1982-83 Boston Bruins Pete Peeters Jersey

Following a loss to the Quebec Nordiques on November 11, 1982, the Boston Bruins record stood at 7-6-3. The Bruins rebounded with a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres two nights later on the 13th. Goaltender Pete Peeters was the winner, making 25 saves on 27 Buffalo shots.

The Bruins won their following game 7-3 over the St. Louis Blues with Mike Moffat in the Bruins goal. On November 16th, the Bruins got their redemption against the Nordiques with a dominant 7-4 win with Peeters back in goal. He was again the winning goaltender on November 18th in a 3-1 win over the Islanders in a game that was not as close as it sounds, as Boston led 3-0 with seven minutes remaining.

Moffat took the loss against Pittsburgh on November 20th before Peeters won his fourth consecutive start after making two Bruins first period goals stand up in a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames as the Bruins held the Flames to just 17 shots, an especially low amount in the wide open style of the 1980's.

A tie with the Flyers on the 24th halted Peeters winning streak, but extended his unbeaten streak to five games, which continued the next day with a 1-1 draw against the New York Islanders, who were in the middle of their Stanley Cup dynasty and would go on to win another championship at the end of the season.

Peeters earned his second shutout of the season with an 8-0 pounding of the Hartford Whalers on the 27th to close out November.

December began with a 3-3 tie against the Nordiques on the 2nd followed by a come from behind 6-4 win in Montreal against the Canadiens, highlighted by Barry Pederson's hat trick. Peeters unbeaten streak now reached 10 back in Boston on the 5th as Pederson recorded his second consecutive hat trick in another 6-4 victory.

A contentious, fight filled game against the Nordiques on December 7th saw Moffat take the loss in a 10-5 win for Quebec, although Peeters started the game and allowed the first five Quebec goals.

Moffat got the win in a high scoring 8-5 Bruins win against Montreal on the 9th and again on the 11th 4-2 over the Chicago Blackhawks. Moffat's attempt at a winning streak was curtailed with a 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals.

Peeters got the start against Buffalo and resumed his unbeaten streak, now at 11 games, with an easy 8-1 shellacking of the Sabres on the 16th. Peeters third shutout arrived on the 18th in a 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

Hartford fell victim to Peeters and the Bruins once more on the 23rd by a score of 5-1. After two days off for Christmas, the New Jersey Devils received the same treatment in a 5-2 Bruins win in Boston, their final home game for 18 days.

Boston's seven game road trip began in St. Louis in fine style on the 28th as Boston scored a goal in each period for a 3-0 win, Peeters fourth shutout and Peeters 15th decision without a loss. 1982 came to a close on December 31st as the Bruins extended Peeters unbeaten streak to 16 in a 5-3 win over the Minnesota North Stars, which was not decided until Keith Crowder scored an empty net goal with seven seconds remaining.

January 2nd saw Moffat take the loss in a 6-4 defeat to the Jets in Winnipeg. It was at this point that the Bruins record stood at 23-10-6 thanks to the Bruins five game winning streak in the latter half of December.

The rest of the road trip saw Peeters in goal for each of the four remaining games with a 4-1 win in Chicago, a 2-2 tie in New Jersey, a narrow 2-1 win in Montreal with the extended road trip concluding with a 6-4 win in Toronto to extend Peeters unbeaten streak to an even 20.

The schedule makers now rewarded the Bruins with ten of their next 13 games at home in the Boston Garden. Now fully on a roll, Peeters shutout the Nordiques 2-0 on January 13th and duplicated that feat on the 15th over the New York Rangers by the same 2-0 score.

Minnesota stopped Peeters shutout streak at 168:05 with a goal early in the second period, but his unbeaten streak reached 23 games with a come from behind win thanks to Tom Fergus' goal with just 14 seconds left in the game to give Boston a 4-3 win on the 17th.

Three days later Peeters third shut out in his last four games arrived in the form of a 4-0 win over Buffalo. It was also Peeters 6th consecutive victory.

Marco Baron extended the Bruins winning streak to seven as he got the start for the Bruins on the road in a 3-1 win in Detroit against the Red Wings on January 22nd.

Peeters' personal winning streak resumed in a 3-1 win in Manhattan against the Rangers on the 24th before the club returned home to Boston on the 29th, where a 7-3 defeat of the visiting Red Wings saw the Bruins winning streak reach 9 straight victories and Peeters personal winning streak at 8, while his unbeaten streak was now at 26 games.

