IIHF World Championship Hockey Report and Preview

Yesterday saw the dramatic conclusion of the IIHF Division III World Championships in Turkey. The lowest level of the IIHF World Championship ladder brings together a wide ranging collection of the minnows of the hockey world, with Bosnia and Herzegovina (currently unranked by the IIHF) and making their IIHF World Championship debut, Georgia (ranked 47th), Hong Kong (48), Luxembourg (42), North Korea (43), Turkey (41) and the United Arab Emirates (45) all taking part.

After five of the six games of the round robin tournament, North Korea and Turkey were tied atop the standings with perfect 5-0 records, setting up a winner take all final. The Turks opened the scoring four minutes into the game but with one second remaining in the first period the North Koreans got their second goal of the game to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

A scoreless second period only ramped up the tension entering the third period, which saw Turkey strike just 49 seconds in to tie the game at 2-2. The North Koreans retook the leas at the 15:38 mark with a shorthanded goal, but just a shade over two minutes later Turkey responded at 17:45. Neither team could find the game winner during the final 2:15 of regulation so the contest then moved to overtime.

At 4:22, Yusuf Halil was called for tripping, setting up a power play for the North Koreans. It would only take 27 seconds for assistant captain Chun Rim Hong to score his second goal of the game to give the North Koreans the win, the championship and the promotion to the IIHF Division II Group B tournament for 2016 despite Turkey outshooting their opponents 41-28.

North Korea finished with 5 wins and an overtime win for 17 points, Turkey was next with 5 wins and an overtime loss for 16, Luxembourg went 4-2 for 12 points, Hong Kong 3-3 for 9, Georgia had 1 win, 1 OT win and 4 losses for 5 points, the United Arab Emirates were 1 win, 1 OT loss and 4 losses for 4 points while Bosnia and Herzegovina was 0-6 brining up the rear.

Speaking of Division II Group B, they, and Division II Group A and Division I Group B all start play today.

Division II Group B is being held in Cape Town, South Africa from today through Sunday, April 19th. Teams competing are again a delightful collection of far-flung entires from Bulgaria (39), China (38), Israel (32), Mexico (33), New Zealand (37) and the host South Africa (40) facing off in a single round robin format of five games with the champion being promoted to Division II Group A, while the last place team will be relegated to Division III for 2016. Diehards can watch live streaming of games here.

Division II Group A takes place over 7,000 miles to the north in Reykjavik, Iceland, an 18 hour flight for those interested in taking in action in both! This tournament follows a similar schedule, with games starting today and finishing on Sunday April, 19th.

Teams competing are Australia (34), Belgium (36), Spain (30), host Iceland (35), Romania (27) and Serbia (31) who also will utilize the standard five game, round robin format with the champion promoted to Division I Group B and the last place team relegated to Division II Group B for 2016.

Also taking place this week in Eindhoven in the Netherlands will be Division II Group B with the same Monday through Sunday schedule this week. The participating clubs are nearly all European at this level, with Croatia (28), Estonia (29), Great Britain (22), Lithuania (26), host Netherlands (25) and the lone Asian entry, South Korea (23). The winner of this tournament will join Division I Group A and the bottom team will drop down to Division II Group A for 2016.

The South Koreans in particular will be worth tracking, as they controversially have been guaranteed a place in the 2018 Winter Olympic hockey tournament, which they will be hosting. They are under pressure to increase the competitiveness of their program in time for the Games, where they will be competing in a 12 team tournament against the heavy hitters of international hockey despite their current world ranking of just 23rd.

At the conclusion of the three World Championship tournaments this week, next week sees the Division I Group A competition in Krakow, Poland from April 19 -25. The competition gets more intense as the field includes Top 25 ranked Hungary (19), Italy (18), Japan (21), Kazakhstan (17), host Poland (24) and Ukraine (20). Unlike the lower levels which promote only the first place finsher, on the line are promotions to the Top Division for the top two teams, while, again, the last place team will be relegated to Division I Group B for 2016.

