The Year of the Rat - 1995-96 Florida Panthers Scott Mellanby Jersey

Every flood begins with one drop and such was the case of perhaps the most unusual goal celebration in NHL history.

Prior to the Florida Panthers home opener on this date in 1995, a rodent scurried across the Panthers locker room floor and forward Scott Mellanby fired it across the room, killing it with a "one-timer" slap shot. Later that night Mellanby netted a pair of goals in the Panthers 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames, which teammate John Vanbiesbrouck dubbed "a rat trick" when talking to reporters after the contest about Mellanby's two goals combined with his earlier extermination of the locker room rat.

"We were all dressed, ready to go on the ice for the first home game of the season," said Mellanby. "The rat came into the room. Understandably, there was a lot of commotion. Everyone got pretty nervous and excited. I got nervous and excited. I guess I just reacted. I one-timed it. I wasn't even thinking."

Following the story in the paper of "The Rat Trick", the torrent that became "The Year of the Rat" began with that single drop as two games later a fan threw a rubber rat on the ice after a Panthers goal. Then in the next game 16 more fans threw rubber rats and the game after that the total number of rats was 50 and the unique goal celebration was on it's way while Panthers did their part as they kept on winning.

Quickly a 100 rats would be tossed by the fans and by the time the season was 20 games old, as many as 200 rats bounced across the ice a night and the celebration was embraced by the team. This led to "exterminators" in Orkin Pest Control uniforms coming onto the ice to clean up the rats, which were now appearing on t-shirts and the Panthers dressing room was renamed "The Rats Nest."

Orkin Pest Control got in on the fun, outfitting the rat clean up crew

After 20 games, the Panthers were an excellent 14-5-1. They maintained that outstanding pace and by game 50 they were 31-14-5 as the rats continued to rain down on the ice. A rough stretch saw them go 10-17-5 over their last 32 games left Florida with 92 points and the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, good enough for home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, an impressive showing for a team in only it's third season.

The Panthers would meet the Boston Bruins in Round 1, who they defeated 4 games to 1. With all the favorites winning in the first round the Panthers drew the top seeded Philadelphia Flyers and proceeded to knock them out 4-2, launching the rat throwing to new heights as the Panthers playoff bandwagon grew. The Panthers reached the Stanley Cup Finals by outlasting the Pittsburgh Penguins in a tough seven game series 4-3.

Penguins goalie Ken Wregget seeing refuge from the flying rats

Once in the finals against the Colorado Avalanche, the rat throwing was a flood unlike anything seen before in NHL history, as each goal was greeted by a peak of 3,000 rats blackening the ice as they flew from every direction.

The games were now being affected by the lengthy delays as an ever growing crew of "exterminators", now having reached 40 in number, did their best to clean up the ice as quickly as possible, no longer able to pick them up by hand, but scooping them up with shovels as the goaltenders retreated into their nets for protection against the flying projectiles.

Just a part of the large clean up crews gathering the hoard of rats

In the finals, Colorado won Game 1 at home 3-1 and Game 2 by 8-1. Now back in Florida, the Panthers scored in the twice in the first period of Game 3, and the fans unleashed a torrent of rats in celebration both times. Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy refused to acknowledge the rats, standing tall and refusing to retreat into his goal while the rubber rodents rained down all around him. During the first intermission, Roy promised his team there would be "no more rats" and kept the Panthers off the board for the remainder of the game, which went to Colorado 3-2.

Patrick Roy heads to the bench while the rats rain down

Game 4 was a scoreless through regulation as well as two overtime periods until German Uwe Krupp scored the cup winning goal for Colorado at 4:31 of the third overtime as Roy made good on his word to keep the puck out of the net and the rats off the ice.

With the rat tossing celebration having gone from clever to fun to excessive to annoying, the NHL ruled in the off season that if fans threw debris onto the ice, the referee was within his power to call a delay of game penalty against their club, putting an end to The Year of the Rat.

