2001-02 Carolina Hurricanes Arturs Irbe Jersey

It was on this date in 2002 that the Carolina Hurricanes opened the Stanley Cup finals with a 3-2 overtime victory versus the Detroit Red Wings on a goal by Ron Francis.

Francis wins Game 1 in overtime against Dominik Hasek

The series would feature the first matchup between two European born goaltenders, the Red Wings veteran Czech Dominik Hasek and Carolina's Latvian Arturs Irbe.

Arturs Irbe

Carolina was not expected to be much of a threat to be in the finals. Despite winning the "South-least" Division with 91 points, they had the second lowest point total of any team in the playoffs that season!

Being that they were a division winner, such as it was, they were seeded third in the Eastern Conference rather than seventh, had the seedings been strictly on points. Instead facing the #2 seed, the Hurricanes faced the #6 seeded New Jersey Devils, who they eliminated 4 games to 2. Carolina would advance to the finals by beating the #8 seed, the Montreal Canadiens and the #4 seed, the Toronto Maple Leafs, also by 4-2 margins.

Team captain Francis with the Prince of Wales trophy

Carolina would fall behind in Game 1 in Detroit after a goal by Sergei Fedorov at 15:21 the first period on a power play, but the Hurricanes would equalize in the 2nd on a goal early in the period from defenseman Sean Hill, also on the power play at the 3:30 mark.

Sean Hill is congratulated after his goal

The teams would trade goals later in the second, Kirk Maltby scoring for the Red Wings at 10:39 and Jeff O'Neill countering for the visitors at 19:10.

Jeff O'Neill ties the game for Carolina

The third period passed scoreless as regulation ended deadlocked at 2-2 with the teams also even in shots at 25 each.

Irbe fends off Pavel Datsyuk

Francis' game winning goal came just 58 seconds into overtime from O'Neill and Sami Kapanen, giving Irbe, who had made 23 saves on 25 shots, the victory.

Kevyn Adams congratulates Irbe on the victory

This would prove to be Irbe's one and only Stanley Cup Final victory, as Detroit would go onto win the next four games to capture the cup.

Hasek and Irbe greet each other after the final game

Today's jersey is a 2001-02 Carolina Hurricanes Arturs Irbe jersey. This jersey features the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals patch as worn by all the players on the upper right chest.

The Hurricanes used the same style jerseys since moving to Carolina for the 1998-99 season, which included the transition to the Reebok Edge jerseys in 2007-08 with only minimal changes, until the 2012-13 season - a 15 year run for the Hurricanes original look with their clever and unique hurricane warning flag waist stripe and their excellent italicized names and numbers, which unfortunately did not carry over to their new look.

Irbe has a great personal story and was a very popular player in both San Jose and Carolina. Here is a glimpse into what made him unique, from making his own repairs to his aged pads and his pride in his Latvian homeland, which included standing up for what he believed in against the might of the Soviet Union at personal and professional risk.

Here are the highlights of Game 1 of the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals, which features several great saves by Irbe, particularly one which came with the game tied with roughly nine minutes remaining in the third period.

1992-93 Montreal Canadiens Eric Desjardins Jersey

Game 1 of the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals had gone to the visiting Los Angeles Kings by a 4-1 score, making it imperative that the Montreal Canadiens respond with a victory in Game 2, played on this date in 1993, before heading to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4.

Eric Desjardins got Montreal off to a good start by opening the scoring with 1:29 remaining in the first period. Things had not gone Montreal's way however, as they trailed the Kings 2-1 with just 1:45 remaining in the game after a shorthanded goal by the Kings Dave Taylor in the second period and Pat Conacher's goal at 8:32 of the third. Then, with the moment to pull out all the stops having arrived, Montreal coach Jacques Demers called for a measurement of the Kings Marty McSorley's stick.

The officials huddled and the curvature of McSorley's stick was deemed to be outside the allowable limits, necessitating a two-minute minor against Los Angeles.

Kerry Fraser measuring McSorley's illegal stick

With McSorley now in the penalty box, leaving the Kings down a man, Demers pulled goaltender Patrick Roy for a 6 on 4 Canadiens advantage. The Canadiens gained control of the puck in the Kings zone and made pass after pass until defenseman Desjardins received the puck out near the blueline in the middle of the zone, where he loaded up and unleashed a slapshot which found the back of the net for his second goal of the night to tie the game with just 1:13 remaining, sending the Montreal faithful into delirium and breaking a 0-for-32 skid on the power play for Montreal.

