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May 1, 1987
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
Acts of Wregget Decisive For Maple Leafs
TORONTO—John Brophy had a message for Detroit Red Wings’ coach Jacques Demers within moments of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ finest hour this season. “Tell the man in Detroit with the mustache (Demers) the miracle has just happened,” gloated Brophy after his Leafs eliminated the St. Louis Blues with an impressive 4-0 shutout. The Leaf coach, who has worked hard to maintain a bitter rivalry with Demers all year, was referring to a remark attributed to the Detroit coach late in the regular season. Demers was quoted as saying it would take a “miracle” for the Leafs to make the playoffs. Later, the reporter who recorded the statement called Brophy to tell him Demers wasn’t talking about the Leafs after all. The damage had been done. And more is likely to follow. The Leafs and Red…
THIS WEEK…
30 YEARS AGO: • Dick Irvin, one of the greatest coaches ever, passed away after a long battle with leukemia. During a brilliant 26-year coaching career, Irvin’s teams won four Stanley Cups—three with the Toronto Maple Leafs and one with the Montreal Canadiens. He was also one of the game’s great innovators. In 1930-31, Irvin introduced the system of rotating three lines. He also experimented with rotating his goalkeepers every seven or eight minutes but that idea wasn’t as successful. • Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings won the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player for the third time in his career. He joined the select company of Howie Morenz and Eddie Shore, who won the award three and four times, respectively. The Red Wing superstar also won the…
First Game Career Highlight
Larry Cahan survived for 23 years as a professional hockey player, but he never knew a more emotional moment than his first National Hockey League game, in the 1954-55 season. Cahan, a native of Fort William (now Thunder Bay), Ont., was lining up on the blue line at Maple Leaf Gardens—the same rink he had heard described, but never seen, countless times on radio by the legendary Foster Hewitt. “I was shocked,” he recalled, “especially since it was my first game in the NHL. There I was, a member of the Maple Leafs, playing with and against some of those same players I had heard about on the radio. “Guys like Gordie Howe, all of a sudden, came to life right in front of me.” Cahan recovered sufficiently from his rookie awe to play…
Beauty In ‘I’ Of Beholder
There’s not a lot wrong with the International League that a name change wouldn’t rectify. Not that commissioner Bud Poile is contemplating one. It’s just that for years, the league has been associated more with mayhem than magic on ice. Casual fans have cast a wary eye towards the ‘I’. Even aspiring professionals, have considered with dread the possibility of playing in professional hockey’s lowest minor league. Well, the times have changed. Sure, the league remains firmly fixed below the American League, and sure the league has its share of hitmen, but its status is definitely on the rise. In the opinion of the National Hockey League, anyway. The IHL is expected to play a larger and larger role in player development, helping to fill the void left behind by the Central League’s demise several…
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