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February 18: On this day in 1918, The Toronto Arenas became the first team in NHL history to be blanked when legendary goalie Georges Vezina of the Montreal Canadiens recorded the first shutout in NHL history. The Arenas suffered a one-sided 9-0 defeat. Vezina and fellow Hall-of-Fame goaltender Clint Benedict of the Ottawa Senators were the only two goalies to record shutouts in the NHL's inaugural 1917-18 season. They had one apiece.
February 18: On this day in 1932, Harvey Jackson set a Leaf team record that still stands as of 2008 by scoring two goals in just 7 seconds. They came in a 5-3 victory over the New York Rangers. The NHL record for the fastest two goals is 4 seconds accomplished in 1931 by Nels Stewart of the Montreal Maroons and in 1995 by Deron Quint of the Winnipeg Jets.
February 18: On this day in 1936, Hall-of-Fame left-winger Dick Duff was born in Kirkland Kake, Ontario. Duff played 582 games with the Leafs between 1955 and 1964, scoring 174 goals and adding 165 assists. He led the Leafs in goals scored for three straight seasons beginning in 1956-57 and led the team in points in 1957-58 and 1958-59. He won the Stanley Cup with the Leafs for his first time in 1962 and scored the Cup-winning goal. The Leafs repeated in 1963 with Duff and he went on to collect four more rings with Montreal to become the only NHL player to win 6 Stanley Cups in the 1960's. Duff also coached the Leafs for two games on March 15 and 17, 1980.
February 18: On this day in 1967, King Clancy took over behind the Leaf bench as head coach when Punch Imlach was hospitalized, suffering from exhaustion. Clancy's refreshing style helped the Leafs to a 7-1-2 record in the 10 games he coached and just about assured a playoff spot.
February 18: On this day in 1980, the Leafs and the Vancouver Canucks completed a major trade as the Leafs sent Tiger Williams and Jerry Butler to Vancouver for Bill Derlago and Rick Vaive. The prize player in the deal turned out to be Rick Vaive who went on to become the first Leaf to score a 50 goal season in 1982. In 1984, he became the only Leaf in team history to record three 50+ goal seasons. Bill Derlago also turned out to be a fine acquisition for the Leafs. In Vancouver, Tiger Williams made an impact in his first full seaon as a Canuck when he led the league in penalty minutes, but also contributed 35 goals (a career high) and 62 total points.
February 18: On this day in 2011, Tomas Kaberle was traded to The boston Bruins. The veteran defenceman practiced with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the afternoon but was not made available to media afterwards as news filtered out he had waived his no-trade clause for a deal to the Bruins. The Leafs received prospect centre Joe Colborne, the Bruins’ first-round pick in 2011 and a conditional second-round pick in 2012 if Kaberle an unrestricted free agent this summer signs a new contract in Boston or if they make the Stanley Cup final.
Rick Vaive. Photo supplied by Mike Moore private collection.