Eric Desjardins

Then, still in the first minute of overtime, Benoit Brunet broke into the Kings zone and left a drop pass for the trailing Desjardins, who fired wide to the left of the goal. The puck came to Brunet, now behind the Kings goal, who fed it out to Desjardins at the top of the right faceoff circle, as the defenseman had circled back towards the point. Desjardins then took a stride closer to the goal before letting his shot fly, which beat Kelly Hrudey between the pads for the dramatic game winner just 51 seconds into the extra period, lifting the Montreal fans even higher as the Canadiens celebrated on the ice.

Desjardins third goal of the game made him just the first defenseman in 100 years of Stanley Cup history to score a hat trick in the finals.

The Canadiens would put the momentum of their late comeback in Game 2 to good use, winning a pair of overtime games in Los Angeles before coming back to Montreal to clinch the championship with a 4-1 win in Game 5 at home.

Desjardins enjoying a moment with the Stanley Cup

It was revealed after the series that the Montreal training staff had snuck into the Kings locker room to secretly measure McSorley's stick in advance of their protest late in Game 2.

In the 19 other playoff games Desjardins played that season, he would score but one other goal, but did contribute 10 assists for 14 total points.

After six seasons with Montreal, Desjardins would be traded to the Philadelphia Flyers and played the remaining 11 years of his career in Philadelphia. He remains the only defenseman to score a ever hat trick in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Today's featured jersey is a 1992-93 Montreal Canadiens Eric Desjardins jersey which features the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals patch, the only time a French version of the Cup Finals patch has been created since it's introduction in 1989.

It was a busy season for the Canadiens seamstresses, as Montreal began the season wearing the 1993 NHL All-Star Game patch. Following the All-Star Game in January, the club wore the Stanley Cup Centennial patch for the remainder of the season and the playoffs, prior to earning the right to wear the Stanley Cup Finals patch as champions of the Wales Conference.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Today's first video is a very well produced look at the Montreal Canadiens run through the playoffs, including the early round highlights.

Our second video is a 2012 interview (in three parts) with McSorley about his his thoughts and recollections on the infamous stick measurement incident and how it came about.

1979-80 Montreal Canadiens Larry Robinson Jersey

Defenseman Larry Robinson played one season of junior hockey with the Kitchener Rangers where he was fourth in team scoring, and the highest scoring defenseman, with 12 goals and 51 points in 61 games. Following that season he was drafted in the second round, #20 overall, by the Montreal Canadiens, who had an embarrassment of draft choices that season.

Despite being selected in the second round, Robinson was actually Montreal's forth pick, as they had choices #1 overall (Guy Lafleur), #7 (Chuck Arnason) and #11 (Murray Wilson) in the first round out at total of just 14 at the time. Additionally, after picking Robinson with the 6th pick of the second round, they also had picks 24 (Michel DeGuise) and 25 (Terry French) later in Round 2 after selecting Robinson! Additionally, the Canadiens had the #3 pick in the third round, giving them 7 of the first 31 choices.

Robinson, born on this date in 1951, turned pro the following season with the American Hockey League's Nova Scotia Voyageurs. He played 74 games of the 1971-72 season, scoring 10 goals and 24 points during the regular season as well as 12 points in 15 playoff games as the Voyageurs won the Calder Trophy as AHL champions, making them the first Canadian-based team to ever do so.

For the 1972-73 season, Robinson played in 38 games for Nova Scotia in the AHL, scoring at a point-per-game clip with 39, before making his debut with the Canadiens, with whom he played 36 games, which included scoring his first NHL goal. He also got his first taste of what would end up being a record setting playoff career when he contributed a goal and 4 assists in 11 playoff games as the Canadiens defeated the Buffalo Sabres 4 games to 2, eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers in 5 before capturing the first Stanley Cup of Robinson's career when they prevailed 4 games to 2 over the Chicago Black Hawks.

Robinson, nicknamed "Big Bird" for his 6' 4", 225 lbs of imposing size, was now a full-time NHL regular beginning with the 1973-74 season, playing in all 78 of Montreal's games. His durability was soon apparent, as he would play three consecutive seasons without missing a single game.

