The New England Whalers Become the Hartford Whalers

Founded in 1972, the World Hockey Association began it's first season with an ambitious twelve member clubs located in Cleveland, Boston, New York, Ottawa, Philadelphia, Quebec, Edmonton, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Minnesota and Winnipeg.

Team movement began before the second season had even begun, with Philadelphia relocating to Vancouver and Ottawa finding a new home in Toronto, while New York moved over to New Jersey and underwent a name change.

The third season saw expansion to Indianapolis and Phoenix, while the New Jersey franchise relocated cross-country to San Diego as Los Angeles moved to Detroit for just half a season prior to moving to Baltimore before folding for good after the season, as did Chicago.

And so it went for the next four seasons with additions such as Cincinnati and Denver, teams moving to Calgary, Ottawa again, Birmingham and Minnesota again, while clubs in San Diego, Phoenix, Calgary and Houtson folded after their seasons ended.

Worse, clubs were no longer waiting until the conclusion of the season to fold, as Ottawa, Minnesota (twice) and Indianapolis all called it quits mid-season.

Still, the four constants during all the franchise meandering and bankruptcies were the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets and the New England Whalers, although in the interest of fairness it must be noted that the Whalers did relocate from Boston 91 miles up the freeway to Hartford, Connecticut midway though the 1974-75 season while keeping the "New England" moniker throughout.

The Whalers won the first WHA championship in 1973 and made the finals again in 1978. Finally after several years of negotiations and failed attempts, the Oilers, Jets, Nordiques and Whalers were granted expansion status into the NHL, leaving Birmingham and Cincinnati out in the cold. The original merger/expansion vote was initially rejected by a single vote but a massive boycott of Molson products in Edmonton, Winnipeg and Quebec City led to the Montreal Canadiens, who were owned by Molson at the time, and the Vancouver Canucks to change their votes during a second ballot, approving the plan on March 22, 1979.

One provision of the expansion, as the NHL chose to treat it, rather than a "merger", was the Boston Bruins insisting that the Whalers drop "New England" from their name. Thus, on this date in 1979, the New England Whalers formally changed their name to the Hartford Whalers.

The WHA teams were severely restricted by the terms of the deal. Since they were being treated as expansion clubs, they each were required to pay a $6 million franchise fee to enter the NHL, as well as returning any player who had left the NHL to join the WHA without compensation after being allowed to protect just two goalies and two skaters. They were also placed at the end of the line for the 1979 NHL Entry Draft, rather than having picks 1-4 as any normal expansion club would expect.

The Whalers chose to keep Jordy Douglas, Mark Howe and goaltender John Garrett. An agreement was also reached which allowed Gordie Howe to remain in Hartford despite the Detroit Red Wings legally having the right to reclaim the now 50 year old Howe.

The Whalers did lose Alan Hangsleben (Canucks), Rick Ley (Maple Leafs), George Lyle (Red Wings) and Warren Miller (Rangers) to their original clubs.

Once the reclaiming process was completed, an expansion draft was held, which allowed each NHL team to protect 15 skaters and two goalies before the "new" clubs were allowed to restock their rosters at a cost of $125,000 for each player chosen.

Thus, the Whalers paid $250,000 to simply keep Ley and Hangsleben on their roster in the end when they reclaimed the pair among the 16 players they selected at a cost of $2 million on top of the $6 million they had already been charged simply for the right to become a member of the NHL.

The move to the NHL resulted in an overhaul of the team's sweaters and logo. While the original team colors were simply green and white, gold trim was added for the second season while the crest was simplified to a "W" bisected by a harpoon. These jerseys would remain in use for three seasons before some striping changes to the road jerseys and the player's names changing from one color to two in 1976-77. The home jersey waist striping was changed to mirror that of the road jerseys in 1977-78 through the final WHA season of 1978-79.

On entry to the NHL, gold was dropped in favor of royal blue and a completely new jersey was designed to compliment the brand new, much more modernized team logo.

Today's featured jersey is a 1977-78 New England Whalers Rick Ley jersey. This was the third variation of road jerseys used by the Whalers while in the WHA and differed from the second version only in the waist stripes. No longer was it a wide white stripe with gold trim three stripe pattern, but now a main white stripe (thinner than previous) bordered with a pair of green stripes which were then in turn bordered by a pair of gold stripes in a five stripe "Northwestern" pattern as featured on today's jersey.

