FEBRUARY 2004 TOP TEN

FEBRUARY 2004 LEADERS:
1.  Gilles Carmel           80      San Diego, California
    Bryan McCready          80      Toronto, Ontario
3.  Jason Kurylo            70      New Westminster, British Columbia
4.  Jim Shaarda             60
5.  Justin Deonarine        55      Toronto, Ontario
6.  Aaron Cronk             52      Hamilton, Ontario
    Realto Margarino        52
8.  Mike Taylor             45      Newfoundland
9.  David Zetterman         43      Stockholm, Sweden
10. Mark Calandra           40      Ipswitch, Massachusetts
GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR NINE WEEK FOURTEEN (Answers due 10pm MST 02/10/03):
TWO-POINT QUESTION: Name the goaltenders who recently faced off in the first National Hockey League contest between Swiss-born netminders.
CORRECT ANSWER: On October 20, 2002, Martin Gerber and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim defeated the Colorado Avalanche, with David Aebischer in goal, by a 3-2 score in overtime. Late last month, the pair reprised their battle, with Gerber again winning in the extra session.

THREE-POINT QUESTION: Name the only National Hockey League goaltender to take home the Calder and Vezina Trophies, and the Stanley Cup, in his rookie season.
CORRECT ANSWER: Boston's Frank Brimsek had perhaps the best rookie year in the history of the National Hockey League. After general manager moved fan favourite (and future Hall-of-Famer) Tiny Thompson in order to play Brimsek, the Eveleth-born puckstopper led the league in victories (33), goals-against average (1.56) and shutouts (10) before pacing the Boston franchise to the 1939 Stanley Cup championship. Brimsek was elected himself to the Hall of Fame just twenty-seven years later.

FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Before this netminder made his official National Hockey League debut late in the 2001-02 season, he rode the bench on forty-three separate big league occasions. Name this goaltender.
CORRECT ANSWER: Philadelphia's Neil Little, who undoubtedly has been called up so many times due to the proximity of the club's farm team (also in Philadelphia). On March 28, 2002, Neil and the Flyers met the eventual conference champion Carolina Hurricanes and fell, 4-1.

BONUS QUESTION: On November 28, 1925, Georges Vezina - the only goaltender ever to play for the Montreal Canadiens (appearing in 325 consecutive regular-season games) - collapsed on the ice and had to be removed from the game. Name the goaltender who immediately replaced Vezina, who would eventually pass away.
CORRECT ANSWER: Alphonse "Frenchy" Lacroix finished the game, and played the next four games for the Canadiens, who went 1-4 in the immediate post-Vezina era. The club eventually signed Herb Rheaume to complete the year, but it was not until next fall when they found the ultimate replacement in George Hainsworth. Hainsworth was the winner of the first three "top goaltender" trophies, named for Vezina.

PICTORIAL QUESTION: Identify the goaltender in the following picture (click on the image for a closer look):

CORRECT ANSWER: This is one of my favourite goaltenders - the Vancouver Canucks' Gary "Suitcase" Smith. In this shot, Smith seems to be doing something illegal to the St. Louis forward (it's either Bernie Lukowich or Jerry Butler; I can't tell which) while teammate Mike Robitaille looks on.

GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR NINE WEEK FIFTEEN (Answers due 10pm MST 02/17/03):
TWO-POINT QUESTION: Although Eddie Cahill played the role of Jim Craig in the new movie "Miracle", a former National Hockey League netminder stepped into Craig's skates for the action scenes. Name him.
CORRECT ANSWER: Bill Ranford, who won 268 National Hockey League games, two Stanley Cups (one as a starter), one Conn Smythe, a Canada Cup, and looks as sharp as ever. Apparently there's an article in a recent Hockey News about Ranford's role, which means that I didn't catch up completely on my reading while on the plane last week.

THREE-POINT QUESTION: Patrick Roy is obviously the career leader in regular-season victories with the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche National Hockey League franchise. Who is second to Roy in this category?
CORRECT ANSWER: Roy's boyhood idol, Dan Bouchard, tallied 107 regular season victories with the Nords. If you were to count World Hockey Association games, "King" Richard Brodeur would easily hold the record, however.

FIVE-POINT QUESTION: This goaltender holds the National Hockey League record for the longest amount of time between league appearances. Name him.
CORRECT ANSWER: Moe Roberts played a total of nine National Hockey League games between 1925-26 and 1933-34, before being sent to the minor leagues, primarily toiling with the Cleveland Falcons and Cleveland Barons. After serving in World War Two, he returned for one year with the Eastern League's Washington Lions, and retired at the ripe old age of forty. End of career, or so it seemed.

On November 25, 1951, Roberts was an assistant trainer for the Chicago Black Hawks when his club's goaltender, Harry Lumley, could not finish the game against Detroit. Roberts donned the armour once more, holding off the Red Wings for the entire third period. Unfortunately, the Hawks lost the contest by a 5-2 count, but it was eighteen seasons after his last NHL game.

