September 30 NHL History
1923: The Montreal Canadiens sign free agent forward Howie Morenz. The “Stratford Streak” is coveted by several teams, but opts to join the Canadiens and becomes one of the NHL’s early stars. He helps the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup as a rookie in 1923-24, scores 28 goals in 30 games in 1924-25 and gets 40 in 44 games in 1929-30.
Montreal wins three championships in Morenz’s 11 seasons with the Canadiens. He plays 1 1/2 seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks and a half season with the New York Rangers before returning to the Canadiens in 1936-37, but sustains a career-ending leg injury on Jan. 28, 1937 and dies less than six weeks later.
1997: Mats Sundin becomes the first non-Canadian captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Seven months after the trade of Doug Gilmour leaves the captaincy vacant, the Swedish forward receives it. He serves as captain for the next 11 seasons, during which he becomes the Maple Leafs’ all-time leading scorer with 987 points (420 goals, 567 assists).
Ironically, Sundin announces his retirement exactly 22 years later, on Sept. 30, 2009. He is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.
2007: The Anaheim Ducks earn a split in the two-game NHL Premiere Series by defeating the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 at O2 Arena in London. Corey Perry scores two goals and has an assist for the Ducks one day after they lose 4-1 to the Kings in the first regular-season NHL game played in England.
