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Saturday, January 30, 2010

2005-06 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Teemu Selanne Jersey

After introducing himself to the NHL with 76 goals as a rookie with the Winnipeg Jets in the 1992-93 season, while winning the Calder Trophy, Teemu Selanne would go on to play four seasons in Winnipeg before being traded in a cost cutting move by the desperate and soon to relocate Jets to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in February of 1996.

After six prolific seasons in Anaheim, including two seasons over 50 goals, Selanne was dealt to the San Jose Sharks at the trading deadline in 2001, where he would skate for two additional seasons.

After leaving the Sharks, Selanne would package himself with former Mighty Ducks teammate Paul Kariya at a discounted rate in an effort to win a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche. Selanne, however, would suffer the worst offensive season of his career by far, recording only 32 points in 78 games. Selanne would have surgery following that season, which would force him to miss the 2004-05 season, sidetracking his plans to play for Jokerit Helsinki during the NHL lockout.

Selanne would sign a one year contract with the Mighty Ducks following the end of the lockout. Having recovered from his knee surgery, no one player benefitted from the year off more than Selanne. Unlike several other veteran players who chose not to play during the lockout and were never the same again, Selanne was rejuvenated by the combination of being healthy once more and a return to familiar territory in Anaheim.

He racked up 40 goals and 50 assists for 90 points, his most in six years. During the 2005-06 season Selanne would score his 1,000th NHL point on this date in 2006 when he scored his second goal of the game against the Los Angeles Kings, only the seventh European player to reach that milestone. Additionally, the Mighty Ducks would go on the deepest playoff run in Selanne's career, reaching the Western Conference Finals as Selanne chipped in 14 points in 16 games. He was recognized for his accomplishments that season by being named the 2006 recipient of the Masterton Trophy.

Selanne's regular season success of the year before was repeated the following year as the team underwent a name change under new ownership. Now simply the Anaheim Ducks, the team improved 12 points in the standings to win the Pacific Division title behind Selanne's team leading 94 points, the fourth highest season total of his career, from 48 goals and 46 assists. Selanne's 48 goals included him scoring the 500th goal of his career on November 22, 2006 against Colorado, making him only the second Finnish player, along with Jari Kurri, to score 500 NHL goals.

Five weeks later, on New Year's Eve, Selanne would play in his 1,00oth career game to finish off the calendar year with yet another milestone, having already reached 1,000 points and 500 goals during 2006.

2007 would also see Selanne set marks as the Ducks all-time leading goal scorer with 301 and become the first player over age 35 with consecutive 40-goal seasons.

The Ducks would march through the playoffs, defeating both the Minnesota Wild and then Vancouver Canucks in five games, before dispatching the Detroit Red Wings in six to reach the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time, facing off against the Ottawa Senators. The Ducks would win the first two games at home before losing the third in Ottawa. They would rebound by winning game four on the road, sending them back to Anaheim with a chance to take the cup at home, which they did by a decisive score of 6-2, giving an emotional Selanne his first opportunity to hoist the Stanley Cup.

He remained on the sidelines for the beginning of the 2007-08 season before returning to the ice in January. He became the Ducks all-time point scoring leader on February 12th and recorded his 600th assists later in the month.

Today's featured jersey is a 2005-06 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Teemu Selanne jersey as worn by Selanne during the 2005-06 season. This jersey drew "love it or hate it" reaction when first introduced.

The jersey's "baseball style" script logo was a radical departure for the NHL and the simplified waist and arm striping didn't have the Mighty Ducks "look", as they were the innovators of the diagonally striped jersey back in 1993. The interlocking "MD" monogram on the shoulders also did not look like anything that had come before in the cartoonish history of Mighty Ducks logos. Another polarizing aspect of this alternate jersey was the complete omission of the color jade from the not only the jersey, but the logo as well.

