TSN.ca's Canada 150: Iconic NHL moments

In honour of Canada's 150th birthday, TSN.ca looks at the iconic moments in Canadian sports history.

Here's a look at memorable times from the National Hockey League:

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December 19, 1917 – Action got underway in the fledgling National Hockey League with the federation’s first two games. In front of 700 spectators in Montreal, the Wanderers’ Dave Ritchie scored the first goal in NHL history as part of a 10-9 win over the Toronto Arenas. Meanwhile in Ottawa and in front of a more robust crowd of an estimated 6,000, the visiting Montreal Canadiens with Georges Vezina in net defeated the Ottawa Senators 7-4.

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March 18, 1945 – In the 50^th and final game of the NHL season, Maurice “Rocket” Richard beats Boston Bruins goaltender Harvey Bennett for his 50^th goal of the campaign. The 23-year-old Richard becomes the first player in NHL history to achieve the feat. Richard would go on to score 544 career goals and become the first player in hockey history to reach the 500-goal mark.

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August 26, 1951 – Months after scoring the Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 5 against the Montreal Canadiens, defenceman Bill Barilko accompanied Henry Hudson, his dentist for a fishing trip to Seal Lake, Quebec. On the way back, the plane went missing. Barilko’s body was found on June 6, 1962. The Leafs would win the Cup that June after having gone without a title in the 11 years Barilko was missing. His story was immortalized in The Tragically Hip song, “Fifty Mission Cap.”

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October 11, 1952 – Live from the Montreal, the CBC aired a game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings in the debut broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada. French announcer Rene Lecavalier had the play-by-play as the Habs eked out a 2-1 win. Three weeks later, a game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins was broadcast from Maple Leaf Gardens in the show’s first English broadcast with Foster Hewitt as the announcer

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March 15, 1955 – Following a March 13 game against the Boston Bruins in which Montreal Canadiens superstar and NHL leading scorer Maurice “Rocket” Richard punched linesman Cliff Thompson in the face in the midst of a wild brawl with the Bruins’ Hal Laycoe, NHL president Clarence Campbell suspended Richard for the remainder of the season in a lengthy press release. Incensed by the suspension and feeling as if English Canada was attempting to humiliate Francophones, fans rioted in the streets and inside the Forum – with Campbell – in attendance during a game with the Detroit Red Wings. Between 41 and 100 rioters were arrested. The suspension cost the Habs first place and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs, while Richard missed out on a scoring title.

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November 1, 1959 – During the 1959-1960 season, Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante began to wear a facemask in practice as a means to combat a nagging sinus infection, but Plante was forbidden to wear it in games by coach Toe Blake. When an Andy Bathgate shot broke Plante’s nose in a game against the New York Rangers, Plante headed to the dressing room to grab his mask. This enraged Blake, but Plante went on to stay in the game and go on an 18-game unbeaten streak wearing the mask. The season culminated in a fifth-straight Stanley Cup for the Habs and Plante’s innovation becoming commonplace.

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November 10, 1963 – Detroit Red Wings star Gordie Howe scores on Montreal Canadiens goalie Charlie Hodge in a 3-0 Red Wings victory at the Detroit Olympia. The goal is the 545^th of Howe’s storied career, lifting him over Habs legend Maurice Richard for the most in NHL history. Pat Curran of The Montreal Gazette wrote the next day that the fans inside the Olympia gave Howe a nearly 15-minute long standing ovation. Howe would go on to score 801 goals in his NHL career.

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April 23, 1964 – Late in the third period of Game 6 of the 1964 Stanley Cup Final, Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Bobby Baun threw himself in front of a Gordie Howe slap shot as the Leafs attempted to stave off elimination. Baun broke a bone in his ankle and needed to be stretchered off the ice. Somehow, Baun didn’t even leave the building. Heck, he didn’t leave the game. Baun returned for overtime of the 3-3 and ended up scoring the winner, as his shot from the point hit Detroit Red Wings defenceman Bill Gadsby and deflected past Terry Sawchuk to force Game 7. The Leafs would go on to win Game 7 to capture the Stanley Cup and you better believe that Baun – on his broken ankle – played in the 4-0 victory.

