“Respect your opponent, just make them respect you more.” – Georges St-Pierre

Nov. 10, 1963 – Gordie Howe scored his 545th goal breaking the record held by Maurice Richard

In his 18th season in the NHL, Gordie Howe already had scored more points (1,220) and had more assists (676) than anyone in history. On November 10, 1963 he sought to stand alone among goal scorers.

Teammate Billy McNeill took the puck inside the Official Detroit Red Wings‘ blue line and headed up ice, with Howe trailing and yelling at him to keep going. After getting inside Montreal’s blue line, McNeill passed to Howe, who immediately fired. His black dart of a shot never got more than an inch off the ice and whistled through the narrow gap between goalie Charley Hodge and the right post. Mr. Hockey had scored his 545th goal, breaking his tie with Maurice the Rocket Richard.

The 15,027 fans in Detroit’s Olympia Stadium gave their hero a 20-minute standing ovation. The goal itself left Howe, who had been feeling the pressure in his chase to pass “The Rocket,” more relieved than elated. “Now I can start enjoying life again,” he said after Detroit’s 3-0 win, looking at the mob of reporters and photographers who had been chronicling his every move.

Mr. Hockey and The Rocket:
As Howe emerged as one of the game’s superstars, he was frequently compared to the Montreal Canadiens’ Maurice Richard. Both were right wingers who wore the same sweater number (9), were frequently contenders for the league scoring title, and could also play rough if needed. During their first encounter in the Montreal Forum, when Howe was a rookie, he knocked Richard out cold with a punch after being shoved. The Red Wings and Canadiens faced off in four Stanley Cup finals during the 1950s. When Richard retired in 1960, he paid tribute to Howe, saying “Gordie could do everything.”

“A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.” – Wayne Gretzky

Oct. 19, 1957 – Maurice “Rocket” Richard scores 500 career goals

A total of 41 NHL players have reached Maurice Richard’s milestone. Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull were the first players to follow Richard. Most recently, Keith Tkachuk and Jeremy Roenickk achieved the feat.

Richard won the Stanley Cup eight times in Montreal, was captain of four straight cup wins from 1957-1960 and was inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame in 1961 (the customary three year waiting period was waived).

Did You Know: Maurice Richard was also the first NHL player to achieve the feat of 50 goals in 50 games. He did so in the ‘44-‘45 season and it took 35 years before anyone matched the feat again. Also on that list: Mike Bossy, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Brett Hull.

Maurice Richard 500 career goals anniversary

“Be strong in body, clean in mind, lofty in ideals.” – James Naismith

Sept. 26, 1988 – Ben Johnson tested positive for steroids and stripped of his 100-meter gold medal

On September 24, 1988, Ben Johnson won the 100m final at the Summer Olympics in Seoul, lowering his own world record to 9.79 seconds. Johnson would later remark that he would have been even faster had he not raised his hand in the air just before he finished the race. However, Johnson’s urine samples were found to contain stanozolol, and he was disqualified two days later. He later admitted having used steroids when he ran his 1987 world record, which caused the IAAF to rescind that record as well. Johnson and coach Francis complained that they used doping in order to remain on an equal footing with the other top athletes on drugs they had to compete against. In testimony before the Dubin inquiry into drug use, Francis charged that Johnson was only one of many cheaters, and he just happened to get caught. Later, six of the eight finalists of the 100-meter race tested positive for banned drugs or were implicated in a drug scandal at some point in their careers: Carl Lewis, who was given the gold medal, Linford Christie, who was moved up to the silver medal and who went on to win gold at the next Games, Dennis Mitchell, who was moved up to fourth place and finished third to Christie in 1992, and Desai Williams, Johnson’s countryman who won a bronze medal at the Los Angeles Games in 1984. In the ESPN documentary ESPN 30 for 30 Films: 9.79*, eventual silver medallist Christie states, and footage of the race shows, that Lewis “ran out of his lane… two or three times” during the race, which should have resulted in Lewis’ automatic disqualification.

Johnson’s coach, Charlie Francis, a vocal critic of the IOC testing procedures, is the author of Speed Trap, which features Johnson heavily. In the book, he freely admits that his athletes were taking anabolic steroids, as he claims all top athletes at the time were, and also claims that Johnson could not possibly have tested positive for that particular steroid since Johnson actually preferred furazabol. He thought stanozolol made his body “feel tight”. The numerous athletes using performance enhancing drugs at the time understood how long before a race, and possible drug test, they should stop using the drugs. Johnson later claimed that Andre Jackson, Lewis’ club mate at the Santa Monica Track Club who is shown to have somehow made it into the drug testing area in Seoul, had placed the stanozolol in one of the beers Johnson drank in order to make urine for his test.

Sept. 3, 1966 – Bobby Orr signed his first NHL contract

The two-year deal paid $70,000 plus a signing bonus, gave Bobby Orr the top salary in hockey.

The Boston Bruins first invested in Orr in 1961 when he was just 13 by sponsoring his youth hockey team. In his debut season with the Bruins in 1966-1967, Orr scored 13 goals and 28 assists, gaining him the Rookie of the Year honor, as well as second-team All-Star.

Orr was not only respected by the Boston fans because of his play (he received a standing ovation when he scored his first NHL goal), but also for his physical play; his first fight and win were against NHL veteran and tough guy Ted Harris (hockey player) of the Montreal Canadiens.

Orr would go on to win two Stanley Cups with the Bruins and still holds four records: most assists by a defenceman in one season, most assists by a defenceman in one game, most points by a defenceman in one season and best plus-minus in one season with +124.

via Bleacher Report

“Goaltending is a normal job, sure. How would you like it in your job if every time you made a small mistake, a red light went on over your desk and 15,000 people stood up and yelled at you?” – Jacques Plante

“When you get that nice celebration coming into the dugout and you’re getting your ass hammered by guys, there’s no better feeling than to have that done.” – Matt Stairs

One of those quotes that athletes on team sports can relate to.

Did You Know: Stairs holds the all-time MLB record of home runs hit as a pinch-hitter with 23 

#ThrowbackThursdays

Mr. Hockey hooking the soon to be Great One!