2005-06 was the final year for this style jersey, as the club would undergo one of the most radical redesigns to a team's look in league history, as they would change not only their colors, but modify the team's name as well now being under new ownership, changing from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, to simply the Anaheim Ducks.


Plenty of video today. First a quick video of Selanne hoisting the cup followed by being interviewed on the ice following the game, including the usual, stupid "are you going to retire" question, and then Selanne's press conference afterwards.




Our next video shows Selanne bringing the Stanley Cup home to Finland.


Our last video for the day shows Selanne indulging his passion for auto racing by competing in the 1998 Rally Finland, a video we're certain the Mighty Ducks management did not enjoy watching as their star player flies through the air in a forest at breakneck speeds.


Friday, January 29, 2010

1976-77 Buffalo Sabres Bob Sauve Jersey

The snow started to fall early in the morning of Friday, January 28th and the winds began to blow at 29 miles and hour with gusts up to 49 mph as the Buffalo Sabres practiced before a scheduled flight to Montreal later that afternoon.

As the cold front reached Buffalo at 11:35 AM, the temperature fell 26 degrees, reaching zero within four hours and the winds now averaged 46 mph with gusts up to 69 mph, creating wind chills of -60º to -70º.

Thousands were stranded in offices, schools and factories as roads became impassable when as much as eight inches of snow fell or was blown off the frozen Lake Erie, on top of the 33 inches that had already choked Buffalo that winter. An estimated 13,000 people were stranded in downtown Buffalo alone, along with an estimated 8,000 cars clogging the roads of the city, many of which ended up completely buried. Some Sabres employees were forced to sleep overnight in the Sabres home rink "The Aud", among the 300 people who took shelter there.

Six homes were completely destroyed on one block as fire trucks were unable to get through the drifts to reach the fire. A state of emergency was declared in Erie County were Buffalo is located, as well as Niagara, Orleans and Genesee counties as drifts reached 15 feet high by nightfall as the high winds combined with the unusual weather conditions earlier that winter left Lake Erie covered with ice and a layer of snow that was easily picked up by the winds and deposited on shore in Buffalo. In a typical winter, the snow on the lake went through a thaw and freeze cycle that would leave it with a hard crust on top, preventing the wind from carrying the snow into the city in such massive amounts.


Driving home from practice, winger Jim Lorentz had to abandon his car and walk the last mile as the snow was now "bumper-high". He did not find his car until three days later.

Gary McAdam had five separate accidents in his new Thunderbird in his attempt to return home. At the scene of the fifth accident, while examining his battered car, another vehicle came sliding toward his, causing McAdam to jump onto the trunk of his car as the sliding vehicle came to a halt against his bumper.

It took Lee Fogolin and Brian Spencer an incredible four hours to make the five-minute drive to their condominium. They were not seen again for three days.

Sabres coach Floyd Smith postponed the team's planned departure from Friday to Saturday, but the blizzard conditions remained as the wind continued to howl, clocked at speeds up to 51 mph, blowing even more snow into Buffalo from Lake Erie.

Saturday, for the first time in 143 years the Buffalo Courier Express could not publish it's morning newspaper.

Coach Smith was able to make it to the airport by following snow plows, but it stretched his usual 20 minute drive to two hours. Defenseman Jerry Korab couldn't even open the door of his house, so he called winger Rene Robert and told him, "If you want me to protect you tonight, come dig me out." Robert arrived with his four-wheel-drive truck, dug Korab out and headed off for the airport with three additional teammates along for the ride.


By 3 PM, only 10 players had arrived. As Smith as about to phone Montreal to cancel the game, Jocelyn Guevremont, who had gotten to his four-wheel-drive vehicle by jumping out of a window and shoveling his way to his garage, arrived with four other players, giving Buffalo enough bodies to make the trip.

"On the plane, the stewardesses were hollering at the pilots that we couldn't take off," recalled Don Luce. "I think they tried to turn it around, but all the plane did was blow sideways. Somehow they got it in the air."

