Gordie Howe Hat Trick

In 1959-60, the Montreal Canadiens swept their way through the playoffs to capture their fifth consecutive Stanley Cup championship. In game three of the final series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, both Richard brothers factored into the Habs win. But, it was the Pocket Rocket that picked up the Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Not known to be as vicious as his brother Maurice, Henri Richard only picked up two minor penalties through the 1959-60 playoffs, to go with the fighting major that he picked up in game three of the final. One of those minors came in the third period of this game. His 12 points over eight games would have put him in the running for the Conn Smythe Trophy if the award had existed at the time. The Game On April 12, 1960, the Montreal Canadiens met the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens for game three of the final series. The Habs took the first two games in Montreal by scores of 4-2 and 2-1. The outcome was never really in question with the Canadiens jumping out to...

 On the night of November 23, 1974, Bobby Clarke of the Philadelphia Flyers cemented the mutual hatred between him and the Toronto Maple Leafs (and their fans). First, he helped the Broad Street Bullies jump out to an early lead then dropped the gloves to do battle with maybe not Toronto's toughest player. The Game On that late November night, the Flyers and Leafs were at opposite ends of the standings. Philly had lost just five of their first 20 games while Toronto had won just five of 18. The Flyers would go on to finish the season in a three way tie for first overall in the NHL with Buffalo Sabres and Montreal Canadiens. The Buds would pick up their socks, finishing nearly at the .500 mark and qualifying for the post season. Played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, the game featured a matchup of two former goaltending partners. Between the pipes for the Flyers was Bernie Parent while his former back-up man Doug Favell was playing for Toronto. Favell was the busier of the two, f...

1980-81 was Rick Vaive's first full season with the Toronto Maple Leafs after coming over in a February 18, 1980 trade midway through the 1979-80 season. That was the trade that sent Dave "Tiger" Williams and Jerry Butler to the Vancouver Canucks while Bill Derlago came east along with Vaive. On December 6, 1980, the Buds were hosting the Quebec Nordiques at Maple Leaf Gardens. This was the first of a home-and-home on back to back nights. Interestingly, the following game also featured a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. The Leafs handled the woeful Nordiques handily in a 5-2 win with Darryl Sittler picking up a pair of goals. The Goal Rick Vaive scored his eleventh goal of the season at 17:44 of the second period, assisted by Borje Salming . It was the fourth goal of the game for Toronto and made the score 4-1. 27 seconds later, Jacques Richard would get one back for Quebec with assists going to Dale Hunter and Michel Goulet. The Assist At 3:27 of the second period, Robert Pica...

It was a significant match with the Detroit Red Wings capping off a stellar 1950-51 NHL season with a 5-0 shutout at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens. It was significant in that Alex Delvecchio played his first National Hockey League game. But, the most significant thing that happened at Detroit Olympia on March 25, 1951 is that Glen Skov achieved the Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Of course, the irony is that Gordie Howe was in the lineup as a star player for the Red Wings and the GHHT was certainly unheard of at the time. The Goal Glen Skov scored just his seventh goal of the 1950-51 season at 18:44 of the second period. The goal was unassisted and made the score 4-0 for Detroit. It was the young centre's 19th game of the campaign and just his 21st game in the National Hockey League. He had spent most of the season with the Omaha Knights in the USHL. The Assist The third goal of the game was scored by Ted Lindsay at 14:31 of the second period. The marker was assists by Skov and Lou ...

On December 5, 1981, the Washington Capitals faced off against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Maple Leaf Gardens. To say both teams were in a bad mood would be a major understatement. In all, 261 minutes in penalties were handed out. There were 12 fighting majors assessed, along with 15 ten minute game misconducts. With the final score ending up 9-4 for the home team, there were pretty good odds that someone would end up with the Gordie Howe hat trick. With nine goals in the game, the odds were definitely in Toronto's favour. But... in an odd twist, the team that scored just four goals had, not one, but three players get the Gordie Howe hat trick! Dennis Maruk A 60 goal scorer in 1981-82, it's not a surprise that Dennis Maruk would be one of the three players. Maruk had a goal and two assists in the match and accumulated 17 minutes in penalties, five of which came in the form of a fighting major.  At 13:08 of the second period, Dennis scored Washington's fourth and final goal ...

In a March 2, 1972 game between the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks, Bobby Orr put up a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Orr scored a goal and assisted on another while getting into a second period fight with Rosaire Paiement. The Goal Bobby scored at 11:10 of the third period, assisted by Phil Esposito . It was a powerplay goal with Andre Boudrias of the Canucks serving two minutes for too many men on the ice. This was Boston's seventh and last goal of the game and 30th of the season for Orr. The Assist At 19:14 of the second period, Phil Esposito scored his 58th goal of the season on the powerplay. Assists went to Fred Stanfield and Bobby Orr. This was Boston's fifth goal of the game and Esposito's third, completing the hat trick. The Fight At 6:07 of the second period, Orr and Rosaire Paiement got into a tussle. Both were assessed five minutes for fighting. In addition, Bobby was handed two minutes for slashing and Paiement was given a minor penalty for elbowing. It was the o...