1997-98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Teemu Selanne Jersey

With the kickoff of the NHL season in Europe now an annual event, this year with games in Helsinki, Finland, Stockholm, Sweden and the NHL's first trip to Berlin, Germany, it seems appropriate to feature a jersey worn during the first ever regular season games played outside of North America.

While there is a history of teams playing exhibition or pre-season games, primarily in Europe with one previous instance of games in Japan, for the games to actually count in the regular season standings was something entirely new.

Dubbed NHL Game ONe '97, the NHL season opened on October 3rd and 4th, 1997 with a pair of games held in Tokyo, Japan between the Vancouver Canucks and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

The sold out games were held in the Yoyogi Arena and were part of nearly a week's worth of events which led up to the games, designed to raise the Japanese public's awareness of hockey and increase their interest in the upcoming Winter Olympics, to be held just four months later in Nagano, Japan, which would feature the first wholesale participation of NHL players who were normally unavailable to compete in the Olympics which are held during the middle of the NHL season.

The first game took place on October 3rd, and was won by the Vancouver Canucks and their new captain Mark Messier by a score of 3-2. On a jersey related note, this was the first regular season game for the Canucks new jerseys which featured the Orca logo and their new color scheme featuring blue, which replaced their familiar black and yellow colors.

Scott Walker had the distinction of scoring the first regular season goal outside of North America to open the scoring in the first period, beating the Mighty Ducks goaltender Guy Herbert.

Anaheim evened the score on a goal by Scott Young before Vancouver tied the game on scores from Mark Messier and Pavel Bure. Shawn Antoski got the game winner at 17:22 of the second and the teams played a scoreless third. Kirk McLean got the win and made 32 saves in front of a crowed of 10,500.

Anaheim, designated the home team for the second contest, took the opportunity to debut today's featured jersey, their new white alternates.

Teemu Selanne opened the scoring at 7:42 of the first, only to be equalled by Bure at 15:37.

Tomas Sandstrom would put the Mighty Ducks back in front at 5:19 on the power play but Trevor Linden would respond with a power play goal of his own at 18:01 to tie the score at 2-2 heading into the third.

J. J. Daigneault of the Mighty Ducks would get the game winning goal at 13:38 of the third from Sandstrom and Selanne, which was Selanne's second assist of the game to give him points on all three Anaheim goals. Mikhail Shtalenkov got the win for the Mighty Ducks with 25 saves, including holding off a late Vancouver 6-on-4 advantage, as the Canucks were given a power play and then pulled their goaltender McLean for an extra skater.

The NHL would again return to Japan to open the season with a pair of games in 1998 between the Calgary Flames (who also debuted their new black alternates) and San Jose Sharks and 2000 when the Nashville Predators took on the Pittsburgh Penguins. The league would not venture overseas to open the season again until 2007 for a pair of games in London. Dubbed "NHL Premiere 2007", which were the first regular season games ever held in Europe and featured the renamed Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings.

2008-09 began with two games in Prague in the Czech Republic, where the New York Rangers swept two from the Tampa Bay Lightning, and another pair in Stockholm which were split by the Ottawa Senators and the Penguins.

The NHL returned to Europe in 2009-10 to again play four games, two in Helsinki split by the Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers and again for a pair in Stockholm where the St. Louis Blues swept the Detroit Red Wings.

The NHL Premiere concept was expanded in 2010-11 to three cities for the first time. The Carolina Hurricanes took a pair from the Minnesota Wild in Helsinki, The Columbus Blue Jackets split their two games in Stockholm while future Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins spilt their series with the Phoenix Coyotes in Prague.

While three cities will once again host games to start the 2011-12 season, the format has been altered. October 7th sees the Ducks playing the Buffalo Sabres in Helsinki as the Kings and Rangers face off in Stockholm. The next day, the Kings and Sabres both travel to Berlin while the Ducks will face the awaiting Rangers in Stockholm's second game. With the addition of the Sabres this season, 19 teams will have now taken part in games outside of North America.

Today's featured jersey is a Starter 1997-98 Mighty Ducks of Anahiem alternate Teemu Selanne jersey as worn on October 4, 1997. This jersey features the NHL Game ONe '97 patch, worn by both the Mighty Ducks and Canucks for their two-game series in Tokyo, Japan to open the 1997-98 NHL season.

