October 3 NHL History
1931: Goaltender Glenn Hall is born in Humboldt, Saskatchewan. Hall wins 407 games during an 18-year NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues. He’s a key to the Blackhawks’ 1961 Stanley Cup victory, going 8-4 with a 2.02 goals-against average. Hall also sets a record that doesn’t figure to be broken by starting (and finishing) 502 consecutive games.
1953: The Montreal Canadiens add their next superstar when Jean Beliveau signs his first NHL contract and is issued No. 4, the number he wears throughout his Hall of Fame career. He wears it that night and assists on Maurice Richard‘s goal in the All-Star Game.
Getting Beliveau’s signature on a five-year, $105,000 contract ends a long wait for the Canadiens. They end up having to buy the Quebec Senior Hockey League to steer Beliveau to Montreal after he’s resisted overtures during the previous three years. Beliveau goes on to play on 10 Stanley Cup-winning teams with the Canadiens before retiring after the 1970-71 season.
1996: The Los Angeles Kings name defenseman Rob Blake as the 11th captain in their history. He succeeds Wayne Gretzky, who was traded to the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 27, 1996. Blake serves as captain until Feb. 21, 2001, when he’s traded to the Colorado Avalanche.
On the same night, Patrick Roy becomes the eighth goaltender in NHL history to reach 350 career victories when the visiting Avalanche defeat the Calgary Flames 4-1.
1997: The Vancouver Canucks defeat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 3-2 at Yoyogi Arena in Tokyo in the first NHL regular-season game played outside North America.
Vancouver forward Scott Walker scores in the first period, and goals by Mark Messier and Pavel Bure are enough to hold off the Mighty Ducks. Kirk McLean makes 32 saves.
Anaheim’s Espen Knutsen becomes the first player born and trained in Norway to play an NHL game.
The teams play again the following day in Tokyo, with Anaheim winning 3-2.
2009: Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils sets an NHL record with his 15th straight opening night start. He also becomes the second goaltender in League history (after Roy) to appear in 1,000 regular-season games. The Devils lose 5-2 to the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.
