Woody Dumart

Coach Lynn Patrick called him Porky, but he was best known as Woody. Woody Dumart was one third of the Boston Bruins famed Kraut Line along with fellow Kitchener Kids Milt Schmidt and Bobby Bauer.

Named after the American president at the time, Woodrow Wilson Clarence Dumart was born on December 23rd, 1916 in Kitchener, Ontario. Actually, back then it was named Berlin, but they renamed the city due to Germany's role in World War I.

Like most of the kids in Kitchener, Woody fell in love with the game of hockey, playing it on the frozen outdoors ponds and sloughs. Soon enough he and his friends caught the eyes of the bird dogs of the Boston Bruins. All three would sign on with the B's.

The three famous linemates did not play on the same line as youths or in junior. In fact, Dumart played defense for much of his youth. It was not until the three turned pro that they became a line. Former NHLer Battleship Leduc first put them together when he was coaching the Providence Reds in the AHL during the 1936-37 season. Battleship even coined their original nickname - the Sauerkraut Line.

The following season the three became NHL regulars, and their play was anything but sour. Bauer was a sniper. Schmidt was the complete center. Dumart was the standout defensive left winger with a timely scoring touch. His hard work made him a natural leader and fan favorite.

By 1939 the Kitchener Kids could also call themselves Stanley Cup champions. That season was special for the line. The trio became the first line in NHL history to finish 1-2-3 in league scoring. They would win another Stanley Cup in 1941.

World War II interrupted their run. All served in Canada's war efforts, although in their case they were not very close to battle. They were stationed in Ottawa and played hockey with the Royal Canadian Air Force team, winning the Allan Cup as Canada's amateur champions in 1942. Dumart actually did serve overseas for two hockey seasons.

When the war was over the Kraut line returned to Boston. Dumart recorded four 20+ goal seasons and was named to the end of season Second All Star team in 1947, the third such honour in his career.

Dumart continued to play with the Bruins through 1954, although he became more of a utility forward towards the end. He finished his career with 211 goals and 218 assists in 772 games. His numbers would have been even more impressive had he not lost 4 prime seasons to the war. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.

Dumart suffered heart trouble Oct. 4, 2001 on his way to Ray Bourque Night at the FleetCenter. He died 16 days later. He was 84 years old.

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Don Gallinger

National Hockey League League president Clarence Campbell shocked the hockey world on March 9, 1948.

On that day he had the unfortunate duty to announce to the hockey world the lifetime banishments of Don Gallinger of the Boston Bruins and Billy Taylor of the New York Rangers for "conduct detrimental to hockey and for associating with a known gambler."

When newspapers first broke the story in February, 1948, both players initially denied any wrong doing. Gallinger met with Bruins GM Art Ross, then with Campbell, and proclaimed his innocence.

However the league and moreover the police were not satisfied. Eventually wire-tap evidence caught a number of phone calls made by Gallinger and Taylor to James Tamer, a Detroit gambler and paroled bank robber.

The wiretaps were illegally obtained so the police were not able to press charges against either player. However it was enough evidence for Campbell to take action.

A few years early, Toronto Maple Leaf superstar defenseman Babe Pratt was banned for life for gambling. However after publicly apologizing and proving that all bets did not involve his own team, Pratt's expulsion was overturned 16 days later. Gallinger, a very proud man, refused to admit his guilt before the public, but tried to apologize to Campbell in a private meeting, hoping that that would be enough to lift the ban.
In that conversation, Gallinger admitted on betting on 8 or 9 games, and lost all of them. He bet from $250 to $1000. He would often bet against his own team if the Bruins had some key injuries.

However Campbell refused to give him a professional pardon.

"Although as a Christian I forgive him for his dereliction, and as a man I admire him for his attempt to rehabilitate himself, as a person entrusted with a portion of the stewardship of major-league hockey, I cannot possibly bring myself to believe that he should be reinstated," one governor told Campbell.

Billy Taylor never once asked for a pardon, but Gallinger never gave up the quest for reinstatement. In 1951, 1955 and 1963 he made desperate appeals. The NHL never wavered.

Bruins legend Bobby Bauer and hockey writer Scott Young backed up the disgraced hockey player.

"Even some murderers," Young once wrote, " get parole from their lifetime sentences."

