The fourth game of the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals ended in a near-riot. In the final minute, Detroit's Eddie Wares drew a misconduct penalty and then a $50 fine for arguing and refusing to leave the ice. Referee Mel Harwood dropped the puck for the faceoff while Wares was still on the ice and promptly called a too-many-men penalty on Don Grosso. Grosso threw down his stick and gloves and was fined $25 by Harwood. At the end of the game Red Wings coach Jack Adams punched Harwood in the face following a profanity-laced outburst as fans booed the officiating and littered the ice with paper, peanuts, and even a woman's shoe. NHL president Frank Calder and referee Harwood were escorted out of the rink under police protection, and Calder suspended Adams indefinitely.

"The Triple Crown Line" combined for 328 points in 1980-81, becoming the first line in NHL history where each player scored 100 points or more in the same season.

Following his final season as an active player in 1981-82, Terry Murray became an assistant coach. He was promoted to the Capitals head coach position in the middle of the 1989-90 NHL season, replacing his brother Bryan. Under Murray's guidance, the Capitals advanced further into the NHL playoffs than ever before, winning two rounds before being swept by Boston in the conference finals.

During World War II, the New York Americans suspended operations due to many of their players entering the armed forces. After the war, the league, with the encouragement of Madison Square Garden management, reneged on a longstanding promise to allow the Americans to return. Red Dutton, the coach and general manager of the Americans, bitterly declared that the Rangers would never win the Cup for as long as he lived. Dutton's Curse apparently worked. When he died in 1987 at the age 88, the Rangers were in their 47th season without having won the Cup.

Jeff Reese played 26 games for the Flames in 1992-93, posting an impressive 14-4-1 record. The highlight of his time in Calgary came on February 10, 1993, when he entered the NHL record book by posting three assists in a 13-1 Flames victory over the San Jose Sharks.

On January 1, 2018, Jordan Greenway was selected to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics, becoming the first African-American named to a US Olympic hockey roster. He's also the first player to play in the Olympic Games, an NCAA tournament, and the Stanley Cup playoffs in the same season.

The face of the franchise, Brodeur had 12 straight seasons of 30 or more victories, and while he briefly played for the Blues at the end of his career, no player is more identifiable as a Devil than No. 30.

After a ten-game losing streak in 2005-06, the San Jose Sharks traded Brad Stuart, Wayne Primeau and Marco Sturm to the Boston Bruins in exchange for star player Joe "Jumbo" Thornton. The trade re-energized the team, and Thornton tallied 92 points in 58 games with the Sharks after the trade, finishing the season with a league-leading 96 assists and 125 points total. He was rewarded with both the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player and the Art Ross Trophy as the league's top scorer.

Nicknamed "The Finnish Flash", Selänne used his elite speed to evade opposition defenders. He is the highest scoring Finnish-born player in NHL history.

The 2004 NHL Rookie of the Year was Boston Bruins goaltending phenom Andrew Raycroft. He had a 2.05 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage in 57 games.