Ley played four seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs prior to moving to the Whalers for their inaugural WHA season of 1972-73 through the demise of the WHA in 1979, being named team captain in 1975.

While Ley was reclaimed by the Maple Leafs as part of the expansion process, the Whalers reclaimed him from the Maple Leafs (for $125,000) and he played two more seasons with the renamed Hartford Whalers in the NHL, remaining team captain until 1980.

He would play 310 NHL games and 478 in the WHA with a combined 47 goals and 329 points plus 1244 penalty minutes. His #2 was one of only three numbers retired by the Whalers franchise.

Today's video section begins with Rick Ley scoring a shorthanded goal with speed and a nifty move for the Whalers.

Here Ley is later interviewed later on in the same game.

Here is a video scouting report on Ley with rare video clips from the Whalers very first season of 1972-73 using their original jerseys featuring the circle crest.

Our final clips today are the kind we just live for. First, the Whalers are introduced to the sounds of "Brass Bonanza" in an all-too-short clip, followed by game action from their December 27, 1976 Super Series meeting in which the New England Whalers defeated the Soviet National Team, with Vladislav Tretiak in goal, 5-2!

1970-71 Vancouver Canucks Garth Rizzuto Jersey

Since the demise of the Brooklyn Americans in 1942, the NHL consisted of just six member teams, commonly referred to as "The Original Six". Finally, following the success of the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants in Major League Baseball on the west coast, the idea of expanding the NHL was first brought up in 1963, partly due to fears that the Western Hockey League was intending to operate as a major league in the near future and also in hopes of making the league more attractive to American television networks with coast-to-coast appeal.

The original discussions promoted San Francisco and Vancouver as acceptable locations with Los Angeles and St. Louis also as potential candidates in March of 1965.

In February of 1966, applications were received from groups from Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Baltimore, Buffalo and Vancouver.

In the end, franchises were awarded to Oakland (across the bay from San Francisco), Los Angeles, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and... St. Louis!

The 1967-68 St. Louis Blues

The decision to exclude Vancouver caught many by surprise, especially those involved in the construction of the brand new Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, and angered not only the locals, but all of Canada, since the six chosen cities were all in the United States. Various reasons emerged to explain the surprise inclusion of St. Louis, despite the fact there was no formal proposal from a group representing St. Louis!

Reportedly, Toronto and Montreal did not want to share Canadian TV revenues with a third club and support for expansion from Chicago was contingent on the creation of a team in St. Louis, which would result in the sale of the run-down St. Louis Arena, which just conveniently happened to be owned by the Chicago Black Hawks ownership group at the time...

Less than a year later the Oakland Seals franchise was having financial difficulties and an apparent deal was struck to move the club to Vancouver. The NHL however, did not want to see one of their brand new franchises moved so quickly and killed the deal. In exchange for avoiding a lawsuit, the NHL promised Vancouver a team in the next expansion, which occurred on this date in 1970, when Buffalo and Vancouver were granted entry into the NHL, at a cost of $6 million, three times the prices paid in the 1967 expansion.

The first order of business was selecting a name for the new Vancouver franchise, and they chose to retain the name Vancouver Canucks, which had been in use by the Vancouver club in the WHL from 1952 to 1970. The club's original colors of Blue, white and green were chosen to represent the water, the snow and the mountains which surround Vancouver.

During the Expansion Draft on June 9, 1970, the Canucks chose Gary Doak, a defenseman from the Boston Bruins. Their second choice was Orland Kurtenbach, a center from the New York Rangers who became the Canucks first team captain. After chosing Ray Cullen, the Canucks selected Pat Quinn, who would one day return to coach the Canucks.

Orland Kurtenbach

Two days later, the league held it's annual Amateur Draft. The Sabres famously won the spin of a wheel to win the right to select first, leaving the Canucks with the second choice, which they used on defenseman Dale Tallon, who would play in Vancouver for three seasons.

The rest of their draft was less than successful, with forgotten names such as defenseman Jim Hargreaves (66 total games with Vancouver), goalie Ed Dyck (49 games) plus Brent Taylor, Bill McFadden and Dave Gilmour, all of whom never skated in the NHL.

