Detroit Red Wings vs. Anaheim Ducks NHL Stanley Cup Playoff History

In 2012-13, the Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks meet for the sixth time in the post season. Detroit holds the edge, winning three of the previous five showdowns. The Red Wings have been in the National Hockey League since the 1926-27 season and have won the Stanley Cup championship on eleven occasions. Anaheim entered the NHL as an expansion team for the 1993-94 season. The Ducks have won Stanley Cup.

1996-97 – Western Conference Semi-Finals

The Ducks (at the time the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim) reached the post season for the first time in their young NHL history. During the regular season, Anaheim finished second in the Pacific Division with 85 points while the Red Wings placed second in the Central with 92 points.

In the Western Conference Quarter-Finals, Detroit took out the St. Louis Blues in six games while Anaheim went the distance before beating the Phoenix Coyotes in seven games. This, of course, set up the first showdown between the Red Wings and Ducks.

Detroit swept Anaheim in four games. The Red Wings then went on to beat the Colorado Avalanche four games to two in the Conference Finals before sweeping the Philadelphia Flyers to capture the Stanley Cup.

1998-99 – Western Conference Quarter-Finals

Another Detroit and Anaheim matchup resulting in another sweep. The teams met in the opening round after the Red Wings finished first in the Central with 93 points and the Ducks finished third in the Pacific with 83. After taking out the Ducks, Detroit moved on to the Conference Semi-Finals, where they lost to Colorado in six games.

2002-03 – Western Conference Quarter-Finals

Yet another sweep. However this time the Red Wings were on the losing end. Detroit finished atop the Central Division with a healthy 110 points. Anaheim placed second in the Pacific with 95.

Anaheim then followed up by upsetting the Dallas Stars in the Western semi-final. Dallas was first overall in the Conference during the regular season. In the conference final, the Ducks swept the Minnesota Wild to earn their first ever appearance at the Stanley Cup finals. Anaheim met up with the New Jersey Devils and took the series to the seventh game before bowing out.

2006-07 – Western Conference Finals

Detroit and Anaheim were the first and second seeds in the Western Conference. Both plowed their way through to the conference finals. Detroit beat the Calgary Flames then the San Jose Sharks, both in six games, to advance. Anaheim played two less games than Detroit while beating both the Minnesota Wild

Anaheim took their second playoff series in a row off the Red Wings, winning four games to two. The Ducks again advanced to the Stanley Cup finals. This time, they were victorious, beating the Ottawa Senators four games to one to capture their first and only Stanley Cup championship.

2008-09 – Western Conference Semi-Finals

Detroit was the second seed going into the playoffs, recording 112 points during the regular season. Anaheim squeaked into the eighth and final position with 91 points. In the first round, the Ducks upset the first seed San Jose Sharks while the Red Wings easily dispatched the Columbus Blue Jackets in a four game sweep. For the Blue Jackets, it was their only playoff series to date, since joining the league for the 2000-01 season.

The matchup in the conference semi-finals between Anaheim and Detroit went the distance with the Red Wings coming out on top four games to three. Detroit moved on to beat the Chicago Blackhawks in five in the conference finals before falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in the finals.

2012-13 – Western Conference Quarter-Finals

Bruce Boudreau had a chance to capture something that’s avoided him since his pro hockey career started in 1975-76 with the Johnstown Jets of the North American Hockey League – a championship. Boudreau had the talent in front of him to win with the Washington Capitals but the team came up short. Bruce was brought in to coach the Ducks in 2012-13 and the team was nothing but stellar during the regular season.

Anaheim captured the second position in the west. For the Red Wings, it went right down to the final game of the season to determine if they were in or out. Detroit placed seventh in the west, just one point ahead of ninth place Columbus.

Once again, Boudreau's team couldn't compete in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Red Wings won the set in seven games. This was a tightly fought battle, to say the least. Teams alternated wins, starting with Anaheim and ending with Detroit. Four games needed overtime to decide a winner. In the final game, Valtteri Filppula scored what turned out to be the winning goal in the second period. Anaheim responded with a goal late in the third to bring the score to 3-2 but the Red Wings prevailed.