Vanbiesbrouck, the man who coined the phrase "Rat Trick",
navigates through the eventual results of his cleverness

Mellanby was originally drafted by the Flyers and played for them for six seasons, which included a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1987, before two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers. He was left unprotected by the Oilers and was claimed by the Panthers in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft, making him an original member of the Panthers and scored the first goal in franchise history on October 9, 1993. As one of the veterans on the expansion Panthers, he became a team leader and a fan favorite, especially after his famous "rat trick" and the young team's strong showing on the ice in 1995-96. He was named the Panthers captain in 1997 and remained so for the remainder of his time in Florida.

After seven and a half seasons in Florida, which included a career high 32 goals and 70 points during the magical 1995-96 season, Mellanby was traded to the St. Louis Blues in 2000-01. He was a member of the Blues for three and a half seasons, including a 57 point season in 2002-03, his best since 1995-96. He then signed with the Atlanta Thrashers as a free agent for the final two seasons of his career, where he was again a team captain both seasons, before retiring after 21 seasons, 1431 games, 364 goals and 476 assists for 840 points and 1 rat.

Today's featured jersey is a 1995-96 Florida Panthers Scott Mellanby jersey. The lettering specification for the jerseys from 1993-94 to 1997-98 was one color straight lettering for the names, which was later changed to three color, vertically arched lettering from 1998-99 through 2005-06 on the white jerseys (and two color letters on the red and blue jerseys) after the departure of Vanbiesbrouck and his extended surname which apparently allowed the Panthers design department more freedom with the lettering style of the jerseys!

Today's video highlight is a look at Game 4 of the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals as the Panthers gamely stave to fight off elimination.

Here come the Rats! Highlights from the Panthers vs. Bruins Game 1 They don't go out of their way to show the rats, but by this point in the season the excessive amount of rats had become an issue with the disruption they were causing to the games.

Finally, a most unusual compilation, the Top 10 things ever thrown on the ice during a hockey game.

1997-98 Florida Panthers John Vanbiesbrouck Jersey

When the Florida Panthers and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim participated in the 1993 Expansion Draft, the 24 other clubs were allowed to protect one goaltender, five defensemen and nine forwards. With the first choice, the Florida Panthers selected John Vanbiesbrouck, born on this date in 1963, who had spent the previous ten seasons with the New York Rangers.

Vanbiesbrouck while still with the Rangers

The Rangers, knowing that they would lose either Vanbiesbrouck or Mike Richter in the expansion draft, traded Vanbiesbrouck to the Vancouver Canucks for future considerations. The Canucks then left him exposed in the expansion draft when they protected Kirk McLean.

After a solid first season in which the Panthers posted a 33-34-17 record, missing the playoffs by just a single point, the second Panthers season was essentially a shortened duplicate, finishing with a 20-22-6 record again good for ninth place, again one point out of a playoff spot in the lockout reduced season.

Vanbiesbrouck adapted well to life in Florida

1995-96 however, would see the team reach unexpected heights in a memorable run through the playoffs. "The Year of the Rat" started on the night of the Panthers home opener, as a rat scurried across the Florida locker room, Scott Melanby "one-timed" the rat against the wall with his stick, killing it. Later that night Mellanby scored two goals, which Vanbiesbrouck called "a rat trick" with the addition of the earlier incident in the locker room.

During the next game, one clever fan threw a rubber rat on the ice in celebration of a goal and a phenomenon was born. By the Panthers third home game, 16 rats reached the ice in celebration. Eventually over 100 were tossed for a goal. Once the Panthers reached the heights of the playoffs, at one point over 3,000 rats rained down after every goal, stopping the games for an extended period of time as the ice, blackened with piles of rubber rats, was cleaned up.

