1955-56 Montreal Canadiens Doug Harvey Jersey

The story of Doug Harvey begins in 1945-46 when he began to play for the Royal Montreal Hockey Club of the Quebec Senior Hockey League. During his second season with the club, he helped the Montreal Royals capture the prestigious Allan Cup as senior champions of Canada.

He joined the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League for the 1947-48 season, and after 24 games the defenseman then made his NHL debut with his hometown Montreal Canadiens for the remaining 35 games of the season.

Harvey, playing in an era where defenseman did not rush up the ice with the puck, never put up the same kind of offensive numbers seen in today's game in the post-Bobby Orr era. He was however, a key factor in the Canadiens offensive attack of the day, as he utilized his speed and passing ability to help make Montreal into a championship squad and earn him the recognition as the NHL's first offensive defenseman, paving the way for the likes of Orr.

Another way Harvey changed the game was by controlling the tempo of the action, either by making a rush up the ice or a quick pass to speed up the Montreal transition to offense, or by holding onto the puck and slowing the tempo of the game to slow down an opponent and give his teammates a chance to catch their breath. Harvey, Eddie Shore and Orr are widely regarded as the three men who had the greatest impact on the position of defense over the history of the NHL.

During Harvey's fourth NHL season of 1950-51, he would make his first of ten consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup finals. The 1951-52 season would see Harvey gain recognition as one of the game's best, as he would make his first of 11 straight NHL All-Star Game appearances.

The 1952-53 season saw Harvey's name engraved on the Stanley Cup for the first time following a 4 games to 1 defeat of the Boston Bruins.

A new trophy was introduced to the NHL for the 1953-54 season, the Norris Trophy, which would be awarded to the league's top defensive player. Harvey would become the second recipient of the award in 1955 and make it virtually his own, as he would win it for seven of the next eight seasons, including 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1958 thanks to his stellar defensive skills in addition to his offensive contributions, which made him a complete player unlike any other defenseman in the previous history of the league.

1955-56 would also see the beginning of not only another streak, but a dynasty, as the Canadiens would capture their first of a record five consecutive Stanley Cups from 1956 to 1960, giving Harvey a career total of six. During this streak of consecutive All-Star Game appearances, Norris Trophies and championships, Harvey would set a personal best in 1956-57 when he would set a personal high with the only 50 point season of his career from 6 goals and 44 assists. Recall, this was an era when the NHL schedule was shorter, at just 70 games.

With Harvey quarterbacking the deadly Canadiens powerplay, they would often score twice on a single penalty, as players were required to serve their entire two minutes as per the rules of the day, which were finally amended in 1956 to allow the penalized player to return to the ice once a goal was scored in response to the Canadians domination.

After teammate Tom Johnson won the Norris Trophy in 1959, Harvey reclaimed the award in 1960 and 1961.

After the retirement of Maurice Richard, Harvey would be named to the prestigious position as captain of the Canadiens for the 1960-61 season.

His time with Montreal would soon come to an end however, as he was an outspoken critic of the team's ability to own players for life, which kept them not only tied to their clubs, but keep their salaries low. Also questioning how players pensions were being handled and funded, he and Detroit's Ted Lindsay went so far as to attempt to organize the players association, which infuriated the Canadiens ownership to the point that they traded their perennial Norris Trophy winning All-Star to the lowly New York Rangers, who had not even qualified for the playoffs in a six team league for 8 of the last 11 seasons.

Harvey responded with winning his third consecutive Norris Trophy during his first season with the Rangers in 1961-62,  a season he was also the Rangers head coach! After one more season in New York, he split the 1963-64 season between the Rangers (14 games), St. Paul Rangers (2 games) and the Quebec Aces of the AHL (52 games).

He spent all of 1964-65 with Quebec and moved to the Baltimore Clippers, also of the AHL for the 1965-66 season. 1966-67 was divided between the Clippers and the Pittsburgh Hornets, as well as making a brief return to the NHL when he appeared in two games with the Detroit Red Wings.

