Stanley Cup Name Trivia

It is often assumed, and rightly so, that to get one's name on the Stanley Cup, one must have to work at it.

In some instances, certain players have had to work at it harder than others.

As traditions and requirements for eligibility have changed over the years, there have been some odd additions and omissions. It is not only players who can earn the honour, anyone associated with the team now has an opportunity for Stanley immortality.


Ken Dryden was drafted 14th overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1964 NHL Amateur Draft. Dryden had no interest at the time in attending the Bruins camp, preferring to attend Cornell University and tend goal for the Big Red. Dryden was subsequently traded to the Canadiens for Guy Allen and Paul Reid, neither of whom would play a single NHL game. As a player with the rival Cornell, Dryden often played in the Boston Garden, and was quite used to its rowdy atmosphere by the time he helped the Canadiens to the surprise 1971 Cup. Dryden would be named the Conn Smythe Trophy in '71, and win "Rookie of the Year" the following season.



























It is well known that Dryden is the only player to have ever won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP before winning the Calder. In similar fashion, Canadiens prospect Christian Bordeleau won a Stanley Cup with the team in 1969 as a 19 year old before winning the Memorial Cup the next season with the Montreal Junior Canadiens.

Chicago Blackhawks great, Tony Esposito started his career by getting his name on the Stanley Cup while serving as a third string goalie on a Montreal team that had Rogatien Vachon and Gump Worsley. Esposito played 13 games with 1969 Canadiens, including one very historic contest against his brother Phil's Boston Bruins that ended in a 0-0 draw. Much like Dryden, Esposito would also get his name on the Cup and go onto win the Calder Trophy in 1970, setting a modern day record with 15 shutouts in one season. In what became a Hall Of Fame career, Esposito reached the finals in 1971 and '73, but never did get to earn his name onto the Cup.


Former Norris Trophy winner Harry Howell enjoyed a lengthy 23 year professional career, mostly with the New York Rangers. When the defenseman retired in 1976, he left the game with the dubious honour as the player having played in the most games, 1141 in all, without having his name on the Cup. He was more fortunate as a scout, getting his name engraved amongst the 1989-90 Oilers championship team - in his first year on the job!

Steve Brule played one playoff game for the New Jersey Devils in 2000, getting his name on the Cup having played the least possible games. Three years later, Brule suited up for a pair of games with the Avalanche, who undoubtably signed him for his extensive Cup experience. Brule is still an active payer in the Austrian League with Graz EC.

Phil Housley, 12th in all time games played, is now the player having taken part in the most games, 1495, without getting a sniff of Stanley. Housley, played mainly with Buffalo and Winnipeg, before moving onto succession of 6 other teams. Mike Gartner, 1432 in 19 seasons, Norm Ullman, 1410 in 20 seasons, and Dale Hunter, with 1407 in 19 seasons, are next. Marcel Dionne, with 1771 points in 1348 games remains the games most prolific scorer not to have reached glory, however his younger brother Gilbert, who played a career total of 223 got lucky in 1993 with the Canadiens.

Ullman was particularly unfortunate, arriving just after the Detroit dynasty in 1955-56 and reaching the Leafs two years after their last win of thewir great 1960's run.

Incomprehensibly, goalie Ernie Wakely's name is in with the members of the 1964-65 champion Canadiens team. Wakely had played in just one game for the Habs - two years prior in 1962-63. He hadn't even set foot in the Forum in '65, playing with Omaha in the CPHL and Quebec and Cleveland of the AHL. Oddly, his name was added again in 1967-68, though he still hadn't played during that season. Wakely played one more game for the Canadiens in 1968-69, but this time there was no such luck with the mug. Wakely soon moved on to St.Louis where such screw ups were virtually impossible. He rounded out his career with a decade in the WHA.










