The NHL Record for Most Shorthanded Goals in a Game - 1980-81 Minnesota North Stars Steve Payne Jersey

The Minnesota North Stars were founded in 1967. Fourteen years later, they still had never won a game in the Boston Garden and were 0-27-7 at The Garden going into their game on February 26, 1981. The North Stars were routinely intimidated by the Big, Bad Bruins, who featured a lineup with noted tough guys Terry O'Reilly (223 penalty minutes that season), Mike Milbury (222), Stan Jonathan (192), Keith Crowder (172), Brad McCrimmon (148) and Brad Park (111).

The 1980-81 Boston Bruins

By this point in the season, the North Stars knew that they were going to be facing the Bruins in the playoffs and Head Coach Glen Sonmor decided that the "Curse of the Bruins" was going to come to an end that night. Sonmor wanted to instill a new attitude of toughness into his team and to no longer back down from any challenge, especially that of intimidation by the Bruins.

The North Stars fiery Head Coach Glen Sonmor

Sonmor's instructions to his squad was simple and direct. "Not the second time, or the third time or even the fourth time, but on the first time that any Bruin tried to intimidate one of them. that they were to drop the gloves. I told them that we were going to wear that night and that we were going to keep going to war until the game was over. Period."

The North Stars took the message to heart, and right off the opening faceoff, the Bruins Steve Kasper cracked the North Stars star player, Bobby Smith, right under the chin with his stick. Smith immediately dropped the gloves and fought Kasper. Afterwards, there was one fight after another. In the first period alone, there were 340 penalty minutes called and 12 players ejected from the game!

Here are the penalties from the boxscore from just the first period alone:

Penalties - BOS - Crowder 0:07 ; BOS - Crowder ( (maj)) 0:07 ; BOS - Crowder (Misconduct (10 min)) 0:07 ; BOS - Kasper 0:07 ; BOS - Kasper ( (maj)) 0:07 ; MINS - Payne 0:07 ; MINS - Payne 0:07 ; MINS - Payne ( (maj)) 0:07 ; MINS - Payne (Misconduct (10 min)) 0:07 ; MINS - Payne (Misconduct (10 min)) 0:07 ; MINS - Smith B 0:07 ; MINS - Smith B ( (maj)) 0:07 ; BOS - Milbury 2:53 ; MINS - Christoff 2:53 ; BOS - O'Reilly 3:35 ; BOS - O'Reilly ( (maj)) 3:35 ; MINS - Carlson ( (maj)) 3:35 ; BOS - Mccrimmon 4:28 ; MINS - Hartsburg 5:42 ; MINS - Smith G 6:02 ; BOS - Bench 8:06 ; BOS - Gillis ( (maj)) 8:06 ; BOS - Gillis (Misconduct (10 min)) 8:06 ; BOS - Milbury ( (maj)) 8:06 ; MINS - Bench 8:06 ; MINS - Hartsburg ( (maj)) 8:06 ; MINS - Hartsburg (Misconduct (10 min)) 8:06 ; MINS - Younghans ( (maj)) 8:06 ; BOS - Bourque 8:58 ; BOS - Bourque ( (maj)) 8:58 ; BOS - Crowder 8:58 ; BOS - Crowder 8:58 ; BOS - Crowder 8:58 ; BOS - Crowder (Game Misconduct) 8:58 ; BOS - Mccrimmon ( (maj)) 8:58 ; BOS - Mccrimmon ( (maj)) 8:58 ; BOS - Mccrimmon (Misconduct (10 min)) 8:58 ; BOS - Mccrimmon (Game Misconduct) 8:58 ; BOS - Mcnab 8:58 ; BOS - Mcnab (Game Misconduct) 8:58 ; BOS - Milbury 8:58 ; BOS - Milbury (Game Misconduct) 8:58 ; BOS - O'Reilly 8:58 ; BOS - O'Reilly (Game Misconduct) 8:58 ; BOS - Vachon 8:58 ; MINS - Bench 8:58 ; MINS - Carlson 8:58 ; MINS - Carlson (Game Misconduct) 8:58 ; MINS - Hartsburg (Game Misconduct) 8:58 ; MINS - Macadam 8:58 ; MINS - Macadam ( (maj)) 8:58 ; MINS - Macadam (Misconduct (10 min)) 8:58 ; MINS - Macadam (Game Misconduct) 8:58 ; MINS - Meloche 8:58 ; MINS - Payne (Game Misconduct) 8:58 ; MINS - Roberts ( (maj)) 8:58 ; MINS - Roberts (Game Misconduct) 8:58 ; MINS - Smith G ( (maj)) 8:58 ; MINS - Smith G (Game Misconduct) 8:58 ; MINS - Younghans 8:58 ; MINS - Younghans (Game Misconduct) 8:58 ; MINS - Maxwell B 12:44 ; MINS - Zanussi 14:02 ; BOS - Kasper 17:36

