Wednesday, October 15, 2014

3 Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers Nürnberg Retired Numbers


nurnberg ice tigers germany del logo
The Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers Nurnberg have played in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga since the 1995-96 season. The team has yet to win a championship but reached the finals in 1998-99 and 2006-07. The Ice Tigers play home games at the Arena Nurnberger Versicherung in Nurnbert, Germany, an 8,300 seat venue that opened in 2001. The team has retired the numbers of three players over their history.

4 – Martin Mueller


Mueller played for the team in their pre-DEL days and when they were known as EHC 80 Nurnberg. Martin played for the club from 1984-85 to 1991-92 and helped the team get promoted from the tier 3 Oberliga to the tier 2 2.Bundesliga for the 1987-88 season.

Martin played pro hockey from 1980-81 to 1993-94, all in Germany. Previous to that, he played for West Germany at the 1978 IIHF World Hockey Championships, held in Montreal and Quebec City in Canada. Over six games, he scored four and assisted on two. West Germany finished seventh out of eight teams in the tournament. That year, the Soviet Union won gold, Sweden won silver and Canada won bronze with Wayne Gretzky leading the tournament in scoring.


In his first year of pro, Mueller scored 56 and assisted on 36 for 92 points over 43 games with ERC Freiburg of the 2.Bundesliga. He finished seventh in the league for goals and eight for points. The team was led in scoring by Murray Heatley, father of current NHLer Dany Heatley.

Two years later in the Oberliga, Martin scored 64 and assisted on 46 for 110 points over just 33 games for SV Bayreuth. He placed third for goals, seventh for assists and third for points. His performance helped Bayreuth move up to the 2.Bundesliga for 1983-84. His offensive leadership continued with the team’s promotion. In 1983-84, he scored 77 goals and assisted on 34 for 111 points over 45 games. He finished second in the league in goals. Mueller was teammates with Jiri Crha that year. Crha was the number one goalie for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a dreadful 1980-81 NHL season.

Over his career, Mueller played 236 regular season games in the 2.Bundesliga, scoring 242 and assisting on 149 for 391 points. Over 110 games in the Oberliga, Martin scored 195 and assisted on 151 for 346 points.

7 – Paul Geddes


A native of Prince George, British Columbia, Geddes played in Germany from 1989-90 to 1997-98 in the 2.Bundesliga and DEL. Paul played for EHC 80 Nurnberg in the 2.Bundesliga for 1992-93 and 1993-94. He jumped to the DEL with the team for 1994-95 and played for the renamed Ice Tigers for two more seasons, 1995-96 and 1996-97.

Geddes played CIAU hockey for the University of Calgary from 1983-84 to 1986-87. In Germany, he played 206 games in the 2.Bundesliga, scoring 220 and assisting on 191 for 411 points. In the DEL, Paul played 184 regular season games, scoring 73 and assisting on 89 for 162 points.

In 1991-92 with TSV Peissenberg in the 2.Bundesliga, Geddes scored 57 and assisted on 54 for 111 points over 47 games. He finished third in goals, tied for eighth in assists and fourth in points. The following year, he moved over to Nurnberg and finished fourth in the 2.Bundesliga with 44 goals. In 1993-94, he once again finished fourth in the league, this time with 45 goals.

12 – Martin Jiranek


From Bashaw, Alberta, Jiranek played university hockey in the NCAA with Bowling Green State from 1988-89 to 1991-92. The prospect of the Washington Capitals put in three years in the American Hockey League with the Baltimore Skipjacks and Portland Pirates before moving to Europe.

After a year in Austria and a year in Italy, Martin settled in with the Ice Tigers. He played with Nurnberg from 1996-97 to 2003-04. His DEL totals include 537 regular season games, with 179 goals and 263 assists for 442 points. Over 74 playoff games, he added 23 goals and 40 points.

In 1998-99, Jiranek scored 24 and assisted on 45 for 69 points over 47 DEL games. He tied for tenth in the league for goals and placed second for assists. Two years later, he was a DEL All-Stars with the Ice Tigers in 2000-01. Currently, Martin is in his second year as Sports Manager for the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers.

 

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Hockey Trivia: NHL Franchise Relocations Of The 1970's, 1980's and 1990's


california seals o-pee-chee checklist hockey card
The 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s brought expansion to the National Hockey League. With the rapid growth, poor economy and lack of proper planning, there was quite a bit of movement among franchises in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Test and broaden your hockey knowledge with the following four trivia questions.

Q. The franchise that is now known as the New Jersey Devils came into the NHL in 1974-75 as what team?

A. The Kansas City Scouts are the origin of the New Jersey Devils. The Scouts lasted just two seasons in Kansas City before a short stint in Denver as the Colorado Rockies before moving east to become the Devils.

Over the two years, 1974-75 and 1975-76, the Scouts won a total of 27 of 160 regular season games. In the first year, they were second last in the NHL, ahead of only their expansion partners, the Washington Capitals. In 1975-76, Kansas City once again finished ahead of only the Capitals.

Simon Nolet served as team captain until midway through the second season when he was replaced by Guy Charron. The Scouts drafted Wilf Paiement second overall at the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft. NHL legend Sid Abel had a brief three game stint as the team’s head coach.

Q. In 1976-77, what franchise moved to Cleveland and became the Barons?

A. The California Seals were a product of the first expansion boom in 1967-68. They left California to become the Barons and then merged with the Minnesota North Stars after just two seasons. In both those years, the Barons placed fourth in the Adams Division and did not qualify for the post season.

Despite having an arena that would seat 18,500 in Richfield Coliseum, the Barons averaged around 6,000 fans per game over the two years. At the time, Richfield Coliseum had the largest seating capacity of any National Hockey League venue.

Q. The Calgary Flames were born into the NHL as what team?

A. The Atlanta Flames joined the league in 1972-73 along with the New York Islanders. The deep south wasn’t ready for hockey and the Flames made the move to Calgary for the 1980-81 season. The Flames were a decent team, on the upper end of mediocrity.

Over their eight years in Atlanta, the team reached the post season in six, including their last five. However, they were never able to win a series in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

While in Atlanta, the Flames drafted some good talent in Tom Lysiak, Brad Marsh and Paul Reinhart. The four captains in Atlanta Flames history include Keith McCreary, Pat Quinn, Tom Lysiak and Jean Pronovost.

Q. The franchise currently known as the Dallas Stars originally was located in what northern U.S. city?

A. The Stars franchise was born in the 1967-68 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars. The team uprooted and headed to the Lone Star State for the 1993-94 season. The move was not made due to a poor on-ice product. The North Stars reached the Stanley Cup finals twice in their time in Minnesota. In 1980-81, the team fell to the mighty New York Islanders 4-1 in the finals. In 1990-91, they reached the finals again but fell in six games to Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

 

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Top 5 NHL Goal Scorers In 1968-69


bobby hull chicago blackhawks topps hockey card
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]