***DEEPEST CONDOLENCES TO THE FAMILY OF LEIF PETTERSEN, A FORMER CANADIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE ALL-STAR AND A LONG-TIME ANALYST FOR TSN, WHO SHOCKINGLY PASSED AWAY THURSDAY OF AN APPARENT HEART ATTACK. LEIF WAS ONLY 57. I HAD THE HONOUR OF KNOWING HIM; I ADMIRED HIM AS A PERSON AND A PROFESSIONAL. MY PRAYERS ARE WITH THOSE HE LEFT BEHIND***
LOS ANGELES (July 31) -- I have been asked in numerous e-mails since my blog last weekend on NHL third jerseys for next season why only 19 of the 30 clubs are involved. The answer is simple: To this point, 11 NHL teams have chosen not to introduce an alternate design [Montreal will showcase a total of four jerseys to celebrate its 100th anniversary campaign]. As in previous years, there is no obligation to come up with a third jersey; it is a licensing decision made by the individual teams, though most did participate prior to last season, when a one-year moratorium took effect as a result of the NHL's contract with Reebok [and the new "Edge" primary jerseys]. Only Buffalo and Pittsburgh were exempt from the moratorium, and only for one day – when they met in the Outdoor Classic on Jan. 1st at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
The Sabres wore replicas of their original white uniforms with the blue and gold trim, while the Penguins donned the predominantly light-blue sets they wore from 1968 to 1973. That jersey will continue as Pittsburgh’s alternate next season. The Sabres will wear the opposite uniform – the primarily blue jersey with gold trim the club wore in road games from 1970 to 1996.
The list I obtained on the weekend showed the 18 alternate designs that are NHL approved for 2008-09. They will be unveiled by the participating clubs at their own discretion.
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If you have an appreciation for the history of the NHL -- or are merely interested in learning more about it -- there is a wonderful book on the market right now. It is called MINNESOTA NORTH STARS: HISTORY AND MEMORIES WITH LOU NANNE. The coffee-table gift-book is co-written by Bob Showers, a former marketing employee of the NHL team that transferred from Bloomington MN to Dallas TX after the 1992-93 season.
This glossy, 250-page volume is full of color and black and white photos from the North Stars’ 26 seasons in the NHL. Minnesota entered the league as one of six expansion teams for 1967-68, along with the St. Louis Blues, Pittsburgh Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings and California Seals. Nanne, a native of Sault Ste. Marie ON, joined the North Stars after competing in the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France. He went on to play 635 NHL games from 1968 to 1978, as both a forward and defenseman. In February ’78, he hung up his blades and became GM of the hockey club – a position he held for a decade.
I’ve only met Nanne a couple of times; I don’t know him, personally, as he was no longer in NHL management when I began covering the Maple Leafs, full time. But, he has long been considered one of the game’s true characters, and his personality comes through brilliantly in the book, which is replete with Lou’s stories and experiences.
A few examples…
“We had a free afternoon during one of our Board of Governors meetings in Florida, so a group of us including John Ferguson [Sr.] and Harry Sinden took the opportunity to go deep-sea fishing. After an hour of fishing on big swells, [Maple Leafs’ GM] Jim Gregory starts getting seasick and throws up. Upon seeing this, I get sick, myself. Right then, I also catch a fish.
I’m reeling in the fish while throwing up. It gets so bad, I have the dry heaves. I quit reeling and tell the boat captain to take us in. He says no. So, I turn to Fergie and Sinden and say, ‘I’ll give you each a first-round pick if you get me in to shore.’
The captain says, ‘We’re not going in yet.’ I say, ‘Either we’re going in to shore or you’re going in the ocean.’ He finally took us in and the floor beneath me didn’t stop spinning all night.”
There is this memory from Lou’s playing days…
“I grew up with a fellow named Gene Ubriaco. Gene went to St. Mike’s at an early age to play junior hockey, and one of his teammates there was [former North Stars’ goalie and teammate] Cesare Maniago. Gene wound up with the Oakland Seals. The three of us would see each other whenever Oakland and Minnesota played. This time, we were ending the season in Oakland.
Before the game, Cesare and I were walking to the rink. Ubriaco saw me, waved me over, and said, ‘Louie, I’ve got 19 goals. I need one more for a $2,000 bonus.’ Well, $2,000 was substantial, especially when you were making around $21,000. He says, ‘You’ve got to tell Cesare to help me out.’ I said, ‘Okay, I’ll help you, and I’ll get Cesare to help you, because the game means nothing.’
I told Cesare, ‘Ubie needs a goal,’ and he said, ‘Tell him to put it on the net.’
The game starts, Ubriaco comes down the left wing on me, and I’m saying, ‘Go inside, go inside’ as I move to the outside. He goes outside and I knock him down. The next shift he comes out, and he’s down in front of the net, and I’m saying to him, ‘Get behind me, get behind me, I’ll let a rebound go.’ So, he goes behind me and the puck hits him.
The next period he’s coming down, and I’m saying, ‘Shoot it through my legs.’ Instead, he tries to go around me and falls down. In the third period, we’re in front of the net, and I’m telling him, ‘Shoot the puck, shoot the puck.’ He tries to stickhandle and I knock him down.
Then, he looks at me and says, ‘Play your own game – I’ve got a better chance.’ He never did get the goal; never even got a shot on net.”
And, this memory of a moment on the road…
“Jean-Paul Parise and Bill Goldsworthy used to room together a lot, and they were always pulling pranks on one another, but the rest of us used to like to get them as well. One night in Long Island, before J.P. and Goldy came back to their room, [former North Stars’ defenseman] Tom Reid went in and unlocked the adjoining door to our rooms.
Later, when J.P. and Goldy had turned the lights out and gone to bed, Tommy opened the door very quietly, crawled on his hands and knees, got between their two beds, reached up and grabbed J.P. by the ankle.
J.P. says to Goldy, ‘Kraut, cut that out!’ And, from about 15 feet away, Goldy says, ‘What are you talking about?’ When he realized it couldn’t be Goldsworthy, J.P. came flying out of that bed.”
There are hundreds of other stories about the North Stars, and photos of just about every player that donned a green and gold Minnesota jersey. And, there is lots of information and history about the arena the North Stars played in – the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Twin Cities' suburb of Bloomington.
The book retails for $34.99, but is available on Amazon.com at a 27% discount, for $25.54. It is both an enjoyable read and a handsome production.
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The 5.4-magnitude earthquake that rocked the Los Angeles area on Tuesday was the strongest one I’ve felt in all my years spending summers in this city. In fact, I was lying in bed and reading Lou Nanne’s book when the door-frames in my in-laws’ house began rattling – always the first audible sign of a ‘quake. The entire house then began shaking rather violently in a side-to-side motion for more than 20 seconds. This earthquake, however, was considered moderate, and did not inflict damage to the city’s sports venues, unlike the 6.7-magnitude Northridge tremor in January, 1994.
The famed Los Angeles Coliseum; the Great Western Forum in Inglewood [still home to the Kings and Lakers back then], and the Rose Bowl in nearby Pasadena, all incurred some form of structural distress in the Northridge ‘quake.
In a situation like Tuesday, when there are no reports of severe damage or injury, it enables one to marvel at the wonders of nature. Experiencing a moderate earthquake -- though a bit scary because you aren’t certain exactly how powerful it might become -- is an incredible phenomenon. They keep saying the lesser tremors are a precursor to the so-called “Big One” that is inevitable here in southern California – a ‘quake of more more than 8.0 magnitude.
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