Detroit moved on, only to fall to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in the conference semi-finals. That series went seven games, as well.

With Detroit moving to the Eastern Conference, a rematch between the Ducks and Red Wings may be a long time coming. Teams from opposing conferences can only meet in the Stanley Cup finals.

Vintage Hockey Card Video Series

As I write this, I'm fighting with some sort of glitch that is freezing up the upload for the final of six videos featuring vintage hockey cards from the NHL's Original 6 teams. This is just a shout out to anyone reading 'Hockey History Hub' that these videos are nearly 100% online at YouTube. If you're reading something here and enjoying this site, then chances are you'll want to kill some time looking at some of the greatest in the game's history on some classic cardboard.

Each of the Original 6 team videos has at least 100 different vintage hockey cards and each video lasts between three and five minutes. Each is produced with what I think is some pretty great background music. So, if you're at work, yes - there is audio so turn it down...

Mostly, the cards are from the 1951-52 to 1979-80 range and come from sets produced by Parkhurst, Topps and O-Pee-Chee. There are cards from before and after the range in some of the videos but not a whole lot. Because it just didn't look right to have 'landscape' card fronts mixed with the usual 'portrait' fronts, some years have been left out. These would be your 1963-64 Topps, 1968-69 O-Pee-Chee and sets like that. Also, we didn't put in any of the 1964-65 Topps tallboys because they just wouldn't fit the format (yep, I'm a little anal about that stuff...).

All the cards are included in the Virtual Hockey Card Collection at Vintage Hockey Cards Report. This is what is becoming a fairly complete online collection of hockey cards (front and back). This is a project that I hope will expand beyond the NHL and the range of years given above. I plan to move into minor league, junior and even European sets in the relatively near future. It's pretty time consuming, though. The images have to be collected, straightened, cropped then added to a template and uploaded. I'm not the most technical so my method is pretty labour intensive (aka slow).

I've embedded one of the videos below to give you a taste. Hopefully you'll head over to the YouTube channel to check out the others. Links to each video are found in the index of the Virtual Collection. I've also grouped them into a clean and tidy YouTube playlist so they can be watched consecutively without having to keep hitting play...

The video below features the Chicago Blackhawks. Of course, there's a fair share of Bobby Hull, Glenn Hall and Stan Mikita cards but there's a lot more there, as well. Be sure to hit the Thumb's Up if you like it!

4 Hart Trophy Winners From The Detroit Red Wings

For the 1926-27 National Hockey League season, the Victoria Cougars were moved to Detroit, Michigan. The team remained the Cougars until a name change to the Falcons in 1930. In 1932, the team was renamed again, this time to the Red Wings. In that time, the franchise has had four different players awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy as NHL most valuable player. One of the four won the Hart on six occasions. Notably absent from this list is Steve Yzerman, probably the most deserving player to have a Hart Trophy sitting on his mantle. Yet, Yzerman was denied throughout his long and successful career with the Red Wings.

Ebbie Goodfellow

Ebbie Goodfellow was the first Detroit player to win the Hart Trophy. In 1939-40, the defenseman totaled 28 points in 43 regular season game, big numbers for a blue liner in the day. The Red Wings squeaked into the Stanley Cup playoffs, finishing sixth in the seven team NHL. Detroit beat the New York Americans in the first round before losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second.

Goodfellow played in the NHL from 1923-30 to 1942-43, all with the Detroit. His first year was with the Cougars, followed by two with the Falcons before becoming a true Red Wing. For two seasons in the early 1950’s, Ebbie coached the Chicago Black Hawks but the team won just 30 of 140 games with him behind the bench. In 1963, Ebbie Goodfellow was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Sid Abel

Sid Abel won the Hart Trophy in 1948-49 while leading the league in goals and finishing third in the race for the Art Ross Trophy. Sid scored 28 and totaled 54 points in 60 games for the Red Wings. Detroit finished first overall that season but was swept in the Stanley Cup finals by the fourth seed Toronto Maple Leafs.