With his obvious talent, he was given more responsibility and power play time over the next two seasons as his point totals rose from 6 in his initial half season in 1973 to 26 in 1974 before reaching 61 in the 1974-75 season, which included his first of nine consecutive seasons of 10 goals or more when he found the net 14 times. In addition to his 61 points, Robinson also had a +/- rating of +61 with the high powered Canadiens. 

The 1975-76 season saw Montreal finish first overall with 127 points from a 58-11-11 record and give up the least amount of goals during the regular season with 174, 16 less than the next closest team and less than half the amount allowed by the expansion Kansas City Scouts (351) and Washington Capitals (394). Montreal then steamrolled all before them in the playoffs, defeating Chicago in 4 straight, the New York Islanders in 5 and won the second Stanley Cup of Robinson's career with another sweep, this over the Flyers, giving Montreal a final playoff record of 12-1.

Later that fall, Robinson found his first success on the international stage, helping Canada capture the 1976 Canada Cup.

The 1976-77 season saw Robinson set career highs with 19 goals, 66 assists and 85 points as well as an final +/- rating of +120, by far his finest as his second best was "just" +71! His +120 rating is the second highest in NHL history and one of only two seasons in which a player was +100 or greater. The only negative to his outstanding season was the end of his consecutive games streak as he missed 3 games that year.

The Canadiens exceeded their  previous season by finishing with a 60-8-12 record for 132 points, 20 more than Philadelphia. They again tore through the postseason, this time with a 12-2 record, sweeping the St. Louis Blues, eliminating the Islanders in 6 and dominating their arch rivals by outscoring the Boston Bruins 16-6 in another four game sweep for Robinson's third Stanley Cup. In recognition of his stellar regular season, Robinson was named the winner of the 1977 Norris Trophy as the NHL's Best Defenseman.

Robinson celebrating another Stanley Cup

  He once again played in every one of Montreal's games during the 1977-78 season, eventually scoring 65 points to go along with his +71 rating. The Canadiens once again won the President's Trophy for the most points during the regular season with 129 (59-10-11) and once more backed that up with a Stanley Cup championship after defeating the Detroit Red Wings in five, sweeping the Toronto Maple Leafs in 4 and once again beating the Bruins in the finals, this time in 6 games.

Robinson had an outstanding playoff, tying Lafleur in postseason scoring with 21 points in 15 games, with Robinson scoring 4 goals and adding 17 assists. His play was recognized when he was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP, only the fourth defenseman to win it since it was introduced in 1965. In the 37 years since Robinson won the Conn Smythe, only six other defenseman have been named its recipient.

Robinson with the Stanely Cup and

the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1978

While Montreal was edged in 1978-79 by a single point by the Islanders for the best overall record, 116-115, Robinson had his usual solid season on the Canadiens blueline with a +50 rating as well as a 16 goal, 61 point season. They victimized Toronto to open their playoffs with another four game sweep, but then required the full seven games to outlast the Bruins to advance to the finals, where they rebounded from a Game 1 loss to the New York Rangers by winning the next four to win their fourth straight Stanley Cup and cement their place as one of hockey's most dominant dynasties. The championship was Robinson's fifth in seven seasons.

The 1979-80 season was one of Robinson's finest offensive seasons, having scored 14 goals and 75 points, the second highest of his career to date, which would eventually rank third in his career. After missing eight games, his 75 points in 72 games would give him an average of over a point per game that season. After defeating Buffalo in three games in the opening round of the playoffs, their streak of four championships would come to an end with a 3-2 loss at home in Game 7 of Round 2. Following the season, Robinson was named the winner of his second Norris Trophy.

Robinson with the Norris Trophy

Robinson was limited to 65 games in 1980-81, but still managed to score 50 points. Following the Canadiens early exit from the playoffs after just three games, Robinson took advantage of the rare opportunity and played for Canada in the only World Championships of his career in Sweden, scoring a goal and two points in 6 games. He was also named as the tournament's Best Defenseman and a member of the the World Championship All-Star Team. Later that fall, Robinson was a member of Team Canada for the 1981 Canada Cup.

Robinson with Vladislav Tretiak of the Soviet Union

The next four seasons were highlighted by the 1982-83 season when Robinson scored 14 goals and 63 points, his highest total between 1980-81 and 1984-85. He also was the captain of a victorious Team Canada at the 1984 Canada Cup tournament, his second success at the Canada Cup in three tries.

