1972-73 Winnipeg Jets Bobby Hull Jersey

On this date in 1972, the Winnipeg Jets signed Bobby Hull to a $2.5 million ten-year contract, which included a $1 million signing bonus, firing the first major shot in the WHA/NHL war for the control of hockey.

Hull had been a member of the Chicago Black Hawks of the NHL for fifteen seasons when the upstart World Hockey Association came looking for a star player to jump start the league and attempt to buy instant credibility, and found their man in Hull.

Coming off a 50 goal season with Chicago, when Hull jokingly told the WHA he'd jump for a million dollars, the WHA owners and league officials agreed to contribute to the cause and Hull was signed to a ten year, one million dollar contract. The WHA would not last the full ten years.

Once Hull was in the fold, other players soon followed, mainly in search of the higher paychecks offered by the new league, as Gerry Cheevers, Pat Stapleton, Ralph Backstrom, J. C. Tremblay and Rejean Houle also jumped leagues.

Despite an injunction filed by the Black Hawks which kept Hull out of the first 14 games of the 1972-73 season, the damage was done and eventually Hull became a full time Jet and the WHA was off and running.

Hull paid immediate dividends to the league and the Jets, raising the profile of the league and leading the Jets in scoring with 51 goals and 52 assists for 103 points, placing fourth in league scoring as the Jets finished atop the Western Division standings and leading Winnipeg to the Avco Cup Finals. Hull was also named the WHA Most Valuable Player in 1973, but it could be said that he had already earned that distinction by simply signing with the league in the first place!

While not every team and every building in the WHA was first class, the league debuted with teams in Cleveland, Boston, New York, Ottawa, Philadelphia and Quebec City in the east and Edmonton, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Winnipeg in the west, with the Boston franchise, known as "New England" taking the inaugural championship.

In order to compete, or more accurately try to gain an advantage, the WHA embarked on a policy of signing underage players, as NHL rules prohibited the signing of any player under the age of 20, which the WHA gleefully ignored, allowing it to scoop up players such as Wayne Gretzky, Mark Howe and his brother Marty, Mike Gartner and Mark Messier over the course of it's history.

For the next season, Hull was joined in the league by NHL legend Gordie Howe, who was lured out of retirement in order to play with his sons in Houston with the Aeros.

Mark, Gordie and Marty Howe

Hull would top his goal output with 53, but the Jets would drop in the standings and get bounced in the playoffs in four straight by Howe and the Aeros.

The franchise shifting began in season two, with the New York Raiders being renamed the "Golden Blades" and then moving out of Madison Square Garden to save money, landing in New Jersey in a rink so bad the ice surface wasn't level as the puck would vanish from the goalies view as it sank into the dips of the waves on the ice surface! Worse, the visiting teams had to change out of their gear only after being bused back to their hotel. Additionally, the Philadelphia market was lost as the Blazers relocated out west to Vancouver, while Ottawa moved into Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The season concluded with the Howe's leading the Aeros to the title.

The league expanded in 1974-75 with new teams being added in questionable markets such as Indianapolis and Phoenix, the New England franchise abandoned Boston for Hartford, the bad joke that was New Jersey moved to San Diego while the former Los Angeles franchise briefly stopped in Detroit before moving to Baltimore mid-season before folding for good. It would be the very first franchise to fold completely in the league, setting the tone for what was to follow, as Chicago was lost for good after the season. At the conclusion of the season, Houston defended their title.

Cincinnati was added to the league, along with Denver, but the Franchise shifting continued in 1975-76, as the brand new Denver club moved to Ottawa mid-season and then quit after 41 games and the Minnesota Fighting Saints called it quits after 59 games. Meanwhile, Vancouver moved inland to Calgary and Winnipeg claimed their first championship.

The league continued to press on in 1976-77, but the hopes of lasting long enough for a merger with the NHL started to become the goal, as the league, which once had teams in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, now had teams in Birmingham, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Phoenix and San Diego.

The unsettled nature of the league continued as Cleveland moved to St. Paul but failed to last the whole season. Toronto moved to the deep south to Birmingham. Quebec won their only championship that season.

San Diego, Calgary and Phoenix failed to answer the bell for the 1977-78 season as the league shrunk down to only eight clubs and the Jets won their second championship.