Six days after the conclusion of the Division I Group A tournament, the 2015 IIHF World Championship will get underway on Friday, May 1 in Prague and Ostrava in the Czech Republic. Play will conclude when the new world champion is crowned on Sunday, May 17th from the survivor of a 16 team field which consists of Austria (16), Denmark (15), Slovenia (14), Germany (13), France (12), Belarus (11), Norway (10), Latvia (9), Slovakia (8), Switzerland (7), the United States (6), the Czech Republic (5), Canada (4), Russia (3), Finland (2) and Sweden (1).

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is the third period and the overtime of the deciding game in the Division III tournament between North Korea and Turkey. At the very least, go to the 46:00 mark and watch the overtime and see when the winning goal how much it matters to those players when the deciding goal is scored (starting at 50:30) no matter how far down the rankings these lower level teams might be.

Today's featured jersey is a 1998 Iceland National Team Hallur jersey which features the IIHF 90th Anniversary patch worn in 1998 in the various IIHF championships that year. The name is sewn on twill, while the numbers are heat sealed onto this highly attractive jersey, especially with the addition of the anniversary patch.

The logo for Ice Hockey Iceland tells an interesting story, featuring the Icelandic Falcon, the largest wild Falcon in the world. The white represents a glacier and the bottom is fire, to represent a volcanic eruption, which is in the shape of a maple leaf to honor the Winnipeg Falcons, the 1920 Olympic hockey champions who were of Icelandic decent.

1992 Yugoslavia National Team Jersey

Formed in the aftermath of World War I, Yugoslavia came into existence in  1918 as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It gained international recognition on July 13, 1922 and was then renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on October 3, 1929. Later, it was invaded by the Axis powers during World War II on April 6, 1941. When a communist government was established in 1946 it was renamed once more, this time to the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia after the monarchy was abolished in 1945.

The county was led by Marshal Josip Broz Tito, first as Prime Minister from 1944 to 1963 and later it's President from 1953 through his death in 1980. He was viewed as both as an authoritarian as well as a benevolent dictator thanks to his successful economic and diplomatic policies as well as his internal policies which maintained a peaceful coexistence of the six various nations and differing ethnicities and religions of which Yugoslavia was comprised. He suppressed their nationalist sentiments while promoting brotherhood and unity across the various regions and gave all of Yugoslavia's ethnic groups the same rights.

Marshal Tito

Unlike many of the communist countries in the Eastern Bloc, who were aligned with the Soviet Union, Tito led the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961, where Yugoslavia and other nations refused to side with either the Eastern Bloc or NATO nations.

Following Tito's death in 1980 at the age of 87, the controls under Tito which held the country together for so long faded and ethnic tensions grew. An economic crisis in 1989 led to large numbers of unemployed workers and social despair. There arose conflicts, mainly between the majority Serbians, who wanted to maintain the republic - only with greater control over the entire nation - and the Croatians and Slovenians, who wanted more autonomy and decentralization, in direct contrast to the desire of the Serbs. Tensions rose when Serb communities within Croatia tried to secede from Croatia, not wanting to be a national minority within a sovereign Croatia should it leave Yugoslavia.

War broke out in August of 1990 when Croatia attempted to replace police in the Serbian populated Krajina region of Croatia. This eventually led to armed conflicts with the Croatian police forces and the Serbian civilian armed resistance. Similar events then took place in Slovenia to the north and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the central region, which had an especially mixed population of Croatians, Bosnians and Serbs, who were all of differing religions. As the ethic populations had drifted out of their original nations throughout the existence of Yugoslavia, those people, the Serbians in particular, sought to return to Serbia as tensions over independence movements in Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina grew, resulting in a great number of refugees.

A map of Yugoslavia showing the separate regions
which each had a different mix of ethnicities

Not all of the Serbians chose to leave however, and the main point of conflict became the Serbians living in Croatia attempting to secede from Croatia as the government of Croatia predictably fought to keep the breakaway areas as part of the Republic of Croatia.

