NHL Notes: Stanley Cup artifacts; Orr snubbed

It's that time of the year when either you receive a tie for Christmas as a father, or give one to the old man as a son. It seems like it's a world-wide tradition, so it made one wonder about ties in the NHL. Coaches always wear them and some have significance.

Generally, when a piece of clothing is soaked in alcohol and smells like cigar smoke, naturally one would have it cleaned. Unless, of course, it was stained with beer and champagne spilled from the Stanley Cup.

Some NHL coaches are superstitious, while others are not. So, what happens to a tie worn by a Stanley Cup-winning coach? A few are donated to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Some are retired. Some hang on the tie rack and forgotten.

“It’s definitely a different type of artifact and for some people not necessarily the most interesting, depending on the actual tie that is,” said Izak Westgate, assistant curator at the Hall of Fame. “For example, Roger Neilson was known for his colorful ties, and so it was a natural when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame for us to get a few to represent his career. Another Hall of Famer, Bill Torrey, was known around the hockey world for wearing bowties, and so we also have one of his in our collection. When it comes to builders and coaches in particular, it is difficult at times to figure out home to represent them through ‘game worn’ artifacts (so to speak) and a tie can really fill that hole.”

In June 2016, when the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrated a championship after a Game 6 win over the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan was handed the Stanley Cup and he hoisted it in victory. He was sporting a black and silver tie and when asked about its whereabouts, Sullivan had to think about it.

“I can’t remember which tie I wore,” Sullivan said with a laugh. “I’ll have to go back and look at some of the pictures. Is it black and white? I don’t even know. I think it’s on my tie rack. As you can tell, I’m not a very superstitious guy. I’m not a nostalgic type guy. I just go to the rink and try to do my job.”

The Penguins won back-to-back Cups and during the team's win in Nashville last June, Sullivan was sporting a red tie with black stripes.

Players keep artifacts. Fans and media members do too. The idea of doing something special with a tie was a bit foreign for Sullivan. Then, he wanted to know what other coaches have done with theirs.

“Report back to me because I’m curious to what they did, because I haven’t done a damn thing,” Sullivan said with a laugh.

So, after some serious research, we’ve uncovered the mystery to the ties.

Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville won three Stanley Cups (2010, 2013 and 2015). He’ll admit during his playing days he was superstitious, but there’s no time to be that way as a coach.

“If you took all the superstitions when you played and you put them into coaching, it’s a tough day,” Quenneville said. “When I was a player I had a ton of them, but as a coach, I try to put them away and just go with it. As the playoffs go a little bit deeper, a little bit longer you might pick up something along the way when you try to do things and it’s more habits over the course of a day, but we don’t like discussing it too much.”

He does like his ties.

He had all three framed. Originally, he loaned one to the Hall of Fame, but he has it back in his possession.

“They’re retired, yeah,” Quenneville said.

In 2010, his tie was red with white squares. In 2013, it was a red candy-cane style with silver and white stripes, and 2015 was solid red. As far as his normal game-day selections, Quenneville doesn’t have a special go-to.

“I don’t have lucky ties. I don’t keep score on them,” he said with a laugh.

Current Toronto Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock won a Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008. He was wearing a red tie with white dots all over it. He’s very particular about his ties and that one is tucked away in a silver box. He also donated one of his Team Canada Olympic gold-medal winning ties (again red) to the Hall of Fame.

Former Boston Bruins coach and current Montreal Canadiens bench boss Claude Julien won a Stanley Cup in 2011 and had both his winning suit and tie (all silver) dry cleaned and has them hanging in his closet. Both are retired.

“It was a tie that one of my kids gave me, so that’s why I wore it for Game 7,”

Current Columbus Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella, who won with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004, did not do anything special with his tie that was a checkered style with gray and maroon.

Then there’s the losing side. Recent coaches that lost in the Stanley Cup finals did not seem amused by the question, so safe to say those ties no longer exist.

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As part of the NHL celebrating its 100th anniversary, fans were asked to vote for the league's greatest moment during a six-week interactive program. It came down to Bobby's Orr Stanley Cup-clinching goal in the 1970 finals against Mario Lemieux's five goals in five different ways on Dec. 31, 1988.

It was announced Saturday night that Lemieux won. That's a travesty for Bruins fans. Even captain Zdeno Chara was asked to pick between those two moments and here's what he had to say:

"It's a pretty tough one, obviously. Both are very exceptional. But, just the meaning of the moment, or what was happening and if you're talking about a deciding goal in the Stanley Cup finals, you have to go with Bobby Orr's goal. It's one goal that will always be remembered. Just like (Bobby) Nystrom's goal with the Islanders (1980), those goals are always remembered forever.

"No disrespect, or not to overlook Mario's five-goal game, but just the meaning of (Orr's) one goal, if you were to ask Mario he'd probably trade those five goals for one goal that would give him another Stanley Cup. In my opinion, it's pretty self-explanatory that Bobby Orr is the (top) moment."

Too bad the majority of NHL fans disagree with Chara.

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North Chelmsford native Jack Eichel recorded his first NHL hat trick during the Buffalo Sabres' 5-4 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. He scored two of the three goals in a span of 10 seconds, which were five seconds shy of the franchise record for the fastest two goals by one player, set by Nathan Gerbe on Jan. 21, 2011 vs. the New York Islanders. . . . Hingham's Brian Boyle posted two goals and added an assist to help the New Jersey Devils to a 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars Friday night. It was his first multi-goal game of the season and matched a career-high with three points. He has eight goals and three assists for 11 points in 22 games since returning to the lineup on Nov. 1 .

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In this edition of Drill of the Week, we focus on shooting. This is a great drill for every level. After watching the Bruins conduct this drill before a recent practice, we incorporated it into our PeeWee practice and the kids loved it. You can set this up anywhere on the ice. Have a coach pass the puck to the players, who receive it with one leg in the air, and then they have to shoot it in the same manner. So, if the shooter is left-handed, their left foot is planted and their right foot is up. And vice-versa for a right-handed shooter. After a few rounds, have the players shoot normal and watch how much stronger and more accurate their shooting becomes.

 



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