JANUARY 2007 TOP TEN

1.  Kevin Belobaba          55
    Mark Calandra           55
    Tom Mascioli            55
    Roger Maynard           55
    Bryan McCready          55
    Dave White              55
7.  Gary Balentine          52
8.  Pete Hibbard            50
9.  Maxime Deslippes        39
10. Kevin Cameron           34
GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR ELEVEN WEEK THIRTEEN (Answers due 10pm MST 01/13/07):

TWO-POINT QUESTION: The first goaltender to be named most valuable player of the National Hockey League, this player's career ended suddenly due to a severe hernia. Name him.
CORRECT ANSWER: Five-foot-three Roy "Shrimp" Worters captured the Hart Trophy in 1928-29 after guiding the offense-challenged New York Americans to the playoffs with thirteen shutouts. Worters was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969, twelve years after his death.

THREE-POINT QUESTION: Name the goaltender who began his American Hockey League career this season by recording shutouts in his first two league games.
CORRECT ANSWER: Recalled to the Iowa Stars, Steve Silverthorn blanked Hamilton (32 saves) and Toronto (24) on January 5th and 6th of this year. Loaned back to the ECHL, Silverthorn then shut out Phoenix on January 8th! His AHL streak ended on January 12th in a 3-1 loss to Houston.

FIVE-POINT QUESTION: This long-time National Hockey League goaltender recently earned a degree in horse dentistry. Name him.
CORRECT ANSWER: While with the WCHL Idaho Steelheads in the late 1990s, head coach Clint Malarchuk was also enrolled at the Academy of Equine Dentistry.

PICTORAL QUESTION: Name the following goaltender:

CORRECT ANSWER: Charlie Hodge, the new starting goaltender for the Montreal Canadiens at the time. Hodge won the Vezina Trophy over the course of this season.

GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR ELEVEN WEEK FOURTEEN (Answers due 10pm MST 01/20/07):

TWO-POINT QUESTION: Recently, this goaltender became the first player born and developed in Japan to appear in the National Hockey League. Name him.
CORRECT ANSWER: On January 13, Yutaka Fukufuji replaced Los Angeles starter Barry Brust in Los Angeles' game against the St. Louis Blues. Fukufuji earned the loss after allowing a Dennis Wideman goal on five shots. As of this writing, he is still with the team.

THREE-POINT QUESTION: This netminder was the only Calder Trophy winner in National Hockey League history not to play a single NHL game in the following season. Name him.
CORRECT ANSWER: Here's how competitive things were for goaltenders in the 1950s. After winning the 1953 Calder Trophy, future Hall-of-Famer Gump Worsley asked for a $500 raise from the New York Rangers. So the Rangers went out and replaced him with Johnny Bower, also a future Hall-of-Famer.

Note that I worded this question very carefully, and that Andrew Raycroft is not a correct answer. Since there was no NHL season in 2004-05, Raycroft didn't not play in it. There's your daily double negative as well!

FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Prior to the 1984 Winter Olympic games in Sarajevo, this goaltender was a major figure in an eligibility scandal. Name him.
CORRECT ANSWER: The eligibility of Canadian starting goaltender Mario Gosselin was called into question by both the United States and Finland, claiming that Gosselin (and three others) should be ineligible due to their having signed NHL contracts prior to the Games. Gosselin was ruled eligible, although others (most prominently Italy's Jim Corsi) were kept out due to their past major league experience. The rule was changed in time for the 1988 Winter Games, paving the way for Sean Burke and others to appear.

PICTORAL QUESTION: Name the following goaltender:

CORRECT ANSWER: One of the underrated netminders of the 1980s, and one of the nicest guys you'll ever get to meet, this is Glen Hanlon. During his time with the New York Rangers, he formed a very effective tandem with John Vanbiesbrouck.

GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR ELEVEN WEEK FIFTEEN (Answers due 10pm MST 01/27/07):

TWO-POINT QUESTION: On Saturday, this goaltender played for his eighth National Hockey League franchise, tying a league mark for goaltenders. Name him.
CORRECT ANSWER: Sean Burke, who was claimed off waivers by Los Angeles due to a combination of injuries and inexperience in the Kings' net. Perhaps desiring to fit in with his new teammates, Burke was forced out of his first game due to dehydration.

THREE-POINT QUESTION: In 1983, this man was hired as the first full-time National Hockey League goaltending coach. Name him.
CORRECT ANSWER: Warren Strelow, who may be best known for his role as goaltending coach of the 1980 United States Olympic Team, was hired by the Washington Capitals to mind their netminders. He is currently in the same position with the San Jose Sharks, a role he has filled for the past ten seasons.

FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Because he had not received his full share of complimentary game tickets, this Ottawa netminder began what may have been professional hockey's first strike. Name him.
CORRECT ANSWER: One of the flakiest goaltenders in hockey's formative era, Fred Chittick staged his strike in mid-February 1898, forcing the Ottawa Hockey Club to go with backup Alex Cope in their 9-5 loss to the Montreal Victorias. Chittick returned to the club, but was eventually replaced by the much-better (and much more normal) Bouse Hutton.

PICTORAL QUESTION: Name the following goaltender:

CORRECT ANSWER: The last World Hockey Association goaltender to appear in an NHL game, Mike Liut is shown here practicing his trade with the St. Louis Blues in the early 1980s. Liut's biggest accomplishment may have been in narrowly defeating Wayne Gretzky for the 1980-81 Lester Pearson Award.

GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR ELEVEN WEEK SIXTEEN (Answers due 10pm MST 02/03/07):

TWO-POINT QUESTION: Towards the end of his tenure with the New York Rangers, a reporter asked Gump Worsley which National Hockey League team gave him the most trouble. According to Worsley, which team was toughest on him?
CORRECT ANSWER: His own team, the Rangers! Gump was always good for a quote.

THREE-POINT QUESTION: What was unusual about the sweater numbers worn by the goaltenders during the 2006-07 National Hockey League All-Star Game?
CORRECT ANSWER: Both Ryan Miller and Martin Brodeur wore the same number (30) for the Eastern Conference. Tom Mascioli correctly points out that this hasn't happened since Gump Worsley and Johnny Bower both wore #1 in the 1961 All-Star Game.

I believe that this happened because, once Miller won the fan voting, his sweater #30 was being sold on NHL websites without any consideration of what would happen if Brodeur (who has seniority) were chosen to be on the squad. So they avoided the issue entirely!

FIVE-POINT QUESTION: During the 1949-50 season, Toronto general manager Conn Smythe suspended overweight goaltender Turk Broda (among others) until he trimmed down. What maximum weight (in pounds) did Smythe require for Broda in order for him to return to the Maple Leaf net?
CORRECT ANSWER: 190 lbs (although some sources state that he had to be one pound less than that). Regardless, he got to 189 lbs and returned after missing one game.

PICTORAL QUESTION: Name the following goaltender:

CORRECT ANSWER: Don Beaupre, whose rookie NHL season resulted in a trip to the 1981 Stanley Cup Finals. I don't know if this is a record or not (I believe that it is), but Beaupre lost the final 27 decisions of his big-league career.