1910 - Montreal Canadiens goalie Georges Vezina played the first of 367 consecutive regular season and playoff games, when Montreal lost their NHA season opener, 5-3 to the visiting Ottawa Senators. Vezina played every game for Montreal for 15 seasons.
1975 - Montreal Canadiens battled the Soviet Red Army team to a 3-3 tie New Year's Eve at the Forum. Ken Dryden and Vladislav Tretiak starred 
Lock out this NHL:
This is hockey. The billionaire owners and the millionaire players can stay home as long as they want. The game goes on. It is on frozen sloughs and lakes all across the world, and in the drafty local rinks, and on the streets and driveways right in front of your house that hockey's heart will always beat. The NHL and NHLPA can never take hockey away from us.
This photo 
1904 - In the first game of a best-of-three challenge between Winnipeg and Ottawa, a red line was drawn between each set of goalposts to aid the referee in awarding goals. These became the first known goal lines in hockey history.
1912 - Sweden officially joined the International Ice Hockey Federation.
1974 - St. Louis Blues obtained Red Berenson from Detroit in exchange for Phil Roberto and
Bobby Orr fights Pat Quinn
Is it possible that Bobby Orr, one of the most beautiful hockey players to have ever played the game, created goon hockey that defined the 1970s?
Before the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a the Broad Street Bullies, made that type of hockey famous, there was the Big Bad Boston Bruins. Orr and Phil Esposito led the Bruins to Stanley Cups in 1970 and 1972, and were ably 
1955 - In a game between Montreal and Toronto, NHL officials wore new vertically striped black and white sweaters for the first time. Canadiens won the game 5-2.
1957 - Ross "Lefty" Wilson, Detroit's assistant trainer, was pressed into service to replace Boston goalie Don Simmons who suffered a dislocated shoulder. Boston had no other replacement on their bench. Wilson gave up one goal in a 2
1929 - New York Rangers beat Ottawa Senators 3-1, in a Rangers' "home game" played in Atlantic City.
1962 - Red Sullivan replaced Muzz Patrick as coach of the New York Rangers, but Patrick continued as General Manager. Sullivan became the 12th coach in Rangers history.
1967 - Jean Beliveau had four assists to move past Maurice Richard into second place on the NHL's all time point scoring
1897 - In the only Stanley Cup challenge of the season, the defending champion Montreal Victorias turned back the Ottawa Capitals 15-2 to retain their champion status.
1924 - Montreal Canadiens played the Maroons for the first time at the Forum and tied 1-1 after 20 minutes of overtime.
1942 - Montreal Canadiens defeated Boston 4-2 in Montreal, but lost rookie Maurice Richard, who suffered a 
Who says posts are always the goalie's best friend?
From Eric Duhatschek of The Globe And Mail
Moscow, in the winter of 1987, was a dreary inhospitable place for the start of the annual Izvestia hockey tournament. The Soviet Union was wheezing towards its political end, and in the last days of the Communist era, there was little to recommend to visitors in December. Consumer goods were in short supply. Fresh food was limited and whenever it : skip to main skip to sidebar Linkbar Home A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T UVW XYZ Hockey Books Twitter : HockeyLegends The Hockey History Website I'm Joe Pelletier freelance hockey journalist and the Hockey History Blogger , based in Terrace , BC Hockeyville 2009 Why I created this website Keeping alive the memories of former NHL see alphabetical listing International and Female hockey players . Contact Me Email : teamcanada72 gmail.com Facebook : GreatestHockeyLegends Follow HockeyLegends Blog content Joe Pelletier Also see : HockeyBookReviews.com Blog content Joe Pelletier Joe Pelletier's new ebook : Pucks On The Net Just 3.99 At just 3.99 I felt like I stole this hockey book . Great stories . Foreword by Kirstie McLellan Day December 26, 2012 Remembering the 1982 World Juniors
Ken Campbell of The Hockey News penned a brilliant and personal article for Christmas. It was about how he received a hockey book - Brian McFarlane's Hockey Annual - for Christmas 1973, and how that changed his life forever:
Prior to getting that book, I was what is known today as a “reluctant reader.” But after receiving Brian McFarlane’s Hockey Annual, I couldn’t get enough of the written 
Here is a real treat: It's from the 1978 World Junior Hockey Championships held in Quebec. It is a rare interview with a very composed 16 year old Wayne Gretzky.
Gretzky's composure never ceases to amaze me. But he did have a slip up in this tournament. He talked openly about his frustration about not being able to move to higher levels of hockey sooner. Back then, the NHL did not draft 
1923 - Montreal's legendary Hall of Famer Howie Morenz scored his first NHL goal, in a 3-2 Canadiens' loss to the Ottawa Senators.
1925 - New York Americans and Pittsburgh Pirates set an NHL record with 141 shots in the Americans 3-1 win. New York held the shot edge, 73-68. Roy Worters made 70 saves for Pittsburgh, and Jake Forbes had 67 for NY.
1976 - John Bucyk's 545th career goal moved 
Let's all hope for better news in the new year. Be safe and enjoy your friends, family and holidays. Merry Christmas everyone.
1930 - Dit Clapper scored three goals, and Tiny Thompson recorded his 17th career shutout in an 8-0 Bruins' win over Philadelphia at Boston Garden.
1939 - Syd Howe scored a hat trick as the Red Wings beat the Canadiens, 3-1 at the Olympia in Detroit.
1955 - Andy Bathgate was the star in the Rangers' 5-1 Christmas night victory over Montreal, with a goal and three assists.
1965 - Henri 
Nick Mickoski
1921 - Ottawa's Harry "Punch" Broadbent began an NHL-record 16 game goal scoring streak during a 10-0 Senators win over the visiting Montreal Canadiens.
1921 - Future Hall of Famer King Clancy scored his first career NHL goal, in a 10-0 Ottawa Senators' win over Montreal.
1950 - Nick Mickoski scored four goals and added an assist to lead the Rangers to a 6-1 win over Chicago 
For this special edition of Clay’s Canucks Commentary, I pull a few friends together for the 3rd annual Canucks Christmas Carol. Once again I am joined by my friends Joe, Oggy, Jason, Pat and the foreign exchange student Kevin. Kevin came all the way from overseas to watch some hockey but he gets something else [...]
The National Hockey League has not held games on Christmas day since 1971. A year later marked the end of games on Christmas Eve. Good on the NHL, allowing their players, coaches, managers etc the opportunity to enjoy a little family time and holiday cheer. Hopefully that never changes, although surprisingly the NHLPA was open to discussing the idea fairly recently.
But holiday cheer was not 
1978 - Bryan Trottier set an NHL record with six points in the second period, and finished the night with five goals and three assists in a 9-4 Islanders' win over the Rangers; the Islanders extended their home undefeated streak to 16 games (12-0-4).
1988 - Los Angeles' Wayne Gretzky scored two empty net goals, including the 611th of his NHL career, to pass Bobby Hull into fourth place on