Twenty two years after the fact, the NHL finally lifted the lifetime ban. In 1970, both Gallinger and Taylor were reinstated with little fanfare.

Gallinger was a notable offensive player in his day. The nephew of former NHLers Red and Shorty Green and childhood friend of Teeder Kennedy, Gallinger scored 65 goals and 88 assists for 153 points in 222 career games. He was a heck of an athlete, even getting a try out with the Boston Red Sox.

Following his exit from hockey Gallinger relocated to Kitchener, Ontario where he raised his family and operated hotels. He died of a heart attack in 2000, just weeks shy of his 75th birthday.

Did You Know? Gallinger was also involved in another scandal of sorts. He impregnated a Canadian socialite in 1947. The son was put up for adoption and was raised in California. In 1998 the son, with the help of San Jose Sharks broadcaster Dan Rusanowsky, contacted his father for the first time.

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Gary Doak

By looking at Gary Doak's stats it's obvious that he wasn't a major scoring threat. But what the stats don't tell us is that he was one of the most rambunctious player of his time. Gary was absolutely fearless and never hesitated to dive to block shots, something he did frequently. His style of play caused him to miss many games due to injuries.

Gary grew up in a small town named Goderich, Ont. with his parents, brother (Steve) and sister (Sue). His dad worked in the docks and in the grain elevator. Gary himself worked there for many summers. His mother worked in a hospital. Gary was always a hard worker off the ice and he took that attitude with him to the rink.

As a junior Gary played for the Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) and made his professional debut in the AHL with the Pittsburgh Hornets. He played for the Hornets between 1963-66. His NHL debut came on November 14,1965 when he donned the jersey of Detroit against Montreal in a 2-2 tie. He was sent back to Pittsburgh and wasn't recalled again until February 12, 1966. He played a total of four games  for Detroit and saw very limited ice time. Shortly thereafter,on February 18,1966 he was traded to Boston. Hap Emms who was the Bruins GM at that time had scouted him while he was a junior and liked what he saw. Gary finished the season by playing 20 games for Boston.

A month before Gary was to report to the Bruins training camp for the1966-67 season he managed to break his leg while roller-skating with some friends in Goderich. He wasn't ready to skate until December and was sent to Oklahoma (CHL) so he would get into playing shape. Even though he played 29 games for Boston in 66-67 it was evident that Gary was still hampered by the injury.

In 1967-68 Gary bounced back and had a solid season for Boston,being the teams 5th defenseman.
Harry Sinden who was a coach back then was full of praise for Doak:

"He doesn't rush like Orr, but defensively he takes a back seat to nobody on our squad," Sinden said.
Sinden was right, Gary had a career +/- rating of +141 and was very solid defensively. Gary played in Boston until 1970, winning the Stanley Cup there. For the next three seasons between 1970-73 he bounced back and forth between three teams. He played for Vancouver between 1970-71, NY Rangers 1971-72, then went back to Detroit in 1972-73, before once again coming back to Boston. This time he stayed in beantown for over 8 seasons.

Gary's medical journal wasn't pleasant and he admitted that a couple of times he almost gave up on himself.

"The first time I broke my leg was the off-season and I fell down roller-skating in my home-town. That was embarrassing. The second time I broke my leg was the first game I played for Detroit. I don't know how the story started that I had a spinal surgery, but I didn't. I did have a bad back, but rest and cortisone shots cured it. The most painful injury was the broken collarbone. That was hard to handle. But they all hurt. Mentally as well as physically," Gary said.

Some other of his injuries included mononucleosis, knee injuries, sprained ankles, hyperextended elbows, rib injuries, fractured knuckles and sprained shoulders.

A typical Gary Doak scenario was during the 1977-78 season when he suffered three broken cheekbones near his left eye and 13 stitches in his head after having been belted head first into the boards by Detroit's Dennis Hextall. In only his second game back after that injury he dove head first into a Bill Barber shot on an open net and saved a virtually certain Flyers goal. Gary never let up. Both his teammates as well as his home fans loved his never say die attitude. His teammate Gerry Cheevers summed it up like this:

"Gary was the kind of player who never let up. He was always putting out 100 % whether he took a guy into the boards or blocking a shot. He had that rambunctious style of play that kept him going even if he was risking injury."

