Great Right Wingers
Stars of Hockeys Golden Age
AUTHOR: Monte Stewart
FORMAT: 5.5 x 8.5 pb / 128 pages
ISBN-10:1554390869
ISBN-13: 9781554390861
The legendary right wingers featured in this collection skated with speed, scored with style, and delivered the goals with prowess and power. Men of the melee, they consistently came out of the corners controlling the puck. Hockey hotshots like Bill Mosienko, who was an adept playmaker, Gordie Howe, who perfected an unexpected and powerful backhand, and Maurice Richard, who "went in like a rocket", led the charge down the ice.
Prologue
March 23, 1952. Madison Square Garden, New York City.
The hometown Rangers were leading the Chicago Blackhawks 62 early in the third period. Both teams had missed the playoffs and only pride was at stake in this final game of the National Hockey League (NHL) regular season. If the Rangers' lead held up, New York would also claim a moral victory, and rookie goalie Lorne Anderson could improve his chances of staying on with the club. At 20 years old, the Renfrew, Ontario, native was playing in only his third NHL game after being called up from the minors.
It seemed that, years from now, this non-contest would be long forgotten. The Rangers were dominating in all aspects of the game; the Blackhawks did not appear to have any chance of coming back. In fact, it looked like they didn't care who won or lost. But one Chicago player did care. He always cared, even in meaningless games like this one. His name was Bill Mosienko.
Mosienko was the right winger on Chicago's top line, with Gus Bodnar at centre and George Gee on left wing.
The trio lined up for the face-off at centre ice after the Rangers scored their sixth goal. Bodnar won the draw and sent it straight to Mosienko. The Winnipeg native darted down the right flank, blew past defenceman Hy Buller like a gust of prairie wind, and ripped a slow wrist shot behind Anderson at 6:09. It was a nice effort, but the Blackhawks still had little hope of catching up to New York.
Mosienko, Bodnar, and Gee stayed on the ice. In a virtually identical play, Bodnar won the face-off at centre ice again and quickly passed the puck to Mosienko. He undressed Buller again and scored a second time, at 6:20. Only 11 seconds had passed since the last goal. All of a sudden, with a score of 64, New York was down to a 2-point lead.
Mosienko, Bodnar, and Gee lined up once more at centre ice. Could Bodnar pass to Mosienko right from the face-off one more time?
Alas, no. Bodnar did claim the puck again, but he passed it to Gee. The left winger zoomed up the ice - and then passed it to Mosienko. When he got the puck, Mosienko skated toward the goal, calmly deked Anderson to his left - and scored a third goal! The time was 6:30. Mosienko had just scored three goals in 21 seconds. No NHL player had ever done that before.
When the final buzzer sounded, and the Blackhawks posted a remarkable 76 victory, the legend of Bill Mosienko was born.
Meanwhile, goaltender Anderson's NHL career was over. He spent the rest of his hockey-playing days in the minor leagues.
A half century later, Mosienko's record for the fastest three goals in one NHL game still stands - and almost certainly will never be broken. Not even the great Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe, or Rocket Richard could perform such a feat. It only happened because Bill Mosienko refused to lose...
About the Author
Monte Stewart has written about the National Hockey League
since the 1980s. From 1987-93, he covered the Flames for the
Calgary Herald.
He continues to write about the team for
various newspapers and magazines. His articles on hockey
and other topics have appeared in such publications as A
Century of the National Hockey League, Hockey Today, The
San Jose Mercury-News, Business Edge, Profit Magazine, The Daily Oil Bulletin, New Technology Magazine and Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul.
This is his second book. He is also the co-author of Carry On: Reaching Beyond 100, the autobiography of late Calgary centenarian Tom Spear. Stewart has also edited several books and articles and taught journalism, writing, and
Internet-related courses at the Southern Alberta Institute
of Technology, the University of Calgary, and other post-secondary institutions.
After living in Calgary for almost two
decades, Stewart returned to his hometown of Vancouver in
the spring of 2004.
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