Today In NHL History - Owen Nolan's Called Shot

On January 18th in 1997, San Jose Sharks forward Owen Nolan called his shot and scored on a breakaway against Buffalo Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek with 2 minutes left in the 47th NHL All-Star Game in San Jose, completing the hat trick and sending hometown fans into a frenzy.
Hasek's Eastern Team defeated Nolan's Western Squad 11-7 with MVP honors going to Mark Recchi who hat tricked for the winning side.

That's today in NHL history

Today In NHL History - Rory's All-Star Game Vote

On January 9th in 2007, the NHL revealed that Vancouver Canucks defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick finished 3rd in fan voting behind Western Conference Norris winners Scott Niedermayer and Nicklas Lidstrom, eliminating him from contention for the All-Star Game.

Yearning for an underdog in the asinine exhibition affair, 22 year old Mike Schmid crafted a six-week Vote For Rory write-in campaign complete with spoof smear spots against ballot front-runners to support his cause.



Though on pace to cinch second place with a week remaining, Fitzpatrick finished with 550,117 votes (22,892 shy of a starting spot) ending significant media speculation and even some outrage surrounding the circus. The suspicious result raised eyebrows with Slate who reviewed the data and surmised in Rorygate that the NHL engaged in foul play dumping 100,000 votes in order to yield their desired defensemen.

In the end, the NHL frowned upon fans having the final say, electing to silence the everyday normal fan and bench the blue collar blueliner.

That's today in NHL history.

Today In NHL History - Shore Hits Bailey

On December 12th in 1933, Boston Bruins blueliner Eddie Shore drilled Toronto Maple Leafs scoring sensation Ace Bailey in response to physical play by penalty killers King Clancy and Red Horner.

Horner recalls, "He [Shore] hit Bailey and flipped him in the air, just like a rag doll. Bailey landed on his head just a few feet from where I was standing. Bailey hit the ice and he went into some kind of convulsion. I thought to myself, 'That's the end of Ace!'"

The blow fractured Bailey's skull in two places ending his playing career and very nearly his life. Horner promptly punched out Shore, rendering him unconscious with a three inch gash in his head resulting in seven stitches. Both players were carried off the ice by teammates.

In the aftermath, Leafs GM Conn Smythe was jailed for striking a fan accusing Ace of faking his injury and Bailey's father traveled to Boston to exact revenge. Smythe was released the next day after agreeing to cover the fan's dental fees and Bailey Sr. was sent home without incident.

Offered a slim chance to live after two risky operations, a priest was summoned to read last rights. Bailey, however, fought through the night and by Christmas was expected to survive. Shore was suspended indefinitely, reinstated on January 28, 1934 after 16 games when it was clear Bailey would live. Horner sat until January 1, 1934.

Adding to the Bruins $8,000 contribution ($342,000 present day), the NHL hosted its first All-Star game raising $20,909 for Bailey ($900,000 present day). Bailey embraced Shore prior to the game resulting in the loudest ovation ever heard at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Shore apologized to Ace maintaining that the hit was purely accidental. Bailey never held a grudge, claiming "It's all part of the game."

That's today in NHL history.

NHL All-Star Joke - Why Bother

This weekend, the best hockey players in the world will descend upon the holiest of cities to battle for interstellar conference domination. Players will skate together for the first and last time, yielding some of the most talented line combinations the game will ever know.

So why does nobody care about this year's NHL All-Star Game? Because there's nothing at stake. If you're going to bring the thoroughbreds to the track, for god's sake let them run. Hell, make 'em run.

In 2003, Major League Baseball did just that awarding the pennant winner of the league winning the All-Star Game with home field advantage for the upcoming World Series. Since then, the game has become a competitive affair with intra-conference rivals bonding over a mutually advantage prize. In short, it made the event relevant.

If you're going to ask NHL fans to top up a pension fund for workers who make a minimum of $475,000 each year, and on average almost $2,000,000 per year, the least you can do is bait the players with a meaningful prize. History as our witness, it takes more than a free car to get these horses out of the barn.

When the NHL's Article 22 Competition Committee convenes this weekend in Montreal, let's hope they see the wisdom of MLB's ways and follow suit awarding home ice advantage for the Stanley Cup finals to the winning conference of future NHL All-Star Games. Now that's something worth watching. Until then, why bother.

2009 NHL All-Star Joke - Rigging the Roster

This year fans allegedly elected 2009 All-Star Game players from only four squads including no skaters from the defending Cup Champions, the top three teams in either conference, or the top 20 scorers.

Not even the league’s most exciting player Alexander Ovechkin made the cut. That's right. This year's festivities features the feathery combination of the Chicago Ducks and Montreal Penguins.

No stranger to tampering with fan voting - lest we forget the league's undisputed roll in Rorygate denying dedicated fans the all-star debut of defenceman Rory Fitzpatrick - hometown favoritism runs rampant in this year's selections.

Instead of rounding out the program with high performers from the first half of the season, hometown hacks like Alexei Kovalev are occupying spots belonging to Patricks Elias or Marleau and Mike Komisarek is keeping the offensively gifted Mike Green from the game.

Ironically, Canadiens defenceman Komisarek's mid-season production (1G, 4A) is akin to Rory Fitzpatrick's from his 2007 almost-all-star season (1G, 6A). With the benefit of hindsight, it appears Fitzpatrick's fatal flaw was collecting votes in a year when his home team wasn't hosting.

In the end, it doesn't really matter who cracks the lineup or how. It would just be nice for fans to have a say, whether the NHL agrees or not.