Gordie Howe Hat Trick

 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...