Robinson captained Team Canada in 1984

Robinson had the second finest offensive season of his career in 1985-86 when he equaled his career best with 19 goals on his way to 82 points. He was also named as an assistant team captain for Montreal, an honor he would hold for the remainder of his time with the Canadiens.

After waiting out the Islanders run of four Stanley Cups, the Canadiens returned to the peak by interrupting the Edmonton Oilers run of four cups in five years when they surprised the hockey world by defeating Boston in three straight, the Hartford Whalers in seven, the Rangers in five and the Calgary Flames in a five game final as the seventh seed to capture the sixth Stanley Cup of Robinson's career. He led the Canadiens defensemen in playoff scoring with 13 assists, good for fourth on the team.

Robinson celebrates his sixth Stanley Cup in 1986

Robinson would play three more seasons for Montreal, giving him a total of 17 seasons with the Canadiens. However, those final three seasons saw his point totals decline each season from 50 to 40 and then 30. Now 38 years old, his contract with Montreal expired and he signed as a free agent for the 1990-91 season with the Los Angeles Kings.

Robinson finished his career with the Kings

He would play three seasons for the Kings as an assistant captain, with a best of 1989-90 when he had 39 points. After 17 consecutive seasons qualifying for the playoffs with Montreal, he extended that streak to an NHL record 20 when Los Angeles made the postseason in each of Robinson's three seasons with the Kings. At the time of his retirement, Robinson held the NHL record for Most Career Playoff Games with 227.

He would finish his career with 208 goals and 750 assists for 958 points in 1,384 games with a career +/- rating of +730, an NHL career record. He also added 144 points in 227 playoff games.He won a Calder Cup, six Stanley Cups, two Canada Cups, two Norris Trophies and a Conn Smythe Trophy.

In 1995, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and on November 19, 2007, his #19 was retired by the Canadiens.

Robinson's #19 being retired by the Canadiens

Following his playing days, Robinson got into coaching. He was eventually named head coach of the Kings from 1995-96 to 1998-99. Then he took over as head coach of the New Jersey Devils late in the 1999-2000 season. After just coaching the Devils for 8 regular season games, he guided them to the 2000 Stanley Cup championship.

Today's featured jersey is a 1979-80 Montreal Canadiens Larry Robinson jersey from Robinson's second Norris Trophy winning season.

This style jersey dates back to 1941 and, aside from a version with a blue stripe around the chest for three years in the late 40's, has remained essentially unchanged ever since.

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1992 NHL All-Star Game Larry Robinson jersey. The NHL celebrated it's 75th Anniversary season by wearing throwback jerseys to the original All-Star game in 1947 in Philadelphia.

Robinson first appeared in the NHL All-Star Game in 1974 and would subsequently play in a total of ten, with 1992 being his final one. He also was a member of the NHL All-Star squad that took on the Soviet Union as a part of the 1979 Challenge Cup, which took the place of the traditional NHL All-Star Game that season.

Extra bonus jersey: Today's extra bonus jersey is a 1990-91 Los Angeles Kings Larry Robinson jersey. 1988-89 was the first season for the Kings new jerseys, which coincided with the arrival of Wayne Gretzky to California.

The first three seasons saw the white jerseys with silver names and numbers outlined in black. In 1991-92 they changed everything to three color silver trimmed in white and outlined in black. The three color names were very difficult to read and were changed the following season to one color black names, as well as finally changing the numbers from the lower contrast silver to black, which was trimmed in white and outlined in silver for the final six years for the black and silver look.

Today's video section begins with the tribute video to Robinson on the occasion of his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

 Next is the excellent Legends of Hockey series and their profile of the Hall of Famer Robinson.

1986 Soviet Union National Team Vladimir Krutov Jersey

Born on this date in 1960, Vladimir Krutov was a member of the famed KLM line, along with Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov, which dominated Soviet and international hockey the 1980's.

"Volodya was such a dependable and steadfast man that I would have gone anywhere with him - to war, to espionage, into peril. There are fewer and fewer guys like him in every generation of hockey players," former Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak told the Sport-Express newspaper at the time of the passing of Krutov in 2012.

Krutov, a left winger, was a member of the famed KLM line along with Larionov and Makarov which dominated Soviet and international hockey the 1980's.

