By John Kreiser @jkreiser7713 / NHL.com Managing Editor —
For most people, Dec. 25, 1971 was a day to celebrate the Christmas holiday with family and friends. For Butch Goring, it was just another day at the rink.
Goring, then a third-year center for the Los Angeles Kings, was among players on 12 of the NHL’s 14 teams who reported for work Christmas night.
As it turned out, he was part of the last games to be played on the holiday: Beginning in 1972, the NHL no longer scheduled games on Christmas (one year after that, it also stopped playing on Christmas Eve), ending a practice that had lasted for decades.
But Goring and his teammates weren’t thinking about that when they took the ice at the Great Western Forum against the California Golden Seals. He remembers that it was difficult to get up for that game.
“It’s a time when you’re not really in the mood to play hockey,” said Goring, now an analyst on New York Islanders telecasts. “You grow up as kids; the 24th, 25th, even Boxing Day in Canada is the 26th. It’s a time to relax and enjoy what you did the night before, recover from what you did the night before. When you grow up with that concept, it’s tough to get yourself in the mood.”
The Kings ended up losing 3-1 to their northern California rivals, with Stan Gilbertson’s empty-net goal becoming the last scored in the NHL on Christmas. The game drew 7,251 fans, less than half the capacity of the Kings’ former home in Inglewood, California.
“Our teams in Los Angeles didn’t draw well anyway,” Goring said. “Playing on Christmas didn’t help.”
One player who didn’t mind working on that Christmas night was California goaltender Gilles Meloche, who made 27 saves, his lone blemish a third-period goal to Juha Widing.
“That was my rookie year; I was 21 years old,” he said. “I didn’t care where I was. I just wanted to be on the ice. Playing on Christmas didn’t matter to me. I was just a kid; to me, it didn’t make any difference. The older guys weren’t happy, but I was just playing the game.”
Not surprisingly, the New York Rangers won their final Christmas game, defeating the Minnesota North Stars 2-1 at Met Center in a game that ended about the time the Kings and Golden Seals were facing off.
No team was more successful when playing on Christmas than the Rangers; beginning in 1927 (a 2-0 win against the Chicago Blackhawks), New York played 38 Christmas games, going 25-11-2. The Rangers had a 16-game unbeaten streak (15-0-1) until a 4-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings in 1950.
That success came despite playing most of their Christmas games on the road. The Rangers’ toughest holiday might have been 1966, when they had to play the Montreal Canadiens at the Montreal Forum on Dec. 24 and the Chicago Blackhawks at Chicago Stadium on Christmas. Amazingly, they won twice, 4-3 in Montreal and 1-0 in Chicago.
“I liked the Christmas Eve game more,” said longtime Rangers forward and Montreal native Rod Gilbert. “My parents were probably at the game, and I had a chance to spend a little time with my family.”
Gilbert, who was single during the years when the Rangers played on Christmas, said that made a difference.
“The fact that I was not with family, directly – I had brothers, nephews, but I wasn’t married — I didn’t have that feeling that it was preventing me from enjoying [the holiday],” he said. “If it made sense to the League and sense to the fans that were at the game for me to entertain them, that was fine. It wasn’t depriving me of anything.
“But I can see now that it would be a problem. … I’m not saying it’s not doable, but it would be difficult. Sometimes there are things that are more important, but when you’re younger, you don’t see it as much. I didn’t have a family, so it didn’t affect me as much as the other guys.”
Goring, who played with the Kings from 1969 until being traded to the Islanders in 1980, said one of the hardest things was the travel. The 1971 game was the only time the Kings were home for a Christmas game; they won 4-3 at Pittsburgh in 1967 and lost 7-1 to the Boston Bruins in 1969. The Kings came to Boston Garden one night after an 8-1 loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Christmas Eve.
“I think the biggest thing is that you end up traveling,” he said. “You’re tired and you’re up late the night before. It’s very, very difficult. I think it’s a little bit easier for the home team because they’re already there and you can spend a little time with your family.
“But I’m glad the way it is now. I think it’s a special time [to spend with] family and kids.”
(Reprinted with permission of NHL.com)