Abel played with the Red Wings from 1938-39 until 1951-52 before spending two seasons as player/coach of the Chicago Black Hawks. Sid was nearly as unsuccessful behind the Chicago bench as Ebbie Goodfellow was. He returned to coaching in 1957-58 with the Red Wings and was head coach until the end of the 1967-68 season. During that time, Detroit lost in the Stanley Cup finals four times. Abel became a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969.

Gordie Howe

Along came Gordie Howe. Howe won his first of six Hart Memorial Trophies in 1951-52, the last year Sid Abel played for the team. Gordie won the Hart again the following year then in 1956-57, 1957-58, 1959-60 and 1962-63. On four of those occasions, Howe also won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s top point producer.

Gordie played for Detroit from 1946-47 to 1970-71. He is considered by many to be the best hockey player of all-time. In 1971, Howe was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He returned to the game as a player in 1973-74 and spent six years in the World Hockey Association before a swan-song appearance with the NHL’s Hartford Whalers in 1979-80.

Sergei Federov

Sergei Federov is the most recent Red Wing to win the Hart Memorial Trophy. Federov earned the prize in 1993-94, while scoring 56 goals and accumulating 120 points. He finished third in goal scoring behind Pavel Bure of the Vancouver Canucks and Brett Hull of the St. Louis Blues. It was just Wayne Gretzky ahead of him in the race for the Art Ross Trophy, finishing ten points ahead.

Sergei played over 1,200 regular season and nearly 200 playoff games in the National Hockey League, many with Detroit.

Top 5 NHL Goal Scorers In 1968-69

In 1968-69, Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks set a National Hockey League record that would last for just two seasons. Hull scored 58 goals, a record that would remain a NHL best until Phil Esposito shattered the mark with 76 goals two years later in 1970-71. Of course, there was no award for this feat back in 1968-69. The Rocket Richard Trophy honouring the NHL’s top goal scorer was not introduced until 1998-99.

Bobby Hull – Chicago Blackhawks

Bobby Hull led the league with what was his fourth of five times during his National Hockey League career that he scored 50 or more goals in a single season. Despite his offensive efforts, the Black Hawks finished sixth and last in the East Division and did not qualify for the post season. Chicago had 77 points in 76 games, a point total that would have placed them second in the West Division.

Phil Esposito – Boston Bruins

Phil Esposito finished tied for second with 49 goals. Esposito shattered the NHL record for points in a season with 126, earning the Art Ross Trophy. Phil helped his team to a 100 point finish during the regular season, behind only the Montreal Canadiens. The Bruins lost in the semi-finals but would be redeemed the following season by winning the Stanley Cup.

Frank Mahovlich – Detroit Red Wings

Frank Mahovlich of the Detroit Red Wings also finished with 49 goals. Despite Mahovlich and Gordie Howe finishing among the top five goal scorers, Detroit finished fifth in the East and did not qualify for the post season. The 49 goals was a high for Frank in a career that spanned from 1956-57 to 1973-74 and saw him score a total of 533 goals while playing for the Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Ken Hodge – Boston Bruins

Ken Hodge of the Bruins nearly doubled his goal production from the previous season, finishing fourth in the NHL with 45 goals. Hodge would achieve the 50 goal plateau for the only time in his career five years later with exactly 50 in 1973-74.

Gordie Howe – Detroit Red Wings

At 41 years old, Gordie Howe finished fifth with 44 goals. His career high of 49 goals came back in 1952-53. Despite his 801 career regular season NHL goals, Gordie never topped the 50 goal plateau in a single season. After never having a player top the 100 point plateau before 1968-69, Howe was one of three to top 100 points, along with Esposito and Hull, with 103.

In the end, the two teams that met in the Stanley Cup final did not have a representative in the top five goal scorers. The Montreal Canadiens faced off against the St. Louis Blues and came out with a sweep. It was the second consecutive year that the two came together in the final series with St. Louis not winning a single game.

Gordie Howe 1968-69 O-Pee-Chee Hockey Card [YouTube Shorts]

Top NHL Teams In Each Decade

It is an on-going argument which NHL teams are the best of all-time. It is hard to compare the 1930 Boston Bruins with the 1977 Montreal Canadiens when the rules, conditions, equipment, training and number of teams have changed drastically through the years.

