FINAL DECEMBER 1996/JANUARY 1997 TOP TEN

1.  Liam Maguire                67
2.  Mike Pieters                47
3.  Paul Branchaud              45
4.  Marc Arsenault              33
5.  Jonathan Braniff            30
6.  Mike Taylor                 29
    Cameron Thin                29
8.  Gene Dupras                 28
9.  John Santore                24
10. Scott Shigemi               22

• January 27, 1996:
  TWO-POINT QUESTION: This goaltender was the last to lead his team to the Avco Cup title. Name him.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Due to possible question ambiguity, I accepted both Gary "Suitcase" Smith and Markus Mattson, who were the two Winnipeg Jets goaltenders in 1979, the year they captured the final Avco Cup. For the record, Smith was in net for the final series.

  THREE-POINT QUESTION: In their four-year history as the Toronto AHL franchise, the St. John's Maple Leafs have seen four of their goaltenders "graduate" to the N.H.L. (for example, Don Beaupre would not count because he played in the N.H.L. before playing at St. John's, but Felix Potvin would count.) Name them.
  CORRECT ANSWER: The four N.H.L. graduates of the St. John's franchise were Felix Potvin, Damian Rhodes, Marcel Cousineau, and Bruce Racine.

  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: This goaltender has the dubious honour of allowing the most goals in a single Stanley Cup playoff game. Name him, and the number of goals he allowed.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Dawson City's Albert Forrest yielded twenty-three goals to the Ottawa Silver Seven in the deciding game of the 1905 Cup Finals. Liam pointed out that Forrest is also the youngest player to compete for the Stanley Cup, and he is correct - Forrest was seventeen at the time.

• January 20, 1996:
  TWO-POINT QUESTION: The Bruins' Phil Esposito once described this netminder as "a bleeping octopus". Name him.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Ken Dryden was the "bleeping octopus" in question.

  THREE-POINT QUESTION: On December 17th, the Boston Bruins defeated the Penguins in Pittsburgh for the first time in nearly seven years, ending a string of thirteen games without a victory. Name both goaltenders in that 1990 contest.
  CORRECT ANSWER: The last time the Bruins won in Pittsburgh, it was Rejean Lemelin in net for Boston, with Wendell Young of the Pens getting saddled with the loss.

  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Name the goaltender who yielded the first goal in World Hockey Association history, to Alberta's Ron Anderson.
  CORRECT ANSWER: The goaltender who yielded the very first World Hockey Association goal was none other than the "narrow-chested bird watcher" himself, the Ottawa Nationals' very own Les Binkley.

• January 13, 1996:
  TWO-POINT QUESTION: Of the six goaltenders in last year's N.H.L. All-Star game, name the only one who didn't allow a goal in the contest.
  CORRECT ANSWER: It was Martin Brodeur of the Devils who managed to shut out the Western Conference All-Stars in the game held last year in Boston. John Vanbiesbrouck, the most popular response by far, yielded three goals.

  THREE-POINT QUESTION: Pittsburgh's Patrick Lalime is well on is way to setting a new N.H.L. record, that being the longest unbeaten streak to begin an N.H.L. career. Who holds the record, and how long was his streak?
  CORRECT ANSWER: Both Ken Dryden of the Montreal Canadiens (12 wins, 2 ties), and Ross Brooks of the Boston Bruins (11 wins, 3 ties) shared the N.H.L. post-expansion record for a goaltender's undefeated streak to begin a career, with fourteen games apiece. Of course, as you all know, Patrick Lalime (13-0-2) now holds the record, at fifteen games and counting - most likely having a chance to extend that Tuesday night versus the Flames.

  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: In January of 1990, Wayne Gretzky called this young netminder "the best young goalie to come into the league since Grant Fuhr." Although having a decent career since, he hasn't really lived up to "The Great One"'s lofty expectations. Name him.
  CORRECT ANSWER: It was Mark Fitzpatrick, who then went on to experience medical and personal problems the likes of which I hope to never see. Gretzky seems to have this way of making goaltenders disappear by complimenting them - right, Jamie Storr?