In September of 1991, Macedonia declared its independence from Yugoslavia and, similar to the situation in Croatia, Serbians living in Bosnia voted to form a Serbian republic with lands that were part of Bosnia and Herzegovina and remain in a common state with Serbia and Montenegro. The Bosnian Serb referendum vote was declared unconstitutional by the republic's government, which later declared it's independence from Yugoslavia in April of 1992, which led to war in Bosnia shortly afterwards.

While there is no clear date for the end of Yugoslavia, the June 1991 departure of Croatia and Slovenia were the first dominoes to fall. Macedonia then left in September of 1991. Bosnia and Herzegovina departed in April 1992. Serbia and Montenegro retained the use of the name Yugoslavia until 2003 when it was renamed the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro until Montenegro then voted for its own independence in 2006.

Meanwhile the wars that broke out as the country divided and then sub-divded itself lasted for a decade until 2001, primarily due to the Yugoslavian military, eventually representing only Serbian ideals, looked to add the Serbian populated areas of Croatia and Bosnia to Yugoslavia by force, while those nations fought to maintain their territories and existing borders.

Often described as Europe's deadliest war since World War II, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, atrocities and crimes against humanity, such as the genocide of the Srebrenica Massacre (8,000 killed) and the catastrophic four year long Siege of Sarajevo (14,000 deaths), all took their horrible toll, resulting in 140,000 casualties nationwide.

A cemetery with the 8,000 victims of the Srebrenica Massacre

The Yugoslavia national hockey team played it's first game in 1939, a 4-2 win over the Netherlands. They finished in 13th place during the World Championships that year, but the outbreak of World War II meant that fledgling effort would quickly cease.

Following the end of the war, the Yugoslavia National Team returned to the world stage in 1951 where they went 1-4, with their only win coming in their final game against Austria as they finished 6th and last in Pool B. They again finished with a 1-4 record in 1955 for 5th in Pool B.

Placed in Pool C for their next effort in 1961, they iced a much stronger team, winning 12-3 over South Africa, 9-2 over the Netherlands and 10-2 over Belgium to finish in third place out of six with a 3-2 record.

Yugoslavia vs. the Netherlands in 1961

After skipping 1962, Yugoslavia became regular competitors on the international stage beginning with the 1963 World Championships, playing once again in Pool B. Highlights included third place finishes in 1966, 1969 and 1973 before a second place effort as hosts in 1974, which included wins over Austria, Japan, West Germany and the Netherlands and ties against Romania and Norway.

IIHF Hall of Famer Rudi Hiti represented Yugoslavia at the World Championships 17 times and played in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics,
later coaching the Slovenia National Team for 10 years

They were relegated following an eighth place finish in 1978, but earned an immediate promotion with a gold medal at the 1979 Pool C with a perfect 7-0 record, which included a 21-1 win over Great Britain.

They spent the next six tournaments bouncing up and down between Pool C and Pool B from 1981 to 1987 until three consecutive championships in Pool C from 1987 to 1990, when they again earned a promotion back up to Pool B with a 7-0-1 record from wins over South Korea, Romania, Bulgaria, North Korea, Belgium, Denmark and Hungary.

Yugoslavia also participated in the Olympics five times, 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976 and finally as hosts of the games in Sarajevo in 1984 with a best finish of 9th coming in 1968. There, they lost to Finland in a single game First Round playoff, which sent them to Group B to determine 9th through 14th places. Yugoslavia then dominated Japan, Norway, Romania, Austria and France to win the group with a 5-0 record to claim ninth place overall.

Sweden vs. Yugoslavia during the 1972 Olympics

Despite conflicts having now broken out in parts of the country at times, Yugoslavia hosted the 1991 Group B World Championships in Ljubljana in the north (in what is now Slovenia) prior to the declarations of independence by Slovenia and Croatia just two months later. Despite promotion being available for the top four teams due to the expansion of Group A, Yugoslavia finished in sixth place with a 2-5 record.