At one point, players were being sent off to the dressing rooms using the aisle that ran between the benches and a spark of anger set off a melee off the ice that involved the police trying to separate the combatants!

The fighting spilled off the ice and between the benches

By the end of the game, 42 penalties had been called for a NHL record 406 penalty minutes with six more major penalties in the second period plus four more in the third. 

After the game, Bruins Head Coach Gerry Cheevers got into a shouting match with Sonmor, who was so fired up he tried to get at Cheevers. With his players holding him back, Sonmor even tried to take a few swings at his Bruins counterpart.

Sonmor being restrained

The Bruins had won the game 5-1, but the North Stars management could not have cared less. The message had been sent - the North Stars were not going to be intimidated any more.

After the game, reporters came to Sonmor with disparaging quotes from Cheevers, to which the feisty Sonmor replied, "OK, I have a message that you can take back to Gerry. Tell him to meet me between the dressing rooms the next time we play each other and we'll settle this like men. We'll see who's got character then." Adding "Oh, by the way, tell him to bring a basket to carry his f---ing head home in!"

The league president called Sonmor into his office afterwards and asked him if he had incited the North Stars that night. He replied with honesty, "We needed to make a stand." and I wasn't going to apologize for that. Sonmor was fined but the North Stars General Manager Lou Nanne gladly paid the fine for his head coach, knowing what Sonmor was up to and was behind him 100%.

Sure enough, the North Stars were paired up in the opening round of the 1981 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Just before Sonmor was to leave for the airport for Boston, he opened a letter from a local woman who said that she was a psychic. She had a vision of Sonmor standing behind the bench in the Boston Garden wearing an eye patch and beating the "Curse of the Garden". Sonmor thought her name, Amy Puckett, sounded enough like a hockey "puck" and considered it a good omen. Sonmor, you see, had his budding hockey career cut short by an eye injury which left him with a glass eye in place of the one he lost to a slapshot.

Sure enough, Sonmor figured he could use all the good Karma he could get at that point and retrieved his eye patch for the trip to Boston. "I put that patch on right before we hit the ice and I remember screaming out just like a general leading his troops into battle: "Boys, the curse ends tonight!"

Game 1 on April 8th saw Minnesota lead 2-1 after the first period on goals by Steve Payne and Brad Maxwell, but the Bruins scored twice in the second to take a 3-2 lead into the third. It only took 37 seconds for Payne to tie the game, but Peter McNab gave Boston their lead back at 7:14. The unlikely brawler Jack Carlson scored at 11:55 to tie the game, which later went to overtime.

The curse then ended 3:34 into the overtime when Payne completed a hat trick to win not only the game, but end a 14 year, 35 game winless streak.

Steve Payne's hat trick ended the North Stars curse in Boston

The Bruins needed to win Game 2 at home before heading to Minnesota, but the North Stars were flying high after their win the night before. While Boston scored first 56 seconds into the game on a power play, Bobby Smith responded just 19 seconds later and the North Stars were off and running. They got goals from Payne and Al MacAdam to take a 3-1 lead before the first period was half over. Boston fought back to tie the game with goals with 31 seconds remaining in the first and 41 seconds into the second, but the North Stars replied with 3 goals from Brad Maxwell, Payne and MacAdam for a 6-3 lead after two.