• December 16, 1996:
  TWO-POINT QUESTION: Not to many people's surprise, the Flyers' Ron Hextall is the active career leader in penalty minutes. Who is in second place?
  CORRECT ANSWER: Tom Barrasso is second on the active list, with 393 career penalty minutes entering the season.

  THREE-POINT QUESTION: Since the beginning of the modern All-Star game, there has only been one shutout in its history. Name the goaltender(s) who had the honour.
  CORRECT ANSWER: The only shutout in modern All-Star history occurred in 1967, when the Montreal Canadiens, backstopped by Charlie Hodge and Gary Bauman, defeated the All-Stars three to nothing.

  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Yesterday (12/15), the St. Louis Blues suffered an 8-0 drubbing by the Vancouver Canucks, their worst shutout loss in over 22 years. Name both goaltenders involved in this 1974 contest.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Ah, yes. The five-pointer. The problem here (for me, anyways) was that the Blues were shut out twice, both by large margins of victory, in a span of fifteen days. If you answered the correct goaltender combination for either game, I gave the five points to you. On March 6, 1974, Gilles Gilbert and the Boston Bruins shut down the Blues, 8-0. John Davidson was the unlucky netminder there. Fifteen days later, Gilbert's Bruins did it again (7-0), this time with Wayne Stephenson and Jim Watt in net for the Blues. On another trivial note, this game was Jim Watt's only career N.H.L. appearance, yielding two goals in a scant twenty minutes.

• December 9, 1996:
  TWO-POINT QUESTION: Name the team whose current goaltenders have the most combined N.H.L. (regular-season) experience.
  CORRECT ANSWER: The St. Louis Blues, consisting of Grant Fuhr and Jon Casey (also Jamie McLennan if you like), had a combined 1,085 regular-season games worth of experience at the beginning of the season, and have tacked on a few dozen more this year. The Penguins (Barrasso and Wregget) were a close second with 1,055.

  THREE-POINT QUESTION: Last week, Patrick Roy recorded his fifth shutout of the season for the Colorado Avalanche, breaking (in just over 1/4 of a season) the Quebec/Colorado franchise record for shutouts in one season. Who, before Roy, held this record?
  CORRECT ANSWER: It was Clint "Scar" Malarchuk, perhaps better known for another incident, who had four shutouts in the 1985-86 Nordiques' season.

  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Over the past few years, you may have noticed that goaltenders have fared pretty well in postseason penalty shots. Name the last goaltender to yield an N.H.L. postseason penalty-shot goal.
  CORRECT ANSWER: The Rangers' John Vanbiesbrouck gave up a penalty-shot goal to Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr, on May 11, 1992.

• December 2, 1996:
  TWO-POINT QUESTION: Eight goaltenders share the N.H.L. record for the most postseason victories in one playoff year. Name the first goaltender to set the current record.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Grant Fuhr set the record in 1988, when his Edmonton Oilers captured the Stanley Cup. Many have now added their name to the record - in a future question I might ask who the only goaltender is to have set the record twice (Patrick Roy - don't forget :-)

  THREE-POINT QUESTION: Name the goaltender who was in net for the Boston Bruins' first Stanley Cup Championship.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Cecil "Tiny" Thompson led the Boston Bruins to a Stanley Cup championship over the Rangers way back in 1929.

  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Before the 1967 Stanley Cup Final, Punch Imlach described the contest by saying "There's no way the Habs can win this series with a Junior B goaltender." Who was the "Junior B" goaltender in question?
  CORRECT ANSWER: Rogatien (you know him as "Rogie") Vachon was the Junior B goaltender in question, but he was more than the Leafs bargained for, as les Habitants took Toronto to a stiff six-game contest in the last Stanley Cup match before the 1967 expansion.