This was the debut for the Mighty Ducks new white home alternate, which would also be joined by a jade green version of this jersey used as a road alternate, giving them four jerseys to pick from throughout the 1997-98 season.

No chance to ever find any video of the games in Japan I'm afraid, so let's go off the board with these two commercials featuring Teemu from his native Finland for a change of pace.

Teemu says: "This is my thing. This is what I'm good at."

1997-98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Espen Knutsen Jersey

On this date in 1997, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Vancouver Canucks played the first ever regular season game outside North America when they faced off at the Yoyogi Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

It was also the NHL debut for Espen Knutsen, only the third, and the highest scoring ever, player born and trained in Norway.

He began his rise to the NHL back in 1988-89 while playing junior hockey in his native Norway. It was during that season that he made his international debut for Norway with appearances in both the European Junior Championships (scoring 8 goals and 12 points in only 5 games) and the World Junior Championships.

The following season of 1989-90 Knutsen moved up to the Oslo based Vålerenga IF senior team of the Norwegian Eliteserien. His debut season was a spectacular one, scoring 53 points in 40 games from 25 goals and 28 assists. During that season another pair of international appearances were added to his growing resume, scoring 17 points in 6 games at the European Juniors and 9 points in 7 games at the World Junior Championships.

1990-91 saw Knutsen top himself with 54 regular season points, coming in just 31 games, during which he scored 30 goals. He also made his third appearance at the World Juniors that season. During the postseason, he added 7 more points in 5 games as Vålerenga captured the championship.

The 1991-92 season was Knutsen equal his 54 points from the previous campaign, only this time in one less game at 30. He followed that with an outstanding playoff, with 7 goals and 15 points in 8 games as Vålerenga captured back-to-back titles.

Injuries limited him to just 13 games in 1992-93, but he rebounded in 1993-94 with a vengeance, setting a career highs with 32 goals and 58 points, this coming in 38 contests. His international career continued to reach new levels as he was chosen to represent Norway at the 1994 Olympics on home soil in Lillehammer. Later that spring, he made his debut at the World Championships and was eventually named 1994 Norwegian Player of the Year.

Seeking a higher level of competition, Knutsen moved to Djurgardens IF in Sweden's Elitserien for the next three seasons, increasing his point totals from 20 to 33 and then 49. He would also compete for Norway at the World Championships in each of those three years as well.

Despite having been drafted by the Hartford Whalers as far back as 1990, he had remained in Europe the entire time, but with his rights now being held by the Mighty Ducks, he made the jump to North America, where he made his NHL debut at the season opener in Japan. He played 19 games with the Mighty Ducks, scoring 3 goals, but spent the majority of his season with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League after the physical play of the NHL took it's toll on the 168 pound European.

He returned to Djurgardens for the next two seasons, including 1999-00 when he led the club in scoring, finished second in the league scoring race and was the highest paid player in the country.

He was recruited by the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL and returned to North America for a second go. This time things went much better for Knutsen, as he scored 53 points in 66 games, finishing just 3 back of team leader Geoff Sanderson.

While his point totals dropped to 42 in 2001-02, he became the first Norwegian to appear in the NHL All-Star Game when he was added to the World Team as an injury replacement.

After the 2002-03 season, during which he was limited to just 31 games by injuries, he scored 9 points for Norway at the World Championships Division I level in what would be his final international appearance.

Injuries again derailed his 2003-04 season, which was one of turmoil for Knutsen. Early in the season, after just 14 games with Columbus, he was assigned to their top minor league affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. After just two games he left North America and returned to Vålerenga in Norway for one game followed by six games back with Djurgardens in Stockholm.

His final NHL totals were 207 games played, 30 goals and 81 assists for 111 points.

He wrapped up his career in 2004-05 with 15 games in Djurgardens before calling it a career as a player before beginning anew in the world of coaching, where he is now the head coach for his original club, Vålerenga.

Today's featured jersey is a 1997-98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Espen Knutsen jersey as worn on the occasion of his NHL debut for the Mighty Ducks season opening game held in Japan, commemorated by the Game ONe '97 patch worn on the upper right chest of this jersey.

This jersey style certainly raised eyebrows on it's debut in 1993, as only fellow Californians the San Jose Sharks with their teal jerseys debuted two years earlier had ever dared wear such unconventional colors as jade and eggplant in a league filled with blues, reds and blacks with only the occasional appearances of such outlandish colors as green, orange and yellow.

