When we think of the NHL, iconic players, records, and unforgettable victories often come to mind. However, digging a little deeper into the league's history reveals a number of episodes that seem more like material for a sports sitcom.
I know a lot about the NHL—probably more than is healthy. But it's not a boast, as much of this knowledge is utterly useless and occupies brain space that could be better spent remembering my wife's birthday. Worse still, many of these facts annoy me to no end. This league, honestly...
So, as we wind down the summer with not much going on, I'll share some of these facts with you. Many of you long-time NHL fans may already know some of them. I’ve likely mentioned them in passing over the years. I'm doing this partly because I find them interesting, but mainly because I hope that some of these facts irritate you as well, so I don't feel like the only weirdo here.
The summer of 1992 was an offseason of wild goalie trades, involving names like Jakob Markström, Linus Ullmark, and Darcy Kuemper. But nothing compares to 1992 when one goalie, Stéphane Beauregard, was traded four times, twice for the same player.
During the 1992 offseason, the NHL held an expansion draft to introduce the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning. Vague draft rules led to a series of trades, particularly involving goalies. Teams could protect two players from the draft, but had to expose at least one with NHL experience, leading to tricky maneuvers.
Beauregard, a respected veteran, was traded from Winnipeg to Buffalo for Christian Ruuttu. Then, Buffalo swapped him to Chicago in the infamous Dominik Hašek trade. Just days later, Chicago sent Beauregard back to Winnipeg in exchange for Ruuttu. Finally, the Jets traded him to Philadelphia for future considerations, where he played one season before returning to Winnipeg in 1993.
For context, those four trades in one summer exceeded the number of wins Beauregard managed in the remainder of his NHL career—just three.
In the 1975 NHL Draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs made a series of picks that didn’t exactly prepare them for the next decade—but did pave the way for an impressive coaching and managerial legacy.
Toronto selected Bruce Boudreau in the third round, Ron Wilson in the eighth, and Ken Holland in the twelfth. These three would go on to amass nearly 2,500 games as NHL coaches and 27 years as GMs, winning four Stanley Cups. Not a bad outcome for one draft.
I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s absolutely infuriating. NHL GMs, take note: Trading Martin Straka for Martin Strbaku is the kind of move that should be attributed to autocorrect, not professional sports management.
In the early 90s, the San Jose Sharks were an infamously terrible team. Their worst defeat came on February 10, 1993, when they lost 13-1 to Calgary. The irony? They actually led 1-0 for the first 10 minutes.
Getting your name engraved on the Stanley Cup is the pinnacle of a hockey career, usually reserved for veterans. But not for Steve Brule. In his first and only NHL game during the 2000 playoffs, Brule, thanks to a favor from New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello, saw his name immortalized on the Cup.
The Cleveland Barons were the last NHL team to fold, merging with the Minnesota North Stars in 1978. The NHL then made the bizarre decision to void all of the Barons' draft picks. Some of these picks had already been traded, leading to confusing outcomes where teams like the Washington Capitals retained some picks while others, like the New York Islanders’ fourth-rounder, simply disappeared.
This is just too much. In 1981 and 1982, three defensemen named Steve Smith were drafted. One became a famous NHL player with 16 seasons under his belt. The other two? Not so much.
Here's a trivia question: Which NHL players were traded for three first-round picks? Most people know Wayne Gretzky is one of them. The other? Glen Wesley. But what about four first-round picks in one trade? That dubious honor goes to Mikael Renberg and Karl Dykhuis, thanks to a convoluted deal involving Tampa Bay and Philadelphia in 1997.
Phil Esposito celebrated his birthday by scoring his 50th goal of the season three times—in 1971, 1972, and 1974. Born on February 20, Esposito consistently hit this milestone early, long before the likes of Auston Matthews did in 2023.
In 1997, the Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins made what is likely the most insignificant trade in NHL history. The Avalanche traded their 245th pick to the Bruins for their 246th pick. The result? Boston drafted Jay Henderson, who played 33 NHL games. Colorado drafted Steve Lafleur, who never made it to the NHL. The reason? Boston wanted both the first and last picks of the draft.