Old Farts Thread

[Maggie3and Me]

battleship25,

Indeed there was a party line. I did not want to list all that I found especially the Hawks. Did not to be a homer.


•"The Party line" — Chicago Black Hawks (1980s) — Denis Savard, Al Secord, and Steve Larmer. The best explanation I've found is that with their skating and scoring ability it was like a party,as they were fun to watch play night after night.

•"The Pony line" — Chicago Black Hawks (1945-48) — Max & Doug Bentley, Bill Mosienko. The pony line was named that because they were not big enough to be horses. The tallest was Max at 5'10" and the heaviest was Mosienko at 160 pounds. they were very quick. In the 45-46 season that line alone accounted for 68 goals and 81 assists.

These are two of the most famous in Hawk history. Was lucky to see the party line while it lasted.

[BENNETTWOLF]

I had heard about the KO of Dave Maloney at Curt Bennett's hands leading to the accquisition of Nick Fotiu. I had no idea they only rolled 9 forwards and two d pair. See i learned something today...........so it wasn't the total loss it was shaping up to be.

[Maggie3and Me]

BENNETWOLF,

See what can happen when you hang out with us OLD FARTS.

I have a question for you all. The most famous line for the Blackhawks after 1950 was called the "Million Dollar Line". Can you name the players on that line?

[battleship25]

Originally Posted by Maggie3and Me

BENNETWOLF,

See what can happen when you hang out with us OLD FARTS.

I have a question for you all. The most famous line for the Blackhawks after 1950 was called the "Million Dollar Line". Can you name the players on that line?

Hull , Balfour, and Hay. That was easy !!!!! with the help from Wikipedia

[Maggie3and Me]

Originally Posted by battleship25

Hull , Balfour, and Hay. That was easy !!!!! with the help from Wikipedia

Normally, as you will note with every other post on this site I hit the thumb, thanking you for your post. Guess What?lol

Now you have to post why they were called that.

[bigjack]

Originally Posted by Maggie3and Me

BENNETWOLF,

See what can happen when you hang out with us OLD FARTS.

I have a question for you all. The most famous line for the Blackhawks after 1950 was called the "Million Dollar Line". Can you name the players on that line?

I'm not a Chicago expert but would guess that Doug Bentley and Bill Mosienko had to of been involved at center and right wing and maybe Roy Conacher or Gaye Stewart at left wing.

[fansince65]

Ever wonder were your favorite team got it's name ?

A woman from Montreal gets the credit for naming the BRUINS My favorite team ..

Bessie Moss , a Canadian , was secretary to Art Ross Bostons first general manager . in 1924 Charles Adams purchased the first American NHL franchise and selected Ross to be the GM . Ross and Adams then had the task of selecting a nickname and colors . Miss Moss handled all the correspondence between the two pertaining to the subject . The two men had no trouble selecting the color's , brown and gold were chosen as that was the color of the store-front's on Adam's chain of grocery stores , but they could not come up with a name . When Miss Moss learned that the main color was going to be brown she suggested the team be named the Bruins ,
Adams and Ross liked the name and the rest is history !!
Many years later the team would drop the color brown and adopt gold black and white as the official team color ...

A lot of PPL don't know the Bruins were the first American team to join the NHL ....

They also had a famous line called the "KRAUT LINE" !! it was made up of Bobby Bauer/Milt Schmidt/WoodyDumart ....

[Maggie3and Me]

Originally Posted by bigjack

I'm not a Chicago expert but would guess that Doug Bentley and Bill Mosienko had to of been involved at center and right wing and maybe Roy Conacher or Gaye Stewart at left wing.

jack,

BS25 did get it, but he had the help of the internet, as he said in his post.

It was :
Bobby Hull at LW
Bill Hay at Center
Murray Balfour at RW

Here is a little snippet for Sports Illustrated:

The purchase of right winger Balfour from Montreal in 1959 made this nickname a natural when he was teamed with the high-salaried duo of left winger Hull and center Hay. The trio led the Hawks to the 1961 Stanley Cup.

Unfortunately, that was the only Cup they lead us to. We kept running into a team called the Rangers.

[battleship25]

Originally Posted by Maggie3and Me

jack,

BS25 did get it, but he had the help of the internet, as he said in his post.

It was :
Bobby Hull at LW
Bill Hay at Center
Murray Balfour at RW

Here is a little snippet for Sports Illustrated:

The purchase of right winger Balfour from Montreal in 1959 made this nickname a natural when he was teamed with the high-salaried duo of left winger Hull and center Hay. The trio led the Hawks to the 1961 Stanley Cup.

Unfortunately, that was the only Cup they lead us to. We kept running into a team called the Rangers.

