Known as the "Fireman" simply because he was actually a fireman in addition to a hockey player, Alec Connell also put out the fire of opposing sharpshooters.He was also better known as Alex Connell. Newspaper reporters way back when often mistakenly referred to him as Alex. Alec didn't mind and it continued throughout his career and throughout history in books.Alec Connell, who wore his trademark
1943 - Montreal's Ray Getliffe scored five goals and an assist to lead the Canadiens to an 8-3 win against Boston.
1980 - In the first NHL game played at the Hartford Civic Center, the Whalers beat the L.A. Kings 7-3.
1966 - Stan Mikita played with a helmet for the first time in his NHL career, and scored two goals and an assist as Chicago beat Toronto 3-2.
1973 - Playing his first NHL game 
1925 - Montreal Maroons fired manager Cecil Hart, and named coach Eddie Gerard as their new manager.
1943 - Mervyn "Red" Dutton was named as the new NHL president, replacing Frank Calder, who had passed away the day before. Dutton served until 1946, when Clarence Campbell took over.
1950 - Montreal's Dick Irvin became the first coach in NHL history to win 500 games, when the Canadiens beat 
Join me on Twitter - @HockeyLegends - for your chance to win of three Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada prize packs! Scotia Hockey has given me 3 prize packs consisting of a jersey, bag, tshirt, puck, water bottle, scarf and mitts to commemorate the upcoming Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada.
On February 11th, 2012 join Scotiabank in celebrating the great game of hockey and the greater country of It is very tough to find great biographical information about Charley "Rabbit" McVeigh, a star forward with the New York Americans in the late 1920s and 1930s. And that would be why I've never posted anything about him before now.
But I recently found this gem of an article from the archives at Time magazine. This piece, from 1941, looked at how the U.S. decision to create the draft act would 
1965 - NY Rangers traded Camille Henry, Don Johns, Wally Chevrier and Billy Taylor to Chicago in exchange for Doug Robinson, Wayne Hillman and John Brenneman.
1973 - Buffalo beat NY Islanders 5-1 in a penalty-free game played in Buffalo. It was the first penalty free game in both Sabres and Islanders' history.
1978 - Islanders' rookie Mike Bossy recorded the first hat trick of his NHL career 
1962 - New York's rookie goalie Dave Dryden made his NHL debut, when he replaced injured Rangers' goalie Gump Worsley, in the second period of a 4-1 loss at Toronto.
1977 - Bernie Federko scored his first career NHL point, an assist, and later added his first NHL goal, in a 5-4 Blues loss at Boston.
1977 - Richie Hansen from East Northport - the first native New Yorker to play for the 
1977 - Toronto's Ian Turnbull set an NHL scoring record for defensemen with five goals (including his first career hat trick) in a 9-1 win over Detroit at Maple Leaf Gardens. Turnbull became the first NHL player to score five goals on just five shots.
1989 - In the first regular season overtime penalty shot in NHL history, NJ Devils' rookie goalie Sean Burke made a save on L.A.'s Luc "The Chicoutimi Cucumber," known for his relaxed style in a tense game, was one of the game's early great goaltenders. But you probably already know that since the memory of Georges Vezina is forever etched in hockey history, as his name perpetuates the trophy annually awarded to the NHL's outstanding goaltender
Born in 1887, Georges grew up around the game of hockey. His parents, the local 
"The Flying Dutchman." "The Pembroke Peach." Frank Nighbor had many nicknames. That was because he was one of the most creative geniuses ever to play the game.
Newspaper archives heap generous adjectives on Nighbor. "An effortless skater," he was "a marvel of physical endurance" who often played the entire game without a rest. He was "a crafty and unselfish playmaker" (when he retired he was the
1920 - Quebec's Joe Malone set an NHL record with seven goals in a 10-6 win against Toronto.
1923 - Canadiens beat Hamilton 5-4 in Montreal, in the first penalty-free game played in NHL history.
1968 - George Konik became first Penguins player to be awarded a penalty shot, and he scored a goal against Glenn Hall at St. Louis. But Pittsburgh lost 9-4 to the Blues.
1991 - Vancouver General 
We've already looked at Ken Morrow's Miracle On Ice memorabilia collection that is up for auction, including his 1980 Olympics game worn jersey.
There are over 1000 items for sale in the newest Classic Auctions offering. This week we will continue to look some of the featured auctions.
The Original Six teams always are the focus of collectors. Montreal leads the way with over 100 items up for 
Greg Polis with Bobby Orr
1932 - Toronto broke a 3-3 tie with three overtime goals, to beat the Rangers 6-3 at Toronto. In those days, overtime was an extra 10 minute period, not "sudden death".
1937 - New York Americans' Nels Stewart became the NHL's All-Time goal scoring leader, when he picked up his 270th career goal to surpass Howie Morenz, as the Americans beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-0.Alf Pike has one of the game's all time great nicknames: The Embalmer.
Pike did not earn his nickname by being one of the game's great villains like you might expect. No, he came about his handle much more innocently and literally - he was a licensed mortician.
But first and foremost Pike was a hockey player, and a very versatile one at that. He started in the NHL as a center, moved back to 
Aside from Ken Morrow's game worn Miracle on Ice jersey, the hottest item in the current Classic Auctions offering is Jacques Lemaire's 2010 Olympics 10K gold ring.
From the Classic Auctions website: from Jacques Lemaire's personal collection is his stunning 2010 Olympic Team Canada gold medal champions gold and diamond ring, the first one ever offered for sale at auction! This breathtaking 
1928 - The Finnish National Team played its first official hockey game, losing 8-1 to Sweden.
1971 - Buffalo rookie Gilbert Perreault recorded his first career hat trick, and the first in Sabres team history, in a 4-2 win over the Seals at Oakland.
1974 - St. Louis Blues' Garry Unger scored a shorthanded goal at 7:54 of the third period to lead the West Division All-Stars to a 6-4 victory over