Harry Sinden added:

"As much as any player Gary exemplified the attitude surrounding Bruins teams in the 1970's."

As a Bruin player back then, that was the best compliment you could get. Gary's strength wasn't his offensive talents but his strong work ethic and sacrificing play. He was a strong support player and great teammate.

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Cleon Daskalakis

Cleon Daskalakis has a special connection with Boston. He was born there, raised there, played NCAA all star hockey at Boston University and later signed and played with the Boston Bruins. 

Every hometown kids dream come true, right?. Well, almost.

Cleon's NHL stint was short. He played in 12 games over 3 years. Despite a save percentage of just .839 and a GAA of 4.86, he managed to post a 3-4-1 record, but was never able to stick in Boston. Instead, he spent most of his career in the American Hockey League with a variety of farm teams.

An interesting story about Cleon is told by Wayne Gretzky in The Great One's autobiography.

Apparently Cleon told Glen Sather that "When Gretzky scores his first goal against me tonight, I'd sure like to have an autographed picture." Not if, but when!

Wayne goes on to say in his book "I guess the kid really wanted that picture because I scored on him in the first period. I autographed the puck for him and sent it to his locker room."

Just goes to show even NHL players are big fans of Gretzky.

Gretzky also jokingly adds "I always hoped they'd trade him to the Calgary Flames so I could sign a lot of pucks for him!"

Nowadays Daskalakis is president of Celebrity Marketing, Inc., a sports marketing and event production firm that he founded in 1996. He also does volunteer work at the New England Sports Museum.

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Dave Silk

This is Dave Silk.

He was an aggressive, pesky, hard skating player could play all three forward positions. He was most often used on the right wing. He was pretty smart player with an accurate shot which.

Dave was born in Scituate in the Boston area on New Year's Day in 1958. It was there that he learned to play hockey from the time he was seven. In high school he also played football and soccer. But Boston was always a hockey hotbed and Dave was caught up in "the boom" of the great Bruin teams of the 1960's and 70's when they won two Stanley Cups spearheaded by Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito.
 
"It was just hockey all the time, summer, winter. You would skate in the winter and play street hockey when you couldn't get ice. Just hockey, all the time," Dave recalled.
 
His father died when he was very young. It was his mother who encouraged him to play hockey. A Scituate man by the name of Ed Taylor took an active part in Dave's development as a hockey player.

"He was my coach right up until high school," Dave said. "He really paved the way for me. He used to pick me up and drive me to games and practices. He was like a second father to me. My mother was working so I needed someone like that."
 
Dave's family had great sport roots. His grandfather Hal Janvrin used to play major league baseball between 1911 and 1922. In 1916 he won the World Series with the Boston Red Sox as a 2nd baseman. One of his teammates that year was legendary Babe Ruth. Janvrin still holds the World Series record for most at bats in a 5 game series. Dave's cousin Mike Milbury was a hardnosed Boston Bruins defenseman for 12 seasons. He later became an NHL coach and GM. Dave and Mike were teammates for a while in Boston.
 
Dave played for Thayer Academy while in high school and then for Boston University during his college days. His trainer in BU was legendary coach Jack Parker.

Under the guidance of the fiery Parker Dave won the NCAA championship in his second year. The team had players like Olympic heroes Mike Eruzione, Jim Craig and Jack O'Callahan. They also had Dick Lamby and Rick Meagher. Dave had an outstanding three-year career at BU. He scored 143 points (70 goals, 73 assists) in only 85 games. His 35 goals as a freshman was a school record. Another BU record was his four PP goals in one game.
 
Dave, who was NY Rangers 4th round draft, 59th overall in 1978, wanted to become a pro as soon as possible, but the Rangers encouraged Dave to try for the Olympics. It was a decision he would not regret as USA went on to win the Olympic Gold. Dave had a pair of assists in that historic 4-3 game against the Soviets during the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid. It was dave's biggest accomplishment as a hockey player. It's a memory he will cherish forever.
 
Dave's NHL career lasted for seven seasons. He played for NY Rangers (1979-80 season to 83), Boston Bruins (1983 to 84-85 season), Detroit (1984-85) and Winnipeg Jets (1985-86). In 249 NHL games Dave scored 54 goals and 59 assists for 113 points.

