Hockey Top Ten List – Hockey Firsts

A few months ago my wife picked up a great hockey book by Floyd Conner called “Hockey’s Most Wanted” and it’s a book about the top ten of every category of hockey you can think of.  I figured I would add this to my list of new types of posts.  I though that these would make for great discussions.  This excerpt is taken directly from the book:

10. Phil Esposito – The first player to score 100 points in a season was Boston Bruins center Phil Esposito. During the 1968-1969 season, Esposito had 49 goals and 77 assists for a total of 126 points.

9. Garry Monahan – The first National Hockey League draft occurred in 1963.  The first player selected was 16 year old Garry Monahan, who was picked by the Montreal Canadiens.  The left winger scored 116 goals during his NHL career from 1967-1979.

8. Jacques Plante – The first goaltender to wear a mask on a continuous basis was Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens. On November 1, 1959, Plante suffered a seven  stitch cut when he was struckin the face by a hard shot by Andy Bathgate of the New York Rangers. Plante, who had suffered from broken noses, two fractured cheekbones, a broken jaw, and more than 200 stitches in his face during his career, had a fiberglass mask made for protection. At first, Montreal coach Toe Blake did not want his star goaltender to wear the mask, fearing that it might limit his vision. He changed his mind when the Canadiens, with Plante in the net, went on a 18-game unbeaten streak. Soon other goalies began wearing masks, although it would be another 15 years before the last maskless goaltenders.

7. Emile Francis – Emile “The Cat” Francis was the first goalie to wear a glove.  The 22 year old goaltender first wore the glove, similar to a baseball mitt, in 1948.  The NHL approved the new piece of equipment and by the end of the season mist of the league’s goaltenders wore gloves to help them catch the puck.

6. Maurice Richard – Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadiesn was the first NHL player to score 50 goals in a season. Richard scored 50 goals in 50 games during the 1944-1945 season.  That same year Richard’s Montreal teammate Elmer Lach, became the first player to reach 50 assists in during a season.

5. Clint Benedict- On February 20, 1930, Clint Benedict of the Montreal Maroons became the first goaltender to wear a mask. Benedict wore the leather mask to protect a broken nose. The mask had a big nosepiece and obstructed the goalie’s vision. The primitive mask also kept coming loose. Bendict reinjured his nose later that season and retired from hockey.

4. Frank Nighbor- In 1924, Frank Nighbor, a center with the Ottawa Senators, was the first recipient of the Hart Memorial Trophy, presented annually to the National Hockey League’s most valuable player. Nighbor scored 10 goals and had three assists in 20 games but was given the award for his excellent all-around play. The next season Nighbor was the first Lady Byng Memorial Trophy winner in recognition of his outstanding sportsmanship.

3. Dave Ritchie-The first goal in the National Hockey League was scored by Montreal Wanderers defenseman Dave Ritchiein a 10-9 victory over Toronto on December 19, 1917. Ritchie scored only 15 goals during his six-year NHL career.

2. Amateur Hockey Association of Canada- The first hockey league, the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada, was established in 1887. The teams were composed entirely of amateur players. The International League, hockey’s first professional league, was organized in 1905.

1. James Creighton- The first organized hockey game took place on March 3, 1875, at the Victoria Rink in Montreal. A team captained by a McGill University student named James Creighton won by the score of 2 to 1. There were nine players to a side, three more than there are in the modern. Goals were scored by hitting the pick between two sticks placed eight feet apart. Nets were not used until many years later. Players were not allowed to pass the pick forward or to protect their goal. The game was already violent, and several of the female spectators fled in horror.

Hopefully I am not alone in loving hockey history.  If you have a first that I didn’t get to here, maybe share it with us as a comment.