The Bruins tried to fight back with a goal at 29 seconds of the third but the North Stars responded with two goals in less than three minutes for a commanding 8-4 lead. Two Boston goals within a minute were not enough and Tim Young's goal at 14:25 made the final score 9-6, something unthinkable as recently as February 25th, six weeks earlier.

Back in 1981, the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs were a best-of-five, meaning the Bruins were not on the brink of elimination with no margin for error as the series moved back to Minnesota for Game 3 at the Met Center in Bloomington.

Energized by their rabid home fans, the North Stars got out to a 2-0 lead within the game's first five minutes, as Brad Palmer beat Rogie Vachon with assists from Steve Christoff and Neal Broten and 3:36 followed by MacAdam scoring from Young and Payne at 4:57. Dino Ciccarelli scored on a power play with an assist to Bobby Smith at 12:00 exactly with Terry O'Reilly in the penalty box. Payne set the North Stars faithful into a full throated roar when he made the score 4-0 at 18:33 with an assist to MacAdam. Mike O'Connell got the Bruins on the board late in the period with a shorthanded goal against Gilles Meloche at 19:47 with O'Reilly serving his second minor of the period.

The majority of the second period passed without any scoring until Greg Smith scored an unassisted, shorthanded goal at 18:05 with Curt Giles in the penalty box for the North Stars to make the score 5-1 for Minnesota with twenty minutes to play.

There was a fracas at the 5:18 mark which led to Crowder and McCrimmon getting minor penalties and Jonathan being whistled for a double minor plus a major and a game misconduct. Minnesota, meanwhile, saw a minor to Carlson and a double minor to Ciccarelli, giving the North Stars an extended power play in light of Jonathan's major.

Bobby Lalonde with just 4 goals in 62 games during the regular season, then tried single handedly to save the Bruins season, scoring a shorthanded goal at 11:10 from O'Connell. Christoff was penalized for Minnesota at 11:51 followed by Middleton receiving a penalty for the Bruins at 13:59. Lalonde then struck again at 15:42 for his second shorthanded goal at 15:42 to cut the North Stars advantage to 5-3.

Bobby Lalonde had a pair of shorthanded goals

Lalonde's second shorthanded goal, along with those by Minnesota's Greg Smith in the second period and O'Connell's first period goal while Boston was a man down, set an NHL record for the Most Shorthanded Goals in a Playoff Game at 4.

With the desperate Bruins having pulled Vachon in search of two goals to keep their season alive, Payne scored his seventh goal of the series from Young into an empty net at 18:34 to make the final score 6-3 to close out the game and the series, something few would have bet on in mid-February.

The 1980-81 Minnesota North Stars

Buoyed by their success against Boston, the North Stars then defeated the Buffalo Sabres in five games, including three on the road, and then eliminated the Calgary Flames in six to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they encountered the defending champion New York Islanders dynasty in the making, who won their second of four consecutive Stanley Cups in five games.

Today's featured jersey is a 1980-81 Minnesota North Stars Steve Payne jersey from the North Stars infamous brawl with the Bruins and the player who scored the goal that ended the North Stars curse in Boston when the teams met later in the playoffs. During the North Stars run to the Finals, Payne led the club in points with 29 with 17 goals and 12 assists in 19 games.

Payne had an eventful night in Boston, as he was involved in a secondary brawl at the seven second mark with Crowder, which earned him a double minor unsportsmanlike conduct, a fighting major and a rare double misconduct. All of this should have kept Payne out of the action until well into the second period, yet he still managed to find himself involved in the fracas which erupted at the 8:58 mark of the first period in the runway next to the Bruins bench which earned him a game misconduct before the first period had even reached the halfway mark. Payne finished the evening with 7 seconds of ice time and a total of 39 penalty minutes!

The North Stars would adopt this jersey style in 1978-79 when they merged with the Cleveland Barons. While the white home jerseys gain generous amounts of black striping in 1981-82, the black was unexplainably not added to the green jerseys until 1988-89.