The Canucks played their first game on October 9, 1970 against the Los Angeles Kings, with former Vancouver Millionaires player (1912-1921), the 86-year-old Cyclone Taylor, in attendance. Barry Wilkins had the distinction of scoring the first goal in team history. The Canucks first victory arrived two days later, as they exacted a measure of revenge for their delay in getting into the NHL on the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 5-3 win.

The Canucks would play respectable hockey for the first three months of the season until Kurtenbach was sidelined with a knee injury in late December with the team at 13-18-3 at the time. They would win only one game in January and just three in February to find themselves at 18-37-6, with the low point being allowing three goals to Boston in just 20 seconds on February 25th. They finished out the season 6-11-2 after Kurtenbach's return for a season record of 24-16-8 for sixth place in the tough East Division with five of the well established Original Six franchises as competition.

The team was led in scoring by Andre Boudrias, who had 25 goals and 41 assists for 66 points. Rosaire Paiement led the team in goals with 34, as well as penalty minutes with 152. In all, six Canucks had 20 goals or more, with Boudrais and Wayne Maki tied for second with 25 and Murray Hall, Kurtenbach and Mike Corrigan each with 21. Tallon broke the Bobby Orr's rookie record for assists by a defenseman with 42. Charlie Hodge led the goaltenders with 15 wins.

Andre Boudrias

Today's featured jersey is a 1970-71 Vancouver Canucks Garth Rizzuto home jersey. Rizzuto played 37 games for the Canucks in 1970-71, scoring 3 goals and 7 points. He later played two seasons for the Winnipeg Jets of the WHA.

The Canucks original "stick in rink" logo was designed by a local designer Joe Borovich and used until 1978 before being dropped in favor of the highly controversial "Flying V" style.

The original logo made a return in 2003 as a shoulder patch on the home and road jerseys as well as on the front of the club's vintage jerseys, worn occasionally for two seasons prior to it becoming the third jersey for 2006-07.

After designing the logo, Borovich was then asked to be involved with the design of the club's original jerseys as well. The "V" on the sleeve stripes only lasted two seasons before being removed when the sleeve and waist stripes were redesigned.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1970-71 Vancouver Canucks George Gardner jersey.

Gardner played 11 professional seasons as a goaltender with a variety of clubs, seeing action in 66 games with the Detroit Red Wings and Vancouver Canucks of the NHL and 79 games with the Los Angeles Sharks and Vancouver Blazers of the WHA in addition to six different minor league teams.

Gardner displaying his old goalie mask

Today's video section begins with a little "old time hockey" from the Canucks early days. We believe the first one is from the 1970-71 season, but can't get a clear look at the sleeves of the jerseys long enough due to the speed of the punching to confirm the V shapes!

This second one is clearly from the first two seasons, and features Pat Quinn adding to his penalty minute total.

Unfortunately for Canucks fans, we found footage of the Bruins scoring their three goals in 20 seconds. You may get a good look at the Canucks jerseys as they tend to be standing around and watching according to the announcers.

The Atlanta Flames Are Extinguished

It was announced on this date in 1980 that the Atlanta Flames had been sold to a group of Canadian business men who announced that the franchise would relocate to Calgary, Alberta.

The Flames began play in 1972 as the NHL reacted quickly to occupy the new Nassau Coliseum on Long Island with the New York Islanders in order to prevent the upstart World Hockey Association from moving into the arena. Needing a second team to balance the schedule, Atlanta was also awarded a franchise to occupy The Omni, another brand new arena located in Atlanta, Georgia.

The team was named the "Flames", which originated from the famous burning of Atlanta during the American Civil War.

The Omni seated 15,278 for hockey and was a innovative architectural design with an unusual roof, which looked like an egg crate from the air. It's exterior panels which were designed to rust over to seal themselves shut(!), making a solid structure which would last for decades. The only problem was that the panels never stopped rusting, which eventually created holes in the outer wall so large people were able to sneak into the building for free!

The Omni

The club began with a reasonable start for an expansion team, which included being over .500 as late as mid-January, but a late season swoon saw them finish out of the playoffs at 25-38-15.