January came to a close on the 31st with a 2-2 tie against Winnipeg, tying Peeters personal best 27 game undefeated streak set while with the Flyers during the 1979-80 season when they went an NHL record 35 games without a loss, with Phil Myre sharing in the streak. The Bruins finished January with a 10-1-2 record, with their only loss coming back on the 2nd.

Peeters set a new personal best with his 28th decision without a loss on February 3rd following a 5-3 win over the Nordiques. Baron then extended the Bruins undefeated streak to 14 with a 7-4 win over the Whalers on the 5th.

The Sabres fell again to Boston and Peeters the next night by a score of 5-1 and Peeters reached the rarified air of a 30 game undefeated streak on February 10th as the Bruins beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 7-3 as the club's unbeaten streak reached 16.

Finally on this date in 1983 the Bruins would host the Vancouver Canucks with Peeters once again getting the start. After a scoreless first period Vancouver would break out on top with a power play goal two minutes into the second period. Mike Krushelnyski evened the score for Boston at 10:25 and Rick Middleton's goal less than four minutes later would give the Bruins the lead, which Middleton would extend to 3-1 with three and a half minutes left in the game to extend the Bruins winning streak to five games, their undefeated streak to 17 games (15-0-2 since January 5th) and Peeters personal record to 31 games without a loss, the second longest such streak in NHL history, one behind only former Bruins goaltender (and current head coach!) Gerry Cheevers' 32 game run set in 1975-76.

Having a head coach who had been through such a streak on his own must have been helpful for Peeters, as Cheevers must have had a unique insight on how to handle Peeters and deflect some of the mounting pressure and attention during his run of excellence. Either that, or Cheevers simply kept running Peeters out there in a secret hope he'd tire him out to protect his own league record!

The Bruins record was now 38-10-8 but Peeters would come one short of tying Cheevers when he allowed two goals by Gilbert Perreault and Phil Housley, while Middleton's 30th was all the Bruins could get by Buffalo's Bob Sauve before Brent Peterson's empty net goal made the final 3-1 for Buffalo, ending Peeters undefeated streak, during which he had a record of 26-0-5 and a goals against average of 1.94 and six shutouts.

"It's not a great disappointment," Peeters said following the game. "It's not something that's going to set me on a downfall. I'm happy with my teammates because I really believe they gave it all they had. [The streak] meant more to them than it did to me."

Peeters would finish the season with a 40-11-9 record to lead the Bruins to a league best 110 points, although this was three seasons before the debut of the President's Trophy, which is now awarded to the team that finishes the regular season with the most points. Pederson would lead Boston in scoring with 46 goals and 107 points, which would place him 6th overall in the NHL.

In the playoffs, Boston would eliminate the Nordiques in four games 3 games to 1 and barely outlast Buffalo with an overtime winner in Game 7 before facing the battle-tested three time defending Stanley Cup champion New York Islanders, who ended the Bruins season in a back and forth six game series, which oddly saw each game decided by a minimum of three goals!

At the conclusion of the season, Peeters was named the recipient of the Vezina Trophy as the NHL best goaltender for the 1982-83 season as well as a First Team All-Star. He would go on to play three more seasons with the Bruins before moving on to the Capitals and later returning to his original club, the Flyers. His career record over 13 seasons was 246-155-51, but his 40 win season would stand alone as his best, as he never even reached 30 wins in any other year. At the time of his retirement in 1991, Peeters held the second and third longest unbeaten streaks in NHL history at 31 and 27 games, neither of which have been equalled in the nearly 30 years since his astounding 31 game run in 1982-83.

Today's featured jersey is a 1982-83 Boston Bruins Pete Peeters jersey. This jersey has been modified for Peeters with nearly an extra foot of length added to the mid-section from below the Bruins crest down to the waist stripes, giving it truly unusual proportions when compared to the average player's jersey. Peeters would then pull the jersey down as far as possible in a surreptitious effort to decrease the size of the "five hole" between his legs!

Eventually the league caught onto Peeters' modified jersey and outlawed his alterations. See if you can detect the seam just below the crest or the #1 on the back.

In today's video section, proof of Peeters colorful career, as he gets into a fight with the North Stars Don Beaupre while he was a member of the Flyers. Note the Flyers skaters wearing their short-lived long pants.

In our next clip, Peeters takes a shot to the head and is knocked out cold while with the Capitals.

