The National Hockey League (NHL) is considered the most prestigious, popular, and professional league in world hockey. With its loyal fans, spectacular matches, and prestigious awards, the NHL has a storied history filled with fascinating moments. Whether it’s about learning nhl betting strategies or delving into the world of hockey, sports fans have much to explore. In this article, we’ll uncover some interesting facts about the NHL that shed light on its rich legacy and remarkable athletes.
One Dollar Player
Selling and buying players is quite a fascinating process. Of course, nowadays, popular players cost a lot of money, and many clubs go broke just to get a legend of a great sport. But in the history of the NHL there was a case when a player was bought for just one dollar. We are talking about a Canadian hockey player, Chris Draper, who in 1993 was drafted by the club Winnipeg Jets under the general number ‘62’. The athlete had almost no game practice and had zero experience in the NHL, because of which he was sold to the famous ‘Detroit’ for just one American dollar.
Moving to a new team, Chris was not left without an inverse nickname – ‘the man for one dollar’. But the nickname did not humiliate the athlete at all, and even brought its own benefit. Perhaps it’s all about motivation and the desire to prove his worth to the majority, but Draper was able to advance quite quickly to the main roster of the team, after taking the post of the leader of the Red Wings. He became one of the club’s best players at the time, greatly increasing his value in professional sports. It is worth noting that Draper played 1137 games for Detroit, scored 128 pucks in them, and helped the team win four Stanley Cups.
Stanley Cup
We have already told you about the origin of this trophy, but the award deserves special attention for several other reasons. It is interesting that the original height of the Stanley Cup was 18 centimeters, now, it is much larger. It’s also worth noting that there is a certain tradition that each member of the team that wins the Stanley Cup has the right to personal possession of the cup for one day in the summer off-season after the victory. It is in this way that the cup often appears in Russia, where it is brought by our hockey players from the NHL champions. The first time this happened was in 1997, after a Detroit Red Wings victory, where the Russian Five played. But often, the practice of giving the trophy to players for a day has led to curiosities. In 1996, Colorado defenceman Sylvain Lefebvre baptized his young daughter Alexanna in the cup. Alexandra Lefebvre now plays for the university’s hockey team. In 2008, the Stanley Cup was again used as a chalice for baptizing a baby: Thomas Holmström baptized his nephew in it. In fact, the cup was filled with all sorts of things during the celebrations. Ice cream, melted chocolate, soup, chili sauce, applesauce and even dog food. Goalie Martin Brodeur, after winning with the New Jersey Devils in 2003, went to the movie theatre with his kids and took the trophy with him to fill with popcorn. Now, that’s such an interesting trophy.
Wayne Gretzky is a unique hockey player
The best hockey player in the history of the National Hockey League! Wayne became the leader in virtually every offensive-related metric: points (2,857), goals (894), assists (1,963), points at even strength (1,818), power play (890), penalty kill (149), and empty net goals (57). Wayne also became the only NHL player to score over 200 points in a season in 1982 (212 points), 1984 (205), 1985 and 1986 (208 and 215 points, respectively). It’s hard to find a hockey fan who hasn’t heard of this athlete. This hockey player is truly unique and is a legend in the National Hockey League. Despite his unique records, the athlete was not distinguished by his versatility, often lost in terms of speed to his opponents, and did not always demonstrate decent defense. But he was always able to choose his position on the court wisely, defeating his opponents with perfect technique and a strong shot. Interestingly, many note the fact that even if Wayne had not scored a single puck, he would still be the leader in career points. This is such an interesting character, famous all over the world.
Goalies score pucks, too
Yes, even this happens in hockey. The first goalie to score an unusual goal was New York Islanders goalie Billy Smith. Ron Hextall, the Philadelphia Flyers goalie, was the second goalie to score a goal and the first to do it with a shot. Martin Brodeur has the most goals against opponents on his faceoff account. He was able to score as many as three goals. In general, it is quite an unusual situation when the puck flies into the gate from the goalie of the other team, but it is often due to the unpredictability of hockey. There are cases when the goalkeeper repels a strong attack from the opponent and then comes into play the incomprehensible force of the ricochet, and it happens that the goalkeeper himself wants to take the initiative in his own hands, like the above hockey players.