Sabres Hall of Fame announcer Ted Darling was unable to make the flight to Montreal and was forced to call the game over the phone from his apartment while watching the game on television.

The undermanned Sabres arrived in Montreal and held the Canadiens to 19 shots on goal, which earned them a 3-3 tie on this date in 1977.

The blizzard forced the Sabres to cancel the following night's game in Buffalo against the Los Angeles Kings, a day when the winds continued to howl with gusts up to 52 mph.

Monday, the Sabres boarded a bus for what turned out to be a 10-hour trip across New York State for a game against the Islanders to start a three game road trip as the storm raged in Buffalo until Tuesday. While only 12 inches of new snow fell, the wind created drifts that finally topped out at 30 feet. Some areas even banned snowmobiles, as one rider was injured in a collision with a chimney on top of a house and the high drifts caused low clearance issues with power lines! Some towns even resorted to using metal detectors to locate buried cars before plowing the roads.


The Sabres next scheduled home game against the Toronto Maple Leafs was also postponed while the city was still recovering from the paralyzing drifts, meaning the Sabres went two weeks without a home game. Additionally, the Buffalo Braves of the NBA postponed four of their scheduled home games.

In all, there were 29 storm related deaths in Western New York, 11 of those in the City of Buffalo. Nine of those unfortunate people were found buried in their cars.

Today's featured jersey is a 1976-77 Buffalo Sabres Bob Sauve jersey, the style worn in Montreal the night 15 intrepid Buffalo Sabres managed to escape storm ravaged Buffalo to take on the defending Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens and hold them to a 3-3 tie.

Sauve was a rookie with the Sabres that season and went on to play nine seasons in Buffalo which included winning the Vezina Trophy with Don Edwards in 1980 and the Jennings Trophy with Tom Barasson in 1985.

At the time the Sabres were only in their sixth season and this was still their original jersey style with the tie-neck collar, no logos on the shoulders and without names on the back, which were added the following season.


Today's first video is an amazing look at the Blizzard of 1977 and it's effects on Buffalo.


Here is a pair of videos showing how a wall of snow coming off of Lake Erie can turn an ordinary day into a white out in a matter of minutes.



Dasherboard: Hockey Weekend Across America begins today and it's "Wear Your Favorite Hockey Jersey Day", so go dig out your favorite jersey and participate!

Thursday, January 28, 2010

1974-75 Toronto Toros Paul Henderson Jersey

Born on this date in 1943, Paul Henderson is best known for scoring the deciding goal in the 1972 Summit Series.

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"Henderson scores for Canada!"

By 1972, Henderson was already a ten year NHL veteran, having started out his career with the Detroit Red Wings before being sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a blockbuster trade that also sent Norm Ullman and Floyd Smith, along with Doug Barrie to Toronto in exchange for Frank Mahovlich, Garry Unger, Pete Stemkowski and the rights to Carl Brewer.

Henderson Maple Leafs photo HendersonMapleLeafs2.jpg

In the season prior to the Summit Series, Henderson achieved his career high with 38 goals and came close to equalling his NHL high in points of 60 from the 1970-71 season.

Henderson Maple Leafs photo HendersonMapleLeafscard.jpg

After the Summit Series, which made him a household name in Canada, Henderson played just two more seasons with the Maple Leafs before signing with Toronto's WHA franchise, the Toros.

While with the Toros, Henderson would see a continuation of his offensive output, with seasons of 63 and 55 points before the club relocated, as was often happened with WHA clubs. This time though was one of the most unusual, as they team found itself in the deep south of the United States in Birmingham, Alabama! It was there that Henderson would set a career high with 66 points from 37 goals and 29 assists in 1977-78.

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The Bulls owner John Bassett would help lead the charge of the WHA signing underage players in order to lock up the best young talent before the NHL could get players under contract due to league rules at the time prohibiting players under the age of 20 from playing in the NHL. The Bulls would sign so many youngsters that they were dubbed the "Baby Bulls".