Also quite unusual at the time was the decision to actually use something so bold as a diagonal stripe across the body, but what really had people up in arms was owners Disney naming the team after their recent film "The Mighty Ducks" and choosing by far the most cartoonish, juvenile logo in league history.

All together, the complete package had purists up in arms, many of which never embraced the look even after 11 seasons of use.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 2000-01 Columbus Blue Jackets Espen Knutsen jersey as worn during Knutsen's return to North America for the Blue Jackets inaugural season, which is also commemorated by a patch on the upper right chest.

The Blue Jackets original jerseys were a generally classy style, aside from the head of their cartoon mascot "Stinger" as a secondary shoulder patch, which remained on the shoulders until the Blue Jackets debuted a new alternate jersey in 2003 which saw a brand new logo design for the main crest. In a move to make their brand consistent across all three of their jerseys, the new alternate jersey logo was then used on one shoulder of the home and road jerseys, with a new secondary logo of a Civil War solider's cap on the opposite side, completing the retirement of "Stinger" and upgrading the jerseys look considerably.

Today's video segment is Knutsen royally embarrassing himself by participating in the making of a music video, which is coming back to haunt him years later.

2002-03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Martin Gerber Jersey

On this date in 2002, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim rookie Martin Gerber earned his first NHL victory with a 3-2 overtime win over the visiting Colorado Avalanche. David Aebischer took the loss for Colorado in the first game in NHL history which featured two goaltenders from Switzerland facing each other.

While former Los Angeles King and New York Ranger Mark Hardy was born in Switzerland and technically became the first Swiss born player in the NHL, he was raised in Montreal, Canada and was not a product of the Swiss hockey system.

Conversely, Pauli Jaks was a product of the Swiss hockey system, his lone game in the NHL with the Kings in the 1994-95 season hardly qualifies him as the first successful Swiss player in the NHL either.

That designation must go to Aebischer, a native of Fribourg, Switzerland who was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche off the roster of HC Fribourg-Gotteron in the Swiss National League A. Following his drafting by the Avalanche, Aebischer came to North America and worked his way up from the ECHL to the AHL before making his NHL debut with Colorado in 2000-01 as a backup to Patrick Roy, where he was a member of the Stanley Cup champions, and became the first Swiss player to have his name engraved on the cup.

David Aebischer

He would spend five seasons with Colorado, including becoming the Avalanche's number one goalie with 62 games played in 2003-04. He was subsequently traded to the Montreal Canadiens, where he played 32 games in 2006-07 and has subsequently returned to his native Switzerland where he currently plays for HC Lugano.

Aebischer has been a mainstay for the Switzerland National Team, having appeared in the World Junior Tournament in 1997 and 1998, where he won a bronze medal and was named the Top Goaltender, the World Championships in 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006 and 2007 as well as the Olympics in both 2002 and 2006.

Michel Riesen was also one of four Swiss players to debut in the same 2000-01 season, with a dozen games with the Edmonton Oilers in 2000-01, but quickly returned to Switzerland to continue his career. Reto Von Arx also tried his luck in North America following seven pro seasons in Switzerland, eventually playing 19 games with the Chicago Blackhawks before also returning to HC Davos back home. The fourth Swiss player to debut that season was Thomas Ziegler who registered five games with the Tampa Bay Lightning that same season before continuing his career with SC Bern.

Reto Von Arx

Gerber was the next Swiss arrival in 2002-03. Drafted in the eight round 232nd overall, Gerber was a longshot to make the NHL, but spent a year in Sweden before two seasons with the Mighty Ducks. Coming out of the NHL lockout of 2004-05, Gerber signed with the Carolina Hurricanes and went 38-14-6 in 60 games, but lost the first two games in the playoffs after returning from an intestinal flu and was replaced by rookie Cam Ward, who led the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup, making Gerber the second Swiss player to lift the cup, only not as the number one goalie he had been during the regular season.

With the emergence of Ward, Gerber found on the move and signed as a free agent with the Ottawa Senators. He would spend 2 1/2 seasons with Ottawa before being dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs where he would appear in 12 games in 2008-09. Without an NHL contract for 2009-10, Gerber moved over to the Russian KHL with Atlant Moscow. He signed with the Edmonton Oilers for the 2010-11 season, but did not make the parent club out of training camp and currently is playing for their top AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City. His 226 NHL games played currently ranks second all-time for Swiss trained players.