Long time franchise Houston threw in the towel after the 1977-78 season, leaving the final WHA season with seven clubs, beginning with Indianapolis, who folded after 25 games, leaving just six teams to stagger home to the finish line - Cincinnati and Birmingham plus mainstays Edmonton, New England, Quebec and Winnipeg, who won their second consecutive, and third overall, title.

Following the conclusion of the seventh season of the WHA, a merger agreement was struck, which allowed Edmonton, Quebec, Hartford and Winnipeg to join he NHL as expansion teams, with some rather strict provisions that cost them millions of dollars and many of their players, leaving them at an enormous competitive disadvantage, which some clubs dealt with better than others, primarily the Oilers, who won the Stanley Cup just five seasons later, their first of five in seven seasons.

Despite the history of unstable franchises, the WHA left a legacy of entertaining, wide-open play, higher player salaries and the acceptance of European players.

Today's featured jersey is a 1972-73 Winnipeg Jets Bobby Hull jersey as worn by Hull in the preseason prior to the first ever WHA regular season when they changed to jerseys with the same first year only crest, but with a different striping pattern.

The regular season set of jerseys were notable for their contrasting nameplates, the blue jerseys having white nameplates with red lettering and the white jerseys sporting red nameplates with white letters.

For the second season the Jets adopted their more familiar round logo, which survived the entire lifespan of the WHA and lasted until the 1989-90 NHL season before undergoing a modernization.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Our first video is an interview with Hull on the occasion of the Jets retiring his jersey #9 in 1989.

Our next video features other WHA players giving their scouting reports on Hull followed by Hull's thoughts on joining the league. Notice the white nameplates with red lettering on the Jets first year jerseys.

1928-29 Montreal Canadiens George Hainsworth Jersey

George Hainsworth, born on this date in 1895, originally played for the Saskatoon Sheiks of the Western Canada Hockey League for three seasons, beginning in 1923-24 when he recorded four shutouts in 30 games. After two shutouts the following season, he added another four in 1925-26, giving little indication of what was to follow.

Following the death of legendary Montreal Canadiens goaltender Georges Vezina, Hainsworth was sold to Montreal for the 1926-27 season and impressed right from the start, going 28-14-2, with half of those wins being shutouts to lead the NHL with 14. His goals against average (GAA) of 1.47 was third in the league behind only the Montreal Maroons Clint Benedict's 1.42 and the New York Rangers Lorne Chabot at 1.46. Hainsworth was named the first recipient of the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the goaltender of the team allowing the fewest number of goals during the regular season, unlike today's voting process, first introduced in 1981.

It was more of the same the following year when Hainsworth went 26-11-7 with 13 shutouts, good for second in the league, which was led by the Boston Bruins Hal Winkler and Alec Connell of the Ottawa Senators who tied at 15. Hainsworth again won the Vezina Trophy, as the Canadiens allowed the fewest goals against over the course of the season.

Despite the shutouts Hainsworth had recorded during his first two NHL seasons, no one could predict what he had in store for the league in 1928-29. The Canadiens season began with a 3-1 win at home over their rivals, the Montreal Maroons, and a 4-2 loss on the road to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hainsworth's first shutout of the season came in game three on November 20th, a 1-0 win over Boston, and was quickly followed by another shutout two days later in a scoreless tie versus the Pittsburgh Pirates.

After a loss and a tie, shutout number three came on December 1st over Ottawa. Hainsworth recorded back to back shutouts on the 15th in another scoreless tie against the Maroons and a 5-0 drubbing of the Chicago Black Hawks. Following a 5-1 loss to the Detroit Cougars another pair of clean sheets were posted against Ottawa on the 22nd and Detroit on the 27th. At the end of the calendar year, Hainsworth and the Canadiens were 7-5-3 with seven shutouts and counting.

1928 began with a trio of ties on New Year's Day, the 3rd and a scoreless one on the 5th. After a loss on January 10th, the Canadiens would go the rest of the schedule with a remarkable just one further loss, a span of 65 days and 25 games.

A 1-0 win over Chicago on January 15th added to the shutout total which now stood at nine. Following a 1-1 tie on the 17th, Hainsworth racked up three consecutive shutouts, a 0-0 tie on the 19th, a 1-0 win the next day and another scoreless draw on the 22nd. A 1-1 tie with Toronto and a 2-1 win over Ottawa preceded a pair of 1-0 blankings of the New York Americans and the Ottawa Senators pushed the shutout total to 14. Since the loss to Boston on January 10th, Hainsworth had only allowed four goals in ten games with a record of 6-0-4.