Henderson Toros photo HendersonToros1.jpg

Henderson would return to the NHL for one final season in 1979-80 with the Atlanta Flames.

After having reached the Stanley Cup Finals twice early in his career with Detroit, in 1964 and 1966, it must have come as a disappointment for Henderson to only qualify for the playoffs four times with Toronto, which all resulted in first round exits, none of which even reached seven games. Things were even worse in the WHA, as the Toros did not make the playoffs with Henderson while the renamed Bulls managed but one first round exit in three seasons.
While Henderson never got to raise the Stanley Cup, he will always be remembered as a winner for his exploits in the 1972 Summit Series, where he not only scored the famous decisive Game 8 goal, but also totaled seven goals in the eight game series.

Henderson Canada photo henderson72canadacard.jpg

Henderson's final professional record shows 1067 games played, 376 goals and 384 assists for 760 points combined between both the NHL and the WHA.

Today's featured jersey is a 1974-75 Toronto Toros Paul Henderson jersey from Henderson's first season in the World Hockey Association. WHA jerseys are very desirable among collectors and many did not survive the policies of their often cash-strapped organizations, with many being recycled from season to season until wearing out, having names stripped off and used as training camp jerseys, being handed down to minor league teams or even given to local high schools who shared the same color scheme on occasion.

The Toros used the same jersey style for each of their three seasons in Toronto.


We naturally start with Henderson's famous goal in Game 8 of the 1972 Summit Series.


Here, Henderson's recalls his experiences in the 1972 Summit Series and what led up to his famous goal.


Finally, a bit of the Birmingham Bulls in action against the Houston Aeros from the 1977-78 season.


Wednesday, January 27, 2010

1964-65 New York Rangers Ulf Sterner Jersey

Ulf Sterner played in a mere four NHL games during his career, but in the process, became a hockey pioneer, as his debut for the New York Rangers in 1965 made him the first European to play in the NHL.

Sterner played for Sweden in the 1960 Olympics at age 18 and won a gold medal at the 1962 World Championships, followed by a silver medal in 1963, the same year he was named Sweden's Player of the Year. He then led all scorers at the 1964 Olympics in Austria with 11 points in seven games.


He came to the Rangers training camp in 1964 and began the year with the St. Paul Rangers of the Central Hockey League with 12 goals and 21 points in 16 games.


Once adjusted more to the North American style of play, Sterner was promoted to the Baltimore Clippers of the American Hockey League. With bodychecking not allowed in the offensive zone in international hockey, the heavy hitting all over the ice was not something Sterner was accustomed to.

Still, he played well, earning himself a call-up by the Rangers, making his NHL debut on this date in 1965, becoming the first European-trained player to do so. After four games, it became clear that the physical play employed in the NHL was not something Sterner was comfortable with and was not going to sufficiently adapt to and he was returned to Baltimore, where his undeniable offensive skills allowed him to finish with 44 points in 52 games.

Back in Sweden the following season, Sterner would go on to play another 13 seasons, which included being named the Best Forward at the 1969 World Championships. In all, he would play in nine World Championships, earning a gold medal, five silvers an a bronze. He would also compete in two Olympics, earning silver in 1964 and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2001.

In 1969, the IIHF amended it's rules to allow body checking everywhere, and having been trained under those rules, a better prepared Borje Salming became a regular member of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1973 and went on to have a 17 year NHL career. Once Salming showed a European was capable of competing in the NHL, more players began to arrive from primarily Sweden and Czechoslovakia at first, accelerated by the arrival of the WHA and the need for even more players.

Today's featured jersey is a 1964-65 New York Rangers Ulf Sterner jersey. The Rangers first adopted the font still in use for their main logo in 1941 and added the drop shadow the following season. The tie-neck collar arrived in 1951, bringing us to the style worn by Sterner in 1965. This style remained in use through 1976, but returned again in 1987, with the tie-neck collar reappearing in 1997.