With the NHL doubling in size for the 1967-68 season by adding an additional six clubs, there were plenty of opportunities created, one of which was for Harvey, as the St. Louis Blues came calling for the playoffs after Harvey had been a player/coach during the regular season with the Kansas City Blues of the Central League. Harvey would see action in 8 of the Blues 12 playoff games, as they were the West Division's representatives in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Harvey would return to the Blues for the 1968-69 regular season at the age of 44, playing in the final 70 games of his long and illustrious NHL career.

His final NHL totals were 1,113 games, 88 goals and 452 assists for 540 points. In addition, he would appear in 137 playoff games, scoring 8 goals and 64 assists for 72 points on his way to six Stanley Cups and seven Norris Trophies, which still remains second all time after Orr's eight.

He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1973 and became the first defenseman to ever have his number retired by the Montreal Canadiens on this date in 1985 when his #2 was lifted to the rafters.

In 1998, The Hockey News ranked Harvey as the #6 player on their list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. In 2000, he was honored by the Government of Canada by having his picture on a postage stamp.

Today's featured jersey is a 1955-56 Montreal Canadiens Doug Harvey jersey. Harvey was an NHL All-Star, Norris Trophy winner and Stanley champion that season.

The Canadiens would first adopt a red sweater with a blue band as far back as 1912-13 in order to differentiate their barberpole style jersey from that of the Ottawa Senators, five years before the formation of the NHL.

They would adopt the "CH" logo in 1916 and the jersey would remain essentially unchanged ever since.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

 

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1959-60 Montreal Canadiens Doug Harvey jersey as worn during the season in which Harvey would win his fifth of seven Norris Trophies, play in his tenth NHL All-Star Game and win the sixth Stanley Cup of his Hall of Fame career.

Montreal would introduce their first white jersey for the 1935-36 season to be used for games against the Detroit Red Wings. It would not be until the 1941-42 season that the red shoulder yoke and sleeve cuffs would arrive to complete the look. They would use a new style with a blue band around the arms and chest to match their iconic red sweaters from 1944-45 to 1946-47 but revert back to the classic white jersey with red shoulders and cuffs in 1947-48, a look essentially unchanged over 65 years later.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

 

Our video selection today is an excellent biography of Harvey with great video footage of him in action.

Next, a TV commercial where Doug and his son Doug Jr. battle it out for the household table hockey championship. Man, what we would give to be able to buy one of those today for $5!

Finally, a recap of the 1960 Stanely Cup Finals, Harvey's sixth and final championship.

Austrian National Day

On this date in 1955 Austria's Parliament issued The Declaration of Neutrality, declaring the country permanently neutral as a part of the Constitution of Austria. The declaration was as a result of Austria being occupied by the Allied Forces (the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and France) following World War II from 1945 to 1955. The occupation was ended with the Austria State Treaty of May 15, 1955, which re-established Austria as an independent and democratic sovereign state.

The Soviets would not have agreed to the treaty if Austria had not committed to declare it's neutrality following the withdrawal of the Allies. As a result of the treaty, the Allies left on October 25, 1955 and the Declaration of Neutrality was enacted the next day, October 26, 1955, the first day of their return to independence, and a date now celebrated as a national holiday known as Austrian National Day.

The Austrian Parliament

On Austrian National Day, memorial ceremonies take place, the main one being the Federal President and Federal Minister of Defense attending a ceremony at the Heldenplatz, a large public space in front of Hofburg Palace in Vienna known as Heroes' Square, during which the President lays a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. He later  gives a state of the union speech on TV later that day.

Ceremonies taking place on Austrian National Day

Additionally, flags fly everywhere, concerts and held, new recruits are sworn into the Austrian military, federal museums offer free admission to further the public understanding of Austrian history, and, somewhat uniquely, "fitness marches" are held, which are organized hikes throughout the country to promote fitness and raise awareness of a healthy life style, which attract 100,000 participants annually.

The Austria National Hockey Team is currently ranked 16th in the IIHF World Rankings.

The Austrians have participated in the Olympics in ice hockey 13 times since 1928, with their best result being an 7th place in 1936 and a 8th place in 1948 and again in 1976. 2014 was the first time Austria had qualified for the Olympic tournament since 2002 and they finished classified 10th, their best showing since 9th in 1988. In order to participate at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, the then ranked 15th Austrians had to survive a Qualification Tournament hosted by the 10th ranked Germans.

