We’re normally starting up another hockey season, but we’re in a different world. Last Word on Hockey is still going to look back at each date’s historical significance to the game. We’ll remember the moments that shaped the sport of hockey that happened on this day. Here’s our look at this date in hockey history for November 8th, featuring Maurice Richard.
Today in Hockey History
Maurice Richard Becomes League’s Leading Scorer
1952: The Montreal Canadiens forward gets the all-time scoring mark 10 years to the day after his debut. Richard scores his 325th career goal in the Habs 6-4 win over the Chicago Black Hawks. He passes Nels Stewart, who held the record for 12 seasons.
Richard ends up scoring 544 career goals before he retires in 1960. The Rocket’s first goal came in 1942 on the power play in a 10-4 victory over the New York Rangers. Buddy O’Connor got five assists in that game.
Other Notable Events
1934: Hockey comes to St. Louis as the Eagles play their home opener in front of 10,000 fans. Chicago defeats St. Louis, 3-1, and the Eagles finish their lone seasons 11-31-6. The team is forced to fold at the end of the season.
1969: Billy Dea scores for the Detroit Red Wings in a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins. It’s Dea’s first goal in 11 years, 11 months and 11 days, which is the longest gap between tallies. Randy Cunneyworth breaks the record on Feb. 11, 1999 with the Buffalo Sabres.
1971: Long Island is awarded an NHL franchise when the New York Islanders are awarded a franchise. The team begins play in the 1972-73 season and was based in Uniondale at the Nassau Coliseum.
1978: Bobby Orr announces his retirement at a press conference in Chicago. A history of knee problems limit Orr to 657 regular season games. However, he completes his career with the most goals (270), assists (645) and points (915) for a defenceman.
1985: Dave Lumley gets a hat trick and the Edmonton Oilers rout the Vancouver Canucks, 13-0. Jari Kurri adds two more goals and Wayne Gretzky adds four assists.
1990: The Los Angeles Kings retire Marcel Dionne‘s No. 16 sweater prior to a game with Detroit. Dionne plays with the Kings from 1975-87, scoring 550 goals and finishing with 1,307 points in 921 games. He originally started his career with the Red Wings.
1991: The Pittsburgh Penguins Paul Coffey becomes the all-time leading scorer for defencemen. He breaks Denis Potvin‘s mark with his 311th goal.
1997: Phil Housley of the Washington Capitals becomes the fifth defenseman in league history to reach 1,000 points and second American to score that many points.
Happy Birthday to You
1910: Bob Gracie
1924: Johnny Bower
1965: Mike Peluso
1968: Keith Jones
1973: Frantisek Kaberle
1995: Ondrej Kase