Two ties were followed by back to back shutouts on February 12th over the Pirates and again on the 14th over the Black Hawks to set a new NHL record with 16. After a 1-1 tie, shutout number 17 came in a 1-0 defeat of the Maroons on February 21st, pushing the Canadiens undefeated streak to 16 games.

The unbeaten streak would end on February 23rd with a 2-1 loss at Toronto, which only served to strengthen the Canadiens resolve, as they did not allow another goal until five games later, when the Pirates (4-0), Americans (0-0 tie), Bruins (3-0) and Senators (3-0) all failed to solve Hainsworth and the Canadiens defense.

Detroit broke the scoreless streak with a 1-1 tie before the Canadiens finished the season with three straight wins, including Hainsworth's record 22nd shutout of the season, a 1-0 win over the Maroons.

His 22 shutouts came despite rule changes such as permitting forward passing from the neutral zone across the blue line into the attacking zone and new overtime rules allowing for an extra ten minutes of playing time - a non-sudden death format which meant all ten minutes were played in their entirety, regardless if a goal was scored.

Hainsworth would finish the season with a record goals against average of 0.92, easily capturing his third consecutive Vezina Trophy. Such was Hainsworth's dominance that he outdistanced the New York Americans Roy Worters by nine shutouts and buried the old record by seven. Additionally, no other goaltender had ever had a goals against average under 1.0 before or since.

Because of a league-wide goals against average of 1.45, 15 scoreless games and 94 ties over the course of the 1928-29 season, the rules were changed for the next season to allow for forward passing in the offensive zone as well as the previously permitted defensive and neutral zones. This led to abuses by some players, who stood in front of the opposing net waiting for a pass. By December of that season the offside rule was created which meant players were no longer allowed to enter the offensive zone prior to the puck.

The effect of the rule changes were immediate, as Chabot led the NHL in shutouts that season with a mere six, while Hainsworth was second with four, which included the 50th of his NHL career. Tiny Thompson captured the Vezina with a goals against average of 2.23.

While Hainsworth would lose his grip on the Vezina Trophy, he was able to finally grasp the Stanley Cup that season, with a 2 games to none defeat of Boston.

The Canadiens backed that up by defeating the Chicago Black Hawks in 1930-31 for their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

1931-32 saw Hainsworth record his sixth consecutive 20 win season in an era which the season schedule was just 44 games long. After the 1932-33 season, in which Montreal sank in the standings and Hainsworth posted the first losing record of his career, he was dealt to his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Chabot.

The move to Toronto suited Hainsworth, as he once more posted a dominant record of 26-13-9 the first time out and then topped that with his only 30 win season in 1934-35 with a 30-14-4 mark in a 48 game season to lead the league in wins both times. Another 20 win season followed with 23 in 1935-36.

His final NHL season saw him play three games for Toronto and then return to close out his career with the Canadiens with four final games. Hainsworth's final NHL totals stood at 465 games with a record of 246-145-74, 94 shutouts and a goals against average of 1.93.

Hainsworth's 22 shutouts in a single season came in just a 44 game schedule and still stands as the NHL record, as does his 0.92 goals against average. His career goals against average of 1.93, in 465 games, remains second all-time behind on Connell's 1.91 and his 94 shutouts, a mark that would stand as the record for 27 years, still ranks third behind Martin Brodeur's 108 and Terry Sawchuk's 103.

Hainsworth was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961.

Today's featured jersey is a 1928-29 Montreal Canadiens George Hainsworth jersey. The Canadiens were founded in 1909 but did not wear their now iconic red sweaters with the blue chest stripe until the 1912-13 season when it was introduced as an alternate jersey due to their red, white and blue striped "barberpole" jerseys drawing complaints that they were too similar to the Ottawa Senators similarly striped red, white and black jerseys.

White trim was added to the blue central stripe the following season, essentially creating the same basic jersey that remains in use today.

2000-01 Columbus Blue Jackets Lyle Odelein Jersey

It was on this date in 1997 that the NHL officially approved expansion to a 30-team league by the year 2000. In an unusual plan, the Nashville Predators began play in 1998-99 and the Atlanta Thrashers started life the following season in 1999-2000. Then, the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets completed the extended round of expansion by joining the league for the 2000-01 season, nearly three and a half years after first being granted their franchises. The Blue Jackets would be the first NHL team to play in Ohio since the Cleveland Barons departed in 1978.