Vanbiesbrouck navigating the many celebratory rats

The Panthers finished the 1995-96 regular season fourth in the Eastern Conference and faced off against the Boston Bruins in the opening round of the playoffs, defeating them 4 games to 1. The Philadelphia Flyers were dispatched in six games before the Pittsburgh Penguins took them to a full seven games. Florida would win Game 7 on the road by a 3-1 score to move onto the Stanley Cup Finals versus the Colorado Avalanche, where they would fall in four games after a dramatic, scoreless Game 4 that would extend into a third overtime before being decided in favor of the Avalanche, giving Colorado the Stanley Cup.

Roy and Vanbiesbrouck meet following their epic duel in Game 4

Prior to the next season, the NHL passed a rule aimed squarely at the Panthers, due to the lengthy delays in cleaning up the rats, which would result in a delay of game penalty against the home team for excessive celebration of a goal by throwing objects on the ice.

After the Panthers trip to the finals, Vanbiesbrouck would play two more seasons in Florida, which included recording his 300th career victory.

Vanbiesbrouck's distinctive Panthers mask

He would then sign with the Flyers, where he would play for two seasons before heading back to New York, only this time with the Islanders. The Islanders would subsequently trade him to the New Jersey Devils late in the 2000-01 season, where he would spend the majority of his time as a backup to Martin Brodeur. He would retire at the end of the season, only to return late in the following season to once more back up Brodeur before retiring for good.

Vanbiesbrouck's final NHL totals would show 882 games played, 374 wins and 40 shutouts with a goal against average of 2.97. He won the Vezina Trophy in 1986 while with the Rangers and his 374 wins and 40 shutouts are records for the most victories and shutouts by an American-born goaltender.

Vanbiesbrouck would also carve out a varied international hockey career, which included participation in the World Championships for the United States in 1982, 1983, 1985 and 1989. He would see action in both the 1987 and 1991 Canada Cups but was unable to compete in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey due to a shoulder injury after being named to the team. He would make the 1998 United States Olympic Team for the tournament held in Nagano, Japan. Following his career, he was named to the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.

Today's featured jersey is a Starter 1997-98 Florida Panthers John Vanbiesbrouck jersey, which features the Florida Panthers 5th Anniversary patch.

The lettering specification for the jerseys from 1993-94 to 1997-98 was one color straight lettering for the names, which was later changed to three color, vertically arched lettering from 1998-99 through 2005-06 after the departure of Vanbiesbrouck and his extended surname apparently allowed the Panthers design department more freedom with the lettering style of the jerseys!

Today's video highlights include round one of the 1996 playoffs versus the Boston Bruins.

The playoff highlights continue with the peak of the rat throwing, the Panthers first goal at home during Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Next, a look at Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals, featuring the goaltending duel between Vanbiesbrouck and Patrick Roy which stretched into a third overtime.

Here is an extended interview with Vanbiesbrouck on NHL Live, which covers a wide range of topics,  beginning with his memories of playing the first modern NHL outdoor game, an exhibition in Las Vegas.

2000-01 Florida Panthers Greg Adams Jersey

Greg Adams began his road to the NHL with the Kelowna Buckaroos of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League during the 1980-81 season. The left winger got off to a great start, scoring 40 goals and 90 points in 48 games at the age of 17. After a second season with Kelowna, Adams definitely took the road less traveled when he joined the little known, little regarded, little remembered hockey program at Northern Arizona University.

Northern Arizona fielded a Division 1 team from 1980-81 to 1985-86, the first five as an independent club. During his first season with the Lumberjacks, Adams scored at more than a point per game with 35 points in 29 games, but erupted in 1983-84 with 44 goals and 73 points to lead not only Northern Arizona, but the entire nation in scoring.

Still, after that performance, Adams went undrafted by the NHL and signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Devils. He spilt his first professional season between the Maine Mariners of the AHL (41 games and 11 playoff games) and the Devils (36 games). During only his second NHL season, and his first full season, Adams set a career best with 77 points in 78 games. His point total sank in year three to 47 in 1986-87.

