A member of the Montreal Canadiens 1916 Stanley Cup Championship team when it was won when they were in the National Hockey Association, Bert Corbeau would have a few distinct firsts in the NHL.  Corbeau was the first player to play for both the Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs, the first season leader in Defensive Point Shares and the first player to have 100 Penalty Minutes in a season.  Corbeau would have three seasons with 10 Goals, which is an excellent metric for a blueliner in that era.

Before we continue, can we state how much we love the hockey name of “Moose Vasko”?

It is awesome right?

Let’s continue…

Undersized at 5’ 7”, Steve Sullivan used every pound he had in his small frame to make a productive career in pro hockey.  Sullivan was a crafty playmaker who secured seven 60 Point seasons in a career that spanned 1,011 Games.  Sullivan had his highest point totals with Chicago but it was in Nashville where he made history as the first player in franchise history to win a major award when he won the Bill Masterton Trophy in the 2008-09 season.

Alexei Zhitnik holds the distinction of being the first defenseman born in the former Soviet Union to play over 1,000 Games in the NHL.  Early in his career Zhitnik was a member of the famed Red Army and he would join his “comrades” to North America.  Zhitnik would go to two All-Star games and internationally would help the Unified Team win the Gold Medal at the Olympics in 1992.  He would win a Silver Medal with Russia in 1998.