The Unloved, Forgotten Game-Day Program - Ottawa Senators Score Edition

Over the years I've accumulated many of these things going to games and at one point I decided to scan the covers of the ones I still had (meaning the ones my wife didn't throw away).

They used to give them away for free, but like most NHL teams, they eventually stopped that practice. To be honest, I'm not even sure if they print game-day programs anymore. Just thought I'd share these as they can bring back a few memories and a few familiar faces.

Most people tossed these in the trash on the way out, left them in their car where snow and slush and dogs destroyed them, or just left them under their arena seats after the game. Even a deep internet search doesn't bring many of these back from the dead.

From what I can remember, the Score program was published every few months but every game-day a new insert was stapled into the center featuring that night's roster and current scoring etc.

One day I'll post scans of the much celebrated Bodycheck magazine the Sens used to print in the early days of the franchise. But for now... the much unloved and forgotten Score game-day programs for your nostalgic Sens needs.

Black Aces Vintage: Alexei Yashin's First Hat-Trick

It was November 3, 1993 in Alexei Yashin's rookie season. It was the 11th game of the season and the Senators only had 2 wins at this point (and Sens fans think they suffer now?) but Yashin already had 6 goals and 4 assists. That was a surprise to many because Yashin wasn't yet the star of the team or the darling of the city. Breaking in the same year was first overall pick Alexandre Daigle, and before the Edmonton game he had matched Yashin's 6 goals and added 8 assists for the team scoring lead.

Then Yash took over. Here's some great footage from that game, including all three of Yashin's goals (he added two assists for a five point night). Yashin also added 4 assists two nights later in Winnipeg against the Jets and finished the year with 79 points. That included 10 more goals and 28 more points than the highly touted Daigle, and Yashin took over the Senators for the next 5 years as the team's superstar while Daigle faded badly and was dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1998 for Vaclav Prospal and Pat Falloon.

This footage is notable because it's in relatively good shape, and there's not much out there of the early Senators years. Fascinating stuff if you ask me. Love the old CJOH logo as well.

Black Aces Vintage: 78-79 Topps Wrapper

How incredible is this 78-79 Topps hockey wrapper?

Image courtesy of Shoebox Legends.

"Young Guns"

When you get NHL players in an acting situation, the result is usually a giant setback for the acting industry, and for our community as a whole. Here's the exception... four Ottawa Senators - Kyle Turris, Erik Condra, Zack Smith and Craig Anderson (plus a surprise guest for the punchline) really bring it for Napolis Café. Scenery is chewed. A must-see if you haven't somehow run into this on Twitter yet. Zack Smith is an absolute star here:



Which brings to mind the great Pittsburgh Penguins car commercial from a few years ago that includes current Sen Sergei Gonchar (who wisely skipped the Napolis spot). Let's just say Gonchar's performance here makes Dolph Lundgren in Rocky IV look like Laurence Olivier.



The Penguins have a history of doing ads. Mario Lemieux did a ton of them, often awkwardly:







Here's Marcel Dionne and Frank Mahovolich selling CCM equipment. Wait for the big laugh at the end. What we see is probably Take #35.

Black Aces Vintage: Classic Auctions Swag

If you've never had a chance to head over to ClassicAuctions.net, here's just a few samples of the many historical Ottawa Senators memorabilia pieces that have passed through their hands over the years. It's pretty amazing to go through their catalogue of closed lots and see what's out there, not just for Senators items but for anything NHL related. You could waste a day going through this stuff. And I have... today... trying to come down a little from the Senators absolute demolition of the Montreal Canadiens in Round One. Of particular note is that Pittsburgh vs. Ottawa program from 1927. Looks like the Senators staff will be printing off a few new copies sometime next week... See you then.

Black Aces Vintage - Full 1984 Stanley Cup Game 5: Oilers vs. Islanders

The first Stanley Cup I remember staying up to watch in it's entirety - the Oilers putting an end to the Islanders 4-Cup dynasty in 1984. I was 8 years old at the time but I remember clearly the look on Messier's face when he got handed the Conn Smythe Trophy and Gretzky almost falling while putting the Cup over his head.

There's a whole slew of full historical NHL games on YouTube now and here's one of the best - in it's entirety from the original CBC Hockey Night In Canada broadcast - Game 5 of the 1984 Stanley Cup Final. I still get chills watching this today. The great Bob Cole calls the game, as he'll do tonight for Ottawa's first game against Montreal in the 2013 playoffs.

Great Gretzky Vintage #3

"Eat your breakfast and don't forget your lunchbox." When my mom said this to me every school morning, she was talking about these things. A little Aspartame never hurt anybody... I don't think. Found these pics on Ebay where a Gretzky fan could spend 25 grand on cardboard we used to throw in the garbage on a weekly basis in the 80's.