Maggie, I knew when Hull got his huge salary that it had to do with the combined salaries , watching the NHL pioneer show with Stan Mikita I realized that Mikita credited Hull with the exploding salaries, certainly later on when he went to WPG ( He became the million dollar LW). What's funny is that Hull was interviewed for the Pioneers show he made it sound like he AND Mikita came up with the curved stick. Mikita however mentioned that while he was doing this with the aid of the trainer, no one on the team knew about it for weeks until after practise Mikita brought out the curved stick had a puck and then unbenownst to him Hull came out to see what he was doing . The first slapper almost hit the Glorious Pipe Organ , to which Hull said ' What do we have here?'.
Also interesting to note that Mikita mentioned that coming into the league he had a huge chip on his shoulder ....setting him up for the proper attitude was Terrible Ted Lindsay. Lindsay said a lot of guys came in with great talent but couldn't take the rough going...he had to stand up for himself. So his fist game he went after a big guy and started to throw punches...that guy happened to be Leapin' Lou Fontinato. Not surprisingly, Mikita mellowed in the mid 60's when his daughter , I think asked him why he was in the place where the guy in the stripes sent him , and that she felt bad that he was all alone. He realized that it wasn't the best example so he cleaned up his act ...enough to win the Lady Bying. Similar stories I've heard from several players (Schoenfeld, Mulvey, etc) that children made them lose their edge.

[fansince65]

[

Originally Posted by battleship25

Maggie, I knew when Hull got his huge salary that it had to do with the combined salaries , watching the NHL pioneer show with Stan Mikita I realized that Mikita credited Hull with the exploding salaries, certainly later on when he went to WPG ( He became the million dollar LW). What's funny is that Hull was interviewed for the Pioneers show he made it sound like he AND Mikita came up with the curved stick. Mikita however mentioned that while he was doing this with the aid of the trainer, no one on the team knew about it for weeks until after practise Mikita brought out the curved stick had a puck and then unbenownst to him Hull came out to see what he was doing . The first slapper almost hit the Glorious Pipe Organ , to which Hull said ' What do we have here?'.
Also interesting to note that Mikita mentioned that coming into the league he had a huge chip on his shoulder ....setting him up for the proper attitude was Terrible Ted Lindsay. Lindsay said a lot of guys came in with great talent but couldn't take the rough going...he had to stand up for himself. So his fist game he went after a big guy and started to throw punches...that guy happened to be Leapin' Lou Fontinato. Not surprisingly, Mikita mellowed in the mid 60's when his daughter , I think asked him why he was in the place where the guy in the stripes sent him , and that she felt bad that he was all alone. He realized that it wasn't the best example so he cleaned up his act ...enough to win the Lady Bying. Similar stories I've heard from several players (Schoenfeld, Mulvey, etc) that children made them lose their edge.

[From Bobby Hull"s Autobiography]

My Wife Joanne made me a millionaire !! When I met her I had Three million !!

[Maggie3and Me]

Originally Posted by battleship25

Maggie, I knew when Hull got his huge salary that it had to do with the combined salaries , watching the NHL pioneer show with Stan Mikita I realized that Mikita credited Hull with the exploding salaries, certainly later on when he went to WPG ( He became the million dollar LW). What's funny is that Hull was interviewed for the Pioneers show he made it sound like he AND Mikita came up with the curved stick. Mikita however mentioned that while he was doing this with the aid of the trainer, no one on the team knew about it for weeks until after practise Mikita brought out the curved stick had a puck and then unbenownst to him Hull came out to see what he was doing . The first slapper almost hit the Glorious Pipe Organ , to which Hull said ' What do we have here?'.
Also interesting to note that Mikita mentioned that coming into the league he had a huge chip on his shoulder ....setting him up for the proper attitude was Terrible Ted Lindsay. Lindsay said a lot of guys came in with great talent but couldn't take the rough going...he had to stand up for himself. So his fist game he went after a big guy and started to throw punches...that guy happened to be Leapin' Lou Fontinato. Not surprisingly, Mikita mellowed in the mid 60's when his daughter , I think asked him why he was in the place where the guy in the stripes sent him , and that she felt bad that he was all alone. He realized that it wasn't the best example so he cleaned up his act ...enough to win the Lady Bying. Similar stories I've heard from several players (Schoenfeld, Mulvey, etc) that children made them lose their edge.

Great stuff about Mikita, who is overlooked to a degree in my opinion. I saw film of his rookie year of 1958, but, I think he only played in three or four games. Even at a time when the players were not as big as they are no, "Stash" as he was called, looked like aboy among men.

He was listed at 5'9" and 165 pounds. That was one of the gross over statements in sports. He is an inch shorter and played most of his career at 150 to 155 pounds. And did he ever have a chip on his shoulder. It was a boulder.

He and Hull used to be roommates. Mikita was asked if it was a distraction rooming with Hull. I remember in the 60's women from kids I went to school with to their moms had a crush on Hull and before the term groupies was invented, he had them. Plus there was always media and food and drink where ever they went. His response to was he jealous of Bobby or of the distractions was, why should he be unhappy, he got to eat and drink for free with Bobby and he got the overflow of women too.