After retiring Dave went into investment banking..

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John Blue: An Interview With Frederick LaVallee

When I interviewed Ed Ronan two months ago, I was so nervous, and couldn’t believe it. For today’s guest, I was a lot less anxious. I was well prepared, and knew the stress to come. I gotta admit I was very thrilled doing this, even if my French Canadian accent always was a big source of stress...this time was no different. When I got former Boston Bruins goalie John Blue on the phone, he started with the following: "Ah, I just love the French Canadian accent!

Now, I was nervous!!! But the result ended up being just as great and satisfying as the first time. So here it is, my interview / bio with a great guy, John Blue.

DISCOVERING AND GROWING WITH HOCKEY

John Blue was born February 19th 1966 in Huntingdon Beach, California. When he grew up, despite having the Kings and the Seals to cheer for, hockey was not very popular in California. How does a young boy growing there at that time gets to like hockey ?

"I moved to Seattle when I was 5 and lived there for two years. My father saw a picture of a hockey player, and thought it would be interesting to try. So I started playing and we moved back in northern California. I played football and baseball too. Hockey was not big then and we had to travel a lot, even for practice. I practiced once or twice a week only, not having an arena close to our home. So I didn’t play as much as I would’ve wanted. I went to the Pee-Wee Tournament in Quebec and we would get beat 7-0, 6- 1....I’d get peppered with 40-50 shots all the time...think it made me a better goalie."

After spending the first 17 years of his life in California, Blue had just started playing quarterback for his high school’s football team, but plans changed when he was invited to training camp by the Des Moines Buccaneers in the UHL. He got a spot on the team and didn’t go back to California.

"It was intimidating at first. I had just gotten there with two suitcases and ended up making the team. I didn’t know what to expect...the guy from California...I’ve never had my own sticks...but I just loved playing hockey and was a decent athlete. It was a good step up and I had to adapt."

Blue then went to Minnesota University to study speech communications. And, it goes without saying, he played hockey there for three seasons as well . He was named to the 2nd All-Star Team in 1985, and he bettered that the next after with a 1st All-Star Team Selection. He played with future NHLers there such as Corey Millen, Paul Broten and Tom Chorske, and went to the Final Four in 1986 and 1987.

"Arriving there was the biggest shock. It was my first experience with cold and snow...Minnesota had one of the finest teams in the country back then. They never had a kid from California before...almost everybody except for two players were from Minnesota. Playing in front of 10,000 people crowds was totally crazy. In 1985, I was runner up to Brett Hull for Rookie of the Year when he won it. I guess they made the right choice!" said a laughing Blue.

He was drafted by the Jets in 1986 as a 10th rounder ( 197th overall ) and was traded to the North Stars in 1987, but never played with either team. He turned pro by signing his first contract at that time with the North Stars organization, leaving school before his senior year.

"I have very few regrets in my life. I’m a blessed man with five children and a great wife. At the time, I signed with Minnesota because Lou Nanne, the North Stars GM at the time, saw me play and traded for me. There were injuries there and they wanted me to be the third goalie. Unfortunately, Lou was fired a year after and I never got my chance under GM Bobby Clarke," said the former Minnesota college player, disappointed. "I had fun playing at college. It was a great experience. If there was one thing I could do all over, I definitely would’ve gone to back for my senior year."

Briefly after signing with the North Stars organization, Blue got to play for the US National team, and was used as the backup for the Olympics...but he only saw action in the exhibition games before the Calgary Olympics.

"I ended up being behind a great goalie, young Mike Richter, and Chris Terreri. But I had a great time there," said the American goalie whose team finished 7th at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

Between 1988 and 1991, Blue would play in the ECHL and the IHL before signing with the Bruins organization in the summer of ’91. He played for six teams during that those three years...Kalamazoo, Virginia, Phoenix, Peoria, Knoxville and Albany.

"It was very difficult to be travelling that much. I remember waking up in Peoria one morning and wondering where the heck I was. I just lived with a suitcase and a hockey bag...I came from California, not playing a lot, and I had to adapt my game. I had a lot of people telling me I was no good, I had friends quitting, but I knew I was not gonna quit, that they would have to kick me out. I was gonna give it my best and play until I couldn’t anymore...that was my motto. I believe some of that is connected to my faith...God gave me a gift to play hockey and I wasn’t a quitter. Good thing I wasn’t married at the time, because it would’ve made things a lot tougher."

