Yesterday’s NHL Scores
Last Night’s News 📰
ROLLBACK PRICE: Yesterday, the Montreal Canadiens announced that goaltender Carey Price is to begin rehabilitation on his surgically repaired knee. Price started skating with the Canadiens in November, slowly making progress before the league shut down due to COVID. There is no current timetable for his return.
CALLING THE SHOTS: For the first time in ESPN history, Leah Hextall, Cassie Campbell-Pascall, and Linda Cohn became the first all-female broadcast team to air an NHL game. Working the Canadiens at Arizona Coyotes game, Hextall and Campbell-Pascall handled the call from the booth while Cohn worked rinkside. Hextall and Campbell-Pascall combined with Christine Simpson to work the first nationally televised all-female broadcast with Sportsnet on March 8, 2020.
PRONGER TO THE RAFTERS: On Monday, the St. Louis Blues raised Chris Pronger’s No. 44 jersey to the rafters, becoming the eighth player to have his number retired by the organization. Ivan Barbashev and Brayden Schenn led the way for the Blues with four points each, as St. Louis handed the Nashville Predators a third loss in a row.
SHARK ATTACK: Timo Meier made San Jose Sharks history last night against the Los Angeles Kings, becoming the first Sharks player to record five goals in a game. Tomas Hertl finished the game with four assists, while Erik Karlsson had three of his own, defeating the Kings 6-2 on home ice.
ALL DAY HOCKEY: Thanks to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday on Monday, the NHL schedule was jam-packed with games throughout the day. Starting with an afternoon matinee in Buffalo needing overtime to be decided, to the two out West that went into a shootout, Monday’s slate was full with action across the board!
Trivia Tuesday
How well do you know Juuse Saros?
- Juuse Saros finished 11th in voting for which 2020-21 NHL Award?
- Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
- Vezina Trophy
- Calder Memorial Trophy
- Hart Memorial Trophy
- During which NHL Draft was Saros selected by the Predators in the fourth round (99th overall)?
- 2016
- 2013
- 2015
- 2014
- Which team did Saros earn his first NHL win against in 2016?
- Florida Panthers
- New Jersey Devils
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- LA Kings
Answers can be found at the bottom of the email.
NHL One-Game Wonders
Dean Morton has been an NHL referee since 2000 and has officiated 989 regular-season games and five playoff games. He is also one of four players in NHL history to play one career game and score a goal in that game. Here is a look at each of the NHL’s four “one-game wonders.”
Dean Morton
Before becoming a referee, Morton was a defenseman. The 53-year-old from Peterborough, Ontario, played in the Ontario Minor Hockey Association (OMHA) in 1984-85, registering 47 points in 47 games for his hometown team. He spent the next three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Oshawa Generals before being selected 148th overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1986 NHL Draft.
He joined the Red Wings’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate in Adirondack in 1988, winning the Calder Cup in his first season. He spent most of the 1989-90 season in the AHL, but he did appear in one game for the big league club. That game came on Oct. 5, 1989, in Calgary. With the Wings down 3-0 early, he put Detroit on the board 12:52 into the first period of an eventual 10-7 loss to the Flames. Morton retired in 1993 after playing three more years of minor league hockey and made his NHL debut as a ref in 2000.
Brad Fast
Fast, a star defenseman at Michigan State University, was selected 84th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 1999 NHL Draft. After four years with the Spartans, the British Columbian signed a pro contract in 2003 with the Hurricanes, starting his career with the Lowell Lock Monsters of the AHL. The then-24-year-old was called up by Carolina late the next season and made his NHL debut on April 4, 2004.
On the road against the Florida Panthers, Fast wristed in a game-tying goal with 2:26 remaining in regulation. His goal was ultimately the “deciding” goal in a 6-6 tie, the last tie in NHL history, as the league adopted shootout rules following the 2004-05 lockout. Fast went on to play minor league hockey in Switzerland, Austria, and South Korea before retiring in 2011. He went back to his alma mater in 2016, becoming the Director of Hockey Operations at Michigan State, where he continues today.
