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Starhanger NHL Team Spec. Sheet
| NHL Anaheim Mighty Ducks | |
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Named after the movie “The Mighty
Ducks”, this California franchise is owned by the Disney Corporation.
Their untraditional team logo, a goalie’s mask fit for a duck, quickly
won fans everywhere. The Anaheim Mighty Ducks’ first game was October 8, 1993 at "The Pond". They lost, but quickly recovered, with a strong road record and an immediately solid fan base in their first season. The excitement continued in 1994 with the arrival of BC native Paul Kariya, who scored 50 goals in his second season. In 1997 the team made it to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, only to be defeated by the Detroit Red Wings. The Ducks repeated their push for success in 2003, losing only after a seven game final series against Cup winners the New Jersey Devils |
| NHL Boston Bruins | |
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One of the ‘Original Six’ NHL
franchises, the Boston Bruins played their first game in 1924. It was the
secretary to the first general manager Art Ross who suggested ‘Bruins’
as the name for the team; a large brown bear completed by a golden yellow
became the team logo. They have won five Stanley cups, placed nine players in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and survived 89 years in the NHL. In the 1928-29 season Art Ross hired Ottawa's Denneny as coach, new goalie Cecil "Tiny" Thompson was in net and the team played their first game in the new Boston Garden. That year the team won their first Stanley Cup, beating the New York Rangers at Madison Square Gardens. The Boston Bruins won the cup again in 1939 and 1941 with the first ever NHL four game sweep against the Detroit Red Wings. It would be 29 years before the Bruins won another Stanley Cup, this time with a stellar team that included such hockey hall of famers as Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito and Gary Cheevers (see Goalie Masks). Esposito became the first player in NHL history to score more than 100 points. The following season Bobby Or won the scoring title with 120 points. The team went on to the playoffs, winning the Stanley Cup against St. Louis, with Or scoring what is possibly the NHL’s most memorable goal in overtime. In 1972 the Boston Bruins won their fifth Stanley Cup, with Bobby Or becoming the first player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy twice. |
| NHL Buffalo Sabres | |
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The Buffalo Sabres were a NHL expansion
franchise awarded to Buffalo NY in 1970, after years of disappointment and
rejection. The 1970 draft was a highlight in Sabres’ history, with the
team winning the spin of a carnival wheel to take Gilbert “Mr. Hockey”
Perreault as their first choice. Perrault would score 38 goals his rookie
year, and go on to play 17 more seasons for Buffalo. In the 1975 Stanley Cup playoffs the Sabres faced the Philadelphia Flyers. In the most exciting game of that series, played at the Memorial Auditorium, the fog was so thick the opposing goalies couldn’t see each other across the ice. Between play, players circled the ice waving towels. Regardless, Buffalo shut-out the Flyers to win their second straight Stanley Cup. Since 1996 the Sabres have called the then new Marine Midland Arena home. |
| NHL Calgary Flames | |
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In 1980 the Atlanta Flames were relocated
from Georgia to Calgary, Alberta in Canada. The flaming ‘A’ for
Atlanta was replaced by a flaming ‘C’, and the soon beloved team
quickly settled in to their new home at the Calgary Saddledome. In 1989, the ninth year of an eleven year Stanley Cup playoff run, the Flames won the coveted Cup with a team that included Rick Wamsley and Mike Vernon as goalkeepers. Other players included Dana Murzyn, Gary Roberts, Gary Suter, Mark Hunter, Joe Nieuwendyk, Joel Otto, and head coach Terry Crisp. |
| NHL Carolina Hurricanes | |
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The history of the Carolina Hurricanes
began with the Hartford Whalers of Connecticut in 1979. The
then new franchise quickly established a noisy and supportive fan base. Their
first Stanley Cup run ended in defeat against defending champions the
Montreal Canadiens, but the Whalers went on to make seven straight
playoffs between 1986 and 1992. The last Hartford Whalers goal was scored in 1997. Soon after, management moved the team to Carolina despite vocal public outcry in Connecticut. Playing first in Greensboro, the team eventually settled in to their new home in Carolina. |
| NHL Chicago Blackhawks | |
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In 1926 coffee tycoon Major Frederic
