Steve Yzerman: A Born Leader

A rookie NHL All-Star, the number one overall pick, an 18 year old from Arizona, and the future of the NHL, number 34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews is fifth overall in total goals this season. Auston Matthews was born in San Ramon, California on September 17, 1997 and at two months old, moved to Scottsdale, Arizona. To start, his Uncle had season tickets to then, Phoenix Coyotes games, now Arizona Coyotes, where Auston went to his first hockey game when he was three years old and fell in love with the sport. He first started hockey at age five and was once better at baseball than he was at hockey. He was good baseball because he had good eye-hand coordination and hitting was his strength. Anyhow, there weren't

It was while Joseph played for the marvelous Cape Breton Post Bombers hockey club in 1964 that he first took up coaching. “It was an after-school hockey program at the former St. Joseph’s Elementary School in Sydney,” he said. “I was at it for about 10 years and I really enjoyed helping the kids.”

Clint Malarchuk was born May 1, 1961 in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada. He loved hockey and continued to excel greatly in his sport. He joined the NHL in 1981 as a goalie and played for the Quebec Nordiques, Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres throughout his career. He continued to play whether it be for a minor league, professional league, or international league team until his retirement in 1992.

Born in Floral, Saskatchewan, Gordon “Gordie” Howe is seemingly born to play hockey. At 15, Howe was offered a tryout for the New York Rangers. He attended their training camp in Winnipeg until he got homesick and returned home. The next year, he was offered a spot on the Detroit Red Wings by Coach and Manager Jack Adams. He impressed Adams at a workout, with his sharp shot from the left wing.

When he was drafted in the NHL, he made a big impact on the team because he didn’t do really good when he first starting playing for them. Carey also goes to the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation to surprise kids when they

In 1995, he was drafted by the New Jersey Nets. Unfortunately, he only stayed in the league for two years. He was later traded to the Dallas Mavericks and ultimately to the Orlando Magic where he was eventually released. He played professional basketball overseas for seven years in countries including Argentina, Greece, Poland and Spain. He decided to retire at age 32 because of ongoing problems with his knees. He later went back to UCLA in 2011 to complete his education by getting his bachelor’s degree in History. He is currently a marketing director for a car dealership in Las Vegas NV (Websit,

Wayne Douglas Gretzky was born January 26, 1961 in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. He began skating at just two years old and was playing with older boys by six years old. Spending extreme amounts of hours on the ice, he was skilled enough to score 378 goals in his final year of peewee hockey. When he was a teenager, he was chosen third in the 1977 Ontario Major Junior Hockey League Midget draft, and played for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds where he was able to show his skills. He played for his home country in 1978, and led the entire tournament in scoring at the World Junior Championships that were hosted in Quebec City. In the fall of 1978, he signed with the Indianapolis Racers of the fledgling World Hockey Association.

Martin St. Louis a Ranger hockey player. Just 72 hours after learning about the sudden death of his mom, France, to a sudden heart attack, scored the first goal of the Rangers playoff game on Mother’s day. From the start of the game the crowd was on Martin side chanting his name over and over again to show support to him and his family. Some say it was like a story that was too good to be true, as if it was scripted by a Hollywood writer. After that game there were questions as to whether Martin would continue to play in this series, but that Friday he rejoined the team.

Steve Yzerman holds the record for a lot of the categories for the red wings all time. He holds the NHL record for most game winning goals. He also holds the franchise record for most career assists. Steve Yzerman was also the captain of the Red Wings. Steve Yzerman has changed hockey forever. He will always be one of the greatest Red Wings of all time.

Now, some of you might be asking yourself, who the heck is Keith Jones? Keith Jones was a forward for the Philadelphia flyers from 1998-2001. Starting from the beginning, Keith Jones was born on November 8th, 1968 in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Keith Jones, like any boy growing up in Canada, learned to play hockey at a very young age. He started skating when he was 2 years old, and then played in his first competitive hockey game when

Willie O´Ree had a huge impact on the NHL, impacting and influencing adults and kids. O´Ree received lots of hate during his 2 season NHL career. He was mainly targeted by white American NHL players from Chicago, on the ice he was threatened physically and verbally. When Willie O´Ree was brought up to the NHL, he received lots of mixed emotions from fans and opposing players, but his teammates and management crew warmly welcomed O’Ree without any hesitation to the team.

Hockey, a sport who’s premier league is the NHL. The NHL, over time has had its fair share of players who dominated the game. Some of these players were just “too good”. Examples of this are Mario Lemieux, Gordie Howe, and the Great one, Wayne Gretzky. Today, there are a lot of great players in the league, sadly to go down in history in any sport you need to be at the top of your time. In current days we see plenty of good, young players, who really contribute to the league but some of the older players who have established their name to everyone are the only ones who have really put themselves in the history books. Today I’m writing this article to talk about two players, Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. The two players are considered the

Another hockey great, who was purely Canadian, and proved his worth in the game of hockey, is the amazing Rocket Richard. He was known for his excellence, but was also just as well known for his great spirit and love for the game. He, as well as Gretzky, was given the honour of being among the best in the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 1955, Richard was, without thought, suspended from the league, Canada, especially Montrealers, went into complete uproar, inducing numerous death threats upon the president Clarence Campbell, as well as what has been called the worst riot in Canadian sports history. This example really shows how dedicated Canadians are when backing up their own players, the ones they know are the best.

The most memorable moment in hockey history came thirty-four years ago with the 1980 Miracle on Ice. The Americans defeating the dominant Soviet team at the Olympics was not only an important triumph for USA Hockey, but for the entire nation. Contrary to popular belief, the underdog win was not only the result of a miracle; it was also the result of a hard-working team led by Coach Herb Brooks. With increasingly negative views on the position of the United States in the Cold War, the Miracle on Ice and the gold medal win lifted the spirits of the nation and brought hockey into the American spotlight.

The fact that the 1990s were the greatest period of growth for American hockey suggests that the 1980 Olympics did not inspire thousands of kids to strap on the blades right away. But the event certainly took its place in American sports mythology, giving young hockey players a heritage to celebrate and icons to look up to. That kind of legacy is the lifeblood of any sport.