During the NHL’s hiatus, we at the Last Word on Hockey are 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 June 20th, featuring Steven Stamkos.
Today in Hockey History
Steven Stamkos Taken First Overall
2008: The Tampa Bay Lightning draft the forward from the Sarnia Sting of the OHL. Stamkos came off a 58-goal season with the Sting before being selected. The Markham, Ontario has native has scored 422 goals and netted 832 points so far in his NHL career.
The Los Angeles Kings taken defenceman Drew Doughty with the second second pick while the Atlanta Thrashers take Zach Bogosian at the third spot. Alex Pietrangelo goes third to the St. Louis Blues and Luke Schenn is picked fifth by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Other Notable Events
1988: The Blues name 12-year veteran Brian Sutter as the new head coach. He replaces Jacques Martin as the team’s new bench boss.
1992: The Detroit Red Wings acquire forward Dino Ciccarelli from the Washington Capitals for Kevin Miller.
The rights of top-pick Eric Lindros are traded to both the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers by the Quebec Nordiques. This trade would go to arbitration and Lindros would be awarded to the Flyers.
1993: The Nordiques trade Ron Hextall to the New York Islanders. for Mark Fitzpatrick. Both teams also swap first-round selections.
In the draft, Tampa Bay chooses defenceman Roman Hamrlik with the first overall pick.
1995: Scott Niedermayer and Jim Dowd each score goals as the New Jersey Devils beat the Red Wings, 4-2, in Game 2. Stephane Richer adds an empty-netter to give the Devils a surprising 2-0 series lead.
1999: The Kings acquire Ziggy Palffy, Bryan Smolinski, Marcel Cousineau and a fourth-round pick from the Islanders. New York gets Olli Jokinen, Josh Green, Mathieu Biron and a first-round choice.
2003: Los Angeles reacquires former King Jozef Stumpel from the Boston Bruins. The B’s get a fourth-rounder in 2003 and a third-round pick in 2004.
2012: Evgeni Malkin takes home a trio of honours at the NHL Awards. The Pittsburgh Penguins forward gets the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award to go with the Art Ross Trophy for top regular season-scorer.
2018: Taylor Hall gets the Hart Trophy after helping New Jersey to the post-seson for the first time since 2012. Gerard Gallant wins the Jack Adams Award after leading the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final.
Happy Birthday to You
1913: Alex Motter
1914: Gordon Juckes
1946: Gary Croteau
1959: John Ogrodnick
1977: Joe Corvo
1994: Drake Caggiula
1996: Sam Bennett
1998: Dante Fabbro