DAYS IN THE NHL

After signing with the Bruins, he played with Maine and Providence, which were the Bruins farm team. He got his first shot at the NHL during the 1992-93 season.

"I was the third goalie in Providence behind Matt Delguidice and Mike Bales, and I remember sitting in the stands for the first 14 games of the season. Mike Milbury came down and he was not happy, and before a game I was told that I was playing that night. I had a 14-4 run, and was called up by the Bruins in January. Andy Moog was injured and they didn’t want Reggie Lemelin anymore. In fact, they threw him out by putting his equipment out of the locker room. I felt bad for him, he was such a nice guy and fans loved him. I remember losing my first game 3-2 in overtime to Quebec and then being pulled in the second period of my second game against the Devils at the Gardens. At 4- 0 Devils, people where shouting for Lemelin...I felt like a complete idiot. I got pulled in that game...and got cheered when I was pulled. I remember praying ‘’ It’s a tough night, God help me! ‘’ But we had a nice run after. Brian Sutter put me in net for the next game against Buffalo, everybody was shaking their heads in disbelief, but it was the start of an interesting career," said the goalie who stopped Denis Savard on a penalty shot in his first stint with the Bruins.

After dividing his time between the AHL and the NHL (18 games) in 1993-94 and playing a couple of games in Providence the season after, Blue had short stints in Phoenix and Fort Wayne of the IHL before being signed as a free agent by the Buffalo Sabres in December of 1995. He played with their AHL affiliate Rochester Americans and would play also his last five games in the NHL with the Sabres.

"I signed with the Kings for a 25 games contract at first with their IHL affiliate, the Phoenix Roadrunners. After the contract expired, I ended up in Fort Wayne and few games after, I was signed by the Sabres and ended up in Rochester in the AHL. It was a tough time for the team (Buffalo)...and I didn’t play a lot because the other goalie was Dominik Hasek. He was such an amazing competitor and goaltender...but we missed the playoffs and I was sent back down to the AHL along with Brian Holzinger and Dixon Ward and we finished the season there. Playing with guys like Pat LaFontaine and Hasek...it was a great experience. John Muckler just told me I was there to back up Hasek and not try to be like him...’’ Just don’t lose any games! ‘’ he said. It was good pep talk," says the father of five.

Days after the NHL and Christian life

Blue retired from the NHL after playing the 1995-96, but he would play one season for Austin in the Western Pro Hockey League.

"I had two hip replacements. The last couple of years were painful and I just got married...It was time to move on. I got a called by the Bruins organization to do color commentary for their games...at the same time, I got a call from Greg Ball, who had a sports Ministry called Champions for Christ, and he asked me if I wanted to go work there in Austin, Texas, and I accepted. I really felt like I wanted to be a part of helping other people find God and find out who they are. I noticed they had a hockey team there, the Austin Ice Bats and I just called them to play for them just for fun, and that’s why I played one last season."

While with Champions for Christ, from 1996 to 2007, John Blue led bible studies with players such as Curtis Brown, Mike Peca and Brian Pothier.

It was in 1991 that John met Champions for Christ founder, Greg Ball, for the first time. He questioned Blue’s commitment to Christianity. The former Bruins goalie admitted years later that Ball was right and he was living like a hypocrite. I asked him what he meant by that, and he replied honestly.

"Greg told me that if I was to proclaim myself a Christian, I’d have to act like one. You know, I was young. Fooling around, drinking...I realized that he was right. When I received my first paycheck with the Bruins, it was a big moment that I had waited for twenty years, but I remember thinking ‘’ There’s gotta be more to life than just this! ‘’...it all comes and goes! We get old and only last for a season, but there’s gotta something more that sustains for a lifetime. And that’s when my relationship with God really started to change."

Former Rochester teammate Curtis Brown would probably tell you that Blue did change. "There was something appealing, he had this peace around him that I'd never seen before," said Brown about his former goalie.

"That’s what I try to convey," said a determined Blue about his good friend’s comment.

