Road to the NHL Outdoor Classics again takes us deep inside four elite teams; the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings in the January 1 Centennial Classic in Toronto and the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues in the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic January 2 in St. Louis. From firehouse visits and Christmas decorating in Chicago to road trip meals in Minnesota, fans will again get a great look inside the ups and downs of life in the NHL.
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Road To The NHL Outdoor Classics. Episode 2
Road to the NHL Outdoor Classics again takes us deep inside four elite teams; the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings in the January 1 Centennial Classic in Toronto and the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues in the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic January 2 in St. Louis. From firehouse visits and Christmas decorating in Chicago to road trip meals in Minnesota, fans will again get a great look inside the ups and downs of life in the NHL.
Monday, December 19, 2016
Road To The NHL Outdoor Classics. Episode 1
Road to the NHL Outdoor Classics again takes us deep inside four elite teams; the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings in the January 1 Centennial Classic in Toronto and the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues in the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic January 2 in St. Louis. From firehouse visits and Christmas decorating in Chicago to road trip meals in Minnesota, fans will again get a great look inside the ups and downs of life in the NHL.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
The Ground Work - NHL Players Summer Training
Have you ever wondered, how do the NHL players spend their summer, how
do they train and what is the everyday life like for those off-season
months?
This documentary provides you with VIP-seats to see Patrik Laine, Mikko Rantanen, Rasmus Ristolainen and the others training under the watchful eye of legendary coach Hannu Rautala up close and personal during their summer training period.
On our journey you’ll grow familiar with the sweat of the gym and running track, but there’s much more to NHL players’ summer than that.
This documentary provides you with VIP-seats to see Patrik Laine, Mikko Rantanen, Rasmus Ristolainen and the others training under the watchful eye of legendary coach Hannu Rautala up close and personal during their summer training period.
On our journey you’ll grow familiar with the sweat of the gym and running track, but there’s much more to NHL players’ summer than that.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
The Leaf: Blueprint Episode 3
The Leaf: Blueprint Episode 2
The Leaf: Blueprint - Episode 1
Friday, January 8, 2016
Cold War on Ice Summit Series '72
It was the greatest hockey series ever played. But from the start, the 1972 Summit Series was all about politics.
Mostly
we remember the eight bitter battles between Team Canada and the former
Soviet Union, fought with more grit, guts and glory than any Stanley
Cup final. And as we prepare to celebrate its 40th anniversary, we revel
in our last-minute triumph, our sense of vindication that Canadians
were still supreme at playing a game we invented.
Four decades later, we acknowledge more
gracefully the razor-thin margin of victory. We can also appreciate how
profoundly the series changed the sport itself and – since hockey is
central to our national identity – how political the changes were.
Before
1972, it galled us that Canada couldn’t send its best to the Olympics
or world championships. A phony amateurism barred National Hockey League
players from competing internationally, yet Russians playing full-time
for the state were perennial champions of the world.
Canadians
were sick of it. In 1971, prime minister Pierre Trudeau raised the
issue with Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin. Soon afterward, a Canadian
diplomat in Moscow picked up signals that the Russians were finally
ready to test themselves against the NHL. Official talks ensued: a “best
versus best” series of “friendly matches,” four in each country. No cup
was at stake – just global hockey supremacy.
In
the Canadian mind, the teams also represented their societies’
conflicting political systems. Our guys were rugged, free-enterprising
individualists. Their guys were robots, cogs in the communist machine.
Media experts picked Canada to win all eight games.
As
the Soviets stepped onto the ice in the Montreal Forum wearing their
red cosmonaut helmets, faces expressionless, names unpronounceable, they
seemed like robots indeed. The bareheaded Canadians scored two quick
goals. Moments later, we discovered how brilliantly, how creatively, the
Soviets could play. We learned to pronounce Valeri Kharlamov and
Vladislav Tretiak. When Game 1 ended, a heavy mist rising off the ice,
it was Soviet Union 7, Team Canada 3.
Canadians
experienced collective trauma. The dawning awareness that we could lose
posed humiliating consequences. A national myth would perish. The
communist system would triumph, however symbolically. Suddenly, a hockey
series prefigured the long-feared climax of the Cold War.