1980-81 Minnesota North Stars Bobby Smith Jersey

Bobby 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, born on this date in 1958, 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 wore #18 on his return to Minnesota

Smith would play two more seasons in the NHL, which included his 1,000th NHL point, becoming only the 32nd player in league history to reach that mark. Later that season he reach the 1,000 game mark and would eventually 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 1980-81 Minnesota North Stars Bobby Smith jersey worn during the era when defenseman Greg Smith was also a member of the North Stars. But rather than go with the usual, expected "B. SMITH" and "G. SMITH" to identify the pair, the North Stars, for some unexplained reason, chose to put the full name "BOBBY SMITH" on Bobby's jersey, despite the full name treatment usually reserved for brothers whose names began with the same letter, such as Rich and Ron Sutter, Dave and Don Maloney, Jim and Joe Watson or Mark and Marty Howe. We assume Greg received the same full name treatment, but were unable to confirm this.

After the departure of Greg Smith following the 1980-81 season, Bobby Smith had just the standard surname only on his jersey, but on his return to the North Stars from his time in Montreal, the arrival of former Philadelphia Flyer Derrick Smith in 1991-92 saw Bobby's jerseys identified as "B SMITH" this time around.

Bonus Jerseys: Today's bonus jerseys is a 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, foreshadowing the club's move to Dallas in time for the 1993-94 season.

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

Bobby Smith wore "B SMITH" on his jersey due to left winger Derrick Smith being a member of the North Stars during the final two seasons of Bobby's career.

In today's video section, Smith wins a game in overtime for Montreal against the rival Bruins during the 1989 playoffs, much to the delight of his teammates and the home fans.

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.

Japan National Foundation Day

Each year on this date, the nation of Japan celebrates National Foundation Day to mark the day the first emperor of Japan, Jimmu, believed to be a direct decedent of the sun goddess, founded the nation of Japan in 660 BC.

Emperor Jimmu

The date was chosen based on New Year's Day of the traditional lunisolar calendar, used in Japan until 1873, as that was the day the Nihon Shoki (The Chronicles of Japan), the oldest book of Japanese history compiled on imperial orders, recorded that Emperor Jimmu ascended to the throne on the first day of the first month.

When the Japanese government designated the day as a national holiday in 1873, the year Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar, they decreed February 11th as the day that corresponded to Emperor Jimmu's day of ascension to the throne.

The day was originally known as Empire Day (Kigen-setsu) and was supported by those who believed that focusing national attention on the emperor would serve as a unifying event with the people.

Large parades and festivals held during its early days made it one of the four major holidays of Japan.

With the holiday relying heavily on Shinto mythology, the spirituality of Japan, and its reinforcement of the Japanese nobility, the holiday was abolished following World War II, but was re-established as National Foundation Day (kenkoku kinenbi) in 1966, in a slightly more muted form and without the references to the emperor.

Customs now include raising of the Japanese flag, known as the Hinomaru (the Sun Disk) which represents the divine selection of the Emperor.

There are also parades, the largest of which is the float parade in the Meiji Shrine, which is dedicated to the spirits of the Emperor Meiji and his wife, where people carry a miniature temple decorated with Japanese flags that is carried on their shoulders.

A miniature temple carried on the shoulders

The Japan Ice Hockey Federation was the first Asian nation to join the International Ice Hockey Federation in 1930 and the Japan National Hockey Team played its first game on January 24, 1930 at the World Championships, a 12-2 loss to Czechoslovakia where they were ranked sixth out of ten teams.

It would take 27 years until after World War II before Japan returned to the international hockey scene, which began with the 1957 World Championships. They next played in 1962 followed by a full return to regular appearances in 1967 when the won Pool C. They again finished first in Pool C in 1969 to earn promotion to Pool B where they would remain until 1981 with best finishes of 2nd in 1976 and 1978.

They were relegated back to Pool C for 1982 but immediately finished first and were back up to Pool B for three years through 1986. It was back down to Pool C for 1987, but they again won an immediate promotion to Pool B where they would stay for eight years, reaching 3rd in 1992.

Much to the benefit of Japan, in 1998 the IIHF revised the format of the World Championships, expanding the Top Division to 16 teams, up from 12. One of the four new spots was reserved for the Far East Qualifier in an attempt to boost ice hockey in Asia.

