Hockey is finally back! Normally we’d be closing in on the mid-way point of the regular season, however, 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 January 28th featuring Denis Potvin.
Today in Hockey History
Denis Potvin Gets Defenceman Goal Record
1986: The New York Islanders defenceman scores his 271st career goal in a 9-2 rout of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Potvin’s goal breaks Bobby Orr‘s mark for most goals scored by a player at his position.
He finishes with 310 career goals and retires at the end of the 1987-88 season. The Ottawa native enters the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991. Potvin was a vital part of the Islanders’ four straight Stanley Cups in the 1980s.
Other Notable Events
1918: Montreal Canadiens forward Joe Malone extends his goal-scoring streak to 11 straight games. He scores his 25th goal in a 5-1 loss to Toronto. Malone ends up scoring 44 goals in the league’s inaugural season.
1937: The career of Canadiens star Howie Morenz comes to a sudden end after he breaks four bones in his left leg. Morenz is tripped and goes into the corner, where his skate gets lodged in the boards. Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Earl Seibert accidentally falls over him, causing the injury. He tragically dies of heart failure on March 8.
1943: Chicago’s Max Bentley sets a team record of seven points (four goals, three assists) in a 10-1 win over the New York Rangers. Bentley’s four goals all come in the third period.
1968: Los Angeles Kings goalie Terry Sawchuk gets his 101st career shutout in a 2-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Sawchuk has a streak of at least one shutout in 19 straight seasons.
1984: Edmonton Oilers centre Wayne Gretzky has his 51-game point streak in a 4-2 loss to the Kings. Gretzky finishes the streak with 153 points (61 goals, 92 assists) in 51 games.
1989: The league sets a modern attendance mark with 164,223 fans attend the 10 games on the schedule. A total of eight games are shutouts and 20,002 fans pack the Saddledome to see the Calgary Flames down Chicago.
1990: Pittsburgh Penguins centre Mario Lemieux gets a third-period goal in a 7-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Lemieux gets his 100th point of the season and extends his point streak to 39 games.
1992: St. Louis Blues forward Brett Hull is the second player in NHL history to have back-to-back seasons of 50 goals in 50 games. Hull scores in a 3-3 tie with Los Angeles.
Happy Birthday to You
1942: Arnie Brown
1943: Paul Henderson
1949; Jack Egers
1953: Colin Campbell
1957: Mark Napier
1958: Stan Smyl
1961: Normand Rochefort
1966: Michal Pivonka
1985: Daniel Carcillo
