Now You Know Big Book of Sports. Doug Lennox

in one person.

       What is the legend of the New Jersey Devil?

      The New Jersey Devils began their NHL life as the Kansas City Scouts. Their tenure in Kansas City lasted only till 1978, when the NHL approved the team’s move to Denver as the Colorado Rockies. In 1982 the Rockies. relocated once again, this time to New Jersey. After a fan vote, the new team was christened the New Jersey Devils.

       Five Hockey Books to Take to an Iceberg

      • The Game: A Thoughtful and Provocative Look at a Life in Hockey by Ken Dryden (1983).

      • Net Worth: Exploding the Myths of Pro Hockey by David Cruise and Alison Griffiths (1991).

      • Hockey Dreams: Memories of a Man Who Couldn’t Play by David Adams Richards (1996).

      • Tropic of Hockey: My Search for the Game in Unlikely Places by Dave Bidini (2000).

      • Putting a Roof on Winter: Hockey’s Rise from Sport to Spectacle by Michael McKinley (2000).

      Most tellers of the legend of the Jersey Devil trace the tale back to Deborah Leeds, a New Jersey woman who was about to give birth to her 13th child. The story goes that Mrs. Leeds invoked the Devil during a very difficult and painful labour, and when the baby was born, it grew into a full-grown devil and escaped from the house. People in the 1700s still believed in witchcraft, and many felt a deformed child was a child of the Devil or that the deformity was a sign that the child had been cursed by God. It may be that Mrs. Leeds gave birth to a child with a birth defect and, given the superstitions of the period, the legend of the Jersey Devil was born.

       Top Five Hockey Movies

      • Slap Shot (1977): Directed by George Roy Hill and starring Paul Newman.

      • Mystery, Alaska (1999): Directed by Jay Roach and starring Russell Crowe.

      • The Rhino Brothers (2001): Directed by Dwayne Beaver and starring Curtis Bechdholt.

      • Miracle (2004): Directed by Gavin O’Connor and starring Kurt Russell.

      • The Rocket (2005): Directed by Charles Binamé and starring Roy Dupuis.

       What was the first hockey movie?

      The Edison Manufacturing Company made two very short films depicting hockey players in action — Hockey Match on the Ice (1898) and Hockey Match on the Ice at Montreal, Canada (1901) — so, in effect, these are the first two movies about ice hockey. The second of the two shows a couple of hundred kids playing what might well be shinny rather than organized hockey. However, the first known feature movie about hockey is the abysmal King of Hockey, a low-budget flick made by Warner Brothers in 1936. It stars Dick Purcell as Gabby Dugan, a college hockey player who makes his way into professional hockey, meets up with a nasty gambler, and gets involved with a socialite played by Anne Nagel. The movie is pretty hokey and terribly melodramatic, but it does feature hockey players from the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Southern California. Still, the American writer obviously wasn’t familiar with the game, since the script makes references to “fouls” and “the penalty cage.” If nothing else, King of Hockey is a harbinger of the hockey celluloid mediocrity that was to come.

       Five Worst Hockey Movies

      • Youngblood (1986): Directed by Peter Markle and starring Rob Lowe.

      • The Mighty Ducks (1992): Directed by Stephen Herek and starring Emilio Estevez.

      • MVP: Most Valuable Primate (2000): Directed by Robert Vince and starring various chimpanzees playing Jack.

      • National Lampoon’s Pucked (2006): Directed by Arthur Hiller and starring Jon Bon Jovi.

      • The Love Guru (2008): Directed by Marco Schnabel and starring Mike Myers.

       Who wrote the original theme song for CBC-TV’s Hockey Night in Canada ?

      Vancouver-born Dolores Claman wrote the theme song for Hockey Night in Canada (with an arrangement by Howard Cable), a ditty called “The Hockey Theme,” which has become one of the most recognizable tunes ever composed in Canada. In 1968, when Claman was asked to write an anthem for the show, she supposedly had never seen a hockey game and claims she didn’t actually see one in person until 30 years after the introduction of her song. The theme was first played on Hockey Night in Canada during the 1968–69 season. Previously, the television show’s themes had been “Saturday’s Game,” a march by Howard Cable, and “Esso Happy Motoring Song.” In 2008, after a long-standing dispute over financial compensation with CBC-TV, Claman broke with the network and signed a deal with CTV that allowed “The Hockey Theme” to be featured on the private company’s televised hockey games beginning in 2008–09.

       Who invented tabletop hockey?

      In 1932 Torontonian Don Munro built a model for a tabletop hockey game in his basement using scrap metal and carving hockey figures out of wood. Shortly after, he sold the concept to Eaton’s Department Store in Toronto, and the new game was a huge hit. Munro’s largely wooden game was replaced in the mid-1950s by the Eagle Toy Company’s version, which boasted painted tin figures and metal rods that allowed players to whip their hockey pieces around 360 degrees.

       Top Five Hockey Songs

      • “Fifty Mission Cap” by The Tragically Hip

      • “Hockey” by Jane Siberry

      • “The Hockey Song” by Stompin’ Tom Connors

      • “Hit Somebody” by Warren Zevon

      • “Gordie and My Old Man” by Grievous Angels

       What NHL team staged a contest between live bears and its players?

      It’s hard to believe, but in December 1998 the once-mighty Edmonton Oilers in a bid to boost fading fan interest actually had three of their Russian players — Mikhail Shta-lenkov, Andrei Kovalenko, and Boris Mironov — hit the ice against a trio of bears borrowed from a Russian circus. The much-diminished Oilers, as represented by the aforementioned Russians, were at least able to drub the bears, which were pretty hapless on skates and in helmets.

       How did the Boston hockey team get the name “Bruins”?

      In the 1920s, Charles Adams held a city-wide contest to name his new Boston hockey team. Because the colours of his Brookside Department Stores were brown and yellow, he insisted that the team wear those same colours. He also wanted the team to be named after an animal known for its strength, agility, ferocity, and cunning. The public contest came up with the Bruins, meaning a large, ferocious bear.

       Who are the Hanson brothers?

      The Hanson brothers — Jeff and Steve Carlson and Dave Hanson — first found celebrity in 1977 in the Paul Newman film Slap Shot as hard-hitting, rabble-rousing hockey enforcers, the kind of players much beloved by broadcaster Don Cherry. In Slap Shot the trio play the fictional Hanson siblings (Jeff, Steve, and Jack). The two Carlsons and Hanson were actual hockey players in the minor leagues (and in the case of Steve Carlson and Dave Hanson, the NHL, too). In fact, Jack Carlson, another brother, had to bow out of the film because he was called up to play for the Edmonton Oilers (then in the World Hockey Association). Dave Hanson took his place. Interestingly, there is another character in the movie called Dave “Killer” Carlson, played by Jerry Houser, who is somewhat based on the real Jack Carlson and Dave Hanson, both of whom had the nickname “Killer” as players. The Carlsons hailed from Virginia, Minnesota, and first