1930:
George Armstrong
, captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs' four Stanley Cup-winning teams in the 1960s, is born in Skead, Ontario.
Armstrong plays two games with the Maple Leafs as a 19-year-old in 1949-50. Two years later, he's a regular and is named captain in 1957-58.
Armstrong isn't especially fast and doesn't have great hands, but he becomes one of the NHL's best two-way players. Though he never scores more than 23 goals or 51 points in a season, few players are better in the corners. Armstrong helps the Maple Leafs to the Stanley Cup Final in 1960, and to championships in
1962
,
'63
and
'64
. Toronto returns to the Final again in 1967 and upsets the favored Montreal Canadiens in six games, with Armstrong's empty-netter sealing a
3-1 Cup-clinching victory
.
Armstrong retires after the 1970-71 season with 713 points (296 goals, 417 assists) in 1,187 regular-season games, and 60 points (26 goals, 34 assists) in 110 playoff games. He is voted into the Hall of Fame in 1975.
1948:
Brad Park
, who undoubtedly sees Armstrong play before becoming a star in his own right, is born in Toronto. However, Park winds up with the New York Rangers, who take him with the No. 2 pick in the 1966 NHL Draft. Two years later, he comes to New York and becomes one of the greatest defensemen in Rangers history. Park is an NHL First-Team All-Star three times and a Second-Team All-Star twice with the Rangers. He helps New York advance to the Stanley Cup Final in 1972, but the Rangers lose to
Bobby Orr
and the Boston Bruins.
Three years later, Park winds up as Orr's teammate when he's traded to Boston along with center
Jean Ratelle
and defenseman
Joe Zanussi
for center
Phil Esposito
and defenseman
Carol Vadnais
. Park is a First-Team All-Star twice with Boston, though he and Orr play very little together because of Orr's knee injuries. Park finishes his NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings in 1985 and retires with 896 points (213 goals, 683 assists) in 1,113 games. The one thing he doesn't do is win the Cup; the Bruins make the Final in 1977 and 1978 but lose to Montreal.
Park joins Armstrong in the Hall in 1988.
