Today in Hockey History: July 6 – Hockey Writers – Hockey History

Yesterday in Hockey History: July 5th

Tomorrow in Hockey History: July 7

Some of the best players of the 1990s were honored for their performances on this day. July 6 also saw a few coaching changes, roster moves, and the birth of two players who have left their mark on the game with outstanding careers in the National Hockey League.

1995 Postseason Awards

The NHL released its postseason awards on July 6, 1995, and future Hockey Hall of Famers took home some coveted hardware. The day belonged to Eric Lindros of the Philadelphia Flyers. He became the first Flyer to win the Hart Trophy, voted by the writers as the league’s most valuable player, since Bobby Clarke in 1976.

Lindros also won the Lester B. Pearson award for being the best player as voted by his teammates. This award is today known as the Ted Lindsay Award. He was named to the first team All-Star, too.

Jaromir Jagr of the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Art Ross Trophy for leading the league in scoring. He and Lindros were tied for most points, 70, during the shortened regular season, but Jagr had three more goals than his opponent in Philadelphia.

Peter Forsberg won the Calder Trophy, voted the league’s top rookie, as he scored 15 goals and 50 points for the Quebec Nordiques. Forsberg was part of the return when the Nordiques traded Lindros to the Flyers in 1992.

Other award winners from the day included Paul Coffey winning his third Norris Trophy (best defenseman), Dominik Hasek winning his second consecutive Vezina Trophy (best goaltender) and Ron Francis taking home the Selke Trophy (best defensive player).

Coaching Moves

On July 6, 1978, the Flyers named Bob McCammon as their new coach. He had the difficult task of replacing Fred Shero, who led Philadelphia to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 1975 and 1976. McCammon was replaced by Pat Quinn 50 games into the 1978-79 season. However, he returned for a second stint as head coach between 1982 and 1984, where he also spent less than a year as general manager.

The Minnesota North Stars named Pierre Page their new coach on July 6, 1988. He was the team’s fifth coach in as many seasons, replacing Herb Brooks, who was fired the previous April. Page held the job for two seasons, losing in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in each.

Marc Crawford was hired as the new head coach of the Nordiques on July 6, 1994, surprisingly, replacing Page. In his first season, he won the Jack Adams Award for best coach by going 30-13-5 in a 48-game regular season. The team moved to the Colorado Avalanche the following season, and Crawford led them to the 1996 Stanley Cup championship.

Odds & Ends

The Boston Bruins signed undrafted free agent Geoff Courtnall on July 6, 1983, after a successful young career in the Western Hockey League. He played the first 259 NHL games of his 17-season career with the Bruins. He was traded to the Edmonton Oilers, along with Bill Ranford, for Andy Moog in the 1987-88 season, the team that beat the Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals that spring. He also spent time with the Washington Capitals, Vancouver Canucks, and St. Louis Blues before retiring in 2000 with 367 goals and 799 career points.

That same day, the Detroit Red Wings began their long relationship with Ken Holland when they signed the goaltender as a free agent. He played only three games with the team but was hired as their general manager in 1997, a job he held until 2019. The team won three Stanley Cups under his guidance. Holland recently finished his tenure with the Edmonton Oilers, where he had been GM since 2019.

The Nashville Predators signed free agent Tom Fitzgerald on July 6, 1998, and named him their first captain in franchise history. This was the second time he played for the expansion team in its first season. He was a member of the Florida Panthers when they took to the ice for the first time in 1993. He is now the GM of the Devils.

On July 6, 2001, the Minnesota Wild signed free agent winger Andrew Brunette. He scored a career-high 69 points in the 2001-02 season, leading not only the Wild but the entire 2001 free agency class.

happy Birthday to you

Hall of Famer George Armstrong was born in Skead, Ontario, on July 6, 1930. He played all 1,188 games of his career, which spanned 21 seasons, with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He made his NHL debut as a junior in the 1949-50 season. He was named team captain before the 1957-58 season and wore the “C” on his jersey for the next 12 seasons.

Armstrong captained four Stanley Cup winning teams in 1962, 1963, 1964, and again in 1967. Although he was never known for his offensive production, Armstrong is regarded as one of the two best frontmen of his generation. He was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1975.

Another Hall of Famer, Brad Park, was born on this day in 1948 in Toronto. He was drafted by the New York Rangers with the second pick of the 1966 NHL Amateur Draft. He played eight seasons with the Rangers and quickly became the franchise’s top defenseman.

On November 7, 1975, Park was traded to the Bruins, along with Jean Ratelle and Joe Zanussi, for Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais in one of the biggest deals in recent NHL history. After eight seasons in Boston, he finished his career with two strong campaigns with the Red Wings, including 53 assists in the 1983-84 season. He retired with 213 goals and 896 points in 1113 games and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988.

Other current and former NHL players celebrating birthdays today include Ron Duguay (69), Steve Sullivan (52), Christian Ehrhoff (44), Justin Schultz (36), Eric Comrie (31), and Jesperi Kotkaniemi (26).

*Originally created by Greg Boysen