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May 10, 1970 – The picture of the moment has been engraved in the minds of hockey fans. Just 40 seconds into overtime of Game 4 of the 1970 Stanley Cup Final between the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues, Bobby Orr beats Glenn Hall for the game and series-winning goal in a 4-3 victory. As Orr scores, he is tripped by Blues defenceman Noel Picard. Orr then flew headlong with his arms raised in victory.

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May 18, 1971 – Henri Richard’s goal early in the third period is the decider as the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. The Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded to goaltender, Ken Dryden. The 23-year-old Hamilton native appeared in only seven regular season games for the Habs before taking over as starter in the playoffs from Rogie Vachon. Dryden would go on to win the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 1972, making him the first ever player to win rookie of the year after capturing the Conn Smythe.

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October 11, 1972 – The Alberta Oilers were 7-4 winners over the Ottawa Nationals in the debut game of the upstart World Hockey Association in Ottawa. Promising higher salaries than the NHL, the 12-team league attracted a number of NHL stars to jump ship, including Gerry Cheevers, Bobby Hull (signed to a 10-year, $2.7 million deal by the Winnipeg Jets – the largest ever hockey contract at the time) and Bernie Parent. Riddled with problems from the beginning, the league would last only seven seasons, ceasing operations on May 20, 1979.

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February 7, 1976 – In a game against the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs centre Darryl Sittler notched six goals and four assists as the Leafs went on to an 11-4 rout at Maple Leaf Gardens. Sittler became the first and, to this day, only player in NHL history to score 10 points in a game.

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May 10, 1979 – In Game 7 of the Stanley Cup semifinals, the Boston Bruins were clinging to lead over the Montreal Canadiens in the third period’s dying minutes. After the Bruins had jumped out in front 3-1, the Habs evened matters at 3-3. With 3:59 remaining, Rick Middleton restored the Bruins’ lead at 4-3. The Bruins appeared to be on course for their first playoff series victory over the Habs since 1943, but fate caught up to them. At the 17:26 mark, the Bruins were assessed a bench minor for too many men on the ice. Memorably, Bruins coach Don Cherry stepped onto the bench and accepted mock applause from the Forum faithful. On the ensuing power-play, Guy Lafleur forced overtime, scoring with 1:14 remaining. In overtime, Yvon Lambert scored at the 9:33 mark to win the series and deny the Bruins a famous victory. The game would ended up being Cherry’s last behind the Bruins’ bench

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February 5, 1980 – Ten years after his exit from the Red Wings, 51-year-old Gordie Howe returns to Detroit for the 1980 NHL All-Star Game as a member of the Hartford Whalers. It’s Howe’s 23rd and final All-Star Game in the city where Mr. Hockey spent 25 years. Howe receives a thunderous and lengthy reception from the crowd. Howe would record an assist on a Real Cloutier goal in the third period as the Wales Conference beat the Campbell Conference, 6-3. The game was also notable for the All-Star debut of 18-year-old rookie, Wayne Gretzky.

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September 15, 1987 – The 1987 Canada Cup might go down as having the deepest collection of talent in any best-on-best hockey tournament ever. So it was only fitting that it would be ended by an all-time great moment. In a breathless best-of-three final, the Soviet Union took Game 1 over Canada 6-5 in overtime before Canada returned the favour with the same 6-5 scoreline, but this time in double overtime. In the dying minutes of the deciding Game 3, the score was – you guessed it – 5-5. With a faceoff in their own zone, Canada bench boss did something unusual in throwing three centres out as his forward contingent in Dale Hawerchuk, Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. Hawerchuk won the draw and Lemieux broke out of the zone with a bank pass to himself. Lemieux found Gretzky, who picked up a head of steam and headed into the Soviet zone. At the faceoff circle, Gretzky dropped a pass to a trailing Lemieux who beat Sergei Mylnikov high on the gloveside with just over a minute left on the clock to clinch the Canada Cup for Canada and send Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum into a frenzy.

