Common Denominator: Las Vegas Golden Knights!

"NHL expansion team in 2017/18. Had over 100 points, and made the playoffs. Currently in first place, BTW."

To the surprise of, yes, everyone, the Las Vegas Golden Knights, the next team on the NHL block in 2017, didn't exactly play like an expansion team. They made the playoffs, for one.

Granted, this had happened before. As far back as 50 years before, the NHL expanded six new teams to compliment the original six. Minnesota, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Oakland Seals came in.

However, looking at the way the NHL aligned the teams in 1967/68, you can understand why Philadelphia, Los Angeles,  St. Louis and Minnesota made it. All of the original teams (Montreal, New York, Boston, Chicago, Toronto and Detroit)  were in one division, the East. All the new teams were in the other conference, the West. The way it was setup was the top four teams in each division would make it, meaning four of the six expansion teams were guaranteed a postseason berth. It didn't matter that none of the newbies even had a .500 record (Five of the six original teams finished at least two games above .500). Also, there was a guarantee that an expansion team would make the Stanley Cup Finals (That turned out to be St. Louis, btw) having to go through two other new teams.

The situation became  even more ridiculous the next season as all of the original six teams finished above .500, but the Red Wings and Blackhawks missed the postseason. Meanwhile, in the Western Division, only the Blues were over .500. None of the other five teams in that division finished better than seven games below .500. No other expansion team besides St. Louis had more than 69 points. Chicago had 77 and missed in the East Division. Obviously, times are much different now. There were 12 teams then (Soon to be 14 in 1970/71). There are 31 now. Almost as many teams (16) make it to significant action in April as are on the golf course (15). Seattle seems poised to join the next season, for a total of 32 teams.

Four WHA teams joined the NHL in 1979/80, but again the circumstances were different. The teams didn't just come along in the World Hockey Association the year before, and all of them had been there since 1972/73, the WHA's first season. Two of the WHA teams that entered the NHL made the 1980 playoffs: 1) The Edmonton Oilers with some chap named Gretzky 2) The Harford Whalers (They have since relocated to Carolina) with three men named Howe, Hull and Keon.

The NHL then really went after the "other" places in North America. San Jose joined in 1991/92. Tampa Bay and Ottawa the next. 1993 welcomed Anaheim and Florida. There were 24 teams in the NHL in 1992/93. 25+ years later the number looks like it's increased by 8. There are fewer and fewer places in North America without an NHL team. The Vegas Golden Knight's success could mean The NHL might expand to both Quebec and Saskatchewan in the coming years, meaning there could be 9 in Canada alone. The previous high was 8 in 1994/95 before Quebec moved to Colorado. With proper management like the Knights have shown, a hockey team can work anywhere.

Las Vegas seems loaded in goal, as four of the five goalies to strap on the pads have either excelled like Marc-Andre Fleury or arrived like Malcolm Subban. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins didn't think losing these "extra" goalies meant much. Maybe not...But they sure made a difference in their new home. For Fleury, it was a chance to continue his success, and he did. For Subban, with all of just two NHL games experience to his name, it was a chance to play. Not only did Malcolm play, but he proved himself to be a dependable backup to Marc.

And this isn't just in the goaltendings. These so-called castoffs are actually good players. Well, at least some of them are. Las Vegas' top point-getter is Jon Marchessault actually scored 30 goals last year for Florida. He's got 25 so far this year.

Jon's coach last year was Gerard Gallant. Gallant had coached the Panthers to 103 points in 2015/16 and was quite a player, four times topping the 30-goal mark himself for Detroit. He even had experience as a player with a (Second year) expansion team. He played for Tampa Bay in 1993/94, the same year that Florida came into the league. Right guy behind the bench. Jack Adams Award Winner in 2017/18? Why not?

In any event, Vegas is heading to the playoffs with over 40 wins and 100 points to their name. Can they match the '67 St. Louis Blues with a run all the ways to the finals? Can the Knights win the Cup? We'll have to wait and see.

Common Denominator: Al MacAdam

"Scored the GWG to eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs in the deciding game of the 1979/80 playoffs. Then scored the GWG in the deciding game to eliminate the Montreal Canadians in the 1979/80 postseason."

