THIS DATE IN NHL HISTORY, MARCH 29
1970: Chicago Blackhawks rookie goaltender Tony Esposito gets his 15th shutout of the season, an NHL record for rookie goalies -- in a 4-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Chicago Stadium.
"Tony O," as he would become known, had arrived in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens organization, tapped by scout Mickey Hennessey as a fine talent in U.S. college hockey. The goalie was working toward a business administration degree at Michigan Tech and playing goal for the Huskies in the mid-1960s when Hennessey signed him.
Esposito would appear in 13 games for the 1968-69 Canadiens, making his debut on the West Coast at the end of November, days after being summoned from the Central League's Houston Apollos. It was an emergency recall, fearful flyer Gump Worsley having returned home following a turbulent charter flight to Los Angeles which set down in Chicago.
Rogie Vachon was felled by a shot to his unmasked face midway through the second period on Nov. 29, so Esposito went in and gave up two goals to Bill Hicke in the Oakland Seals' 5-4 win.
With Vachon and Worsley in the Canadiens' fold and a promising goalie named Ken Dryden in the system, Esposito was left unprotected that June and claimed for $30,000 by the Blackhawks in the NHL's intraleague draft.
In 1969-70, his first season with Chicago, Esposito won the Calder and Vezina trophies as the League's outstanding rookie and goaltender. The 15 shutouts are the most by any goalie since 1929. .
He would win the Vezina twice more and become a workhorse for the Blackhawks, thriving on huge quantities of work as a butterfly goalie cut from the same cloth as Glenn Hall, who had blazed the trail in Chicago.
Esposito shone through the years on some less than excellent Blackhawks teams, taking a 2.92 goals-against average to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
1973: Philadelphia Flyers forward Bobby Clarke becomes the first player from a post-1967 NHL team to score 100 points in a season. His 100th point is a goal that leads the Flyers to a 4-2 win against the visiting Atlanta Flames.
1975: The Montreal Canadiens become the first team in NHL history to win 1,000 home games when they defeat the visiting Kansas City Scouts 4-1. Guy Lafleur scores his 50th goal that night for the first of six straight seasons, an NHL record at the time.
1981: Edmonton Oilers center Wayne Gretzky breaks Phil Esposito's NHL record for most points in a season (152) with three assists in a 5-2 win road win against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
1982: New York Islanders forward Mike Bossy sets an NHL record for right wings with his 81st assist of the season in a 7-3 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
1989: Brian Leetch of the Rangers sets an NHL record for most goals by a rookie defenseman when he scores his 23rd of the season, breaking the mark of 22 set by Barry Beck in 1977-78, in a 4-3 loss against the Detroit Red Wings.
2000: Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche becomes the first goaltender in League history to win 30 games in a season 10 times during his NHL career. Roy's milestone 30th victory of 1999-2000 comes in a 3-2 win against the visiting Oilers.
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