Markus Mattsson

Trivia Time - Who surrendered Wayne Gretzky's first goal as an Edmonton Oiler? Here's a hint - it happened in the WHA. Here's another hint, his name is in big bold lettering at the top of this page.

Winnipeg's Finnish goalie Markus Mattsson yielded the first goal to Wayne as a Oiler. Gretzky scored 14 seconds into the 2nd period on November 2, 1978, his first game as an Oiler. Gretzky had just been acquired from the Indianapolis Racers who had to sell the junior phenom due to financial problems occured by owner Nelson Skalbania.

Mattsson got his revenge on Wayne in the NHL more then five years later when he was a goalie for the Los Angeles Kings. Mattson was in the nets for the game on January 28, 1984. That was the night that Gretzky's incredible record 51 point scoring streak came to an end.

Other than those two moments involving The Great One, Mattsson is all but forgotten about other than being the answer to a couple of good trivia questions.

Mattsson was a solid goalie in his native Finland. He represented his country between the pipes at such glorious events as the European Junior Championships, World Junior Championships and even the 1976 Canada Cup.

A draft pick of the New York Islander in 1977, he was also drafted by Houston of the WHA though his WHA rights were traded to Quebec days later. Mattsson took the unconventional route to join the North American pro circuit with the Nordiques in 1977. European goalies struggled for years to establish themselves in the North American game. The stereotypical European goalie wasn't used to being peppered with so many hard and frequent shots and struggled as a result of this. Mattsson fell into this stereotype.

After just 6 games with the Nords (1-3 record, 6.77 GAA) he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets. The 1978-79 season would prove to be his best statistically as he backstopped the Jets in their final WHA season. In 52 games he won 25, lost 21 and tied 3 with a GAA of 3.63.

Upon the merger of the remaining WHA teams into the NHL, the Jets managed to select Mattsson's NHL rights away from the Islanders. Mattsson was then named as a priority selection, thus protecting him from being dispersed to another team upon the Jets merger.

Mattsson struggled in his first NHL season, and spent as much time in the minors as he did in Winnipege. He won only 5 of the 21 games he appeared in, but had a respectable 3.25 GAA with an awful Jets team. Two of his five wins were shutouts.

Unfortunately for Mattsson, the Jets only got worse the next year. Mattsson was a lame duck goalie on perhaps the worst team in NHL history. He finished the year with just 3 wins in 31 games. One of his wins was by a shutout.

The Minnesota North Stars signed Mattsson for the 1982-83 season. After representing Finland in his second Canada Cup tournament, Mattsson spent all but two games in the minors. He was 1-1 as a North Star, including a shutout. Mattsson then was moved to Los Angeles where he finished the year with a 5-5-4 record in 19 games.

Mattsson would play another 19 games in what proved to be his final season in North American hockey in 1983-84. However he spent most his final season in the minors.

Mattsson returned to Finland in the summer of 1984 and continued to play pro hockey over there until 1986.

Gene Carr

Gene Carr's most obvious hockey skill was his superior skating ability. He was one of the flashiest skaters around in the 1970s.

Gene is the son of Red Carr, who was a minor league player for many years and also played briefly with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Red was also a hockey coach in Nanaimo. One would think Gene got his skating abilities from his father. But Gene, always the witty joker, insisted he got it from his mother.

Gene will forever be known as a high draft pick who never panned out. Picked 4th overall by the St. Louis Blues in 1971, Gene only played in 15 games with the Blues before being part of a big package heading to Broadway. The Rangers acquired Gene along with Jim Lorentz and Wayne Connelly for Jack Egers, Andre Dupont and Mike Murphy. For the next two seasons he was rarely used on the Rangers, although he gained a measure of fame in 1972 when he shadowed and shut down Montreal's Yvan Cournoyer during a playoff series.

The Rangers moved Gene to Los Angeles for a 1st round draft pick halfway through the 1973-74 season. That draft pick turned out to be Ron Duguay. Gene however continued to be cast in a minor role, mostly penalty killing, for the following 4 years in Los Angeles. He was better known as a friend of Eagles Glenn Frey than for his on ice accomplishments. Frey sometimes wore Carr's #12 jersey while on stage.

Just 5 games into the 1977-78 season Gene was moved with Dave Schultz and a draft pick to Pittsburgh in exchange for Syl Apps and Hartland Monahan. Gene welcomed the move.

"All I want is some ice time and a fair shake" he said.