With the country beginning to divide itself, as well as war breaking out, Yugoslavia had lost many players who were no longer citizens of Yugoslavia or were now in the military. As a result, after opening with a 3-3 tie against Romania, they staggered to a 0-6-1 record for last place in Group B, with their final game being a dismal 14-0 loss to Austria on this date in 1992, brining an end to their participation in international hockey after 42 years dating back to 1951.

Left winger Zvone Šuvak was the all-time leading scorer for Yugoslavia with 202 points from 129 goals and 73 assists in 155 games from 1979 to 1991, while center Edo Hafner was the leader in games played with 203 from 1969 to 1991, totaling 187 points.

Since the dissolution of Yugoslavia, Croatia (1993), Slovenia (1993), Serbia and Montenegro (1995) (but still using the Yugoslavia name through 2003), Serbia alone (2007), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2008) and Macedonia (2011) have all participated in IIHF World Championships, highlighted by Slovenia's qualification for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The Slovenian's accomplished this remarkable achievement by defeating Belarus, Denmark and Ukraine in a qualification tournament hosted by Denmark. The Slovenians quickly became fan favorites as underdogs by defeating Slovakia 3-1 during group play and then eliminating Austria 4-0 in the Quarterfinals during the Games in Sochi.

2014 Slovenia Olympic Team captain Tomaz Razingar meets with
Mustafa Besic, the captain of Yugoslavia’s team in Sarajevo 1984

Today's featured jersey is a 1992 Yugoslavia National Team Jersey as worn during their final World Championship appearance. This style of jersey made by Tackla was first used in 1989 through Yugoslavia's final game on this date in 1992. It's quite possible this jersey was used for more than one season and could have originated from as far back as 1989 when Tackla added outlines to the colored shoulders.

There is evidence of a wide nameplate having been removed from the jersey and the low position of the sleeve numbers leaves room for a sponsor advertisement, suggesting it was used during the World Championships.

Bonus jersey: Today's featured jersey is a 1991 Yugoslavia National Team Zvone Šuvak Jersey as worn during the 1991 World Championships with the nameplate and sponsor patches still intact as worn by the leading scorer in the history of the Yugoslavia National Team.

Šuvak was also the all-time leading scorer in the Yugoslav Ice Hockey League with 520 goals and 314 assists for 834 points from 1976 through 1993. He also represented Yugoslavia at the World Championships nine times and played in the 1984 Olympics hosted by Yugoslavia.

2015 NCAA Frozen Four - Providence College Friars

The championship final of the 2015 NCAA Frozen Four will take place tonight at the home of the NHL's Boston Bruins, the TD Garden.

The tournament semifinals saw the #15 ranked Providence College Friars of Hockey East defeat the #8 University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference by a score of 4-1.

The second semifinal had the #3 Boston University Terriers, also of Hockey East taking on #2 ranked University of North Dakota also of the powerful NCHC. The Terriers got out to a 4-1 lead before a pair of third period goals by North Dakota made for a tens three minutes before an empty net goal sealed the victory for BU.

Providence will be making only their second appearance in the championship game, the first coming in 1985, an eventual 2-1 loss to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Engineers.

The Providence College hockey program dates back to the 1926-27 season when they played an eight game schedule, winning just once.

That would be the only season of Friars hockey until the program was revived 25 years later for the 1952-53 season as a Division I independent program. After two seasons they played one season in the Northeast League, posting their first winning record, before a return to independent status for the next six seasons. Providence College then joined the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) in 1961-62 as a charter member.

Their third season in the ECAC of 1963-64 saw them finish with a 19-7 record, earning them their only ECAC regular season title. They backed that up with the ECAC playoff title, which earned them their first NCAA playoff berth, where they eventually finished in fourth place in the nation.

The 1963-64 ECAC champion Providence Friars

for the 1968-69 season, Lou Lamoriello took over as head coach. in 1974-75 he guided the Friars to another 19 win season and in 1977-78, their second NCAA tournament appearance. After going 21-11 in 1979-80, the Friars won the ECAC playoff championship in 1981, which earned them their third NCAA appearance.