That would be the Minnesota North Stars' Al MacAdam. Al was a player to be feared that year, scoring 42 goals and adding 51 assists. The right winger took home the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. He had some software.

In the 1978/79 season the Habs had won their fourth Stanley Cup in a row (Beating Toronto along the way), and sixth of the decade. The North Stars had finished 28-40-12. Would the next season be any different?

Well, Montreal lost their coach, Scotty Bowman. They lost Ken Dryden, their great goalie,. Jacques Lemaire was gone. Yvan Cournoyer was also gone. Of those, mentioned above, only Bowman was involved in the NHL in 1979/80, that as the coach of the Buffalo Sabers. Minnesota and Buffalo would each be in the final four that year. The Habs and Leafs would not.

The Leafs came into the 1979/80 playoffs five games below .500, but had Darry Sittler (97 points), Wilf Paiement (74 points), Rick Vaive (22 goals in only 69 games). Plus Borje Salming and Ian Turnbull. Toronto had plenty to test Minny goalie Gillies Meloche. But he had a pretty good goals-against average of 3.06 that year. Could Toronto get some by him? They were 7th in the 21-team league that season with 304 goals.

But they ran into a stop sign as the playoffs began.

The first two games of the first round between Minny and Toronto were right there in the North Stars' ring. The home team weathered the storm in the first two contests. They pounded the Leafs for an amazing 61 shots on goal in the first game, prevailing 6-3 (It was only 4-2 after 40 minutes). Game two was all Minnesota, however. They looked for the sweep after winning it so easily, 7-2. It was 4-0 after two periods in this on, and Al MacAdam had two goals in it!

Game three was at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens. Would now be a good time to tell you this was a best-of-five? The Maple Leafs had to win. The led 2-1 after 2 periods. But in the third, it was the Stars tying it, and then taking the lead. John Anderson tied it at 3 in the third with little more than five minutes to play. In overtime, Al MacAdam won it just 32 seconds it.

Next came the Montreal Canadians. Seeking their fifth cup in a row, they swept past Hartford in the first round. Minnesota surprised them in the first two contests in Montreal. The North Stars were 36-28-16 that year. But the Habs? All those departures and they still were 47-20-13. How did they end the season in their last 21 games? 15-0-6. So when the quarterfinals started, Montreal was essentially 18-0-6. Can you say, tall order for Minny?

Minnesota couldn't score a goal on Dennis Herron through two in game one, and neither could Montreal dent Meloche. In the third period, it was the visitors breaking lose with three goals, MacAdam getting his fourth of the playoffs. He was averaging a goal a game.

Meloch was amazing in game two, as well, stopping 40 of 41 shots. Minny won 4-1. But when if shifted to Minnesota, Montreal woke up. Game three saw the Habs make a crucial decision. Bunny Larocque, ken Dryden's old backup, was no slouch in goal. Although Herron posted better numbers in the regular season, 25-3-3, 2.51 GAA, Bunny had all the experience to get the Canadians back in this on the road.

Stopping all 25 shots that came his way, Bunny got Montreal's first shutout of the 1980 playoffs. The game itself was a rout, 5-0 for the Habs. And what a little confidence will do for you, eh? Montreal blasted the home team again, 5-1 in game four. Yvon Lambert was playing amazing. 8 goals in as many games played.

Back home for game five, Larocque, who'd beaten Hartford in the third contest of the first round, upped his playoff record to a perfect 4-0 with an easy 6-2 win. Well, the Habs were for real.

Amazingly, they'd need a game seven to clinch. Minnesota went home and Meloche regained his form. Montreal looked poised to finish 'em off. They had 10 shots on goal in the first period and the only goal, but Minnesota came back with five of their own in the second. Rick Chartraw scored the only goal of the third, but that really didn't matter. The 5-2 win by the home team sent this one back to Canada.

Game seven was back-and-forth, but you had to figure the Canadians would find a way. Yet tied 2-2 with only 86 minutes to play, it was Al MacAdam's 6th goal of the 1980s playoffs that put Minnesota up 3-2. The Habs failed to get the equalizer, much to the amazement of everyone.

