FINAL DECEMBER 1997-JANUARY 1998 TOP TEN

1.  Lou Ford            96
2.  Gary Balentine      91
3.  Jeff Haff           85
4.  Patrick Houda       78
5.  Jonathan Braniff    68
6.  Mike Taylor         38
7.  Paul Branchaud      35
8.  M. Armstrong        32
    Greg Weston         32
10. Craig Ellingson     25

• GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR FOUR WEEK TEN (Answers due 10pm MDT 12/5/97):
  TWO-POINT QUESTION: This goaltender just had his consecutive games streak, one of the longest in post-expansion history, snapped at sixty games. Name him.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Phoenix's Nikolai Khabibulin just had his sixty-game consecutive-starts streak ended when Jim Waite played a game for the Coyotes.
  THREE-POINT QUESTION: Name the only goaltender to captain a Stanley Cup-winning team in the National Hockey League.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Charlie Gardiner and the Chicago Black Hawks won the Stanley Cup in 1934.
  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Name the goaltender, later inducted into hockey's Hall of Fame, who went the other way in the trade that brought Johnny Bower to the New York Rangers.
  CORRECT ANSWER: In the summer of 1953, Johnny Bower was sent from Cleveland (AHL) to the New York Rangers in exchange for Emile "The Cat" Francis (as well as forward Neil Strain and cash).
  BONUS QUESTION: This goaltender claimed, among other things, to be a reincarnated soldier from the Spanish Inquisition. Name him.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Gilles Gratton, who may be best known for his lion mask (he was a Leo), was the reincarnated soldier from the Spanish Inquisition. He also claimed to have stoned people to death in biblical times, and playing goal was his punishment.

• GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR FOUR WEEK ELEVEN (Answers due 10pm MDT 12/12/97):
  TWO-POINT QUESTION: Name the goaltender who was in net when the Florida Panthers won their first National Hockey League game.
  CORRECT ANSWER: John Vanbiesbrouck, still the dean of the Florida Panthers, was in net for their first franchise victory.
  THREE-POINT QUESTION: Over the course of his career, Mario Lemieux scored goals on more than one hundred netminders. Name the goaltender who allowed the greatest number (thirty) of these goals.
  CORRECT ANSWER: John Vanbiesbrouck, a Goaltender Trivia favourite, is the goaltender who allowed Mario Lemieux thirty N.H.L. goals.
  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Recently, Dino Ciccarelli scored a goal, giving him a goal against all twenty-six current National Hockey League teams, as well as five that have since relocated. Name the goaltender allowing the goal for the twenty-sixth team.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Phoenix's Nikolai Khabibulin allowed the goal to Dino Ciccarelli, giving him goals against all current N.H.L. teams.
  BONUS QUESTION: In the book "Open Net", writer George Plimpton spent a training camp as a Boston Bruins goaltender. Which goaltender was Plimpton's roommate during this ordeal?
  CORRECT ANSWER: Jim "Seaweed" Pettie, who played a total of three (partial) seasons in the N.H.L., was Plimpton's roommate at Bruins training camp.

• GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR FOUR WEEK TWELVE (Answers due 10pm MDT 1/9/98):
  TWO-POINT QUESTION: Name the most recent N.H.L. goaltender to reach the 300 win plateau.
  CORRECT ANSWER: I accepted two answers to this question. At the time the question was sent, Tom Barrasso was the last goaltender to reach 300 wins. However, John Vanbiesbrouck accomplished this as well over the lifetime of the question - thus, both answers are "correct".

  THREE-POINT QUESTION: Name the goaltender who holds the career N.H.L. for most regular-season games played.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Terry Sawchuk played 971 career regular-season games for Detroit, Toronto, Boston, Los Angeles, and the Rangers. I didn't count them this way, but if consider postseason games, he also wins, with 1077 games total.
  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Name the goaltender was selected to play Toronto in the Ace Bailey Benefit Game (essentially, the league's first All-Star goaltender).
  CORRECT ANSWER: Charlie Gardiner of the Chicago Black Hawks was the All-Star team goaltender at the Ace Bailey benefit game.
  BONUS QUESTION: Name the only player to play all six positions (including, of course, goal) in a single Stanley Cup game.
  CORRECT ANSWER: It was King Clancy who played at each of the six modern positions, all the way back in 1923. Yes, goaltenders had to serve their own penalties back then.

• GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR FOUR WEEK THIRTEEN (Answers due 10pm MDT 1/16/98):
  TWO-POINT QUESTION: Among active goaltenders with a minimum of 100 N.H.L. games played, name the career leader in save percentage.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Dominik Hasek holds this record amongst active goaltenders, with a 92.2% mark through the end of last season. And no, it hasn't dropped that much since then.

  THREE-POINT QUESTION: Name the Anaheim goaltender involved in the Mighty Ducks' first National Hockey League victory.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Many people assumed that Guy Hebert was the answer to this odd Anaheim question. After Hebert started Opening Night against Detroit, Ron Tugnutt was in net for the next three games, including their 4-3 triumph over the Edmonton Oilers.

  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: This goaltender, later to play for the New York Islanders, is the career Western Hockey League leader in Minutes Played (12,634), Goals Allowed (974), and Saves (6,958). Name him.
  CORRECT ANSWER: It was the pride of the Seattle Thunderbirds, Danny Lorenz, who holds these career W.H.L. marks.