Martin Gerber

Julien Vauclair made a token appearance with one game with the Senators in 2003-04 followed by Timo Heibling's 11 games divided between the Tampa Bay Lightning (9 games) in 2005-06 and the Washington Capitals (2) in 2006-07.

Arguably the most successful Swiss player in the NHL also arrived in the 2005-06 season in the form of Mark Streit. Following three seasons with HC Davos in Switzerland, the undrafted Streit came over to North America and try is luck, rising as high as the Springfield Falcons of the AHL, but failed to crack the NHL and returned the following season to play with the ZSC Lions in Switzerland for four seasons before being drafted by the Montreal Canadiens 262nd overall in the ninth round. To date, four players from that draft have played in the NHL All-Star Game, #1 Alexander Ovechkin, #2 Evgeni Malkin, #29 Mike Green and Streit taken at #262!

Streit remained in Switzerland one more season following being drafted and then made his NHL debut with Montreal in 2005-06 after the resolution of the NHL lockout. The defenseman played three seasons in Montreal, including a career high of 62 points in 2007-08, a high for Swiss players in the NHL. He signed a five year contract with the New York Islanders in 2008, but has undergone shoulder surgery which may force him to miss the entire 2010-11 season. His 361 games leads all Swiss players in NHL history.

Mark Streit

Internationally, Streit has played in two World Junior Championships in 1996 and 1997, ten consecutive World Championships starting in 1998 and the Olympics in 2002 and both the 2006 and 2010 Olympics as captain of the Switzerland National Team. In 2006, Streit scored the game winning goal against the Czech Republic and then helped shut out Canada 2-0 two days later.

Patrick Fischer (27 games with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2006-07), Tim Ramholt (1 game with the Calgary Flames in 2007-08), Tobias Stephan (11 games with the Dallas Stars between 2007-08 and 2008-09) and Yannick Weber (8 games with Montreal in 2008-09 and 2009-10) have all tried to become NHL regulars, but the most recently successful Swiss player is another goaltender, Jonas Hiller of the Anaheim Ducks, who made his NHL debut in the 2007-08 season.

Hiller appeared in 23 games that first season and raised that amount to 46 in 2008-09 before becoming the undisputed number one goalie for the Ducks when he made 59 appearances in 2009-10, which included 30 wins that season and became only the fourth Swiss-trained player to surpass 100 games in the NHL.

Jonas Hiller

In 2010, Nino Niederreiter was selected fifth overall by the New York Islanders, making him the highest drafted Swiss player ever following his impressive showing at the 2010 World Junior Tournament, in which he scored the tying goal in the last minute of regulation against Russia before winning the game for Switzerland in overtime. Niederreiter made the Islanders roster out of training camp and made his NHL debut on October 9th and scored his first NHL goal against the Washington Capitals on October 13th.

Nino Niederreiter

Today's featured jersey is a 2002-03 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Martin Gerber jersey as worn in the first NHL game to feature two Swiss goaltenders opposing each other in goal, a game won by the Mighty Ducks in which Gerber was the winning goalie.

The Mighty Ducks wore this style jersey from their debut in 1993 through 2006, with the only changes being the addition of secondary shoulder patches in 1996.

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 2004 Switzerland National Team Martin Gerber jersey as worn in the 2004 World Championships.

Switzerland's finest days in hockey, defeating first the Czech Republic and then Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

On being Swiss in the NHL.

1996-97 CSKA Moscow Alexei Kasatonov Jersey

Born on this date in 1959 in what was then known as Leningrad in the Soviet Union, Alexei Kasatononv played seven seasons in the NHL following a 15 year career in the Soviet Elite League.

His career began with SKA Leningrad in 1976-77 for two seasons after which the defenseman moved to CSKA Moscow, known more commonly to North American's as the Soviet Central Red Army Hockey Club, where all the finest players in the Soviet Union migrated towards.

Kasatonov played for CSKA Moscow from the 1978-79 season through 1989-90, winning 11 consecutive Soviet League Championships from 1979 to 1989 and 12 consecutive European Cups. While a member of Red Army, he scored a high of 18 goals in 1984-85 and a best 27 assists and 39 points in 1981-82 in a league where the season was between 40 and 50 games long.

