November 8 NHL History
1934: The NHL comes to St. Louis with 12,600 fans on hand at the Coliseum to see the Eagles play their home opener against the Chicago Blackhawks. They lose 3-1, finish the season 11-31-6 and are forced to fold.
1952: Ten years to the day after scoring his first NHL goal, Maurice Richard becomes the League’s all-time leader when he gets the 325th goal of his career during the Montreal Canadiens’ 6-4 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Forum.
Goal No. 325 puts Richard one ahead of Nels Stewart, who holds the record for 12 years after retiring in 1940. Richard retires in 1960 with 544 goals.
Ten years earlier, on Nov. 8, 1942, Richard scores his first goal in a 10-4 victory against the New York Rangers at the Forum. Richard is overshadowed by teammate Buddy O’Connor, who has a goal and five assists and sets an NHL record by getting four of them in one period.
1971: The state of New York receives its third NHL franchise when the New York Islanders are awarded the rights to an expansion team that will begin play in 1972-73. The franchise will be based at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale on Long Island.
1978: Bobby Orr announces his retirement from the NHL at a news conference in Chicago. Knee injuries limit Orr to 657 regular-season games, but he finishes his career with 270 goals, 645 assists and 915 points; at the time, all were records for defensemen.
1985: Wayne Gretzky is held without a goal, but his Edmonton Oilers teammates more than make up for it in a 13-0 victory against the Vancouver Canucks at Northlands Coliseum. Dave Lumley has a hat trick and two assists, Jari Kurri scores twice and Gretzky has four assists.
1990: The Los Angeles Kings retire Marcel Dionne‘s No. 16 prior to their game against the Detroit Red Wings. After spending his first four NHL seasons with Detroit, Dionne plays with the Kings from 1975-87, scoring 550 goals and finishing with 1,307 points in 921 games.
2014: Sidney Crosby has five assists to help the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Buffalo Sabres 6-1 at First Niagara Center for their seventh consecutive victory. It’s the fourth five-point game of Crosby’s NHL career and the third time he’s had five assists. The big night also extends his scoring streak against Buffalo to 19 games, during which he has 36 points (10 goals, 26 assists).