 We go Vulcan with this article, showing the best NHL team from each decade since the 1920’s based entirely on single season winning percentage. The number of games played in a season has gone from 24 to 82 in just a short 80 years and winning percentage is the only true measure of a team’s success during the regular season. Just to be clear, this is based on the top single season performance by a team during the decade and not the collective winning percentage over the ten years.

1919-20 Ottawa Senators

The 1919-20 Ottawa Senators played in a young NHL with only 3 other teams and with only a 24 game schedule. The team won 19 of the 24 games and had no ties for a winning percentage of .792. The Senators won the Stanley Cup that season which is, from what we will find out, somewhat of a rarity among teams who excel to extreme levels of success during the regular season.

Ottawa was led offensively by Frank Nighbor and in net by Clint Benedict. Nighbor, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame since 1947, played for Ottawa from 1915-16 to 1929-30. Benedict is also enshrined in the HHOF but entered in 1965. He played with the Senators from 1912-13 to 1923-24 before finishing his career with the Montreal Maroons.

1929-30 Boston Bruins

The 1929-30 Boston Bruins had the highest single season winning percentage of all-time. In the 44 games schedule, the Bruins had 38 wins and 1 tie to go along with their 5 losses for a winning percentage of .875. This was the era before the ‘Original 6’ and the NHL consisted of two divisions of 5 teams. The Bruins were easily the top team in the American Division. However, the Montreal Canadiens from the Canadian Division would be the eventual winners of the Stanley Cup that season.

Art Ross coached the Bruins, and was Boston’s first ever head coach. He would lead the team to a Stanley Cup championship at the end of the decade in 1938-39. In 1929-30, Cooney Weiland of the Bruins led the NHL in goals and points. Other greats playing with Boston that year were Dit Clapper, Eddie Shore and goaltender Tiny Thompson.

1943-44 Montreal Canadiens

The 1943-44 Montreal Canadiens would achieve a winning percentage of .830 with 38 wins, 5 losses and 7 ties over a 50 game season. The league consisted of 6 teams and the Canadiens were crowned Stanley Cup Champions. The Dick Irvin coached team had a healthy 25 point lead over the second place Detroit Red Wings.

Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard was just in his first full season in the NHL after appearing in just 16 games with the Canadiens the year before. His 32 goals led the Canadiens and tied him for 6^th in the league with Bill Mosienko of the Chicago Blackhawks and Syd Howe of the Red Wings. Playing all 50 games in net for the Habs was Bill Durnan.

1950-51 Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings had a winning percentage of .721 in 1950-51 on 44 wins, 13 losses and 13 ties over 70 games. The league still consisted of the original 6 teams. Despite Detroit’s success, the Toronto Maple Leafs would steal the Stanley Cup away. The Red Wings fell to the Montreal Canadiens in the opening round, four games to two. Montreal finished the regular season in third place, 36 points behind the Red Wings. It was a close battle with the Habs outscoring Detroit over the series by just one goal and two of the six games going into overtime.

Detroit’s Gordie Howe led the NHL in both goals and assists. He won the Art Ross Trophy with a commanding 20 point lead over Rocket Richard. Only one man stood between the pipes for Detroit during the 1950-51 NHL season, Terry Sawchuk.

1961-62 Montreal Canadiens

The 1961-62 Montreal Canadiens had a winning percentage of .700 on 42 wins, 14 losses and 14 ties over 70 games. The league was in its final decade of just 6 teams with expansion arriving in 1967-68. Once again, the Toronto Maple Leafs snatched the Stanley Cup away from the regular season league leader.

The Toe Blake coached Canadiens were led offensively by Ralph Backstrom and Claude Provost. Jacques Plante played every single game in goal for the team. Montreal was knocked out in the first round by the third place Chicago Blackhawks.

1976-77 Montreal Canadiens

The team that is considered by many to be the best of all-time put in a winning percentage of .825 in 1976-77. The Montreal Canadiens lost just 8 games while winning 60 and tying 12 over 80 games in the 18 team league. The Canadiens would breeze to a Stanley Cup win that season, losing just two playoff games. Montreal dropped two to the New York Islanders in the semi-finals while sweeping the St. Louis Blues in the opening round and the Boston Bruins in the finals.