The 1980-81 ECAC playoff champion Providence Friars

Two seasons later, Lamoriello's last behind the Friars bench, Providence had their highest winning percentage ever following a 33-10 record. An NCAA appearance followed, as Providence defeated the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs twice to win their two game-total goal series 10-5. After a loss in the Semifinals, Providence defeated the Minnesota Golden Gophers 4-3 to claim third place overall.

Lamoriello was also the school's athletic director and resigned as the hockey head coach. He helped form the new Hockey East conference, which began play in 1984-85 with Providence as a founding member and Lamoriello as it's first commissioner.

The Friars would taste instant success in Hockey East, becoming it's first playoff champion. They then defeated Michigan State by a narrow 6-5 total goals series where the two teams split the two games. Providence then survived an epic three overtime game 4-3 over Boston College to earn a spot in their first national championship final, where they fell to RPI by a score of 2-1.

The 1984-85 national runners-up Providence Friars

They posted four consecutive 20 win seasons from 1989 to 1992, earning NCAA appearances in both 1989 and 1991.

A second Hockey East playoff championship came in 1996 as well as another NCAA berth. Five years later in 2001, the Friars returned to the national playoffs after going 22-13-5. Providence would then enter a period of doldrums from 2001 until the 2013-14 season when they finally qualified for the NCAA tournament after 11 years away.

The 1995-96 Hockey East playoff champion Friars

They returned to the NCAA tournament this year after back to back 20 win seasons, their first since 1992. This is also the first time in program history they have qualified for the national playoffs in two consecutive seasons.

The Friars took advantage of being placed in the East Regional at home in Providence, where they knocked off the #1 seeded Miami of Ohio RedHawks 7-5 and then defeated the  #3 Denver University Pioneers 4-1 to advance to this year's Frozen Four, where they eliminated the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks 4-1 to earn place in today's national championship game against Boston University, where they will seek their first title.

Thirty Friars have played in the NHL including Paul Cavallini, Tom Fitzgerald, Hall Gill, Jim Korn, Chris Therien, and Randy Velischek have all played 500 games or more, while Gill, Steve Rooney, Peter Taglianetti and goaltender Chris Terreri have all won Stanley Cups. Paul Guay and Terreri have played in the Olympics for the United States, Therien for Canada and Gates Orlando represented Italy. Additionally, three Friars have been first round NHL draft picks, Fitzgerald (1986 New York Islanders), Joel Hulbig (1992 Edmonton Oilers) and Mark Jankowski (2012 Calgary Flames).

The Friars all-time leading scorer Ron Wilson

Former NHLer and head coach Ron Wilson holds the school record with 250 career points while John Gaudreau leads the Terriers in career goals scored with 103. Orlando (213), Gaudreau (211) and Mike Boback (201) all have 200 career points for Providence.

John Gaudreau holds the Friars career goal scoring record

The Friars have won the ECAC regular season championship once, the ECAC tournament twice, the Hockey East tournament twice, made 11 NCAA appearances and have made four Frozen Four appearances.

Chris Terreri led the Friars to the NCAA championship game in 1985

Today's featured jersey is a 1993-94 Providence Friars Erik Peterson jersey. Providence College was a charter member of Hockey East when it was founded for the 1984-85 season with seven teams, with the Friars making it to the NCAA championship final that season.

This jersey features the Hockey East 10th Anniversary patch on the left shoulder and the customization is unique, in that the white outline around the black numbers is a layer of white plastic film rather than the usual layer of twill.

This style was worn from 1988-89 through the 1998-99 season until a new identity package was unveiled for Providence.

To see more Providence Friars jerseys, please check out GVJerseys.com.

Here is the official Providence Friars into video from 2014-15.

Finally, here is a recap of the Friars semifinal win over Omaha to make tonight's championship final.

1981-82 Los Angeles Kings Mark Hardy Jersey

Back in 1982, the first round of the NHL playoffs were a best-of-five and featured teams playing opponents within their own division.