McLaughlin was awarded an NHL franchise in Chicago IL. McLaughlin
bought the Portland Rose Buds for US$200,000 to secure players, and
renamed the team the Chicago Black Hawks in honor of both his Gun
Battalion and the Sauk Indian Chief whose name they had adopted during the
First World War. McLaughlin was famous for constantly tinkering with the team, hiring and firing fourteen coaches in thirteen years. Despite the rollercoaster, the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in1934 and again in 1938. It would be twenty-two years before they won the Cup again, but that wouldn’t mean they didn’t play great hockey. With great lines like Bill Mosienko and Doug and Max Bentley’s “Pony Line”, and players like Bobby and Dennis Hull, Stan Mikita, Pierre Pilote and Elmer “Moose” Vasko consistently delivering the goods. Bobby Hull, “The Golden Jet” was a strong skater, with a signature slap shot. Paired with Pilote and Mikita, they were unstoppable, finally bringing the cup back to Chicago in 1961. “The Golden Jet’ began the golden era, with a near unstoppable team throughout the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. The team never missed the playoffs throughout the rowdy eighties, with players remembering the crowd as the “best fans in pro sports” (Wilson). |
| NHL Colorado Avalanche | |
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In 1995, after sixteen seasons as the
Quebec Nordiques, the beloved Quebec City team was moved to Colorado and
became the Colorado Avalanche. The Nordiques had always struggled against
rival champions the Montreal Canadiens in “The Battle of Quebec”. Not
to say that the Nordiques weren’t a strong and well supported team; they
had won the Stanley Cup twice, and made the playoffs seven of their first
eight seasons with legendary players like Anton and Peter Stastny, Michel
Goulet, Real Cloutier, Marc Tardif and Jacques Richard. After a drought, the Nordiques started to rebuild their team in the early nineties with stars like Joe Sakic, Adam Foote, Owen Nolin and Mats Sundin. When they were finally moved from the aging Le Colisee in Quebec City to Colorado’s Pepsi Centre, these strong players ensured an immediate run for the Cup ending in success their first season in Denver. Goalkeeper Patrick Roy announced his retirement the spring of 2003, ending a standout NHL career. His jersey, number 33, will be retired along with this legendary player. |
| NHL Dallas Stars | |
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Green, white, black and gold are the
colours of the Dallas Stars. This team entered the NHL in 1967 as the
Minnesota North Stars, playing great hockey for 26 years, with great Hall
of Famers like Bill Goldsworthy and Bill Masterson. The team moved to Dallas in 1993, where Alberta-born coach Ken Hitchcock quickly took the Stars to the NHL regular season championship for the first time in 31 years, shattering scoring records along the way. |
| NHL Detroit Red Wings | |
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One of the Original Six teams of the NHL,
the Detroit Red Wings have inspired decades of red, white and octopi
inspired revelry. The team was formed in the 1920’s in a movement
spearheaded by local investor Charles Hughes. The Red Wings went on to
dominant the NHL for seventy years and counting. Great players like Gordie
Howe, Terry Sawchuck and Stevev Yzerman have helped contribute to ten
Stanley Cups. Not every thing has always been rose for “Hockey Town’s” beloved team. The Red Wings have survived the Depression, downsizing and the label Detroit “Dead Things”. And the fabled Octopus? It all began on April 15, 1952, when the Cusimano brothers threw an Octopus on the Ice at Olympia Stadium for good luck. Each of the eight tentacles was said to represent the eight wins then needed to win the Stanley Cup. It worked, entrenching the cephalopod in Detroit history; it was a 50-pounder in 1996! |
| NHL Edmonton Oilers | |
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The Edmonton Oilers joined the NHL in 1979
after a seven year stint as a WHA franchise. That year, owner Peter
Pocklington said the team would win a Stanley Cup within five years; his
positive thinking sealed the deal, and in 1984 captured the Cup after a
stunning series against the New York Islanders. They went on to win four
more cups in five years, an unbeatable success. The team has retired two jerseys: Jari Kurri and the infamous number 99, Wayne Gretzky. |
| NHL Florida Panthers | |
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This relatively new franchise played their
first game in the 1993, the beginning of the most successful season by an
new NHL team. Two years later “The Cats” would not only make it to the Stanley Cup playoffs, but proceed to eliminate the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins, only to be defeated by the Colorado Avalanche in the final round. |