Offensively, Steve Shutt led the league with 60 goals while Guy Lafleur led the NHL with 80 assists and 136 points. Of course, the Scotty Bowman coached Habs were led in goal by Ken Dryden with Michel Larocque doing an admirable job as backup.

1983-84 Edmonton Oilers

Wayne Gretzky and his Edmonton Oilers controlled the 1983-84 season with a winning percentage of .744 on 57 wins, 18 losses and 5 ties over 80 games. Not only would the Oilers top the 21-team league over the regular season but would take the Stanley Cup, as well. The Oilers took out the defending champion New York Islanders in five games in the finals. New York had won the Stanley Cup for the past four seasons. Edmonton’s toughest challenge came in the quarter-finals when the Calgary Flames took them to the seven game limit.

Gretzky led the league with 87 goals, 118 assists and 205 points. He was a whopping 79 points ahead of second place Paul Coffey, also of the Oilers. Gretzky, Coffey, Jari Kurri and Mark Messier all topped the 100 point plateau. Andy Moog and Grant Fuhr shared the goaltending duties with what would have been lacklustre numbers on any other team.

1995-96 Detroit Red Wings

In 1995-96, the Detroit Red Wings set the record for most wins in a single season with 62, a record that stands today. The Wings posted a winning percentage of .799 over the 82 game schedule, losing 13 and tying 7. The league had expanded to 26 teams at this point. Despite the record number of wins, Detroit would fall to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup semi-finals. Colorado then swept the Florida Panthers to win the championship.

The Scotty Bowman coached Red Wings were led offensively by Sergei Fedorov and Steve Yzerman. Sharing the goaltending duties were Chris Osgood and Mike Vernon.

2005-06 Detroit Red Wings

Ten years after their record performance, the Detroit Red Wings posted the best record of the decade with a .756 winning percentage in 2005-06. The feat was accomplished on a record of 58 wins, 16 losses and 8 ties. At this point, the league was up to 30 teams and remains at that number today. Once again, the Wings would not take home the Stanley Cup as the Carolina Hurricanes would win their first. In fact, Detroit was upset in the opening round by the Edmonton Oilers in six games.

It was Mike Babcock’s first year as head coach of the Red Wings and just two years later, he would have his first Stanley Cup championship. 2005-06 marked the start of the Pavel Datsyuk era and the end of the incredible career of Steve Yzerman. Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg led the team offensively while Manny Legace played the bulk of games in net.

 

4 Consecutive Stanley Cup Finals Sweeps - The Only Time In NHL History

With the Los Angeles Kings winning the 2013-14 Stanley Cup championship in five games over the New York Rangers, there now hasn't been a four game sweep in the Stanley Cup finals since the 1997-98 NHL season. That National Hockey League season marked the last of four consecutive sweeps to decide the Stanley Cup champion. This four year span happens to be the only time in NHL history when there has been four consecutive years with sweeps. In fact, the only time there has been three consecutive years with sweeps in the finals came with the 1967 expansion when the St. Louis Blues were at the losing end of sweeps between 1967-68 and 1969-70.

New Jersey Devils 1994-95

The New Jersey Devils starting things off in 1994-95 by taking down the Detroit Red Wings in four games to capture the Stanley Cup. New Jersey lost just four games in the first three rounds of the playoffs and finished off the post-season with a 16-4 record. In the finals, the Devils outscored the Red Wings 16-7. This was the first championship in New Jersey Devils history. The franchise that began as the Kansas City Scouts back in 1974-75 has since won the Cup on two more occasions.

 The 1995 final was a faceoff between teacher and student. Jacques Lemaire was head coach of the Devils while Scotty Bowman was behind the bench of the Red Wings. Lemaire played a key part on the ice for the Scotty Bowman coached Montreal Canadiens in the 1970’s. The Conn Smythe Trophy was won by Claude Lemieux of the Devils with the team led defensively by Scott Stevens and rock-solid goaltender Martin Brodeur.