Today's first video highlight is Ulf Sterner scoring Sweden's third goal as the Tre Kroner won the gold medal at the 1962 World Championships.


Next, we advance to 1970, as Sweden, with team captain Sterner wearing #14, defeats the Soviet Union for the first time in seven years 4-1 in a game where Vladisalv Tretiak coincidentally makes his NHL debut as an injury replacement. The video continues with the Soviets winning Game 2 by a score of 3-1 to win the World Championship.


Tuesday, January 26, 2010

1976-77 Charlestown Chiefs Reg Dunlop Jersey

Born on this date in 1925, actor Paul Newman is known for many of his film roles, including Luke Jackson in Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Fast Eddie Felson in The Color of Money, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1986.

Following his service in the Navy during World War II, which included time as a turret gunner on a bomber during the Battle of Okinawa, he went to acting school and made his first film in 1954 and earned his first nomination for an Academy Award in 1958 for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

He would receive further nominations for The Hustler in 1961, Hud in 1963, Cool Hand Luke in 1967 and discover his passion for auto racing in 1968 while filming Winning, centered around the Indianapolis 500.

However, hockey fans know Newman best as "Reg" Dunlop in the classic 1977 movie Slap Shot.


Written by Nancy Dowd, Slap Shot, about the downtrodden Charlestown Chiefs and their change in fortunes with the arrival of the notorious Hanson Brothers, draws heavily from the real life Johnstown Jets and the Carlson Brothers, Jack, Steve and Jeff.


In addition, the real life Goldie Goldthorpe, is clearly the inspiration for the character of Ogie Ogilthorpe, who was played in the film by writer Dowd's brother Ned, who inspired Nancy and assisted her by collecting stories while playing in the minors.


Jack Carlson was supposed to portray one of the three Hanson brothers in the film, however he was called up to play in the WHA with the Edmonton Oilers during filming. In his place, Dave Hanson was chosen to join Jeff and Steve as the third Hanson brother with actor Jerry Houser cast into Hanson's original role as Dave "Killer" Carlson, which was based on Dave Hanson.

In the movie, the Chiefs, members of the Federal League, are a downtrodden club in financial trouble, mainly due to unemployment issues facing the town, and are due to fold at the end of the season.

During the course of the season the club adds the Hanson Brothers, an immature trio of horn-rimmed glasses wearing thugs player/coach Dunlop is reluctant to even let on the ice. Finally, the Hansons hit the ice and complete mayhem follows as the Hansons hit everything in sight - that is when they aren't fighting everyone in sight. The fans in Charlestown go crazy at the antics of the Hansons, something Dunlop can't help but notice. As the Hansons are given more ice time, the fans at the games grow in number and enthusiasm, even following the team on road trips. Soon their teammates begin to adopt the Hansons violent, high-sticking, brawling style of play, at the urging of Dunlop.

Meanwhile, Dunlop keeps the team's morale up by fabricating a story about the potential sale and relocation of the club to a buyer who would move the franchise to Florida. In the end, Dunlop confesses to the team before the final and deciding championship playoff game that there is no secret buyer and the team is in fact, playing their final game. And if it is to be his final game, Dunlop wants to go out playing clean and with dignity, which the rest of the Chiefs agrees to. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, their violent, yet successful ways have influenced their opponents, the Syracuse Bulldogs, to round up the largest collection of thugs possible, including Tim "Dr. Hook" McCracken, Gilmore Tuttle, Andre "Poodle" Lussier, Ross "Mad Dog" Madison, Clarence "Screaming Buffalo" Swamptown and none other than rookie Ogie Ogilthorpe.

After being battered by the Bulldogs, the Chiefs finally fight back and the game degenerates into a brawl, with only the Chiefs Ned Braden refusing to participate. Braden "fights back" by going onto the ice in the middle of the melee and shocks everyone by performing an impromptu strip-tease, which causes all the combatants to stop and stare in bewildered amusement.