Austria battles Germany for the right to participate in the 2014 Olympics

Austria entered the 2014 Olympics with three NHLers on it's roster, Michael Grabner and Thomas Vanek of the New York Islanders and Michael Raffl of the Philadelphia Flyers.

Vanek celebrates a goal

Austria has participated in the World Championships dating as far back as 1930, with regular participation since 1959. Austria has won bronze medals at the World Championships in both 1931 and 1947.

Since 1951, Austria was either in Pool B or Pool C nearly exclusively from 1951 to 1992, before a run of 12 out of 13 years in the Top Division before beginning the roller coaster of promotions (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014) and relegations (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015), including a bitter relegation in 2009 only because 15th place Germany were saved from their rightful demotion by being scheduled as hosts for the 2010 tournament, which granted the Germans an exemption from relegation for 2009, which sent the 14th place Austrians down to Division I for 2010 instead.

Frequent Austrian National Team captain Gerhard Unterluggauer

Vanek, now a member of he Minnesota Wild, leads all Austrian-born players by far in career NHL scoring with 614 career points, trailed by Grabner at 157. Raffl is third with 51 and all three are still active in the NHL.

Vanek at the 2004 World Championships

The other Austrians to have played in the NHL are Andreas Nodl (36 points with Philadelphia and Carolina), defenseman Thomas Pock (17 with the Rangers and Islanders), Christophe Brandner, the first Austrian to play and score a goal in the NHL in 2003, (9 points with Minnesota) and goaltender Reinhard Divis, who won six games for St. Louis in four seasons.

Reinhard Divis

Today's featured jersey is a 1997 Austrian National Team Christoph Brandner jersey as worn in the 1997 World Championships "B" pool. The "waving flag" style of international jerseys were introduced in 1996 and are best known for being used in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. They were also used in the various World Championships in 1997 before a new style was debuted for the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Japan.

Brandner scored a goal and two assists in seven game for Austria at the 1997 World Championships. In 2003 Brandner became the first Austrian to play in the NHL and then became the first Austrian to score an NHL goal on October 12, 2009.

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 2004 Austria National Team Thomas Vanek jersey as worn in the World Junior Championships in Finland. Austria first wore this jersey style in 1998 and continued to wear it through 2004.

Two distinctive features of this jersey are the fine details of the trim running down the arms and the unique font for the numbers on the back, which are much more at home on a soccer jersey.

Extra bonus jersey: Today's extra bonus jersey is a 2005 Austria National Team Gerhard Unterluggauer jersey as worn during the 2005 World Championships, which were held in Austria. This was an unfortunately short lived style, as all national teams received attractive new jerseys for 2005 only to see them replaced with the new Nike Swift styles for the 2006 Olympics.

The now 39 year old Unterluggauer, a defenseman, began his pro career back in the 1992-93 season, playing his entire career in Austria save for a three year stint in the German DEL in the early 2000's. He has won the Austrian championship twice, in 1993 and 1999.

He has been playing for the Austria National Team since 1993 and his resume includes three Olympic Games (1998, 2002 and 2014) and 19 World Championships.

Today's video section are highlights of the final day of Olympic qualifying, highlighted by Austria's vital game against Germany, which sent the Austrians to Sochi.

Next, showing Austria is not to be taken lightly, they dominate Latvia 6-3 at the 2014 World Championships.

1975-76 Quebec Nordiques Rejean Houle Jersey

Born on this date in 1949, Rejean Houle played his junior hockey for the Montreal Junior Canadiens. In the 1967-68 season the right winger scored 65 points in 45 games. The following season Houle scored 53 goals and 55 assists in 54 games for 108 points, an average of 2 points per game. Houle and the Junior Canadiens went on to defeat Regina 4-0 to capture the Memorial Cup as champions of Canadian junior hockey.

Marc Tardif, Gilbert Perreault and Houle at

the Montreal Junior Canadiens training camp in 1967

Houle did not have to travel far after being selected first overall in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft, as he was selected by the Montreal Canadiens, who assigned him to the Montreal Voyageurs of the AHL for the start of the 1969-70 season. He would score 25 points in 27 games as well as making his NHL debut for the Canadiens, scoring a single assist in nine games for The Habs.