Colorado Avalanche 1995-96

The Quebec Nordiques built a roster with championship potential. However, it wasn’t until the franchise moved to Denver before they could reap their rewards. The Colorado Avalanche met up with the Florida Panthers in the 1995-96 finals. The Avalanche held the trap-playing Panthers to just four goals in the over the series while scoring 15 of their own. Game two of the series was an 8-1 blowout. However, Florida put up a fight, losing 1-0 in triple overtime in game four.

 Claude Lemieux won his second consecutive Stanley Cup after moving over to the Avalanche from New Jersey. Joe Sakic of Colorado won the Conn Smythe with Patrick Roy and Adam Foote also playing starring roles in the victory. The Avalanche lost a total of six games in the 1995-96 post season.

 Detroit Red Wings 1996-97

Detroit was back in the finals for 1996-97 after a year away, this time on the winning end of the sweep. The Philadelphia Flyers were Detroit’s opponent in the final and outscored them 16-6 over the four games. The Red Wings lost just four games during the entire 1996-97post-season.

The series put two great captains head to head with Steve Yzerman of the Red Wings and Eric Lindros of the Flyers facing off. Mike Vernon, goaltender for Detroit, won the Conn Smythe Trophy. Hockey Hall of Famer Brendan Shanahan and Nicklas Lidstrom also led the way for the Red Wings.

 Detroit Red Wings 1997-98

The Red Wings were back for more in 1997-98. This time, their victim was the Washington Capitals. As of the end of the 2013-14 season, this is the only time the Capitals have reached the Stanley Cup finals since joining the National Hockey League in 1974-75, along with the Kansas City Scouts.

Detroit outscored Washington 13-7 in a defensive struggle. Detroit’s record throughout the playoffs was 16-6 with mostly the same cast as the year before. Steve Yzerman was the recipient of the Conn Smythe Trophy.

NHL Hockey Trivia: Steve Yzerman

For three decades, Steve Yzerman was the face of the National Hockey League’s Detroit Red Wings. Yzerman retired after the 2005-06 season and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009. Steve’s number 19 was retired by the Red Wings in 2007 and is one of just seven numbers retired by the team. Stevie-Y is now the General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Test and expand your knowledge of Steve Yzerman hockey trivia with the following questions.

Q. In his best offensive year, 1988-89, how many regular season points did Steve Yzerman have?

A. Yzerman contributed 155 points for a Detroit Red Wings team that finished the regular season at exactly .500 and lost out in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks. Yzerman put up career high numbers for goals (65) and assists (90). Steve finished third in league scoring behind Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

To this day, the numbers Yzerman put up for goals, assists and points in 1988-89 remain team single season records. The 155 points is still the 14^th highest total in National Hockey League history and the most by a player whose name is not Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux.

Q. How many teams did Steve Yzerman play for during his NHL career?

A. Despite several trade rumours throughout his career, Yzerman played for just the Detroit Red Wings. In 1994, it was thought he was bound for the Montreal Canadiens and the following year the rumour had him going to the Ottawa Senators.

Q. How many seasons did Steve Yzerman play in the NHL?

A. Yzerman played 22 seasons in the NHL. He began his career with Detroit in 1983-84 after two years with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League. Steve was a fourth overall pick of the Red Wings in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, behind Brian Lawton (Minnesota North Stars), Sylvain Turgeon (Hartford Whalers) and Pat Lafontaine (New York Islanders). After missing the 2004-05 season, along with the rest of the league due to the lockout, Yzerman returned for one more season in 2005-06.

Q. How many times during his NHL career did Steve Yzerman surpass the 50 goal plateau?

A. Five times in his 22 NHL seasons, Steve Yzerman had 50 or more goals in a season. In 1988-89 and 1989-90, Yzerman took it a step further and surpassed the 60 goal plateau. Overall, Steve scored 692 regular season goals over his NHL career, putting him in the ninth position all-time. Yzerman scored two less goals that Mark Messier and two more than Mario Lemieux. Teemu Selanne finished the 2013-14 season with 684.

NHL Hockey Trivia: Darryl Sittler

Darryl Sittler is one of the greatest legends in the history of the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs. Sittler is a Hockey Hall of Fame member that has certainly left his mark on the game. His record of ten points in a single game that was set in 1976 against the Boston Bruins still stands today. Test and expand your hockey knowledge with the following four hockey trivia questions and answers.