The Edmonton Oilers, in the process of gearing up for their dynasty, had won the Smythe Division with 111 points, 48 points ahead of the fourth place Los Angeles Kings, whose 63 points came from a sub-.500 record of only 24-41-13. The Oilers were led by league MVP Wayne Gretzky, who had just completed the single greatest season in league history, scoring 92 goals and 212 points, while Dave Taylor led the Kings with 106 points, exactly half of Gretzky's total!

In Game 1, the Kings chose to try to beat the Oilers at their own game rather than trying to shut them down defensively and the result was a scintillating 10-8 win for the Kings, a record for the most goals in a playoff game that still stands today.

More traditional playoff hockey returned for Game 2 as the Oilers defeated the Kings 3-2 in overtime to send the series to Los Angeles tied a game apiece.

In Game 3, played at The Forum, located at 3900 W. Manchester Boulevard, saw the Oilers break out on top with a goal by Mark Messier. A shorthanded goal by Gretzky saw the Oilers up by two at the end of the first period.

The Forum

The Kings powerplay carried over into the second period and disaster struck when Kings goaltender Mario Lessard misplayed a sharp angle shot by Lee Fogolin for a 3-0 Edmonton lead.

With both teams later playing 3-on-3, Gretzky stole the puck deep in the Kings end and passed to defenseman Risto Siltanen, who one-timmed the puck past Lessard and through the goal netting. The goal judge saw what had happened and turned the goal light on. The referees met and agreed that it was indeed a goal, which was later confirmed by video replay, giving the Oilers a now four goal cushion.

The rout was on when Glenn Anderson sent a hard pass through the legs of a Kings defenseman to Gretzky, who simply deflected he puck into the net for a commanding 5-0 lead at the end of two periods.

The Kings could not catch up to Gretzky and

the Oilers through the first two periods

The Kings main focus for the early part of the third period was to do the little things right, make an effort to get back into the game, mainly to salvage some pride and try to carry some momentum into Game 4.

Jay Wells got the Kings on the board at 2:46 of the third with a shot through a screen set by Taylor.

Less than three minutes later, the Kings went on the powerplay and won a faceoff in the Oilers end. The puck went back to defenseman Mark Hardy on the point, who threw the puck at the net. Fuhr saved the initial shot, but the rebound landed between the skates of Oiler defenseman Kevin Lowe. The Kings Doug Smith pounced on the opportunity and fired a shot under the crossbar to narrow the margin to 5-2.

With both teams playing 4-on-4, the Oilers attempt at a clearing pass was intercepted and passed to Charlie Simmer, who skated in on the goal and attempted to jam the puck in on the right side while falling down. Oiler defenseman Randy Gregg attempted to tie up Simmer's stick, but in his haste hit Fuhr's leg, knocking Fuhr back far enough to allow the puck to slide over the goal line to cut the Oilers lead to two, which energized the once morose Kings fans.

Charlie Simmer

With five minutes remaining, Pat Hughes of the Oilers was stopped on a breakaway, and in the chase to control the puck, the Oilers Garry Unger was called for a five-minute high sticking major while Dave Lewis of the Kings was called for roughing, which meant the teams would play 4-on-4 for the next two minutes. Forward Steve Bozek skated into the Oilers zone and cut to the right and made a drop pass back to Hardy who was moving to his left. The criss-cross movement gave Hardy some space and he fired a wrist shot back toward the right side of the net and past Fuhr to pull the Kings within one and send the home crowd into a frenzy.

Once the penalty to the King's Lewis expired, Unger's major continued, giving the Kings a power play for the final three minutes of the game. Lessard then saved the game for the Kings when he stopped a clean breakaway by Hughes of the Oilers and made an even better save on the rebound attempt.