From over 14,000 entries in a name the team contest, the name "Blue Jackets" was chosen, which was a nickname for the Union soldiers in the Civil War, to honor the contributions made by the state of Ohio, including the fact that Ohio contributed more of it's population to the Union Army than any other state and that many of the Union uniforms were also manufactured in Columbus.

The Blue Jackets started out life in the NHL with a rough go, finishing last in the Central Division in each of it's first three seasons and averaging only 69 points in it's first seven, missing the playoffs each time out.

Things finally improved for the Blue Jackets when they made the playoffs for the first time after a 92 point season in 2008-09, the last of the four new teams to qualify for the postseason.

They were led for nine seasons by the franchise's all-time leading scorer Rick Nash, who arrived in time for the 2002-03 season after being drafted #1 overall in the 2002 Entry Draft.

Nash was the first overall pick in 2002

Nash tied for the league lead in goals with 41 during the 2003-04 season, earning a share of the Rocket Richard Trophy in just his second season in the league. Despite having now moved on, Nash's 547 points in Columbus  still leads second place David Vyborny by 230.

Nash with the Richard Trophy

Goaltender Steve Mason added to the brighter outlook for the Blue Jackets, earning the Calder Memorial Trophy for his stellar debut season in 2008-09.

Steve Mason poses with the Calder Trophy

Unfortunately, Columbus was unable to capitalize on that appearance and again failed to reach the postseason for the next four seasons and Nash was eventually traded following the 2011-12 season. In another trade of note, the Blue Jackets dealt their second and fourth round picks at the 2012 draft for goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who would win the 2013 Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender.

Sergei "Bob" Bobrovsky proudly displays his Vezina Trophy

The 2013-14 season was one of change for the franchise, and for the better. First, the club was moved to the Eastern Conference and the newly created Metropolitan Division, along with their regional rivals the Detroit Red Wings, a move wholly endorsed by team management which would result in less travel and numerous earlier start times to their games. Additionally, the team is also much closer to new division rival and top draw, the Pittsburgh Penguins, than they were to many of their previous Central Division rivals.

The club responded well and finished fourth in the Metropolitan Division and immediately drew the Penguins as their first playoff opponent in five years, but bowed out in six games.

Today's featured jersey is a 2000-01 Columbus Blue Jackets Lyle Odelein jersey. It features the Blue Jackets Inaugural Season patch, as well as one of our custom made Hockey Fights Cancer patches. This style jersey would be used by the team for their first six seasons, but the "Stinger" mascot shoulder patches would only last three seasons until a  pair of new secondary logos would replace the brightly colored cartoon insect, a Civil War uniform cap on the right shoulder and the state of Ohio flag flying around a star on the left, the same crest used on the front of their first alternate jersey, intoduced in 2003-04.

Odelein was selected by the Blue Jackets in the 2000 expansion draft and later named the first captain of the franchise.

The Hockey Fights Cancer patch was first worn by the captain of each team for one game only in January of 2001. The patches from 2001 do not carry the date, as they did in the subsequent three years of the program. Each specially patched game worn jersey would then be auctioned off for charity as part of the festivities at that year's NHL All-Star Game to raise money for cancer research.

  

Dasherboard: When the Nashville Predators joined the league in 98-99, a major realignment of the divisions took place, expanding from two six and two seven team divisions, to six divisions, some with as few as four teams. The Predators came out fine in this plan, being grouped in with established nearby clubs in Detroit, Chicago and St. Louis.

Atlanta was added to the Southeast Division, centrally located between Washington and Carolina to the north and the two Florida clubs, Tampa Bay and Florida, who played in the Miami area, to the south.

Columbus fit in naturally with Nashville in the Central Division when they joined the league, but due to the increased number of teams in the east, Minnesota was slotted in with the teams in the Northwest Division - Colorado, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver - none of whom are even in their time zone and most of which aren't even in the same country!

The other victim of the realignment was the Dallas Stars, who were inexplicably placed in the Pacific Division - 885 miles from their nearest division neighbor and over 1900 miles from said Pacific Ocean after which their division was named...

1973-74 Minnesota North Stars Tom Reid Jersey

Born on this date in 1946, Tom Reid had a 12 year NHL career that started with the Chicago Black Hawks.

