Fantastic Fashions – Gerry Cheevers, Cleveland Crusaders

2007-08 ITG – Gerry Cheevers WHA

In the world of purple hockey uniforms, the Los Angeles Kings get most of the recognition for their classic purple and gold look.  However, in the rival World Hockey Association in the 1970’s, the Cleveland Crusaders and future Hall of Fame goaltender Gerry Cheevers were rocking purple in a big way.

However, despite the presence of Cheevers, the Crusaders stuck to Cleveland tradition by not winning very often.  They were then replaced in Cleveland in 1976 by the NHL’s Cleveland Barons, who really didn’t win very often.  Later, Cleveland was home to the IHL’s Cleveland Lumberjacks and the AHL’s Cleveland Barons and currently, the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters.  And you can see where this is going: none of these teams won very often.

So, the moral of the story is that whether you like purple or not, Cleveland is bad at hockey.

Manly, Magical Mustaches – Dennis Maruk

1981-82 Topps - Dennis Maruk

Interesting things about Dennis Maruk:

-He played in the NHL for the California Golden Seals
-He led the NHL’s Cleveland Barons in scoring in both of their NHL seasons in the late 1970’s
-He was the first Washington Capital to score 100 points in a season
-He was the first Washington Capital to score 60 goals in a season (25 years before that Ovechkin kid)
-He was fourth in the NHL in scoring in 1981-82

He did all this while standing 5 foot 8.  He can grow a Fu Manchu if he wants to.  You try doing all that.