Yesterday in Hockey History: April 14th
Tomorrow in Hockey History: April 16
If you’re a Motown hockey fan, this is a great day for you. One of the NHL’s most unique traditions began 69 years ago. One of the most common seasons ended and a lot of Stanley Cup Playoff history was made. Let’s take our daily journey back to see all the best April 15th has given us over the years.
Busy Day for the Detroit Red Wings
On April 15, 1937, the Red Wings became the first US-based NHL team to win the Stanley Cup in consecutive seasons. Goaltender Earl Robertson, who started last season in the minor leagues, earned his second straight shutout in a 3-0 win over the New York Rangers. He was called up after Normie Smith was injured during the Red Wings’ semi final. Robertson had never played in the NHL before this and did not play for Detroit again after this game.
This game is also remembered because referee Mickey Ion awarded Alex Shibicky of the Rangers the first penalty in the history of the Stanley Cup finals. Robertson made the save to ensure he is not the first goaltender to allow a goal on a shot in the Stanley Cup Finals. That distinction goes to Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes who gave up a field goal to Chris Pronger in 2006.
One of the most unique and rare traditions in all of sports began on April 15, 1952, when the Red Wings became the first team to win the Stanley Cup without losing a playoff game. Terry Sawchuk earned his fifth career shutout as Detroit beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 to go 8-0 in the playoffs.
The Cusimano brothers, store owners at the nearby Eastern Market, throw an octopus onto the ice with each of its legs, symbolizing the eight wins needed to win the Stanley Cup. Unbeknownst to them, they started a tradition that continues to this day, although the team must win 16 games to claim the grand prize.
On April 15, 2000, the Red Wings defeated the Los Angles Kings 8-5 in Game 2 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. The teams combined for six goals in the first 6:56, the fastest six goals to start a playoff game since modern record keeping began in 1943-44. Martin Lapointe scored his first playoff hat trick for the Red Wings in the win.
Brett Hull made playoff history on April 15, 2004, while wearing a Red Wings uniform. He scored the game-winning goal in a 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators.
It was the 24thth game-winning goal of his career, tying Wayne Gretzky for the most in league history. Their record still stands today and is in no real danger of being broken. The active player with the most playoff goals is Patrick Marleau, with 16.
Historic 1992-93 Season Ends
The 1992-93 regular season was one of the craziest in NHL history. An influx of exciting and talented players from Europe expanded the scoring league, and records fell everywhere. On April 15, 1993, Teemu Selanne completed a major league rookie season with a goal and an assist in the Winnipeg Jets’ 3-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
Selanne scored 76 goals and 132 points, which are still rookie records. However, he was not the only one in the list of scorers. Alexander Mogilny of the Buffalo Sabers scored 75th and 76th goals of the season, in a 7-4 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, to finish tied with Selanne.
Jeremy Roenick made his own history that night as well. He got his 50th goal of the season, in a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, becoming the second member of the Chicago Blackhawks to have consecutive 50-goal seasons. He and Bobby Hull are the only two players left who can do it. In fact, they are two of three players to have 50 goals in a season for the Blackhawks, the third being Al Secord.
Luc Robitaille of the Kings scored a goal and added three assists to set the NHL single-season record for most points by a left wing. His 125 points in the 1992-93 season remain the most of any player at the position.
Not everyone benefited from the increase in points during the 1992-93 season. The San Jose Sharks lost 7-3 to the Calgary Flames to end the season at 11-71-2. Their 71 losses remain the most by any NHL team in a single season. Ironically, the only team to lose 70 games in a season was the 1992-93 Ottawa Senators, who went 10-70-4.
Stanley Cup Playoff Odds & Ends
On April 15, 1969, Jacques Plante and St. Louis Blues beat Amakhosi 4-0. Red Berenson tied the record with three goals in the second half, and Plante picked up his 13th shutout of the season. During that time, he tied the all-time record held by Hall of Famer Turk Broda. Plante retired with 14 shutouts in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the seventh most in NHL history.
The Flyers set an NHL playoff record on April 15, 1976, by picking up 30 penalties in a 5-4 loss at Toronto. This record was broken on April 9, 1981, when the Rangers were hit with 31 penalties in a game against the Kings. The Minnesota North Stars currently hold the record after committing 34 penalties against the Blackhawks on April 6, 1990.