Great Gretzky Vintage #2 ... Mr. Big

When I was a kid in the early 80's, I would consume anything that had The Great One's image on it. Pro Stars Cereal, Neilson Instant Chocolate Milk Mix, Malted Milk, and of course, the grossest of them all... Mr. Big chocolate bars.

Gretz added a wholesome image to junk food wrappers, but in a time when people smoked in grocery stores - even your grandma - Mr. Big's didn't seem so bad for your health back then.

Gretz took his sponsorships seriously. He wasn't shy wearing a Mr. Big golf shirt next to his hockey hero and one of the greatest of all-time, Mr. Hockey Gordie Howe.

Get 'em into you, kids.

Great Gretzky Vintage #1

There is no end to Gretzky memorabilia. I love this stuff.

Stan Mikita's Donuts

White Lightning...The Great Lost Hockey Movie

I was doing a search for the old Burt Reynolds movie White Lightning from 1973 and stumbled across this beauty of a movie poster for White Lightning from 1953. And I thought I'd seen all the hockey movies.

The plot synopsis from IMDB is a doozy:

"The Red Devils, a professional ice hockey team, owned by Jack Monohan, is in the midst of a long losing streak, due to bribes being accepted from gamblers by the star player. When the team is joined by cocky Mike Connors, a boyhood friend of Jack's, they begin to regain their former winning ways. Mike becomes a star who cannot be stopped, but is disliked by his teammates becuase of his selfish play. Jack tries to keek Mike away from his sister Margaret, who is in love with him, which leads to a bloody fight between the two men. The angry Mike accepts a bribe from gambler Rocky Gilbratar to throw the big final game. But during the game, an appeal from a young boy who idolizes him, Davey, sets Mike on the right road, and his unselfish play helps win the game."

Being both a movie geek and a lifelong hockey fan, it's incredible to me that I've never even stumbled upon this at some point.

I can't even dig up a trailer for this thing. But Lee Van Cleef (from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) stars as a character named Brutus Allen. I wonder if that's a player or a gangster? I can't really picture Van Cleef on skates but I'd like to imagine him sneering at a faceoff and spitting snuff tobacco out the side of his mouth onto the lily white ice.

Black Aces Vintage: Bodycheck Magazine Vol. 2

I just got a new bundle of these old mags and right on top was a cover shot of Erik Karlsson on a mint 1995 issue of Bodycheck (above).

It was, of course, just Stan Neckar pretending to wail on a red guitar on the Barrymore's stage during a colossaly awkward photo shoot. But don't get too comfortable. That could be Erik if the lockout drags into December. Remember that Kiss dress-up photo from last year? He's prone to these episodes.

After going through the stack of Bodycheck's ranging from 93-93 to 95-96, I picked some of the more interesting highlights (click on image for full size). Here we go:

Darcy Loewen cover: The Billy Ray Cyrus/Garth Brooks effect was still in full swing approaching the mid-90's, and Loewen wore a duster jacket with pride. Guaranteed this cover was shot with the ladies in mind. Loewen has a shiner from one of his many scraps that the fans loved in the early Civic Centre days.

Texas Connection ad: Good lord. Sometimes I think people dressed worse in the early 90's than at anytime in the 80's. Because everyone dressed like this back then, right? Not surprisingly, this store was located in Carp, where most of my family is from. My dad could have been in this photo and nobody would think he was out of place.

Rick Bowness ad: At least Bowness had the smarts to stick to athletic gear.

Alain Vigneault: He's come a long way from being the assistant coach on one of the worst teams in NHL history to being the head coach on one of the most hated teams in history.

Dennis Vial poster: A lot of these Bodycheck magazine were mercilessly cut up so these posters could go up on bedroom walls. Vial is basically forgotten nowadays but he was the Sens PIM leader until Chris Neil came along. His scraps with Buffalo's Rob Ray are the stuff of legend.

Hey, whatever happened to the discounts at Future Shop? Remember the days of off-white computers? They're all nice and yellow now.

Alfie cover: Who would ever have thought this skinny kid with the aw-shucks smile would turn into who he is today? He thought he'd play a year or two and then head back to Sweden. He looks greener than Erik Karlsson ever did if you ask me.

But when he threw on the old Darth Vader blacks and the rounded helmet, he had that "Swedish Grit". Man, those uni's still look great today.

Bruce Garrioch: The way we were. For all the grief Garrioch gets from the bloggers and insanely rude Ottawa Sun commenters, he was there covering the team every day when there were barely 20 games a year on television and the bloggers were watching Inspector Gadget. And he's holding the old paper bible before the days of Cap Geek and Hockey Database.

Steve Duchesne cover: In the days when the internet was this amazing new thing, there were many photo-ops like this with a surfboard and a computer, ala "Surfing The Net".  Judging by the crowd in the back, it looks like this was done during a game, which is really strange. Duchesne was a natural hambone. My mom loved him.

And finally, remember these ads? Remember those old LOEB pizza's your mom used to throw in the oven before Sens games? This brings it all back. He's in his Stan Neckar pose.