That drop in points made Adams expendable and he was dealt to the Vancouver Canucks along with goaltender Kirk McLean. The change in scenery worked well for Adams who went on to play eight seasons in Vancouver, including four goals in his first game as a Canuck. His first season with the Canucks saw him set a career high with 36 goals while coming within one of his career best with 76 points, just one off the team lead.

While with Vancouver he would post three more 50 point seasons as well as scoring one of the greatest goals in team history with his overtime goal in Game 5 of the 1994 Western Conference Finals to propel the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Finals after they had trailed by three goals at one point. During that season's playoffs, Adams would score 14 points in 23 games, including the game winning goal in overtime of Game 1 of the finals.

After 31 games of the 1994-95 season, he would be traded to the Dallas Stars. Three seasons with Dallas saw Adams have two 20 goal seasons, the 8th and 9th of his career. Still, he never played more than 66 games for Dallas due to a series of injuries which limited his playing time.

For the 1998-99 season Adams moved to the Phoenix Coyotes as a free agent, where he once again had a good first season with his new team, seeing action in 75 games. He played a second season with Phoenix where his 46 points were the most he had scored since 1993 with Vancouver.

For the 2000-01 season, Adams joined the Florida Panthers as a free agent. He would play in 60 games that year, which included his 1,000th career game on this date in 2000. He would celebrate the occasion by scoring the Panthers first goal of the game in a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes as he became the only player from Northern Arizona University to ever play 1,000 games in the NHL, as he was actually one of only two players from NAU to even make it to the NHL, the other being Bob Beers.

After sitting out the 2001-02 season, Adams tried his hand at hockey in Europe, signing with the Frankfurt Lions of the German DEL where he would score 42 points in 50 games to close out his career once and for all.

His final NHL totals are 1,056 games played, 355 goals and 388 assists for 743 points.

Today's featured jersey is a 2000-01 Florida Panthers Greg Adams jersey. This is from the second era of the Panthers jerseys, as their original jerseys worn from 1993-1998 had one color red names before changing to three color vertically arched names on the back in time for the 1998-99 season. This style would remain in use through the 2005-06 season before the arching was removed and the three color names became straight once again in 2006-07 for a single season prior to the change to new jerseys with the arrival of the Reebok Edge jerseys the following season.

Today's video segment begins with Adams overtime goal against the Maple Leafs to send Vancouver to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994.

Here, Adams scores the game winning goal in overtime of Game 1 of the finals just after the Rangers hit the crossbar at the other end.

2000-01 Florida Panthers Greg Adams Jersey

Greg Adams began his road to the NHL with the Kelowna Buckaroos of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League during the 1980-81 season. The left winger got off to a great start, scoring 40 goals and 90 points in 48 games at the age of 17. After a second season with Kelowna, Adams definitely took the road less traveled when he joined the little known, little regarded, little remembered hockey program at Northern Arizona University.

Northern Arizona fielded a Division 1 team from 1980-81 to 1985-86, the first five as an independent club. During his first season with the Lumberjacks, Adams scored at more than a point per game with 35 points in 29 games, but erupted in 1983-84 with 44 goals and 73 points to lead not only Northern Arizona, but the entire nation in scoring.

Still, after that performance, Adams went undrafted by the NHL and signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Devils. He spilt his first professional season between the Maine Mariners of the AHL (41 games and 11 playoff games) and the Devils (36 games). During only his second NHL season, and his first full season, Adams set a career best with 77 points in 78 games. His point total sank in year three to 47 in 1986-87.

That drop in points made Adams expendable and he was dealt to the Vancouver Canucks along with goaltender Kirk McLean. The change in scenery worked well for Adams who went on to play eight seasons in Vancouver, including four goals in his first game as a Canuck. His first season with the Canucks saw him set a career high with 36 goals while coming within one of his career best with 76 points, just one off the team lead.

