April 3 – 23, 1961

The Marcels

Blue Moon

Brad McCrimmon was an underappreciated Defenceman in terms of his overall performance in the NHL.  While he played for seven NHL teams, he is (or at least should be)  best known for his time in Calgary, where he helped the Flames win the Stanley Cup and was the NHL leader in Plus/Minus.  That year he was also named a Second Team All-Star.

Bobby Baun reminds us a lot of Paul Henderson in that he is best known for one game.  Baun fractured his ankle early in Game 3 of the 1964 Stanley Cup Championship but returned to the ice to score the game-winning goal against the Detroit Red Wings and would help Toronto win the Cup that year.

Vic Hadfield had a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde career in the National Hockey League.  In his early years, Hadfield was an enforcer who, in the 1963-64 season, led the league in Penalties in Minutes.   While he performed that role admirably, he would be placed on a line later in the decade with Rod Gilbert and Jean Ratelle to form the “Goal a Game” line, and his playmaking skills would come to the forefront.