A pair of Flyers defense prospects will be in action against one another tonight, when Marc-Andre Bourdon's Rouyn-Noranda Huskies will attempt to tame the Quebec Remparts, featuring Kevin Marshall.
The puck drops at 7:30 PM eastern time tonight and is available via
free webcast.
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Oct. 31 has often been a date in which wacky things happen on the ice -- final scores reminscent of video games, unlikely players fighting or scoring, pucks mysteriously "disappearing" (i.e., getting caught in a player's equipment or getting stuck in a crevice in the boards at the zamboni door).
Here's a look at some of the more notable and wackier Halloween hockey moments through NHL history.
* Oct 31, 1942. Rocket Richard plays his first NHL game. It takes him all of 36 seconds after the opening faceoff to record the first point (an assist) of the 965 he'd tally in his career.
* Oct 31, 1968. In a see-saw affair, Frank Mahovlich scored his 7th career hat trick (but first with the Red Wings) to lead Detroit to a 7-5 win against the Boston Bruins.
* Oct 31, 1970. Hall of Famer Glenn Hall records his 83rd career shutout as the Blues blank the Kings, 3-0.
* Oct 31, 1971. Flyers goalie Doug Favell sports a festive orange mask and outplays Hall of Famer Ken Dryden in a 5-3 Flyers win over Montreal at the Spectrum. Flyers forward Simon Nolet scores a hat trick and adds an assist.
* Oct 31, 1973. Buffalo's Richard Martin breaks a 10-game scoring slump by providing all three goals in a 3-2 Sabres win over the Oakland Seals.
* Oct 31, 1975. The end of an era. Placed on waivers by the New York Rangers, Hall of Fame goaltender Ed Giacomin is claimed by the Detroit Red Wings.
* Oct 31, 1976. The Flyers crush the Minnesota North Stars at the Spectrum by a 9-1 score. Bobby Clarke scores twice and adds four assists, as eight different Flyers players light the lamp.
* Oct 31, 1979. Buffalo's Bob Sauve and Chicago's Tony Esposito duel to a 0-0 tie. At the time, it was just the second scoreless tie in Sabres' history.
* Oct 31, 1981. A glowering Pete Peeters is left out to dry for eight goals as the Vancouver Canucks come into the Spectrum and trounce the Flyers, 8-4. Stan Smyl has a hat trick and two assists for the Canucks.
* Oct 31, 1984. Another wild game involving the Canucks. This time Vancouver is on the wrong end of it. Los Angeles' Dave Taylor scores a hat trick as the visiting Kings clobber the Canucks, 10-3.
* Oct 31, 1987. Chicago's Troy Murray and Denis Savard score shorthanded goals just 12 seconds apart in a game against Toronto. Even so, the Leafs go on to win, 6-5.
* Oct 31. 1989. Mario Lemiuex has two assists in an 8-4 loss to the Kings. The game itself isn't particularly notable, but Lemieux starts a consecutive game point streak that eventually stretches to 46 straight games.
* Oct 31, 1989. Wayne Gretzky scores a hat trick (the 46th of his career to that point) and adds three assists in an 8-4 Kings win at Pittsburgh.
* Oct 31, 1992. St Louis Blues rookie Vitali Prokhorov, who scored four goals for the entire season the previous year, compiles a hat trick against Philadelphia in a 6-4 win over the Flyers.
* Oct 31, 1993. The Flyers win a wild 9-6 game in Chicago, as Kevin Dineen scores four goals and Philadelphia breaks a 6-6 tie with three unanswered goals in six minutes in the middle of the final period. Brian Noonan tallies a pair for the Hawks.
* Oct 31, 1998. Carolina goalie Arturs Irbe stops three breakaways and makes 34 saves to record his 15th career shutout in a 2-0 win at Boston.
* Oct 31, 2001. Flyers' goaltender Brian Boucher became the first goalie in club history to record shutouts on consecutive nights. One nighy after blanking Washington by a 3-0 score, he shut out the Penguins, 3-0.
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Here's a little Halloween-related excerpt from
Pelle. The background: Pelle Lindbergh learned of his first call-up to the NHL on October 31, 1981. One of the people referenced in the story, Björn Neckman, was a childhood friend of Lindbergh's who was staying with him in Portland while Pelle played with the Maine Mariners.
On Halloween, the Flyers play the Vancouver Canucks at the Spectrum. Philly finds itself trialing 4-0 before the first period is even half over. The Flyers crowd takes out its frustrations on Peeters (derisively cheering him when he makes a save and screaming at Quinn to pull him) and on defensemen Behn Wilson and Frank Bathe. Peeters goes on to give up four more goals, stopping just 20 of 28 on the night. The Flyers lose, 8-4.
The same evening, Pelle gets a call from Keith Allen.
“Pelle, we’re calling you up to the Flyers,” he says. “Pat Quinn will be starting you tomorrow night in Buffalo. Pack up and go to there.”
Pelle is giddy. Beaming, he goes to the Civic Center locker room to collect his equipment. But seconds later, the smile fades from his face. His equipment is nowhere to be found. Lindbergh searches frantically, wondering if someone is playing a cruel practical joke. But nothing turns up, and no one has seen his pads, glove, blocker and mask.
Lindbergh paces in the hallway, eventually flagging down an arena employee.
“Do you know where my gear is?” he asks. “I can’t find it anywhere!”
“Yeah, Sean borrowed it. He’s at the Old Port.”
Sean is assistant equipment manager Sean McCarthy. He’s borrowed Pelle’s gear to wear as a Halloween costume at a popular nightclub called the Old Port.
Lindbergh speeds over to the club, finding McCarthy dressed in full goalie regalia. Björn Neckman stands nearby, tossing beer cans in the air and McCarthy catches them with Pelle’s glove. The party-goers cheer.
In his blocker-hand, McCarthy clutches a beer. One of Pelle’s practice sticks is propped up against a bar stool.
Ordinarily, Pelle would get a huge kick out of something like this. But not now – not when he needs to get to Buffalo to make his NHL debut. He’s friendly with McCarthy, but at the moment Lindbergh wants to strangle him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” he screams.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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