This Day in Hockey History
2002 - Nash is No. 1
The Blue Jackets and Panthers pull off a Draft-day deal that sees the two teams flip first-round picks; Columbus general manager Doug MacLean moves up in order to select Rick Nash first overall, while Jay Bouwmeester - the expected No. 1 pick - drops to Florida at No. 3.
"It was amazing," said Nash. "I was sitting there thinking about Bouwmeester going first to Florida, and next thing you hear there's been a trade. Seems like a great situation to step into, so I'm very happy."
Nash scores 41 goals in his second season in Columbus, splitting the Rocket Richard trophy as the League's top-scorer; he later discovers it's not a great situation for him and demands a trade 10 years and four playoff games after being drafted.
1977 - Ziegler for President
John A. Ziegler Jr. becomes the fourth president in NHL history.
His legacy includes making helmets mandatory for all players, the NHL/WHA merger (see below), suspending both Boston Bruins defenseman Mike Milbury for attacking a fan in the stands with a shoe and Edmonton Oilers goaltender Grant Fuhr for alleged cocaine use, as well as declaring Soviet players would never be able to join the NHL, and that NHLers would never be able to play in the Winter Olympics, both of which eventually come to pass.
Ziegler lasts 15 years in office and is later inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
1979 - NHL expands, WHA folds
After several years of negotiations, the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association agree to a merger; the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets and Hartford Whalers all join the NHL, signalling the end of the seven-year existence of the WHA.
As part of the agreement, the union is treated more as an expansion than a merger. As a result, the former WHA clubs are stripped of most of their players and permitted to keep only two goalies and two skaters, and NHL teams are given the right to reclaim players from the WHA clubs without compensation.
The four former WHA teams are also placed at the end of the draft order for the 1979 NHL Draft, as opposed to previous NHL expansion teams which had been placed at the front of the draft order.
Edmonton remains the only team of the four to have retained its original franchise.
Birthdays
1980 - Ilya Bryzgalov