| NHL Los Angeles Kings | |
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The regal Kings began their NHL career in
the 1967-68 season, brought to California by LA Lakers owner Jack Kent
Cooke. A strong team, things really started flying when the
Kings acquired hockey legend Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers. The trade and accompanying ticket and merchandise sales changed the face of hockey forever. “The Great One” set near unbreakable team records, taking the Kings to the Stanley Cup finals in 1993. Although the team lost against the strong Montreal Canadiens, they established themselves within the NHL as a real contender for the Cup. |
| NHL Montreal Canadiens | |
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One of the “Original Six”, the
Montreal Canadiens are one of Canada’s, if not the NHL’s most beloved
teams. Since their first game at the Jubilee rink on January 5, 1910 they
have built a hockey legend. The team moved to the 10,000 seat Mont-Royal
Arena in 1920, after a fire destroyed the Jubilee. Four years later the
team played their first game at the legendary Forum, which became their
official home in 1926 until their more recent move after sixty years to
the Bell Centre. The “Habs” have had over forty Hall of Fame players over fifty years, including (to name a few) Maurice “The Rocket” Richard, Emile Bouchard, Jacques Plante (see Goalie Masks), Ken Dryden, Jacques Lemaire, and Guy Lafleur. They have won the Stanley Cup a remarkable 24 times and represent a golden age in the NHL. |
| NHL Nashville Predators | |
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The Nashville Predators played their first game against the Florida Panthers on October 10, 1998. The team was named the Predators after a saber-toothed tiger fang and foreleg bone were found in a cave while excavating to build Nashville’s First American Centre. The saber-toothed tiger has been extinct since the last glacial period 15,000 to 80,000 years ago, but lives on through this young team. |
| NHL New Jersey Devils | |
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First the Kansas City Scouts, then the
Colorado Rockies, the team was eventually purchased by Dr. John McMullen
and moved to New Jersey IN 1982, becoming the New Jersey Devils. They
scored their first goal on October 2, 1982 in a game against the
Pittsburgh Penguins. In 1985 the Devils won their first Stanley Cup, winning against the Detroit Red Wings with coach Jacques Lemaire behind bench. In the next eleven seasons the Devils missed the playoffs only once. Eventually they won a second cup in the year 2000 with a six game series against the Dallas Stars. In 2003 the NJ Devils did it again, playing an exciting seven game series against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks that would result in the Stanly Cup for the New Jersey Devils. |
| NHL New York Islanders | |
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The New York Islanders franchise was
created on June 7, 1972. It was the beginning of a classic rivalry between
the upstart Islanders and the legendary New York Rangers. It took only two
seasons for the team to garner a playoff position, with a serious attempt
soon to follow in 1979. While they lost that year to the reviled Rangers,
the team went on to win four straight Stanley Cups. One of their more legendary games was in 1987, when the team played seven periods of hockey against the Washington Capitals – that’s four overtime periods! |
| NHL New York Rangers | |
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One of the “Original Six” teams of the
NHL, the New York Rangers played their first game at Madsion Square
Gardens in 1926. G.L. “Tex” Rickard hired Conn Smythe to build the
team, which was dubbed “Tex’s Rangers” after the president of the
Gardens. The name stuck, and the Rangers have gone on to win four Stanley
Cups. In their first sixteen seasons the team missed the playoffs only once. They won their most recent Cup in 1994, with the legendary Mark Messier scoring the winning goal. |
| NHL Ottawa Senators | |
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Originally a Canadian Team established in
1901, the Ottawa Senators were dissolved in 1934 when they were moved to
St. Louis and became The Eagles. Ottawa wouldn’t have another hockey team until 1992, when the Senators returned to Canada’s capital city. Their first games were at the Ottawa Civic Centre while their new arena, The Palladium was being finished. While their first season ended poorly, the team has gone on to build a solid NHL franchise, in 2003 reaching the third round of the playoffs for the first time in the team’s history. |
