This Week in Centennial History
Lemieux's No. 66 retired by Penguins; League stages first outdoor game
NHL.com @NHLdotcom
As part of the League's Centennial Celebration, NHL.com is taking a look back at memorable events each week.
Here are Centennial highlights for the week of Nov. 19-25:
Nov. 25, 1981: Center Wayne Gretzky gets his eighth NHL hat trick when he scores four goals in the Edmonton Oilers' 11-4 victory against the Los Angeles Kings at Northlands Coliseum. He does it two months before his 21st birthday. Gretzky goes on to set the NHL single-season record with 10 hat tricks, a mark he matches in 1983-84.
Nov. 24, 2000: Detroit Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman works his 2,000th regular-season NHL game. As is the case in most of the first 1,999, he comes out a winner. Center Sergei Fedorov scores his second goal of the game with 28 seconds remaining in the third period to give Bowman and the Red Wings a 3-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks at Joe Louis Arena.
Nov. 23, 1988: Gretzky scores his 600th NHL goal and has five assists to power the Kings to an 8-3 victory against the Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena. Gretzky, 27, becomes the fifth player in NHL history to score 600 goals when he converts a pass from forward Dave Taylor at 8:23 of the first period to give Los Angeles a 2-0 lead.
Video: Wayne Gretzky all-time leader in goals, points
Nov. 22, 2003: The NHLheads outdoors for the first time in its 86-year history. Before a record crowd of 57,167 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Oilers 4-3 in the Heritage Classic.
Nov. 21, 2006: Forward Jaromir Jagr scores twice in the New York Rangers' 4-0 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden to pass Jari Kurri and become the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer among European-trained players. Jagr ties Kurri's total of 601 goals when he scores on a wrist shot at 13:36 of the second period, then passes him with goal No. 602 at 3:11 of the third period.
Video: Jaromir Jagr second on NHL points list
Nov. 20, 1928: The Boston Bruins play their first game at Boston Garden. After four seasons at Boston Arena (now Matthews Arena), the Bruins, then wearing brown and gold, make their debut at the Garden. A crowd estimated at 16,000 goes home disappointed when the Bruins lose 1-0 to the Canadiens on a second-period goal by Sylvio Mantha.
Nov. 19, 1997: Mario Lemieux's No. 66 is retired by the Pittsburgh Penguins two days after he's inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. However, he returns to the ice three years later and doesn't retire for good until 2006.