Today's featured jersey is a 1980-81 Minnesota North Stars Bobby Smith jersey worn during the era when defenseman Greg Smith was also a member of the North Stars. But rather than go with the usual first initials "B. SMITH" and "G. SMITH" to identify the pair, the North Stars, for some unexplained reason, chose to put his full name "BOBBY SMITH" on Bobby's jersey, despite the full name treatment usually reserved for brothers whose names began with the same letter, such as Rich and Ron Sutter, Dave and Don Maloney, Jim and Joe Watson or Mark and Marty Howe. We assume Greg Smith received the same full name treatment,.

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

Bobby Smith led the North Stars in scoring in 1980-81 with 29 goals and 64 assists for 93 points and was second to Payne in playoff scoring with 8 goals and 25 points in 19 games.

While we were unable to find footage of the North Stars and Bruins playoff series, particularly Game 3 that set the record for the most shorthanded goals in a playoff game, here are highlights of the record setting February 26th game when the North Stars made their stand against the Big, Bad Bruins.

1980-81 Minnesota North Stars Bobby Smith Jersey

Bobby Smith had an outstanding junior career with the Ottawa 67's, including scoring 135 points in 64 games in 1976-77 and following that with 192 points in 61 games the next season - over a three point per game average! His 123 assists and 192 points still stand as OHL league records.

Smith, born on this date in 1958, was subsequently drafted first overall by the last place Minnesota North Stars in the 1978 Amateur Draft and went on to capture the Calder Trophy following a rookie campaign in which he scored 30 goals and 74 points in 80 games.

Interestingly, the North Stars used their second round pick in 1978 to draft Smith's Ottawa 67's linemate Steve Payne. Further picks that year would net 1980 USA Olympic team member Steve Christoff and eventual team captain Curt Giles.

Prior to Smith's rookie season, the NHL allowed a deal where the Cleveland Barons owners George and Gordon Gund were allowed to merge their franchise with the North Stars franchise under the Gund's ownership and would play as the North Stars in the Baron's place in the Adams division. This allowed the North Stars to add players such as Mike Fidler, Al MacAdam, Greg Smith and reacquire fan favorite J. P. Parise and goaltender Gilles Meloche.

The North Stars were able to show a 25 point improvement in the standings, but failed to qualify for the playoffs in the rugged Wales Conference despite having 5 more points than the Vancouver Canucks of the Campbell Conference.

Further additions in the 1979 Entry Draft would net the North Stars Craig Hartsburg, Tom McCarthy, Minnesota native and 1980 USA Olympic team member Neal Broten, who would join the team the following season.

This influx of talent over the course of two seasons paid off in 1979-80, as MacAdam, Payne and Smith all topped 80 points during the regular season and the North Stars qualified for the playoffs after a 23 point improvement in the standings. The North Stars would eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs in three straight, gain invaluable confidence and experience by defeating the Montreal Canadiens in seven games before losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in round 3.

Smith would increase his regular season point total to 83 games that season and add another 14 points in 15 playoff games.

Growing in confidence and experience, Smith would once more improve his point total with 93 points in 1980-81 and, coming off the playoff run of the previous season, the North Stars would make a run through the playoffs, aided by the additions of Gordie Roberts, Dino Ciccarelli and the late season arrival of Broten just in time for the playoffs.

The North Stars would sweep their previous nemesis the Boston Bruins, easily dispatch the Buffalo Sabres in five games, eliminate the Calgary Flames in six before running into the midst of the New York Islanders dynasty in the finals to complete their unusual journey from last place to the Stanley Cup Finals in just three seasons.

Smith's finest season as a professional would come in 1981-82 with 43 goals and 71 assists for 114 points, the fourth consecutive increase in points during his four seasons in the league. The following season would see his point total drop to 77 and the North Stars would be bounced out of the playoffs despite a club record 96 points in the second round by arch-rivals the Chicago Black Hawks.

A falling out with new North Stars coach Bill Mahoney led to Smith being dealt to the Montreal Canadiens, where he would play for the next seven seasons, scoring as many as 93 points in 1987-88 and winning the only Stanley Cup of his career in 1986 when he finished second in Canadiens regular season scoring and contributed 15 points in 20 playoff games. The Canadiens would make the finals again in 1989 and Smith would contribute 19 points in 21 games that year.