Your story of his fight brings up another thing about Mikita. He played 22 years, all with the Hawks, playing in 1394 games. He had 541 goals, 926 assists for a total of 1467 points and is in "The Hall". What people do not remember is he also had almost 1300 PIM. Four times he had over 100 PIM.

I saw him and Hull in person from 1959 thru 1963,then again starting in the 70 season. Sometimes he would go up to guys and just start a fight. He kept Moose Vasko and Nesterenko busy for awhile. He said he did it to make his bones in the league and let other teams know he would not be run nor would he run. He said in later years it was self preservation. If he didn't do that he would have a bullseye on his back and be out of the league.

The part about the discussion with Hull about sticks is priceless. Stash was probably the best stick man in the business. He could cut wide open and be half way down the ice before you started to bleed. I saw him more than once on a face off bring his stick up and cut a guys cheek open, then skate away with the puck. He gained a reputation very quickly as a guy who would not forget and always repaid a debt. He went into the corners and very seldom came out second best. Used to be a story about the two best stick men in the corners and on the boards were Mikita and Gordie Howe. Between the blades and butt ending they got their share of pucks.

The comment about the salaries of players is spot on. Most everyone thinks that the big salaries started with Gretzky.Wrong. The reason that Hull went to the other league after the 71-72 season was because of Dollar Bill Wirtz.
Bobby Hull rightfully believed on his production, that he deserved a raise and wanted to be the first player in the league to be paid a million dollars a season. Wirtz, reportedly said no and told Bobby he had no other place to go because the new WHA was not going to make it. Plus no team could pay him that much. Winnipeg got help from the other teams in the WHA, and Hull became the first million dollar a year hockey player. Seeing this, other NHL owners opened their pocket books.

Mikita's first full year in the league was the 59 season. I saw him play from then up until he retired in the 80 season. He did mellow out some what as he made his bones and as his reputation as one of the nastiest, not dirtiest, players grew.

If I close my eyes and let my mind go back, I can see that team. It was before helmets. I can see Stan crossing the blue line, stick handling his way,then out of no where, this blond head on shoulders as wide as an axe handle,comes streaking up the left side. I hear Lloyd Pettit, with excitement and anticipation in his voice describe the pass from Mikita to Hull, the wind up, a shot and a goal.

[jkidd]

This thread just has a funky odor coming from it, kinda like old people...

Umm...

Kidding fellas. Great stuff to read.

[BENNETTWOLF]

Does anybody miss Don Cherry's take on Don Saleski's perm when he coached Saleski in Colorado? I know someone here uses or used it as their signature.

"Can't have anyone with a perm..........so we sent him to Fort Worth".

I wonder if Saleski could hold down a role today? I missed his gutlessness by a wee bit.

I'm getting pangs of missing honest blue collar backliners each day. Today's is Brad Marsh

I'm also getting strange sensations of wanting to see Randy Holt and Dave Hoyda play as a blueline pair for just one month this current season.

I guess a more serious question: Is anyone old enough to recall Red Horner or "Black jack" Stewart? Tales of Orland Kurtenbach would suffice.

[Maggie3and Me]

Point of Information.

I had earlier posted about the "million dollar line", and there was no mention of Mikita, so how could he pass to Hull.

Murray Balfour's last season with the Hawks was the 63-64 season. Mikita played center and right wing. He would fill in at both center and right wing on the big line from time to time as injuries and circumstances warranted.

Bill Hay, at 6'3" and 200 was bigger than Hull or Mikita. He played until the 66-67 season. These three were a prime power play team.

I wanted to clarify that so there were no misconceptions.

Now, for jkidd.

Thank you for the compliment to the posters here and the knowledge they share.

As for that smell, when was the last time you diapers were changed? lol

[Maggie3and Me]

Originally Posted by BENNETTWOLF

Does anybody miss Don Cherry's take on Don Saleski's perm when he coached Saleski in Colorado? I know someone here uses or used it as their signature.


I guess a more serious question: Is anyone old enough to recall Red Horner or "Black jack" Stewart? Tales of Orland Kurtenbach would suffice.

Go to google and type in Orland Kurtenbach fights. There will be a You Tube window with the fight he had with Wayne Cashman.

I remember him with Boston and later with Vancouver. He never was a fighter, but, could handle himself pretty well. I think he was 6'2" or 6'3" about 190. He was a good skater and scored well over 100 goals and over 200 assists. He was a good checker and if his games against the Hawks are an indicator, he was a pain in the ass.

BENNETWOLF, if I was more computer literate, I would copy the video for you, however I don't know how. If some one want to pm that to me I would appreciate it. In the mean time I hope this helps.