Brian McFarlane - 101 Fascinating Hockey Facts

Copyright Brian McFarlane, 2019

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Cover designer: Laura Boyle
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: 101 fascinating hockey facts / Brian McFarlane.

Other titles: One hundred one fascinating hockey facts | One hundred and one fascinating hockey facts

Names: McFarlane, Brian, author.

Identifiers: ISBN 9781459745667 (softcover) | ISBN 9781459745674 (PDF) | ISBN 9781459745681 (EPUB)

Subjects: LCSH: National Hockey LeagueMiscellanea. | LCSH: HockeyMiscellanea.

Classification: LCC GV847.8.N3 M39 2019 | DDC 796.962/64dc23

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To Anderson Whitehead, 12, and his hockey hero, Carey Price. Their emotional bonding in 2019 after Andersons mother Laura McKay died from cancer at age 44 was a fascinating moment in hockey, one well long remember.

Hockey has a fascinating history. And although Canada is the birthplace of the game, over the past century the sport has been adopted by countries all over the world. As a founding member of the Society for International Hockey Research, Im one of many who diligently dig into hockeys past, and I am constantly surprised by the stories we uncover: Tales of triumph and tragedy, victory and defeat, camaraderie and conflict, and lots of crazy shenanigans, both on and off the ice.

Can you imagine a player scoring 14 goals in a single Stanley Cup game? Or leading his NHL team in scoring with a mere 13 points? How about the NHL player who was still performing into his fifties and a grandfather? How about the teenage goalie who travelled more than 4,000 miles to play for the Stanley Cup and allowed a record 32 goals in two Cup games?

I even created a little Stanley Cup lore myself by stepping on the ice with a microphone in the middle of a 1974 playoff game and earning a reprimand from the NHL president at the time. Still, it was a hockey first.

The following pages contain a collection of 101 of these fascinating stories that occurred before and during my seven-decade-long career as a hockey broadcaster and writer. I hope you enjoy them!

On April 2, 1962, during the Stanley Cup playoffs, a 25-year-old Montrealer saw his name and photo splashed across the sports pages of North America. Was it because he had won the Cup? No, it was because he had stolen it!

Ironically, the event happened on April Fools Day. But it was no joke. At the Chicago Stadium, with the Blackhawks almost certain to win the semifinal series and the Cup, one diehard Canadiens fan named Ken Kilander sprang into action. Here is how he described what happened:

In the 60s, Id follow the Habs around all the time. Id finance my road trips by playing piano in bars. I knew the Stanley Cup was locked up in a showcase in the lobby of the Chicago Stadium. So I said to some reporters, What would you fellows do if I went and got the Cup?

One of them laughed and said, Well, it is April Fools Day. If you go and steal the Cup, I guarantee Ill put your picture in the paper.

So, when I saw my beloved Habs getting clobbered that night, I couldnt take any more of that. I ran down to the lobby and I pushed in on this glass showcase and the lock gave way.

I grabbed the Cup and walked away fast. An usher spotted me and started yelling, Stop him! Help! Some guys stealing the Cup! His screams brought some policemen running and they arrested me. Its hard to run fast when youre lugging the Stanley Cup.

The next morning I appeared before a judge, who took pity on me. He said, You can go back to the Stadium tomorrow night and cheer for your Canadiens. But the Cup stays here unless the Blackhawks lose, which they will not. Then he smiled at me and let me go.

The judge was right. Chicago won the series, but lost to Toronto in the Cup finals. And I was lucky not to be fined or thrown in jail.

Ken Kilander isnt the only Montrealer who stole the Stanley Cup. After the Canadiens won the Cup in 1979, there was, of course, a team victory party actually, several victory parties. At one of them, Guy Lafleur, the teams top scorer with 52 goals, slipped the Stanley Cup into the trunk of his car and drove away with it. Nobody had seen him leave, and soon there were cries of, Wheres the Cup? Its gone missing. Who stole the Stanley Cup?

Only Guy Lafleur knew. And he was taking it for a little ride, all the way to the home of his parents in Thurso, Quebec.

Rejean Lafleur, Guys father, was surprised and excited when Guy arrived. Together, they placed the Cup on the front lawn. Word travelled fast in the small community, and people came running all of them with cameras. They came from miles around, once word spread that the Cup was sitting on Rejean Lafleurs lawn.

Hundreds of people lined up to have their photos taken with it. And with Guy.

By then, Guy was beginning to feel guilty. On the radio he heard that Montreal fans and the custodians of the Cup were alarmed because the Stanley Cup had gone missing, and a search for it was under way.

Id better get the Cup back to Montreal, where it belongs, he told his parents.

So he loaded up the trophy and rushed back to the Canadiens front office. He hurried in carrying the Cup and left it with a receptionist. When asked for an explanation, he said, Sorry, Im in a big hurry. He ran out and raced off. No doubt he had a big smile on his face all the way back to Thurso.