Better Late or Never Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ray Bourque

After playing 21 seasons with the Boston Bruins, Ray Bourque requested a trade so that he would have a chance to finally win a Stanley Cup. The Colorado Avalanche picked him up along with forward Dave Andreychuk but the team would be eliminated by the Dallas Stars during the 1999-00 Western Conference final.

The following season, his last in the NHL, Bourque finally got to raise the Stanley Cup. In a Stanley Cup final that went the full seven games, Colorado won the final game 3-1 over the New Jersey Devils.

When Bourque finally raised the Stanley Cup he had played the most regular season and playoff games (1826) in NHL history before finally winning the cup.

Answer: Ed Giacomin

Ed Giacomin became a regular goaltender in the NHL with the New York Rangers during the 1966-67 season when he played in 68 games. By the end of his career, he had played a total of 609 NHL games with 289 wins. He had also played in 65 playoff games but never won the Stanley Cup.

He was a Vezina Trophy winner in 1971 and played in six NHL All-Star games. He was traded to the Detroit Red Wings in 1975 despite anger from the fans. In his first game back in New York, fans cheered his name and booed their own Ranger team in protest of Giacomin's trade. Giacomin would go on to win the game against his former team.

It has been rated by some hockey historians as one of the greatest moments in New York Ranger history.

Answer: Rod Brind'Amour

Following his retirement in 2009-10 NHL season, Brind'Amour was ranked 18th on the all-time games played list. During his career he had played 1484 career games netting 452 goals and 732 assists. He played in the 1992 NHL All-Star game and was the winner of two Selke Trophies.

In 2006, he would win his only Stanley Cup when the Hurricanes defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4 games to 3 in the final.

Answer: Phil Housley

During his illustrious career, Phil Housley was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team, played in seven All-Star games, and eventually was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. At the time of his retirement as a player in 2003 he was the all-time leader in points by an American born NHLer with 1232 points.

The points record would later be broken by American Mike Modano of the Dallas Stars. Unfortunately, he played in 1495 regular season and 85 playoff games in a 23-year career and never got to lift the Stanley Cup.

Answer: Viacheslav Fetisov

In 1989, Fetisov led a group of eight Soviet born players to play in the NHL. At this time, this was strongly discouraged by the Soviet hockey federation and at one point Fetisov was actually threatened to be sent to play hockey in Siberia for putting forth a request to Soviet officials to play in the NHL. On an agreement that Soviet born players must continue to play for the Soviet Union internationally, officials agreed to allow Soviet born players into the NHL. Fetisov had already spent 13 seasons playing in the Soviet Union and was heading into the later stages of his professional career.

By the time he had won his first Stanley Cup in 1996, he was already in his late 30's. In only 546 games in the NHL, he managed to rack up 228 points and in 116 playoff games he scored 28 points.

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2001. Between 1975 and 1991, he had won fifteen gold medals at various international hockey events including the Olympic Games, World Junior Championships, and World Ice Hockey Championships.

He is one of the most decorated Soviet born hockey players of all time.

Answer: Shane Doan

In his rookie season (1995-96) in the NHL, Shane Doan played his first season with the original Winnipeg Jets he scored a mediocre seven goals and a total of seventeen points. He was known more for his toughness and amounted over 100 minutes in penalties that first season.

At the end of his rookie season Winnipeg ceased operations and became the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes where he remained for the final twenty seasons of his career. With the exception of the 2011-12 season, Doan and the Coyotes never made it past the second round in any playoff series.

He retired after the 2016-17 season playing over 1400 games and scoring 972 points during his career. Unfortunately he played on lackluster teams during his career and never won a Stanley Cup.

At the time of his retirement he had lead the Jets/Coyotes organization in career points, goals scored, games played, power play goals, and shots on goal.

Answer: Lanny McDonald

In 1973, McDonald was drafted 4th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs. He played just over six years in Toronto. Between 1976 and 1979 he had three consecutive 40 goals seasons and amounted over 200 points. Due to a rift in the Toronto organization, McDonald was traded to the Colorado Rockies and during the 1980-81 season he tallied 81 points (his only full season in Colorado). During the final stage of his career McDonald was traded to the Calgary Flames in November 1981. During the 1982-83 season McDonald battled with Wayne Gretzky for the goal scoring lead in the NHL but fell short when he amounted 66 goals to Gretzky's 71 goals. During the 1985-86 season McDonald had his first chance to win the Stanley Cup, but the Calgary Flames were outmatched by rookie Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy and the Montreal Canadiens in which Roy won his first Stanley Cup instead.

In McDonald's final season in 1988-89 he only played 51 games during the regular season and in 14 playoff games but helped the Calgary Flames emerge as victors this time over the Montreal Canadiens.

Answer: Gilbert Perreault

Gilbert Perreault was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres during their inaugural season in the NHL 1970-71. He amounted various firsts for the Sabres including the first powerplay goal and first hat trick. Many mistakenly believe he scored the first goal in Buffalo history but this has been attributed to defenseman Jim Watson.

Instead, Perreault is credited with the first game winning goal however during the same game in a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Unfortunately, the only season in which he came close to a Stanley Cup was during the 1974-75 season when the Sabres were eliminated in in six games to the Philadelphia Flyers.

At the time of his retirement in 1986, he was the sixth leading scorer in NHL history and held the record for most games played, goals scored, assists recorded, and overall points in a Buffalo Sabres uniform.

Answer: Luc Robitaille

During his first eight seasons in the NHL all with the Los Angeles Kings, Robitaille scored 40 or more goals and had no less than 84 points in a single season. During the 1992-93 season the Kings made it to the Stanley Cup final against the Montreal Canadiens but lost in five games.

It would not be until the 2001-02 that Robitaille would play for another chance to win the cup. Between 1994-97 he played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers but did not put up the same numbers as he had with the Los Angeles Kings.

He was traded back to the Los Angeles Kings where he played through to the end of the 2000-01 season and had three consecutive 30 goal seasons but the Kings never made it out of the second playoff round in any of those seasons.

In 2001, Robitaille signed a deal with the Detroit Red Wings and it turned out to be a deal that worked in his favor. He would go on to have another 30 goal season and helped lead the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup final. During these finals he played in 23 games and collected 9 points to finally win his first and only Stanley Cup.

He finished out the final two seasons of his career with the Los Angeles Kings (for his third stint with the team) but never saw the playoffs again as a player. Following his retirement, he would win the Stanley Cup again as the president of business operations with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014.

Answer: Marcel Dionne

In 1971, Dionne was drafted second overall by the Detroit Red Wings and would go on to spend his first four seasons there. He would have two 40-plus goal seasons there but the Red Wings never made it to the playoffs. Evidently frustrated, he was traded in a $300 000 deal to the Los Angeles Kings making him the highest paid NHLer of all-time in 1976.

He immediately became the franchise player in the organization and played alongside Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor on what became known as the "Triple Crown Line".

In eleven season with the team, Dionne would have six seasons where he scored 50 or more goals and seven seasons with 100 points or more. It was all for not as never played past the second round of the playoffs in any season and never won a Stanley Cup.

He finished out his final two seasons with the New York Rangers but was not the goal scorer he once used to be officially retiring as a player in 1989.