November 29 NHL History
1924: The Montreal Forum, one of hockey’s iconic arenas, has its official opening. The Montreal Canadiens celebrate by defeating the Toronto St. Patricks 7-1, before a crowd of 9,000 fans. Billy Boucher scores three goals for the Canadiens, the first coming 55 seconds into the game.
For the next two seasons, the only time the Canadiens come to the Forum is to play the Montreal Maroons, who join the NHL in 1924. It doesn’t become their full-time home until 1926, and they share it with their local rivals until the Maroons cease operations in 1938. The Canadiens remain the Forum’s lone NHL tenant until they move to Bell Centre in March 1996.
1967: Scotty Bowman gets his first victory as an NHL coach when the St. Louis Blues defeat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 at St. Louis Arena to end a seven-game losing streak. Jimmy Roberts scores two goals for the Blues. Bowman goes on to finish his career with an NHL-record 1,244 regular-season victories, as well as nine Stanley Cup championships.
1975: Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins has knee surgery for the fifth time in his career. Orr doesn’t return to the NHL until October 1976, and he comes back as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks after signing a five-year contract during the summer. However, he plays only parts of two seasons with Chicago before knee problems force him to retire.
2003: At age 41, Chris Chelios becomes the 11th defenseman in NHL history to score 900 career points, when he gets an assist in the Detroit Red Wings’ 2-1 road victory against the St. Louis Blues. Chelios finishes with 948 points in 1,651 games before retiring after playing seven games with the Atlanta Thrashers during the 2009-10 season.
2005: Ray Emery of the Ottawa Senators sets an NHL record by winning his ninth straight game at the beginning of his career. He makes 27 saves for his first NHL shutout in a 4-0 victory against the visiting Montreal Canadiens. Emery defeats the Canadiens for the third time in 2005-06 and improves to 6-0-0 in six starts; his first three wins come in the previous two seasons.
2007: Roberto Luongo extends his personal shutout streak to a team-record 193:56 by making 26 saves in the Vancouver Canucks’ 2-0 victory against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets. He surpasses the franchise record of 184:20 set by Ken Lockett in April 1975.