The
Canadian players took it all on themselves. Captain Phil Esposito said
afterwards he’d “have killed to win.” Bobby Clarke clearly agreed, to
judge by the two-handed slash he used to fracture Mr. Kharlamov’s ankle
in Moscow. The Canadians were convinced that the KGB had bugged their
hotel rooms, that Soviet apparatchiks had fixed the officiating.
Paul Henderson’s iconic series-winning goal with 34 seconds remaining averted disaster. Meanwhile, something else had happened.
The
crowds on both sides had become an integral part of the drama. In
Vancouver, fans booed Canada’s loss, triggering Mr. Esposito’s
passionate, sweat-drenched defence of his team. In Moscow, fans observed
the stoic decorum decreed by their rulers, yet were astonished by the
raucous contingent of Canadian visitors who blew trumpets and shouted
opinions.
Millions of Russians and
North Americans watched on television, getting a glimpse into each
other’s society. We beheld the enemy face to face, and what we saw
weren’t nuclear missiles but other human beings devoted to hockey.
Afterward,
the sport changed radically. Shaken by the Soviets’ excellence, we
revolutionized our game. Our reliance on grinding physical play and
sheer heart was no longer enough. We put new emphasis on skating,
passing and teamwork, moving to the faster, more skilled, more
sophisticated style now played everywhere.
The
cross-fertilization process advanced with the opening up of the NHL to
Europeans: Swedes, Finns and Czechs at first, eventually Russians. The
Canada Cup series pitted professionals of several countries against each
other: Canada won often, but not always. Finally, in 1998, NHL players
were allowed to play for their country in the Olympics. The Canadians’
debut was a disaster on the ice, but we survived it.
We’ve
learned to share our game with the world, just as we’ve learned to
share our country with people from many cultures. The globalization of
our national sport has become a key aspect of our multiculturalism.
That’s
the real legacy of 1972. At first a proxy for war, the Summit Series
evolved into a paradigm of coexistence. Today, Mr. Tretiak calls Canada
his “second home.” The surviving Russian and Canadian warriors get
together for reunions and ask after each other’s wives and
grandchildren.
Thursday, January 7, 2016
EPIX Road to the NHL Winter Classic - Season 2: Episode 4
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Legends of Hockey: Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky, (born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "The Great One", he has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and the NHL itself. He is the leading point-scorer in NHL history, with more assists than any other player has points, and is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season -- a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, he tallied over 100 points in 16 professional seasons, 14 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 40 regular-season records, 15 playoff records, and six All-Star records. He won the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship and performance five times,[2] and he often spoke out against fighting in hockey.
Born and raised in Brantford, Ontario, Gretzky honed his skills at a backyard rink and regularly played minor hockey at a level far above his peers. Despite his unimpressive stature, strength and speed, Gretzky's intelligence and reading of the game were unrivaled. He was adept at dodging checks from opposing players, and he could consistently anticipate where the puck was going to be and execute the right move at the right time. Gretzky also became known for setting up behind his opponent's net, an area that was nicknamed "Gretzky's office" because of his adept skills in that area.
In 1978, he signed with the Indianapolis Racers of the World Hockey Association (WHA), where he briefly played before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers. When the WHA folded, the Oilers joined the NHL, where he established many scoring records and led his team to four Stanley Cup championships. His trade to the Los Angeles Kings on August 9, 1988, had an immediate impact on the team's performance, eventually leading them to the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals, and he is credited with popularizing hockey in California. Gretzky played briefly for the St. Louis Blues before finishing his career with the New York Rangers. Gretzky captured nine Hart Trophies as the most valuable player, ten Art Ross Trophies for most points in a season, five Lady Byng Trophies, five Lester B. Pearson Awards, and two Conn Smythe Trophies as playoff MVP.
After his retirement in 1999, he was immediately inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, making him the most recent player to have the waiting period waived. The NHL retired his jersey number 99 league-wide, making him the only player to receive this honour. He was one of six players voted to the International Ice Hockey Federation's (IIHF) Centennial All-Star Team. Gretzky became executive director for the Canadian national men's hockey team during the 2002 Winter Olympics, in which the team won a gold medal. In 2000, he became part owner of the Phoenix Coyotes, and following the 2004--05 NHL lockout he became the team's head coach. In September 2009, following the franchise's bankruptcy, Gretzky resigned as coach and relinquished his ownership share.
