FINAL FEBRUARY 1998 TOP TEN

1.  Patrick Houda       63
2.  Mike Pieters        62
3.  Lou Ford            51
4.  Jonathan Braniff    43
5.  Gary Balentine      27
6.  Greg Weston         20
7.  Jani Lehti          19
8.  Norm Szcyrek        18
9.  Lee Johnston        14
10. Tony Boron          13

• GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR FOUR WEEK SEVENTEEN (Answers due 10pm MST 2/13/98):
  TWO-POINT QUESTION: Name the jersey number that Soviet goaltender Vladislav Tretiak made famous during his prolonged career.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Vladislav Tretiak wore the number twenty during his distinguished tenure as one of international hockey's best goaltenders. The most prominent goaltender to pay tribute to Tretiak is Ed Belfour, who currently wears the number with the Dallas Stars.

  THREE-POINT QUESTION: Name the goaltender(s) to record the first shutout in the history of women's Olympic Ice Hockey.
  CORRECT ANSWER: In the first game of Olympic women's ice hockey, Finland defeated Sweden six to zero - goaltender Tuula Puputti received the shutout.

  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: When Daniel Bouchard was traded to the Quebec Nordiques, he rattled off six straight victories. His first defeat came at the hands of a goaltender who was playing in his first game for his new team. Name the winning goaltender in this contest.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Michel Dion was the goaltender who defeated Bouchard for the first time in Dan's Quebec career. An interesting sidelight that I left out, for fear that it would give the answer away: The reason Dion was playing his first game as a Winnipeg Jet was because the Quebec Nordiques, having just acquired Bouchard, decided that Dion was expendable. Bouchard followed Dion to the Jets five seasons later.

  BONUS QUESTION: This goaltender was the first Minnesota North Star ever to be named Player of the Month. Name him.
  CORRECT ANSWER: According to the Minnesota North Stars 20th Anniversary Handbook, Don Beaupre was the first Star to win the Player of the Month award. In February of 1986, Beaupre was in the midst of a fourteen game consecutive victory streak.

• GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR FOUR WEEK EIGHTEEN (Answers due 10pm MDT 2/22/98):
  TWO-POINT QUESTION: Name the goaltender who led the National Hockey League in victories last season.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche recorded thirty-eight regular season victories last year, one more than New Jersey's Martin Brodeur (another popular answer). If you consider post-season victories, Roy again comes out on top, with forty-eight.

  THREE-POINT QUESTION: This goaltender was named one of his game's "Three Stars of the Game" a total of thirty-eight times last season, six more than any other player. Name him.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Dominik Hasek was awarded six more stars than either Curtis Joseph or Mario Lemieux last year. As Bill Clare puts it, "they gave him a star if he didn't trip on the ice".

  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Name the last team (and the goaltenders) to have four or more goaltenders record at least one N.H.L. shutout in a season.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Seventeen years ago, the 1980-81 Montreal Canadiens had four netminders with shutouts: Richard Sevigny (two), Rick Wamsley, Denis Herron, and Michel Larocque (one apiece).

  BONUS QUESTION: Many of you probably know that Bill Barilko won the 1951 Stanley Cup for the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime, and died four months later in a northern Ontario plane crash. Name the goaltender who gave up Barilko's Cup-winning tally.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Gerry McNeil was the tender for the losing Habitants. Jonathan Braniff brought up something I was going to mention - the Leafs took eleven years to win the Stanley Cup; it was that year (1962) that Barilko's body was found in northern Ontario. Draw your own conclusions.

• GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR FOUR WEEK NINETEEN (Answers due 10pm 3/1/98):
  TWO-POINT QUESTION: With thirteen letters, this active goaltender has the longest surname in the history of National Hockey League goaltenders. Name him.
  CORRECT ANSWER: With thirteen letters (and all five vowels), Florida's John Vanbiesbrouck has the longest surname in the history of NHL goaltenders.

  THREE-POINT QUESTION: Last season, two N.H.L. goaltenders recorded sixteen game undefeated streaks. One was, of course, Patrick Lalime's career-beginning streak. Name the goaltender with the other streak.
  CORRECT ANSWER: There were two possible correct answers here. The one I remembered was the Rangers' Mike Richter, who went 14-0-2 from November 26 through January 6. I had completely forgotten Garth Snow, who went 11-0-5 from November 30 through March 2. No one pointed out that there were two, which would have garnered three bonus points (in essense, pointing out an error in the question).

  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Name the first goaltender to record two assists in a single National Hockey League game.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Ed Giacomin recorded two assists on March 19, 1972, in a 5-3 New York Rangers victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

  BONUS QUESTION: When Eddie Giacomin returned to Madison Square Garden as a member of the Detroit Red Wings, name the goaltender who faced him in the Ranger net.
  CORRECT ANSWER: ESPN's John Davidson was the man in the Ranger net the night Giacomin returned to the Garden. "NHL Tonight" did an excellent presentation of this game a few months ago - even though I knew the whole story behind the incident, I had tears in my eyes.

• GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR FOUR WEEK TWENTY (Answers due 10pm MST 3/7/98):
  TWO-POINT QUESTION: Although the busiest goaltender prior to the Olympic break, this netminder skipped the Nagano Olympics, citing as his reason the poor experience he had in the 1996 World Cup. Name him.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Nikolai Khabibulin was the netminder upset at Team Russia's treatment of him at the World Cup.

  THREE-POINT QUESTION: When this goaltender taken by the St. Louis Blues in the expansion draft, Lynn Patrick said "(he) always held out in Chicago every fall because he said he had a barn to paint. Well, I'll tell you know much I want him. I'll go out and help him paint the blessed barn." Name the famous barn-painter.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Glenn "Mr. Goalie" Hall was the netminder with the barn. It was never established whether Hall owned a barn or not, but it's pretty certain to most that he didn't paint it every year.

  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: On March 24, 1981, this goaltender faced a total of sixty-eight shots in one game (twenty-nine in the third period!), yet came away with a 4-3 victory. Name this goaltender.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Mario Lessard earned the win in this contest.

  BONUS QUESTION: In October 1942, with his goaltender Jim Henry participating in World War II, Lester Patrick found a replacement in Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Name the replacement.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Steve Buzinski "The Puck Goes Inski". One of the worst goaltenders in memory - one time he made a lunging glove save, stood up, and in one smooth motion, flipped the puck over his shoulder and into the open Ranger net.