Tom Reid with the Black Hawks

Reid, a defenseman played for the St. Catharines Black Hawks of the Ontario Hockey Association from 1964-65 to 1966-67. A defensive defenseman, Reid is described in his biography on the Hockey Hall of Fame's Legends of Hockey website as "a stay-at-home defender who viewed the offensive zone as a distant moon"!

He graduated from junior hockey just as the NHL expanded from six teams to 12 and landed a spot on the Chicago blueline with 56 games in his rookie season of 1967-68 as well as seeing his first taste of playoff action with nine postseason games. After 30 games with Chicago in 1968-69, he was traded to the Minnesota North Stars on Valentine's Day in 1968. In all, he played 86 games for the Black Hawks, totaling seven assists.

Reid competed in the final 18 games of the North Stars schedule and established himself as a regular the following season with 66 games played, which included his first NHL goal.

The 1970-71 season saw his offensive output leap up to 17 points, more than double his previous high of eight. Additionally, the North Stars would make a push in the playoffs, first defeating the St. Louis Blues in six games before stretching out the eventual champion Montreal Canadiens to six games for the right to play in the finals. The North Stars 6-3 Game 2 win in Montreal on April, 22 was the first time a 1967 expansion team had ever defeated an Original 6 club in the playoffs.

Tom Reid's 1970-71 rookie card

The 1971-72 season was the most remarkable of Reid's career. It saw the player once described as "a sort of third goal post, firmly anchored to his own zone" go on a goal scoring binge, as he netted six for a career high, including by far the most memorable goal of his career.

Reid doing his best imitation of a third goal post

On October 14, 1971 Tom Reid scored on a penalty shot against Hall of Famer Ken Dryden of the Canadiens. It was scored by the most unlikely of sources, a man who only scored 17 goals in his entire career and the only penalty shot ever scored against Dryden!

As told by long time North Stars announcer Al Shaver in "Minnesota North Stars: History and Memories with Lou Nanne"

Let's not forget the shot that was heard around the world. Well, maybe just the hockey world. Allan Thomas Reid was not a prolific scorer among NHL defensemen. In a span of 10 shin-bruising seasons with the North Stars, Tall Tommy scored only 17 goals, but on the night of October 14, 1971, he performed a feat that put him in a class by himself and earned him a place in the team history book. On one of his rare good scoring opportunities, Reid was fouled by a Montreal player and the referee awarded him a penalty shot.

Coach Jack Gordon, showing supreme confidence in Reid's scoring prowess, asked the ref, "Does Reid have to take the shot?" To young Thomas that was the ultimate insult, but take the shot he did. Unleashing all of his anger over the coach's lack of confidence, Reid launched a blistering rocket that left Ken Dryden trembling in his skates. The twine behind Dryden bulged, the red light flashed, bells chimed, fireworks filled the air, brass bands started playing, an thousands of fans began chanting, "Tommy! Tommy! Tommy!" And so, a hero was born on that autumn evening, many years ago.

Reid's own version of the event naturally differs slightly from Shavers.

I came out of the penalty box and was heading toward the bench when a clearing pass hit my skate and careened toward the Montreal zone. Instead of going to the bench I went after the puck and had a clear breakaway. Guy Lapointe tripped me from behind and I slid hard into the boards.

Referee Bruce Hood skated over and asked if I was okay. I said "Yes," and then, "You're giving him a penalty, right?" He said, "You're getting a penalty shot." I said: "Bruce, go to hell. I don't want a penalty shot." "You got one," he replied.

When I got to the bench, coach Jack Gordon asked what was going on. Hood skated over and said, "Let's go." Jack said, "What do you mean?" and was then informed of the penalty shot. Jack said, "Does he have to take the shot?" and I informed Hood that I thought my leg was broken. Hood said, "Let's go or you'll get a delay of game."

Everyone on the bench was giving me advice about what to do with the shot, but J. P. Parise simply said, "Put the damn thing behind him."

I was so focused as I got ready to take the puck that I couldn't hear a thing. There were 15,000 people in the building, but I heard nothing. It was a warm October night so the ice was a bit wet, and I was worried about carrying the puck across the blue line. My main concern was just getting off a shot.

I skated in, got to the high slot, and shot the puck. Ken Dryden wasn't expecting a shot that quickly and he overreacted. I was aiming for the corner, but the puck went between his legs and into the net, my big claim to fame.

When I got back to the bench, I said to Jack, "Was there ever any doubt?"