He would crack the Canadiens lineup for the 1970-71 season and never play another game in the minors again. He saw action in 66 games, scoring 10 goals and 19 points during the regular season and another 7 points in 20 playoffs games as the Canadiens would capture the first Stanley Cup of Houle's career.

His point total rose to 28 in 77 games in 1971-72 and rose another 20 to 48 in the 1972-73 season. Montreal would win another Stanley Cup that year as Houle contributed 9 points in 17 games.

Despite the two championships in three seasons, Houle was under tremendous scrutiny in Montreal as the fans wanted more from the first overall pick. So, despite his progress and the team's success, Houle chose to join the Quebec Nordiques of the rival WHA for the 1973-74 season. The move proved to be a good one for Houle, as he had his first 20 goal season as a professional, scoring 27 goals and 62 points.

Prior to the start of the next season, Houle was a member of Team Canada that took on the Soviet Union in the second Summit Series. He played in 7 of the games, scoring a goal and two points.

Team Canada from the 1974 Summit Series

Houle scored 92 points in 1974-75, a full 30 point increase and good for second on the Nordiques. He added another 10 goals and 16 points in the postseason as the Nordiques made it to the AVCO Cup Finals.

Houle while with the Nordiques - note

the red shoulders on the early Nordiques jersey

He would have his finest season as a professional in 1975-76 as he broke loose for 51 goals and 103 points on the high powered Nordiques, as evidenced by the fact he scored 11 points more than the season before, but only ranked fourth in team scoring!

With increased confidence and maturity after his successful stint in Quebec, Houle returned to the Canadiens for the 1977-78 season, with predictable results. No longer in the wild, wild west of the WHA and a smaller cog in the talent-laden Canadiens lineup, Houle's point totals the next three years hovered between 51 and 58, but he also earned three consecutive Stanley Cups for his troubles. He would set an NHL career highs with 30 goals and 58 points in 1977-78.

Limited to just 60 games in 1979-80, his point total slipped to 45, but he rebounded with 58 in 1980-81 to equal his NHL best. His career was now on the decline, and after scoring 43 points in just 51 games in 1981-82, Houle would play a final 16 games in 1982-83 with just 8 points to end his playing days.

His final combined career totals were 179 goals and 286 assists for 665 points, with 408 of those coming in the NHL, where he was a part of five Stanley Cup championships.

Today's featured jersey is a 1975-76 Quebec Nordiques Rejean Houle jersey as worn during Houle's magical 50 goal season in the WHA.

After three seasons of play, the Nordiques adopted a new, more minimalist style of jersey based on the flag of the province of Quebec for the 1975-76 season. This style would remain unchanged for 20 years, which included joining the NHL in 1979, until the franchise was sold and relocated out of Quebec.

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1977-78 Montreal Canadiens Rejean Houle jersey as worn during Houle's return to the NHL following his time in the rival WHA.

The genesis of this iconic jersey first appeared back in 1912 when the Canadiens needed an alternate to their barberpole style which was too similar to the Ottawa Senators sweaters. There was some initial evolution as white trim was added to the blue chest stripe in 1913 and the logo went through a series of changes until the "CH" first appeared in 1916, which then went through a series of colorization versions until the final look arrived in 1925.

Today's video section begins with Houle taking on the Ice  Bucket Challenge - but with a unique hockey twist.

Next is an extended interview with Houle in French on the occasion of the Canadiens centennial.

1903 Ottawa Senators Bouse Hutton Jersey

One of history's most accomplished multi-sport talents, John "Bouse" Hutton, was born on this date in 1877. His hockey career began in 1899 with two appearances for the Ottawa Hockey Club, then members of the Canadian Amateur Hockey League.

John "Bouse" Hutton

Hutton, a goaltender, then took the reigns by playing in 7 of the team's 8 games in 1900, completing the season with a 2.71 goals against average which was second best in the CAHL. He would go undefeated in 1901 with a 7-0-1 record to carry Ottawa to the league championship while lowering his goals against average to 2.50 to lead the league.

The 1901 Ottawa Hockey Club

After the conclusion of the hockey season, Hutton also played in goal for the Ottawa Capitals for the summer lacrosse season and won the inaugural Minto Cup as the top senior team in Canada.