On the 1983-84 engraving of the Edmonton Oilers, a name under owner Peter Pocklington appears this way, "XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX". It is the X'd out name of Pocklington's father Basil, who had no direct correlation to the team. In the early 1990's, the Cup known as the Presentation Cup was sent to Montreal for repairs and returned missing the X'd name. An Islanders inscription had also been erroneously labelled "Ilanders" and the Cup was returned to be re-engraved with the Islanders name spelled correctly and the Pocklington X's added back on. The league directed this to preserve Stanley Cup lore. However, the Pocklington snafu is not found on what is known as the replica Cup, the one that sits at the HHOF and is used only when the Presentation Cup is on the road for various duties.

While the "Russian Rocket" Pavel Bure came close to winning the Stanley Cup in 1994 with the Canucks, the Bure name still found it's way onto the Stanley Cup. Inscribed among the names of the 2003 New jersey Devils, is one V. Bure. Vladimir Bure, father of Pavel and Valeri, was a fitness consultant with the team. The father was an Olympic swimming medalist in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics.

Scotty Bowman was born September 18, 1934. So why is his name in with the 1936-37 Detroit Red Wings champions when he was only three years old? The answer is simple, there are two "Scotty Bowman's". The first was a Winnipeg born defenseman who played with that years Wings team, named Ralph "Scotty" Bowman, and is inscribed on the Cup as simply "Scotty Bowman". The other, the legendary Canadiens and Red Wings coach, is named William Scott Bowman, but is best known as "Scotty". The coach who has won 9 Stanley Cups as a bench boss, named his son Stanley Glenn Bowman, after winning his first Cup in 1973. Stanley, of course was for the Cup, and Glenn was for Glenn Hall, the goaltender he admired most, and who who helped Bowman reach the Stanley Cup finals three years in a row with the St. Louis Blues.

Mike Ricci, who won with the Avalance in 1996, had friends over during the summer for a celebration day with the Cup.Among the guests were Ken and Cheryl Riley, who had been having trouble conceiving a child. During the party, Cheryl kissed the Cup and later in the day found out she was pregnant. When he was born, they named their son "Stanley C. Riley.

Vancouver Canucks History

In 1945 the Pacific Coast Hockey League established a hockey franchise in the city of Vancouver. Known as the Canucks, they immediatly enjoyed successs by winning the PCHL championship in their first and third years of existance, 194 and 1948. In 1952, the PCHL merged with the Western Canada Senior Hockey League to form the Western Hockey League. With numerous star players coming up the ranks such as Johnny Bower, Andy Bathgate, Tony Esposito, and Allan Stanley, the team would again win the Lester Patrick Cup in 1958, 1960, 1969, and 1970. The team played at the Vancouver Forum.

In 19656, when the NHL announced plans to expand it's league to six additional markets, the owner of the WHL's Canucks, Fred Hume, announced that the city would bid for a team. The bid to the NHL's Board of Governors, however, was not well prepared. Due to this, and the fact that the Vancouver ownership group was disliked by Red Wings owner Bruce Norris, and Toronto Maple Leafs co-owner Stafford Smythe, the application did not succeed. Nevertheless, plans went ahead for building the Pacific Coliseum on the grounds of the PNE and the Canucks were granted a franchise two years later that would make it's debut in 1970-71. The toughly negotiated deal would cost the new ownership group 2 millions dollars more than the original 4 million price tag.

The Canucks first NHL game was against the Los Angeles Kings on October 9, 1970. Their captain was Orland Kurtenbach and their very first goal was scored by Barry Wilkens. Two days later, the franchise recorded it's first career win, a 5-3 defeat of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Canucks first decade was generally a mediocre one, missing the playoffs in eight of its first 10 seasons. In 1975, their best initial showing, they were Smythe Division Champions with 86 points, but lost out in the quarter finals.