While with Vancouver he would post three more 50 point seasons as well as scoring one of the greatest goals in team history with his overtime goal in Game 5 of the 1994 Western Conference Finals to propel the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Finals after they had trailed by three goals at one point. During that season's playoffs, Adams would score 14 points in 23 games, including the game winning goal in overtime of Game 1 of the finals.

After 31 games of the 1994-95 season, he would be traded to the Dallas Stars. Three seasons with Dallas saw Adams have two 20 goal seasons, the 8th and 9th of his career. Still, he never played more than 66 games for Dallas due to a series of injuries which limited his playing time.

For the 1998-99 season Adams moved to the Phoenix Coyotes as a free agent, where he once again had a good first season with his new team, seeing action in 75 games. He played a second season with Phoenix where his 46 points were the most he had scored since 1993 with Vancouver.

For the 2000-01 season, Adams joined the Florida Panthers as a free agent. He would play in 60 games that year, which included his 1,000th career game on this date in 2000. He would celebrate the occasion by scoring the Panthers first goal of the game in a 4-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes as he became the only player from Northern Arizona University to ever play 1,000 games in the NHL, as he was actually one of only two players from NAU to even make it to the NHL, the other being Bob Beers.

After sitting out the 2001-02 season, Adams tried his hand at hockey in Europe, signing with the Frankfurt Lions of the German DEL where he would score 42 points in 50 games to close out his career once and for all.

His final NHL totals are 1,056 games played, 355 goals and 388 assists for 743 points.

Today's featured jersey is a 2000-01 Florida Panthers Greg Adams jersey. This is from the second era of the Panthers jerseys, as their original jerseys worn from 1993-1998 had one color red names before changing to three color vertically arched names on the back in time for the 1998-99 season. This style would remain in use through the 2005-06 season before the arching was removed and the three color names became straight once again in 2006-07 for a single season prior to the change to new jerseys with the arrival of the Reebok Edge jerseys the following season.

Today's video segment begins with Adams overtime goal against the Maple Leafs to send Vancouver to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994.

Here, Adams scores the game winning goal in overtime of Game 1 of the finals just after the Rangers hit the crossbar at the other end.

1995-96 Florida Panthers Scott Mellanby Jersey

Every flood begins with one drop and such was the case of perhaps the most unusual goal celebration in NHL history.

Prior to the Florida Panthers home opener on this date in 1995, a rodent scurried across the Panthers locker room floor and forward Scott Mellanby fired it across the room, killing it with a "one-timer" slap shot. Later that night Mellanby netted a pair of goals in the Panthers 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames, which teammate John Vanbiesbrouck dubbed "a rat trick" when talking to reporters after the contest about Mellanby's two goals combined with his earlier extermination of the locker room rat.

"We were all dressed, ready to go on the ice for the first home game of the season," said Mellanby. "The rat came into the room. Understandably, there was a lot of commotion. Everyone got pretty nervous and excited. I got nervous and excited. I guess I just reacted. I one-timed it. I wasn't even thinking."

Following the story in the paper of "The Rat Trick", the torrent that became "The Year of the Rat" began with that single drop as two games later a fan threw a rubber rat on the ice after a Panthers goal. Then in the next game 16 more fans threw rubber rats and the game after that the total number of rats was 50 and the unique goal celebration was on it's way while Panthers did their part as they kept on winning.

Quickly a 100 rats would be tossed by the fans and by the time the season was 20 games old, as many as 200 rats bounced across the ice a night and the celebration was embraced by the team. This led to "exterminators" in Orkin Pest Control uniforms coming onto the ice to clean up the rats, which were now appearing on t-shirts and the Panthers dressing room was renamed "The Rats Nest."

Orkin Pest Control got in on the fun, outfitting the rat clean up crew

After 20 games, the Panthers were an excellent 14-5-1. They maintained that outstanding pace and by game 50 they were 31-14-5 as the rats continued to rain down on the ice. A rough stretch saw them go 10-17-5 over their last 32 games left Florida with 92 points and the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, good enough for home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, an impressive showing for a team in only it's third season.

