Today in Hockey History: July 10 – Hockey Writers – Hockey History

Yesterday in Hockey History: July 9th

Tomorrow in Hockey History: July 11

On July 10 there was a big trade between two “Original Six” franchises that saw one of them get the greatest scorer in their team’s history. Also, the current star has signed a new contract, and one of the greatest strikers ever came out of retirement. The THW time machine is warmed up and ready to take our daily journey through the years.

An Exchange of Myths

On July 10, 1957, the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings made a trade for two future Hall of Famers. The Bruins have traded goaltender Terry Sawchuk back to the Red Wings, just two years after acquiring him in a massive nine-player trade. In return, they got Johnny Bucyk and money.

Sawchuk was traded to Boston in 1955 because the Red Wings had a young goaltender named Glenn Hall who wanted to get more playing time. The trade did not go well with Sawchuk, and it affected his play. He posted a 2.60 goals against average (GAA) in the 1955-56 season, the highest of his career.

The 1956-57 season was a disaster. Sawchuk missed two weeks, early in the season, after contracting mononucleosis. He announced his retirement in January 1957 due to nervous exhaustion. When he was ready to get back on the ice, the Bruins shipped him back to the Red Wings. He played the next seven seasons in Detroit before being drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1964 NHL Intra-League Draft. He won the fourth and final Stanley Cup of his career with them in 1967.

During that time, Bucyk became one of the greatest players in Bruins franchise history after scoring just 11 goals and 30 points in 104 games with the Red Wings. He was a fixture on the Boston roster for the next 21 seasons. He scored 51 goals and 116 points in 1970-71 at age 35 before playing seven more seasons.

Bucyk was a big part of two Stanley Cup championships in 1970 and 1972. He retired in 1978 and still holds many franchise records. He is the team’s all-time leader with 545 goals and the only player to score 500 goals in a Bruins jersey. He is second only to Ray Bourque in games played (1,436), assists (794), and points (1,506).

Superstars Get Paid

The New York Rangers re-signed goaltender Henrik Lundqvist on July 10, 2007. His new contract is for just one year, worth $4.24 million, after winning a total of 67 games in his first two seasons in the league.

Lundqvist started 72 games in the 2007-08 season and went 37-24-10 with a 2.23 GAA, .912 save percentage (SV%), and 10 shutouts. The following summer, he signed a six-year contract worth $41.25 million.

The Tampa Bay Lightning signed Nikita Kucherov on July 10, 2018. They signed him to an eight-year contract extension worth $76 million. The new deal started at the start of the 2019-20 season and will run until 2026-27.

In the final year of his second NHL contract, Kucherov scored 41 goals in the 2018-19 season and won the Art Ross Trophy for leading the league with 128 points. He also took home the Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award for being the best player by the writers and the NHLPA. He was a big part of the Lightning’s back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 2020 and 2021 and their third straight Finals appearance in 2022.

Odds & Ends

On July 10, 1980, the Rangers signed free agent defenseman Chris Kotsopoulos after he spent the 1979-80 season with the New Haven Nighthawks of the American Hockey League (AHL). He played one season for the Rangers before being traded to the Hartford Whalers. He spent a decade in the NHL with additional stops in Toronto and Detroit before retiring in 1990.

Warren Young signed with the Red Wings on July 10, 1985, coming off a 40-goal season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He scored 22 goals and 46 points for the Red Wings before being traded to the Penguins for cash, just before the 1986-87 season.

Scott Pellerin was a veteran of 536 games during his 11-season NHL career. On July 10, 1996, he signed with St. Louis Blues. He had one 20-goal season in his career with the Blues in 1998-99. In all, he played 296 games with the Blues before being picked up by the Minnesota Wild during the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft.