Courtesy of your friends at nyiforlife.com and the NHL Network it is February 5, 1980 and we are at the NEW Joe Louis Arena in Detroit with the Retro Live Blog.
The lineups are a bit clipped for time but here are the ones they do show:
Campbell Conference: Tony Esposito (G, Chicago); Bill Barber (W, Philadelphia); Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy of the Isles; Wayne Gretzky (C, Edmonton); and Phil Esposito of the Rangers. I guess there were no defensemen for the Campbell Conference who were deemed worthy enough to show their introductions.
First thing you notice is the hairstyles. Bill Barber has a pasted on greasy side-part that makes him look like half of the suspects featured on A&E. Phil Esposito is rocking the back-end of Darth Vader's helmet; the part without the face plate. Seriously, Gene Simmons has swiped this hairstyle for his reality show...which is also on A&E.
Here are the Prince of Wales announced participants: Don Edwards (G, Buffalo); Larry Robinson (D, Montreal); Marcel Dionne (C, LA); Guy Lafleur (RW, Montreal); and Darryl Sittler of the Maple Leafs. Oh, yeah. And Gordie Howe of the Hartford Whalers made his return to Detroit after years and years of being in the WHA and away from the team and city that he made famous. Gordie is a spry 52 at the time this game is played and he gets one incredible reaction that last for quite a long time from the crowd.
Did I mention the guy was 52 when this game was played? Man, I hope to be upright when I get to be that old. I'll probably be freebasing FLOMAX at 52 and this guy is in the freaking All-Star Game. They don't get much cooler than Gordie effing Howe. I mean, when a term is coined for something you've been known to do, like The Gordie Howe Hat Trick, you are on incredible bad ass. Nobody else has that. If you strike out three times with runners on base and a chance to win the ballgame, they don't call it an Alex Rodriguez Hat Trick. But if you get in a fight and add a goal and an assist, you scored the Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Gordie's like John Wayne and James Dean in one prairie-reared Canadian!
The deal is here that the NHL Network called this game one of the "Twenty Best" games in some count-down series. The historical context of being Gretz' first All-Star Game and Gordie's last is the big selling point here. It was re-played to celebrate The Man's 80th birthday late last month.
Our announcers are Dick Irvin, Gary Doernhoffer, and Dan Kelly.
First Period: OK, so the obvious thing that hits you right away is the clean dasher boards and the lack of advertising all over the place. Then you tend to notice that they guys had a lot of room to skate because they were generally smaller players than we have today. Plus, it's an All-Star Game so the intensity has been dialed down a bit.
Gilbert Perrault has the first flurry. He picks the puck up in his own zone and stickhandles through the entire Campbell defense that was never announced and after a fake slapshot, Perrault dekes and backhands the puck just a bit wide. Yeesh. That was one heck of a move.
Hey, there's Jim Schoenfeld! He is playing for the Wales Conference and is called one of the best young defensemen in the game today by Dick Irvin. He touches up for icing and flips the puck to the referee, who is not Don Koharski. Sadly. That would have been a total comic convergence if it has been since we know that in ten or so years, one of them is going to famously call the other a fat pig. If you don't know which one is complaining about the other, please stop reading this post right now and check on some pre-season WNBA news or something.
Larry Robinson uses the Power of the Honky Fro to put the Wales Conference up 1-0 at 3:58 on a slapper just inside the Campbell zone. Tony Esposito didn't even move until it was past him.
Steve Payne of the North Stars gets a pass from Mike Murphy out of the corner and he roofs a one-timer to make it 2-0 Wales Conference at 4:19. Butch Goring--then of the Kings--got the second assist. Pack your bags, Butchie. You'll be moving east later in the month.
At 7:15, future Islander Mike McEwen sends a pass to Reggie Leach. The Flyer winger drives it past Don Edwards to put the Campbell Conference on the board. 2-1, Wales.
Dick Irvin points out that Bossy and Trottier are not wearing helmets in this game. It's pretty weird, actually. This game has been, so far, much more contentious than what we have become accustomed to with All-Star Games of a more recent variety. Plus, with the way some of these guys skate, I'd want to be wearing my lid in case someone fell down and I ended up cracking my head on the ice.
Here's something else you don't see every day: a face-off is called as the puck is pinned against the boards. No one was screaming to play the puck or anything. Man, when the hell was the last time you saw that in the NHL?
We are also learning that the phrase "tied him up from behind" meant "hooked" in today's vernacular. There's more hooking going on in this game than there is a Friday night around midnight on the Sunset Strip. Craig Hartsburg of Minnesota is called for an infraction and now we even have a penalty in the All-Star Game.
And yes, it was for hooking.
On the power play, Bossy gets stopped twice at close range. Esposito is skating like a dog trying to walk in deep snow. Seriously, the guy looks like he has bank safes tapes to his legs. Maybe he spent the night before at Studio 54 or something.
Later, Gordie get stopped on a half-slap in the slot and the crowd is enjoying themselves. They pop every time Gordie steps onto the ice.
Herb Brooks stops by to be interviewed by Dick Irvin. He's talking about the chances of the Americans in the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. Somehow, I think he is going to end up doing okay.
Tony Esposito pulls himself from the game late in the first period. Some guy named Pete Peeters of the Flyers replaces him. We'll see him in May. At the time. Peeters was rocking an undefeated 20-0-5 record. Won't win him The Cup, but it sure is impressive.
At the end of the first period, the Price of Wales Conference leads the Campbell Conference 2-1. It's been sort of slow going, but that is to be expected for the time.