The Kings netminder Mario Lessard

As time wound down and the Kings having trouble gaining the Oilers zone the Kings pulled Lessard for a two man advantage. With now only 45 seconds to play, Kings star Marcel Dionne gained possession of the puck and kept control of it for over 20 seconds looking for a chance to shoot or a good passing opportunity. Finally he sent the puck to Simmer, who quickly returned the pass. Dionne fired a quick shot, which Fuhr saved. The rebound went over to the boards on the right, where Jim Fox gained control of the puck and sent it into the center of the zone to Hardy who fired a low shot at Fuhr, who saved the initial shot but could not stop the puck from rebounding in front of the net. Rookie Bozek, unguarded due to the two man advantage with the goaltender pulled, gathered in the puck and flung a backhanded shot back at Fuhr, who did not have time to react as the puck sailed between his legs and into the net with just five ticks remaining on the clock to complete the comeback and tie the score at 5-5, sending the Kings fan's into absolute delirium and the contest into overtime.

Mark Hardy had a goal and two assists in the Kings comeback

Lessard nearly gave the game away by sliding out of his net to corral a rebound on a bouncing shot from center ice. In doing so, he collided with the Oilers Anderson, knocking the puck even further away and leaving him stranded 20 feet out of his goal. Messier gained possession of the puck and lifted a backhand attempt at the goal, which rolled off his stick blade sailing wide of the net as Hardy and another Kings player attempted to block Messier's shot in a heart-stopping moment for the Kings fans.

After a save by Fuhr that resulted in a faceoff in the Oilers zone, the Kings sent out an all-rookie forward line of Bozek, Smith and Daryl Evans. Smith won the faceoff back to Evans, who one-timed a slapshot toward the upper corner of the net. Fuhr raised his glove to make the save, but the puck eluded him for the game winning goal at 2:35 of the overtime for a 6-5 Kings win, sending the crowd into rapture and the Kings to a 2-1 series lead in a game that would become known as "The Miracle on Manchester".

The Oilers regrouped for Game 4 to win on the road 3-2, sending the series back to Edmonton for the deciding Game 5.

Confident they could skate with the Oilers, the Kings took a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals by Simmer. Dan Bonar added a pair of goals, as did Evans. Bernie Nicholls also scored at 6:49 of the second to put the Kings ahead to stay as they defeated the Oilers 7-4 to eliminate Edmonton from the playoffs, setting a record for the largest regular season point differential (48) in a series won by the underdog.

Today's featured jersey is a 1981-82 Los Angeles Kings Mark Hardy jersey as worn during the record setting Kings comeback known as the "Miracle on Manchester" in which he scored a goal and had a pair of assists.

Hardy played nine seasons for the Kings and then briefly the New York Rangers and Minnesota North Stars before rejoining the Rangers for five seasons. He would return to the Kings to finish out his 16 year NHL career in which he played 915 games, scoring 368 points.

This style of Kings jersey debuted in 1980-81, an over due modernization, as they had worn their very simple original jerseys since 1967 for thirteen seasons. This style would be worn unchanged throughout the 1980's until the arrival of Gretzky to Los Angeles saw the team change from the purple and gold colors of the Los Angeles Lakers of he NBA to the black and silver of the Los Angeles Raiders of the NFL.

photos courtesy of Classic Auctions

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1981-82 Los Angeles Kings Mario Lessard jersey from the Kings goaltender during the Miracle on Manchester. Lessard would play six seasons for the Kings, his only NHL team.

Today's video features footage of the Kings amazing record setting third period comeback on this date in 1982 along with several members of the Kings organization and their personal recollections of their amazing comeback that night.

Here is another video recalling the record setting Kings comeback, this time with Messier of the Oilers and the Kings Dionne.

2015 NCAA Frozen Four - Boston University Terriers

The semifinals of the 2015 NCAA Frozen Four will take place at the home of the NHL's Boston Bruins, the TD Garden.

The tournament kicks off with a game at 5:00 PM Eastern, pitting the #15 ranked Providence College Friars of Hockey East facing off against the #8 University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference.

The second game scheduled for 8:30 PM will feature the #3 Boston University Terriers, also of Hockey East taking on #2 ranked University of North Dakota also of the powerful NCHC, which sent six teams into the 16 team NCAA playoffs.

