It Happened in January…

90 Years Ago…

• Wee Killie Keeler, 51, onetime place-hitting star of the Baltimore Orioles, Brooklyn Dodgers, NY Giants, and NY Yankees, died in Brooklyn just as the New Year rang in…
• Ban Johnson, American League chief, revealed that Babe Ruth’s ’22 contract called for $52,000…

75 Years Ago…

• The Baseball Writers added just one name to Baseball’s Hall of Fame: Grover Cleveland Alexander…
• Mel Ott signed for his 13th season with the Giants. Joe Dimaggio was a hold-out.

70 Years Ago…

• Willie Pep, world featherweight champ, scored his 59th straight ring triumph at the Garden, working over Allie Stolz…
• The Yankees picked Asbury Park, NJ, as a wartime Spring training site…
• NYU’s cagers won their 11th in a row, beating Temple, 51-47…

66 Years Ago…

• Golfer Ben Hogan copped the Los Angeles Open for the second time, and followed that up with his second triumph in the $10,000 Pheonix Open.
• The War Department turned down the requests of Doc Blanchard, Glenn Davis, and Barney Poole for leave to play pro football…
• Stan Musial was selected Player of the Year

GREAT SPORT PHOTO May 1949

Looking through the SPORT magazine archive, I came across this exquisite shot of Stan Musial which was featured in the May 1949 issue of SPORT. Given the recent news of Musial’s passing, I thought it was a nice snapshot in time to share. Sometimes a beautiful photograph can say more than words…

This Day in Sports History: December 26th

A couple of memorable events have taken place on December 26th throughout the decades. With the Christmas buzz winding down, here are a couple of great sports moments worth continuing the celebrations for:

On this date in 1908 Texan boxer John Arthur “Jack” Johnson – nicknamed the “Galveston Giant” – became the first African-American boxer to win a world heavyweight title when he knocked out Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia. Johnson’s skill as a fighter, the fame, and financial gain that accompanied it made him a force that could not be ignored. Although at first the boxing world revolted against Johnson, he paved the way to greatness for many other African-American boxers. Boxing great and cultural icon Muhammad Ali has often cited Johnson as a primary influence. In fact, it was on this date in 2001 that the film Ali opened in the U.S., celebrating the life and career of the man many considered the greatest boxer of all time. Both Johnson and Ali have been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame. To watch some of the action from rounds 1, 5, 8, 11, and 14 of the fight, click here.

In 1917 Harry Cameron of the Toronto Maple Leafs became the first defenceman to score four goals in a single game. The Pembroke, Ontario native was considered one of the first great rushing and scoring defencemen in the league. This day in 1917 also marks the first time any player had achieved what has become known as a “Gordie Howe hat trick” – as Cameron scored a goal, recorded an assist, and got into a fight all in the same game. Cameron was part of three Toronto Stanley Cup victories and was induced into the Hockey Hall of Fame posthumously in 1963.

On this date in 1941 American tennis player Bobby Riggs played his first professional match and won. This was the first of three years when Riggs would be ranked as the World No. 1 player. He would again regain this title in 1946 and 1947.

In 2001 Colorado Avalanche goaltender Patrick Roy became the first goalie to win 500 games in the NHL. Roy is credited for popularizing the butterfly style of goaltending and is the only player in NHL history to be the recipient of the Conn Smythe Trophy three times in different decades. He won a total of four Stanley Cup Championships – two with Montreal and two with the Colorado. His achievements had him selected by ESPN as the greatest goaltender in NHL history by a panel of 41 writers. See the full article here.

The Boston Gardens

This famous arena in Boston, Massachusetts opened in 1928 as the “Boston Madison Square Gardens.” Familiar name right? Because Tex Rickard, the original owner and creator of the 1st three MSG’s (The one that stands today is actually the 4th MSG), had a plan to expand his empire of areans all over the country. At a cost of $10 million dollars ($129 million in today’s money), it housed two of the most storied franchises in North American professional sports: The Boston Blazers Lacrosse team and New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association. Just kidding. The actual teams of course were the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

1928-1995. Painted by Paul H Adams.