Samuel Henley
Henley, an accomplished junior hockey player in Quebec, signed with the Colorado Avalanche as an undrafted free agent on May 29, 2014, four years after his older brother, Cédrick, was a sixth-round pick by the Buffalo Sabres. While the big brother got the upper hand in draft status, the little brother would literally “one-up” him in games played in the NHL.
The younger Henley played for Colorado’s AHL affiliate (first the Lake Erie Monsters, then the San Antonio Rampage) from 2014 to 2017. On Dec. 1, 2016, the defensive-minded forward was called up to the injury-addled Avalanche before their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. With 5:35 remaining in the second period, he scored a goal to make it 2-2. Colorado went on to lose 3-2. Now 28 years old, Henley has not played pro hockey since the 2016-17 season, and according to a French-Canadian news article from 2020, he returned to his hometown of Val-d’Or, Quebec, to work in the mines and complete his schooling.
Rolly Huard
Huard, whose birth name was Joseph, became the first player in NHL history to score a goal in his only career game. The native of Ottawa, Ontario, played senior league hockey in the capital city from 1921-1925 before transitioning to professional hockey in 1926. On Dec. 13, 1930, the then-28-year-old forward appeared in an NHL game for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Boston Bruins.
He scored the first goal of the game 9:10 into the first period, although the Maple Leafs lost to the Bruins, 7-3. Huard continued playing pro hockey until 1934, with most of his time spent in the Canadian Professional Hockey League/International Hockey League. He died in 1979, a decade before Morton became the second player to join this rarefied air.
The Forgotten All-Stars
We now have a complete list (with exceptions of possible late replacements) of the 44 players who will take part in All-Star Weekend, representing some of the best that the NHL has to offer. That said, it’s fair to wonder if every one of those 44 legitimately covers the “star” designation. Adam Pelech, Drake Batherson, Cam Talbot, and Adrian Kempe are all solid players enjoying successful seasons, but stars?
Although, this is not unique to the 2021-22 season, either. Odd and, ultimately, forgettable All-Star selections have remained just as much of a constant of the annual mid-season exhibition as bold-faced names like Gretzky, Lemieux, and Howe have. We could go way back into the history books, but let’s stick with a relatively modern group of forgotten All-Stars. Oh, and don’t look for John Scott here—he’s not a star, but everyone knows his name! Here are just a few:
Petr Buzek, 2000
Peter Buzek’s All-Star inclusion in 2000 came thanks to two short-lived, now-defunct league creations: the Atlanta Thrashers and the “North America vs. the World” ASG format. Buzek provided representation for the lowly Thrashers and a body to a thin World blue line. The career nine-goal scorer was clearly in the right place at the right time.
Chris Nilan, 1991
You may recognize Chris Nilan’s name, but certainly not for his elite hockey skills. A two-time league leader in penalty minutes, “Knuckles” is the epitome of an old-school, goon-type tough guy. But when then-Boston Bruins coach Mike Milbury had free reign to select the team, he deemed Nilan to be ASG-worthy. Good ol’ Mad Mike!
Peter Sidorkiewicz, 1993
If Peter Sidorkiewicz’s All-Star participation in 1993 to be a proxy for the expansion Ottawa Senators didn’t prompt the league to scrap the team representation rule, then nothing will. The rather helpless starting netminder for one of the worst teams of all time came into the All-Star break boasting a record of 4-32-3 and a 4.40 goals-against average. At least he felt at home with a team in front of him that didn’t play defense!
Mike York, 2002
Here is a list of players who won silver for Team USA on home ice at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and participated in that year’s All-Star Game: Brian Leetch, Chris Chelios, Jeremy Roenick, and—Mike York? In all fairness, York did reach the 20-goal mark in three of his first four seasons, but his career petered out in a hurry, spiraling into oblivion by his 30th birthday.
Trivia Answers
Click here for more Juuse Saros news and trivia!
NHL Standings
NHL’s Leading Scorers
Today’s NHL Schedule
- Today’s newsletter was edited by Kyle Knopp, with contributions by Ben Fisher, Kristy Flannery, and Brooke LoFurno.
- Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here.
- Give us a hand spreading the Morning Skate! Please forward this email to a hockey-loving friend today.
- Want more ways to talk hockey with The Hockey Writers? Join the discussion on Discord!