Blue is now the lead Pastor at Pacific Point Church in Orange County, California. He has been working there with the community for the last four years now.

"I am married to a great wife and I have five children, McKennah (13), Jack (11), TJ (8), Hudson (6) and Georgia (2). "None of my boys play hockey!" he laughs. "I still play twice a week with like JF Jomphe, Randy Burridge...I don’t play goalie anymore, because of the hips," said the very calm and relaxed Blue, who
now makes a ‘’career’’ out of playing forward with his friends.

"If you ever come by, you know you have a friend here. If you come to Disneyland or Orange County..."

This little guy here will keep that in mind.

Frederick LaVallee is a 30 year-old Quebecer from Montreal who has loved hockey since the 1988-89 season. He is a Habs fan, but a hockey fan first and foremost. Most of his work is written in French, but he wanted to share his passion with more English readers. One day he hopes to become a hockey historian/journalist and travel around the world to write about the coolest sport on earth!

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George Carroll

George Carroll is a bit of a legend in Moncton, New Brunswick.

Together with his six brothers, he dominated the Moncton hockey scene for many years. George was a massive 6'2" and 210lbs in an era when most players were in the 5´6" - 5'8", 140-170lbs region. He was a devastating hitter who used to inflict a lot of damage to opposing players.

The whole Carroll clan were very skilled hockey players. Blair, Fred Jr., Harold, Jack, Cecil, Ken and George. They were in fact so good that the entire family once won a two game challenge series against the best professionals assembled by the Moncton Victorias during the 1922-23 season.

Four of the Carroll's normally played on the Victorias team but where challenged to meet the rest of the pros. With Cecil in goal,George and Jack on defense, and Fred centering Blair and Harold they amazed everyone and beat the Vic's 6-4 and 4-3. The Carroll's triumph later became a part of Moncton's hockey lore.  Some people even said that if the Carroll's had challenged an NHL team that  they wouldn't have been out of place.

George began his career by playing for the Corncobs Juniors (1912-13), Moncton Machinists (13-14) and then the Moncton St. Bernard's (14-17) in the local city leagues. He only played a total of 16 games between 1913-19 mainly due to the fact that he was enlisted in the army during the WWI.  Between 1918-25, George played for the Moncton Victorias where he dominated on defense. He led the league in penalty minutes four times in five years and collected 220 PIMs in only 53 games. Which is a lot even by today standards.

The Moncton Victorias could have been re-named to Moncton Carrolls since they had four brothers on the team with three additional Carrolls around the corner. During the 1920-21 season the Vic's played in the newly formed Maritime Independent League. The Carrolls and George in particular were outstanding and led the Vic's to several titles in the MIL. George was named to three first All-Star teams and to one second in the four years of the leagues existence.

Around 1920, the powerful Montreal Canadiens were looking for George to shore up their defense. George stayed with the Vic's though, and continued with his physical play like in the 1922-23  opener against the arch-rival Amherst Ramblers.  The Ramblers were strengthened by ex-Toronto NHL defenseman Ted Stackhouse.  Ted was 6'1" and 200lbs and was one of very few players at that time who measured up physically to George. It didn't matter to George who ,in front of a full house of 1100 spectators, flattened Stackhouse with a bone-crunching hit that KO'd the big Ramblers defenseman and sent him to the hospital with a  broken ankle. That hit was George in a nutshell and the crowd loved him.

It was this kind of play that the NHL teams liked, and as the Maritime league folded he was signed as a free agent by the Montreal Maroons on November 13, 1924. George was only used as a spare player and didn't see much ice time at all. He was traded to the Boston Bruins a month later after only four games for the Maroons. George was used as a spare in Boston as well and only dressed for 11 games.

At age 28 George returned to Moncton, but was unable to be reinstated as an amateur. So he was restricted to coaching instead. He coached his hometown Sunny Brae Rovers in 1925-26. In 1929-30 he coached the Summerside Crystals in the P.E.I senior league. In 1933-34 and 34-35 he moved to the junior ranks and coached the Moncton Young Acadiens and Moncton Maple Leafs. During this time he also refereed.