Being the only club in the American southeast, the Flames were faced with a difficult travel schedule, as the NHL's divisional alignment at the time defied any geographic logic, as it was still based on the principal of having the Original 6 teams in the East, while the 1967 expansion clubs grouped in the "West".

The additions of Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres in 1970 and the Islanders and Flames in 1972 further muddied the picture, as Atlanta was grouped with Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Minnesota, St. Louis (closest at 556 miles away), Los Angeles and Oakland, while the "East" division was home to... Vancouver!

The Flames qualified for the playoffs in their second season after a nine point improvement in the standings, although with a sub .500 record of 30-34-14. Highlights that season included the additions of Tom Lysiak who led the club in scoring as a rookie.

While the club improved to a 34-31-15 mark, their 83 points were not enough to make the playoffs. Bright spots were the addition of Eric Vail, who set a club record with 39 goals on his way to the Calder Trophy, and conference realignment, which saw Atlanta now in the Patrick Division (with Philadelphia, the New York Rangers and New York Islanders) of the Campbell Conference (which also included St. Louis, Chicago, Minnesota, Kansas City and Vancouver).

Eric Vail

While the club qualified for the playoffs in 1975-76 and posted their first winning record of 35-33-12, they remained winless in the playoffs, losing 2 games to none in an abbreviated best-of-three series after being swept in four straight by Philadelphia in 1974. The first signs of trouble on the financial front began to surface when their average attendance dropped from a high of 14,162 in 1973-74 to 13,444 then down to 11,963.

The following season of 1976-77 saw the Flames finally win their first playoff game, but were still eliminated in Round 1 by the Kings 2 games to 1. At one point the team was in danger of missing it's payroll in December, and in an emergency campaign, leading city businesses made $750,000 in advance ticket purchases to help the club avoid bankruptcy.

The now familiar pattern began to repeat, as the 1977-78 Flames once more saw a drop in attendance down to 10,501 as they again won 34 games and were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs in two straight games, this time at the hands of the Red Wings.

A franchise record 90 points in 1978-79 saw a bump in average tickets sold, up to 11,441, but the Maple Leafs took their turn bouncing the Flames from the postseason in the now customary two straight games. While Lysiak was traded to Chicago, Guy Chouinard provided the thrills with the only 50 goal season in Atlanta history.

50 goal scorer Guy Chouinard

The 1979-80 season proved to be the Flames last in Atlanta, and yet again it was a predictable season for the club, as they won 35 games, the fifth time in 8 seasons with 34 or 35 wins. They then ended their eight year run in Atlanta with their fifth consecutive (and sixth overall) first round playoff loss, this time 3 games to 1 in the new best-of-five format to the New York Rangers, giving the Flames a combined playoff record of 2-15 in six tries.

With falling ticket sales combined with a rapid rise in player costs, due to the competition for players between the NHL and WHA, the Flames also suffered from the lack of a major television deal.

When an offer to purchase the club came from Nelson Skalbania, former owner of both the Edmonton Oilers and Indianapolis Racers of the WHA, the Atlanta ownership group accepted the deal and Skalbania immediately moved the club to Calgary, Alberta and chose to keep the name "Flames", feeling it reminiscent of the iconic "gas flares" of the oil production industry in Alberta.

The new ownership also retained the Flames jerseys as well, only the flaming "A" logo changing to a flaming "C" for their new home in Calgary.

History repeated itself in Atlanta one day short of 31 years later when the news broke that the troubled Atlanta Thrashers franchise was sold to a group who then moved the Thrashers over the border to Winnipeg, Manitoba as the long desired replacement for the beloved Jets, who relocated to Phoenix in 1996.

Today's featured jersey is a 1978-79 Atlanta Flames Eric Vail jersey. Vail played more games in Atlanta Flames history than any other player, 469, joining the club for it's second season of 1973-74 through their sale and relocation seven seasons later. Vail also led the Flames in all-time goals with 174 and ranked second in points with 383, behind only Lysiak.

The Flames used the same jersey for each of their eight seasons in Atlanta and it remained intact after the relocation to Calgary, allowing for the obvious change in crest from the flaming A to the flaming C, all the way through the 1994-95 season, a 15 year run for this classic hockey template.