Smith was dealt back to Minnesota in time for the 1990-91 season and help the North Stars on an improbable run through the playoffs, as they defeated the President's Trophy winning Chicago Blackhawks (who finished 38 points ahead of them in the standings) in the first round, the St. Louis Blues (37 points ahead) and Edmonton Oilers (12 points better) before falling to the Mario Lemieux-led Pittsburgh Penguins in the finals.

Smith wore #18 on his return to Minnesota

Smith would play two more seasons in the NHL, which included his 1,000th NHL point, becoming only the 32nd player in league history to reach that mark. Later that season he reach the 1,000 game mark and would eventually retire with 1,077 games played, 357 goals and 679 assists for 1036 points and 160 points in 184 career playoff games and one Stanley Cup.

Internationally, Smith would play in the 1978 World Junior Championship as a teammate to Wayne Gretzky, the year Canada wore blue jerseys, and win a bronze medal and then again in the World Championships in 1979 and in 1982 when he would earn a bronze medal.

Today's featured jersey is a 1980-81 Minnesota North Stars Bobby Smith jersey worn during the era when defenseman Greg Smith was also a member of the North Stars. But rather than go with the usual, expected "B. SMITH" and "G. SMITH" to identify the pair, the North Stars, for some unexplained reason, chose to put the full name "BOBBY SMITH" on Bobby's jersey, despite the full name treatment usually reserved for brothers whose names began with the same letter, such as Rich and Ron Sutter, Dave and Don Maloney, Jim and Joe Watson or Mark and Marty Howe. We assume Greg received the same full name treatment, but were unable to confirm this.

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

Bonus Jerseys: Today's bonus jerseys is a 1991-92 Minnesota North Stars Bobby Smith jersey from the season Smith played in his 1,000th game. This jersey is from the Norm Green ownership era after the club changed their traditional green jerseys to black, along with a more generic team logo, which de-emphasized the "North" part of the club's name, foreshadowing the club's move to Dallas in time for the 1993-94 season.

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

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

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

Here is footage from the night the North Stars finally stood their ground against the Boston Bruins in 1981 at the Boston Garden, an arena they had never won a game in - ever - dating back 14 seasons to the North Stars inception in 1967. While they lost this game, they made a statement that they were not going to be intimidated any longer, having recently had John Wensink challenge the Minnesota bench during a game. This stand was a turning point for the franchise and they proceeded to knock the Bruins out of the playoffs later that season, which included two victories in Boston, and were on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time ever.

Bobby Smith helped kick off the mayhem seven seconds into the game with a fight against the Bruins Steve Kasper while linemate Steve Payne fought Keith Crowder.

There were further fights at 3:35, 8:06 and a bench clearing brawl at 8:58 of the first period which involved fights in the runway back to the dressing rooms and the police trying to intervene. There were three more fights in the second period and two more in the third as the teams set a then NHL record with 406 penalty minutes.

1980-81 Minnesota North Stars Bobby Smith Jersey

Bobby Smith had an outstanding junior career with the Ottawa 67's, including scoring 135 points in 64 games in 1976-77 and following that with 192 points in 61 games the next season - over a three point per game average! His 123 assists and 192 points still stand as OHL league records.

Smith was subsequently drafted first overall by the last place Minnesota North Stars in the 1978 Amateur Draft and went on to capture the Calder Trophy following a rookie campaign in which he scored 30 goals and 74 points in 80 games.

Interestingly, the North Stars used their second round pick in 1978 to draft Smith's Ottawa 67's linemate Steve Payne. Further picks that year would net 1980 USA Olympic team member Steve Christoff and eventual team captain Curt Giles.

Prior to Smith's rookie season, the NHL allowed a deal where the Cleveland Barons owners George and Gordon Gund were allowed to merge their franchise with the North Stars franchise under the Gund's ownership and would play as the North Stars in the Baron's place in the Adams division. This allowed the North Stars to add players such as Mike Fidler, Al MacAdam, Greg Smith and reacquire fan favorite J. P. Parise and goaltender Gilles Meloche.