A year later, Rick MacLeish sent Game 3 of the Flyers’ series with the Maple Leafs into overtime with 38 seconds to play in regulation. He scored the game-winning goal less than three minutes into overtime to snap the Maple Leafs’ lead at 2-1. MacLeish became the first player in NHL history to score a game-tying goal in the final minute of regulation and an overtime goal in the same playoff game. The Flyers went on to win the series in six games after losing the first two contests on home ice.
On April 15, 1989, Gretzky returned to haunt the Oilers as he and the Kings ended their two-year reign as Stanley Cup champions. He and Bernie Nicholls scored two goals each when Amakhosi wiped out the Oilers series 3-1 and took them out of Game 7 of the Smythe Division Semifinals.
Two little-known members of the 1991 Stanley Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins made it big on April 15, 1991. Goaltender Frank Pietrangelo, in relief of an injured Tom Barrasso, picked up the final game of his career in Game 7 of the Patrick Division Semifinals against the New Jersey Devils. Jiri Hrdina scored twice in a 4-0 victory to become the first player in NHL history to score two goals in the first postseason of his career in Game 7 of the same series.
Tuukka Rask and Brad Marchand both scored big on this night in 2021 with the former winning his 300th NHL game and the latter posting his eighth straight 20-goal season. Marchand joined Johnny Bucyk, Rick Middleton and Phil Esposito in the move. As for Rask, he is currently the winningest goaltender in Bruins history with 308 wins. He announced his retirement on Feb. 9, 2022, after trying to come back from surgery during the 2021 offseason.
Keeping the goaltending conversation going, Igor Shesterkin of the Rangers became the first Rangers goalie and 20th in NHL history to get his first shutout in consecutive games when he recorded his second against the Devils in what ended up being a 4-0 victory on April 15, 2021.
Moving forward, Nicklas Backstrom of the Capitals played his 1,000th game in the NHL when he suited up for the Sabers in what was an embarrassing 5-2 loss on April 15, 2021. Regardless, he joined Alex Ovechkin as the second player in franchise history to hit 1,000 games with the team. He is the 69th player and 14th active player to play that amount with the same team.
Related: Capitals’ Backstrom Is NHL’s Most Underrated Player
To close out tonight in 2021, Star Rookie Jason Robertson had an assist in his team’s 4-1 win over the Blue Jackets to become the fastest rookie to score 30 points in a season since the team moved from Minnesota to Dallas in 1993. He finished the 2020-21 season as a Calder Trophy finalist with 457 goals and 41 points.
On April 15, 2022, the Florida Panthers won their ninth straight home game, joining the 1995–96 Red Wings as the only teams in NHL history with three home winning streaks of nine or more games in a season. With two goals and an assist in the game, Jonathan Huberdeau tied Pavel Bure for the second-longest point streak in Panthers history.
On April 15, 2024, Sidney Crosby recorded two points to reach the 50 assist mark for the eleventh time in his career – the 14th player in NHL history to accomplish this feat.
That same night, the Rangers won the President’s Trophy and head coach Peter Laviolette became the eighth coach to win it in his first season with the team. He was also the 10th to win it more times. With their win over the Senators, the Rangers set a record for points in a season, surpassing the previous benchmark of 113 set in 2014-15.
Finally, McDavid hit 100 assists in a season for the first time in his career and became the fourth player in NHL history to do so. He joined Gretzky (11 times, last: 122 in 1990-91), Lemieux (114 in 1988-89) and Orr (102 in 1970-71).
happy Birthday to you
Today is the busiest day of NHL birthdays with 35 players celebrating. You can complete a great birthday program with players like Don Marcotte (79), Tom Laidlaw (68), Keith Acton (68), Kevin Lowe (67, Hall of Fame), Kevin Stevens (61), Jimmy Waite (57), Tim Thomas (52), Sergei Krivokrasov (52), Pavel Kubina (49), Jordan Weal Koval (49), Jordan Wealth Cavalchuk (34), Calvin Pickard (34), Christian Fischer (29) and Jim McFadden the deceased.
*Originally created by Greg Boysen
