This Day in Hockey History
1975 - The spookiest SCF game ever
The Philadelphia Flyers and the Buffalo Sabres played what is, by far, the spookiest Stanley Cup Final game in the history of hockey.
First the game was delayed by fog, which set an ominous scene. Then a bat appeared at ice-level and Sabres forward Jim "Manu Ginobili" Lorentz killed it with his stick. Ultimately the Sabres prevailed in sudden death overtime (dun dun dun) to win the spookiest game in Stanley Cup Final history by a final score of 5-4.
1979 - The Last Avco World Trophy
On this day in 1979 the Winnipeg Jets defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the final game in Western Hockey Association history, to capture the last ever Avco World Trophy.
The Avco World Trophy was awarded only seven times in its history, and it was really only awarded six times. When the first WHA champions (the New England Whalers) won in 1973, the trophy wasn't ready yet, and they were forced to skate around the ice celebrating with their Divisional Championship trophy.
1994 - Canucks and Leafs brawl
In the first ever Western Conference final the Toronto Maple Leafs (who were somehow in the Western Conference despite not even being located in Western Ontario) and the Vancouver Canucks faced off, a grudge match, that played out in lopsided fashion.
The Canucks lost the first game to the Maple Leafs, but won the subsequent three games of the year - including a 4-0 blowout victory on 20 May 1994. Pavel Bure dominated the game, scoring two goals and adding an assist in the victory. But perhaps the most memorable moment came when Doug Gilmour boarded Canucks defender Jeff Brown, and Canucks forward Tim Hunter responded with a filthy blindside hit on the Leafs legend.
From there pandemonium broke out at ice level, as the teams brawled for several minutes before order was restored. Mid-90s hockey, baby!
Birthdays
1940 - Stan Mikita
1946 - Craig Patrick
1950 - Yvon Lambert
1965 - Stu Grimson
1973 - Lonny Bohonos
1977 - Vesa Toskala
1983 - Dan Blackburn