  BONUS QUESTION: Referring to the three-point question above, name the opposing goaltender in the game in question.
  CORRECT ANSWER:There were two Edmonton goaltenders who were defeated by the Ducks on the night of October 13, 1993. Bill Ranford began the game for the Oilers, yielded three goals, and was replaced by Fred Brathwaite. Brathwaite gave up the fourth and final goal; however, being the deciding tally, he received "credit" for the loss. A footnote to this problem: if you read the Los Angeles Times account of this game, it opens: "And the answer to the future trivia question is...the Edmonton Oilers." I had no idea that the LA Times were GT fans :-)

• GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR FOUR WEEK FOURTEEN (Answers due 10pm MDT 1/23/98):
  TWO-POINT QUESTION: When the New York Rangers acquired this netminder in 1993, general manager Neil Smith quipped "Now we've got somebody who can win a game in Nassau Coliseum." Name this goaltender.
  CORRECT ANSWER: This, of course, would be the great Glenn Healy, who has since moved on to Toronto.

  THREE-POINT QUESTION: Name the first goaltender to have a postseason goal-against count because of a television replay.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Jon Casey. In a postseason game on April 28, 1992, Detroit's Sergei Fedorov scored the apparent game-winner in overtime, but play continued until the next stoppage, when it was reviewed and counted as the goal. Tim Cheveldae earned the 1-0 shutout.

  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: Which goaltender played the greatest number of National Hockey League games without seeing a single game of postseason action?
  CORRECT ANSWER: Dunc Wilson toiled for the Flyers, Canucks, Leafs, Rangers, and Penguins for a total of ten years and 287 games. The current top ten is listed immediately following.

  BONUS QUESTION: Name the only player to win the Western Hockey League's Del Wilson trophy in two non-consecutive seasons.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Troy Gamble, currently with the IHL's Houston Aeros, won the award in 1985 with Medicine Hat and in 1988 with Spokane. Two others have won the award in consecutive seasons: Ray Martyniuk (Flin Flon, 1969 and 1970) and Mike Vernon (Calgary, 1982 and 1983). Both went on to greater fame than Gamble, although for different reasons.

  GAMES PLAYED WITHOUT POSTSEASON:
  1.  Dunc Wilson         287
  2.  Edwin Chadwick      184
  3.  Tommy Soderstrom    156 (active)
  4.  Roberto Romano      126
  5.  Bernie Wolfe        120
  6.  Corrado Micalef     113
  7.  Marcel Paille       107
  8.  Frank Caprice       102
  9.  Ken McAuley         96
  10. Emile Francis       95
  

• GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR FOUR WEEK FIFTEEN (Answers due 10pm 1/30/98): TWO-POINT QUESTION: Name the goaltender who was directly involved in the 1992 Eric Lindros trade.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Ron Hextall was one of the many who were traded to the Nordiques in exchange for Eric Lindros. Jocelyn Thibault was involved, but only as a draft choice.

  THREE-POINT QUESTION: This goaltender is one of only two players to win the Hart Trophy while toiling for a last-place team. Name him.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Al Rollins won the Hart Trophy, tending goal for the last-place Chicago Blackhawks in 1954.

  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: As many of you know, Hall of Famer Georges Vezina left his final game after collapsing from what turned out to be tuberculosis. When Vezina collapsed, who replaced him in the Montreal net for the remainder of the game?
  CORRECT ANSWER: Alphonse Lacroix finished the game for les Habitants; following that game, Herb Rheaume completed the season.

  BONUS QUESTION: This active goaltender has garnered Rookie of the Year honours in both the International Hockey League and the National Hockey League. Name him.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Ed Belfour shared the IHL's Rookie of the Year award (with John Cullen) in 1987-88 with Saginaw, and then won the NHL's Rookie of the Year with Chicago in 1990-91.

• GOALTENDER TRIVIA YEAR FOUR WEEK SIXTEEN (Answers due 10pm 2/6/98): TWO-POINT QUESTION: Name the first goaltender to play at least one regular-season game for each Florida N.H.L. franchise.
  CORRECT ANSWER: This just happened recently, and it is Mark Fitzpatrick, currently with the Tampa Bay Lightning, previously being with the Panthers for the life of the franchise. Care had to be taken in answering this one, because Daren Puppa had been "owned" by both franchises, but of course never played for the Panthers.

  THREE-POINT QUESTION: Dominik Hasek tied an N.H.L. record in December, recording six shutouts in one month. Who held the record at the time Dominik tied it?
  CORRECT ANSWER: George Hainsworth held the record of six shutouts in one month for nearly seventy years, before being tied by Hasek.

  FIVE-POINT QUESTION: In 1982-83, this goaltender began his N.H.L. career with a 12-0-1 mark, falling one game short of the (then) record for consecutive undefeated games to begin an N.H.L. career. Name him.
  CORRECT ANSWER: Bob Froese went 12-0-1 in his first thirteen decisions as a Flyer, after being called up from the Maine Mariners midway through the 1982-83 season.

  BONUS QUESTION: Name the goaltender who was in net for the Atlanta Flames' first playoff win.
  CORRECT ANSWER:On April 7, 1977, Phil Myre was in net as the Flames defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 at the Omni. The Flames would eventually lose the quarterfinal series two games to one.