eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs in three straight, gain invaluable confidence and experience by defeating the Montreal Canadiens in seven games before losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in round 3.

Smith would increase his regular season point total to 83 games that season and add another 14 points in 15 playoff games.

Growing in confidence and experience, Smith would once more improve his point total with 93 points in 1980-81 and, coming off the playoff run of the previous season, the North Stars would make a run through the playoffs, aided by the additions of Gordie Roberts, Dino Ciccarelli and the late season arrival of Broten just in time for the playoffs.

The North Stars would sweep their previous nemesis the Boston Bruins, easily dispatch the Buffalo Sabres in five games, eliminate the Calgary Flames in six before running into the midst of the New York Islanders dynasty in the finals to complete their unusual journey from last place to the Stanley Cup Finals in just three seasons.

Smith's finest season as a professional would come in 1981-82 with 43 goals and 71 assists for 114 points, the fourth consecutive increase in points during his four seasons in the league. The following season would see his point total drop to 77 and the North Stars would be bounced out of the playoffs despite a club record 96 points in the second round by arch-rivals the Chicago Black Hawks.

A falling out with new North Stars coach Bill Mahoney led to Smith being dealt to the Montreal Canadiens, where he would play for the next seven seasons, scoring as many as 93 points in 1987-88 and winning the only Stanley Cup of his career in 1986 when he finished second in Canadiens regular season scoring and contributed 15 points in 20 playoff games. The Canadiens would make the finals again in 1989 and Smith would contribute 19 points in 21 games that year.

Smith was dealt back to Minnesota in time for the 1990-91 season and help the North Stars on an improbable run through the playoffs, as they defeated the President's Trophy winning Chicago Blackhawks (who finished 38 points ahead of them in the standings) in the first round, the St. Louis Blues (37 points ahead) and Edmonton Oilers (12 points better) before falling to the Mario Lemieux-led Pittsburgh Penguins in the finals.

Smith would play two more seasons in the NHL, which included his 1,000th NHL point in November of 1991, only the 32nd player in league history to reach that mark, and his 1,000th game on this date in 1992. He would retire with 1,077 games played, 357 goals and 679 assists for 1036 points and 160 points in 184 career playoff games and one Stanley Cup.

Internationally, Smith would play in the 1978 World Junior Championship as a teammate to Wayne Gretzky, the year Canada wore blue jerseys, and win a bronze medal and then again in the World Championships in 1979 and in 1982 when he would earn a bronze medal.

Today's featured jersey is a CCM 1991-92 Minnesota North Stars Bobby Smith jersey from the season Smith played in his 1,000th game. This jersey is from the Norm Green ownership era after the club changed their traditional green jerseys to black, along with a more generic team logo, which de-emphasized the "North" part of the club's name, perhaps foreshadowing the club's move to Dallas in time for the 1993-94 season. The entire transition from the green uniforms to the black, including the North Stars first choice for the font for the names on the back, has been documented in great detail by Cole Jones here.

This jersey features both the NHL 75th Anniversary patch and the Minnesota North Stars 25th Anniversary patch. The club actually started out the season with just the NHL 75th patch before later adding the North Stars 25th Anniversary patch.

1991-92 Game Worn Minnesota North Stars jerseyaaaa1991-92 Game Worn Minnesota North Stars jersey

When on his game, Smith could dominate a game and was famous for his wraparound goals made possible by his long reach.


Here is footage from the night the North Stars finally stood their ground against the Boston Bruins in 1981 at the Boston Garden, an arena they had never won a game in - ever - dating back 14 seasons to the North Stars inception in 1967. While they lost this game, they made a statement that they were not going to be intimidated any longer, having recently had John Wensink challenge the Minnesota bench during a game. This stand was a turning point for the franchise and they proceeded to knock the Bruins out of the playoffs later that season, which included two victories in Boston, and were on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time ever.

Bobby Smith helped kick off the mayhem seven seconds into the game with a fight against the Bruins Steve Kasper while linemate Steve Payne fought Keith Crowder.

There were further fights at 3:35, 8:06 and a bench clearing brawl at 8:58 of the first period which involved fights in the runway back to the dressing rooms and the police trying to intervene. There were three more fights in the second period and two more in the third as the teams set a then NHL record with 406 penalty minutes.



Dasherboard: In the World Junior Tournament, Canada took care of business against underdogs Switzerland on Sunday to reach the finals once more, while the USA surprised Sweden 5-2 to gain a rematch with Canada, who they lost to in a shootout on New Year's Eve during group play.