The KLM Line

Krutov played for CSKA Moscow (better known in North America as Central Red Army) beginning with one game in 1977-78 and a half season of 24 games the following year,including scoring his first goal, before becoming a full time member of the Red Army squad in 1979. That season, in 40 games, he would average more than a point per game with 30 goals and 12 assists for 42 points.

1981-82 would see Krutov set a personal high with 37 goals and 66 points in 46 games and was Red Army's leading scorer with 53 points in 1982-83. CSKA would win the Soviet League championship in each and every of Krutov's 12 season's with the club. Additionally, he led the league in goals in 1984 (37 goals), 1986 (31) and 1987 (26) and was named to the USSR All-Star Team every year from 1982 to 1988 and was the Soviet Player of the Year in 1987. His final career totals with CSKA were 438 games played with 288 goals and 215 assist for 503 points, which still ranks him 5th in team scoring, 7th in goals and 4th in assists over 20 years later.

In addition to his 12 Soviet League championships, Krutov and CSKA would win the Soviet Cup twice, in 1979 and 1988, and the European Cup in each of his 12 seasons.

While with CSKA, Krutov also toured North America as part of the Super Series, a series of exhibition games between Red Army and other Soviet club teams taking on various NHL teams. He participated in the Super Series three times, in 1982-83, 1985-86 and one last time in 1988-89, playing a total of 17 games, scoring 10 goals and 21 points.

His Soviet League success was duplicated in international play as well, beginning with a silver medal in his international debut at the 1978 European Junior Championships and a pair of gold medals in the World Junior Tournament in 1979 and 1980 while leading the World Juniors in scoring both years with 14 points in 6 games in 1979 and 11 points in 5 games in 1980 while being name Best Forward both times as well.

Krutov's senior international career began with a silver medal at the 1980 Olympic Games (he scored the first goal of the "Miracle on Ice" game and later added an assist to give the Soviets a 3-2 lead) prior to a run of five consecutive gold medals at the 1981 World Championships, the 1981 Canada Cup, the 1982 and 1983 World Championships and the 1984 Olympics.

1984 Olympic Champions

A third place finish in the 1984 Canada Cup and a bronze medal in the 1985 World Championships followed. The Soviet Union would rebound with another gold medal at the 1986 World Championships, where Krutov was named Best Forward.

1986 World Champions

In 1987, Krutov scored two goals in the 5-3 Soviet win in game two of Rendez-vous '87 against the NHL All-Stars before earning a silver medal at the 1987 Worlds, were Krutov led the tournament in goals and points and was named Best Forward for the second consecutive year. Later that year, he participated in the 1987 Canada Cup where he was named to the All-Star Team as the Soviets finished second.

Krutov playing in the 1987 Canada Cup tournament

The 1988 Olympics concluded with another gold medal after finishing the tournament at the leading scorer and Krutov finished his international career in style with his fifth World Championship gold in 1989.

Krutov on his way to leading the 1988 Olympics in scoring

Krutov's final medal count shows nine gold medals, three silver and two bronze, which included at least one gold at each of the World Juniors (2), World Championships (5) and the Olympics (2) as well as winning a Canada Cup.

Kutov was one of the first wave of Soviet players allowed to join the NHL, playing for the Vancouver Canucks, who had drafted him in 1986 in hopes that he would some day be allowed to leave the Soviet Union.

He played just one NHL season, 1989-90, scoring 11 goals and 34 points in 61 games while faced with the challenges of being a veteran trying to adjust to the change to a new language and culture while being viewed by some as taking a job away from a Canadian, plus the sudden riches combined with the freedom he was afforded in North America after an entire career in which he was required to train 10 months out of the year. It was unfortunate that Krutov's attempt to play in the NHL was viewed as unsuccessful since it tainted many North American opinions of Krutov based on just a single season late in his otherwise stellar career in the Soviet Union.

"The Tank" unleashes a shot while with Vancouver

He played very little hockey in 1990-91, just one regular season game and three playoff games with the ZSC Lions in Switzerland. After another season with ZSC where he scored 32 points in 28 games, he moved to Östersund IK in the third division of Swedish hockey, helping them earn promotion to the second division on his first try, scoring a dominant 25 goals and 49 points in just 19 games. He would play two more seasons for Östersund and wrapped up his career with Brunflo IK before retiring.

Krutov was named to the Soviet Hockey Hall of Fame in 1981 and the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 2010.

