Evanescence

Having existed for now just over one hundred years, the NHL has featured quite the awe-inspiring storylines. However, unfortunately, these memories tend to fade away from the casual fan’s reminiscence, and are thus lost in the spiralling web of time. The league has developed much over the course of these years, and now we tend to focus on the modern era, rather than the past. Here I am today, to bring light to some of the NHL’s most forgotten, yet iconic moments. To keep things scarce, I will only be mentioning instances from the Stanley Cup Finals, rather than including the iconic moments performed with inclusion to the regular season.

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”Boys, don’t let an old man down.”

Lester Patrick takes to the net at age 44

Oftentimes in sports history, when these quintessential moments take place, athletes are praised to an extent that they very well shouldn’t be. At times, it even goes to the extent that certain exaggerations are thrown in, here and there, to ‘spice up’ the tale. However, the 1928 Stanley Cup Finals, as recounted, is no fictional tale, perhaps it’s even stranger, but it is the truth. The 1927-28 NHL Season would feature the two Montréal teams--the Maroons and the Canadiens finish atop the standings, while Roy Worters, one of six goalies to win the MVP, would walk away with the Hart trophy. In the American division, there were two teams precisely that fans were unsure of which team would best the other: the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers. Eventually, it would be the Rangers to prevail, defeating the Bruins and the Pittsburgh Pirates en route to facing the ‘stacked’ Montréal Maroons.

Albeit one may state that the Maroons were heavy favourites to win the Stanley Cup, another could argue that the Rangers—led by the coaching of former legend Lester Patrick, along with an impeccable scoring lineup of Bun Cook, Frank Boucher, and Bill Cook could match up with the Rangers, as long as they remained healthy. It was a rough start for the Rangers, even before a player stepped foot on the ice, as they would be stuck in the conundrum concerning where there game would take place. Madison Square Garden was an astonishingly popular location for certain events to be held, and the Rangers would find themselves searching for a venue to play in. Lester Patrick, head coach and general manager of the Rangers, would have options to choose between Detroit or Boston, but instead chose the Montréal Forum, since it favored his quick skaters.

This would serve as a grave mistake, as Patrick had just taken his team to play in the opposing team’s city. The Maroons would manage to net two goals in the second and third period, and from then on would boast a 2-0 lead. That was exactly how the night would come to an end. Despite it being the offense that was annihilating the Rangers, it was goalie Clint Benedict, alongside his gritty saves that would ultimately prevent New York from having a chance at the win.

This would be closely analyzed by Lester Patrick, who then would scheme ways to best the Maroons on the defensive spectrum. Patrick would insert his foremost defensive lineups to power against Montréal’s aggressive Nel Stewart, and all would seem to go according to plan. However, as fate would have it, Stewart would break free into the Rangers’ zone and let fly a bullet of a shot, which struck Rangers’ goalie Lorne Chabot in the eye. Chabot would immediately fall to the ice, unconscious while bleeding uncontrollably.

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This was when the situation would appear to be at its gravest point yet. We’ve got to keep in mind that this was 1928, a time when a single goalie would be dressed, thus this type of situation would seldom occur, and now that it did happen, there was no dodging this moment. In the stands would be none other than Alec Connell, fellow Senators goaltender, and Patrick would immediately seek permission from the Maroons that Connell be permitted to play for them. Maroons manager, Eddie Girard, definitely was not a fool, as Connell was arguably one of the superlative goalies in the league. To put this into perspective, he would post 15 shutouts during the regular season, and allowed an average 1.24 goals-per-game.

Granting permission for the Rangers to play Connell would only be putting a larger burden upon themselves, and was definitely posing a disadvantage, if not being a series-deciding factor in who would win and who wouldn’t. This would leave Lester Patrick with very scarce options: insert one of his forwards—any of which are exceedingly needed for the offense—in net, or forfeit the game. Girard had even stated, “If you need a goalkeeper, why the hell doesn’t Lester play?” This was likely to have been meant in a joking manner, but little did they know what would come next.

With a great sense of doubt, Patrick would begin to dress himself in Chabot’s equipment, and was preparing to take to the ice. Let this sink in. Lester Patrick, age 44, head coach and manager of the New York Rangers was now taking to the ice in a rough Finals series, in which the team would be viewed as the underdogs. Once this came to attention, Rangers’ players began to plead with their coach to return the equipment as they would find a legitimate substitute to take on the role. But it was a now-or-never stance for Patrick, there was no turning back. Back in his day, he definitely was quite the versatile goalie, ready to play between the posts whenever the team would require, but now after he was long retired?

This was a huge risk on the Rangers’ part. Many Rangers wondered if their old “Silver Fox” would not out during the course of the game, let alone be able to save shots. It was for the coach’s sake; no Ranger could afford to see the priceless effort of their verbal motivator go to waste. Patrick would take his position on the ice, especially to the surprise of Eddie Girard. Behind inspirational efforts by their weary coach, the Rangers would somehow manage to keep the game tied at zero apiece heading into the final period. Patrick would see his efforts come to use, as 20 seconds into the period, Bill Cook would score a tie-breaking goal.

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However, Nels Stewart, the dreaded man who had put the Rangers in such a dire situation once more gave the Rangers a reason to hold a grudge against him, scoring a tying goal at 14:20 of the third period, which would drag into overtime. Patrick was very much in need of rest, and the Rangers, in vain, attempted to end the game as soon as possible. Finally, Frank Boucher of the Rangers managed to split the defense, fake Benedict, and score the winning goal. History had been made as puck hit net. By the end of it, Patrick had prevented 17 of the 18 shots on net, substantial for a 44-year old.