Regardless of whether Japan was in over it's head in the Top Division at the time, Japan was still strong enough to repeat as the Far East Qualifier for the next seven seasons, having little trouble defeating China and Korea. This allowed Japan to avoid the standard relegation penalty for finishing in 16th and last place five consecutive times from 1999 to 2003. In each of their seven years in the World Championships, Japan never won a game, managing two ties, 3-3 against Norway in 2001 and 3-3 against Slovenia in 2003, both times after holding 3-1 leads.

Since the reserved qualifying spot did not have the desired effect on Asian hockey, the protected spot was eliminated for the 2004 edition. Japan gamely fought to protect their position that year on merit and nearly avoided the Relegation Round. They were tied 3-3 in a critical game versus Denmark in the third period, but Nobuhiro Sugawara famously misfired on an attempt to fire the puck around behind his own net, but instead fired a perfect strike into his own empty goal. Now in the Relegation Round, they tied France and Ukraine but lost to Kazakhstan. The lack of a win left them short on points in the standings and were now relegated to Division I Group A for 2005.

They have maintained their place in the six team Division I for the last 11 years, finishing 3rd or 4th ever year but two. In 2005, they placed 5th and in 2011 they withdrew from the tournament following the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami that devastated so much of the country. The IIHF graciously allowed Japan to maintain its place in Division I Group A, and instead relegated the fifth place finisher.

Japan has participated in the Olympics eight times, with the first being in 1936. Their second Olympics came in 1960. In Group A, Japan lost to Canada 19-1 and 19-0 to Sweden. In the Consolation Round, they played a double round robin format, tying Finland 6-6 and then defeating Australia 13-2. After losing to Finland 11-2, they rebounded by again beating the Australians 11-3 to finish eighth out of the nine teams for their highest placing ever in the Olympics.

Goaltender Teiji Honma at the 1936 Olympics, protecting his eyeglasses with a mask 23 years before Jacques Plante began the mask revolution in the NHL

They competed again in 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1980 with best placings of ninth in both 1972 and 1976. They would not return to the Olympics until 1998 when they hosted the Games in Nagano, the first Olympics to feature the pros of the NHL. Japan was placed in Group B along with Belarus, Germany and France, with a best result being a 3-3 tie with Belarus. They were paired with Austria to determine 13th place and prevailed in a shootout 4-3, which was their most recent appearance at the Olympics.

The team is currently ranked 20th in the IIHF World Rankings, with a high of 15th in 2003.

Norio Suzuki is Japan's all-time leading scorer with 85 points in the Asian Cup and World Championships combined, having scored a total of 39 goals in the process. Toshiyuli Saki ranks first with 84 games played during his international career.

Also worth noting are Japan's victories in the Asian Winter Games in both 2003 and 2007.

The Japan Ice Hockey League was founded in 1966 and existed until 2004 with six teams when it was replaced by the Asia League Ice Hockey, which has not only teams from Japan, but China and South Korea and now Russia, with four of the nine teams being from Japan.

Goaltender Yutaka Fukufuji became the first Japanese-born player to play in the NHL on January 16, 2007 for the Los Angeles Kings. In total, he played in four NHL games.

Yutaka Fukufuji

Hiroyuki Miura is officially the first Japanese player to be drafted by an NHL team, as long as you do not count the legendary, but mythical, Taro Tsujimoto, after being chosen by the Montreal Canadiens in the 11th round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. He was a member of the Japan National Team at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, but never played in the NHL.

Also of note, Japan played host to the opening games of the NHL season in 1997 (Canucks and Mighty Ducks), 1998 (Sharks and Flames) and 2000 (Predators and Penguins) when two teams traveled to Tokyo to play a pair of games to kick off the season, which were called "Game ONe".

Today's featured jersey is a 2000 Japan National Team Yohei Yamashita jersey as worn in the IIHF U18 World Junior Pool B Championships held in Riga, Latvia on April 3-9, 2000. Yamashita had no points in five games as Japan went 2-1 in Group A and 0-2 in the Final Round to finish fourth out of eight.

This striking jersey mimics the minimalist nature of the Japanese flag, with only red trim on the wrists and collar as adornment. The red rising sun logo on the front is done in the textured glacier twill, as are the red numbers and the name on the back. This style was worn from 1998 through 2000.

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 2013 Japan National Team Yutaka Fukufuji jersey as worn in the Division I Group A World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.  This style was worn from 2012 through 2014.