Today's featured jersey is a 1986 Soviet Union National Team Vladimir Krutov jersey as worn during the 1986 World Championships. The Soviets arrived at the tournament with a striking new design unlike anything in the history of their national team, dating back now 35 years.

Attention getting enough was the prominent red stripe running down each arm, which served as a background to highlight the Adidas stripes to an even greater degree than the previous 1985 style, but what really made this a stunning departure from any prior Soviet jersey were the bold, asymmetrical red triangles which simply screamed "LOOK AT ME!" in a way no Soviet jersey had ever dared before.

The "double triangle" look was completed with CCCP in a bold, modern font, tightly spaced in a way that made it appear quite aggressive. A true high point in the history of international jerseys, and brought to you by a no more unexpected and shocking source than the normally staid Soviet Union,

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1987 Soviet Union National Team Vladimir Krutov jersey as worn by Krutov during Rendez-vous '87, a two-game series held in Quebec City on February 11 and 13, 1987 which replaced that season's NHL All-Star Game and featured a team of NHL All-Stars against the Soviet National Team.

Game 1 went to the NHL All-Stars 4-3 and the Soviets came back to win Game 2 by a score of 5-3 in which Krutov scored a pair of goals, including the game winner at 9:19 of the third period.

This jersey is much more typical of the Soviet style, with a minimum of adornments and simple one color names and numbers, made to look even more spartan when compared to the flashy NHL All-Star jerseys it competed against.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Today's video section begins with Krutov scoring against the Montreal Canadiens on December 31, 1982 in an exhibition game.

Here Krutov scores for the Soviets in Rendez-vous '87 to put the Soviets ahead 2-0 followed by his game winning goal to make it 4-2 on the Soviets way to a 5-3 win.

In some truly rare footage, Krutov scores on a penalty shot for the ZSC Lions in Switzerland. Notice how the ZSC logo is a variation on the logo used by USA hockey.

Boston Bruins 2006-07 Petr Tenkrát Jersey

Today's story is one of globe-trekking international travel and collecting as many stamps in one's passport as humanly possible, for on this date in 1977, Petr Tenkrát was born in Kladno, Czechoslovakia.

His career began innocently enough, giving no clue as to what was to follow, as Tenkrát began playing for his hometown HC Kladno in 1994-95 with a single game. The right winger increased his games played to 20 in 1995-96 and 43 in 1996-97, which included his first goals as a professional. By the time Tenkrát began his professional career, Czechoslovakia had split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with Tenkrát making his international debut with the Czech Republic in the 1997 World Junior Championship, collecting his first passport stamp as the tournament was held in Switzerland.

He would play two additional seasons with Kladno, with his final one in 1998-99 seeing his offensive production leap up from 9 goals and 19 points to 21 goals and 35 points in 50 games. His potential was recognized by being selected by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

While he remained in Europe for the 1999-00 season, the first steps of his trek began in earnest as he moved from the Czech Extraliga to the Finnish SM-Liiga, joining HPK Hämeenlinna, scoring 20 goals and 29 points in 32 games. He remained in Finland for the 1999-00 season, only this time with Ilves Tampere.

He crossed the Atlantic for the first time in 2000-01, splitting time between the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the AL and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the NHL. He had an unsettled 2001-02 season, playing for both Anaheim and Cincinnati before being traded to the Nashville Predators, with whom he would play 58 games, as well as an additional 4 with their top AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.

It was back across the Atlantic for the 2002-03 season, joining Kärpät Oulu in Finland, where he fit right in, setting a career high with 40 points in 51 games. Kärpät would make it to the SM-Liiga finals, coming away with a silver medal.

His passport gained another stamp, as Tenkrát would begin the season with Khimik Voskresensk of the Russian Super League, where he would play 19 games before returning to Kärpät for the remainder of the 2003-04 season, impressively setting a career high with 22 goals in just 35 games. Kärpät would go on to win the league championship later that season and go back-to-back with a second title in 2005.

He would play one additional season in Oulu, averaging 37 points over his four seasons with Kärpät. Following the Finnish playoffs, he would return to the Czech Republic National Team for the 2006 World Championships in Latvia, where he earned a silver medal.

