This Week in Centennial History

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 Dec. 3-9:

Dec. 9, 1989: After staying with 21 teams since 1979,
the NHL announces that it will expand to 28 teams within the next 10 years
. NHL president John Ziegler unveils the plan at the Board of Governors meeting in Palm Beach, Florida.
Dec. 8, 1987: Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers becomes
the first NHL goaltender to score a goal by shooting the puck into the net
. The Flyers lead the Boston Bruins 4-2 at the Spectrum when Bruins goalie Rejean Lemelin is pulled for an extra skater. Hextall picks up a loose puck to the left of his net and
lifts a shot that goes past the Boston defense and slides into the empty net at 18:48 of the third period
.

Dec. 7, 1961:
Jean Beliveau
takes the ice as
captain of the Montreal Canadiens for the first time
. Beliveau is voted captain by his teammates Oct. 11, 1961, but a knee injury keeps him out for the first 25 games, and it's not until the Canadiens face the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Forum that Beliveau steps onto the ice as captain for the first time.
Montreal wins 4-1
.

Dec. 6, 1987:
Wayne Gretzky
has his fourth five-goal NHL game
in the Edmonton Oilers' 10-4 victory against the Minnesota North Stars at Northlands Coliseum. Gretzky scores three times in the first period, and once each in the second and third. He also assists on Esa Tikkanen's first-period goal
for a six-point game
.
Dec. 5, 1986:Gretzky becomes
the fifth NHL player with 1,400 points
when he has
three assists in the Edmonton Oilers' 4-2 road victory
against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Gretzky, 25, reaches 1,400 points in 580 games, faster than any of his predecessors:
Gordie Howe
,
Marcel Dionne
,
Phil Esposito
and
Stan Mikita
.

Dec. 4, 1968:Howe becomes
the first member of the NHL's 700-goal club
. He reaches the milestone when he takes a pass from Frank Mahovlich and beats goaltender Les Binkley with a low shot 7:13 into
the Detroit Red Wings' 7-2 victory
against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Civic Arena.
Dec. 3, 1987: The
Boston Bruins retire Hall of Famer Phil Esposito's No. 7
. Ray Bourque has worn No. 7 since entering the NHL in 1978, and there doesn't seem to be anything unusual when Boston's captain skates to center ice to present Esposito with the number he wore while piling up record-setting offensive numbers with the Bruins. Instead, Bourque makes it a night no one in Boston Garden ever will forget when he pulls off his No. 7 jersey to reveal his new No. 77.