The North Stars were able to show a 25 point improvement in the standings, but failed to qualify for the playoffs in the rugged Wales Conference despite having 5 more points than the Vancouver Canucks of the Campbell Conference.

Further additions in the 1979 Entry Draft would net the North Stars Craig Hartsburg, Tom McCarthy, Minnesota native and 1980 USA Olympic team member Neal Broten, who would join the team the following season.

This influx of talent over the course of two seasons paid off in 1979-80, as MacAdam, Payne and Smith all topped 80 points during the regular season and the North Stars qualified for the playoffs after a 23 point improvement in the standings. The North Stars would eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs in three straight, gain invaluable confidence and experience by defeating the Montreal Canadiens in seven games before losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in round 3.

Smith would increase his regular season point total to 83 games that season and add another 14 points in 15 playoff games.

Growing in confidence and experience, Smith would once more improve his point total with 93 points in 1980-81 and, coming off the playoff run of the previous season, the North Stars would make a run through the playoffs, aided by the additions of Gordie Roberts, Dino Ciccarelli and the late season arrival of Broten just in time for the playoffs.

The North Stars would sweep their previous nemesis the Boston Bruins, easily dispatch the Buffalo Sabres in five games, eliminate the Calgary Flames in six before running into the midst of the New York Islanders dynasty in the finals to complete their unusual journey from last place to the Stanley Cup Finals in just three seasons.

Smith's finest season as a professional would come in 1981-82 with 43 goals and 71 assists for 114 points, the fourth consecutive increase in points during his four seasons in the league. The following season would see his point total drop to 77 and the North Stars would be bounced out of the playoffs despite a club record 96 points in the second round by arch-rivals the Chicago Black Hawks.

A falling out with new North Stars coach Bill Mahoney led to Smith being dealt to the Montreal Canadiens, where he would play for the next seven seasons, scoring as many as 93 points in 1987-88 and winning the only Stanley Cup of his career in 1986 when he finished second in Canadiens regular season scoring and contributed 15 points in 20 playoff games. The Canadiens would make the finals again in 1989 and Smith would contribute 19 points in 21 games that year.

Smith was dealt back to Minnesota in time for the 1990-91 season and help the North Stars on an improbable run through the playoffs, as they defeated the President's Trophy winning Chicago Blackhawks (who finished 38 points ahead of them in the standings) in the first round, the St. Louis Blues (37 points ahead) and Edmonton Oilers (12 points better) before falling to the Mario Lemieux-led Pittsburgh Penguins in the finals.

Smith wore #18 on his return to Minnesota

Smith would play two more seasons in the NHL, which included his 1,000th NHL point on this date in 1991, becoming only the 32nd player in league history to reach that mark. Later that season he reach the 1,000 game mark and would eventually retire with 1,077 games played, 357 goals and 679 assists for 1036 points and 160 points in 184 career playoff games and one Stanley Cup.

Internationally, Smith would play in the 1978 World Junior Championship as a teammate to Wayne Gretzky, the year Canada wore blue jerseys, and win a bronze medal and then again in the World Championships in 1979 and in 1982 when he would earn a bronze medal.

Today's featured jersey is a 1980-81 Minnesota North Stars Bobby Smith jersey worn during the era when defenseman Greg Smith was also a member of the North Stars. But rather than go with the usual, expected "B. SMITH" and "G. SMITH" to identify the pair, the North Stars, for some unexplained reason, chose to put the full name "BOBBY SMITH" on Bobby's jersey, despite the full name treatment usually reserved for brothers whose names began with the same letter, such as Rich and Ron Sutter, Dave and Don Maloney, Jim and Joe Watson or Mark and Marty Howe. We assume Greg received the same full name treatment, but were unable to confirm this.

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

Bonus Jerseys: Today's bonus jerseys is a 1991-92 Minnesota North Stars Bobby Smith jersey from the season Smith played in his 1,000th game. This jersey is from the Norm Green ownership era after the club changed their traditional green jerseys to black, along with a more generic team logo, which de-emphasized the "North" part of the club's name, foreshadowing the club's move to Dallas in time for the 1993-94 season.