David Wolf - Dream NHL
Boston University: The Season
In addition to the all-access look at games, BU HOCKEY-THE SEASON spent time with players and coaches away from the ice to see the full spectrum of collegiate hockey: the camaraderie, the academics, the injuries, the strategy, the adversity and the triumphs...of what it means to play D1 hockey, be a student athlete and represent the storied Boston University hockey program.
Mario Lemieux - Legends of Hockey
Mario Lemieux (born October 5, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is currently the principal owner and chairman of the National Hockey League's (NHL) Pittsburgh Penguins and the American Hockey League's (AHL) Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the best players of all time. He played parts of 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL between 1984 and 2006. A gifted playmaker and fast skater despite his large size, Lemieux often beat defencemen with fakes and dekes. He is currently the Penguins' principal owner and chairman of the board, having bought the team out of bankruptcy in 1999. He is the only person ever to win the Stanley Cup as both a player and an owner.
Lemieux led Pittsburgh to two Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992, won a Stanley Cup as a chairman in 2009 with the Penguins, led Team Canada to an Olympic gold medal in 2002, a championship at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, and a Canada Cup in 1987. He won the Lester B. Pearson Award as the most outstanding player voted by the player four times, the Hart Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player (MVP) during the regular season three times, the Art Ross Trophy as the league's points leader six times, and the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP twice, as the Penguins won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons in 1991 and 1992. At the time of his retirement, he was the NHL's seventh-ranked all-time scorer with 690 goals and 1,033 assists. He ranks second in NHL history with a 0.754 goals-per game average for his career, behind only Islanders great Mike Bossy (0.762). In 2004, he was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.
Playing only 915 out of a potential 1428 regular season NHL games, Lemieux's career was plagued by health problems. His numerous ailments included spinal disc herniation, Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic tendinitis of a hip-flexor muscle, and chronic back pain so severe that other people had to tie his skates. He retired two different times over the course of his career due to these health issues (and also missed an entire season because of it prior to his first retirement): first in 1997 after battling lymphoma (he returned in 2000), and for a second and final time in 2006, after being diagnosed with an atrial fibrillation. Despite his lengthy absences from the game, his play remained at a high level upon his return to the ice; he won the Hart Trophy and scoring title in 1995--96 after sitting out the entire previous season, and he was a finalist for the Hart when he made his comeback in 2000.
The Hockey Hall of Fame inducted Lemieux immediately after his first retirement in 1997, waiving the normal three-year waiting period; upon his return in 2000, he became the third Hall of Famer (after Gordie Howe and Guy Lafleur) to play after being inducted. Lemieux's impact on the NHL has been significant: Andrew Conte of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review called him the "savior" of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and after Lemieux's retirement, Wayne Gretzky commented that "You don't replace players like Mario Lemieux... The game will miss him." Bobby Orr called him "the most talented player I've ever seen." Orr, along with Bryan Trottier and numerous fans, speculate that if Lemieux had not suffered so many issues with his health, his on-ice achievements would have been much greater.
Patrice Bergeron - NHL Hockey Documentary
Patrice "Bergy" Bergeron-Cleary (born July 24, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain playing for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played junior with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) for one full season before being selected 45th overall by the Bruins in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He made the immediate jump from junior to the NHL after his draft and joined the Bruins in 2003--04. Internationally, Bergeron competes for Team Canada and has won gold medals at the 2004 World Championships, 2005 World Junior Championships and 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Bergeron is the most recent member of the Triple Gold Club after he won the Stanley Cup with Boston on June 15, 2011. Bergeron scored two goals including the Stanley Cup winning goal at 14:37 of the first period of Game 7 at Vancouver.
Patrick Kane - NHL Hockey Documentary
Patrick Timothy Kane, Jr. (born November 19, 1988) is an American professional ice hockey right wing/center for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Blackhawks selected him with the first overall pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
Kane won his first career Stanley Cup with Chicago in 2010, scoring the overtime game-winning goal during Game 6 of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals on June 9, 2010.