The Calgary Flames pay tribute to their past by using the original Atlanta Flames logo as the A worn to designate their alternate captains.

This jersey was worn without names on the back until 1977-78 when they became mandatory for all NHL jerseys.

Today's video hunt finds us with nothing but brawls to pick from, as the Flames apparently never actually scored any goals if we are to believe youtube.

Note the Philadelphia Flyers reverse nameplates. They had one set made up for TV games and wore them on both the white and orange jerseys, a look they have recently revived.

This next collection of mayhem features the Flames and the Maple Leafs from 1979.

Victoria Day

Today is Victoria Day in Canada, a holiday celebrated on the last Monday prior to May 25th, the birthday of Queen Victoria, who was born on May 24, 1819. The holiday informally symbolizes the beginning of summer and celebrations of her birthday date back to official recognition of the occasion on her 26th birthday in 1845 - prior to the official founding of Canada in 1867.

It's celebrated in all of the provinces and territories of Canada, save Quebec, which calls the date National Patriots Day and celebrates those who fought against the British colonial power of the province back in 1837.

Following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, the celebration was formally given the name Victoria Day. Today, various cities will hold parades, with the largest being in Victoria, British Columbia. Fireworks displays are also common.

Queen Victoria became the Queen of the United Kingdom on June 20, 1837 at the age of just 18 when the third of her late father's three older brothers, King William IV, passed away at the age of 71 with none of the three brothers leaving any legitimate surviving children to inherit the throne ahead of her.

Queen Victoria's coronation portrait

She married Prince Albert in 1840 and had nine children together. Her reign would last 63 years and seven months, during which time there were great changes in industrial, cultural, political, scientific and military changes in the United Kingdom, as well as great expansion of the British Empire - a time which came to be known as the Victorian Era.

Queen Victoria

Beloved in Canada, Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria Island in Nunavut, Regina, Saskatchewan, Victoria, Newfoundland, Victoriaville, Quebec and numerous hospitals, bridges, streets, parks and even Queen's University are named in her honor, as were any number of hockey teams (roughly 25).

The most successful of the hockey teams named in her honor include the second team to ever hold the Stanley Cup, the Montreal Victorias in 1895, however, despite the Victoria's having won the Amateur Hockey Aassociation of Canada championship in 1895 but were not originally awarded the cup, as the trustees of the cup has already accepted a challenge for the cup, still held by the Montreal Hockey Club, from Queen's University of Kingston, Ontario.

The trustees of the Stanley Cup, in a most unusual decision, decided that if  the Montreal Hockey Club (also known as Montreal AAA) defeated Queen's University to defend the supremacy of the AHAC, the Victoria's, champions of the league that Montreal AAA belonged to, would be awarded the cup! The Montreal Hockey Club did win 5-1 and the Montreal Victorias became the second holders of the Stanley Cup for 1895.

The Montreal Victorias in 1895 with the Stanley Cup

won for them by the Montreal Hockey Club!

The AHAC champion Victorias were challenged by the Winnipeg Victorias of the Manitoba Hockey League during the Montreal Victorias AHAC season on February 14, 1896. The Winnipeg Victorias came away victorious in the battle of Victorias by a score of 2-0, led by goalie Whitey Merritt, the first goalie to ever wear leg pads.

The Winnipeg Victorias, the first team from
the west to capture the Stanley Cup

Two weeks later the Winnipeg Victorias locked up the MHL season title to retain ownership of the cup and were immediately challenged by the Montreal Victorias when their regular season concluded with them repeating AHAC champions in early March.

The only problem was that no suitable ice could be found with spring now on hand and the Montreal Victorias challenge, while accepted by the trustees, was postponed until the following winter. When cold weather again arrived, before the start of the 1896-97 season, the Montreal Victorias challenge of the Winnipeg Victorias was scheduled for December of 1896 to be played at the Granite Rink in Winnipeg.

It was described at the time as the greatest sporting event in Winnipeg history, with fans paying as much as $12 for a seat while fans back in Montreal gathered for up to the minute reports via telegraph.

Things went well for the home team as Winnipeg led at halftime by a score of 4-2. Montreal fought back, and while Winnipeg was able to score again, the team from the east was able to tie the game at 5-5 before the 20 year old Ernie McLea, who had already scored twice for Montreal and with time winding down, fired his third goal of the game past Winnipeg goaltender Merritt to win the game in the closing seconds to regain the cup for the Montreal Victorias in what was called "the finest match ever played in Canada" when it was all over.

