Halloween perfect day for hat tricks, treats in NHL

Jim Boo played a total of six NHL games on defense for the Minnesota North Stars during the 1977-78 season.
Sadly, none came on Halloween.

On the bright side, New York Rangers center Boo Nieves (real first name Cristoval), who played 76 games between 2016-19, did play on Oct. 31, a 6-4 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017.
Then there's Yanni Gourde, a center with the Seattle Kraken -- a team which takes its name from a legendary sea monster that could scare the sleep out of you. Gourde played on Halloween night in 2021, but the Rangers carved his Kraken 3-1.

Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty with a unique 2019 Halloween take on Wonder Woman at Wells Fargo Center. Batman, at left, seems unimpressed. Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images
The NHL has played 223 games on Oct. 31 since 1942-43, the first season the League began play in October. That number will rise to 226 this season.
So among the Gostisbehere, Scremin, Deadmarsh and Satan, four of the current and former NHL players whose names remind us of Halloween, let's stir the bubbling cauldron of Oct. 31 games played over the past eight decades, tricks on some, but treats for others.
The number-crunchers at NHL Stats were asked if they had anything interesting in their loot bags for Halloween. They aced the assignment with names and statistics that follow, blended into a little of what this reporter, um, unearthed.
Their list of Halloween-ish player names, present and past, is as creative as it is a little scary.

Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion and Dorothy (sort of) cheer on the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Halloween night in 2017. Their Wizard of Oz magic helped, the Rangers defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 6-4. Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Image
Alphabetically: Bates Battaglia, Murray Craven, Adam Deadmarsh, Cutter Gauthier, Shayne Gostisbehere, Stu Grimson, Brendan Guhle (pronounced ghoulie), Steve Kasper, Steven King, Marcus Kruger, Travis Moen, Richard Panik, Miroslav Satan, Ron Schock, Claudio Scremin, Petri Skriko, Steve Webb, Bernie Wolfe, Paul Woods, Stephane Yelle and Rick Zombo.
David Satriano, a writer with NHL.com, offers coach Ken Hitchcock, in honor of Hollywood master of suspense.
You could also include Johnny "Black Cat" Gagnon, who scored what would prove to be the 1931 Stanley Cup-clinching goal for the Montreal Canadiens in a 2-0 Game 5 victory against the Chicago Black Hawks.
Add a "d" to his name to include Jack Addams (Family) as general manager, have him sign Scott Gomez and Glenn Fester, and put John "Grey Ghost" Brophy, a former Toronto Maple Leafs coach, behind the bench, along with his 4,404 penalty minutes earned in 1,299 major-junior and minor pro games between 1950-73.

Montreal Canadiens' Johnny "Black Cat" Gagnon and the puck with which he scored the 1931 Stanley Cup-clinching goal. James Rice; Dave Sandford/Hockey Hall of Fame
The 1942-43 NHL season began with two Halloween night games featuring the so-called "Original Six," the defending Stanley Cup-champion Maple Leafs romping 7-2 at home against the New York Rangers and the Canadiens with a 3-2 home-ice winner against the Boston Bruins.
The Maple Leafs unofficially fired 38 shots at Rangers goalie Steve Buzinski - uncharitably nicknamed "The Puck Goes Inski" - to the delight of 11,777 fans at Maple Leaf Gardens. Gaye Stewart scored twice on Buzinski, who would play just nine NHL games, all that season, going 2-6-1 with a 5.89 average.
In Montreal, Maurice Richard was playing his first NHL game in front of 10,894 Forum fans, setting off into his Hall of Fame-bound career with an assist on Canadiens linemate Tony Demers' goal on Boston goalie Frankie "Mr. Zero" Brimsek 36 seconds into the new season.

