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that a Gordie Howe hat trick is a goal, an assist, and a fight in the same game? The NHL’s second all-time leading scorer, Howe was also an able pugilist who racked up 2,109 regular-season penalty minutes.

How did the expression “hanging from the rafters” originate?

The Detroit Red Wings’ old arena, the Olympia, is said to be the place where the expression “hanging from the rafters” originated. The rink was infamously steep-sided so that fans in the standing-room-only section literally hung from the rafters to see the game better. The Red Wings played their last game in the Old Red Barn on the Grand River on December 15, 1979, against the Quebec Nordiques, tying the match 4–4. Detroit moved into the brand-new Joe Louis Arena that season. The last hockey game played at the Olympia was a Red Wings Old-Timers game on February 21, 1980. The Olympia was demolished in 1986.

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Where did the term firewagon hockey come from?

In the 1950s the Montreal Canadiens won five Stanley Cups (1953, 1956–59) and became known for the kind of high-speed, explosive rushes usually led by superstars such as Maurice Richard and Jean Béliveau. Sportswriters called this kind of playing style “firewagon hockey,” and the Canadiens were associated with it right into the 1970s. By 1979 they added another 11 Stanley Cups (1960, 1965–66, 1968–69, 1971, 1973, 1976–79) to the five they won in the 1950s. Since 1979 the Habs have only won two Cups (1986, 1993).