Not much going on today in hockey history…a defensive defenseman is born and was probably a bit of an unsung during one team’s dynasty.
1962 – Former defenseman Craig Muni was born in Toronto, Ontario. He played his first few seasons with his hometown Leafs, which was actually just 19 NHL games from 1982-86, before signing with Edmonton in ’86 and finally playing his first full season. And it was a memorable season, too; not only did he lead the league in +/- with an impressive +45, the Oilers won a Stanley Cup that year. And then they won the following year (’88), and once more two years later (’90). Maybe the Leafs should have utilized him more. He actually led the league in +/- in all of his first three seasons in Edmonton (+45, +32, +43). His play was so stellar, in fact, that he holds an NHL record – well, I guess the record isn’t really from his good defensive play: Muni holds the depressing record of playing the most playoff games without scoring a single goal! Yep, in 113 playoff games, Muni had 0 goals and just 11 assists, and only 28 goals in 819 regular season games. But he was still really good defensively, which is often taken for granted.
Source: Hockey Hall of Fame
Latest posts by Scott Finger (see all)
- Possible destinations for players on the block - February 25, 2014
- Why Suspensions Don’t Matter and how they can Be Fixed - January 3, 2014
- This Day in Hockey History – December 31 - December 31, 2013