In 1982, with a record of 30-33-17, they finished second in a weak the Smythe, but went on to everyone's surprise to become that seasons Cinderella team. Guided by the inventive Roger Neilson, and backed by "King" Richard Brodeur's stellar puckstopping, the Canucks found themselves Stanley Cup finalists against the heavily favored, two time champions, New York Islanders. While a few games finished with close scores, the Canucks were no match, and were swept 4-0 in games.

After their improbable run, the franchise slipped back into mediocrity for the decade's remainder. In the early 1990's, the team began to add key elements, and were soon highly competitive. With Pat Quinn as coach and GM, Captain Trevor Linden, goaltender Kirk McLean, and the game's most dazzling and exciting shooter Pavel Bure, combined to make the Canucks a force.

In 1994, the Canucks made their second trip to the finals, entering that year's playoffs as the seventh seed in the Western Conference. The club had what could be characterized as an off-year during the regular season, but resumed their form during the playoffs, beating the rival Calgary Flames in the first round in an incredible seven-game series. They won games five, six, and seven in overtime, the "Russian Rocket", Bure scored the game seven winner on a breakaway, which many consider the biggest goal in franchise history.

They went on to defeat both the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs in 5 games before meeting the New York Rangers in the Finals. Vancouver won game 1, 3-2 in OT, backed by goaltender McLean's 52-save performance.

The Canucks lost Game Seven in the finals by an identical score of 3-2. In a heavily contested and hard fought match, the Canucks came closest to tying the game in the late third period, when winger Nathan LaFayette wrung a wrsit shot off the crossbar.

The Canucks' loss was followed by a major riot by disappointed hockey fans in downtown Vancouver, many of whom had been drinking heavily.

In the 1997 off-season, the Canucks made a big splash and signed Mark Messierfrom the Rangers to a lucrative five-year deal. Fans in Van-City were hopeful that the legendary "Greatest Leader in NHL History" (Messier had also captained the Oilers to the 1990 Cup) would lead their team to the Promised Land, but it wasn't to be, as "Moose" Messier and the Canucks never got a hint of post-season action together. He rejoined the Rangers as a free agent in 2000.

With a new general manager, Brian Burke and coach Marc Crawford (who'd won a Cup with the 1996 Avalance, Vancouver quickly rebuilt their team and returned to the playoffs in 2001. Led by forwards Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi, defenseman Ed Jovanovski and goaltender dan Cloutier, the Canucks would achieve some success in the next few years. However, since 1994, the Canucks have not yet achieved significant playoff success, failing to achieve victory in the second round.

It was Brian Burke who coined the phrase "Goalie Graveyard", when referring to the Canucks' long-standing history of having troubles between the pipes. As it turned out, Vancouver became Burke's own graveyard. Before the lockout of 2004-05, Burke did not have his NHL GM contract renewed by the Canucks, a move that many Vancouver fans regarded as a poor decision, and was replaced by Dave Nonis, who had been assistant GM. Free agent activity in the summer prior to the 2005-06 season saw players such as Anson Carter and Richard Park arrive in Vancouver. However, Nonis' moves were viewed by some to be rather meek compared to other NHL club GMs.

From Wiki, here's a listing of all players that have worn a Canucks jersey, team player records, season by season stats, and a detailing of the 1994 Stanley Cup Riot.

Vancouver Canucks - Looking Back Part 1

(RC Note - This is a five part series - yes, I lost a bet! I'll keep it gentlemanly, as there is no real need to take cheap shots at the Canucks - what whould it give?)

Back in this blogs infancy, on July 28 of last year, I posted on some moments in Canuck history, both good and not so good. You can revisit it here.

My favorite Canuck of all time, far and away, is Pavel Bure. I enjoyed watching him so much, I never once cringed when he was called the Russian "Rocket". The best compliment I could ever give Bure, was that along with Bobby Orr and Guy Lafleur mostly, he was one of the few players who could pull me from my seat just by touching the puck. There was an unparalleled excitement and anticipation in his game.

Legends Of Hockey writer, Joe Pelletier, a Canucks fan and author, has this to say about Bure on his site. Check it out sometime, Pelletier feature 18 Canucks greats in his writings.