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

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

When on his game, Smith could dominate a game and was famous for his wraparound goals made possible by his long reach.

Here is footage from the night the North Stars finally stood their ground against the Boston Bruins in 1981 at the Boston Garden, an arena they had never won a game in - ever - dating back 14 seasons to the North Stars inception in 1967. While they lost this game, they made a statement that they were not going to be intimidated any longer, having recently had John Wensink challenge the Minnesota bench during a game. This stand was a turning point for the franchise and they proceeded to knock the Bruins out of the playoffs later that season, which included two victories in Boston, and were on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time ever.

Bobby Smith helped kick off the mayhem seven seconds into the game with a fight against the Bruins Steve Kasper while linemate Steve Payne fought Keith Crowder.

There were further fights at 3:35, 8:06 and a bench clearing brawl at 8:58 of the first period which involved fights in the runway back to the dressing rooms and the police trying to intervene. There were three more fights in the second period and two more in the third as the teams set a then NHL record with 406 penalty minutes.

1991-92 Minnesota North Stars Bobby Smith Jersey

On this date in 1992, Bobby Smith of the Minnesota North Stars played in his 1,000th career game in a 4-3 win over Vancouver.

Smith had an outstanding junior career with the Ottawa 67's, including scoring 135 points in 64 games in 1976-77 and following that with 192 points in 61 games the next season - over a three point per game average! His 123 assists and 192 points still stand as OHL league records.

Smith was subsequently drafted first overall by the last place Minnesota North Stars in the 1978 Amateur Draft and went on to capture the Calder Trophy following a rookie campaign in which he scored 30 goals and 74 points in 80 games.

Interestingly, the North Stars used their second round pick in 1978 to draft Smith's Ottawa 67's linemate Steve Payne. Further picks that year would net 1980 USA Olympic team member Steve Christoff and eventual team captain Curt Giles.

Prior to Smith's rookie season, the NHL allowed a deal where the Cleveland Barons owners George and Gordon Gund were allowed to merge their franchise with the North Stars franchise under the Gund's ownership and would play as the North Stars in the Baron's place in the Adams division. This allowed the North Stars to add players such as Mike Fidler, Al MacAdam, Greg Smith and reacquire fan favorite J. P. Parise and goaltender Gilles Meloche.

The North Stars were able to show a 25 point improvement in the standings, but failed to qualify for the playoffs in the rugged Wales Conference despite having 5 more points than the Vancouver Canucks of the Campbell Conference.

Further additions in the 1979 Entry Draft would net the North Stars Craig Hartsburg, Tom McCarthy, Minnesota native and 1980 USA Olympic team member Neal Broten, who would join the team the following season.

This influx of talent over the course of two seasons paid off in 1979-80, as MacAdam, Payne and Smith all topped 80 points during the regular season and the North Stars qualified for the playoffs after a 23 point improvement in the standings. The North Stars would eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs in three straight, gain invaluable confidence and experience by defeating the Montreal Canadiens in seven games before losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in round 3.

Smith would increase his regular season point total to 83 games that season and add another 14 points in 15 playoff games.

Growing in confidence and experience, Smith would once more improve his point total with 93 points in 1980-81 and, coming off the playoff run of the previous season, the North Stars would make a run through the playoffs, aided by the additions of Gordie Roberts, Dino Ciccarelli and the late season arrival of Broten just in time for the playoffs.

The North Stars would sweep their previous nemesis the Boston Bruins, easily dispatch the Buffalo Sabres in five games, eliminate the Calgary Flames in six before running into the midst of the New York Islanders dynasty in the finals to complete their unusual journey from last place to the Stanley Cup Finals in just three seasons.

Smith's finest season as a professional would come in 1981-82 with 43 goals and 71 assists for 114 points, the fourth consecutive increase in points during his four seasons in the league. The following season would see his point total drop to 77 and the North Stars would be bounced out of the playoffs despite a club record 96 points in the second round by arch-rivals the Chicago Black Hawks.

