Aug. 3 exciting day in NHL history. One of the teams that was in the first phase of expansion of the league has officially announced its name. Also, the first US-born player to skate in the league and a future Hall of Famer are among today's birthday boys. So, let's start our daily journey back in time to relive all the good things from this date.
A New Name in Philadelphia
On August 3, 1966, the expansion franchise in Philadelphia, one of six teams set to start in 1967, officially unveiled the Flyers name. Owner Ed Snider wanted to have an original and fresh name for his new team. He didn't want to use “Quakers” or “Ramblers,” which were the names of the hockey teams that came through town.
It was Snider's sister, Phyllis, who suggested the name Flyers and immediately fell in love with it. The problem was that the team was holding a competition for the fans to name the team. Snider instructed those running the promotion to pick a winner from those who suggested the name Flyers.
A book by Jay Greenberg Full Spectrum:
The competition lasted ten days in July. More than 11,000 entries were submitted, including Ice picks, Acmes, Philly-Billies, Greenbacks, Scars, and Strips and Croaking Crickets. Liberty Bell and the Quakers received the most votes, but the Flyers, of course, received the only votes that were counted. On August 3, the team announced its new name at an outdoor conference at the stadium's construction site.
Alec Stockard, a 9-year-old boy from Narberth, one of countless entrants who submitted the name “Flyers,” won television in a drawing by Putnam. However, Stockard had written it as “Fliers.” None of the group's founders remember why the second dictionary spelling of the word-with a “y” instead of an “i”- was chosen.
The Flyers made their NHL debut on Oct. 11, 1967, in a 3-1 loss to the Oakland Seals. They played their first game in Philadelphia on Oct. 19, 1967, and beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0.
WHA Gets Another NHL Player
Living in the City of Brotherly Love, the Philadelphia Blazers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) made a splash on this day. On August 3, 1972, they purchased the contract of forward John McKenzie from the Boston Bruins.
McKenzie was originally drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in the 1972 WHA General Player Draft. His rights were sold to the Blazers, who worked out a deal to bring him in before the start of the league's first season.
Originally an undrafted free agent, McKenzie made his NHL debut with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1958. After bouncing between the Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers, he landed with the Bruins in 1965. He was very successful in Boston, scoring a goal. at least 28 goals in four consecutive seasons. He won the Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 1970 and 1972.
McKenzie scored 28 goals and 78 points, in 60 games, in one season with the Blazers in Philadelphia before the team moved to Vancouver. He played in all seven seasons in the WHA and played for the Minnesota Fighting Saints, Cincinnati Stingers and New England Whalers. He accumulated 163 goals and 413 points in his WHA career. In all, he had 369 goals and 887 points in 1,169 professional games between the NHL and the WHA.
Odds & Ends
The Pittsburgh Penguins traded Pete Mahovlich to the Red Wings, on Aug. 3, 1979, for lefty Nick Libett. This was a homecoming for Mahovlich, who was drafted by the Red Wings in 1963. He played the first 82 games of his NHL career in Detroit before being traded to the Montreal Canadiens in 1969, along with Bart Crashley, Garry Monahan and Doug Piper. .
This was a trade the Red Wings continue to regret. Mahovlich played 580 games, over eight seasons, with the Canadiens and scored 223 goals and 569 points. He was part of four Stanley Cup championship teams. Monahan played in just 51 games for Detroit before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings. Piper never played in the NHL.
Mahovlich scored 16 goals and added 50 assists in the 1979-80 season for the Red Wings. He played in 24 games the following season before retiring.
(Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)
The Washington Capitals signed veteran free agent center Dave Poulin on Aug. 3, 1993. Poulin was originally signed by the Flyers after playing at the University of Notre Dame. His career started well with 31 goals in his rookie season of 1983-84 and he scored another 30 the following season. He won the Selke Trophy for being voted the league's best defensive player in the 1986-87 season.
Poulin was traded to the Bruins, during the 1989-90 season, for Ken Linesman. He won the King Clancy Trophy in 1993, which is awarded to a player who best exemplifies leadership on and off the ice and plays a significant role in helping people in his community. He played 92 games over two seasons with the Capitals, scoring 10 goals and 34 points.
On August 3, 2020, Andrei Svechnikov scored a hat trick to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 4-1 win over the Rangers in Toronto. The win gave the Hurricanes a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Meanwhile, in Edmonton, Connor McDavid's hat trick led the Edmonton Oilers to a 6-3 victory over the Blackhawks, evening their Qualifying Round series at 1-1.
happy Birthday to you
A total of 16 current and former players were born on Aug. 3. Howard McNamara (1893) was the first and Jackson Blake (2003) was the most recent.
Marcel Dionne is the only Hall of Famer to be born on this day (1951). He leads the team with 1,348 games played, 731 goals and 1,771 points. Dionne was originally drafted by the Red Wings with the second overall pick of the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft. He scored 139 goals and 366 points in his four seasons in Detroit.
He joined the Los Angeles Kings in 1975, where he scored at least 50 goals in six seasons and surpassed 100 points seven times. His 137 points in 1979-80 tied Wayne Gretzky for the most in the league and won the Art Ross Trophy for having the most goals.
(Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images)
Dionne was traded to the Rangers during the 1986-87 season and stayed with them until his retirement in 1989. His 731 goals are the fifth most in NHL history and he is one of only seven players to score at least 700 goals.
Gerry Geran was born in Holyoke, MA on Aug. 3, 1896. Although he did not have the most memorable career, with only 37 games played in the league, he was the most important player in NHL history. When he took the ice for the Montreal Wanderers in the 1917-18 season, he became the first player born in the United States to play in an NHL game. He was also part of the 1920 US Olympic team that won a silver medal.
Other notable players born on this day include Stanley Cup winning defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh (52), Dominic Moore (44), Jordan Leopold (44), and Ryan Carter (41).
*Originally created by Greg Boysen
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