CrashingTheGoalie

by Ron Spence
Doesn’t this remind you of #44 – in his prime?

“[He] carries the puck down the right side of the ice and is challenged along the boards by Blues defenseman Christian Backman [#55]. [He] holds him off with his left arm, and turns in hard towards the goal. He controls the puck with the [...]

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by Ron Spence
Below, is one of my favourite hockey pictures.
It’s not about love and acceptance, like the “Stevie Y” picture, on the side of the Detroit building.
It’s about desolation – alienation.
Terry Sawchuk had some 600 stitches that scribed his face. He didn’t start wearing a mask until 1963, and had been playing in the NHL [...]

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by Ron Spence
Last week, Puck Daddy referred to my good pal, Stan Fischler.

“Mr. Fischler, who graced my basement television on many a hockey night during my formative years in New Jersey.”

I didn’t come across Stan during my formative days, but met him a good decade ago.
I have worked for him since, and am referred to [...]

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by Ron Spence
Benjamin F. Shibe was the builder of Shibe Park in Philadelphia – the first of the large, concrete, steel-reinforced baseball stadiums.
He also evolved a number of designs, which revolutionized baseball. What did he invent?
And, which NHL General Manager also introduced some inventions, which revolutionized hockey?

Shibe designed a machine which cut out pieces of horsehide [...]

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by Ron Spence
U.S. hockey was in a bad way.
It was 1919, and all hockey south of the 49th was being played under the umbrella of the International Skating Union.
The good news was that the skaters had working agreements with both the Amateur Athletic Union, and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association.
In late October, 1920, the United [...]

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by Ron Spence
As noted in the previous article, the Kootenays have had a rich hockey tradition going back some 115 years.
The first NHL player of significance to hail from the Kootenays, was Cecil “Tiny” Thompson, who would win four Vezina Trophies.
Since that time, many players have followed, some of the better known being the Niedermayer [...]

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by Ron Spence
Joe Pelletier has a great series of photos on his website: Greatest Hockey Legends.
My favourite picture doesn’t concern any one event, however, but a relationship between a player and his adopted city.
It’s cold outside, but there’s a lot of love on the side of that building.

courtesy of letsgoredwings blog

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by Ron Spence
The Stanley Cup was first awarded in 1893 to a Montreal team. That same year an arena was built in the Kootenays. It was in the town of Sandon, and a year later the Crystal Ice Palace was constructed in Nelson. The Palace held 2,300 spectators and was the largest rink west of [...]

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by Ron Spence
Background
British Columbia hockey was alive and well by the time that the West Coast Hockey League folded in 1926. B.C.’s first junior hockey championships were scheduled the following season, when the Vancouver Terminals beat Salmon Arm. The next year, when the Mowat Cup was introduced, there were nine eligible teams from the Kootenays, [...]

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by Ron Spence

We all know how unpopular – hated – Todd Bertuzzi is in Colorado.
But, why would his uncle Larry be so popular – almost revered  in some quarters?
It goes back to sixteen years ago.
The Nordiques must have thought that they were operating under some creative form of Napoleonic Law.
They reasoned that they could sign [...]

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