Montreal Canadiens rookie Maurice Richard played his first NHL game on Halloween night in 1942, assisting on a goal scored on Boston Bruins goalie Frank Brimsek (right). Turofsky/Hockey Hall of Fame
Not yet skating in his No. 9 and not yet nicknamed "Rocket," Richard wore No. 15 on right wing on a line with left wing Demers and center Elmer Lach, Canadiens coach Dick Irvin Sr. calling the trio the "Ambulance Line," all three having been injured the previous season.
Twenty-three players have been born on Oct. 31, only one a Hall of Famer. That would be Newsy Lalonde (born 1887), who won the Stanley Cup with the National Hockey Association's Canadiens in 1915-16, the NHA's final year before the 1917 birth of the NHL.
Two are current NHLers: Nick Foligno of the Bruins (1987) and Evgeny Svechnikov (1996) of the San Jose Sharks.
The 23 range in NHL experience from Huddy Bell (1925), who played one game for the Rangers in 1946-47, through the 1,219 games of Eric Nesterenko (1933), for Chicago and Toronto. Nesterenko played four games on his Halloween birthday, earning one assist.

Eric Nesterenko's 1,219 regular-season games are the most by any player born on Oct. 31. Here, he's separated Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Tim Horton from his stick. Graphic Artists/Hockey Hall of Fame
One of the 23 is a goalie: David Gagnon played two games for the Detroit Red Wings from Jan. 25-28, 1991, his one period as a starter then 14:57 in relief producing a record of 0-1-0 with a 10.30 goals-against average and .786 save percentage.
Admittedly, Gagnon didn't play in the best of circumstances, an emergency fill-in for flu-ridden No. 1 Detroit goalie Tim Cheveldae and injured backup Glen Hanlon.
The most productive skater in Halloween games should come as no surprise: Wayne Gretzky scored 21 points (12 goals, nine assists) in eight games. Rod Brind'Amour has played on Oct. 31 most often, his 14 points in 11 games tying him for second with Paul Coffey, who played nine.
Twenty-one hat tricks have been scored on Halloween, including four-goal games by Gretzky and Kevin Dineen. Gretzky's three-goal, three-assist effort for his Los Angeles Kings against the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1989, one of his two hats, tops the list of single-game points.
Wayne Gretzky pretends to interview Edmonton Oilers teammates Mark Messier (center) and Paul Coffey in 1982. Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Ten games have been goalie nightmares of 12 or more combined goals, the Philadelphia Flyers' 9-6 win at the Blackhawks in 1993 and the Edmonton Oilers' 11-4 rout of the visiting Quebec Nordiques in 1981 leading the list with 15 goals.
The Flyers also enjoyed the widest margin of Halloween victory - eight goals - when they clobbered the visiting North Stars 9-1 in 1976.
But a nod to the netminders, too, who have produced 23 Halloween shutouts. Chuck Rayner of the Rangers was first to go unbeaten in 1948, a 2-0 win against the Bruins, Marc-Andre Fleury the most recent when he led the Penguins to a 4-0 win against the Maple Leafs in 2015.
Al Rollins had shutouts for the Maple Leafs and the Black Hawks in 1951 and 1953, each 1-0 wins against the Canadiens. Chicago's Tony Esposito and Bob Sauve of the Buffalo Sabres played goal in a 0-0 tie in 1979.
The stitched mask of Boston Bruins goalie Gerry Cheevers is regarded as one of the best ever among NHL goalies.
Quirky and creative by nature, goalies have contributed generously over the years with
mask motifs themed to Halloween and horror movies.
Three more Halloween games will add to the lore of Oct. 31 on Monday, fans certain to come dressed for the occasion along the NHL's march to the 2022-23 Stanley Cup.
To that end, Phil Pritchard of the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Keeper of the Cup, reports that of all the breakfast cereal that's been eaten out of hockey's holy grail, General Mills' Monster line of Count Chocula, Franken Berry, Boo Berry and Frute Brute has not, to the best of his knowledge, been among it.
But there's always a first time.
Top photo: Likenesses of Boston Bruins' Patrice Bergeron and Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby carved into 2013 pumpkins. Thomas Nycz/NHLI via Getty Images
Stuart McComish, Scott Rodgers and Brett Kozak of NHL Stats contributed to this report