September 21, 1969: One of the most damaging fights in National Hockey League history takes place -- during a preseason exhibition game.
The Boston Bruins played the St. Louis Blues -- not at the Boston Garden or at the St. Louis Arena, but on neutral ground, at the Ottawa Civic Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada.
Coming off his best season in 1969, Edward "Ted" Green was a 29-year-old native of rural Manitoba, and a defenseman for the Bruins, a rising team led by fellow defenseman Bobby Orr, center Phil Esposito and left wing Johnny Bucyk.
Wayne Maki was 24 years old, of Finnish descent, a native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and a left wing for the Blues. He had joined the NHL in the Great Expansion of 1967, and had helped them reach the Stanley Cup Finals in 1968 and 1969.
Why he's wearing Number 12 on his sleeve (and presumably also his back),
and 15 on his skates, I don't know.
In this game, Green and Maki got into a fight. Maki swung his stick and hit Green on the head, causing a fractured skull and brain damage. The Blues won the game, 5-1.
Both men were charged with assault as a result of the incident, the first time NHL players faced charges as a result of on-ice violence. Both went on to be acquitted.
Green was suspended by the NHL for 13 games, which took effect the next season, since he missed the entire regular season and Playoffs. His near-fatal encounter would further propel discourse around the conversation of mandatory helmets in hockey, which had started 2 seasons earlier, with the death of Bill Masterton of the Minnesota North Stars due to a head injury.
Maki was suspended by the NHL for 30 days, and upon his return, the Blues sent him down to the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League. He did not return to St. Louis until January 17, 1970. He was injured on February 25, so, like Green, he missed the Playoffs.
Which avoided some major awkwardness, because the Bruins and the Blues went on to face each other in the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals. The Bruins swept the series in 4 straight, with Orr scoring the winning goal in overtime of Game 4. Green had missed the entire season, but his teammates gave him a full share of the prize money, and his name was also engraved on the Stanley Cup for 1969-70.
The Blues left Maki unprotected in the 1970 NHL Expansion Draft, where he was claimed by the Vancouver Canucks. In their 1st 2 seasons, 1970-71 and 1971-72, he was their leading scorer. But his performance dropped off, and his last game was on December 5, 1972. He was diagnosed with brain cancer, and died on May 12, 1974, only 29 years old.
The Canucks made his Number 11 the first one they retired. When Mark Messier played for them from 1997 to 2000, the team let him wear 11, which he had worn throughout his career, without consulting the Maki family, which objected. It has not been given out since.
Wayne's older brother, Ronald "Chico" Maki, played right wing for the Chicago Black Hawks from 1961 to 1975. He made 3 All-Star Games, played 1 game in the 1961 Stanley Cup Playoffs to earn a Stanley Cup ring, and helped them reach the Finals again in 1962, 1965, 1971 and 1973. He died in 2015.
Green recovered from his injury, and returned to action for the 1970-71 season. He was a member of the Bruins' 1971-72 Stanley Cup winners. He then jumped to the World Hockey Association's New England Whalers, and helped them win the title in 1973. He later won the WHA title with the Winnipeg Jets, his home-Province team, in 1978 and 1979, and then retired. His Bruin teammate Glen Sather hired him as an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers, and in that capacity, he won 5 more Cups. He served as the Oilers' head coach from 1991 to 1994. He died in 2019.
Opened in 1967 in Lansdowne Park, as part of Canada's Centennial celebration, the Ottawa Civic Centre was attached to Frank Clair Stadium, the city's football stadium. It has been home to the Ontario Hockey League's Ottawa 67's ever since. It was home to the World Hockey Association's Ottawa Nationals in 1972-73 and its Ottawa Civics for 7 games in 1976, and the NHL's revived Ottawa Senators from their 1992 inception to 1996.
It has been renovated in 1992 and 2014. After the 2014 renovation, which included the demolition of Frank Clair Stadium and its replacement with TD Place Stadium, the Civic Centre was renamed the TD Place Arena.
*
September 21, 1969 was a Sunday. Actor Billy Porter was born.
These Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Mets swept a doubleheader from the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-3 and 6-1 at Shea Stadium. Jerry Koosman outpitched Dock Ellis in the opener. Art Shamsky hit a home run. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-4 with an RBI, then sat out the nightcap, in which Don Cardwell outpitched Steve Blass. Over the 2 games, Willie Stargell went 2-for-8 with a home run and 2 RBIs.
Three days later, the Mets clinched their 1st-ever 1st-place finish, winning the 1st-ever National League Eastern Division title. They went on to win the World Series.
* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies. 7-6 at Jarry Park in Montreal.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators, 4-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Mike Kilenny pitched a 3-hit shutout. Al Kaline went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs. Norm Cash went 3-for-4 a walk and 2 RBIs. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-3 with a walk.
* The Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Fergie Jenkins outpitched Chuck Taylor. Randy Hundley hit a home run. Ernie Banks went 1-for-3.
* The Seattle Pilots beat the Minnesota Vikings, 4-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. John Kennedy hit a home run in the top of the 9th inning, to give the Pilots the win. Harmon Killebrew went 3-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and 2 RBIs.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 10-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 4-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. Pete Rose went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Johnny Bench went 1-for-3 with a walk.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres, 8-2 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Hank Aaron hit his 583rd career home run.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the California Angels, 12-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Reggie Jackson went 4-for-6 with 3 RBIs, but did not hit any of his 47 home runs that season in this game. Dave Duncan did hit a home run for the A's in this game, his 2nd of the season, and 1 of 109 he would hit in his career.
* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, 4-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. In the bottom of the 10th inning, Jim Davenport hit a ground ball to short, and Maury Wills made an error that allowed Willie McCovey to score the winning run.
* And the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles were rained out at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. As the O's were running away with the American League Eastern Division, the game was never made up.
These NFL games were played:
* The New York Giants beat the Minnesota Vikings, 24-23 at Yankee Stadium.
* The Cleveland Browns beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-20 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Baltimore Colts, 27-20 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
* The Atlanta Falcons beat the San Francisco 49ers, 24-12 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium).
* The Washington Redskins beat the New Orleans Saints, 26-20 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.
* The Dallas Cowboys beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 24-3 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Detroit Lions, 16-13 at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* And the Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 17-0 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
In the American Football League:
* The New York Jets lost to the Denver Broncos, 21-19 at Mile High Stadium in Denver. The Jets' Steve O'Neal had a 98-yard punt, the longest in the history of American football, at any level. Despite it taking place in an AFL game, the NFL recognizes it as the NFL record. I have a separate entry for this event.
* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Boston Patriots, 31-0 at Alumni Stadium in the Boston suburb of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
* The Houston Oilers beat the Buffalo Bills, 17-3 at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo.
* And the Cincinnati Bengals beat the San Diego Chargers, 34-20 at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati.
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