McCracken demands that the referee stop Braden, and when he refuses, McCracken slugs the referee, who disqualifies the Bulldogs, giving the Chiefs the championship and the trophy, which Braden joyfully skates around while wearing nothing but his jockstrap.

The movie has attained cult status in the hockey community, often cited as the #1 hockey movie of all time. Many classic quotes from the film have woven their way into the hockey vocabulary, such as
  • "You do that, you go to the box, you know. Two minutes by yourself, you know, and you feel shame, you know. And then you get free."
  • "Ok guys. Show us what you got."
  • "Hey Hanrahan! She's a lesbian!"
  • "Dave's a mess."
  • "The fans are standing up to them! The security guards are standing up to them! The peanut vendors are standing up to them! And by golly, if I could get down there, I'd be standing up to them!"
  • "puttin' on the foil!"
and of course,
  • "Old time hockey, like Eddie Shore, Dit Clapper and Toe Blake. Those guys were the greats!"

The Carlson brothers would all go on to have professional careers, which included all three brothers playing for the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA, glasses and all, at the same time during the 1975-76 season, which should be noted was based on merit and not an attempt to capitalize on the fame of the movie, which would not even be released until 1977.


Jack Carlson would play in 272 games in 5 WHA seasons and 236 games in 6 NHL seasons. Steve Carlson totaled 173 WHA games and 52 NHL games in 5 combined seasons, while Jeff Carlson skated in 7 WHA games plus nine more minor league seasons.

The "Hanson Brothers" have also attained cult status on their own, as Steve Carlson, Jeff Carlson and Dave Hanson continue to make personal appearances as The Hansons and have even been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. In addition, it's nearly impossible to attend and NHL game in person without seeing a Chiefs jersey in the stands, as they continue to be sold to this day, over thirty years after the movie's original release.


Today's featured jersey is a 1976-77 Charlestown Chiefs Reg Dunlop jersey. The classic Charlestown Chiefs jersey was patterned after the Johnstown Jets jerseys, which in turn came from their parent club, the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the WHA.

While we have taken care to match the fonts for the back and sleeve numbers to those used on the jerseys worn by Paul Newman in the movie, which are not exactly the same, we did stray from authenticity a bit by adding the name "DUNLOP" to the back of our jersey, as none of the Chiefs jerseys in the movie had names on the back. Our jersey was originally purchased blank for a bargain price and did not come with the Charlestown All American City patch on the shoulder like those worn in the movie. If we are able to obtain one at some point, we will certainly add it to our jersey at that time.

Humorously, many of the Chiefs jerseys sold feature #16 on one sleeve, #17 on the back and #18 on the other sleeve to represent all three Hanson Brothers on the same sweater.

Charlestown Chiefs 77 jersey photo CharlestownChiefs77F.jpg
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Plenty of video options today, but no better place to start than with the original movie trailer for Slap Shot.


Next up, the Hansons take to the ice for the first time, and the game of hockey will never be the same.


Here is a look back at Slap Shot on the 25th Anniversary of the movie's release, in two parts.



Here is David Letterman's tribute to Paul Newman, who happens to be a fellow Indy Car team owner.


Next, a look back at the films and life of Paul Newman - philanthropist, actor and sportsman.



Monday, January 25, 2010

1990-91 St. Louis Blues Brett Hull Jersey

Brett Hull joined an exclusive club on this date in 1991 by scoring his 50th goal in 50 games or less.

The feat was famously first accomplished back in 1944-45 by Maurice "Rocket" Richard on the final day of the season when the schedule was only 50 games long. Even with the season extended to 60 games in 1946 and 70 games in 1949, it would still take another 16 years for anyone to score 50 again when Bernie Geoffrion scored his 50th but not until his 62nd game.