 

Photos courtesy of Jussi Siiriäinen

This is the song of National Foundation Day.

In this video, the Japan National Team takes on Slovenia in a shootout in 2009 in an Olympic qualifying match in Hanover, Germany.

Finally, Japan (in black) defeats Great Britain 4-1 at the 2013 IIHF Division I Group A tournament.

1992-93 Calgary Flames Joe Nieuwendyk Jersey

When the San Jose Sharks hosted the Calgary Flames on this date in 1993 in front of 18,656 fans, few of the fans in attendance expected the 6-46-2 Sharks to defeat the 30-19-6 Flames but then the Sharks scored on Calgary goaltender Jeff Reese when Johan Garpenlov converted on the power play at 2:51 of the first period to put the Sharks ahead 1-0.

It would take nearly ten minutes for the Flames to equalize the score when Gary Suter scored from Robert Reichel at 12:26. Calgary went ahead just 17 seconds later when Reichel scored on assists from Suter and goaltender Reese at 12:43. Then Gary Roberts extended the Flames lead at 16:17 from Theo Fleury and Suter before Ronnie Stern closed out the first period scoring with an assist from Joel Otto at 18:41, with all four of the Flames first period goals coming at even strength.

 
Gary Suter had a goal and two assists in the first period

The Sharks held off the Flames onslaught for the first half of the second period before Roberts 33rd goal of the season from Paul Ranheim and goaltender Reese once again at 13:41. Reichel's second goal of the game came from Craig Berube and Fleury 32 second later. Fleury reached the 20 goal mark for the season when he scored at 19:32 from Flames captain Joe Nieuwendyk and Roberts at 19:32 to make the score after two periods 7-1 in favor of the Flames. As in the first period, all of the Calgary goals in the second were at even strength since Fleury's goal came just one second after the Sharks Neil Wilkinson's penalty had expired. For the period, the Flames out shot the Sharks 29-6.

Joe Nieuwendyk assisted on Fleury's 20th goal of the season

The Flames then set a league record for the fastest three goals to start a period when they came out flying to open the third. Suter's second of the game, from Fleury and Reichel, came at the 17 second mark. Fleury and Reichel again received the assists on Chris Lindberg's goal at 40 seconds and Stern set the record at 53 seconds from Frantisek Musil and Al MacInnis to give the Flames a 10-1 lead.

Theo Fleury had two assists in 23 seconds on his way to a six point night

Reichel completed a hat trick at 9:41 from MacInnis and Reese, who became the first goaltender in NHL history to score three points in a game with his third assist of the night, with one in each period. Stern then finished off his hat trick from Roberts and Musil at 15:oo. Two minutes later Brian Skrudland joined the scoresheet with an assist from Fleury at the 17 minute mark to close out the scoring with the Flames 13th goal of the game, all of which were scored at even strength!

Robert Reichel led the Flames attack with three goals and three assists

Goalies Jeff Hackett and Arturs Irbe faced 42 shots in goal for the Sharks, with Hackett making 9 saves on 15 shots in 23:23 of playing time while Irbe made 14 saves on the 21 shots he faced in 35:37 of action. Reese, in addition to his NHL record scoring exploits, stopped 26 of the 27 Sharks shots to get the win.

Of the 19 Flames players, 14 scored at least a point and everyone finished with a positive plus/minus rating led by Fleury's +9, followed by Reichel at +7 for the evening. For the Sharks, veteran Doug Wilson had the roughest evening with a -7 rating.

Reichel led the scoring parade with 3 goals and 3 assists for 6 points, equaled by Fleury's 6 points from 1 goal and 5 assists. Defenseman Suter's 2 goals and 2 assists led the blueliners, which was matched by Roberts 2 goals and 2 assists.

Gary Roberts had a pair of goals and four points

Today's featured jersey is a 1992-93 Calgary Flames Joe Nieuwendyk jersey as worn in the Flames record setting 13-1 win over the Sharks. Nieuwendyk became captain of the Flames in 1991 and remained so until his trade to Dallas in 1995. This jersey features the Stanley Cup Centennial patch worn on all players jerseys throughout the 1992-93 season.

Calgary would continue to wear this style jersey through the 1993-94 season until it was replaced after 22 seasons of use, which included a change in logo after the franchise's relocation from Atlanta to Calgary.

1915-16 St. Paul Athletic Club Moose Goheen Jersey

One of the United States greatest players in hockey's early days, Frank "Moose" Goheen was born on this date in 1894.