| NHL Philadelphia Flyers | |
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Part of the 1967 NHL expansion, the
Philadelphia Flyers quickly established themselves as one of the stronger
of the new teams in the NHL that year. The team’s foundation
was two young goaltenders: Bernie “Only the Lord Saves More than
Bernie” Parent and Doug Favell. They finished first in the Western division that first season, the beginning of an impressive NHL presence. In the 1969-70 season a shift in management and players established the team as “The Broad Street Bullies”. The team was rewarded in both 1974 and 1975 with Stanley Cups. |
| NHL Phoenix Coyotes | |
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Originally the Winnipeg Jets (see Winnipeg
Jets), the team was sold to Richarde Burke and Steven Gluckstern and
moved to Pheonix Arizona in 1996. The name Coyotes was chosen in a contest. The logo is a kachina coyote wearing a mask in the South Western style with colours of forest green, brick red, sand, sienna & purple. In 1999 four Coyotes played in the NHL All-Star game: Nikolai Khabibulin, Teppo Numminen, Jeremy Roenick and Keith Tkachuk |
| NHL Pittsburgh Penguins | |
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Part of the NHL’s expansion of 1967, the
Penguins played their first game on October 11, 1967. They made the
playoffs in 1969-70, and again in 1974-75, where they made it all the way
to the finals only to squander a three game lead, and be eliminated by the
New York Islanders. It wasn’t until 1991 that Bob Johnson led a team that included luminaries like Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Paul Coffey, Tom Barrasso, Joe Mullen and Ulf Samuelsson to glory and the Cup. The next years triumphant Stanley Cup win was bittersweet. The team had lost Johnson to brain cancer; the win was a tribute by an extraordinary hockey team to an extraordinary coach’s leadership and guidance. The team continued to dominate in a third run for the Cup the following year, but tragedy struck again. Lemieux was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. After two months of treatment, he returned in time for the playoffs, but this talented and inspirational player was unable to bring the team to victory a third time. In 1998 the team filed for bankruptcy, but once again Lemieux stood up to the challenge, coming out of retirement to oversee an ownership group that bought the Penguins. He also returned to the ice to continue his leadership role with this legendary team. |
| NHL San Jose Sharks | |
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The San Jose Sharks played their first NHL
game the 1991-92 season. A new franchise, San Jose was randomly selected
from proposals by nearly every state and province in North America. Names
for the team included a multitude of proposals, including the Blades,
Breakers, Breeze, Condors, Fog, Gold, Golden Gaters, Golden Skaters,
Grizzlies, Icebreakers, Knights, Redwoods, Sea Lions, Sharks and Waves. The San Jose Sharks were eventually chosen because of the high number of sharks in the Pacific Ocean, and their fearless and determined nature, and ferocity, of course. In there second season the team lost a record 71 games but boldly claimed the next season would by about the Stanley Cup. And it was. While the team didn’t go all the way, they quickly proved themselves as real contenders in the NHL. |
| NHL St. Louis Blues | |
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St. Louis is the birthplace of the Blues
both in music and hockey. Since 1967, this team has been
thrilling fans with great hockey. From 1979 through to 2000,
the club reached the playoffs 21 times in a row. Some of the NHL’s
greatest players including Dickie Moore, Glenn Hall, Jacques Plante, Wayne
Gretzky, Brett Hull and Peter Stastny have played here under terrific
coaches including Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour and Jacques Demers. Despite a tremendous legacy, great players and a solid effort, the team continues to sing the Blues in their quest for the Stanley Cup. |
| NHL Tampa Bay Lightning | |
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A new franchise along with the Ottawa
Senators, the Tampa Bay Lightening played their first NHL game the 1992-93
season. The drive for a franchise was spearheaded by hockey
legend Phil Esposito. Their first game the team won against the Chicago Blackhawks 7-3, with left wing Chris Kontos scoring a record four goals. It was a rocky road thereafter, with the team finally breifly reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs in 1996. |
| NHL Toronto Maple Leafs | |
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have thrilled fans
across North America since 1927 when Conn Smythe took over the Toronto St.
