Ralph Gerald Backstrom was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and later a coach, entrepreneur and hockey executive. He played in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens, Los Angeles Kings, and Chicago Black Hawks between 1956 and 1973. He also played in the World Hockey Association with the Chicago Cougars, Denver Spurs/Ottawa Civics, and New England Whalers from 1973 to 1977. With the Canadiens, he won the Stanley Cup six times, and won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year in 1959. After retiring he served as head coach of the University of Denver Pioneers for several years in the 1980s.
The 1980–81 NHL season was the 64th season of the National Hockey League. The Flames relocated from Atlanta to Calgary. The New York Islanders were the top regular season team and the top playoff team, winning their second consecutive Stanley Cup by defeating the Minnesota North Stars in five games.
The 1979–80 NHL season was the 63rd season of the National Hockey League. This season saw the addition of four teams from the disbanded World Hockey Association as expansion franchises. The Edmonton Oilers, Winnipeg Jets, New England Whalers, and Quebec Nordiques joined the NHL, bringing the total to 21 teams. The other two WHA teams were paid to fold.
The 1974–75 NHL season was the 58th season of the National Hockey League. Two new teams, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts, were added, increasing the number of teams to 18. To accommodate the new teams, the NHL re-organized its divisional structure and playoff format. The regular season was expanded to 80 games per team. The Philadelphia Flyers won the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive year.
The 1975–76 NHL season was the 59th season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup, defeating the defending champion Philadelphia Flyers in the final.
The 1976–77 NHL season was the 60th season of the National Hockey League. The Kansas City Scouts moved to Denver, Colorado, and became the Colorado Rockies and the California Golden Seals moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and became the Cleveland Barons. The Montreal Canadiens once again dominated the playoffs as, for the second straight year, they swept their opponent four games to none in the final series for the Stanley Cup.
Ronald Lee Wilson is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centreman and current assistant coach with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League. Wilson's professional playing career spans twenty seasons, including fourteen in the National Hockey League. Following his retirement, he turned to coaching and held assistant and head coach positions for various American Hockey League teams. On August 9, 2011, the Montreal Canadiens announced that they had hired Wilson as the assistant to the Hamilton Bulldogs' coach Clément Jodoin.
David Gregory Ling is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. Ling was selected by the Quebec Nordiques in the 7th round of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.
Peter W. Douris is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League from 1985 to 1998.
Nigel Alexander Dawes is a Canadian-Kazakhstani former professional ice-hockey winger. He played 212 games in 5 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Phoenix Coyotes, Calgary Flames, Atlanta Thrashers, and Montreal Canadiens.
Darryl Jackson Shannon is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He was drafted 36th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1986 NHL Entry Draft and as well as the Leafs, he played for the Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres, Atlanta Thrashers, Calgary Flames, and the Montreal Canadiens. Despite a serious illness, he played a total of 544 regular season games in the National Hockey League, scoring 28 goals and 111 assists for 139 points and collecting 523 penalty minutes. He also played 29 playoff games, all with the Buffalo Sabres, scoring 4 goals and 7 assists for 11 points, collecting 16 minutes. He moved to Germany in 2001 to play in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga for the Krefeld Pinguine and the Eisbären Berlin. He is the older brother of fellow former NHLer Darrin Shannon who played together while with the Winnipeg Jets.
Ernest Allan Hicke is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Oakland Seals, Atlanta Flames, New York Islanders, Minnesota North Stars and Los Angeles Kings.
James Donald Hislop is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played for the Cincinnati Stingers in the World Hockey Association from 1976 to 1979 and then the Quebec Nordiques and Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1979 and 1984. He helped the Flames reach the NHL playoff semifinals for the first time in club history in 1981. After his playing career he worked as an assistant coach with the Flames and then as a scout with the Minnesota Wild.
Michael Edward Baumgartner is an American former ice hockey defenseman who played 17 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Kansas City Scouts during the 1974–75 season. A native of Minnesota, Baumgartner played high school hockey there before attending the University of North Dakota. He was selected by the Chicago Black Hawks in the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft, though was traded from the team before playing for them. Baumgartner made his professional debut in 1971 in the Central Hockey League, and spent three seasons there before he made his NHL debut in 1974, but an eye injury forced him to stop after 17 games. He played one final game in the minor American Hockey League before retiring from playing in 1976.
Douglas Alan Berry is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, a centreman in the World Hockey Association (WHA) and the National Hockey League (NHL).
The 1979–80 Quebec Nordiques season was the Nordiques eighth season overall, however, it marked as their expansion season in the National Hockey League. Quebec had played their previous seven seasons in the now defunct World Hockey Association. In 1978–79, their last season in the WHA, Quebec finished the year with the second best record, as they had a 41–34–5 record, earning 87 points. The Nordiques were then swept by the Winnipeg Jets in the WHA semi-finals. In the NHL, the team finished out of the playoffs.
François Groleau is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played eight games in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens over three seasons between 1996 and 1997. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1993 to 2013, was mainly spent in the minor leagues and then in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.
The expansion era of the National Hockey League (NHL) began when six new teams were added for the 1967–68 season, ending the Original Six era. The six existing teams were grouped into the newly created East Division, and the expansion teams—the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Oakland Seals, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues—formed the West Division.
Murray Albert Olmstead was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Black Hawks and Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League (NHL). Olmstead began his career with the Black Hawks in 1949. In December 1950, he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens via Detroit. Olmstead had his best statistical years playing for Montreal, leading the league in assists in 1954–55 with 48, and setting a league record for assists with 56 the following season. During this time he frequently played on Montreal's top line with Jean Beliveau and Bernie Geoffrion. Olmstead was claimed in the 1958 NHL Intra-League Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and played there until his retirement in 1962.
Pierre-Luc Dubois is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). Dubois was born in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec, but grew up in Rimouski. He was drafted third overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets, and has also played for the Winnipeg Jets and Los Angeles Kings.