BONUS QUESTION: Shortly after joining the National Hockey League, the Quebec Nordiques had three players record hat tricks in the same game. Name the goaltender(s) who were victimized by the triple hat tricks.
CORRECT ANSWER: On February 22, 1981, Peter Stastny (four goals), Anton Stastny and Jacques Richard each had a hat trick against the Washington Capitals in an 11-7 victory. Mike Palmateer gave up eight goals on twenty-three shots before being lifted at 0:43 of the third period; his backup, Wayne Stephenson, proceeded to give up goals on the first two shots he saw en route to the defeat.

Interestingly, the Nordiques almost pulled this feat off two nights earlier against the Vancouver Canucks. Peter and Anton each had a hat trick, Michel Goulet scored twice and Jacques Richard had one goal. Normally I'd research this further, but I'm fairly confident in saying that this is the only time brothers have notched double hat tricks in back-to-back games.

PICTORIAL QUESTION: Identify the goaltender in the following picture (click on the image for a closer look):

CORRECT ANSWER: This would be the recently-honoured Mike Richter, sitting in the vehicle he was awarded as Most Valuable Player of the 1994 National Hockey League All-Star Game.

GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR NINE WEEK SIXTEEN (Answers due 10pm MST 02/24/03):
TWO-POINT QUESTION: Name the most recent National Hockey League goaltender to win his 300th regular-season game.
CORRECT ANSWER: On Valentine's Day 2004, new Philadelphia Flyer netminder Sean Burke stopped twenty-five shots in a 6-2 win over the New York Rangers. In doing so, Burke becane the twentieth man to reach the 300-win plateau.

THREE-POINT QUESTION: A recent Stanley Cup Finals featured opposing starting goaltenders who are the top two European-born leaders in National Hockey League victories. Name them.
CORRECT ANSWER: The 2002 Finals featured Detroit's Dominik Hasek and Carolina's Arturs Irbe, both of whom did a lot to erase the "Europeans can't play goal" stereotype commonplace in the National Hockey League during the 1980s. Along with Pelle Lindbergh, the keepers changed the league's thinking - if you don't believe me, check to see who's in the net for your favourite teams these days.

FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Prior to Marc-Andre Fleury, name the most recent netminder to jump directly from North American junior hockey to the National Hockey League.
CORRECT ANSWER: The answer I was looking for was the New York Rangers' Daniel Blackburn, who went straight from the Western League's Kootenay Ice to the big leagues on October 10, 2001. I would have also accepted the Canadiens' Oliver Michaud, who filled in as an injury replacement on October 30, 2001, except that both people who mentioned the possibility also mentioned Blackburn.

BONUS QUESTION: Name the goaltender who faced (and stopped) the first penalty shot in Stanley Cup playoff history.
CORRECT ANSWER: On March 25, 1937, Boston's Tiny Thompson stopped Lionel Conacher of the Montreal Maroons. Although it didn't secure the win, it was important in preserving Thompson's shutout in a 4-0 Bruin victory.

PICTORIAL QUESTION: Identify the goaltender in the following picture (click on the image for a closer look):

CORRECT ANSWER: The man who shared three Jennings Trophies with Patrick Roy, Brian Hayward deserves a lot of the credit for helping Roy grow into his role as a top-flight netminder.

GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR NINE WEEK SEVENTEEN (Answers due 10pm MST 03/07/03):
TWO-POINT QUESTION: If this goaltender plays the remainder of his team's 2003-04 games, he will break the National Hockey League record for games played by a netminder in one season. Name him.
CORRECT ANSWER: Marty Turco of the Dallas Stars, who now cannot break the record because he will play "only" seventy-eight games this year.

THREE-POINT QUESTION: On September 23, 1999, this netminder became the first female to start and win a Canadian major junior hockey league game. Name her.
CORRECT ANSWER: Charline Labonte, who ended up winning four games for the QMJHL's Acadie-Bathurst Titan in 1999-2000 as the backup to Frederic Cloutier. The following year, she ended up losing her spot to Adam Russo and Simon Lajeunesse.

FIVE-POINT QUESTION: In December of 1999, this rookie winger scored a West Coast Hockey League goal and an assist before playing in net for the final twelve minutes. Furthermore, he stopped all nine shots he faced! Name him.
CORRECT ANSWER: The Colorado Gold Kings' Greg Gatto, currently an assistant coach with the Central League's Odessa Jackalopes. The evening started when Gatto hit starting goaltender Aaron Schweitzer in the throat by a puck, forcing Schweitzer from the game. Jeff Varvil started the game, but went down with a hamstring injury midway through the final period, forcing Gatto into the game. The Gold Kings played with all five skaters in defensive positions trying to nurse the lead; Gatto stopped all nine shots, most from center ice. According to Colorado coach Kirk Tomlinson, "He was like a stick man in there. He stood straight up and never bent at the knees or waist."

BONUS QUESTION: Name the only goaltender (and one of only two players) to wear the number "0" in the National Hockey League.
CORRECT ANSWER: Paul Bibeault was the last to wear the number, for the Montreal Canadiens in the forties. The number is now prohibited league-wide.

PICTORIAL QUESTION: Identify the goaltender in the following picture (click on the image for a closer look):

CORRECT ANSWER: Mikhail Shtalenkov; in fact if you visit his biography page you'll see him wearing the same mask. Despite posting consistent numbers around the league, Misha was caught in more than one logjam of up-and-coming young netminders who eventually forced him back to Europe. One of the most underrated goalies of the 1990s if you ask me.