Q. When Darryl Sittler was traded from the Philadelphia Flyers to the Detroit Red Wings for the start of the 1984-85 season, what player, who would play over 1,000 career NHL games, went in the other direction?

A. Sittler was traded to Detroit for an unproven youngster named Murray Craven. Philadelphia got the best of the deal with Sittler playing just 61 games with Detroit before retiring. Craven played 1,071 regular season NHL games with the Red Wings, Flyers, Hartford Whalers, Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks.

Joe Paterson also went to the Flyers in the deal. Joe played just six games for Philadelphia in 1984-85 and five more with the club in 1985-86 before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings. Paterson, who played his junior hockey for the same OHL team as Sittler, appeared in 291 NHL regular season games between 1980-81 and 1988-89 with the Red Wings, Flyers, Kings and New York Rangers.

Q. In 1977-78, Darryl Sittler finished third in the race for the Art Ross Trophy with 117 points. Who finished first in the NHL that season?

A. Guy Lafleur of the Montreal Canadiens won the Art Ross Trophy with 132 points. Bryan Trottier of the New York Islanders took second spot with 123 points. The three were the only ones to surpass the 100 point plateau that season.

It was the second and last time Darryl would reach the 100 point plateau. He totalled exactly 100 in 1975-76 over 79 games with the Maple Leafs. The 100 points placed him ninth in the race for the Art Ross Trophy.

Q. With what OHA team did Darryl Sittler record 99 points for in 1968-69?

A. Darryl was a member of the London Knights for three years from 1967-68 to 1969-70. 99 points was his highest single season total in the junior league and was accomplished over 53 games on 34 goals and 65 assists. He finished third in the OHA that season behind only Rejean Houle of the Montreal Junior Canadiens and Marcel Dionne of the St. Catherines Black Hawks.

In his third and final year with London, Sittler scored 42 and assisted on 48 for 90 points over 54 regular season games. He was the team’s leader by far with 24 more points than Dan Maloney. He tied Bobby Lalonde of the Montreal Junior Canadiens for sixth in goal scoring. Darryl was also tied for seventh in assists and held the sixth spot for total points.

Q. In what year was Darryl Sittler inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame?

A. Sittler entered the Hall of Fame in 1989. The only other two players to be inducted that season were Herbie Lewis, a member of the Detroit Cougars / Falcons / Red Wings in the late 1920’s and 1930’s and Vladislav Tretiak, the great Russian goaltender.

NHL Hockey Trivia: Johnny Bucyk

Johnny Bucyk was a long-time Boston Bruins star that was an integral part of the ‘Big Bad Bruins’ era of the early 1970’s. Although, we’ll find out, Bucyk was not a regular in the penalty box like many of his teammates. Test and expand your hockey trivia knowledge of Johnny Bucyk with the following four trivia questions.

Q. What was Johnny Bucyk’s first National Hockey League team?

A. Bucyk played his first two seasons in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings. Before the 1957-58 season began, Johnny was traded to the Bruins for the legendary goaltender, Terry Sawchuk. Bucyk played the rest of his NHL career with Boston, retiring after the 1977-78 season. In 1955-56, Johnny played 38 games for the Red Wings, scoring one goal and totalling nine points. In 1956-57, he became a regular, appearing in 66 games, scoring ten goals and totalling 21 points.

As for Sawchuk, he was returned to Detroit, a team that traded him to Boston just before Bucyk started his National Hockey League career.

Q. With a career total of just 497 minutes in penalties over 1540 regular season games, how many times did the gentleman Johnny Bucyk win the Lady Byng Trophy?

A. Bucyk won the Lady Byng as the most gentlemanly player in 1970-71 and again in 1973-74. In each season, Johnny totalled just eight minutes in penalties with the Bruins. In two other seasons in which Bucyk played nearly a full schedule did he sit less than ten minutes in the box. In 1967-68, Johnny received four minor penalties over 72 games, yet Stan Mikita of the Chicago Blackhawks was awarded the Lady Byng with 14 PIM. In 1971-72, Bucyk sat just four minutes in the penalty box while playing the full 78 game schedule but the Lady Byng went to Jean Ratelle of the New York Rangers who spent an equal time in the sin bin.

