October 9 NHL History
1952: Announcer Danny Gallivan calls his first NHL game, on radio, a 3-2 loss by the Montreal Canadiens to the Chicago Blackhawks at the Forum. He goes on to broadcast nearly 2,000 games on radio and television, including 16 Stanley Cup championships by the Canadiens, before retiring in 1984.
1970: The Vancouver Canucks, one of two expansion teams joining the NHL for the 1970-71 season, lose 3-1 to the Kings at Pacific Coliseum in their first game. The crowd of 15,062 sees defenseman Barry Wilkins score the first goal in Canucks history 2:14 into the third period.
1978: The LA Kings acquire goaltender Ron Grahame from the Boston Bruins in a trade that costs them their first-round pick in the 1979 NHL Draft. The Bruins use that pick to select future Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque. Exactly 15 years later, Bourque has an assist in Boston’s 7-3 victory against the Quebec Nordiques to become the second defenseman in NHL history to reach 1,100 points.
1980: Mark Howe of the Hartford Whalers becomes the first NHL defenseman to score two shorthanded goals in one game. He gets them at 5:28 and 19:36 of the second period in Hartford’s 8-6 road loss to the St. Louis Blues. The second shorthanded goal completes Howe’s first NHL hat trick.
Wayne Gretzky has a trio of memorable moments on this date:
1982: Gretzky scores twice and has an assist in the Edmonton Oilers’ 6-3 victory against the Vancouver Canucks. The two goals give him 200 in 242 NHL games, the fastest in League history.
1993: Gretzky, now with the Los Angeles Kings, has six points (two goals, four assists) in a 10-3 victory against the Detroit Red Wings at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Tomas Sandstrom assists on each of Gretzky’s goals on his way to a Kings-record six-assist night. Gretzky assists on two of the three goals by defenseman Dominic Lavoie, who gets his only NHL hat trick.
2002: The Kings retire Gretzky’s No. 99 prior to their season-opening game against the Phoenix Coyotes. A bronze statue of Gretzky in his Kings uniform is unveiled outside Staples Center, and he tells the packed house that, “To be remembered as an L.A. King is something special.”
1997: The New York Rangers become the first team in NHL history to start its season with four consecutive ties. They set the record with a 1-1 tie against the Calgary Flames at the Saddledome. The Rangers are outshot 28-14, but Pat LaFontaine‘s goal 7:03 into the second period and 27 saves by Jason Muzzatti enable New York to earn a point.
2000: Brett Hull of the Dallas Stars scores his 611th NHL goal, breaking a tie with his father Bobby on the all-time goal list. Brett Hull also has two assists to help the Stars defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 at Air Canada Centre.
