NHL News

Today in Hockey History: Oct. 1

Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers

Oct. 1 has been a very busy day over the years. The greatest player in NHL history had his number retired by the team he started his career with. The greatest coach ever returned to the bench to lead another team to the promised land. There were new captains named, plenty of trades, and even a retirement. So, let’s take our daily trip back in time to relive all the memories from this date.

99 Heads to the Rafters

The Edmonton Oilers held a special pregame ceremony on Oct. 1, 1999, before dropping the puck on the 1999-00 regular season. They retired Wayne Gretzky’s number 99, who had retired the previous April. It was rather appropriate that the New York Rangers were in town as they were the team the Gretzky finished his career with.

Nobody can ever wear No. 99 again. (Photo by B Bennett/Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images)

The sellout crowd at Skyreach Centre gave Gretzky a five-minute standing ovation as he was joined by many of his former teammates with the Oilers. In his nine NHL seasons with Edmonton, he scored 583 goals and 1,669 in just 696 games while winning four Stanley Cup championships.

The Oilers could have used a few shifts out of Gretzky that night as the season opener ended in a 1-1- tie. The NHL followed suit in 2000 as they retired number 99 league-wide in the Great One’s honor.

Coaching Memories

On Oct. 1, 1991, Scotty Bowman returned to the coaching ranks as he took over the reins of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He replaced Bob Johnson, who stepped down for health reasons and passed away on Nov. 26, 1991.

Bowman leads a star-studded Penguins team to their second straight Stanley Cup championship. The following season, he takes the head coaching job with the Detroit Red Wings. He spends nine seasons behind the Red Wings’ bench and wins three more Cups.

On this day in 1991, the @penguins named Scotty Bowman as their interim coach, filling in for “Badger” Bob Johnson, who was battling brain cancer #Hockey365 #LetsGoPens https://t.co/zvCfgXGkxu

Lindy Ruff made his NHL coaching debut on Oct. 1, 1997. He led the Buffalo Sabres to a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues. This was the first of 755 coaching wins, the seventh-most in league history.

Islanders Pull Off Huge Deal

The New York Islanders made a trade with the Colorado Rockies on Oct. 1, 1981, that paid off well for them. They sent defenseman Bob Lorimer and forward Dave Cameron to the Rockies for their first-round pick in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft. They used that pick, the third overall, to…

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