In 1915-16 and 1916-17, Goheen, an early offensive minded defenseman, was a member of the St. Paul Athletic Club which won the MacNaughton Cup as champions of amateur hockey in the United States.

The MacNaughton Cup

After missing two seasons while serving in the army during World War I in Belgium and Germany, Goheen returned to the St. Paul Athletic Club in time to win a league championship in 1920. He then became a member of the very first United States Olympic Hockey Team later in 1920.

Goheen was a member of the first United States Olympic Hockey Team in 1920

The United States began their tournament with a 7-0 win over Sweden. They followed that with a 16-0 defeat of Czechoslovakia before destroying Switzerland by a score of 29-0, setting up a showdown with Canada. The Canadians narrowly defeated the United States 2-1 which resulted in the Americans being awarded the silver medal. Goheen scored 7 goals in the four games played during his return to Belgium.

He was later named to the 1924 Olympic Team, but passed on the opportunity because of work commitments. He also reportedly passed on offers from the Boston Bruins, Montreal Maroons, New York Americans and Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL in order to remain in Minnesota.

The 1922-23 St. Paul Athletic Club

In 1922-23 and 1923-24, Goheen was again a member of the St. Paul Athletic Club in the United States Amateur Hockey Association before turning professional with the newly renamed St. Paul Saints when they became members of the CHL in 1925-26 where he led the club in scoring with 13 goals and 23 points in 36 games, an impressive feat for a defenseman.

Goheen in 1925-26

St. Paul moved to the new American Hockey Association in 1926-27 and Goheen played with the Saints for the next four seasons, with a high of 19 goals and 24 points in 1927-28.

He played in just two games in 1930-31 with the Buffalo Majors before returning to the Saints in 1931-32 for the final season of his career. As a professional, Goheen scored 52 goals and 39 assists for 91 points in 187 games in seven seasons. His rushing style of play from his defense position would not be seen again until the arrival of Eddie Shore in the 1930's and later Bobby Orr in the 1960's.

Goheen was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1952, only the second American ever inducted into the hall and a rare inductee to have never played in the NHL. He was later honored as a charter member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973.

Today's featured jersey is a 1915-16 St. Paul Athletic Club Moose Goheen jersey, as worn when St. Paul won the MacNaughton Cup that season as the United States Amateur Hockey Association's national champions.

Jersey photo courtesy of VintageMinnesotaHockey.com, where you can purchase your own St. Paul Athletic Club jersey.

1964 Canada National Team Terry Clancy Jersey

Prior to the start of the 1964 Winter Olympics hockey tournament, there were two qualifying games which took place. To determine the Asia/Oceanic representative, Japan faced off against Australia in a pair of lopsided contests won by Japan 17-1 and 17-6. Also, for the third and final time, West Germany squared off against rival East Germany to determine which side would represent all of Germany. The first game resolved nothing as the two teams tied 4-4, setting up a winner take all second game, which went the way of West Germany by the closest of margins, 4-3. West Germany has also won their two previous Olympic qualifying playoffs in 1960 and 1956.

The field of 16 teams was paired off over the course of January 27th and 28th in a single elimination playoff game, with the winning sides advancing to Group A to determine places 1 through 8 and the medals, while the losing teams played for places 9 to 16.

Switzerland defeated Norway 5-1 and Canada drubbed Yugoslavia 14-1 on the 27th to move into Group A. The next day the remaining six spots were filled with as Soviet Union won 19-1 over Hungary, Czechoslovakia beat Japan 17-2, Sweden defeated Italy 12-2, the United States beat Romania 7-2, West Germany narrowly beat Poland 2-1 and Finland hammered Austria 8-2.

In Group A play starting on January 29th, the Soviets beat the US 5-1, the Czechs beat the Germans 11-1 and Canada beat Switzerland 8-0. Canada won again the next day 3-1 over Sweden while Finland blanked the Swiss 4-0.

Switzerland (in white) fell to the Canadians 8-0

The US bounced back on the 31st with a 8-0 defeat of Germany while the Soviets were pushed by their main rivals Czechoslovakia but prevailed 7-5.

The Soviets were in the driver's seat after beating Czechoslovakia

The Czechs shut out Finland 4-0 on February 1st while the Soviets crushed the Swiss 15-0. Sweden got their first victory 7-4 at the expense of the Americans.