A Bouse Hutton lacrosse card

He would again tie for the best goals against average in 1902 at 1.70, which included a pair of shutouts while once again playing in all 8 games. Prior to the start of the winter hockey season, Hutton would win another championship, only this one as a fullback for the Ottawa Rough Riders of Canadian football.

Ottawa would return to the top spot in the standings in 1903 as Hutton again contributed a pair of shutouts.

At the conclusion of the regular season, Ottawa defeated the Montreal Victorias in a two-game total goals series. After a 1-1 tie in the opening game, Ottawa cruised to the title with a 8-0 romp in game two to be awarded the Stanley Cup as league champions. Four days later they defended the cup by defeating the Rat Portage Thistles 6-2 and 4-2 in a best-of-three.

The 1903 holders of the Stanley Cup - The Ottawa Silver Seven

Prior to the start of the 1904 season, Ottawa, now known as "The Silver Seven" after the players were each awarded a silver nugget for winning the Stanley Cup, defended their trophy against a challenge from the Winnipeg Rowing Club. They successfully turned back the visitors in their best-0f-three series by winning the first game 9-1 and, after dropping the second 6-2, retained the cup following their 2-0 win as Hutton added another shutout to his record.

As the landscape of the hockey world was an unsettled one during it's formative years, Hutton won all four of Ottawa's games in the CAHL before the team withdrew from the league at mid-season.

Having retained possession of the cup despite leaving the CAHL, Ottawa would easily turn back the challenge of the Toronto Marlboros 6-3 and 11-2 in their best-of-three series in late February. A week later a two-game total goal series was arranged against the Montreal Wanderers. Regulation time of the first game ended 5-5, Montreal refused to play an overtime, demanding the game be considered a no-contest and requested the series start over as a best-of-three. When that proposal was turned down, Montreal abandoned their challenge and Ottawa not only retained the cup, but were also named champions of the Federal Amateur Hockey League (the league the Wanderers were members of and Ottawa was scheduled to join the following season after leaving the CAHL) despite never having played a game in the league at the time!

The Silver Seven had one more challenge to face that season, this from the Brandon Wheat Cities club, whom Ottawa would easily handle 6-3 and 9-3. Hutton's record in Ottawa's cup challenge games was 6-1-1 with a 2.90 goals against.

Following the 1904 hockey season Hutton retired from hockey to focus on lacrosse where he won a second Minto Cup with the Capitals. Following their championship, the Capitals toured England and won 23 out of 24 games.

Having been retired from hockey for five years, Huton returned to the ice in 1909 with a new club named the Ottawa Senators in the same FAHL as his original team, the Ottawa Silver Seven, who had by then moved onto yet another league. In five games, Hutton finished with a record of 3-2 with one shutout to end his career for good.

Hutton was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1962.

Today's featured jersey is a 1903 Ottawa Silver Seven Bouse Hutton jersey with the Senators trademark black, red and white horizontal "barberpole" stripes. This style of jersey was first adopted in 1903, and except for one season with vertical stripes in 1910-11, remained in use through the original Senators final season in Ottawa of 1933-34, with the addition of the letter "O" crest from 1929-30 on.

1990-91 Boston Bruins Graeme Townshend Jersey

The only player in NHL ever born in Jamaica, Graeme Townshend was born on this date in 1965. He moved to Canada in 1969 and eventually played college hockey in the United States at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the ECAC for four years with a high of 22 points in 31 games as a senior.

At the conclusion of his college career, he was signed by the Boston Bruins organization who assigned him to their farm team, the Maine Mariners of the AHL. He spent the majority of the 1989-90 season, but made his NHL debut with four games in Boston, becoming the first Jamaican born player ever in the NHL.

He was back in Maine for more seasoning in 1990-91, but did manage 18 games with the Bruins, which included the first two goals of his career.

For the next two seasons he became a member of the New York Islanders organization after signing a free agent deal. Again, Townshend spend the majority of his time in the AHL, now with the Capital District Islanders, including an AHL high of 29 goals and 50 points in 1992-93. In two years he did skate in 9 games with the parent club where the right wing added another goal to his stats.

On the move again, Townshend signed with the Ottawa Senators for 1993-94, playing in a career best 14 NHL games that season. In his 56 games with the AHL's Prince Edward Island Senators, he scored 16 goals and 29 points.

