This Day in Hockey History – February 20

Today in hockey history, a team doesn’t show up on their date, a legendary defenseman becomes (unfortunately) the second player to accomplish a feat, a pair of brothers have a good time, and a ridiculous losing streak that ultimately ends in success.

February 20, 1924 – The Montreal Canadiens and their fans waited two hours for the Senators to arrive for the game, but they never showed up! Fifty miles away, the team was stranded in a train stuck in the snow. The game was played the next night and the Habs would win 3-0, presumably because the Senators were tired from throwing on the snowshoes and making the 50-mile trek to the arena (I made that up).

February 20, 1971 – Bobby Orr picked up an assist to record his 100^th point of the season (in a 5-4 loss to the Kings), making him just the second player to record two 100-point seasons. The first player? His Bruins teammate, Phil Esposito, who accomplished the feat just two weeks earlier. So close, Bobby!

February 20, 1981 – Quebec rookie Peter Stastny recorded his first career hat trick, and in a pretty awesome coincidence, his younger brother, Anton, also recorded his first career hat trick, all in a 9-3 Nordiques win over the Canucks. Both were playing in their first NHL season, and the older brother one-upped the younger brother by recording three assists compared to Anton’s two. Those must have been some happy parents!

February 20, 2004 – Roberto Luongo and the Panthers shutout the Penguins 2-0 to extend Pittsburgh’s losing streak to SEVENTEEN GAMES. They’d lose their next game as well but win the one after that, giving them an 18-game losing streak in an era where there were actually ties…they went an astonishing 0-17-0-1 and would finish the season dead last at 23-47-8-4. The league felt so embarrassed for the team that they would give them Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby in the next two drafts. Sometimes, it pays to lose.

Source: Hockey Hall of Fame

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ScottFinger

Managing editor at Hooked on Hockey Magazine

Scott is the managing editor for Hooked on Hockey Magazine, which is perfect since he spends an unnecessary amount of time nitpicking and making sure everything is perfect, and also loves hockey and writing. He graduated from Roger Williams University in 2011 with a useless degree in Media Communications (concentrating in Journalism). Being a New York Rangers fan (and NY Giants and Mets fan) living in Boston is very uncomfortable for him, and it'll be awkward trying to celebrate a Rangers Cup win in the streets when they inevitably win sometime in the next 100 years. He also likes long walks on the beach.

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