Canada beat the Germans 4-2 and Sweden handed Finland it's second consecutive shutout 7-0 on the 2nd followed by Canada advancing to 4-0 with their 8-6 win over the United States in the only game on the 3rd.

Finland had the misfortune of facing the Soviets on the 4th and were held off the scoresheet for the third straight game in their 10-0 loss. The Czechs won 5-1 over Switzerland and Sweden kept pace with the Czechs with their 10-2 win over Germany.

With three days left in the tournament, things were coming into focus. Neither the Soviet Union or Canada had lost yet, while Sweden and the Czechs each had one loss.

Canada remained undefeated by winning 6-2 over Finland on the 5th while Sweden hammered the Swiss 12-0 and the Czechs did their part with a 7-1 win over the USA.

Goaltender Seth Martin had Canada at 5-0

After a day off, play resumed with four games on the 7th. After Germany beat Switzerland 6-5 and Finland edged the US 3-2, the mighty Soviets beat Sweden 4-2 and Czechoslovakia dropped Canada from the ranks of the undefeated with a 3-1 win despite Canada leading 1-0 with less than ten minutes to play on a goal by future NHLer Rod Seling, but a collision with a Czechoslovakian player Miroslav Vlach knocked their goaltender Seth Martin from the game and his untested replacement could not hold off the Czechs, who scored 3 in the last eight minutes.

Maskless Vladimir Nadrchal of Czechoslovakia
fends off an attack from Canada's Raymond Cadieux

That set up the final day's competition and the last four games on the schedule with all eight teams in action with the Soviet Union, Canada and Czechoslovakia all still in contention for the gold. Germany beat Finland 2-1 and the US was victorious over the Swiss 7-3 to set places 5 through 8 as the United States, Finland Germany and winless Switzerland.

The Soviets secured the gold medal with their close 3-2 win over Canada, finishing with a perfect 7-0 record and dropping the Canadians to 5-2. That set up the final game between 4-2 Sweden and 5-1 Czechoslovakia, which was won by the Swedes in dominant 8-3 fashion and leaving Sweden, Canada and the Czechs all even at 5-2 each.

The Soviets toss head coach Anatoly Tarasov

into the air after clinching the gold medal

The tie breaking procedure in use at the time was goal difference between the top four teams, which would have ranked the teams as Sweden (+1) for Silver, Canada (-1) for Bronze and the Czechs (-5) out of the medals in fourth.

However...

During the third period of the Czechs 8-3 loss to Sweden, the IIHF officials, led by Bunny Ahearne, met and changed the rules, deciding now that the tie breaker would be calculated based on ALL the games of Group A, not just among the top four teams! Sweden rose to +31 and remained in second, bu this flipped the bronze in favor of the Czechs (now +19) and dropped the Canadians (+15) to fourth - and out of the medals entirely and for the first time in their history.

The 1964 Canadian Olympic Hockey Team

Even worse, no one informed Canada of this change in policy. That night, the Canadian team got dressed in their finest team uniforms and made their way to the Ice Palace, only to then be informed there would be no medals for them.

A cartoon in Canada decrying their unexpected fourth place

The gold medal was the second for the Soviet Union, with their first coming in 1956, and the start of a run of dominance which would see them win four in a row through 1976. They were led in scoring by Konstantin Loktev, who had 6 goals and 15 points in 8 games and had four of the top eight scorers.

The Soviets celebrate their gold medals

For die hards, places 9 through 16 went to Poland, Norway, Japan, Romania, Austria, Yugoslavia, Italy and Hungary.

A controversial bronze medal from the 1964 Olympics

Today's featured jersey is a 1964 Canada National Team Terry Clancy jersey. The 1964 Canadian Olympic Team was the first time that Canada had formed a dedicated national team of amateur university students who would compete together as a unit for a 43 game schedule prior to heading to the Games under the guidance and coaching of Father David Bauer.

Father Bauer and his inaugural Canadian National Team

Prior to 1964, Canada simply sent their national senior champions, occasionally with a few added players, to represent the entire nation. This approach worked fine during the early half of the 20th century, but could no longer excel by the mid 1950's against the might of the "amateurs" of Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, where their players were paid as soldiers or factory workers, but played hockey full time.

Terry Clancy is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer King Clancy and played in the NHL with the California Golden Seals and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

If you have two hours to spare, and especially if you speak Russian, today's video section is the entire decisive game between the Soviet Union and Canada from the 1964 Olympic Games.