Well, there is one player who can say he's done something that even Mario didn't do. Something that nobody else has ever done in the NHL. Something that would make your first game absolutely the most memorable event it could be.
And that player had a pretty amazing year leading into his first NHL game in 1980. He was just a 20-year-old kid when he won an Olympic gold medal as part of that 'Miracle On Ice' team from the United States. He was drafted 40th overall by the Winnipeg Jets and had 18 points in 15 games during his first year in the big leagues.
But it was his first goal in the NHL that has remained one for the record books.
Now Mario's goal was fast.....but nowhere close to that of Dave Christian. Imagine being on the ice to start the game, jitters and nerves. The puck drops and history is about to happen.
So just how fast did it take for Dave to pot goal number one?
He could retire right then and there and have a pretty solid hockey resume. But he quietly had himself a very solid 15-year career playing for the Jets, Capitals, Bruins, Blues and Blackhawks.
He only scored 40 goals in the NHL once but over his 1009 career games, Christian would amass 773 points (340 goals, 433 assists). He played in the 1991 All-Star Game and donned the USA team colors in 3 Canada Cups.
But the Christian name doesn't end there. Back in the 1970's, Dave father (Bill) along with his uncle (Roger) founded the Christian Brothers Hockey Company. Their primary product - hockey sticks.
Christian hockey sticks were a staple for Dave, his USA teammates in Lake Placid and for thousands of hockey players around North America. They were one of the most popular brands throughout the 80's. In 2002, the brothers sold their business because they could no longer compete with the larger Canadian hockey companies.
A great article on the Christian hockey stick venture.
It'll take you more than 7 seconds to read it though.
Now You Know.
cool post... I didn't know that about Christian.
ReplyDeleteHorrible call on the Lemieux goal! Must have been Bruin announcers.
ReplyDeleteI remember that Christian card well. It's probably still in my basement with glue on the back (and some loose leaf paper), plus a hole punched through it from when I used to carry my cards around on a giant ring. My poor Ray Bourque rookie got this treatment as well. :-( I'd go back in time and tell that 6 year old kid to keep his cards in better shape, but he was having far too much fun!
I glued mine into scrapbooks. We're so smart.
DeleteBut I guess that's what kids were supposed to do to their cards back on the day.
And bike spokes. Can't forget the bike spokes.
Great post, I'm happy I learned a few cool things. In addition, these are facts that can easily feed a conversation between two periods of a hockey game. My friends will respect me for that knowledge ! ;)
ReplyDelete