Tom Reid's famous penalty shot goal against Ken Dryden

Reid's 21 points for the season also raised his career best in that category as well. Additionally, his 107 penalty minutes established a career high. In the postseason, Reid scored the only playoff goal of his career against the Blues to cap off a most memorable season.

Two seasons later, Reid set a career hight with 23 points from four goals and a career best 19 assists in 76 games. He stayed true to his defensive roots the following season, again topping 70 games for the fourth time in five seasons with 74 games played, but managed just six points while leaving the point gathering to teammates Dennis Hextall (74 points) and Bill Goldsworthy (72). He did top 100 penalty minutes for only the second and final time in his career with 103.

Reid competed in 69 games in 1975-76, contributing 15 assists and 54 games in 1976-77, adding another eight assists to his career total.

It was around this time that Reid developed a small red rash on his arm, which itched terribly as his skin began to deteriorate. Eventually the condition was given the name "gunk". Eventually league doctors, trainers and equipment manufacturers began to investigate and discovered that about 100 players across the NHL were suffering from various degrees of the same condition, but none as severe as Reid's, whose skin eventually got so bad that he could only sleep sitting upright in a wooden chair.

The condition was so severe, Reid was forced to retire after managing to play only 36 games of the 1977-78 season, in which he scored his final NHL goal and added six assists to push his career totals to 690 games played, 17 goals and 113 assists for 130 points as well as 42 playoff games with one goal and 13 assists. Doctors finally concluded that Reid's rash was caused by allergies to his hockey equipment and the dye in his jersey.

Former teammate Lou Nanne relates a story about Reid and his noted sense of humor:

Tom Reid was a terrific defensive defenseman. He was very consisent - game in and game out you knew you going to get strong defense from Tommy. His play never varied.

I had three concussions in my career. The third one was the result of a real good check by Dennis Owchar one night in Pittsburgh. At the doctor's suggestion, I had started wearing a helmet after my second concussion to help prevent further ones.

But this night in Pittsburgh I was playing defense with Tom Reid, and I was carrying the puck up the ice. I thought I had made a real good move to get by Owchar, but as I slipped the puck though his legs to try to go around him, he hit me with a shoulder right between my shoulder blades and I went down very hard. I hit my head on the ice so hard I eventually had seven stitches, even with the helmet.

I tired to get up, was real dizzy and started going back down again. The next thing I know, the trainer, Doc Rose, is on the ice telling me to lie down, that they're going to carry me off.

I said, "There's no way. I've never been carried off the ice, and I'm not going to let anybody carry me off now."

I tried to get up again, and I went right back down. And as I'm going down this time, Tom Reid leans over and says. "Louie, Louie, before you go, can I have your condominium in Florida?"

Since his retirement from hockey, armed with that same sense of humor, he has worked as a color analyst for the North Stars, Minnesota Gophers and now the Minnesota Wild. He is also the president of the North Stars Almuni Chapter and owner of Tom Reid's Hockey City Pub, the place to meet before and after Wild home games down the street at the Xcel Energy Center.

Today's featured jersey is a 1973-74 Minnesota North Stars Tom Reid jersey. This was the third style of green jersey worn by the North Stars, with the original having a lace up collar, which was dropped during their first season for a v-neck collar. Starting in season two in 1968-69, a white shoulder yoke was added to the jerseys. This third style remained in use through the 1974-75 season.

Our video section today begins with a look at the 1975-76 Minnesota North Stars, some of the crappiest, most annoying filmmaking in the history of sports. If you choose to suffer though Part 1, I recommend skipping ahead to the 3:58 mark. Perhaps Parts 2 through 5 improve after getting past the first half of Part 1. You click the link, you take your chances...

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

1905-06 Portage Lake Hockey Club Cyclone Taylor Jersey

Born on this date in 1884, Fred "Cyclone" Taylor was one of the first stars of the fledgling sport of hockey and one of the leading scorers of his day.

As was common in the early days of organized hockey, Taylor played for several teams in several leagues - depending on where the money was. He joined his is first professional club, thanks to a $3,000 salary offer, the Portage Lakes Hockey Club in Houghton, Michigan in the International Professional Hockey League. Taylor arrived in the latter part of the 1905-06 season in time to score 11 goals in 6 games and help the club win the league championship with a 19-5 record.

He returned for the 1906-07 season and scored 14 times in 23 games as Portage Lakes again won the championship, this time with a record of 16-8. With professional teams now starting up in Canada, many of the players preferred to play closer to home and the IPHL disbanded after before the start of the next season.