The Panthers would meet the Boston Bruins in Round 1, who they defeated 4 games to 1. With all the favorites winning in the first round the Panthers drew the top seeded Philadelphia Flyers and proceeded to knock them out 4-2, launching the rat throwing to new heights as the Panthers playoff bandwagon grew. The Panthers reached the Stanley Cup Finals by outlasting the Pittsburgh Penguins in a tough seven game series 4-3.

Penguins goalie Ken Wregget seeing refuge from the flying rats

Once in the finals against the Colorado Avalanche, the rat throwing was a flood unlike anything seen before in NHL history, as each goal was greeted by a peak of 3,000 rats blackening the ice as they flew from every direction.

The games were now being affected by the lengthy delays as an ever growing crew of "exterminators", now having reached 40 in number, did their best to clean up the ice as quickly as possible, no longer able to pick them up by hand, but scooping them up with shovels as the goaltenders retreated into their nets for protection against the flying projectiles.

Just a part of the large clean up crews gathering the hoard of rats

In the finals, Colorado won Game 1 at home 3-1 and Game 2 by 8-1. Now back in Florida, the Panthers scored in the twice in the first period of Game 3, and the fans unleashed a torrent of rats in celebration both times. Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy refused to acknowledge the rats, standing tall and refusing to retreat into his goal while the rubber rodents rained down all around him. During the first intermission, Roy promised his team there would be "no more rats" and kept the Panthers off the board for the remainder of the game, which went to Colorado 3-2.

Patrick Roy heads to the bench while the rats rain down

Game 4 was a scoreless through regulation as well as two overtime periods until German Uwe Krupp scored the cup winning goal for Colorado at 4:31 of the third overtime as Roy made good on his word to keep the puck out of the net and the rats off the ice.

With the rat tossing celebration having gone from clever to fun to excessive to annoying, the NHL ruled in the off season that if fans threw debris onto the ice, the referee was within his power to call a delay of game penalty against their club, putting an end to The Year of the Rat.

Vanbiesbrouck, the man who coined the phrase "Rat Trick",
navigates through the eventual results of his cleverness

Mellanby was originally drafted by the Flyers and played for them for six seasons, which included a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1987, before two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers. He was left unprotected by the Oilers and was claimed by the Panthers in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft, making him an original member of the Panthers and scored the first goal in franchise history on October 9, 1993. As one of the veterans on the expansion Panthers, he became a team leader and a fan favorite, especially after his famous "rat trick" and the young team's strong showing on the ice in 1995-96. He was named the Panthers captain in 1997 and remained so for the remainder of his time in Florida.

After seven and a half seasons in Florida, which included a career high 32 goals and 70 points during the magical 1995-96 season, Mellanby was traded to the St. Louis Blues in 2000-01. He was a member of the Blues for three and a half seasons, including a 57 point season in 2002-03, his best since 1995-96. He then signed with the Atlanta Thrashers as a free agent for the final two seasons of his career, where he was again a team captain both seasons, before retiring after 21 seasons, 1431 games, 364 goals and 476 assists for 840 points and 1 rat.

Today's featured jersey is a 1995-96 Florida Panthers Scott Mellanby jersey. The lettering specification for the jerseys from 1993-94 to 1997-98 was one color straight lettering for the names, which was later changed to three color, vertically arched lettering from 1998-99 through 2005-06 on the white jerseys (and two color letters on the red and blue jerseys) after the departure of Vanbiesbrouck and his extended surname which apparently allowed the Panthers design department more freedom with the lettering style of the jerseys!

Today's video highlight is a look at Game 4 of the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals as the Panthers gamely stave to fight off elimination.