Gene finally got the break he wanted in Pittsburgh. He finished the year as a regular player, and chipped in with 17 goals (plus 2 more previously with LA) and 56 points.

Gene became a free agent at the conclusion of that season and signed on with the Atlanta Flames. He probably should have stayed in Pittsburgh, as he really struggled in Atlanta. He had just 3 goals and 11 points in 30 games, and spent half of the season in the minor leagues. That proved to be his final professional season.

Carr may be remembered as a draft bust, but his career really was derailed by injuries. In 1973 he suffered serious injuries in a taxi cab accident. He also missed much of the 1975-76 season due to surgery to remove fluid build up on his spine. The back pain would ultimately claim his career.

Sheldon Kannegiesser

This is Sheldon Kannegeisser. He was a journeyman defenseman in the 1970s, playing with Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, most notably Los Angeles and then in Vancouver. He was a serviceable defender, eating up minutes reliably and clearing the zone with heady passes and clean play.

Best known for his alphabet soup surname, Kannegeisser was a bit of a different bird, at least in NHL circles. He was a very devoted Christian. The only thing he read on road trips as much as the bible might have been the Wall Street Journal. He studied economics, but also studied dehydrated foods. He even experimented with hypnotism, claiming the practice increased his peripheral vision.

Kannegeisser retired back in 1978, and has spent the past 30 years or so living in California as an entrepreneur and businnessman, and raising his two sons Brett and Jameson. He also has been working on the motivational speaking circuit.

It was during his guest speaker appearances that Kannegiesser realized just how much people loved to hear stories of hockey in the 1970s. He got the idea of compiling the stories and putting them into a book.

His book is now a reality. Warriors of Winter is a great title, but it is the subtitle that hints at the book's uniqueness: Rhymes of a Blueliner Balladeer. Kannegeisser took the time to take his stories and write them as poems.

Hockey stories are perennial," Kannegiesser said in a recent interview with the North Bay Nugget. And every hockey player you talk to has 10 or 20 hilarious stories. I found I could take those and put them to rhyme and rhythm. The key thing about the majority of these stories is they're all true. And I just made them fun."

Kannegiesser writes about many topics, from hockey fights to life on the road, to his personal relationships with the likes of Bobby Orr, Tim Horton, Gordie Howe and Dave 'Tiger' Williams. He event revisits the 1972 Summit Series with 8 poems, one devoted to each game.

The book has just been published but is not available in bookstores. It can be purchased online at warriorsofwinter.com, as well as at book signings and speaking engagements. A sample chapter about Tim Horton, titled Donuts, is available at the North Bay Nugget website.

Update: Kannegiesser also completed the following interview with HockeyBookReviews.com.

Steve Duchesne

This is Steve Duchesne, pictured in his 1988-89 OPC rookie hockey card.

Steve Duchesne was an excellent offensive catalyst from the blue line. He was an excellent power play quarterback, with his hard, low shot which he somehow usually got through traffic; and his crisp and sudden passes combined his ability to read the breakdowns in the defensive coverage.

Duchesne's best years were with Wayne Gretzky's Los Angeles Kings in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was the Kings' version of Paul Coffey, Gretzky's old running mate in Edmonton. He was an exceptionally mobile skater who never shied away from joining the attack or cheating into the slot.

He put up some great numbers in LA, averaging 22 goals and 66 points in Gretzky's first three years. Even in Duchesne's first two seasons prior to 99's arrival he was starting to push 20 goals and 60 points. It was quite surprising that Edmonton did not insist on Duchesne coming north as part of the Wayne Gretzky trade.

Not bad for a defenseman no one wanted back at the NHL draft table. A bit of a late bloomer, Duchesne was passed over by every team in two NHL drafts, signing with the Kings organization as a free agent filler for the farm team. Two years later he was running the Kings power play and named to the NHL All-Rookie team.

Like most offensive defensemen, Duchesne's defensive game was never as good as his offensive game. He did not use his skating as well defensively, likely because he did not dissect the oncoming attack as quickly as he could when his team was on the offense. He was at times guilty of making bad gambles and looking bad in doing so.

He did not make breakout passes as well as Coffey (then again, very few ever have), preferring to rush the puck out of the zone. He was of average size, yet he was never likely to engage in physical battles. Opposing teams knew to dump the puck into his corner and hit him early and often, and he likely would be less effective in that game.

