July 31: St. Louis signs with Lightning
Plus: Malkin born in Russia; Hasek rejoins Red Wings
The Calgary Flames use St. Louis mostly as a checker for two seasons, during which he has 20 points (four goals, 16 assists) in 69 games. Given a more offensive role in Tampa Bay, St. Louis blows past those numbers in his first season with the Lightning, becomes a 30-goal scorer in 2002-03 and wins the
Hart Trophy
, the
Art Ross Trophy
and the
Ted Lindsay Award
in 2003-04, when he helps the Lightning win the Stanley Cup for the first time in their history.
St. Louis has NHL career highs of 43 goals and 102 points in 2006-07 and wins another scoring title in 2012-13 with 60 points in 48 games during the lockout-shortened season. The Lightning trade him to the New York Rangers late in 2013-14, and he plays a key role in their run to the Cup Final, where they lose in five games to the Los Angeles Kings. St. Louis retires one year later with 1,033 points (391 goals, 642 assists) in 1,134 NHL games.
He is
inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
in 2018.
MORE MOMENTS
1913:
Bryan Hextall Sr.
is born in Grenfell, Saskatchewan. Hextall, a forward, plays nine full seasons (plus three games each in 1936-37 and 1945-46) with the Rangers, scoring 20 goals in seven of them. His overtime goal in
Game 6 of the 1940 Cup Final
gives the Rangers the third Stanley Cup title in their history; they don't win again until 1994. Hextall also leads the NHL in scoring in 1941-42, something no Rangers player has accomplished since. He finishes with 362 points (187 goals, 175 assists) in 449 NHL regular-season games, and is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969.
He's also the first of three generations of Hextalls in the NHL; sons
Dennis Hextall
and
Bryan Hextall Jr.
each plays more than 500 games, and grandson
Ron Hextall
, a goalie, wins the
Calder
and
Conn Smythe
trophies with the Philadelphia Flyers in 1986-87.
1960:
Dale Hunter
is born in Petrolia, Ontario. Hunter, a center, plays seven seasons with the Quebec Nordiques, who select him in the second round (No. 41) of the 1979 NHL Draft before trading him to the Washington Capitals on June 13, 1987. He spends all but the final 12 games of the remainder of his career with the Capitals; Hunter is traded to the Colorado Avalanche on March 23, 1999. He finishes his NHL career with 1,020 points (323 goals, 697 assists) and 3,565 penalty minutes in 1,407 regular-season games. Hunter is the only player in NHL history with more than 1,000 points and 3,000 penalty minutes.
1986: Evgeni Malkin is born in Magnitogorsk, Russia. Malkin, a center, is chosen by the Pittsburgh Penguins with the No. 2 pick of the 2004 draft and wins the
Calder Trophy
as the League's top rookie after he has 85 points (33 goals, 52 assists) in 2006-07. He is a three-time Stanley Cup champion (2009, 2016, 2017), a two-time
NHL scoring champion
(2008-09, 2011-12) and the
Hart Trophy
winner as League MVP in 2012.
2006:
Dominik Hasek
rejoins the Detroit Red Wings when he signs a one-year contract. The future Hall of Fame goalie comes back to Detroit after going 28-10-4 with a 2.09 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage with the Ottawa Senators in 2005-06. Hasek, who wins 41 games for Detroit in 2001-02 and helps the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup for the third time in six seasons, spends his final two NHL seasons with the Red Wings and is part of Detroit's Cup-winning team in 2008.
2008:The Chicago Blackhawks hire Hockey Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman as a senior adviser. The 75-year-old father of Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman, a nine-time Stanley Cup winner as an NHL coach, becomes part of Chicago's championship teams in 2010, 2013 and 2015.
