This was a significant date for the pioneers and early stars of the National Hockey League. Jan. 14 stood out for a legend in Boston and a pair of all-time great goaltenders. This has also been a pretty good date behind the bench in the Windy City. So, let’s begin our daily trip through time and look back at all the best memories from this date.
Early NHL Milestones
Brothers Sprague and Odie Cleghorn made history on Jan. 14, 1922, as they had a huge game in the Montreal Canadiens’ 10-6 win over the Hamilton Bulldogs. Both Cleghorns scored four goals, becoming the first set of brothers in the league to ever do so in the same game.
Hap Day scored his first career hat trick on Jan. 14, 1928, as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat up the New York Rangers 6-1. This was the first hat trick by any Toronto player since they became the Maple Leafs at the start of the 1926-27 season.
Alex Connell recorded his 66th career shutout on Jan. 14, 1932, to lead the Detroit Falcons to a 2-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. This tied him with George Hainsworth for the most shutouts in NHL history. Five years later, Connell recorded his 199th and final NHL victory when the Montreal Maroons won 7-3 over the Blackhawks.
The Rangers and their bench boss made history on Jan. 14, 1936, with their 2-1 win at the Maroons. This was the 200th win in franchise history, making the Rangers the fifth NHL team to hit this plateau. Lester Patrick, who had been there since day one, became the first head coach in league history to win 200 games.
Alex Smart had a heck of an NHL debut on Jan 14, 1943, during the Canadiens’ 5-1 victory over Chicago. He had a four-point night with three goals and an assist, becoming the first NHL player to score a hat trick in his first game.
Islanders Legends Leave Their Mark
A pair of New York Islanders’ all-time greats added to their Hockey Hall of Fame resumes on this date.
First, on Jan. 14, 1984, Mike Bossy scored his 400th career goal to help the Islanders beat the rival Rangers 4-2. He needed just 506 games to hit this milestone, becoming the fastest player ever to join the 400-goal club. He didn’t even hold this record for an entire year as Wayne Gretzky broke it 364 days later, on Jan. 13, 1985, by scoring his 400th goal in his 436th game.
Exactly four years later, on Jan. 14, 1988, Denis Potvin scored on the power play as the Islanders defeated the Quebec Nordiques 8-5. He became the first NHL defenseman to score 300 career goals with his tally. At the end of this season, he retired as the league’s all-time leader for blueliners with 310 goals and 1,052 points. He has since been knocked down to fifth in goals and sixth in points.
Blackhawks Coaching Memories
The Blackhawks named Tommy Gorman as their new head coach on Jan. 14, 1933, replacing Emil Iverson. He was already the team’s 10th different head coach in their short seven-year history. The team missed the playoffs in 1933, but he led Chicago to their first Stanley Cup championship in 1934. He resigned 10 days after the Cup win due to a dispute with ownership. He moved on to the Maroons and led them to the Cup in 1935.
Over eight decades later, on Jan. 14, 2016, Joel Quenneville was behind the Blackhawks’ bench for their 2-1 victory over the Canadiens. This was the 783rd regular-season win for “Coach Q,” putting him ahead of Al Arbour and making him the second-winningest head coach in league history.
Esposito Scores in Bunches
Phil Esposito scored three goals on Jan. 14, 1971, in the Boston Bruins’ 9-5 win versus the Los Angeles Kings. This was already his fifth hat trick of the 1971-72 campaign, breaking the modern-era league record for the most in a single season. He finished the season with seven hat tricks, which remained the record until Bossy scored nine during the 1980-81 season.
Two years later, on Jan. 14, 1973, Esposito scored four goals, including two shorthanded, in a 6-0 blowout of the Buffalo Sabres. He also added an assist to go along with the 18th hat trick of his career. Goaltender Eddie Johnston made 20 saves for his 26th career shutout.
Odds & Ends
Rookie goaltender Johnny Bower recorded his first NHL shutout on Jan. 14, 1953, as the Rangers won 2-0 over the Blackhawks. He retired in 1970 with 37 career shutouts, 32 of which came with the Maple Leafs.