Regardless, he was an exciting defenseman who provided the necessary offensive presence any Wayne Gretzky-led team needed. Despite his popularity in Los Angeles though, he was traded to Philadelphia in 1991. The impatient Kings moved Duchesne and Steve Kasper to the Flyers for bruising defenseman Jeff Chychrun and a fellow named Jari Kurri. In giving up Duchesne the Kings paid dearly for Gretzky's old side kick. The hope was the two would come together like in their old glory days back with the Oilers, but it was never really rekindled.

Duchesne went on to play a strong season in Philadelphia (18 goals, 56 points) before he was moved again for another superstar. Duchesne was sent back to his home province as a key part of Philadelphia's monster package to acquired teen phenom Eric Lindros. The package also included Peter Forsberg, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextall, Philadelphia's 1st round choice (Jocelyn Thibault) in 1993 Entry Draft, $15,000,000 and future considerations which turned into Chris Simon and another draft choice.

Despite being back home in Quebec Duchesne would find himself on the move again rather quickly, this time as the result of a contract dispute. After just one season he was on his way to St. Louis.

Duchesne definitely got a reputation as a vagabond player. Perhaps teams only realized how good Duchesne was after they let him go. After all, after two seasons in St. Louis he was off to Ottawa for two years (really sparking the lowly Sens), only to go back to the Blues for1 year, before splitting another season back in LA and back in Philadelphia.

He finished his career with three seasons in Detroit, providing a veteran presence although his offense had all but dried up. Duchesne retired after the Wings won the Stanley Cup in 2002.

In 1113 NHL games Steve Duchesne scored 227 goals, 525 assists and 752 points. He was an upper-echelon offensive defenseman, though never an all star or Norris trophy contender. He was a fun defenseman to watch, especially on the power play.

Not bad for a player who was never drafted.

Howie Hughes

Did you know that Howie Hughes scored the first Los Angeles Kings goal in the Fabulous Forum at 7:30 of the 1st period on January 11, 1968 vs. St.Louis?


Howie was one of those guys who had to fight for every minute of his ice time in the NHL. At only 5´9" he was considered to be too small for the NHL and it wasn't until the expansion in 1967-68 that he got his chance to prove himself in the NHL.

"Size shouldn't matter" Howie once said "only what you do or don't do. I know I did pretty well. Most of my career, it didn't get me anywhere. Why didn't I get more of a chance ? was it because of my size ? I don't know. I didn't make the decisions and I never complained. I just did the best I could."

Howie played his junior hockey for his hometown team, St.Boniface Canadians between 1955-59. He was picked up by the Winnipeg Braves for the 1959 playoffs and won the Memorial Cup with them. In his first pro season 1959-60 Howie scored 79 points (35+44) in 68 games for St.Paul (IHL) and won the championship with them.

Howie was clearly too good for the IHL and went on to play in the much stronger WHL. There he played for Winnipeg Warriors, Seattle Totems and Vancouver Canucks between 1960-63. During the 1963-64 season he played for St. Paul Rangers of the CHL, collecting 64 points in 66 games. He then racked up another three strong seasons in the WHL for the Vancouver Canucks (50 and 72 points) under tough coach Bert Olmstead who he called the most influential person in his life and Seattle Totems (71 points).

During that last season with Seattle (66-67) Howie made the 2nd WHL All-Star team and led the Totems to the championship. He also was the leading scorer in the playoffs where he had most goals (6) and points (11)

Los Angeles Kings liked what they saw in Howie and GM Larry Regan chose him in the 9th round of the expansion draft. Regan's own scouting report said: "Howie is an excellent two-way player, and is outstanding as a penalty killer."

Finally at the age of 28 Howie got his chance in the NHL. Although Howie played in every game, he was used sparingly by the coach Red Kelly and played mainly as a spare or penalty killer. In his first season with the Kings he scored 23 points (9+14) in 74 games and scored two more goals in the playoffs.

Howie at that time had a simple explanation. " I don't know any other way to play than full out. That's what I'm getting paid to do. Even when you're playing regularly, you're only on the ice a minute or two at a time, so why not give it all you've got? And when you're only getting a few minutes a game, you have to make the most of them. If being versatile and being able to produce in short shifts helps me keep a job up here, that's fine, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to play regularly and didn't think I was good enough. I love hockey and have few regrets, but I've had a frustrating career." Howie said.

The 1968-69 season proved to be Howie's finest in the NHL. He got 30 points (16+14) in 73 games and saw more ice time. Then in 1969-70 he only played 21 games for LA.