Q. What jersey number was retired by the Boston Bruins in honour of Johnny Bucyk?

A. After his final season, 1977-78, the Bruins hung number 9 from the rafters of the Boston Garden in honour of the player that wore it for 21 seasons. Of course, in his first two years in the NHL, Bucyk did not wear number 9. As a member of the Detroit Red Wings, that number was already taken by Gordie Howe. Johnny wore number 20 while with Detroit. He took on number 9 right from his first game with Boston.

Q. During the 1970-71 season, at the age of 35, Johnny Bucyk became the oldest NHL player to do what?

A. With 51 goals, Bucyk became the oldest NHL player to surpass the 50 goal plateau. With an additional 65 assists for 116 points, Johnny finished third in the race for the Art Ross Trophy behind teammates Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito. Another teammate, Ken Hodge, rounded out the top four that season with all four Bruins surpassing 100 points. Johnny’s 51 goals placed him second in the NHL, 25 goals behind teammate and league leader Phil Esposito.

Hockey Trivia: Original Arenas of NHL Teams

These days, it seems an NHL arena doesn’t last more than a few decades before it needs to be demolished and rebuilt bigger and better. Other than a few of the post 1967 expansion teams, all the NHL teams are in new digs. A number of teams have been through several homes during their existence.

Test and expand your knowledge of NHL teams and their original homes with the following four hockey trivia questions.

Q. What was the original home of the San Jose Sharks?

A. The Sharks began in the Cow Palace (aka the California State Livestock Pavilion). The Cow Palace began operation in April of 1941 and housed 11,089 for NHL games. The Sharks played their home games at the Palace for their first few seasons until their present home, the HP Pavilion, was ready for use.

Before the Sharks moved in, the Cow Palace had previously been the hockey home of the San Francisco Seals of the WHL from 1961-62 to 1966-67. The San Francisco Spiders of the IHL called the Cow Palace home for the 1995-96 season. The venue is still active, acting as home rink to the San Francisco Bulls of the ECHL since the 2012-13 season.

Q. What arena was the original home of the Calgary Flames (in Calgary, not Atlanta...)?

A. The Flames moved from Atlanta in 1980 and played their first three seasons in the Calgary Stampede Corral. The Corral was built in 1950 and held just 6,475 plus standing room for hockey. The Flames currently play at the Saddledome.

Still in existence, the longest standing tenant of the Corral was the Calgary Stampeders. The Stampeders played semi-pro hockey in the PCHL and WHL. The Calgary Centennials of the junior WCHL played at the Corral from 1966-67 to 1976-77 before moving to the U.S. to become the Billings Bighorns. That franchise is the present day Tri-City Americans. The World Hockey Association also called the Corral home with the Calgary Cowboys calling it home for two seasons, 1975-76 and 1976-77.

Q. What arena did the modern day Ottawa Senators (1992) first play out of?

A. The Senators played most of their first four seasons at the Ottawa Civic Centre, home of the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67’s. The arena houses 9,862 for hockey. Like the Calgary Corral, the Civic Centre also housed WHA hockey briefly. The Ottawa Nationals called the arena home for the inaugural 1972-73 WHA season. In 1975-76, the Denver Spurs moved to Ottawa midseason to become the Civics. However, the franchise lasted just two home games before folding.

Q. In their first season in the NHL, 1926-27, the Detroit Red Wings were dubbed the Detroit Cougars. Where did the Cougars play their home games that season?

A. The Cougars played out of the Border Cities Arena in Windsor, Ontario while the Olympia was being built across the river. The Border Cities Arena would later be named the Windsor Arena and housed the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires until 2008. For the Cougars, the Arena was upgraded to seat 9,000. When the Spitfires left the building, the capacity was 4,400 with standing room.

The Spitfires have moved into the WFCU Centre but the old barn remains. The new tenants are the University of Windsor Lancers, a team in the OUA.