Minnesota faced Philadelphia next game, and even won the first game. From there, though, it was all the Flyers, who reached the finals after winning the next four contests. MacAdam had only one goal in those five games.

The Minnesota North Stars made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals the next year, as MacAdam scored nine more goals. They didn't become the next dynasty, however. That title belonged to the New York Islanders, who'd won it in 1980 and then beat Minny in just five games in '81. They'd win it the next two years for good measure.

The North Stars had to wait until 1991 to make it back to the finals, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. MacAdam was long gone by then. The team was off to Dallas for the 1993/94, although a new team, called the Wild, arrived in time for the 2000/2001. The Stanley Cup has yet to make it's way to the city, however.

But they still managed to eliminate two of the the most prominent teams in one magical season many years back.


"The information used herein was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by The Hockey Summary Project. For more information about the Hockey Summary Project please visit:

http://hsp.flyershistory.com

or

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hockey_summary_project/


References


"Hockey Summary Project." Hockey Summary Project. N.p., 1 Nov. 2008. Web. 29 Nov. 2016. <http://hsp.flyershistory.com/>

Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.

Sure Could Have Fooled Me!

Austin Matthews scored four goals in his first NHL. Wayne Gretzky had to wait until his tenth game to collect his fourth NHL goal. And twelve to get to five. Austin is ahead of The Great One's pace his first NHL season! For now.

Gretzky came into the NHL in 1979/80 with the Edmonton Oilers, and his first game was against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 10th, 1979. Right there at the old stadium. Chicago was no pushovers. Stan Mikita was there for his 22nd NHL season. Doug Wilson was coming into his own. The Hawks also boasted Tom Lysiak, centre Terry Ruskowski, still another middle man. And still a tremendous force in the Hawks net was veteran Tony Esposito, now 36 years old, but still capable of turning everything thrown at him away.

Tony didn't quite do that in this game, played at home. Chicago showed these new upstarts (The Edmonton Oilers had come over from the rival WHA after the previous season) that this was the big time. They took an early 2-0 lead in the opening stanza on goals by John Marks and Rich Preston. Edmonton came back before the period was over, however. Kevin Lowe (From Gretzky) and Dave Hunter, tied it. Ultimately, it was Marks' second tally of the period that proved to be the game winner. Edmonton lost, 4-2.

The Oilers then lost their home opener to the Red Wings despite a Gretzky assist. His first goal game in his third game vs. Vancouver. Three assists, but no goals, followed against Quebec, and The Great One had clearly arrived. His second goal (And still another assist) gave him a two point night vs. Minnesota in game number five. The next four games Gretzky was shutout in the goal department. And then he missed a game. Are you ready for two goals?

The New York Islanders were going to win their first of four in a row in 1979/80, but first they tasted Wayne Gretzky's wrath. He tallied twice and added an assist for good measure as the Oilers won, 7-5. The Boston Bruins kept Gretzky at four goals after eleven games. It could only go on for so long, as The Great One scored in his next game against Detroit for his fifth. He'd add 46 more in 68 games to finish with 51 red lights and 86 assists, tying Marcel Dionne for the league lead. Dionner, however, had more goals and was awarded the Art Ross Trophy.

Flash forward 37 years later after Gretzky played in Chicago. Austin Matthews was right there in Ottawa, with Toronto. Battle of Ontario it sure was. Matthews put four goals behind the Senators' goalie Craig Anderson, but it wasn't enough. Craig just seemed to get better as the game went on, and his team stayed right with the Leafs, pushing it to overtime. There, Kyle Turris, who'd scored in the third to tie the contest at four, scored again to win it for the home team. The dazzling Sens defenceman Erik Karlsson, picking up from where he left off last year, had three points of his own. The Leafs played well, out-shooting the Senators 38-30, but Anderson made many crucial stops despite the brilliance of Matthews.


"The information used herein was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by The Hockey Summary Project. For more information about the Hockey Summary Project please visit:

http://hsp.flyershistory.com

or

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hockey_summary_project/"


References


Dryden, Steve. Total Gretzky: The Magic, The Legend, The Numbers. Toronto, Ont.: McClelland & Stewart, 1999. Print. pp. 128-129.