The Second Period begins and is the Larry Robinson Show. Totally smooth. He's kind of gliding out there and it is fun to see. I definitely believe he'd be successful in today's game.
Dick Irvin says, "they'd love it if he'd get one" for the thirtieth time as Gordie's shot is deflected into the crowd. Again, every time he touches the puck, people at "The Brand New" Joe Louis Arena are on their feet.
It just dawns on me that Wayne Gretzky is playing in this game and they haven't really said much about him. How strange is that? His first All-Star Game and everything and all the hype that came with Gretz and he really hasn't done too much. The cameras aren't picking up his every reaction like they would now either. Just weird.
Bossy tries skating into the offensive zone and he literally gets spun around on a hook and there is no penalty on the play. I hear Pierre McGuire in my head shouting, "Egregious!" Seriously, back then you had to come out of there with a picture of the other guy's wife and kids before they were going to make a call.
Kent Nilsson of the Atlanta Flames makes it 2-2 at 6:04 on a pass from Bernie Federko in the slot. A little later, we get our second goalie change as Edwards leaves the Wales crease and Gilles Meloche of the North Stars enters the cage.
Shortly thereafter, Meloche looks like he is going to be tested on a Campbell 3-on-1 rush but Jim Schoenfeld breaks up the play. Wow. Very impressive.
The guys in the booth then interview Wales Conference coach Scotty Bowman. When asked about his counterpart, Campbell coach Al Arbour, Scotty sticks to the time-honored hockey tradition of not saying anything and dancing around the subject. He obviously likes Arbour and is proud of him and all but trust me, he says about as much important stuff about the game as Sidney Crosby does anytime there's a microphone put in front of his face.
I met Scotty Bowman once and it was a surreal experience. I walked into one of the thousands of card shops that sprouted across the country in the nineties and there was Scotty Bowman and his son picking up some cards. As I walked in, I was totally shocked. I didn't know what the heck to say so I got real smooth and asked Bowman what the hell he was doing in Southington, CT? He said that Keith Olbermann (then of ESPN) told him about the shop (KO was in there all the time and was, quite frankly, a bit of a jerk) and that he had some time before the Red Wings played the Whalers that night. We chatted for a little bit and I can say that Scotty was a really classy guy once the shock wore off.
End of two periods, tied at 2.
What can you say about those NHL Network commercials with the coach who is trying to fire up his team? One buddy of mine thinks they're stupid but I get a kick out of them. Once the coach gets that faraway stare and rolls his eyes, I laugh like hell. He is so full of crap. Also, for the longest time, I was trying to figure out where I had seen the actor before. He plays a farmer on "Corner Gas" who finds Brent and Hank in an old tree house. So there you go.
And seriously, why don't they call the sport "pucky" and not "hockey"?
Onto period three...
Gretz is being interviewed about playing in his first All-Star Game. He is so monotone that it's like a test pattern. Right now I am wishing that I knew Morse Code so I could tell if he was blinking an SOS or not.
Seeing Reed Larson reminds me that there are quite a few future Islanders in the game. Goring of course will arrive later in February of 1980 and Mike McEwen will arrive a year or two down the line. And Larson played for the Isles in the early nineties and may have played long enough for a half-cup of coffee. I am snapped back to reality as Pete Peeters rips a shot by Schoenfeld out the air for a tasty glove save.
Dick Irvin is now interviewing Canadian Olympic co-coach Tom Watt. What's the deal with co-coaches? It doesn't matter because Watts isn't going to have a great time at the Olympics. Not as good as Herbie is going to, for sure.
At 4:14, Brian Propp of the Flyers pokes one home for the Campbell Conference. If you're still with me, the Campbells just took their first lead of the game. Meloche had stopped a Reggie Leach wrister but Propp pushed it by him.
Although I haven't said it, Marcel Dionne has had a strong game. The Detroit crowd is booing him all the time because he left the Wings in a contract dispute and went to Los Angeles where his career prospered and he flourished; albeit it purple hockey pants. You kind of forget just how good he was, which is a shame. Such a smooth and fluid game.
Ron Stackhouse ties it up on a goal at 11:40. Meloche was almost beaten on the other end and Lafleur picked up the loose puck and sent Darryl Sittler through the neutral zone. The Leafs captain slid it to Stackhouse and we have a tied game.
The Wales Conference comes right back at 12:40 as Craig Hartsburg flutters one over Peeters after Real Cloutier sent him through the Campbell defense.
Hold onto your hat! Reed Larson snaps one past Peeters and we have the fastest three-goal flurry in ASG history. It's now 5-3, Price of Wales Conference.
The scoring ends after Gordie Howe sends the fans home happy assisting on a Real Cloutier goal at 16:06. Your final is 6-3, Wales Conference. We don't stick around long enough to find out who was named the MVP of the game so I will say that it was...Gordie Howe because he is Mister Hockey. Dan Pollard of the NHL Network wraps it up. Not sure why this was selected as one of The Twenty Best games but, you know, what the hell. It was a fun little two hours.
What did we learn? Well, that people in Detroit really loved and appreciated Gordie Howe. Phil Esposito had lead hockey pants. Tony Esposito left the game early and we never really learned why. They said something about a hand but it wasn't followed up on. Co-coaches are generally a bad idea. And finally, that there actually was a few games out there where Wayne Gretzky just kind of blended into the woodwork.
Overall, I give the game a Retro B- in the rear view mirror.
Labels: 1980 NHL All-Star Game, NHL Network, Retro Live Blog
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