He next returned to the United States to join the Boston Bruins, who had acquired his NHL rights while he was in Finland. Typical of his NHL career, Tenkrát spent some time in the AHL, 7 games with the Providence Bruins, but the vast majority of 54 games was with Boston. It was back across the Atlantic once again to play in the 2007 World Championships in Moscow.

For the start of the 2007-08 season it was back to Kladno for 13 games before signing with Timrå IK in Sweden. 2008-09 was a repeat, playing for both Kladno and Timrå.

The pattern continued in 2009-10 with Kladno again, but his Swedish destination was Skellefteå AIK.

For the fourth season in a row, he played in two different countries, this time with Skellefteå in Sweden (9 games) and Kärpät in Finland for 45 games. For 2011-12, his nomadic career returned back to the Czech Republic in fine style, as he set career highs with 23 goals and 48 points with HC Sparta Prague in his 18th season of play.

He capped off his season with a bronze medal at the 2012 World Championships, held on familiar ground in both Sweden and Finland.

For the 2012-13 season, Tenkrat remained with Sparta Praha, scoring 18 goals and 31 points and once more competed in the World Championships for the Czech Republic in Finland and Sweden, as they co-hosted the tournament for the second year in a row, only with the finals changed from Stockholm to now Helsinki.

Tenkrat redjoined HC Kladno for the first time in four seasons for the 2013-14 season, only to see the club relegated to the second division for 2014-15. He remained with the club for the 2014-15 season and served as the team captain.

He played four games for HC Kometa Brno in 2015-16 and was loaned to HC Slovan Ustecti Lvi in the Czech second division for the majority of the year, seeing action in 35 games which included scoring 26 points.

Despite turning 40 today, Tenkrat is not done playing just yet, and is scheduled to return to HC Kladno for the 2016-17 season. We calculate to date he as made 22 border crossings among 7 countries while generating a litany of game worn jerseys in his wake.

Today's featured jersey is a Boston Bruins 2006-07 Petr Tenkrát jersey as worn during his second stint in the NHL after having played previously with Anaheim and Nashville in 2000-01 and 2001-02 before returning to Europe for four seasons before joining the Bruins for the 2006-07 season.

The Bruins introduced this modernized jersey for the 1995-96 season, replacing a style that dated all the way back to 1974-75. This style was worn 11 seasons through the 2006-07 season when Tenkrat was with Boston before being replaced  2007-08 by a Reebok Edge version of their 2006-07 throwback alternate jersey that was based on the style they wore for their 1970 and 1972 Stanley Cup championships.

 

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a Providence Bruins 2006-07 Petr Tenkrát jersey as worn during a seven game stint in the AHL with the Bruin's top minor league affiliate during his second stint in the NHL when he returned from Europe to join the Bruins for the 2006-07 season.

Providence traditionally has identical or similar jerseys to their parent club in Boston, but with a spoked P logo, rather than the Bruins spoked B. Other than the change in logo, note the sponsorship patch worn on the upper right chest, a common sight in the AHL.

Extra bonus jersey: Today's extra bonus jersey is a 2003-04 Kärpät Oulu Petr Tenkrát jersey as worn during Tenkrát's return to Kärpät, which translates to a stoat or an ermine, following his tenure with Khimik in Russia.

This jersey is typical of a Scandinavian jersey with it's many sponsorship logos, 14 in all not counting the Tackla branding, with the addition of the unique to Scandinavia collar on the jersey, which conveniently affords more surface are for yet more ads!

Extra, extra bonus jersey: Today's extra, extra bonus jersey is a  is a 2005 Czech Republic National Team Petr Tenkrát jersey as worn in the annual Karjala Cup Tournament held in Finland. The tournament is part of a larger competition known as the Euro Hockey Tour, a series of small tournaments held in each of the participating nations, the Czech Republic, Finland, Russia and Sweden, and is an opportunity to prepare for the World Championship and Olympics, while often giving younger players a chance at gaining experience at the international level. The game results of the four tournaments are complied into a standings in order to declare a winner of the tour.

While the various national teams compete in the Olympics with jerseys which are sponsor-free, and the World Championships, with their distinctive single ads on the top of the arms, the national team jerseys in the Euro Hockey Tour are covered with many sponsorship logos seldom seen by North Americans.

Today's video segment is Tenkrát scoring on a beautiful one-timer for Kärpät followed by an impressive goal celebration.

This next video is Tenkrát scoring against Ryan Miller of the Buffalo Sabres while a member of the Bruins.