A falling out with new North Stars coach Bill Mahoney led to Smith being dealt to the Montreal Canadiens, where he would play for the next seven seasons, scoring as many as 93 points in 1987-88 and winning the only Stanley Cup of his career in 1986 when he finished second in Canadiens regular season scoring and contributed 15 points in 20 playoff games. The Canadiens would make the finals again in 1989 and Smith would contribute 19 points in 21 games that year.

Smith was dealt back to Minnesota in time for the 1990-91 season and help the North Stars on an improbable run through the playoffs, as they defeated the President's Trophy winning Chicago Blackhawks (who finished 38 points ahead of them in the standings) in the first round, the St. Louis Blues (37 points ahead) and Edmonton Oilers (12 points better) before falling to the Mario Lemieux-led Pittsburgh Penguins in the finals.

Smith would play two more seasons in the NHL, which included his 1,000th NHL point in November of 1991, only the 32nd player in league history to reach that mark, and his 1,000th game on this date in 1992. He would retire with 1,077 games played, 357 goals and 679 assists for 1036 points and 160 points in 184 career playoff games and one Stanley Cup.

Internationally, Smith would play in the 1978 World Junior Championship as a teammate to Wayne Gretzky, the year Canada wore blue jerseys, and win a bronze medal and then again in the World Championships in 1979 and in 1982 when he would earn a bronze medal.

Today's featured jersey is a CCM 1991-92 Minnesota North Stars Bobby Smith jersey from the season Smith played in his 1,000th game. This jersey is from the Norm Green ownership era after the club changed their traditional green jerseys to black, along with a more generic team logo, which de-emphasized the "North" part of the club's name, perhaps foreshadowing the club's move to Dallas in time for the 1993-94 season. The entire transition from the green uniforms to the black, including the North Stars first choice for the font for the names on the back, has been documented in great detail by Cole Jones here.

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

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When on his game, Smith could dominate a game and was famous for his wraparound goals made possible by his long reach.

Here is footage from the night the North Stars finally stood their ground against the Boston Bruins in 1981 at the Boston Garden, an arena they had never won a game in - ever - dating back 14 seasons to the North Stars inception in 1967. While they lost this game, they made a statement that they were not going to be intimidated any longer, having recently had John Wensink challenge the Minnesota bench during a game. This stand was a turning point for the franchise and they proceeded to knock the Bruins out of the playoffs later that season, which included two victories in Boston, and were on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time ever.

Bobby Smith helped kick off the mayhem seven seconds into the game with a fight against the Bruins Steve Kasper while linemate Steve Payne fought Keith Crowder.

There were further fights at 3:35, 8:06 and a bench clearing brawl at 8:58 of the first period which involved fights in the runway back to the dressing rooms and the police trying to intervene. There were three more fights in the second period and two more in the third as the teams set a then NHL record with 406 penalty minutes.

Dasherboard: In the World Junior Tournament, Canada took care of business against underdogs Switzerland on Sunday to reach the finals once more, while the USA surprised Sweden 5-2 to gain a rematch with Canada, who they lost to in a shootout on New Year's Eve during group play.

Going into the game, Sweden was having a very strong tournament, having won their group with ease, having defeated the Czech Republic 10-1, Austria 7-3, Russia 4-1 and rivals Finland 7-1.

The United States led 1-0 after one period, only to see Sweden take the lead in the second period with two goals, but in less than three minutes the Americans responded with a goal by Jerry D'Amigo who made a nice play by passing the puck to himself off the boards to get around the Swedish defender and tie the game at 2-2 after two.

John Carlson put the USA ahead to stay with 7:26 remaining with a shot from the point that skipped under Sweden's Jacob Markstrom, who had not given up more than one goal in any of this three previous games in the tournament.

While shorthanded, Team USA captain Derek Stepan pressured the point man on the Sweden power play into a turnover and broke up the ice before making a centering pass to D'Amigo, who expertly moved the puck out of his skates and up to a shooting position before picking his spot and firing the puck past Markstrom for a 4-2 lead just three minutes after Carlson's goal.

The Americans added an empty net goal for the final margin and now look forward to what should be an outstanding championship final on Tuesday evening, which will be broadcast on the NHL Network in the United States and on TSN in Canada.

To see highlights of the USA vs. Sweden game, click here.