Patricks. In 1932 they won their first Stanley Cup, their first season at
Maple Leaf Gardens. The team won five Cups in the 40’s, and a seventh in
1951. The rest of the fifties were a dark period, with player
Bill Barilko dieing in a plane crash in 1951, and many players retiring. The Maple Leafs bloomed again in the early 1960’s winning three consecutive cups and a fourth in 1967. While team has played many playoff series, this was to be their last Cup of the twentieth century. A legendary franchise, the Toronto Maple Leafs has had many hockey heroes, including Howie Meeker, Gordie Howe and Dave Keon. |
| NHL Vancouver Canucks | |
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On October 9, 1970, the Vancouver Canucks
played their first game. Named after 1950’s super hero ‘Johnny
Canuck’, Vancouver was thrilled to finally have a NHL franchise. It had
fifty years since the Vancouver Millionaires’ had had their hockey
heyday in the 1920’s. The Canucks blue and green uniform was marked by a
hockey stick slashed ‘C’. For the 1978-79 season the Vancouver Canucks premiered a dramatic new orange and black uniform with a vibrant ‘V’ splashed over the chest. Accepted warmly by some in the NHL, most mocked the jersey, even calling it “the ugliest and most gaudy in all professional sports.” The radical ‘V’ logo was eventually replaced in 1985-86. The new Vancouver Canucks jersey featured a skate logo (taken from the arm of the former sweater). Still skating around convention, the Canucks replaced the traditional white colours of a jersey for home games with a vibrant orange on the ice of the Pacific Coliseum. After the team was sold to Orca Bay in the mid-1990’s, the new owners tried to change the name of the Vancouver Canucks to the Orcas. After a public uproar, a compromise was met through a new jersey. Orange was replaced by more marketable black and white with red, blue and silver, and the skate was changed to the current killer whale logo, nicknamed ‘Free Willy’. |
| NHL Washington Capitals | |
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The Washington Capitals played their first
game in 1974. Like all new franchises, the first years were a struggle,
with more defeat than success. The team didn’t make the playoffs until
the 1982-83 season, but quickly established a presence with fourteen
consecutive playoff appearances. There rough start was soon forgotten with 48, 46 and 50 win seasons in the mid-1980’s. One of their more legendary playoff games was in 1987, when the team played seven periods of hockey against the New York Islanders. The winning goal came at nearly 1:56 in the morning, a bitter defeat for the Capitals after four periods of overtime. |
| NHL Winnipeg Jets | |
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Winnipeg’s beloved Jets played their
first game in the World Hockey Association in 1971. They went on to great
success, winning three AVCO cups in four years. They were admitted to the
NHL on July 22, 1979 but were unable to continue the strong performance.
Despite the disappointment, their strong fan base raised an uproar when it
was suggested the franchise be moved. The MEC (Spirit of Manitoba), fought hard to keep the team in the province, obtaining support from City Council, but were unable to raise the necessary funds to buy the team. Eventually the Jets were sold to two Americans and moved to Arizona (see Phoenix Coyotes). |