McLea's three goals were the first hat trick in Stanley Cup history.

The AHAC champions and Stanley Cup holders, the Montreal Victorias.

Note the diminutive size of the Stanley Cup during it's formative years when compared to the AHAC championship trophy next to it.

Graham Drinkwater and Mike Grant from the 1986 Stanley Cup champion Montreal Victorias would eventually be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, both in 1950.

The Montreal Victorias would retain control of the cup until March of 1899, which included a defense of the cup against the Winnipeg Victorias in February of 1899, won by Montreal 5-3 in a two-game, total-goals series, the third and final time the two Victorias would meet head to head for the Stanley Cup, with Montreal prevailing twice, in 1896 and 1899.

The 1898-99  Montreal Victorias - note the change in
font for the "V" on their sweaters from earlier

The Winnipeg Victorias would regain control of the Stanley Cup in late January of 1901, just nine days after Queen Victoria's passing. Winnipeg retained their grip on the trophy until March 17, 1902. They would attempt to regain the cup through a challenge in February of 1903, as would the Montreal Victorias a month later, but neither were successful.

The 1901 Stanley Cup holders, the Winnipeg Victorias

The Ottawa Victorias challenged the Montreal Wanderers for the cup in 1908, as did the Moncton Victorias in 1912 when they met the Quebec Bulldogs, but both were turned away. The final games of the challenge era of the Stanley Cup again involved the name Victoria, but this team were the Victoria Aristocrats from the city of Victoria, BC, who fell to the Toronto Hockey Club in March of 1914.

From that point on the Stanley Cup became an annual competition between the champions of the top professional leagues that had emerged, the National Hockey Association and the Pacific Coast Hockey League. It would take 11 years under this arrangement, by which time the PCHL had been absorbed by the Western Canada Hockey League, for the name Victoria to once again appear on the Stanley Cup when the Victoria Cougars (the same franchise once known as the Aristocrats) would defeat the Montreal Canadiens 3 games to 1 in 1925. The Cougars would return to the finals again in 1926, only to lose to the Montreal Maroons in the final Stanley Cup playoff before the WHL folded.

The 1924-25 Stanley Cup champion Victoria Cougars

The folding of the WHL led to a series of developments, which saw the Victoria Cougars cease to exist and their roster being transferred to a new expansion club, the Detroit Cougars of the 11-year-old National Hockey League, who became sole holder of the cup, ending the "Victoria Era" of the Stanley Cup.

Today's featured jersey is an 1895-96 Winnipeg Victorias jersey. This sweater with the buffalo logo was worn by the Winnipeg Victorias, which unusually had no imagery, such as a "V" or crown to even suggest the team name of Victorias. One can only imagine the reaction today if a team named after a queen was represented with an image of a buffalo!

Today's bonus jersey is a 1896-97 Montreal Victorias jersey. The Victorias represented the Scottish population of Montreal and wore burgundy sweaters with a "V" logo in various fonts during their early days. Like many clubs in the late 1800's the Victorias were named after Queen Victoria of England.

Today's video is a look at the Winnipeg Victorias first championship and how it helped the Stanley Cup become known across all of Canada.

This next video contains footage of the funeral of Queen Victoria and a brief overview of her reign as Queen.

The 2013 IIHF Hall of Fame Induction Class

Today is the induction ceremony for the 2013 IIHF Hall of Fame class, and it's a remarkable collection of talent with a long list of accomplishments.

Peter Forsberg's international career began in fine style at the 1991 European Junior Championships where he averaged just under 3 points per game with 5 goals and 12 assists for 17 points in 6 games to lead the tournament in scoring.

1992 saw him earn his first medal with a silver at the 1992 World Juniors (11 points in 7 games) before making his senior level debut later that spring at the World Championships where he contributed 4 goals and 6 points in 8 games to earn his first gold medal.

He repeated the double of playing in both the World Juniors and the World Championships in 1993, earning a silver medal on both occasions. In just 7 games of the World Juniors, Forsberg scored a remarkable 7 goals and 31 points to lead the tournament in scoring by a full 7 points, which included setting a single game record with 10 points in a dominating win over Japan.

