MacHall's Bleacher Creature Trivia, Part Seven: NHL Rules, Refs, and Regulations

Answers - MacHall Test Part Six: Classic Hockey Hodgepodge

* Note: These are the solutions to the Part Six of the quiz. Try your hand at the questions via the link at the bottom of the page.

Congratulations to Josh Lewis for getting the highest score for the Classic Hockey Hodgepodge edition of trivia.  With five correct answers he keeps neck-and-neck with Alan Bass on the completely unscientific MacHall Hockey Challenge leaderboard. 

If you'd like to show to rest of Bleacher Report your hockey quiz prowess, or if you just figure you can take on Josh and Alan, leave a comment or drop a note on my profile  let me know you have posted your answers.

6.1 ~ Blue and white.

6.2 ~ Philadelphia. Apparently there was also some talk of Pittsburgh, so Pennsylvania, a state which often sought new hockey franchises throughout the game’s history, would have had a different early start.

6.3 ~ The Savvis Center in St Louis. The other placard, as seen in The Hockey News, read: "I need a transBLUESion".  Boy, that's one desperate bag of bones.

6.4 ~ Denis Cyr, Denis Savard, and Denis Tremblay comprised “Les Trois Denis” line who wreaked havoc in the QMJHL with the Montreal Juniors. The three boys not only shared the same name, but they all had the same birthday (4 February, 1961) and grew up in the same Verdun, Quebec neighbourhood.

6.5 ~ Jacques Plante. He usually had a toque or scarf on the go everywhere he went; on the road, in the locker room, after practice, wherever!

6.6 ~ Fred Waghorne. Before his innovation, the puck was placed on the ice by the official while he ensured the two centremen were properly positioned. The slow and close contact often led to a banged up ref, so in 1900 Waghorne just dropped the puck between the centres and let them have at it. The style eventually became the common form of faceoff. As Waghorne himself explained, it saved the referees and left players to their own devices, “allowing them to do as they darn well pleased.”

6.7 ~ Howie Morenz. The Canadiens legend caught his skate tip between the boards and the ice, falling awkwardly and breaking his leg in several places on 28 January, 1937. Those who visited Morenz in hospital over the following weeks reported a man in turmoil, progressing from optimism to depression as he faced the reality that he wouldn’t play hockey again.

When he died suddenly on 8 March, many fans and friends felt that a broken heart must have been the cause of death. In reality, he had suffered a nervous breakdown at the idea of the charity benefit events being planned in his honour. Outside contact was restricted and any benefit talk abandoned in an attempt to set Howie’s mind at ease.

On the morning of the 8^th, x-ray films revealed blood clots in the skater’s legs, and surgery was scheduled for the next day. Morenz would not last the night, sending a shock wave of grief through Montreal. The cause of death is listed as having been due to a pulmonary embolism. The legend lives on however, and there are those who will always believe, at least symbolically, that he died of a broken heart.

6.8 ~ Quite comfortable with his No.17 sweater, Howe said no when asked by the Red Wings to switch numbers after his first season. The number nine was available, but the future Mr Hockey felt he had a lucky digit in seventeen. The man with the clipboard went away only to return with a reason for switching to the fabled number: assigned with No.9, Howe would get a lower berth on train journeys.

In the days when the railway was the main form of travel for these athletes, young Gordie preferred to take a bottom bunk rather than face the awkward climb into his old upper berth, so he made the swap. The rest is history.

6.9 ~ Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference. At 5:09 of the second period in Boston, the two dropped the gloves, and Sidney recorded not only his first NHL fight, but his first NHL Gordie Howe hat-trick, having already scored a goal and assist. Pittsburgh won 5-4 in a shootout.

6.10 ~ Foster Hewitt

6.11 ~ (Photo Question) In a contract offer smacking of PR spin, Gretzky was offered a 21-year deal worth $1 million per annum. The idea was to keep #99 until the year 1999, and help spotlight the Edmonton Oilers as they entwined their future with the future Great One.

With the ramifications of such a long term weighing on his mind, young Wayne was offered advice from long-time friend Garnet “Ace” Bailey. Worried the pressure of the fans and the crowd would force him to sign a contract he wasn’t ready for, Bailey suggested Gretzky sign “Ace” on the contract at centre ice.

Wayne followed the advice, and in front of a sold-out crowd, WHA and team officials, scrawled the name “Ace” instead of his own, symbolically agreeing to the terms yet technically not tying himself down. However, after speaking with his father following the game, Gretzky eventually signed the contract for real in the locker room.

6.12 ~ (Bonus Question) He was to receive a new car every year of his contract.

Check back Friday for more trivia, plus answers to these “official” questions.

Other trivia in this series:

Part One - Hockey's "Third Season" Basics

Part Two - The Draft

Part Three - Stanley Cup Sampler

Part Four - International and Olympic Hockey

Part Five - NHL Awards and the Stanley Cup

Part Six - Classic Hockey Hodgepodge

New quiz questions (and solutions to the previous edition) will be published Mondays and Fridays through much of the Summer. Let me know you have posted answers on your profile, and I will let you know just how well you did on the quiz.

M MacDonald Hall is the Bleacher Report Calgary Flames Community Leader, and will be adding to the NHL Department over the summer. Future articles include a breakdown of Calgary Flames playoff performance in the 21^st Century, roster changes and information, and Flames-specific trivia. M’s Bleacher Report archive includes an assortment of Flames/NHL articles.

M also writes on various other topics, sport and non-sport related. Enquiries regarding NHL writing or other subjects may be directed to  M's Bleacher Report profile or via email.

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