The three-day NHL break for Christmas is underway, with teams not returning to the ice until Thursday. For two active players, forwards Matt Calvert of the Colorado Avalanche and Colby Cave of the Boston Bruins, it’s also time to celebrate a birthday.
Calvert (Dec. 24) and Cave (Dec. 26) are two of more than three dozen players who have skated in at least one game since the NHL began play in 1917 and were born on Christmas Eve, Christmas or Boxing Day. All are forwards and defensemen; the closest goaltender to Christmas is Christopher Gibson (Dec. 27), who has played 13 games for the New York Islanders since 2015-16.
Even without a goalie, here’s our All-Christmas team:
Forwards
Norm Ullman (Dec. 26, 1935)
Ullman, one of the most consistent scorers in NHL history, is the only member of the Hockey Hall of Fame born from Dec. 24-26. He had 1,229 points (490 goals, 739 assists) in 1,410 NHL games with the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. Ullman led the NHL with 42 goals for Detroit in 1964-65, when he was named to the First All-Star Team. He was a Second-Team All-Star in 1966-67, his last full season with the Red Wings. From 1956-57 through 1973-74, he had at least 51 points in every season.
Stu Barnes (Dec. 25, 1970)
Barnes played with five teams during 16 seasons in the NHL. Like Ullman, he never played on a Stanley Cup winner, though he did make the Final with the Buffalo Sabres in 1999, when he had 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in 21 Stanley Cup Playoff games. Barnes had four seasons with at least 20 goals, including an NHL career-high 30 with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1997-98, when he finished with 65 points. He was a steady middle-six forward for a longtime, finishing with 597 points (261 goals, 335 assists) in 1,136 games.
Herb Cain (Dec. 24, 1912)
Cain led the NHL in scoring with 82 points (36 goals, 46 assists), then an NHL record, in 49 games for the Boston Bruins in 1943-44, when he was named a Second-Team All-Star. He spent five seasons with the Montreal Maroons and one with the Montreal Canadiens, but his biggest offensive numbers came during his in seven seasons with the Bruins. Cain played on Stanley Cup-winning teams with the Maroons (1935) and Bruins (1941), and finished his NHL career with 398 points (206 goals, 192 assists) in 572 games.
Red Sullivan (Dec. 24, 1929)
Sullivan had a solid 10-season NHL career despite a lack of size (5-foot-11, 155 pounds). His best season came with the New York Rangers in 1958-59, when he had 63 points (21 goals, 42 assists) in 70 games. Unfortunately for Sullivan, his career was divided among the three teams (Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Rangers) who were in the midst of long championship droughts and rarely made the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Sullivan finished with 346 points (107 goals, 239 assists) in 557 NHL games. He also missed the playoffs in all seven of his seasons as a coach (four with the Rangers, two with the Penguins, one with the Washington Capitals).
Jim Dowd (Dec. 25, 1968)
Dowd became the first person born and raised in New Jersey to play for the New Jersey Devils in 1991, when he began his NHL career with them. The Devils were the first of 10 teams he played with before retiring in 2008. His best offensive season was 43 points (13 goals, 30 assists) in 82 games with the Minnesota Wild in 2001-02, but he’s probably best remembered for scoring the winning goal for the Devils with 1:24 remaining in the third period of Game 2 in the 1995 Stanley Cup Final against the Detroit Red Wings, sparking a sweep by the Devils. Dowd finished his NHL career with 239 points (71 goals, 239 assists) in 728 games.
Matt Calvert (Dec. 24, 1989)
Calvert is in his ninth NHL season but first with the Colorado Avalanche, who signed him to a three-year contract July 1. He spent his first eight seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets, who selected him in the fifth round (No. 127) of the 2008 NHL Draft. Calvert has been a reliable bottom-six forward who can score a little; he’s reached double figures in goals four times and had at least 23 points in four of the previous five seasons.
Defensemen
Dmitri Mironov (Dec. 25, 1965)
Mironov was 25 when the Toronto Maple Leafs selected him in the eighth round (No. 160) of the 1991 NHL Draft and spent his first four seasons with the Maple Leafs. He ended up playing for five teams during 10 seasons in the NHL. His best offensive season was 1996-97, when he had 52 points (13 goals, 39 assists) in 77 games, including 46 points (12 goals, 34 assists) for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, who acquired him from the Penguins in an early season trade. Mironov retired in 2001 after spending his final three seasons with Washington, finishing with 260 points (54 goals, 206 assists) in 556 NHL games.
Larry Cahan (Dec. 25, 1933)
Cahan came up to the NHL with Toronto in 1954-55 but spent most of his career with the Rangers during a time when they struggled to make the playoffs. The Oakland Seals claimed him in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, and he had his best offensive season for the first-year team in 1967-68, with 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists) in 74 games. The Canadiens claimed him in the 1968 intraleague draft and traded him to the Los Angeles Kings, where he spent him final three NHL seasons, ending with 130 points (38 goals, 92 assists) in 671 games.
Andy Delmore (Dec. 26, 1976)
Delmore played just three full NHL seasons and part of four others, but he made an impact while he was there. The Philadelphia Flyers signed him as a free agent June 9, 1997. He made it to the NHL in 1998-99 and became a playoff hero for the Flyers in 2000, becoming one of 12 defensemen in NHL history to have a postseason hat trick. He also scored an overtime goal during the 2000 playoffs. The Flyers traded him to the Nashville Predators on July 31, 2001, and he had 16 and 18 goals during the next two seasons. But the Predators traded Delmore to the Sabres on June 27, 2003, and he never played a full NHL season again, spending most of his time in the American Hockey League and some in Europe before retiring in 2012 with 101 points (43 goals, 58 assists) in 283 NHL games.
Noel Picard (Dec. 25, 1938)
Though Picard won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1965, he’s best remembered for his time with the early St. Louis Blues, who selected him in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, and especially for the check that sent Bobby Orr airborne an instant after the Bruins defenseman scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal in 1970. Picard never had more than five goals or 24 points in six seasons with the Blues, but he provided a physical presence and helped St. Louis advance to the Cup Final in each of its first three seasons. He finished his NHL career with the Atlanta Flames in 1972-73, ending with 75 points (12 goals, 63 assists) and 614 penalty minutes in 336 games.
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