Forsberg made his Olympic debut in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway, where his gold medal winning goal in the shootout over Canada earned him immortality when it was commemorated on a Swedish postage stamp. He totaled 8 points in 8 games for the tournament.

The Swedish postage stamp commemorating
Forsberg's goal at the 1994 Olympics

When Forsberg won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996, he became only the sixth member of the Triple Gold Club in recognition of his gold medals at both the World Championships and the Olympics as well as winning a Stanley Cup.

The first bronze medal of his career arrived at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and his second Olympic opportunity came in 1998 when the stars of the NHL were able to participate for the first time in Nagano, Japan.

1998 saw Forsberg return to the World Championships for the first time in five years where he was again a key part of Sweden claiming the gold medal thanks to his 11 points in 7 games.

Two more silver medals followed in 2003 and 2004 at the World Championships as well as a second appearance at the World Cup of Hockey in the fall of 2004.

Forsberg would win his second Olympic gold medal at the 2006 Games in Torino, Italy where he averaged a point per game with 6 assists in 6 games.

Forsberg's second Olympic gold arrived in 2006

His international career would conclude in 2010 with his fourth Olympic participation of his career.

In total, Forsberg would score 35 goals and 81 assists for 116 points in 83 games while winning one bronze, five silver and four gold medals, two at the World Championships and two at the Olympics.

Today's first featured jersey is a 1996 Sweden National Team Peter Forsberg jersey from the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. Sweden would win the European pool with a 3-0 record, defeating Finland, Germany and the Czech Republic, before losing 3-2 to Canada in two overtimes in the semi-finals.

This jersey features the large 4" diameter 1996 World Cup of Hockey patch worn by all the Bauer supplied teams in the tournament, which also included Canada and the Czech Republic. The remaining teams, the United States, Russia, Slovakia, Finland and Germany all wore Nike jerseys which sported the same patch, only in a 3" size.

Fellow Swede Mats Sundin participated at the 1989 and 1990 European Junior Championships, the 1990 World Juniors before moving up to the senior level in 1991 with a gold medal at the World Championships before then being a member of the 1991 Canada Cup team.

His second gold medal came in the 1992 World Championships and was followed by a bronze at the 1994 Worlds where he set a personal best with 14 points in 8 games. He participated at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey before making his Olympic debut at the 1998 Games in Japan.

His third gold medal came at the 1998 World Championships following another strong performance with 11 points in 10 games.

2001 would see a second bronze medal added to his collection at the 2001 World Championships before a second Olympics in 2002 at Salt Lake City. The first silver of Sundin's career came in 2003 at the World Championships which was followed by his second World Cup of Hockey in 2004.

Sundin's international career came to a conclusion in the finest manner possible when he captained Sweden to a gold medal at the 2006 Olympics in Italy while contributing 3 goals and 8 points in 8 games.

Sundin and Forsberg celebrating their gold medals in 2006

Sundin would score 47 goals and 100 points in 81 games during his international career, winning two bronze, one silver and four gold medals.

Today's second featured jersey is a 2006 Sweden National Team Mat Sundin jersey. 2006 was the year that Nike introduced the brand new Nike Swift jerseys, first seen at the World Junior Tournament on the USA and Canada. Each of the 12 participating countries in the 2006 Olympics wore the new Swift designs, except for Switzerland and the eventual gold medal winners Sweden, who were somehow able to overcome the truck-like weight and aerodynamics of the old style jerseys when compared to the new technologically advanced jerseys the rest of the field was outfitted with.

Two unique additions to the 2006 Swedish Olympic jerseys were an attempt to create a "lace up" collar style, which was simply a few slits cut into the existing yoke collar and threading a white elastic threat through it, which did not actually have to be tied, as it was a single continuous piece.

The second unique feature of the jerseys at the 2006 Olympics was the Swedish Olympic logo added to the right shoulders.

The Swedish Olympic logo added to their jerseys at the 2006 games

Given the opportunity, Sweden always opts for their traditional bright yellow jerseys with blue crowns, stripes, names and numbers, but for this contest they captured gold in their road blue sweaters.

