September 21 was an interesting day in NHL history. One of its early stars was born on this day. The goal legend is making his first of two comebacks after retirement. The greatest player in the history of the league scored his first goal in his new home, and the first game in China was played. So, let’s start our daily journey back in time to revisit all the best memories.
Plante Returns to the Crease
Throughout the decades, there have been many times when players have announced their retirement and returned to the ice later. This was the case with Hall of Fame goalkeeper Jacques Plante.
Plante first retired in 1965, at the age of 36, after two seasons with the New York Rangers. He was back in uniform on September 21, 1967, starting for the California Seals in a preseason game against the Los Angeles Kings. The game, played in Port Huron, MI, ended in a 3-3 tie.
The six-time Stanley Cup winner never played in a regular season game for the Seals, but he returned to St. Louis Blues the following season. He and goaltending legend Glenn Hall won the Vezina Trophy in the 1968-69 season, which, at the time, was awarded to the fewest goals conceded in a season.
Plante played in four more NHL seasons after this; one more with St. Louis, two with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and one last season was split between the Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins. He retired for a second time in 1973 but returned to play 31 games for the Edmonton Oilers in the 1974-75 World Hockey Association (WHA) season.
Another Good Class Imported
The Hockey Hall of Fame opened its doors to seven new members on September 21, 1992. Marcel Dionne, Woody Dumart, Bob Gainey, and Lanny McDonald were inducted as players while Keith Allen, Bob Johnson, and Frank Mathers were voted as builders.
Dionne played 1,348 games in 18 NHL seasons, scoring 731 goals and 1,771 points. He had great success in his 12 seasons with the Kings after breaking out in the league with the Detroit Red Wings. He won the Art Ross Trophy after scoring 53 goals and leading the league with 137 points in the 1979-80 season. He scored at least 36 goals in 11 of his full seasons with the Kings, including six with 50 or more. He was sold to the Rangers in the 1986-87 season and played with them until he retired in 1989.
Dumart played 774 games in 16 seasons with the Bruins, scoring 211 goals and 430 points. His best season came in 1946-47 when he scored 24 goals and 52 points in 60 games. He was part of the 1939 and 1941 Stanley Cup championships in Boston.
Gainey spent his entire 16-season career with the Montreal Canadiens. He scored 239 goals and 501 points in 1,160 career games. He was a member of five Stanley Cup championship teams and won the Conn Smythe Trophy for being the most valuable player in the 1979 postseason. He won the Selke Trophy for being the league’s best defensive player four times. After retiring in 1989, he had a successful coaching career with the Minnesota North Stars and Dallas Stars before becoming general manager of the Canadiens in 2003.
McDonald scored 500 goals and 1,006 points in 1,111 career games with the Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies, and Calgary Flames. He was so popular in Toronto that when he was traded to the Rockies in 1979, fans protested outside Maple Leafs Garden. His last act as captain of the Flames, in 1989, was to accept the Stanley Cup after scoring the winning goal against the Canadiens.
Allen was the first head coach in franchise history for the Philadelphia Flyers and served as the team’s executive vice president from 1980 until his death in 2014. Johnson, known as “Badger Bob,” coached the University of Wisconsin from 1966 to 1982, winning three national championships. . He took the Flames to the 1986 Stanley Cup Finals and won a championship with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991, just five months before he died of brain cancer. Mathers is best known for his 35-year association with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL) as a player, coach, general manager, and president.
Odds & Ends
After scoring 20 goals and 42 points in the 1974-75 season, the Blues traded defenseman Larry Sacharuk on September 21, 1975, to Bob MacMillan’s Rangers. Sacharuk never repeated that feat as he played 44 games over the next two seasons before a stint in the WHA. MacMillan, a right winger, scored 46 goals and 129 points in 187 games for the Blues before being traded to the Atlanta Flames.
On September 21, 1988, the Kings and Vancouver Canucks played a preseason game in Portland, OR. The Canucks won 4-3 in overtime, but the game will never be forgotten because Wayne Gretzky scored his first goal as a member of the Kings, although it was not officially entered in the record books.
The Ottawa Senators traded defenseman Sami Salo to the Canucks on September 21, 2002, for left winger Peter Schaefer. Salo played 566 games for the Canucks over the next nine seasons. Schaefer spent the next four seasons in Ottawa, scoring 53 goals and 158 points.
The Kings and Canucks played another memorable preseason game on September 21, 2017. The two rivals met in Shanghai for the first ever NHL game played in China. About 11,000 fans watched Amakhosi win 5-2, thanks to Tanner Pearson’s goals.
happy Birthday to you
A total of 22 current and former NHL players were born on September 21.
The first was also the best as Howie Morenz was born, in Mitchell, Ontario, on this day in 1902. He earned the nickname “The Stratford Streak” because of his exceptional speed while playing minor hockey in Stratford, Ontario. Morenz made his NHL debut with the Canadiens in the 1923-24 season and quickly became a star in the league. He used his speed to be successful in late runs because passing was against the rules for most of his career. After 253 goals and 401 points in 430 games, Morenz was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1934. After a short stint with the Rangers, he returned to Montreal for the 1936-37 season.
On Jan. 28, 1937, Morenz’s career ended when her leg was badly broken after being hit while her skirt got caught in the boards. He never left the hospital as a blood clot eventually caused his death on March 8, 1937. He was part of the inaugural class of induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945.
Other famous players born on this day include Gord Dineen (62), Troy Loney (61), Bob Errey (60), Curtis Leschyshyn (55), and Nick Jensen (34).
*Originally created by Greg Boysen
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