Hockey Summary Project. 10 Jan. 2001. Web. 16 Oct. 2016. <http://hsp.flyershistory.com>

"Official Site Of The National Hockey League." NHL.com. The National Hockey League, n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2016. <https://www.nhl.com/>

World Series: Did You Know?

The Philadelphia Phillies of 1980 were the only team from the City Of Brotherly Love to actually win in the grand finale. Their pals the Flyers and 76ers were not so lucky.

The Flyers, once hockey's bad boys, were one team that did not lose many games. Under the guidance of Pat Quinn in 1979/80, they went from 40 wins in 78/79 to 48 wins in 79/80. They also went from 95 points to 116 points. Did they lose their edge at all? Not quite. 1526 penalty minutes in 1978/79. 1979/80 produced a team total of 1818.

But what they didn't do was lose a game from October 14th, 1979 to January 10th, 1980. A string of 36 games in a row without a loss (26-0-10). When their streak finally ended, Philly went out and went undefeated in the next 11 games (8-0-3). All this continued, it seemed, into the playoffs. The swept past Edmonton in the first round (Some kid named Gretzky got his first postseason action at the NHL level for the Oilers), then needed just five games to finish of the New York Rangers (Finalist in 1979) and the Minnesota North Stars (Finalist in 1981, and having just beaten the Montreal Canadians in seven games). Alas, here's where they had to face the New York Islanders. Right in the Stanley Cup FinalsThe Flyers took this to a game six, but lost it on a Bob Nystrom goal in overtime. New York won the Stanley Cup the next three years as well.

The 76ers had an Eastern Conference Rivals to do battle with. That by the name of the Boston Celtics. They'd added some kid named Bird. Plus another star named Maravich. And the Celtics looked primed to face their old rivals the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980 finals. The Lakers had a kid named Johnson, who was providing Magic to the team. Plus they had Kareem. You know, the guy with the goggles and Skyhook.

There would be no Laker / Celtics finals.

The 76ers, perhaps written off with all the hoopla over the two historic teams, spoiled the party and beat the Celtics in just five games in the conference finals. But on the grand stage, Kareem was raining down skyhook after skyhook. An injury to Kareem in game five seemed to open the door for Philly. But Magic Johnson scored 42 points in game six to clinch it for LA. Like the Islanders, this triggered a dynasty, which the 76ers briefly interrupted in 1983.

The Phillies were the worst of the bunch in terms of past success. Flyers won in '74 and '75. Wilt Chamberlain led the 76ers past a Boston dynasty and to an NBA crown in 1967. The Phillies? Lost in five back in the 1915 World Series. Swept in 1950 by the Yankees. That was it for their Fall Classic appearances. Yes, I know they should have made it in '64.

But Philadelphia, with Mike Schmidt (Hall Of Famer) and Pete Rose (Was a good bet to be a Hall Of Famer until he started betting on baseball) led the Phillies into the World Series against the Kansas City Royals. The Royals were not the Islanders or Lakers of baseball. The Phillies weren't going to waste this opportunity for some history.

They only went 91-71 in 1980, but was enough to get them in the playoffs. Then they gave Houston a problem in the NLCS. They had the arms. Lefty Steve Charlton, another Hall-Of-Famer and bullpen ace Tug McGraw gave them the edge.

Charlton won two games, McGraw saved two. Schmidt hit .381 with seven RBIs. And Rose was Rose. He hit just .261. But those head-first-slides, and daring baserunning sure came in handy. The Phillies won in six games to finally win their first World Championship. But it was also long-time coming for the city of Philadelphia to win at least one championship that year, to say the least!


"The information used herein was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by The Hockey Summary Project. For more information about the Hockey Summary Project please visit:

http://hsp.flyershistory.com

or

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hockey_summary_project/"


References

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 8 August 2015.

Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 8 August 2015.

Sports Reference LLC. Basketball-Reference.com - Basketball Statistics and History. http://www.basketball-reference.com/. 8 August 2015.

Hockey Summary Project. 10 Jan. 2001. Web. 8 August 2015. <http://hsp.flyershistory.com>