Defenseman Teppo Numminen of Finland's lengthy career began at the 1986 European Junior Championships before he joined the senior team at the 1987 World Championships and later the 1987 Canada Cup. Still eligible, Numminen then played in the 1988 World Junior Championships (scoring 5 goals and 7 points in 7 games on his way to a bronze medal) which was quickly followed by his Olympic debut at the 1988 Games in Calgary where he won a silver medal.

He would return to the international stage in 1991 at the World Championships followed later that year with his second Canada Cup tournament.

The 1996 World Championships began a series of appearances which included the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, the 1997 World Championships and the 1998 Olympics, earning a bronze medal.

Numminen would return to the Olympics in 2002 in Salt Lake City, skate for Finland at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and close out his lengthy international career in 2006 at the Olympic Games in Italy where he was rewarded with a silver medal.

Today's third featured jersey is a 1996 Finland National Team Teppo Numminen jersey. This attractive "waving flag" style jersey was worn by Numminen at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, and being a Nike jersey, had the smaller 3" size tournament logo patch on the upper left arm.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

While Paul Henderson's international career is not as lengthy as those of his fellow inductees, his performance during the final games of the 1972 Summit Series were quite memorable and concluded with one of hockey's most memorable goals, his late game winner against the Soviet Union in Game 8, an iconic moment in the history of international hockey. He had scored goals in Game 1 and Game 5, but was also knocked unconscious later in that same game. He returned later in Game 5 and scored the game winning goal in Game 6, a 3-2 win for Canada.

Canada won Game 7 4-3, with Henderson again scoring the game winning goal while being tripped at the time. Late in the final Game 8, Henderson came off the bench, but missed a pass and was tripped and fell behind the goal. He returned to his feet in time to receive a pass from Phil Esposito and fire a shot, which was blocked. The rebound came back to him, which he fired into the goal past Vladislav Tretiak with just 34 seconds to play to give him his third consecutive game winning goal and the series win, making him an instant hero in Canada.

"Henderson scores for Canada!"

Henderson left the NHL for the World Hockey Association in 1974, which made him eligible for the follow up 1974 Summit Series, his only other appearance for Team Canada.

Today's fourth featured jersey is a 1972 Team Canada Paul Henderson jersey as worn during the four 1972 Summit Series games in Moscow.

This jersey came up for public sale for the first time ever at auction in June of 2010 on ClassicAuctions.net.

The concern and publicity over the possible threat to "the most significant artifact in the history of the game of hockey" due to it falling into the the wrong hands and being cut to pieces for inclusion on trading cards eventually saw the jersey sell for a record shattering $1,275,707, far outstripping the reported $250,000 paid for a Wayne Gretzky game worn jersey and the $191,000 for a Bobby Orr rookie jersey and easily withstanding a later challenge from Mike Eruzione's 1980 United States "Miracle on Ice" jersey, which reached $657,250.

The winning bidder, Canadian real estate developer Mitchell Goldhar, not only preserved the jersey from possible destruction, but returned it to Canada from where it had been located in the United States, but took the iconic Canadian sweater on a tour of the country in an effort to share it with the citizens of the nation where everyone remembers where they were when Henderson score his dramatic goal. One of the highlights of the jerseys return to Canada was having Henderson don the jersey once again.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Danielle Goyette of Canada played in three Olympics, winning silver in 1998 and gold medals in 2002 and 2006, and nine World Championships, winning gold eight times (1992, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2007) and silver in 2005.

Goyette with her second Olympic gold in 2006

She averaged a point and a half per game and led all players in goals at the 1998 Olympics and was the scoring leader at the 1992 World Championships and the 2002 Olympics. Additionally, she was honored by being Canada's flag bearer at the 2006 Olympics in Italy.

Goyette was Canada's flag bearer in 2006

Today's fifth featured jersey is a 2002 Canada National Team Danielle Goyette jersey. This jersey was worn in the games leading up to the 2002 Olympics during which Goyette won her first Olympic gold medal.

Note the back numbers crossing into the waist stripes, an indication of the shorter length of the women's jerseys.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

In addition to those players, builder Jan-Ake Edvinsson, broadcaster Gord Miller and the 1954 Soviet Union National Team will also be honored.

The 1954 Soviet Union National Team