Here come the Rats! Highlights from the Panthers vs. Bruins Game 1 They don't go out of their way to show the rats, but by this point in the season the excessive amount of rats had become an issue with the disruption they were causing to the games.

Finally, a most unusual compilation, the Top 10 things ever thrown on the ice during a hockey game.

1997-98 Florida Panthers Kirk Muller Jersey

On this date in 1998, Kirk Muller of the Florida Panthers played in the 1000th game of his 19 year NHL career.

Muller was originally drafted 2nd overall by the New Jersey Devils and played for Team Canada in the 1984 World Junior Tournament and then the Canadian National Team in preparation for his participation in the 1984 Olympics before making his NHL debut with the Devils for the 1984-85 season.

Muller, a durable and great two-way player, would play in all but four games for New Jersey in his seven seasons with the Devils. His best offensive season in New Jersey was 1987-88, when he led the club in scoring with 37 goals and 57 assists for 94 points and was a +19 after being named team captain. The Devils would make their first playoff run in franchise history, knocking off the New York Islanders in six games and Washington Capitals in seven before falling to the Boston Bruins in the conference finals in seven, while "Captain Kirk" would contribute 12 points in 20 games.

The Devils seldom made the playoffs in those days, allowing Muller to participate in the World Championships for Canada in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1989, as well as skating with the NHL All-Stars versus the Soviet Union in the Rendez-vous '87 series.

Just prior to the 1991-92 season, Muller, along with goaltender Roland Melanson was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Stephane Richer and Tom Chorske. In four and a half seasons with the Canadiens, Muller would score 77 points his first season to lead the team and follow that up with his best season in Montreal with 37 goals and 57 assists for 94 points, with all three totals matching his career highs from 1988 in New Jersey. The post season saw Muller add 17 points in 20 games as the Canadiens would capture the Stanley Cup for the only time in his career.

One and a half seasons later Muller, now captain of the Canadiens, would unfortunately be involved in the controversial trade with the New York Islanders that sent Pierre Turgeon to Montreal. Muller wanted little to do with the dysfunctional and downtrodden Islanders, who were mired deep in the standings and wanted Muller to lead their young team. In the end, the unhappy Muller would only play 27 games for the Islanders before being dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs in January of the following season.

His time in Toronto was also short-lived, finishing the second half of 1995-96 and most of 1996-97 before being sent to the Florida Panthers, whose run to the Stanley Cup in 1996 was behind them now. In two plus seasons with the Panthers, Muller would register just 13 goals and 34 assists, but would play in his 1000th game on this date during the 1997-98 season.

He would sign with the defending champion Dallas Stars as a free agent for the 1999-00 season and play the final four seasons of his career with Dallas. By this time he was a defensive forward and helped the Stars reach the Stanley Cup finals in 2000. After retiring in 2003, Muller finished with 357 goals and 602 assists for 959 points. His 69 playoff points put him at over 1000 combined for his career, which included playing in six NHL All-Star Games.

Today's featured jersey is a Starter 1997-98 Florida Panthers Kirk Muller jersey as worn during the season Muller played in his 1000th game.

This jersey is the final season for this particular specification of single color names on the back of the Panther's jerseys, as they would change to the always classy vertically arched three-color letters, a welcome and unexpected upgrade in the look, as many teams tend to simplify their look over time, rather than making them more complex.

Today's video shows Muller in the Devils original red and green jerseys wacking one out of the air and into the net.

Here, the Montreal Canadiens are awarded the 1993 Stanley Cup, with Muller being one of he assistant team captains is part of the presenting of the cup and is later shown lifting it as the team skates around the ice in celebration. Later, Muller is interviewed at the 4:39 mark. The Canadiens, by the way, were wearing a French version of the Stanley Cup Finals patch, the only team to ever wear a French variation of the finals patch.

2002-03 Florida Panthers Olli Jokinen Jersey

Born on this date in 1978, Olli Jokinen was drafted 3rd overall in he 1997 NHL Entry draft by the Los Angeles Kings while playing for HIFK in Helsinki of the Finnish SM-liiga.