Going into the game, Sweden was having a very strong tournament, having won their group with ease, having defeated the Czech Republic 10-1, Austria 7-3, Russia 4-1 and rivals Finland 7-1.

The United States led 1-0 after one period, only to see Sweden take the lead in the second period with two goals, but in less than three minutes the Americans responded with a goal by Jerry D'Amigo who made a nice play by passing the puck to himself off the boards to get around the Swedish defender and tie the game at 2-2 after two.

John Carlson put the USA ahead to stay with 7:26 remaining with a shot from the point that skipped under Sweden's Jacob Markstrom, who had not given up more than one goal in any of this three previous games in the tournament.

While shorthanded, Team USA captain Derek Stepan pressured the point man on the Sweden power play into a turnover and broke up the ice before making a centering pass to D'Amigo, who expertly moved the puck out of his skates and up to a shooting position before picking his spot and firing the puck past Markstrom for a 4-2 lead just three minutes after Carlson's goal.

The Americans added an empty net goal for the final margin and now look forward to what should be an outstanding championship final on Tuesday evening, which will be broadcast on the NHL Network in the United States and on TSN in Canada.

To see highlights of the USA vs. Sweden game, click here.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

1942-43 Chicago Black Hawks Reg Bentley Jersey

Chicago Black Hawks left winger Reg Bentley scored on this date in 1943 in a 3-3 tie against the New York Rangers with assists by his brothers Max and Doug Bentley.


It was the first goal in NHL history where all three points were awarded to the same family and it turned out to be the only goal of Reg Bentley's NHL career.

The brothers would repeat the feat 18 days later on the 21st of January, this time with Doug scoring with assists from Max and Reg in another tie, this time a 4-4 contest against the Montreal Canadiens.

While Max Bentley would play 12 NHL seasons, score over 500 points, be named the winner of the Lady Byng Trophy in 1943, win the Art Ross Trophy as the winner of the league' scoring title twice, in 1946 and 1947, be named the winner of the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP in 1947, win the Stanley Cup three times with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1948, 1949 and 1951 and be named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966 and Doug Bentley would play 13 NHL seasons, score over 500 points and also win the Art Ross trophy in 1943 and be named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1964, Reg Bentley's NHL career was limited to just 11 games in the 1942-43 season with the Black Hawks.

Reg, the oldest of the three brothers, would play ten years of senior hockey in Canada before turing pro with Kansas City of the American Hockey Association (AHA) in 1941-42. His time with the Black Hawks would come the following season at age 27 and he would total his one record setting goal, plus two assists, in his 11 NHL games.

After playing minimal hockey for two seasons due to World War II, he would resume his career and play seven more seasons beginning in 1945-46 with the New Westminster Royals of the Pacific Coast Hockey League (PCHL). He would score 30 goals and 57 points in 57 games in his first season with the Royals and 41 goals and 71 points in 60 games the following season.

The next four seasons of Reg's playing days were mainly spent with the Saskatoon Quakers of the Western Canada Senior Hockey League (WCSHL), winning the championship in 1951.

Today's featured jersey is a 1942-43 Chicago Black Hawks jersey, as worn by the Bentley brothers on the date they made league history by becoming the first family to garner all three points for a goal.

The Black Hawks barbepole style was originally adopted in 1937 and went through a few minor revisions in striping and logo before arriving at this design in 1941 which remained unchanged until 1947 before there were some additional tweaks to the logo. The Black Hawks would continue to wear this basic barberpole style jersey until 1955 before changing to the original version of their jerseys which remain in use today.

This jersey was revived as the Blackhawks Turn Back the Clock jersey for the NHL's 75th Anniversary season when the Original 6 teams all wore throwback jerseys in 1991-92 on occasion.


As you might guess, searching for 1940's Black Hawks highights on YouTube is a long shot. Here's one we found, but I don't think it's the right Bentley Brothers...


Now, this on the other hand, is at least the right Blackhawks, and an interesting look at how the current Blackhawks official logos are made for their jerseys. That chain stitching machine looks like it's on the verge of attacking the operator at any time! That thing is out of control. We really, really need to learn French after seeing this one.



Dasherboard: HOPP SCHWIIZ!! In an upset for the ages, outmanned Switzerland defeated Russia 3-2 in overtime at the 2010 World Junior Championships yesterday, eliminating the Russians from the tournament.

