Today in NHL History, Dec 11th

1926: Chicago goalie Hugh Lehman recorded his first career shutout, and the first in Black Hawks' team history, with a 3-0 win over the Canadiens, at Montreal.

1930: Canadiens' Howie Morenz scored twice, including the overtime winning goal and added an assist as Montreal won 5-4, at Ottawa.

1932: Detroit purchased Carl Voss from the New York Rangers. Voss went on to win the NHL Rookie of the Year award at the end of the season.

1935: Former NHL defenseman Elmer "Moose" Vasko born in Duparquet, Que. Vasko played in the NHL 1956-57 through 1969-70 with Chicago and Minnesota.

1936: Former NHL center Ted Hampson born in Togo, Sask. Hampson played in the NHL 1959-60 through 1971-72 with Toronto, the New York Rangers, Detroit, Oakland and Minnesota.

1938: Boston rookie Frankie Brimsek recorded his third straight shutout (and third career victory) in a 3-0 win over the Rangers, at Madison Square Garden. It was also the third of six shutouts in a seven game stretch for the rookie goalie.

1941: Lynn Patrick scored a hat trick (including two goals in the final minute of the game), and added an assist to lead the Rangers to a 5-3 win against the Americans.

1943: Herb Cain and Art Jackson each scored 2 goals and 2 assists, and Bill Cowley scored a goal and 3 assists to lead the Bruins to a 9-6 win over the NY Rangers. The loss gave the Rangers an 0-14-1 record, the worst start by any team in NHL history.

1947: Phil Watson scored a hat trick, Grant Warwick had a goal and two assists and Buddy O'Conner added three assists to lead the Rangers to a 4-2 win at Montreal.

1952: Defenseman Red Kelly set a Red Wings team record for most assists by a defenseman, with four, in a 10-1 win over Boston.

1963: Chicago's Bobby Hull scored his 200th career NHL goal, and Stan Mikita got his 5th career hat trick to reach the 100 career goal mark, as the Black Hawks beat the Rangers 6-2, at New York.

1969: Kate Smith's rendition of "God Bless America" was played at the Philadelphia Spectrum for the first time, and the Flyers responded with a 6-3 win over Toronto.

1971: Montreal rookie Guy Lafleur scored his first NHL hat trick as the Canadiens won 4-3 against the Minnesota North Stars, at the Forum.

1973: Bill Goldsworthy scored his 6th career hat trick (in one period) and added an assist to lead the Minnesota North Stars to a 6-3 win over Los Angeles. The North Stars extended their undefeated streak against the Kings to 21 straight games (17-0-4). Also in that game, Los Angeles Kings rookie center Phil Hoene became the second player in NHL history to score his first goal on a penalty shot, when he scored against goalie Cesare Maniago. The Kings lost to the North Stars at Minnesota, 6-3.

1976: Buffalo goalie Gerry Desjardins set a club record when he started in his 22nd straight game as the Sabres won 4-2 at Los Angeles. Desjardins broke Roger Crozier's old mark of 21 straight games set in 1971-72.

1977: Rick MacLeish scored twice to become just the second player in team history to score 200 career goals with Philadelphia. The milestone came as the Flyers won 11-1 over the visiting Cleveland Barons. Also in that game, Tom Bladon set an NHL record for most points in a game by a defenseman. His 8 points (4 goals & 4 assists) led Philadelphia to an 11-1 win over the Cleveland Barons. Bladon also set a record by going +10.

1979: Red Berenson coached his first game for St. Louis, a 3-3 Blues' tie against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins. Berenson replaced Barclay Plager.

1980: Boston's Brad Park became the second defenseman in NHL history to collect 500 career assists, when the Bruins lost 5-3 to the visiting Quebec Nordiques.

1982: Paul Coffey scored his first career hat trick, as Edmonton lost 5-4 to the North Stars at Minnesota.

1985: Wayne Gretzky picked up seven assists in a game for the second time in his NHL career, in a 12-9 Oilers' over the Blackhawks at Chicago. The seven assists tied the NHL record, first set by Billy Taylor in 1947.

1986: Montreal's Larry Robinson became the fourth defenseman in NHL history to score 600 career assists, when he assisted on two goals in a 6-2 win against the NY Rangers.

1987: Mario Lemieux scored a goal and added four assists to lead the Penguins to a 6-4 win over the visiting New York Islanders.

1988: Chicago's Denis Savard scored twice and added an assist to collect his 900th career NHL point as the Blackhawks won 5-2 against the visiting St. Louis Blues. Also in that game, Steve Larmer of the Blackhawks broke the team ironman record of 509 consecutive games set by John Marks. Larmer played in #510 as the Blackhawks beat the Blues 5-2.....Winnipeg's Brent Ashton scored on a penalty shot for his 200th career NHL goal as the Jets lost 8-6 at Vancouver. It was the first time a Jets' player had scored on a penalty shot since the club entered the NHL in 1979.

1990: Pittsburgh Penguins obtained defensemen Larry Murphy and Peter Taglianetti from the Minnesota North Stars, in trade for Jim Johnson and Chris Dahlquist.

1992: National Hockey League Governors named Gary Bettman as the first NHL Commissioner in league history, effective Feb. 1, 1993.....Detroit's Brad McCrimmon became the 81st player (and 23rd defenseman) in NHL history to play in 1,000 NHL games. It came in the Red Wings' 4-2 win over the Flyers in Detroit.

1996: Phoenix Coyotes fired General Manager John Paddock, and named Bobby Smith (who had been Vice President of Hockey Operations) as his successor.

2000: NHL officially appoved the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes to Wayne Gretzky and partner Steve Ellman.....Pittsburgh Penguins owner Mario Lemieux officially announced that he was coming out of retirement to return to playing for the Penguins.

2001: Radek Bonk became just the second player to appear in 500 games as a member of the Ottawa Senators, and celebrated the milestone with a goal and an assist in a 2-2 tie against the Islanders, in New York.....Pittburgh's Alexei Kovalev scored a goal and an assist to give him 500 career NHL points; the milestone came in a 2-2 tie against the Capitals in Washington.

2002: L.A. Kings made team history with back-to-back road shutouts for the first time ever, when Jamie Storr made 35 saves for his 14th career shutout in a 3-0 victory at Dallas. The win came one night after Felix Potvin had a shutout in Nashville.....Jean-Sebastien Giguere recorded his 2nd consecutive shutout (the 11th of his career) and Fredrik Olausson scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in his 1,000th NHL game, as the Mighty Ducks won 3-0 against the visiting Capitals.

2003: Miikka Kiprusoff recorded his 4th career shutout (and his first with the Flames), and Shean Donovan scored the only goal in the third period as the Flames won 1-0 over the visiting Carolina Hurricanes.


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