so you think you know hockey.................

i was on linkenin last so now i see their ads above this site. it's like they copy your browser search.

 

They do and it's getting annoying.

 

In 1979 the minimum age requirement to be drafted was 20, it was lowered to 18 that same year.

 

i need to get to the HHOF !

 

The taj mhal, mecca.

 

I found this interesting, 8 players on the 1938 Chicago Blackhawks SC champion roster were US born.

 

The Challenge Cup that the NHL would rather forget. The Soviets vs the all-stars and it ended up being a best two out of three, where the Soviets won two games to one. The final game was 6-0 for the Soviets as the nhl went with Cheevers in the nets.

This has to be a game changer and was a big shock to the fat cat era of hockey, with an old and overweight Espo, the broadstreet bullies getting older, guy lafleur smoking 4 packs a day.
I tell you after this series they started to take conditioning a lot more serious, nutrition, drinking and smoking coming to an end.
The Soviets were in much better shape and it showed in the third game. A lot of these NHL stars were getting away with a lot against real poor competition. A lot of those 5 and 6 Ds, with those 4th lines would never be able to make it to the league today.

The Soviets handed the nhl a beating they would never forget and changed hockey forever, as gretzky entered into the fold. This pretty well ended the 70s goon era, the 80s still had the goons, but nothing like the 70s.

 

Article written by Frank Orr:


If the defeat of the National Hockey League all-star team by the national side of the Soviet Union had been a one-goal loss or the result of some fluke, perhaps the gloom inflicted on the men involved in the operation of NHL teams would have been much more severe.
But the loss, a 6-0 drubbing in Sunday's third game here, was of such thoroughness, administered by a superb team that had everything - talented players, great ability in the game's basic skills, extraordinary discipline, flawless conditioning - that the NHL men who really care about their game seriously want to know what has gone wrong with it.
The NHL assembled a team of its best players and there really was some excellent athletes on the all-star club. But their deficit in the basic skills of the game - skating, making and taking a pass, especially - to the level the Soviets have in those areas was considerable.
Of course, some NHL men don't give a damn. They're only interested in profit and loss statements, important factors to be sure, because NHL teams are a business. If the fans are coming through the gate, the attitude of some owners and general managers is that it makes no difference if their team can't complete two consecutive passes of 10 feet.
The men who really care about the game though, went away from Manhattan not with their heads down, under assumed names, because their all-star team had been cleaned, but with their brains in gear to try to determine why Johnny can't play the game as well as Vladimir.
"I found it interesting that while the Soviets were showing us such a level of hockey skill, Buffalo Sabres added Dave Schultz in a trade," commented one NHL team official who, for obvious reasons, requested anonymity.
"The statements made by the Buffalo people showed such elation at getting Schultz, who's only skill is with his fists, because he'd give the team some backbone. Three years ago, the Sabres had as much pure hockey skill as any team in the league, which they showed by scoring 12 goals againts that good Russian team (Wings of the Soviet in a 1976 exhibition match). You wonder what in hell is going on in our league sometimes."
Maple Leafs were pleased when they added tough guys Dan Maloney and Dave Hutchison in the past year and no longer had to endure Errol Thompson and Inge Hammarström, two players with abundant pure skill but low penalty totals. Minnesota North Stars officials feel that the recent addition of Jack Carlson will help their drive for a playoff spot. Carlson and his brothers were the models for the three goons in the hockey movie Slapshot.
The Soviet Union hockey officials are ecstatic about a recent addition to their national team (forward) Sergei Makarov, 20. All Sergei can do is skate, pass, score and make plays. Reports are that he's a terrible fighter, but the U.S.S.R. people have overlooked that weakness in his game.
This is not intended as a finger-pointing session at some NHL teams that have added tough players. It merely is a suggestion that perhaps, just perhaps, the emphasis is in the wrong place. If some teams worked as hard at improving, say, the passing skill of their players, as they do in locating fighters, the league wouldn't its humiliation showing quite as prominently.
Harry Sinden of Boston Bruins and Cliff Fletcher of Atlanta Flames were members of the general managers' panel that was in charge of the all-star club. They're two of the brightest young executives in the game and they're concerned about where hockey is sitting these days in North America.
"What this series should do is bring recognition to Soviet hockey for what it's done - and that's to produce the world's best hockey players." Sinden said after Sunday's game.
"It should also drive home to us very emphatically that some changes are needed in our hockey, especially in the development of young players."
"There's a question I have to ask - and I don't have an answer for it. How come the Soviet players, who are absolutely superb skaters, all skate the same way with the same style? And how come our players all skate the same way and, as a group, not as well as the Soviets? I haven't got the answer but I'd certainly like to know."
"That great skating by the Soviets is a big reason why they appear to pass the puck so well. To pass that well you have to skate well. We lag behind them in both areas. The Soviets not only make a pass better than we do, but they take it much better, too, and skating skill is a big difference."
Fletcher's view is that the NHL must take a long, careful look at the entire system - from peewee to pro - which produces the talent to the league. Until the NHL expanded from six to 12 teams in 1967, the NHL's six clubs operated their own development system that had sponsored junior clubs plus the spreading of financial aid as far down as bantam (14 years) leagues.
The Canadian goverment at the time was quite strong in its view that the big league clubs' influence on amatuer hockey should be ended. The NHL withdrew its sponsorship and the universal amateur draft was established to divide the graduating crop of junior players.
Now Fletcher wonders if the NHL must take a look at regaining some influence in the pre-professional development of players.
"Since NHL sponsorship of junior teams ended, the skill level of the junior players the system has produced has decreased steadily, not a gigantic amount, but enough to be noticeable," Fletcher said.
"When an NHL team sponsored a junior club, it didn't have winning championships or making a profit on that junior team's operation as the No. 1 concern. The NHL clubs were willing to lose a sizeable amount on the sponsorship if the junior team produced some quality talent."
"Now the junior teams are all operated as an independent business and the men who own them are more interested in not losing money than they are in the skill level of the players they produce. The Canadian government might be forced to re-evaluate their view that the NHL excerted an evil influence on amateur hockey by a direct involvement, especially if they want the country to have a Team Canada which can compete with the Soviets."

 

yeah once gretzky and his speed came, the old slow guard was done. it's like the line out of Youngblood..."why can't they hit him?" "they can't catch him!"

 

Mike Gartner
Phil Housley
Russ Courtnall
Glen Anderson
Theo Fleury
Denis Savard
Mario L
Stevie Y
The lifestyle some of these guys had in the late 70s was opposite of what was going on the Soviet Union.

 

for most people but im sure the hockey players were treated just fine since they were superstars over there.

 

The red army was a real army, they were soldiers in a communist regime.They were dong army training while Espo was eating and drinking in high end joints across Manhattan. Guy Lafleurs smoking 4 packs of cigarettes a day while these guys are running uphill for the hell of it.

 

but their food and living accommodations were better than most of the Russian people, who were poor.

 

I'm sure they were and still are treated much better than the average citizen. Of course now they can choose where they want to live.

 

A study of Stan Mikitas brain showed that he suffered from a degenerative brain disease associated with repeated blows to the head.

 

wow - so even he had CTE ?

 

No helmet for most of his career, I remember him when he wore one.

 

No helmet for most of his career, I remember him when he wore one.


I remember when he did NOT wear a Helmet......this photo is circa 1966.

Looks at the skates......the wooden sticks......and look at the fans with little or no protection.

 

In the original six days everybody had to fight, when he played in the 70s, they more or less had the goons.