Now You Know Big Book of Sports. Doug Lennox

      The Chicago Black Hawks’ Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita are often credited with first using hockey sticks with curved blades. According to the game’s lore, in the early 1960s Mikita noticed that his broken stick blade, which formed a curve, allowed him to shoot higher and harder. Soon after, Mikita and his teammate Hull were terrifying opposing goalies with shots propelled by huge “banana blade” curves. So dangerous were these shots that the stick blade’s curve is now limited to a half inch. Many hockey historians currently believe, however, that right winger Andy Bathgate, one of the first NHL players to employ the slap shot, was the first to tinker with curving his sticks even before he got to the big league. Bathgate, who played many of his best years with the New York Rangers in the 1950s and early 1960s, told a reporter once: “I would heat up the blades with hot water, then I would bend them. I would put them in the toilet-stall door jamb and leave them overnight. The next day they would have a hook in them.” To prevent his sticks from straightening out, Bathgate added fibreglass to his blades, likely the first player to do so.

       Where did the word deke come from?

      A deke is an action that involves the puck carrier faking a move in one direction and then taking the puck in another direction. Dekes are commonly used to move the puck past defenders or to score on goalies. Deke is a short form of decoy.

       Quickies …

       Did you know …

      that the New York Rangers’ Andy Bathgate was the right winger who drilled a puck into Montreal Canadiens goalie Jacques Plante’s face on November 1, 1959, causing the superstar netminder to don a face mask, an action that changed forever the way goalies played the game?

       What is a power play in hockey?

      A power play occurs in hockey when a team, because of penalties to the opposition, has more players on the ice than the other team. The numerical advantage enjoyed by the team on the power play affords it a good opportunity to score. Most teams dedicate much time to practising their power plays. The secret of a good power play is the ability to control the puck in the attacking zone until it can be moved into position for a shot. In the NHL, power plays are successful about 15 to 18 percent of the time.

       How does an offside occur in hockey?

      An offside infraction occurs when an attacking player crosses the opponent’s blueline ahead of the puck. The offside is hockey’s most commonly called infraction and is intended to prevent a player from camping out in the attacking zone without the puck. The position of the player’s skates, not the stick, determines an offside. For the player to be offside, both skates must be completely over the blueline when the puck fully crosses it. After an offside is called, a faceoff occurs outside the blueline where the infraction took place. Until the 2005–06 season a two-line pass (crossing the centre redline and the opponent’s blueline) to a teammate was also considered an offside. However, the NHL legalized such passes, hoping they would open up the game, create more breakaways, and lead to more frequent scoring chances. Critics of the rule change, though, feel that the opposite has occurred and that the lack of a viable redline promotes greater use of the neutral-zone trap and more defensive hockey. A delayed offside occurs when an attacking player has preceded the puck across his opponent’s blueline and is offside but the defensive team takes possession of the puck at or near the blueline. Play is allowed to continue as the defensive team moves the puck out of its zone (and, therefore, nullifies the offside), or if an attacking player touches the puck inside the blueline.

       When does icing happen in hockey?

      Icing is an infraction that occurs when a player shoots the puck from his or her side of the centre redline across the opponent’s goal line. This infraction is whistled down when the non-offending team touches the puck after it has crossed the goal line. If a defender can reasonably play the puck and chooses not to, or if the shooter’s team is shorthanded, icing isn’t called. When icing is indicated, the puck is faced-off in the offending team’s defensive zone and play resumes.

       When was the first Zamboni used in an NHL arena?

      The Zamboni is a tractorlike machine employed to resurface the ice in a rink. The Zamboni scrapes off a thin layer of ice and then applies a thin coat of hot water, which melts small imperfections in the ice before freezing to form a smooth surface. The Zamboni was invented in the 1940s by Frank J. Zamboni, who owned one of the first skating rinks in Southern California. It was first used in an NHL game at the Montreal Forum on March 10, 1955. Prior to the invention of the Zamboni, NHL arenas were cleaned and flooded between periods by workers using shovels and barrels of water.

       Who holds the most records in the NHL?

      With 60 NHL records in regular-season, playoff, and All-Star games, Wayne Gretzky, of course, holds the individual record of records. Upon his retirement in 1999, the Great One actually had 61 records, but two of his records were eclipsed and he got one back. Gretzky’s record of 15 overtime assists has now been passed by Nicklas Lidstrom, Adam Oates, and Mark Messier, while his record of 12 All-Star Game assists has been beaten by Mark Messier, Ray Bourque, and Joe Sakic. When Mario Lemieux came out of retirement and played more games, he lost his points-per-game-average record, which now belongs to Gretzky again at 1.921 points per game. Some of Gretzky’s loftier records, ones that will likely never be surpassed, are most regular-season goals (894), most regular-season assists (1,963), most regular-season points (2,857), most playoff goals (122), most goals in one season (92), and most assists in one season (163).

       Who holds the NHL record for scoring the most goals in one game?

      Joe Malone of the Quebec Bulldogs scored seven goals in one game against the Toronto St. Patricks on January 31, 1920, powering his club to a 10–6 victory. Malone, born in Quebec City, was one of the NHL’s first superstars. He won the scoring title twice, the first time being in the league’s inaugural season in 1917–18 when he racked up 44 goals in a mere 20 games for the Montreal Canadiens. His other scoring title came in 1919–20 with the Bulldogs. Malone won three Stanley Cups, two with Quebec (1912, 1913) and one with the Canadiens (1924). Perhaps not too surprising, he was also one of the first men to score a goal in the NHL, sharing that distinction with the Montreal Wanderers’ Dave Ritchie. Both Malone and Ritchie potted goals early in their respective games on December 19, 1917. Starting times for games for the era aren’t known, but Malone, a Canadien, got his goal against the Ottawa Senators early in the first period en route to beating the Sens 7–4.

       What was the highest-scoring game in NHL history?

      This record turns out to be a tie. On January 10, 1920, the Montreal Canadiens trounced the Toronto St. Pats 14–7. Sixty-five years later, on December 11, 1985, the Edmonton Oilers slipped by the Chicago Black Hawks 12–9. The record for most goals by one team in a single game is also held by the Canadiens, who netted 16 against the Quebec Bulldogs’ three on March 3, 1920.

       Which NHL player has won the most scoring titles?

      Wayne Gretzky, not too surprisingly, won 10 Art Ross Trophies (1981–87, 1990–91, 1994), the award the NHL has given for the league’s regular-season scoring leader since 1947–48. Prior to that season, a number of players such as Joe Malone, Newsy Lalonde, Bill Cook, and Charlie Conacher won the scoring title twice, but no single person earned it more times than that. The runners-up to Gretzky for Art Ross Trophies are Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux, each with six. The Great One has also won the most Hart Trophies — nine — for most valuable player in the NHL during the regular season. Number 99 accomplished that feat eight seasons in a row from 1980 to 1987, then added a ninth Hart in 1989 after he was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings.

       Who holds the NHL record for the most points in one game?

      On February 7, 1976,