As a Hockey fan, when I think of the “Big Bad Bruins” and their time at the Garden, a few players and moments come to mind. You think of Bobby Orr and his famous 1970 Stanley cup winning goal against the St.Louis Blues. Bruin greats such as Phil Esposito, Cam Neely, Ray Bourque and if you are old enough to remember, Eddie Shore and Milt Schmidt. The Garden hosted the Stanley Cup Finals 15 times, with the Bruins winning 5 of those series, and the 1971 NHL All-Star Game. Those who attended the Garden for Bruins games were always treated to fantastic entertainment from world class players from both their own and visiting team. Entertainment such as full-on team brawls were the result of the heated rivalries that the Bruins made along the years as pictured here against one of their most prominent rivals: the Montreal Canadiens.

“The Good ‘Ol Days” (1970). Bruins and Canadiens involved in an old fashioned brawl. Open Edition Print. Available at http://www.thesportgallery.com

As a basketball fan, when I think of the great Celtics and the Gardens, despite their arsenal of Basketball legends and championships, the first thing that always comes to my mind is: the parquet floor. Seriously, it was aesthetically pleasing. The second thing that comes to my mind is another team: The Los Angeles Lakers. Why? They played each other 10 times in the NBA finals from 1959-1987 and another 2 times in 2008, 2010 post Garden era. Scenes such as this one pictured below of Celtic great Bill Russell up against another great Wilt Chamberlain or those of Celtic Larry Bird versus Magic Johnson are iconic in basketball history. The Celtic-Lakers rivalry is considered the best rivalry in the NBA and one of the best in professional sports. The Garden hosted 19 NBA Finals, with the Celtics winning 16 of those series, and 4 All-Star Games.

“Rivals” (1968-69). Legends
Bill Russell (Left) and Wilt Chamberlain (Yellow) battle it out on the parquet floor. Limited Edition Print.

The Garden was considered obsolete by the 70s due to the lack of air conditioning, luxury suites, the smaller dimension of their ice rink and the increasing need to expand seating. However, multiple proposals for the construction of a new arena were rejected.

After decades worth of attempts to build a new sports arena in Boston, the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden), was completed and opened in 1995. Following the immediate relocation of its two historic tenants to their new home, the sporting world say goodnight to one their oldest friends and closed down later that year. The Boston Garden was demolished in 1998 for a parking lot for the new arena.

Back to the parquet floor, famous lore of the Celtics. It was originally part of an older arena built at the turn of the 20th century and then  was moved to the Garden in 1952. It is said that the Celtics knew which way the basketball would bounce off any particular section of the floor and it may had been one contributing factor to their many NBA championships. The floor was so special to the team and Celtic’s culture that it was moved into the Fleetcenter. It stayed there until it was retired in 1999 in favour of a new parquet floor. In keeping with culture and perhaps good luck, original pieces of the floor were integrated into the new one.

Luckily, we the SPORT Gallery, are in possession of cufflinks produced by Tokens & Icons that incorporate pieces of the ORIGINAL parquet floor. Amazing isn’t it? This is a great item to have for any sports fan and would certainly be a special gift for Christmas! Don’t forget to check out Celtic/Bruins prints and merchandise as well!

Pieces of the original parquet floor on sterling silver cufflinks. Certificate of Authenticity included.

This Day in Sports History: The NHL is Founded

The Stanley Cup with Hap Day in 1932 and Wayne Gretzky in 1985.

The National Hockey League was founded on this day in 1917. At that point in time, there were just four teams that would comprise the league: the Montreal Wanderers, the Montreal Canadiens, the Ottawa Senators, and the Toronto Arenas. These four Canadian teams had been members of a predecessor organization, the National Hockey Association. It was the owners of these four teams who met in Montreal on November 26, 1917 to suspend the NHA and found a new league. The reasoning for the suspension was due to a series of disputes with Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone. In order to avoid further conflict, the other owners created the new league and erected a new team in Toronto, known as the Arenas, to compete.

