20 Things You Could See at an NHL Game in 1985 That Are Gone Forever

December 11, 1985, Chicago Stadium: the Oilers beat the Black Hawks 12-9, and Wayne Gretzky didn't score a single goal in it. That night is the starting point for twenty things that were ordinary at an NHL game in 1985 and are completely gone now, counted down from the Norris Division and the Wales-Campbell All-Star Game to the stand-up goalie, the Gretzky tuck, and Paul Coffey's 48-goal season from the blue line. You'll see how the Black Hawks lost a space in their name, how the home team used to wear white, why referees once skated with their names on their backs, and how a Czechoslovak forward named Petr Klima defected to reach the NHL. It builds to the scoring itself: Gretzky's 215-point season, the Soviet Red Army club touring NHL rinks, and a Canadian team winning the Cup seven years running, numbers nobody has matched or seen since. This is a close look at the rules, names, uniforms and players that made the mid-eighties NHL a different game, set against where it stands today. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 0:39 20. The Norris Division 2:02 19. Wales Versus Campbell 3:21 18. Black Hawks, Two Words 4:36 17. Two Sweaters 5:48 16. The Jofa Helmet 7:03 15. White at Home 8:19 14. No Score on Screen 9:37 13. Coach's Corner 10:56 12. The Gretzky Tuck 12:11 11. The Referee's Name 13:28 10. Stand-Up Goalies 14:45 9. Mike Bossy's Fifties 16:07 8. Best-of-Five 17:22 7. The Defector 18:47 6. Number Ninety-Nine 20:03 5. Paul Coffey's Forty-Eight 21:23 4. A Canadian Champion 22:45 3. The Red Army on Tour 24:13 2. Two Hundred Points 25:30 1. Track-Meet Scoring TAGS nhl 1985, wayne gretzky 1985, edmonton oilers 1985, norris division, nhl history, 1980s nhl, chuck norris division, mike bossy 50 goals, paul coffey 1986, petr klima defection, patrick roy butterfly style, coach's corner don cherry, nhl all star game 1985, red army hockey tour, stanley cup canadian teams, nhl scoring history, old nhl rules, vintage hockey nhl