Rather than a single school hosting the tournament, the Hockey East conference is the host this year and sees two of it's members, Providence from 50 miles to the southwest in Rhode Island, and Boston University, whose home, Agganis Arena, is located a mere four miles up the Charles River to the west.

The Boston University hockey program dates back to the 1917-18 season when they played a whopping total of just one game, but even then it was against their fierce rivals Boston College.

In their early days, the Terriers played against various amateur athletic clubs and a growing number of other college teams. They joined the NEIHL in 1936-37 and were members until the 1953-54 season. After playing as an independent from 1954-55 to 1960-61, Boston University joined the Eastern College Athletic Conference in 1961-62 as a charter member.

The NCAA would organize the first national championship in 1948 and the Terriers to win their first title in 1971 with a 28-2-1 record.

Boston University's first championship squad from 1971

They would go back-to-back by taking the title again in 1972 with a 26-4-1 record under the guidance of head coach Jack Kelley.

The 1971-72 Terriers team celebrates their second consecutive championship

They would win six regular season ECAC titles and six conference tournament championships, including five in a row from 1974 to 1977. They remained in the ECAC until concerns that the Ivy League members of the ECAC were going to leave the league led to the formation of Hockey East in 1984-85.

They have won nine league titles, including a run of five straight from 1994 to 1998. More would follow in 2000, 2006, 2009 and again this year, 2015.

In addition, Boston University has won Hockey East conference playoff titles in 1986, 1991, 1994 and 1995, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2009 and again this year, 2015.

Stability has been a feature of the program, with head coach Wayland Vaughn behind the bench from 1928 to 1943, save for 1941 before he returned for his final two seasons. Harry Cleverly took over from 1945-46 to 1961-62 followed by Kelley from 1962-63 to 1971-72, winning two national titles.

Jack Kelley

Jack Parker, a former player for the Terriers from 1965 to 1968, took over seven games into the 1973-74 season and remained as head coach for 40 years until 2012-13, amassing 876 wins during his time at BU. He is only the third coach to ever top 800 wins and the only one to do it with one team. He was a five time coach of the year and would guide the Terriers to 3 ECAC regular season titles and 4 playoff championships, 8 Hockey East regular season titles and 7 playoff championships and 3 national championships in 1978, 1995 and 2009. Additionally, BU would win the annual Beanpot Tournament a record 21 times during his tenure.

Jack Parker

61 Boston University players have gone on to play in the NHL, with notable Terriers alumni including Chris Drury, Tony Amonte and Keith Tkachuk.

Keith Tkachuk

Additionally, members of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team to have played for Boston University include Jim Craig, Jack O'Callahan, Dave Silk and captain Mike Eruzione.

Jim Craig

Former NHLer John Cullen holds the school record with 241 career points while Drury leads the Terriers in career goals scored with 113. Others to have topped 200 career points include David Sacco (216), Drury (214), Rick Meagher (210) and Eruzione (208).

Boston University has won the famous Beanpot 30 times in the 63 year history of the event, including this year's edition, far ahead of Boston College's 19 and nearly half of every one ever held.

Boston University celebrates their 30th Beanpot victory

One player to watch today is top NHL prospect and Hobey Baker finalist Jack Eichel, who is expected to be one of the top two picks in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Eichel led the NCAA in scoring this season with 24 goals and 67 points in 38 games, six points ahead of teammate Evan Rodrigues, the only two players with over 60 points this season.

Jack Eichel

Today's featured jersey is a 1989-90 Boston University Terriers Tony Amonte jersey as worn during Amonte's first season with BU.

Amonte played two seasons with the Terriers, totaling 56 goals and 126 points in 79 games. His NHL career lasted 17 seasons, including breaking into the NHL with the Rangers, nine seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks, and time spent with the Coyotes, Flyers and Flames.

photos courtesy of GVJerseys.com

Today's video segment begins with the Terriers winning their 30th Beanpot championship from earlier this year in dramatic fashion.

Up next is Boston University's most recent NCAA national championship from 2009, with a finish not to be missed. If this doesn't get you looking forward to the Frozen Four, nothing will.