Terry Sawchuk became the first goaltender in Red Wings’ team history to win 300 games on Jan. 14, 1962, in a 2-1 penalty-free win over the visiting Rangers. He is still the franchise’s all-time leader with 350 victories.
Butch Goring became the first member of the Kings to score 200 goals on Jan. 14, 1978, in their 8-4 road win at the Atlanta Flames.
Paul Coffey picked up four assists, including the 900th of his career on Jan. 14, 1994, as the Red Wings beat the Dallas Stars 9-3. He became only the sixth player in NHL history and the first defenseman to rack up 900 assists.
Related – Nine Red Wings Norris Winners
Brett Hull’s first-period assist on Jan. 14, 1996, gave him 800 points in his career as the St. Louis Blues skated to a 3-3 tie with the Rangers.
One year later, Ron Hextall became the second goalie in Flyers’ history to record 200 wins in a 3-2 win over the Canadiens. Head coach Terry Murray picked up his 100th victory with Philadelphia.
Jeremy Roenick scored a goal on Jan. 14, 1998, for his 700th NHL point in the Phoenix Coyotes’ 3-2 win over the visiting Panthers.
Ron Francis scored two goals on Jan. 14, 2001, to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-0 victory against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The two tallies gave him 1,592 career points, moving him ahead of Esposito for fifth on the NHL’s all-time scoring list.
On that same night, Adam Graves scored his 300th career goal as the Rangers ended a nine-game winless streak (0-7-1-1) with a 4-2 win against the visiting Minnesota Wild.
Adam Oates became the eighth player in NHL history to pick up 1,000 career assists on Jan. 14, 1998, in the Capitals’ 1-0 overtime win over the Bruins. Goaltender Olaf Kolzig earned his second consecutive shutout and 24th of his career.
Patrick Lalime recorded his third consecutive shutout on Jan. 14, 2002, with a 7-0 blanking of the Tampa Bay Lightning. This gave him 25 shutouts in his first 236 games, making him the fastest goaltender to reach this milestone in NHL history.
Rookie Ryan Miller recorded his first career shutout on this same night, leading the Sabres to a 1-0 win at the Wild. Denis Hamel picked up his first point of the season with the game-winning goal in the third period.
Staying in Buffalo, on Jan. 14, 2006, Jason Pominville had a natural hat trick in the Sabres’ 10-1 win over the Kings. Jochen Hecht also scored three times as the Sabres put up 10 goals for the first time since February of 1993, which was also the same month the Kings last gave up double-digit goals in a game.
Two grizzled 41-year-old veterans, Martin Brodeur and Jaromir Jagr, played a big role in the New Jersey Devils 4-1 win in Montreal on Jan. 14, 2014. Jagr scored the 695th goal of his career to pass Mark Messier for seventh in NHL history. Brodeur was named the First Star of the Game after making 29 saves. He received a huge ovation by the Montreal fans in what turned out to be his final game there. He went 20-9-1 in his 30 career starts in his hometown.
On Jan. 14, 2023, the Devils became the first team in NHL history to win 17 of their first 20 road games when they defeated the Los Angeles Kings 5-2. Jack Hughes also recorded his 54th point to set a franchise record for the most points through 43 games.
Mikko Rantanen scored his 29th goal of the season on Jan. 14, 2023, and passed Joe Sakic for the most goals at the midway point in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history.
Finally, in Washington, Alex Ovechkin hit yet another milestone by tying the NHL record for most 30-goal seasons. It was his 17th season doing so and in the process became the fifth player in NHL history to score 400 goals at home. He is also the second player to score 400 at home and on the road.
Happy Birthday to You
A total of 24 players who have skated in at least one NHL game have been born on this date. The most successful of this group are Sergei Nemchinov (60), Bob Essensa (59), Nick Boyton (45), Peter Holland (33), Connor Brown (30), John-Jason Peterka (22), and the late Hall of Famer Babe Siebert.
*Originally constructed by Greg Boysen
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