February 22, 2020: The Toronto Maple Leafs Lose… to a Zamboni Driver

February 22, 2020: The Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans have suffered many indignities since the team's last Stanley Cup win in 1967. This may have been the worst.

The Leafs were hosting the Carolina Hurricanes at the Scotiabank Arena in downtown Toronto. James Reimer, the 'Canes' starting goaltender, had to leave the game due to injury, just 6 minutes and 10 seconds in. He was replaced by Petr Mrázek, but with 8:41 left in the 2nd period, and the Canes leading, 3-1, he also had to leave due to injury.

There was one man who could come to the 'Canes' rescue. His name was David Ayres. He was 42 years old, and had tended goal in the minor leagues. But now, he was the building operator for the Coca-Cola Coliseum (formerly the CNE Coliseum and the Ricoh Coliseum), built in 1921 and, since 2005, the home of the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, the Leafs' top farm team. Among his duties was keeping the ice surface ready to play, meaning he had to drive a Zamboni.

He was officially an employee of the Leafs' organization. But the Leafs agreed to let him play the rest of the game for the 'Canes. Since the NHL office was in Toronto, it took a few minutes for a one-game contract to be sent over to the arena. Ayres signed it, put on a Hurricanes uniform, and stood in front of the Carolina net.

He was 42, and hadn't played at any level in 5 years. The 1st shot he faced, from John Tavares, went in. The 2nd shot he faced, from Pierre Engvall, also went in. But he stopped the last 8 shots he faced, and the Hurricanes won, 6-3.

Ayres thus became the oldest goalie ever to win his NHL debut. In spite of the embarrassment, the Toronto fans gave him a standing ovation. His stick was walked a few blocks over to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and put on display. He has since gone into coaching.

For the next 3 weeks, the Leafs and their fans had to endure jokes about how they lost a game to a "Zamboni driver." Then the COVID-19 epidemic shut everything down, and the rest of the regular season was canceled. When play resumed, it was with the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the Leafs were defeated in the 1st round by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

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February 22, 2020 was a Saturday. There were 10 other games played in the NHL that day:

* The New York Rangers beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at the Prudential Center.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-2 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3 in a shootout at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Ottawa Senators, 3-0 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-2 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Arizona Coyotes beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 7-3 at the Gila River Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Florida Panthers, 5-3 at the T-Mobile Arena in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1 in a shootout at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Boston Bruins, 9-3 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

Baseball and football were out of season. There were 7 games played in the NBA:

* The Brooklyn Nets beat the Charlotte Hornets, 115-86 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Dallas Mavericks, 111-107 at the State Farm Arena in Charlotte. John Collins scored 35 points for the Hawks.

* The Miami Heat beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 124-105 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Chicago Bulls, 112-104 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 119-98 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 31 for the Bucks.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz, 120-110 at the Vivint Arena (now again named the Delta Center) in Salt Lake City. James Harden scored 38 for the Rockets.

* The Sacramento Kings beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 112-103 at the Staples Center. Yes, it hosted an NBA game and an NHL game on the same day. Kahwi Leonard scored 31 for the Clippers.

February 6, 2000: Wayne Gretzky's Number 99 Is Retired for All NHL Teams

February 6, 2000: The National Hockey League hosts its 50th All-Star Game in the same city in which it hosted its 1st, its historic home and the home of the Hockey Hall of Fame: Toronto, at the Air Canada Centre (now named the Scotiabank Arena).

The game's commemorative logo

Wayne Gretzky, the League's all-time leading scorer, and widely (but not universally) regarded as the greatest player in the sport's history, had retired at the end of the previous season. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman had announced that he would retire Gretzky's uniform Number 99, for the entire League. This followed Major League Baseball doing it for the Number 42 for its 1st modern black player, Jackie Robinson, in 1997.

A banner with his name and number, in the colors of his foremost team, the Edmonton Oilers, blue and orange, but also containing the names and logos of all current NHL teams, was raised to the rafters. Following this, he performed a ceremonial puck drop between Paul Kariya of the Anaheim Ducks, captaining Team North America, and Jaromir Jagr of the Pittsburgh Penguins, captaining Team World.

Gretzky reached the World Hockey Association with the Indianapolis Racers in 1978, only 18 years old. But they went out of business after he'd only been with them for 8 games. He was picked up by the Edmonton Oilers, and won 4 Stanley Cups with them, before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988. In 1996, at the end of his contract, he was traded to the St. Louis Blues, playing 18 games for them. He then signed with the New York Rangers as a free agent, playing 3 seasons before retiring.

Prior to Gretzky's last game, at Madison Square Garden on April 18, 1999, the Rangers retired Number 99 for him. The Oilers followed on October 1, 1999, before this All-Star Game. The Kings did not hold a number retirement ceremony for him until October 9, 2002. Every other team, including the Blues, has simply accepted that Number 99 is retired, without having a ceremony honoring him.

As for the game itself: Scotty Bowman, then head coach of the Detroit Red Wings, and with 8 Stanley Cups to his name (and a record-breaking 9th to come), coached Team World; while Pat Quinn, head coach of the host Toronto Maple Leafs, who never won a Cup but got to the Finals with the 1980 Philadelphia Flyers and the 1994 Vancouver Canucks, coached Team North America.

Team World led 5-4 after 2 periods, then broke out in the 3rd, and won, 9-4. Pavel Bure of the Florida Panthers was named the game's Most Valuable Player, with 3 goals and an assist. His brother, Valeri Bure of the Calgary Flames, husband of Full House actress Candace Cameron, assisted on one of Pavel's goals. Pavol Demitra of the St. Louis Blues scored 2 goals, and Jagr added 1. For Team North America, goals were scored by Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche, Jeremy Roenick of the Phoenix Coyotes, Tony Amonte of the Chicago Blackhawks, and Ray Whitney of the Panthers.

UPDATE: Upon the death of Bill Russell in 2022, the NBA announced that his Number 6 would be retired for all teams. So now, MLB, the NBA and the NHL have each honored one player in this fashion. The NFL is unlikely to follow.

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February 6, 2000 was a Sunday. This being the All-Star Break, there were no NHL games scheduled. Baseball was out of season. The NFL season ended a week earlier, when the St. Louis Rams beat the Tennessee Titans, 23-16, in Super Bowl XXXIV at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

There were 9 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Miami Heat, 94-80 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Golden State Warriors, 110-90 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Boston Celtics, 100-94 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Sacramento Kings, 119-108 at the First Union Center in Philadelphia. Allen Iverson scored 50 points. Back when the Wells Fargo Center was using that name, Philly fans -- especially when the Flyers were playing -- liked to call the arena "The F.U. Center."

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Houston Rockets, 109-105 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Grant Hill scored 36 points.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 105-93 at the AmericaWest Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

* The Utah Jazz beat the San Antonio Spurs, 93-90 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 100-90 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* And the Dallas Mavericks beat the Vancouver Grizzlies, 103-99 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver. Shareef Abduar-Rahim had 36 points and 22 rebounds in defeat for the Grizzlies, who moved to Memphis after the 2000-01 season.