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100 Classic Covers
From championships to star power to the just plain weird, The Hockey News' 2023 Collector's Edition, 100 Classic Covers, explores 75 years of hockey history through the lens of our magazine's front pages. Oh, and keep an eye out for Gritty.
DRUG CHARGES
THROUGH THE MID-1980S, the NHL had been unscathed by drug scandal amid considerable controversy across major sports circuits, despite rumblings about substance abuse within the league. In fact, in an editorial in the Jan. 16, 1981, issue of THN, Dr. Andrew Malcolm wrote he “wouldn’t be surprised to find that a number of (NHL) players use coke.” But a Sports Illustrated report on cocaine use by Edmonton Oilers players kicked off a firestorm – and led to this controversial cover. Five Oilers were said to have “‘substantial’ cocaine problems.” Oilers coach and GM Glen Sather was incensed, calling it “absolute innuendo.” But four years after the story rocked the NHL, Oilers goalie Grant Fuhr, having since sought treatment for addiction issues, admitted battling cocaine abuse since 1983-84. The NHL had no…
HI THERE, LITTLE GUY
OK, SO HEAR US out on this one. As odd as it seems, putting a baby on the cover was a bit of a tradition in The Hockey News’ early years, and this picture of a reader’s son was the first of multiple covers featuring children back then. This trend continued until 1962 and included the offspring of players and even the son of THN co-founder and publisher Ken McKenzie. In terms of the on-ice news, the AHL’s Buffalo Bisons did not end up catching the Pittsburgh Hornets in the standings, but they did have more playoff success: Buffalo reached the final before being swept in the Calder Cup by coach Bun Cook’s Cleveland Barons. As for the NHL’s Maple Leafs, the Christmas theory did, in fact, hold true: Toronto ended up…
COME TO THE TABLE
PERHAPS IT WAS NOT-so-cautious optimism to tee up the 1994-95 campaign by making the primary focus Wendel Clark – set to play his first season as a Quebec Nordique after his shocking trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs – rather than labor negotiations between the owners and players. The thinking, surely, was the labor talk was all posturing and neither side would risk a walkout. After all, the labor unrest of April 1992 spanned just 10 days, the 1993-94 season was played despite the expiration of the prior CBA and players had shown up to training camps ahead of 1994-95. In an effort to bring the two sides to the table, then-nascent NHL commissioner Gary Bettman imposed sanctions on players – including the elimination of salary arbitration, guaranteed contracts and per diems…
KNIGHT OF FIRSTS
AN ICON IN 1992 and a legend to this day, Manon Rheaume was the first women’s player to feature on a THN cover. Rheaume had already earned the right after her spectacular play at the second-ever women’s worlds, backstopping Canada to gold and earning tournament all-star honors, but she dominated the global hockey consciousness after signing a contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Rheaume got into a pre-season outing against the St. Louis Blues, stopping seven of nine shots, then later became the first woman to play in a regular-season men’s pro game when she signed with the IHL Atlanta Knights – it’s the Knights she’s repping on the cover, though she’s wearing a Bolts mask. Rheaume suited up for Tampa again the next pre-season – this time against Boston. Over the…
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