He would most evidently have no desire to play once more, as Chabot would return to help his team win games four and five, ultimately winning the Rangers their very first Stanley Cup Finals. Nonetheless, it’s clear as day that the Silver Fox’s efforts in Game 2 may had been the deciding factor in the whole Finals series. His efforts, for the most part, go under the radar. However, Patrick’s efforts will always be ed by me and quite a few other fans of this historic juncture, and the league as a whole.

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”I told you it was a deadly shot!”

The Maple Leafs’ most famous goal

Throughout the storied 1950-51 season, it would be no team but the Detroit Red Wings making the headlines. They would the first ever 100 point season, at the time, their Gordie Howe would lead the league in scoring, and rookie goaltender Terry Sawchuk played in all 70 games, recorded 11 shutouts and hosted a goals-against average of 1.99. To many, it was set in stone that the Red Wings would indeed hoist the Stanley Cup come playoffs end. However, in the Playoffs they would be confronted by a Maurice Richard-led Canadiens who took the first two games in the series. From then on, Detroit would struggle to recover and would be eliminated in only 6 games as the heavy favorites.

On the other side of the spectrum, the Toronto Maple Leafs would beat out the Bruins in a simple 5-game series, setting the stage for the two most historic teams in NHL history to go face-to-face. Although the Leafs were clearly the better team, with regards to the regular season, Montreal was poised to win following their upset on the Red Wings. At the time, these two teams were fighting over the supremacy of Canadian hockey. As the puck dropped and Game 1 began, the Leafs’ Sid Smith would score only 15 seconds into the game. Eventually, Montréal would tie up the game on two separate instances as the 3rd period buzzer would sound for overtime, 2-2. Once again, the infamous Sid Smith (for Montréal) would shove the puck into the net at 5:51 in the OT period.

The following game would see the Habs’ Paul Masnick and Bill Reay score in the first period to put the Canadiens up, 2-0. On many such occasions, fans tend to leave the game in frustration when the opposing team is leading 2-0 at home, but this case was different. Fans were patient, and were thus rewarded two goals in the late second and third period, setting the stage for overtime. Montréal would pose the clear upper hand throughout overtime, and it would come as none but Maurice “The Rocket” Richard to blast the puck into the net for the victory.

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For Game 3, Coach Joe Primeau was scheming various strategies to win the cup. He would then come to a conclusion that he needst replace veteran goalie, Turk Broda, for rookie Al Rollins. The reasoning? Youth triumphs over experience; which initially seemed like a very grave mistake on the Leafs’ behalf. The Rocket would pop in a swift goal with 2:18 gone by in the first period. However, the game would take a drastically slow pace as the rookie would manage to hold off Montréal long enough that the Leafs could tie the game up, heading into overtime. This time, Ted Kennedy of the Leafs would score the game-winning goal with less than 5 minutes ed in the first overtime.

The fourth game would appear to be much or less, the very same as the prior. The two teams would exchange goals, Sid Smith and Maurice Richard, but in overtime, the darkhorse hero would be Harry Watson, giving the Leafs a 3-1 lead in the series. Toronto now had all the momentum they needed to wrap up the series in a simple 5 games. Many of the Canadiens had the series weight take its toll on them, as Bernie Geoffrion was sitting out with a subpar replacement of Calum mcKay. There was always Maurice Richard, but how could he handle everything single-handedly? He would score a goal to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead, but from then on, everything would fall apart.

Bob Dawes of Montréal would attempt to check Ted Kennedy, and would suffer a compound fracture in his right leg. At that point, Toronto would tie the game up at one apiece. Montréal would again take the lead, but would not hold onto it long as Sloan slammed in the garbage goal to send the game, for the fifth time, into overtime. It would not be long until the new champs would be decided. With 2 minutes and 53 seconds into overtime, the game would come to its ultimate conclusion.

The Leafs would skate up and get the puck trapped in Montréal’s zone, battling, pushing, and shoving in the corners for control. The puck would end up with Howie Meeker behind the Canadiens’ net, who would view defenseman, Bill Barilko streaking in from the blue line. He would then send a cunning to Barilko, who raised his stick and slapped the puck into the opposing team’s net for the game - and cup-winning goal. There was a huge sense of pandemonium in the arena. Coach Joe Primeau would constantly let Barilko know that he found the slap shot to be a fad, but in the end, it was Barilko hollering, “I told you it was a deadly shot!”

What could coach do but agree…? Leafs GM Conn Smythe would often express his desire to send Barilko away due to being “such a problem,” but then realized what would not have happened if he did trade him away. However, I’m sorry to say that this story does not end on a happy note. A few days ensuing this victory, Barilko and friend, Henry Hudson would head north for fishing on the Seal river. They would never reappear, and 11 years later, they would be found in a remote section of forest near Cochrane, Ontario. (Stop here if you wish not to potentially get very very sad). In the interior, two corpses would be found still strapped to their seats: Barilko and Hudson. Weirdly enough, the Leafs would not win another Stanley Cup until Barilko’s body was recovered. He was only 24-years-old.       :(((((

Thank you for reading my blog! I hope you enjoyed!