Vitali Yachmenev

A lot of people got really excited about Vitali Yachmenev back in the 1995-96 season. The 59th overall draft pick by the LA Kings in 1994, Yachmenev spent much of his rookie season playing on Wayne Gretzky's right wing, and looking good in doing so.

It was probably the best and the worst thing that could happen to the young Russian from Chelyabinsk. He played well along side The Great One, and picked up 19 goals and 53 points that season.

But that raised expectations for the youngster, who would not be able to put up good numbers once Gretzky was traded to St. Louis towards the end of that season, and in the following two campaigns.

Though his stock plummeted, Yachmenev landed on his skates with the expansion Nashville Predators in 1998-99.

Yachmenev played 4 years in Nashville. For a sniper, he did not put up any memorable numbers, never scoring more than 16 goals in those seasons. In fact, in his last NHL season he scored just five times.

But he was an intelligent hockey player with good hockey sense. He was trusted on the penalty kill and he was a reliable defensive winger, willing to take hits on the wall to get the puck out of the zone.

He was a bit of a cult hero in Nashville. He was a quick player, not a speedy player, and brought energy to each game that fans and teammates appreciated.

In the summer of 2003 Yachmenev returned to Russia where he continued to play hockey for many years.

Petr Prajsler

Petr Prajsler risked his own life and the life of his wife and parents in order to live out his dream.

"I wanted to play in the National Hockey League" explained Prajsler, pronounced Prays-ler.

In order to do that, Prajsler had to defect from his native Czechoslovakia, which was still under strict communist control in 1987.

Prajsler said he simply drove to Yugoslavia for a brief vacation and then with help for the Los Angeles Kings, his agent and two immigration lawyers he acquired the proper documents to drive across the Austrian border, and into the freedom of the Western World.

"I was nervous" remembered Prajsler. "I was afraid maybe the Yugoslavians wouldn't let us go. If we would have been returned to Czechoslovakia with an Austrian transit stamp in our passport, that would have meant we wanted to leave illegally."

That of course would have led to strict punishment for Petr and his wife Eva, as well as his parents Jaroslav and Jana.

"We just showed our documents (to the Yugoslavian body guards) and they let us go." he said. "To go to a Western country, you need a visa. Normally they won't give a visa to an average citizen, but if you through a travel agency for vacation tickts, you might get it.

One in Austria Prajsler laid low and sent a letter to the Los Angeles Kings, who had drafted him 93rd overall in 1985. The Kings were surprised and quick to act.

"He really didn't want to talk when we first made contact" said Kings GM Rogie Vachon. "Finally we convinced him who we really were, that we were willing to sponsor him."

"We moved him to another place, to a tiny little town near Vienna. We tried to keep it as quiet as possible for security reasons. We didn't want someone to grab him in the middle of the night."

With the help of immigration lawyers Ron Bonaparte and Milton Glenian, Prajsler finally got his tickets out of Europe and to Los Angeles in time for training camp.

The Kings were excited to have him in camp.

"Our scouts saw him in the junior world championships in 1984. They said he was one of the best players in the tournament." continued Vachon. "He played for Czechoslovakia's best team (Pardubice) the past two seasons. They are the Edmonton Oilers of Czechoslovakia."

"He claims he's a stay at home defenseman, but he can handle the puck and he can skate. We're keeping our fingers crossed he can play."

In that quote is where Prajsler NHL dream started to die. The Kings were trying to make Prajsler something he wasn't - an offensive defenseman. Their unrealistic expectations ruined his career.

Initially the Kings sent Prajsler to the AHL's New Haven Nighthawks. Still learning english, the Kings felt Prajsler would be best off learning North American life in the minor leagues. Injuries hampered him to just two 1/2 seasons over his first three years. His third year was spent with the Kings where he scored 3 goals and 10 points in 34 games and appeared in 3 playoff games. The following year Prajsler played his first full North American season - but with IHL Phoenix not the NHL. He played well, notching 13 goals and 47 points.

The Boston Bruins signed Prajsler as a free agent in 1991-92 but again he spent all but 3 games in the minors. Prajsler quit North American hockey after that season despite a good year in the minors.

Prajsler's story has a good ending though. With the political freedom achieved in the now former Czechoslovakia, Petr was allowed to return hom to his family and friends without fear of punishment. He resumed his hockey career, and probably enjoyed himself a whole lot more.