Maurice Richard 50 Pictures, Images and Photos
Maurice Richard celebrates becoming the first to score 50 goals in a season

It would take 35 years before anyone would equal Richard's 50 in 50, when in 1980-81 Mike Bossy famously scored twice in the last five minutes of his 50th game to match Richard, who was in attendance at the game to congratulate Bossy.

Bossy Richard 50 goals, Bossy Richard 50 goals
Mike Bossy poses with Maurice Richard to celebrate
Bossy's 50th goal in 50 games

Wayne Gretzky would shatter the 50 in 50 mark the following season when he simply assaulted the record by scoring four goals in his 38th game to put him at 45 goals and then blasted in five goals in the very next game to hit the 50 goal mark in only 39 games.

Think about that for a moment. At the conclusion of game 37 Gretzky stood at 41 goals and then scored nine goals in just two games! That's a good week for some teams these days.

Gretzky 50 goals, Gretzky 50 goals
Gretzky poses with the pucks from his five goals,
including the one from milestone 50th goal

Gretzky would again beat the 50 game barrier twice more when he scored 50 in 42 games in 1983-84 and 40 in a leisurely 49 games in 1984-85.

Mario Lemieux was the next one to join the ranks of 50 in 50, when in 1988-89 he managed to score his 50th in the Pittsburgh Penguins 46th game, which was the 44th game that Lemieux had played in that season.

Lemieux 88-89, Lemieux 88-89
Mario Lemieux

The most recent member of the 50 in 50 club would be Brett Hull, when he scored twice in his 49th game to reach the magical 50 mark on this date in 1991. Hull would again achieve 50 in 50 the following season of 1991-92 when he scored goal #50 against Kelly Hrudey of the Los Angeles Kings in a 3-3 tie.

Brett Hull Blues, Brett Hull Blues
Brett Hull

To qualify for the 50 goals in 50 games mark, a player must score 50 on or before his team's 50th game, which has resulted in some close calls, due to players missing a few games in the early part of the year. Jari Kurri scored 50 in 50 in 1984-85, but it was the Edmonton Oilers 53rd game of the season. Alexander Mogilny also scored his 50 goal in the Buffalo Sabres 53rd game of 1992-93 in what was only Mogilny's 46th game.

Lemieux's injury problems affected him twice, as he scored his 50th in 1992-93 during the Penguins 72nd game, but only Lemieux's 48th of the season. 1995-96 would see Lemieux score 50 in 50 of his games, but the 59th game for Pittsburgh.

The final unofficial 50 in 50 member is Cam Neely of the Boston Bruins, who in 1993-94 scored his 50th goal in the 44th game of his season, which was the Bruins 66th contest that year.

Additionally, Charlie Simmer (1980-81) and Bernie Nicholls (1988-89), both of the Kings, and Lemieux (1987-88) came close with 50 goals in 51 games and Brett's father Bobby Hull got his 50th in his 52nd game in 1965-66.

To give credit where credit's due, Anders Hedberg and Bobby Hull both scored 50 goals in less than 50 games while playing in the World Hockey Association, whose records are not recognized by the NHL.

Today's featured jersey is a 1990-91 St. Louis Blues Brett Hull jersey from the game during which he scored his 50th goal of the season.

This style Blues jersey, with it's new, darker shade of blue than before, can be traced back to the 1984-85 season, although with a "Blues" wordmark over the top of a smaller blue note crest. The word mark disappeared in 1987 and the crest had it's sharp corners rounded in 1989-90, giving us today's featured jersey.

The names would change from one color to three in 1992-93 for the final two seasons of use before a radical redesign sent this classic style into retirement.

St Louis Blues 90-91 jersey, St Louis Blues 90-91 jersey
St Louis Blues 90-91 jersey, St Louis Blues 90-91 jersey

Today's video highlight is Brett Hull scoring his 50th goal in his 49th games.


 

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