Taylor moved back east, joining the Ottawa Senators of the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association for the 1907-08 season. In 1908, Taylor played the start of the season with Pittsburgh of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League but returned to Ottawa in time for the start of the Senators next season. Once back, he scored 9 goals in 11 games as Ottawa won the league title with a 10-2 record. As champions of the league, Ottawa became the holders of the Stanley Cup, previously held by league members the Montreal Wanderers.

Taylor of the Ottawa Senators

It was during this period that Canada's Governor General was so impressed with his incredible speed that he gave Taylor the nickname "Cyclone".

After a falling out with management of Ottawa, Taylor accepted an offer to join the Renfrew Creamery Kings for the inaugural season of the National Hockey Association.

There he was joined by future hall of famers Lester Patrick, his brother Frank Patrick as well as mid-season addition Newsy Lalonde. The paychecks handed out to the Renfew players earned the club the unofficial nickname of the Renfrew "Millionaires". Taylor's salary in particular was the highest ever for a Canadian athlete up to that time and remained so for many years.

Newsy Lalonde, Frank Patrick and Cyclone Taylor of Renfrew

Despite their high priced talent, Renfrew finished third in the league and reportedly lost $17,000 that season. Taylor returned for the 1910-11 season, only without the Patricks or Lalonde.

The club once again finished third in the standings and disbanded following the season, putting Taylor back on the open market. Sort of.

His rights were transferred to the Montreal Wanderers, but Taylor was quoted as saying he'd rather retire than join the Wanderers and ended up playing in a game for the Ottawa Senators. The Wanderers protested Taylor's appearance for Ottawa and won. The game was ordered replayed, Taylor and Ottawa were fined $100 each and Taylor was given an indefinite suspension, ending his 1911-12 season at one game.

In November of 1912, Taylor was lured to the Vancouver Millionaires by his former teammates the Patrick brothers, who had formed the Pacific Coast Hockey League.

Taylor with the Vancouver Millionaires in 1912-13

There, he would find a permanent home, playing the next nine seasons of his career, which included five scoring titles, thanks in part to moving up to forward from defense, a career high of 32 goals in 18 games in 1917-18 and a Stanley Cup championship in 1915 thanks to a 3 games to none win over Taylor's former club, the Ottawa Senators which included Taylor scoring six times in the three games including twice in the cup clinching Game 3. The victory by the Millionaires remains the only Stanley Cup ever won by a team from Vancouver 95 years later.

1915 Stanley Cup champion Vancouver Millionaires

The Millionaires returned to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1918, and while they fell in seven games to the Toronto Arenas, Taylor led all playoff scorers with 9 goals in 7 games.

He stopped playing hockey after the 1920-21 season, but did return for a single game in the 1922-23 season with the club now renamed the Vancouver Maroons. He finished his career averaging more than a goal per game with 194 goals in 186 regular season games.

Following his playing career, he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947. His son Fred Jr. opened a chain of hockey equipment stores called Cyclone Taylor Sports in 1957 which remain in operation today. Since 1967 the playoff champions of the three British Columbia Junior B hockey leagues is awarded the Cyclone Taylor Cup.

In 1979, the Canucks renamed the club's annual MVP award the Cyclone Taylor Award. There are also arenas in Vancouver and his birthplace of Tara, Ontario named in his honor as well as Cyclone Taylor Boulevard, which is one of the four roads around the current Ottawa Senators arena, Scotia Bank Place in Ottawa.

Today's featured jersey is a 1905-06 Portage Lake Hockey Club Fred "Cyclone" Taylor jersey. Or in this case we should we say "sweater". This classic turn of the century hockey sweater features a wonderful "PL" monogram adorned with wings on either side. This heavy sweater certainly would have kept the players warm, as the IPHL played it's games in the winter on natural ice.

While the Portage Lake team only existed for a limited number years, playing exhibition games as early as 1900 and joining the IPHL in 1904 when they began to attract players of note from Canada with the salaries they were paying in the days of amateur hockey, the lineup of future hall of famers was quite impressive, including IPHL founder Jack Gibson in the Builders category, "Bad" Joe Hall, goaltender Riley Hern, team captain Bruce Stuart, his brother Hod Stuart and of course the legendary Cyclone Taylor.

Today's video is a treat, a look at Taylor's career which includes an interview with the man himself!