Beginning in 1994-95, Townshend began a tour of duty in the IHL. He played three games with the Minnesota Moose and found some stability with the Houston Aeros, where the rugged grinder played 71 games, scoring 19 goals an registering a career high 204 penalty minutes.

Houston was good for his career and it showed with back to back 21 goal seasons in 1995-96 and 1996-97. He was also named the IHL's Man of the Year in 1996.

He played single games for the Aeros and Utah Grizzlies at the start of 1997-98 before joining the Lake Charles Ice Pirates of the short-lived Western Professional Hockey League. He led the club in scoring with 43 goals and 44 assists for 87 points. After one more season with Lake Charles he retired as a player and has stayed active in hockey, including coaching, and is now running Townshend Hockey Skating Systems as well as being the skating and skills coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Today's featured jersey is a 1989-90 Boston Bruins Graeme Townshend jersey. This classic Bruins jersey was adopted in 1974 and underwent minor changes, such as the addition of a secondary logo and names on the back, but remain essentially the same through 1995.

Here are the two goals Townshend scored while a member of the Boston Bruins.

Here is Townshend teaching at his hockey school, which focuses on skating to take advantage of the new rules in hockey.

2003-04 Montreal Canadiens Stephane Quintal Jersey

French-Canadian defenseman Stephane Quintal, born on this date in 1968, first played junior hockey for the Granby Bisons of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He immediately became a solid contributor, playing in 67 games as a rookie. So impressive was his debut season that Quintal was named team captain for the 1986-87 season at just 17 years old.

He impressed with his growth on the ice that season, as he raised his point total from 19 during his rookie year to 54 from 13 goals and 41 assists. This performance did not go unnoticed, as Quintal was chosen #14 overall in the first round of the 1987 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins.

He returned to Granby for the following season and was again the team captain, but after 23 games he was traded to the Hull Olympiques. He would only play 15 regular season games for Hull, but would see action in 19 playoff games as Hull would make it all the way to the semifinals of the 1988 Memorial Cup where he contributed an average of a point per game.

For the next three seasons Quintal would divide his time between the Bruins of the NHL and the Maine Mariners of the AHL, playing an increasing role with the Bruins with 26 games in 1988-89, to 38 to 45 in 1990-91.

Quintal while with the Maine Mariners

He finally cracked the Bruins lineup full time in 1991-92, but after 49 games he and Craig Janney were dealt to the St. Louis Blues for Adam Oates.

His time in St. Louis was somewhat brief though, as he would finish that season with 26 games and play the full 1992-93 season with the Blues before being dealt to the Winnipeg Jets with Nelson Emerson for Phil Housely.

Quintal immediately set a new personal best in points with 26 his first season with Winnipeg, as well as accumulating a career high in penalty minutes with 119 in 1993-94. Despite not racking up huge penalty minute numbers, when the situation called for it, Quintal was not afraid to battle with some of the most feared fighters in the NHL at a time when some of the game's all-time toughest were ready to drop the gloves.

The following season of 1994-95 Quintal him nearly match his point production with 23 as well as improving his +/- by a full 25 points.

Quintal was once again on the move, as he was acquired by the Montreal Canadiens prior to the 1995-96 season. For the 1996-97 season Quintal would be named one of the team's assistant captains and in 1998-99 he would set a career high with 27 points. Following the conclusion of the NHL season, Quintal would make the only international appearance of his career when he was part of the Canadian roster at the 1999 World Championships in Norway. He acquitted himself well, scoring 3 goals and 5 points in 10 games and served as one of the team's assistant captains.

For the 1999-00 season, Quintal signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers, where he played 75 games.

Just prior to the 2000-01 season, he was claimed off waivers by the Chicago Blackhawks, the fourth Original Six club of his career. With Chicago, he put up his usual numbers, playing in 75 games and scoring 18 points, just as he had done for the previous six seasons with little variance.