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May 24, 1990 – A season after trading Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings, the Edmonton Oilers return to the summit of the NHL, defeating the Boston Bruins 4-1 in Game 5 to win their fifth Stanley Cup in seven seasons. Goaltender Bill Ranford won the Conn Smythe as the playoff MVP. The 1990 Stanley Cup would go down as the last of eight straight that featured a team from Alberta.

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June 22, 1991 – It came as no surprise when the Quebec Nordiques selected monstrous Oshawa Generals centre Eric Lindros with the first overall pick in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft. Who wouldn’t want the player being called “The Next One,” as heir to Wayne Gretzky? Well, the only problem was that Lindros didn’t want the Nords. When called to the podium, Lindros politely shook the hand of coach Pierre Page, but he didn’t don the Nordiques jersey. The Lindros camp had warned the Nordiques in advance that he didn’t intend to play for the team, yet president Marcel Aubut insisted and they moved ahead. Lindros returned to the OHL the next season while the Nordiques fielded trade offers. On June 1992, Aubut verbally agreed to trades with both the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers. After a five-day arbitration hearing in Toronto, it was determined that the Flyers’ trade was binding and Lindros was sent to Philadelphia for Ron Hextall, Steve Duchesne, Mike Ricci, Kerry Huffman, a 2013 first-round pick and the rights to a young, Swedish prospect named Peter Forsberg.

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April 15, 1993 – In the final game of the regular season at home to the Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets rookie sensation Teemu Selanne scores the game’s second goal on the way to a 3-0 Jets shutout. The goal is the Finn’s 76^th goal of the campaign, obliterating the previous record of 53 scored by the New York Islanders’ Mike Bossy in 1977-1978. For his incredible season, Selanne beats out Felix Potvin of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins’ Joe Juneau for the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie that summer.

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March 23, 1994 – The Vancouver Canucks would double up the Los Angeles Kings 6-3 at the Great Western Forum on the night, but the story was what happened midway through the second period. On the power-play, Kings forward Luc Robitaille streaked into the Vancouver zone before leaving a drop pass for Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky dished the puck across the ice to Marty McSorley, who faked a shot and returned the puck to Gretzky. With goalie Kirk McLean having committed on the McSorley feint, Gretzky slotted into the empty net for his 37^th goal of the season. It also happened to be the 802^nd goal of The Great One’s career, passing his idol Gordie Howe for most all-time in NHL history.

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April 18, 1999 – No. 99 called time in ’99. Playing in his last career game for the New York Rangers, Wayne Gretzky retires at Madison Square Garden after a 2-1 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both national anthems were played to honour Gretzky and, in place of some of the lyrics in the Canadian Anthem, Bryan Adams ad-libbed, “We’re going to miss you, Wayne Gretzky.” The Great One ended his career with one final point, an assist on the Blueshirts’ lone goal by Brian Leetch. The 38-year-old Gretzky finished his 21-year NHL career with a 894 goals and 1,963 assists, the most in history.

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December 27, 2000 – Weeks after announcing his return to the game following his retirement in 1997, Pittsburgh Penguins legend Mario Lemieux was in the lineup for a home game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The now 35-year-old made his return in style, assisting on a Jaromir Jagr goal just 33 seconds into the first period. The Magnificent One would add another assist and score early in the second period as part of a 5-0 rout. Lemieux would play for four more seasons in the NHL and captain Team Canada to a gold medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

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May 31, 2011 – National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman announces that ownership of the Atlanta Thrashers franchise has been sold to the True North consortium and the team will relocate for the 2011-2012 season to Winnipeg as the returning Jets. The move happened 15 years after the original Jets moved to Phoenix as the Coyotes. The return of the Jets marked the first time an NHL team from the US had relocated to Canada since the Atlanta Flames moved to Calgary for the 1980-81 season.