a player scores three goals in one game, it’s called a hat trick. The term originated in cricket where usually reserved fans toss their hats to celebrate the knocking down of three consecutive wickets. Not surprisingly, Wayne Gretzky holds the National Hockey League record for the most career three-or-more-goal games (50, with 37 three-goalers, nine four-goalers, and four five-goalers) as well as top marks for the most three-or-more-goal games in one season (10 twice, in 1981–82 and 1983–84). However, the Great One doesn’t hold the record for the most goals ever scored in one game; the Quebec Bulldogs’ Joe Malone does, with seven in a 1920 match. A number of players — Newsy Lalonde, Cy and Corb Denneny, Malone, Syd Howe, Red Berenson, and Darryl Sittler — have potted six in a single game. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ Sittler holds the record for most points in one contest (10 on February 7, 1976, against the Boston Bruins). Gretzky is tied with 10 other players (including Mario Lemieux, Bryan Trottier, and Berenson) for most goals in a single period — four. A pure hat trick is when one player scores three consecutive, uninterrupted goals in a single game.
Quickies
Did you know …
that a Gordie Howe hat trick is a goal, an assist, and a fight in the same game? The NHL’s second all-time leading scorer, Howe was also an able pugilist who racked up 2,109 regular-season penalty minutes.
How did the expression “hanging from the rafters” originate?
The Detroit Red Wings’ old arena, the Olympia, is said to be the place where the expression “hanging from the rafters” originated. The rink was infamously steep-sided so that fans in the standing-room-only section literally hung from the rafters to see the game better. The Red Wings played their last game in the Old Red Barn on the Grand River on December 15, 1979, against the Quebec Nordiques, tying the match 4–4. Detroit moved into the brand-new Joe Louis Arena that season. The last hockey game played at the Olympia was a Red Wings Old-Timers game on February 21, 1980. The Olympia was demolished in 1986.
Quickies
Did you know … that the Montreal Canadiens’ nickname “Habs” comes from les habitants, a term that was once used to describe the early settlers of seventeenth-and eighteenth-century New France, the predecessor of what eventually became the province of Quebec? In fact, the Canadiens were specifically established in December 1909 in the National Hockey Association (precursor of the NHL) as a French-Canadian alternative to the many predominantly English hockey clubs in Montreal, teams such as the Shamrocks, the Wanderers, and the Victorias.
Where did the term firewagon hockey come from?
In the 1950s the Montreal Canadiens won five Stanley Cups (1953, 1956–59) and became known for the kind of high-speed, explosive rushes usually led by superstars such as Maurice Richard and Jean Béliveau. Sportswriters called this kind of playing style “firewagon hockey,” and the Canadiens were associated with it right into the 1970s. By 1979 they added another 11 Stanley Cups (1960, 1965–66, 1968–69, 1971, 1973, 1976–79) to the five they won in the 1950s. Since 1979 the Habs have only won two Cups (1986, 1993).
What is the five hole?
In hockey goaltending there are five areas in the net where goalies are vulnerable. The holes are above the shoulders, the lower corners of the goal, and between the legs of the netminder. The last is the five hole, which becomes vulnerable when a goalie has to move from side to side quickly (for example, when he or she is deked) or when a butterfly-style netminder drops to his or her knees.
Quickies …
Did you know … that Gretzky’s office refers to the area behind a team’s net? When Wayne Gretzky was on the ice, he spent a lot of time in possession of the puck behind the opposition goal, waiting for teammates to get open in front of the net. As the Great One once commented, “When I get back there, I prefer to use a backhand pass to get the puck out front. I like to use the net as a sort of screen, to buy time from the opposing defencemen who may be trying to get me.… I try to keep the puck away from them as long as possible so I can hopefully make a play.”
What is the slot?
The slot is the area directly in front of the net and is considered prime scoring territory. Centreman Phil Esposito, during his great years with the Boston Bruins, set up shop in the slot and got down to rewriting the record book in the late 1960s and 1970s. In 1968–69 he amassed 126 points and in 1970–71 he bagged 152 points, with 100 or more points in four subsequent seasons. His 76 goals in 1970–71 was tops in the league until Wayne Gretzky surpassed it with 92 in 1981–82 (still the record).
What is a wraparound?
A wraparound occurs when an attacking player controls the puck behind the opposition’s net and attempts to score by reaching around the side of the goal and jamming the puck in.
Who was the first NHL player to use a slap shot?
A slap shot is a forehand shot in which the shooter draws the stick back above the waist (the back swing) before swinging the stick quickly forward and slapping the puck. It is not unusual for slap shots to travel more than 100 miles per hour. The advantage of the slap shot is its velocity; the disadvantages include a lack of accuracy, the long time it takes to release the shot (slap shots are commonly blocked by doughty defenders), and the opportunity given to defenders to take the puck during the back swing. As to who in the NHL first employed the slap shot, like many things in hockey, that’s shrouded in controversy and speculation. Early practitioners of the slap shot in the 1950s were Bernard “Boom Boom” Geoffrion and Andy Bathgate. Geoffrion, who played most of his career with the Montreal Canadiens, says he got his colourful nickname “Boom Boom” because of that very shot: “One day I was practising at the Forum and shooting the puck hard against the boards and it was making a pretty big noise. A newspaper guy, Charlie Borie, asked me if it would be okay if he started calling me ‘Boom Boom.’ Since that day, the name stayed.”
What is a neutral-zone trap?
The neutral-zone trap is a dreadfully dull defensive strategy that’s popular with many hockey coaches because of its effectiveness. Although variations of the trap have existed for decades, it gained prominence when the 1995 New Jersey Devils used it to win the Stanley Cup. The goal of the trap is to clog the neutral zone with defenders so the offensive team has little momentum when crossing its own blueline. If successfully executed, the trap forces the attacking team to lose the puck before crossing the central redline, or to shoot it in. The Florida Panthers once frequently employed a twist on the trap by attempting to stop opponents before they reached the neutral zone, provoking a turnover near the opposition’s blueline.
Six Curious Terms in Hockey
• Baffle Play: A former term, now archaic, for a fast deke.
• Cookie Shelf: The top of the net where flashy players like to shoot the puck.
• Eggbeater: A player adept with his stick close up, usually in the corner to stick-check an opponent and claim the puck.
• Slewfooting: A dangerous, and dirty, act of tripping another player from