There have been many interesting brother combinations over the years. There have been numerous two, three or four brother combos, but very few six or seven brother combos with the skills of the Carrolls. The six Sutter brothers of course come to mind, but the seven Carroll brothers were unique because they beat a professional and powerful team on their own. Only George made it to the NHL but some of his brothers could have played there as well and not be out of place.

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Les Colvin

Les Colvin only played in one NHL game. That was due to an injury to Boston Bruins goaltender Frankie Brimsek. Brimsek was unable to play a game on January 22, 1949 against the Montreal Canadiens due to medical reasons. Colvin was brought in from nearby Shawinigan where he was playing senior hockey at the time.

Colvin played the full 60 minutes and let in 4 goals in a 4-2 loss to the Habs.

Colvin was a well travelled goalie in his career. A product of his hometown Oshawa Generals in junior hockey, Colvin went on to play 2 seasons in the Eastern Hockey League before serving the next 4 years in the military during the second World War. He didn't return to organized hockey until 1946-47 due to an injury. What we are unable to ascertain at this point is whether or not the injury was a result of military service.

Colvin's post-WWII career saw him play in Sawinigan (QSHL), Vancouver, Los Angeles and Portland (PCHL), Moncton New Brunswick (MMHL) and North Bay (NOHA) as well as his one game with the Bruins.

Colvin retired from professional hockey in 1951, though continued on in the senior circuit for a couple of years.

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John Carter

After John's high school career in Woburn he went on to a very successful college stint with RPI (ECAC) between 1982-86. During the four seasons with RPI, John scored 225 points in 131 games. His point total was the 4th best result ever by a RPI player and his 117 goals was second best.  He tended to score in bunches, collecting 13 hat tricks. In 1984-85 his 43 goals earned him All-American honors (1st team All-Star) as he, Adam Oates and Darren Puppa led RPI to the NCAA championship. John scored the game-winning goal in triple overtime against Minnesota-Duluth in the semifinals. Two nights later the Engineers defeated Providence College 2-1 in the championship contest. Both games were played at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit

After his college career with RPI was over, John represented USA in the 1986 World Championships (in Moscow). That same season (1985-86) John made his NHL debut by playing three games for Boston. John then only played 8 games for Boston in 86-87 and 4 games in 87-88. The rest of the time he was playing in the AHL for Moncton and Maine.

In 1988-89 John saw a lot more ice time in Boston and had 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in 44 games. The next season was John's most successful one as he played regularly for Boston, getting 39 points (including 17 goals) in 76 games. Then in the playoffs John helped the Bruins reach the Stanley Cup finals when he led his team in goal scoring in the division finals against Montreal (4 goals). This was John's high point of his professional hockey career.

John saw much less ice time in the 90-91 season and only scored four goals for Boston. His time in Beantown was over and he signed as a free agent with the new San Jose Sharks franchise. John only played four games for San Jose during their inagural season and spend most of his time playing for Kansas City (AHL). When the 92-93 season started,John had a regular spot on the Sharks team and went on to  play 55 games for San Jose. That season was his last in the NHL. During a NHL exhibition game in 1993 he suffered a serious eye injury. He continued to play in the AHL for another two seasons (Providence, Worcester). But the eye injury caused him problems and a lot of pain. After eight surgeries his eye was finally removed in 1996. It was a sad ending to John's career.

Early in 1999 John got some unexpected positive news. It wasn't about his eye, but about his NCAA championship ring from 1985. During the summer of 1986, John lost his NCAA hockey championship ring while taking a swim near his home town of Woburn, MA. It slipped off his finger and sank 30 feet to the murky bottom of a lake.

13-years later a glint of light reflected off the ring, catching the eye of a passing scuba diver, who brought it back to the surface and tracked down its rightful owner.

John was happy to to get his ring back.

"It is unbelievable,'' John said. "He (the scuba diver) was out over 30 feet, and it just caught the corner of his eye. The chances of that are just astronomical,'' he added. "I didn't even think they scuba dived in that area "

The scuba diver, Jim O'Connell of Arlington, Mass., didn't ask much in return -- only a photo or two with Carter, and a chance to show the ring off to his scuba class.

John, who went on to train College teams in Massachusetts, never was a star player in the NHL but he had good overall skills that gave him a pretty descent hockey career which included an NCAA championship,a trip to the World Championships and a Stanley Cup final, which is more than most players ever achieve

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