Pavel Bure was the most electrifying hockey player as the world approached the 21st century. While the likes of Jaromir Jagr, Dominik Hasek, Paul Kariya and Eric Lindros are all extremely great hockey players, Bure had the rare ability to pull the fans out of their seats every time he touches the puck.

No one loves to score as much as Bure. Even in practice he loves to see the twine bulge. In that sense Bure ranks as one of the greatest pure goal scorers in hockey history. Names like Mike Bossy and Rocket Richard are fair comparisons.

Bure is nicknamed the Russian Rocket because of his incredible speed. While some players can match his foot speed, what makes Bure so special is he can carry the puck at top speed. Most players just push the puck in front of them as they break down the wing; Bure is capable of deking through a top defenseman without losing steam. Sometimes he even dropped the puck into his feet and kick it by the blueliner, and then accelerate by him to get in alone. He was truly a magnificent player to watch, and you often watched with your jaw hanging open.

Though small by NHL standards, Bure was built like a rock, with great strength and balance. He had legs like tree trunks that powered his scary speed. He had an arsenal of goal scoring tricks. His wrist shot was lethal, as was his much rarer slap shot. But most of all he loved to deke.

Pavel also had a nasty streak him and would not take anything from bigger players. Just ask Shane Churla. Churla, a noted roughian, was giving Pavel a hard time in one particular game. Pavel took only so much before he caught Churla with a blind hit and a vicious elbow. Pavel played the game with reckless abandon, particularly if the he sensed an opportunity to crash to the net and score a goal. He was seemingly fearless even after injuries began taking their toll on his body.

One area that his coaches would have liked Bure to do more of was use his linemates better. Too often Bure tried to go through the entire opposition by himself. Sometimes he actually did it, and every time it was an event. But Bure was a good passer, underrated even, and the team would be better off if Bure would have been a little less selfish at times. He was also knocked for his defensive play.

"Pasha" was drafted in the sixth round of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, 113th overall, by the Vancouver Canucks. It would turn out to be a controversial pick at that time because no 18 year old could be drafted after the third round unless he had played more than ten games in 2 seasons in a major league. The NHL Media Guide stated that Pavel had only played 5 games the year before, but Mike Penny (the Canucks' Chief Scout) discovered proof in the form of score sheets which had recorded that Pavel had played 11 games in that previous year.

At the age of 16, Pavel joined the Red Army to play with the best hockey players in Russia at that time, including the popular KLM line (Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov, and Sergei Makarov). It was with that team also that he met Sergei Federov and Alexander Mogilny. Together, they formed one of the best lines in the world. They were being groomed to carry on the tradition of the KLM line in the old Soviet regime, prior to the fall of communism and the opening of NHL gates to former Soviet hockey players.

Pavel played in the World Junior Championships for three years where he scored 27 goals and 12 assists for a total of 39 points in just 21 games. In 1989 and 1990 he won the gold medal, and in 1991 just before joining the Canucks, he won the silver medal. In 1989 he was named the Soviet League Rookie of the Year.

In fact, as a kid the thought of a Russian in the NHL was so remote that Bure never dreamed of North American glory. He dreamed of playing with the mighty Soviet national team, like his idols Boris Mikhailov and Valeri Kharlamov.

"I never dreamed about the NHL. Growing up I didn’t hear too many things about it. North America was like a different planet. Kinda like something you read about but a place you never thought you’d go. It was my dream to be a part of the national team and win an Olympic medal because my father went to three Games and didn’t win a gold. My biggest dream was for me and my brother to go to the Olympics and win a gold for the family."

By the early 1990s Soviet players were being allowed to join the NHL, though the Russian federation tried their best to keep young stars like Bure. Tempted by the large contracts of professional hockey, Bure became disenchanted with his contract from the CSKA. Along with his father, an Olympic swimmer and younger brother and future NHLer Valeri he slipped off to North America to start his new life with the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks.