History Of The Philadelphia Flyers
Celebrate 40 Years of excellence with one of the most storied hockey franchises of all time. From the inception in 1967 to the Stanley Cup Championships of the Broad Street Bullies to the Legion of Doom and the current roster of Super Stars, this DVD has it all. Relive the Flyers victory over the Soviet champion Central Red Army in 1976 and all the great moments that make hockey in Philadelphia an institution.
Pond Hockey - Movie
Pond Hockey examines the changing culture of sports through insightful interviews with hockey stars, experts, journalists and local rink rats alike. More than just a celebration of a beloved game, Pond Hockey searches the open ice for the true meaning of sport.
For generations, Northlanders have grown up on outdoor ice-where the ice is gritty and so is the play. But, there are new climate-controlled arenas in every town, and that's where the kids go to practice year-round now. Pond Hockey examines this changing culture in search of the true meaning of sport.
Saturday, January 2, 2016
Montreal Canadiens - 100 Years & 100 Stars
Founded in 1909, the Canadiens are the longest continuously operating professional ice hockey team and the only existing NHL club to predate the founding of the NHL, as well as one of the oldest North American sports franchises. The franchise is one of the "Original Six" teams, a description used for the teams that made up the NHL from 1942 until the 1967 expansion. Following the departure of the rival Quebec Nordiques in 1995, and the relocation of the Montreal Expos to Washington, D.C. in 2004, the Canadiens remain the sole team of the four major sports leagues of Canada and the United States that is based in the province of Quebec. The team's championship season in 1992--93 was the last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup.
The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup more times than any other franchise. They have won 24 championships, 22 of them since 1927, when NHL teams became the only ones to compete for the Stanley Cup. On a percentage basis, as of 2010, the franchise has won 25% of all Stanley Cup championships contested after the Challenge Cup era, making it one of the most successful professional sports teams of the traditional four major sports of Canada and the United States.
Since 1996, the Canadiens have played their home games at the Bell Centre, which was named the Molson Centre until 2003. Former homes of the team include Jubilee Rink, Montreal Westmount Arena, Mount Royal Arena and the Montreal Forum. The Forum was considered a veritable shrine to hockey fans everywhere, and housed the team for seven decades and all but their first two Stanley Cup championships.
The Stanley Cup - A Century Of Magic Moments (1893-1993)
There are actually three Stanley Cups: the original bowl of the "Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup", the authenticated "Presentation Cup", and the "Replica Cup" at the Hall of Fame. The NHL has maintained effective control over both the trophy itself and its associated trademarks. Nevertheless, the NHL does not actually own the trophy, but instead uses it by agreement with the two Trustees of the Cup. The NHL has registered trademarks associated with the name and likeness of the Stanley Cup, although the league's right to outright own trademarks associated with a trophy it does not own has been disputed by some legal experts.
Unlike the trophies awarded by the other three major professional sports leagues of North America, a new Stanley Cup is not made each year; winners keep it until a new champion is crowned. It is unusual among trophies, in that it has the names of all of the winning players, coaches, management, and club staff engraved on its chalice. Initially, a new band added each year caused the trophy to grow in size, earning the nickname "Stovepipe Cup". In 1958 the modern one-piece Cup was designed with a five-band barrel which could contain 13 winning teams per barrel. To avoid the Stanley Cup from growing, when the top band is full, it is preserved in the Hockey Hall of Fame and a new blank band added to the bottom. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously (chiefly by sportswriters) as Lord Stanley's Mug. The Stanley Cup is surrounded by numerous legends and traditions, the oldest of which is the celebratory drinking of champagne out of the cup by the winning team.
The original bowl was made of silver and is 18.5 centimetres (7.28 inches) in height and 29 centimetres (11.42 inches) in diameter. The current Stanley Cup, topped with a copy of the original bowl, is made of a silver and nickel alloy; it has a height of 89.54 centimetres (35.25 inches) and weighs 15.5 kilograms (34.5 lb / 2 st 6½ lb).
Since the 1914--15 season, the Cup has been won a combined 94 times by 18 active NHL teams and five defunct teams. Prior to that, the challenge cup was held by nine different teams. The Montreal Canadiens have won the Cup a record 24 times and are currently the last Canadian-based team in the NHL to win the cup after winning it in 1993. The Stanley Cup was not awarded in 1919 because of a Spanish flu epidemic, and in 2005, as a consequence of the NHL lockout.
