By Rachel Puglia
Elm Staff Writer
Have you all had enough of football yet? Good; let’s talk hockey.
- Syd Howe played every position on the ice except goaltender during his 17 season National Hockey League career. Howe played for four different teams, including: Detroit, Ottawa, Philadelphia, and Toronto. He lead the Detroit Red Wings to their first three Stanley Cups and holds the team record for most goals in a game with six on Feb. 3, 1944 against the New York Rangers. When Howe retired in 1946, he was the NHL’s all-time leading scorer with 528 points.
- On Feb. 5, 1994, Peter Bondra became the second Washington Capital to score five goals in a single game in a 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
- The National Hockey League shut down for three weeks in 1998 beginning on Feb. 7, as NHL players competed in the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Sami Kapanen of the Carolina Hurricanes played for Team Finland, winning a Bronze Medal. Keith Primeau, another member of the Hurricanes, completed the Olympic Tournament tied for third in scoring for Team Canada.
- On Feb. 8, 2002, David Vyborny’s third period goal lifted the Blue Jackets past the Detroit Red Wings who were leading the league at the time. This was the first time the Blue Jackets had won in Joe Louis Arena. This Detroit loss at their home arena was one of only seven suffered by this team that went on to win the Stanley Cup Championship later that season.
- On Feb. 10, 2001, Geoff Sanderson of the Columbus Blue Jackets recorded the first hat trick (three goals by the same player in a single game) in team history as he scored all of the Blue Jackets’ goals in a 3-1 win over the Nashville Predators at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.