Switzerland, playing without their two best skaters, team captain Luca Sbisa and Roman Josi, both defensemen and good enough as juniors to be named to the 2010 Switzerland Olympic Team roster, held their own behind the stellar goaltending of Benjamin Conz, who made 50 saves in the game and whose play during the tournament has assured himself of being taken in the next draft.

With both Sbisa and Josi out of the lineup due to injuries suffered during group play, the pressure to lead the Swiss fell to Nino Niederreiter of the WHL's Portland Winter Hawks, came through brilliantly.

Switzerland took a 1-0 lead in the second period on a wraparound by Michael Loichat.

The Swiss held off the Russians until Vladimir Tarasenko, the second leading scorer at the 2009 U18 World Junior Championships and a certain first round draft pick in 2010, scored with 1:16 remaining in the second to tie the score.

Quick as lightning, Russia seemed to have taken the game back when Kirill Petrov sent another shot over Conz shoulder just 16 seconds later to take a 2-1 lead heading into the third.

The teams traded chances and great saves throughout an energetic third period and finally, with Conz on the bench with 47 seconds remaining in the contest, Niederreiter came on as the extra attacker and held the puck in at the blueline. After a missed redirection, a Russian player blindly backhanded the puck in a weak attempt to clear it, which Niederreiter intercepted and fired a high shot toward the net, which deflected off the body of a Russian defender and past Igor Bobkov to tie the game at 2-2 with just 32.3 seconds left to force the overtime.

Niederreiter missed a glorious opportunity with just 48 seconds left in overtime when he couldn't get off a solid backhander, and the puck slowly slid just to the left of the post. Both teams then looked content to leave it in the hands of their goaltenders in the shootout, but Niederreiter carried the puck over the Russian blueline and met resistance and turned away from the net, only to quickly turn and fire a shot into the slot area, where it was deflected by Patrick Geering and by Russian goaltender Igor Bobkov, sending the Swiss flying off the bench in celebration with just 14.2 seconds left in overtime.

It will be only the third time the Swiss have reached the semi-final since 1974 and it comes just two years after they were relegated at the 2008 tournament in the Czech Republic and had to earn their way back into the top division last year.

The Canadian fans who so loudly cheered for the Swiss at the game will now immediately turn on the darlings of tournament, as Canada takes on Switzerland in the semi-finals Sunday for the right to play for the championship.



Saturday, January 2, 2010

2010 NHL Winter Classic

Yesterday's 2010 Winter Classic in Boston's Fenway Park between the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers was a resounding success for the NHL, which featured much better weather than anyone had anticipated based on the forecast for higher temperatures and rain earlier in the week.

It took the Bruins over 57 minutes to score their first goal, but managed to pull off a 2-1 overtime victory on a goal by Marco Sturm in front of a thrilled home crowd in overtime after surviving a couple of excellent chances for the Flyers.


The Flyers jerseys were inspired by their original 1967 jerseys, while the Bruins were wearing a sweater which combined different elements from their past, including their original brown and gold colors worn from 1924-1934, the original style "spoked B" logo first worn on their 25th anniversary in 1949 and a lace up collar, which first appeared on a Bruins jersey in 1967. Overall, the package most closely resembles a 1957 Bruins jersey, which used the same basic gold color and striping pattern and a spoked B logo.


2006-07 Detroit Red Wings Nicklas Lidstrom Jersey

We want to take a moment to welcome readers of the UniWatchBlog today, who are featuring an interview with us today. We invite you to stay awhile and have a look around. After scrolling down through the previous week's entries on this page you will come to our labels links in the right hand column where you can explore any of our previous topics of special interest to you.

We certainly hope you like what you find here at Third String Goalie and take advantage of the opportunity to explore our archives on a wide variety of topics both old and new and the options provided in the right hand column to follow us in the future on twitter, facebook, blogger, yahoo and google or run your name through the Third String Goalie Hockey Name Generator to get yourself ready for the upcoming Olympics.

Thanks for checking us out!

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On this date in 2007 the Detroit Red Wings retired long-time captain Steve Yzerman's jersey #19.

Yzerman first joined the Red Wings in 1983 after being drafted fourth overall in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. At the time, the "Dead Wings" were lost in the hockey wilderness, having missed the playoffs 15 of the previous 17 seasons, dating back to the 1966-67 season. After the arrival of Yzerman, the Red Wings qualified for the playoffs in 20 of Yzerman's 22 seasons in the NHL.