Brian Kilrea

Brian Kilrea is a legend in the hockey world. He is a veteran of just 26 NHL games but is best known as the winningest coach in junior hockey history. As the long time coach of the Ottawa 67's, Kilrea has earned over 1200 career wins in the Ontario Hockey League as well as producing countless NHL and minor pro players - names like Bobby Smith, Gary Roberts, Jim Fox and Doug Smith.

Asked if he ever considered moving on to coach in the NHL or at least in professionally, Kilrea quickly responded, "I couldn't think of a more perfect situation. I'm in my home town and I love it. There's no other place I'd rather be. Why would I ever want to leave here? I couldn't even begin to think of a better place," said Kilrea once. "You know I had a call the other day from an NHL team asking me if I'd even give it a thought to coach there. I told the guy: 'No thanks.' I'm happy right where I am.

"I'm not only proud of the players I've had who made it to the NHL, I'm proud when I look around the community and I see some of the players who we had here that have become good people. That's what's important. You try to teach the kids to be good to the people around them."

That, and over 1200 career wins, sums up Kilrea the junior coach pretty nicely. But let's take a look at the rest of Kilrea's life in hockey.

From Giggles To Killer

A look into Kilrea's hockey resume reveals a tremendously interesting hockey journey.

Brian was born to play hockey. His father was a legendary player in the Ottawa area in his day, but he had to quit the game to begin working. But Brian's uncles Hector, Wally and Ken all played professional hockey including in the National Hockey League.

After two years of junior hockey with the Hamilton Tiger Cubs, the 5'11" 175lb center turned pro with the IHL's Troy Bruins. He played 4 seasons in the "I" as a solid skater and great playmaker. He even appeared in one NHL game in the 1957-58 season with the Detroit Red Wings. The Wings had some injuries and invited the small Kilrea to participate in the game, but he received very little ice time.

The next year he started what turned out to be an 11-year stay in Springfield, Mass. under the ruthless regime of the legendary Eddie Shore. Kilrea, whose maternal nickname Giggles became shortened to Gig, learned a lot of what would make him a successful coach in his long tenure with Shore in the AHL.

"Eddie would do anything to make sure that our life was hell. That was just his style. We always played Christmas Day. Why give us a day off? I liked him, but I didn't like the way he humiliated people," says Kilrea.

After 11 seasons, Kilrea finally got another shot to play in the NHL when the expansion Los Angeles Kings purchased the Springfield Indians from Shore. Kilrea along with all the Springfield players instantly became property of the NHL Kings.

Kilrea would appear in 25 games with the Kings and became the answer to an interesting trivia question when on Oct. 14, 1967 Kilrea scored the first goal in Los Angeles Kings' history in a 4-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Great Western Forum.

Send Me Back To The Minors, Please!

Kilrea's NHL tenure lasted only 25 games because he couldn't stand the weather.

"I just couldn't stand it there. I thought it was too hot," says Kilrea. "So I went to them and I told them that if they didn't mind, I'd like to be sent back to Springfield. They thought I was nuts to ask for it. I remember sitting in GM Larry Regan's office and he was trying to talk me out of it. Nobody had ever heard of anything like this before. I couldn't stand the hot weather. I hated it. I wanted to be closer to Ottawa."

Kilrea, who is probably the only person to ask to be demoted from the NHL due to his dislike of sunny weather also took a paycut from $16,500 US to $9,500 to play in Springfield.

Kilrea would finish the season in Springfield but spent the following two seasons on a road trip across North America. He appeared in Vancouver, Rochester, Tulsa and Denver before retiring in 1970.

Back To The Bigs

Kilrea would return to the NHL for two seasons as an assistant under hall-of-fame coach Al Arbour with the New York Islanders in the mid-1980s. He became very popular with his players, which eventually cost him his job.

"The Islanders thought I was too close to the players," says Kilrea. "That was fine. Al and I were different people. We did things in our own way. I tried to look at it as a learning experience and I learned a lot from him."

These are some of the interesting stories I have unearthed on Brian Kilrea. When you become the winningest coach in junior hockey history, you know there has to be a great past prior to his becoming a coach with the Ottawa 67s. As I have learned, Kilrea is one of hockey's most interesting personalities long before he became famous for his junior coaching days.

In 2008 Brian Kilrea was rightfully inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Kevin Shea had an excellent interview with Kilrea. You should definitely check it out.