Note the Blackhawks 75th Anniversary patch on the right chest of Quintal's jersey and the Hockey Hall of Fame Game patch on the left chest, worn once versus the Toronto Maple Leafs to kick off the annual Hall of Fame Weekend festivities in Toronto each Novemeber

During the summer, the Blackhawks dealt Quintal back to Montreal in time for the 2001-02 season. Back on familiar territory, he once more played 75 games while adding 16 points on offense. The next two seasons saw a decline in his point totals, down to 10 in 2002-03 and 8 in 2003-04, the season during which he would surpass 1,000 games played.

During the offseason, the Canadiens traded Quintal to the Los Angeles Kings in anticipation of the 2004-05 season, but the NHL lockout eventually caused the entire season to be abandoned, and Quintal never played for Los Angeles. Like many other NHLers, Quintal looked to Europe to keep active, and he signed for HC Asiago in the Italian league. He would play in 10 regular season games plus an additional 5 playoff contests to close out his playing days, as he would announce his retirement in August of 2005.

The final games of Quintal's career were with Asiago

of the Italian league during the 2004-05 NHL lockout

His final NHL totals were 1,037 games played, 63 goals and 180 assists for 243 points, along with 1,320 penalty minutes. He now works for the NHL as Senior Vice President of Player Safety.

Today's featured jersey is a 2003-04 Montreal Canadiens Stephane Quintal jersey. This 1940's style throwback jersey was worn by Montreal on October 20, 2003 versus the Detroit Red Wings. This jersey, with it's "V" patch on the chest was a part of the NHL's Vintage jersey program, in which seven teams, Boston, the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles, the Rangers, St. Louis and the Vancouver Canucks would wear throwback jerseys for certain games.

This jersey also made an appearance at the first Heritage Classic in Edmonton when the Oilers hosted the Canadiens. While Montreal would wear their red vintage jersey during the main event, their legends team would wear the white vintage jersey when they took on the Oilers legends the day before the NHL outdoor game.

This jersey style would return in 2005-06, again with the vintage V patch for a limited number of games, but now with three color numbers, red, trimmed in white and outlined in blue rather than the two color red outlined in blue as in today's featured jersey, which suffered from less contrast between the number and the central jersey stripe.

This jersey style would receive a promotion to being designated as the Canadiens third jersey for the 2006-07 season. As the team's alternate jersey, the V patch would disappear from the front of the jersey and it would now be worn more often in line with the league's guidelines for third jerseys.

This resulted in three minor variations of this jersey, two color numbers with the V patch in 2003-04, three color numbers in 2005-06 with the V patch, and three color numbers without the V patch in 2006-07. One consistent aspect of these three variations of this style was that the font used for the names and numbers was different than those worn on Montreal's home and road jerseys.

The alternate version of the 2005-06 season came to a premature end with the adaptation of the new Reebok Edge jerseys in 2007-08, as all of the NHL clubs were limited to just the two jerseys, a home and a road. Some clubs chose to keep their alternate jersey as their new home dark jersey, but Montreal chose to discontinue the 1940's style in favor of their classic home white jersey.

But this would not be the end of the Habs beautiful 1940's throwback, as the 2008-09 season would see the Canadiens begin their centennial celebration. As part of the festivities spread out over two seasons, the club would wear a series of no less than seven throwback jersey styles, of which the 1945-46 style was one.

This new variation of the 1945-46 throwback worn in 2008-09 would be customized with the same lettering and number font as the club's standard home and road jerseys as well as the script version of the "100 seasons" shoulder patch on the upper right arm. It would be worn twice, first on November 15, 2008 against the Philadelphia Flyers and again on March 14, 2009 versus the New Jersey Devils.

Bonus jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1999 Canada National Team Stephane Quintal jersey as worn during his only international appearance at the 1999 World Championships in Norway.

This style was first worn during the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan and was worn through the 2001 World Championships. While Nike used this template for several other countries at the time, such as the United States and the Czech Republic, Canada was the only one to use the Copperplate font for the numbers, which gave the Canadians their own unique look with a slight retro feel.

In today's video section, Quintal was not afraid to take on the NHL's toughest customers, as here he takes on Bob Probert. in a combination heavyweight slug fest and strip show.

Next, Quintal and Darcy Hordichuk trade bombs in this raucous Puttin' on the Foil battle which leaves Hordiuchuk bloodied.

Our final Quintal highlight sees him recreating Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robots with P. J. Stock of the Bruins as they try to knock each other's blocks off.