1972 Quebec Nordiques: WHA Documentary - Just Another Job
The Nordiques hold the distinction of being the only major professional sports team to have been based in Quebec City in the modern era, and one of only two ever; the other, the Quebec Bulldogs, played one season in the NHL in 1919-20.
Punched Out: The Rise and Fall of Derek Boogaard
Derek Boogaard was one of the N.H.L.'s most feared fighters before overdosing on May 13, 2011. The New York Times examined the life and death of the professional hockey player in 2011.
24/7 Penguins/Capitals: Road to the NHL Winter Classic: Episode 4
On New Year’s Day 2011, two of the National Hockey League’s premier teams – the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals – faced off in the open air of Heinz Field in Pittsburgh for the 4th annual NHL Winter Classic, a once-a-year extravaganza that brings stadium-sized audiences, and millionsof TV viewers, into the fast-and-furious realm of pro hockey. Get the inside scoop on all the pre-game preparations – as well as behind-the-scenes footage from both the Winter Classic and a December 23 regular-season preview between the two teams – on a brand-new, four-part 24/7 exclusive.
24/7 Penguins/Capitals: Road to the NHL Winter Classic: Episode 3
On New Year’s Day 2011, two of the National Hockey League’s premier teams – the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals – faced off in the open air of Heinz Field in Pittsburgh for the 4th annual NHL Winter Classic, a once-a-year extravaganza that brings stadium-sized audiences, and millionsof TV viewers, into the fast-and-furious realm of pro hockey. Get the inside scoop on all the pre-game preparations – as well as behind-the-scenes footage from both the Winter Classic and a December 23 regular-season preview between the two teams – on a brand-new, four-part 24/7 exclusive.
24/7 Penguins/Capitals: Road to the NHL Winter Classic: Episode 2
24/7 Penguins/Capitals: Road to the NHL Winter Classic: Episode 1
On New Year’s Day 2011, two of the National Hockey League’s premier teams – the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals – faced off in the open air of Heinz Field in Pittsburgh for the 4th annual NHL Winter Classic, a once-a-year extravaganza that brings stadium-sized audiences, and millionsof TV viewers, into the fast-and-furious realm of pro hockey. Get the inside scoop on all the pre-game preparations – as well as behind-the-scenes footage from both the Winter Classic and a December 23 regular-season preview between the two teams – on a brand-new, four-part 24/7 exclusive.
Overtime
The Last Gladiators
The role of the enforcer is unofficial in ice hockey. The term is sometimes used synonymously with “fighter”, “tough guy”, or “goon”. An enforcer’s job is basically to deter and respond to violent play by the opposing team. When this occurs, the enforcer is expected to act aggressively by fighting or attacking the offender. Enforcers are expected to react particularly harshly to violence targeting their team’s star players or goalies.
For Chris, the role of enforcer often meant a shattered body: he bears the scars of broken knuckles, lost teeth, bites, torn ligaments, and multiple finger surgeries. Throughout his career, Chris struggled with addiction to drugs and the guilt that comes from harming the people closest to him. But he did what he felt he had to do. Described as one of the toughest NHL players in the 80s Chris states that in his opinion most of the people sitting in the stands would like to punch somebody in the mouth, but they can’t. That’s why they enjoy watching somebody else do it.
Chris was a fighter from the time he was a child. He was fiercely loyal and got into many fights defending his friends. When he got drafted to play in the NHL, it was like a dream come true. During his career, Chris won the love of hockey’s holy city, Montreal, and helped the team win the Stanley Cup in 1986. He loved the game so much that his retirement was unbearable to him. To think that the role of importance he played in the lives of his teammates had ended abruptly, felt like rejection to Nilan, and this perception snowballed into a series of really bad decisions.
A fight during a hockey game is a lot about respect. Players know that they’re expected to be tough and they comply willingly. Sometimes the consequences are difficult and painful because of the stress caused by the responsibility placed on them. Through interviews with dozens of hockey’s toughest guys, the film explores what it means to enforce the unspoken code of the NHL.
EPIX Road to the NHL Winter Classic - Season 2: Episode 3
In Episode 3, the Bruins and Canadiens find themselves both home and abroad this holiday season. In Nashville, the Canadiens look for some top-notch Western gear for teammate Andrei Markov, while Torey Krug and David Krejci of the Bruins opt to shop for their pets. At home, we visit with PK Subban and his brother (a Bruin-prospect) Malcolm in Ontario, while local Bruin Jimmy Hayes gives a tour of his native Boston.