The league gained momentum quickly and saw rapid expansions take place throughout the 1920s. Other teams that later became known as “The Original Six” began competing for a chance at the Cup. The Boston Bruins were the first American team to join the NHL, quickly followed by New York, Chicago, and Detroit. The league was reduced to just six teams before the onset of the 1942-43 season. The Original Six era would last for 25 years before another expansion took place in 1967. By 1974, the league had gained another 12 franchises. Over the next two decades, the NHL became largely popular in the United States. A particular turning point for this was the highly publicized Wayne Gretzky trade to Los Angeles in 1988. Due to the growing demand, the 1990s saw another large expansion cycle.

At present day, the league is comprised of 30 teams located throughout Canada and the United States and is considered to be the world’s premier hockey league. The annual league champion prize, the Stanley Cup, is the oldest trophy awarded within professional sports in North America.

“Moment of Truth” (1964) featuring Bobby Hull and Johnny Bower.

SPORT Magazine photographers documented the growth and glorious moments of the NHL from the late 1940s until the year 2000. Their photographs illustrate the rich history of hockey in North America. To browse the collection, simply visit The SPORT Gallery website and select “Hockey” from the navigation bar at the top of the page. Every fine-art product from The SPORT Gallery is printed on premium Hahnemuhle cotton paper, and printed with UltraChrome K3 pigmented inks for the highest available archival quality. Mounting, matting, framing are also to the highest archival standards. The printing of our prints is a Giclee process – which refers to a process of creating hand-crafted, fine-art prints from a digital source using fade-resistant archival inks. Each individually crafted print is a high-resolution, high-fidelity, high tech reproduction.

All limited edition prints from The SPORT Gallery are restricted to a small total edition size. Each piece is hand-titled and numbered, carries The SPORT Collection emboss and is accompanied by a signed Certificate of Authenticity, which sets out the details of the edition as well as bearing a detailed description of the image.

This Day in Sports History: Sandy Koufax Retires

On this day in 1966 legendary Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax announced his retirement from Major League Baseball. This retirement came at what most considered the peak of his career, as Koufax had a run of outstanding seasons pitching between 1961 and 1966. Unfortunately, the arthritis developing in his left elbow began to ail him quickly and he was forced to quit prematurely, at the age of 30.

In his time as a Dodger, Koufax was a World Series champion 4 times and won countless awards for his contributions to the game of baseball, including: World Series MVP Award (2 times); the Babe Ruth Award (2 times) which is awarded to the player with the best performance in the postseason; the Triple Crown (3 times) which is awarded to the pitcher who led the league in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average; the Cy Young Award (3 times) which is awarded to the best pitcher, and the Hutch Award which is awarded to the player who most exemplifies a fighting spirit and competitive drive. In 1972, at age 36, Koufax became the youngest player ever to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Koufax’s pitching style made him an absolute standout on the field. His over-hand motion contrasted greatly to the sidearm motion most other pitchers exhibited. This technique allowed Koufax to increase the velocity of his pitch. Even if the hitters could predict the coming pitch, they were still unable to hit it. The fact that he was a left-handed pitcher earned him the nickname “Left Arm of God”.

Unframed $355 / Archival Framing Package $165

Like the rest of the world, SPORT Magazine took a keen interest in Sandy Koufax as he appeared on the cover a total of 7 times. Koufax also has a permanent fixture in The SPORT Gallery, as the image entitled “No Hitter” seen above proves to be a fan favourite. Available in a limited edition of 30, “No Hitter” depicts Koufax showing off the ball he used for the final out in a no-hitter against the New York Mets on June 30, 1962.