Pavel came to Vancouver 15 games into the 1991-92 season. With his explosive rushes, his first game remains one of the most talked about nights in Vancouver hockey history. Bure instantly became the NHL's most electrifying player, as he would score 34 times while adding 26 helpers en route to winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the best rookie.

The following season the Russian Rocket lifted off to a new stratosphere, scoring 60 goals while adding 50 assists and being named a NHL First Team All Star.

In 1993-94 he scored 60 goals for the second-straight year, making him the eighth player in NHL history to accomplish that feat (the other players to do that were Phil Esposito, Mike Bossy, Jari Kurri, Wayne Gretzky, Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, and Mario Lemieux). This time he led the league with his 60 markers. During the unforgettable Stanley Cup run of the 1994 playoffs, Pavel led the team in scoring with 31 points. He also led the entire league in playoff goals with 16, none bigger than the game 7 overtime goal against the Calgary Flames to advance the Canucks to the second round.

The following season was a difficult season for the entire NHL and most of its players as the season was shortened due to a labour dispute. Pavel only managed 20 goals and 43 points in 44 games. Yet it was nowhere as near as difficult as the next two seasons.

1995-96 was supposed to be the great rejoining of perhaps the league's most dangerous duo - Pavel Bure and newly acquired Alexander Mogilny. Unfortunately only 15 games into the season Pavel Bure's ACL ligament was severely damaged while playing against the Chicago Blackhawks when he was taken down behind the net by opponent Steve Smith. Pavel's season was over, and a career long history of knee troubles had begun.

The 1996-97 season saw Pavel return for 63 games but only muster 23 goals and 55 points. During the season people wondered if the Russian Rocket would ever return to his former glory. Following the conclusion of the disappointing season it became known that Pavel had played much of the schedule with a severe case of whiplash, and perhaps should have sat out part of that season as well.

Any doubts about Bure's ability to return to his style of explosive speed, all out recklessness and goal scoring clinics were answered in the 1997-98 season, as Bure teamed up with Mark Messier to score 51 times while tying for 3rd over all in league scoring.

Bure, who had notified the Canucks he wished to be traded as early as the 1995-96 season, finally demanded a trade by sitting out the start of the 1998-99 season. Bure sat out despite being scheduled to make $8 million US citing reasons such as not enough privacy in a small, Canadian market, a variety of disputes with management and a desire to play with a winning team.

The trade finally came on January 17, 1999 as Brian Burke trade him to the Florida Panthers. Bure, Brett Hedican, Brad Ference and a 3rd round pick went to the Sunshine State in exchange for Ed Jovanovski, Dave Gagner, Mike Brown, Kevin Weekes and a 1st round pick.

Just for a little Habs - Canucks related fun, there is a list below of 25 players who have appeared in both jerseys since Vancouver joined the NHL in 1970. If I have missed any, please let me know. I scoured the NHL Official Book and Record Guide's retired and active player sections to compile the list.

I have two trivia questions. First, you will see 5 players who have asteriks attached to their names. What differentiates these players from the other 20. The second question is, which player amongst this group only played for both teams and no other NHL franchises in their career. The first correct winning answer gets to ask me to do any ramdom post of their choice - within reason, of course.

Have fun!

Trevor Linden*
Jan Bulis
Andre Boudrias
Murray Baron
Scott Lachance
Cesare Maniago
Jesse Belanger
Russ Courtnall
Ryan Walter
Jyrki Lumme
Andrew Cassels
Mike Keane
J.J. Daigneault*
Jose Charbonneau
Enrico Ciccone*
Gerald Diduck
Wayne Connelly
Robert Dirk*
Tom Kurvers
Gary Leeman
Sergio Momessso
Gino Odjick*
Marc Reaume
Leon Rochefort
Charlie Hodge
Josef Balej
Rory Fitzpatrick