EPIX Road to the NHL Winter Classic - Season 2: Episode 2
In Episode 2 of this EPIX Original, follow the Montreal Canadiens as they try to maintain first place, and the Boston Bruins as they prepare for a home and home series with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
EPIX Road to the NHL Winter Classic - Season 2: Episode 1
Road to the NHL Stadium Series - Episode 4
Follow the Los Angeles Kings and the San Jose Sharks on their road to the NHL Stadium Series in this behind the scenes, all access, four-part series.
Road To The NHL Stadium Series - Episode 3
Follow the Los Angeles Kings and the San Jose Sharks on their road to the NHL Stadium Series in this behind the scenes, all access, four-part series.
Road To The NHL Stadium Series - Episode 2
EPIX Road to the NHL Stadium Series - Episode 1
Follow the Los Angeles Kings and the San Jose Sharks on their road to the NHL Stadium Series in this behind the scenes, all access, four-part series.
EPIX Road to the NHL Winter Classic - Season 1: Episode 4
Watch the fourth episode of new Epix’s "Road to the NHL Winter Classic" four-episode series that takes viewers behind the scenes with the Capitals and Blackhawks leading up to and through their outdoor hockey game on New Year’s Day at Nationals Park.
EPIX Road to the NHL Winter Classic - Season 1: Episode 3
Watch the third
episode of new Epix’s "Road to the NHL Winter Classic" four-episode
series that takes viewers behind the scenes with the Capitals and
Blackhawks leading up to and through their outdoor hockey game on New
Year’s Day at Nationals Park.
EPIX Road to the NHL Winter Classic - Season 1: Episode 2
EPIX Road to the NHL Winter Classic - Season 1: Episode 1
Watch the first episode of new Epix’s "Road to the NHL Winter Classic" four-episode series that takes viewers behind the scenes with the Capitals and Blackhawks leading up to and through their outdoor hockey game on New Year’s Day at Nationals Park.
The NHL: Masked Men
NHL Expansion Documentary
By the mid 1960s, the desire for a network television contract in the U.S., and concerns that the Western Hockey League was planning to declare itself a major league and challenge for the Stanley Cup, spurred the NHL to undertake its first expansion since the 1920s. The league doubled in size for the 1967--68 season, adding the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, California Seals and St. Louis Blues. Canadians were outraged that all six teams were placed in the United States, and the league responded by adding the Vancouver Canucks in 1970 along with the Buffalo Sabres, who are located on the U.S.-Canadian border. Two years later, the emergence of the newly founded World Hockey Association (WHA) led the league to add the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames to keep the rival league out of those markets. In 1974, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts were added, bringing the league up to 18 teams.
The NHL fought the WHA for players, losing 67 to the new league in its first season of 1972--73, including Bobby Hull, who signed a ten year, $2.5 million contract with the Winnipeg Jets, the largest in hockey history at the time. The NHL attempted to block the defections in court, though a countersuit by the WHA led to a Philadelphia judge ruling the NHL's reserve clause to be illegal, eliminating the elder league's monopoly over the players. Seven years of battling for players and markets financially damaged both leagues, leading to a 1979 merger agreement that saw the WHA cease operations while the NHL absorbed the Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques. The NHL's owners initially rejected this merger agreement by one vote, but a massive boycott of Molson products by fans in Canada led the Montreal Canadiens, which were owned by Molson, to reverse their position in a second vote along with the Vancouver Canucks, allowing the plan to pass.
Wayne Gretzky played one season in the WHA for the Indianapolis Racers before joining the NHL in 1979--80 with the Oilers.[46] He went on to lead the Oilers to four Stanley Cup championships in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988, and set single season records for goals (92 in 1981--82), assists (163 in 1985--86) and points (215 in 1985--86), as well as career records for goals (894), assists (1,963) and points (2,857). He was traded to the Kings in 1988, a deal that dramatically improved the NHL's popularity in the United States, and provided the impetus for the 1990s expansion cycles that saw the addition of the San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, and by the turn of the century the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Broad Street Bullies
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)