The Barilko Curse

William “Bashin’ Bill” Barilko was born in Timmins, Ontario on March 25th 1927. Barilko is known for his contributions as a Toronto Maple Leaf. He was called up from the Pacific Coast Hockey League’s Hollywood Wolves after Conn Smythe had seen him play – instantly recognizing the force he provided on the blueline.
In the five seasons he played with Toronto, the Maple Leafs were Stanley Cup Champions four times (1947,1948, 1949, and 1951). The last goal Barilko would ever score won them the 1951 Stanley Cup in overtime against the Montreal Canadiens during Game 5 of the final. What was shaping up to be an illustrious hockey career was cut short.

He played his entire career in Toronto as a Maple Leaf until his death in 1951. On his way back from Seal River, Quebec after a weekend fishing trip, the floatplane in which Barilko was a passenger disappeared. Barilko and the other passenger were also missing, and assumed dead. The wreckage was discovered eleven years later, north of Cochrane, Ontario. It was that year, in 1962, when the Leafs won their first Stanley Cup since his disappearance – their first in over a decade. Fans refer to the Maple Leafs’ eleven-year drought as The Barilko Curse.

The First NHL Radio Broadcast

Mutual Street Arena (Arena Gardens) opened in 1912 and seated 6,000.

The first NHL game to be called on radio was a match between the Toronto St. Pats and the Ottawa Senators. On February 14th 1923, the defending Stanley Cup champs hosted the Senators at Mutual Street Arena. That’s right, the first game to be broadcast on the radio was played before the Maple Leafs were the Maple Leafs and before the era of Toronto’s most beloved arena, Maple Leaf Gardens.

In fact, Mutual Street Arena, also known as Arena Gardens, owned it’s own team when the National Hockey Association was in existence – the Toronto Blueshirts – and when the NHA era came to and end, the Toronto Blueshirts were renamed the Toronto St. Pats. They remained under that moniker until Conn Smythe purchased the team in 1927 and they became the staple Toronto Maple Leafs.

It was Foster Hewitt, a Toronto native, who broadcast the game live for radio station CFCA from Arena Gardens. Hewitt is now known for his contributions to hockey broadcasting. He continued on to call games on Hockey Night in Canada and then to own his very own radio station. Hewitt was also a contributing writer for SPORT Magazine.

Beat the Lockout Blues

Wayne and Garth beat the blues in this famous scene from the 1992 comedy Wayne’s World… “Game on!”

As of last week it became official: The cancellation of the 2012-2013 NHL hockey season will continue through November 30th. In light of this news, I decided to share some ways to beat the lockout blues and get your hockey fix.

Watch classic games, whether it’s a game you’ve seen before or one that took place decades ago. It always feels good to relive your favourite hockey moments and YouTube makes this super easy to do. I like to watch the greats I never got to see play, like Bobby Orr. This makes it exciting and new but also special because you just know you’re watching history be made.

Play your own game. The best part about this is that you don’t need to even be good (at hockey or skating)! Play on the street with friends. And if you can skate, try a rink and get creative – schedule a tournament, wear jerseys to represent your favourite team(s), and have a trophy for the winners. Nowadays you don’t even have to leave your house when you have an Xbox and the latest version of NHL by EA Sports.

If you’re a local, you can always Visit the Hockey Hall of Fame and kiss Lord Stanley’s Cup yourself. And since you’ll be in the area, you should Visit Us! There is no shortage of hockey hype at The Sport Gallery. Especially this fall/winter season as we have two very special events upcoming. The exhibition 25 x 6 goes up on November 8th and focuses on the Original Six era. Come see images and articles pulled from the archives of SPORT Magazine specially for this exhibit! If you’re a fan of old-time hockey, you can’t miss this. There is also The Distillery District’s 3rd Annual Lowe’s Toronto Christmas Market that runs from November 30th to December 16th. If you’re looking for that perfect gift or would like some new hockey swag of your own, we’ll have a wide selection of products from Mitchell & Ness, Old Time Hockey, and Tokens & Icons in stock.