Jokinen made his NHL debut later that season, playing in eight games for the Kings and scoring no points before returning to HIFK for the remainder of the year where he scored 39 points in 30 games. He added nine points in nine playoff games, including the series clinching goal in overtime of Game 3 to give HIFK the championship, earning him the Jari Kurri Trophy as playoff MVP.

He played 66 games for the Kings the following season, registering his first NHL goal on his way to a 21 point campaign, but was dealt to the New York Islanders in a trade that brought Ziggy Palffy to the Kings. In his only season on Long Island, Jokinen scored 21 points in 80 games, a total that made the Islanders consider him expendable and he was traded, along with Roberto Luongo, to the Florida Panthers for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha.

During his first two seasons in Florida, Jokinen would score just 15 goals and 30 assists for 45 points in a combined 158 games, making what happened the next season a complete surprise.

36 goals and 29 assists for 2002-03 would more than double his previous season's point total and was four times his previous season's goal total, and six times more than two seasons prior.

He would prove 2002-03 was no fluke by scoring 26 goals and 32 assists for 58 points in 2003-04.

The lockout season of 2004-05 would see him move from EHC Kloten in Switzerland (8 games) to Södertälje SK in Sweden (23 games) and a return to HIFK back in his home country of Finland for 14 games and 5 playoff contests.

Back in Florida after the lockout would see him put up consecutive seasons of 38, 39 and 34 goals, including a 91 point season, his career best in 2006-07. His reward for his offensive consistency was a trade to the Phoenix Coyotes, with Florida receiving Keith Ballard, Nick Boynton and a 2nd round draft pick.

The year he spent in Phoenix would see him score 21 goals and 21 assists in 57 games and... a trade to the Calgary Flames at the end of the season, the fourth trade of his career, and be reunited with his coach from Florida, Mike Keenan. 19 games in Calgary saw 15 points, giving him 57 for the season, followed by 5 more points in 6 playoff games.

Jokinen's international resume is filled with medals and looks to be a great one in the making. Starting with a gold medal at the 1998 World Junior Championship, Jokinen then rattled off a silver in the World Championships later that spring, another silver in 1999 and a bronze in 2000. He also played in the World Championships for Finland in 2002, 2003 and 2004 before claiming a silver medal at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

He would make another World Championship appearance in 2005 before earning another bronze in the 2006, this shortly after winning a sliver at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Another bronze would be added to his growing collection at the 2008 World Championships, now giving him a gold, four silver and three bronze medals - eight in all.

Today's featured jersey is Starter 2002-03 Florida Panthers Olli Jokinen jersey. This jersey is from Jokinen's offensive breakout 36 goal season and sports the 2003 NHL All-Star Game patch. The patch is unusual in that it lacks any text identifying the year or location of the game or even the phrase "All-Star". If it weren't for the NHL logo, a hundred years from now no one would even know it was a hockey patch.

This highly attractive modern jersey was used by the Panthers beginning in their debut season of 1993-94, first with straight, one color white letters through the 1997-98 season, before changing to the always classy vertically arched two-color letters, a welcome and unexpected upgrade in the look, as many teams tend to simplify their look over time, rather than making them more complex.

The 2003-04 season saw the red home jersey designated at the Panthers alternate jersey and along with that came a revised crest, now getting the version formerly used on the blue alternate jersey which featured the leaping panther crest now breaking a hockey stick in half. 2006-07 saw the inevitable simplification occur, as the names on the back were once again straight across, although still in two colors. The now long-serving Panthers red jersey would fall victim to the new Reebok Edge jerseys the following year, ending a fourteen year lifespan for one of the nicer jerseys in the NHL.

Today's video is the NHL player profile on Jokinen, highlighting his charity giving.

Next, a nice tribute to Jokinen following his trade to Phoenix.