Classic Hockey Players

A blog dedicated to the players of the 20th century, including the well-known greats, the forgotten legends, and everyone in between.

[loveofcanada]

Vancouver Women’s Hockey Team, circa 1920.

Play like a girl. 

[keepingupwthecanadians]

The Original 6 Zambonis

[siphotos]

SI photographer Hy Peskin with a rare color picture of the NHL is 1957 as the Red Wings and Rangers square off. (Hy Peskin/SI)

[hockeyofftheiceandonline]

[hkafterdark]

Young Wayne Gretzky

[freedom-of-excess]

The Men of the Miracle on Ice [12/20]

Jack O’Callahan | Charlestown, Mass. | Boston University

"Plenty of guys were bigger and stronger than the six-foot one-inch, 185-pound O’Callahan, but none were feistier. ‘There was always this dichotomy to him,’ said Jack Parker. ‘He was the kind of guy who could hang with the president of the United States or the Hell’s Angels.’ He looked bookish and unimposing in his horn-rimmed glasses and street clothes; then the game would start and O’Callahan would turn almost demonic. When he was at BU, he estimated that he lost about a dozen teeth and ran his lifetime facial stitches total to between eighty and a hundred. ‘Some of them came from just growing up in Charlestown,’ he said once. ‘Some of them came from not keeping my head up. And some of them came from keeping my head up and not caring anyway. And with each one, I’ve learned a lesson.’"

[vintagesportspictures]

A goalie wearing a suit of armor during an exhibition game in Seattle (1933)

[pittsburghpengwins]

Michel Brière was drafted by the Penguins 26th overall in 1969. In his first and only NHL season, Brière scored 12 goals and 32 assists, finishing 3rd in team scoring. He had 8 points in 10 playoff games that year. He scored the first overtime goal in Penguins history that year, which was also the series clinching goal in the Penguins first ever playoff series win. A month before he was set to marry his childhood sweetheart (with whom he had a 1 year old son), Brière was in a car crash and was ejected from the car. He spent almost a year in a coma, during which the Penguins traveled with his jersey and equipment bag as if he was still part of the team. Brière died on April 13, 1971, at 21 years old. The QMJHL renamed its MVP award the Michel Brière Memorial Trophy in 1972. The Penguins also present the Michel Brière Rookie of the Year Award annually to the season’s best rookie player. His number, 21, along with Lemieux’s 66, are the only two numbers to be retired by the Penguins.

[hockey-time-machine]

“I walked into the [first players’ meeting] and I looked around. Those big players were just sitting there and I thought, ‘Oh, my God, what am I doing here?’”

Her luggage had been lost by the airline, so GM Phil Esposito sent her to borrow clothes from his daughter. Unfortunately, she was smaller than Manon, so the shorts Manon wore for fitness testing were uncomfortably tight and short.

"I was so embarrassed.  Every time I would meet one of the players I told them, ‘this is not me!’, but the media was there and they were taking pictures of all that. That was a really hard first day.”

Rheaume only expected to be with the Lightning for a week, but instead she played one period of an exhibition game on September 23, 1992, making her the first woman to suit up for an NHL game.

"I think the most important thing that came out of it is that I was able to make a positive impact on lots of young girls, and that made me feel good. To this day I think that is my best memory of the whole experience – how I was able to impact young girls and show them that they can achieve their goals and dreams.”

[hockey-time-machine]

Opening Night at Maple Leaf Gardens, Nov. 12, 1931

Over 12,000 people watched the game. Final score: Maple Leafs 1, Black Hawks 2

[van-canucks-blog]

A Vancouver amateur hockey team player poses. 

[classichockeyplayers]

[classichockeyplayers]

Bernie Parent?

Of course, thanks for requesting! :)

[classichockeyplayers]

The 1960 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team

[classichockeyplayers]

In Game Six of the 1964 Stanley Cup Finals, Maple Leafs defenseman Bobby Baun broke his leg. He then returned in the overtime period of that same game to score the game-winning goal. The Leafs went on to win the Cup in the following game.

[classichockeyplayers]

The Chicago Blackhawks' 1938 Stanley Cup-winning team

[hockey-time-machine]

The St. Louis Blues’ fans were so incredibly loud that opposing teams resorted to wearing earmuffs to block them out, as demonstrated here by the Pittsburgh Penguins. (no. 16 is Glen Sather)