His arrival coincided with a change in ownership for the Red Wings, as Mike and Marian Illitch had purchased the franchise in the summer of 1982.

Yzerman scored 39 goals and 87 points in his rookie season, played in his first of 10 NHL All-Star Games and got his first taste of playoff experience as the Red Wings were eliminated by the St. Louis Blues in the first round 3 games to 1.

Prior to the 1986-87 season, Detroit coach Jacques Demers named Yzerman captain of the Red Wings, making him the youngest captain in team history. Yzerman would respond with his third 30 goal season and the Red Wings would reach the third round of the playoffs that season, their deepest run into the playoffs since reaching the finals back in 1966.

His offensive production began to take off during this time period when Yzerman hit the 50 goal mark, as well as topping the 100 points, for the first time in 1987-88. It would be the first of six consecutive seasons with 45 goals or more for Yzerman. The playoffs would see another deep run by the Red Wings, as they once again reached the conference finals for the second year in a row.

The 1988-89 season would see Yzerman reach the pinnacle of his offensive numbers, with 65 goals and 90 assists for 155 points, all career highs and still Red Wings records, as well as being named the winner of the Lester Pearson Award.

The following seasons would see goal totals of 62, 51, 45 and 58 in 1992-93 when he also had 79 assists for 137 points, the second highest season point total of his career. His 65, 62 and 58 goal seasons are the top three in franchise history. Despite the personal success, the Red Wings would fail to advance past the second round of the playoffs from 1989 to 1993.

All that changed with the arrival of new Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman in 1993, who had already won five Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens and one with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He pushed Yzerman to be more responsible defensively and is credited for turning Yzerman into one of the best two-way players in the game, as proven by Yzerman winning the Selke Trophy in 2000.

After trips to both the Finals in 1995 and the Conference Finals in 1996, the Red Wings would capture the Stanley Cup in both 1997 and again emotionally in 1998, their first titles since 1955. Yzerman would be named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy following the 1998 playoffs.

The Red Wings would return to the finals again in 2002, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes for the third championship of Yzerman's career.

Three more seasons followed before Yzerman retired following the 2005-06 season with 1514 games played, 692 goals and 1063 assists for 1755 points. In addition, he played in 196 playoff games and is Detroit's all-time leader in goals (70), assists (115) and points (185) and won three Stanley Cups.

Internationally, Yzerman played in the 1983 World Junior Tournament, the 1984 Canada Cup, earning a gold medal, the World Championships in 1985 (silver), 1989 (silver) and 1990 when not busy with the NHL playoffs. He also skated for Canada in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey (silver) and the Olympics in 1998 and 2002, where Canada won the gold medal in Salt Lake City, their first since 1952.

His number #19 was retired by the Canadian National Team in 2005 and on this date by the Detroit Red Wings in 2007, joining Terry Sawchuk, Alex Delvecchio, Ted Lindsay, Sid Abel and Gordie Howe as the only players in Red Wings history with their numbers hanging from the rafters and the first one retired since 1995. During his career Yzerman was also named the winner of the Bill Masterton Trophy in 2003 and the Lester Patrick Award in 2006 and was the longest serving team captain in Red Wings history with 20 seasons of having the "C" adorn his sweater. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.


Today's featured jersey is a 2006-07 Detroit Red Wings Nicklas Lidstrom jersey which features the Steve Yzerman #19 patch worn on the date the Red Wings retired Yzerman's jersey #19. It also has the captain's "C", as Lidstrom was named Red Wings captain beginning with the 2006-07 season following the retirement of Yzerman from the NHL, the first european captain in Red Wings history.

Lidstrom had been on the Red Wings for the previous 11 seasons and was a part of the same three championship teams as Yzerman during that time and was himself the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2002.

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First up in today's video section, Steve Yzerman's Top 10 goals, including the #1 goal from double overtime of Game 7 of the 1996 playoffs versus the St. Louis Blues.


Another classic moment in not only Yzerman's career, but NHL history, as Yzerman presents the 1998 Stanley Cup to Valdimir Konstantinov, seriously injured in a car accident just days after winning the 1997 Stanley Cup.


Here is the actual raising of the banner to the rafters during Yzerman's jersey retirement ceremony. The full ceremony is available on YouTube in eight parts for those of you who wish to view the entire event.


While we could post 100 Yzerman videos, we decided to sum it up with Yzerman's Hall of Fame induction speech from 2009.

 

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