Kasatonov with CSKA Moscow

As a member of CSKA Moscow, he was also a long-time member of the Soviet National Team, which naturally was primarily comprised of players from the most dominant club in the land. While playing for his country, Kasatonov won gold medals at the World Championships in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1986 and 1989 and a silver medal in the 1980 and gold medals in both the 1984 and 1988 Olympics as a member of the famed "Green Unit" with Slava Fetisov, Sergei Makarov, Igor Larionov and Vladimir Krutov.

The "Green Unit"

Following the conclusion of the 1989-90 Soviet season, Kasatonov was allowed to join the New Jersey Devils of the NHL, where he would be reunited with former Red Army teammate Fetisov for the second half of the NHL sechedule. Kasatonov's first NHL season comprised 39 games in which he scored 6 goals and 21 points while acclimating to life in North America, which was often a difficult proposition for Soviet players in those days.

The NHL game agreed with Kasatonov though, and he scored 41 and 40 points the next two seasons while playing 78 and 76 games, with 14 additional playoff games added on, for a total of 168 over two seasons, when compared to the perhaps 120 he was accustomed to. He was limited to 64 games and saw his point total drop precipitously to just 17 in 1992-93, which saw the 34 year old left unprotected in the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft and subsequently claimed by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

Kasatonov played 55 games for the Mighty Ducks and appear in the 1994 NHL All-Star Game prior to being traded to the St. Louis Blues in late March of 1994 wher he would play just 8 games with the Blues.

He returned to CSKA Moscow for nine games during the work stoppage of 1994, and once the NHL season began, he began play with the Boston Bruins, with whom he had signed as a free agent. The following season Kasatonov played 19 games with Boston and 16 games with Providence of the AHL.

He returned to Russia for one last season with CSKA Moscow in 1996-97 before his retirement as a professional.

HIs final NHL totals were 38 goals and 122 assists for 160 points in 383 games, and combined, he scored 200 goals and 627 points in 1128 games.

Kasatonov was named a "Honored Master of Sport" in Russia and was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2009.

Kasatonov's induction to the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2009

Today's featured jersey is a 1996-97 CSKA Moscow Alexei Kasatonov jersey. This jersey is from Kasatonov's final season when he returned to Russia following the conclusion of his NHL career. Note the name on the back in Cyrillic lettering.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the government funding of the team disappeared and the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL entered into a business partnership with the club, which was often referred to as "the Russian Penguins" during this time period as a penguin was integrated into the club's identity. The deal with Pittsburgh, who were to run the club's arena and hoped to benefit by having better access to new Russian talent, was short lived due to, among other things, interference by the Russian Mafia, who liked to attend games while sitting in the corporate sponsor's "super boxes"after kicking them out behind the authority of a sawed off shotgun!

Bonus Jersey: Today's bonus jersey is a 1993-94 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Alexei Kasatonov jersey as worn during the Mighty Ducks inaugural season in which Kasatonov played 55 games before being traded to the St. Louis Blues.

In today's video segment, a look at Kasatonov's career and his life after retiring from hockey, which includes coaching hockey in America.

Here, Kasatonov discusses the "Miracle on Ice" 25 years later.

Finally, while playing for the Soviet National Team, Kasatonov scores against Grant Fuhr and the NHL All-Stars during Rendez-Vous '87.

1995-96 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Paul Kariya jersey

Todays Curious, Weird and Ugly™ Collection jersey is the single most embarrassing jersey to ever see the ice in an NHL game.

The 1995-96 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim alternate jersey was one of the original five alternate jerseys in the NHL. Doing away with the traditional main logo crest, the Mighty Ducks used the dye-sublimation process to create a unique design picturing not the team's logo, but an embarrassing cartoon of it's mascot, Wild Wing, bursting through the ice in a superhero pose.

The team only made matters worse with its choice for the name and numbers, the cartoonish, unattractive and difficult to read font, Mistral.

The jersey, dubbed "The Wild Wing Jersey" almost always ranks first or second in "worst jersey" lists due to it's embarrassing cartoon "logo" design, horrible font and trendy non-hockey color for the jerseys. The players hated being seen wearing them and, as a result, the jersey only had a life span of six games before being shelved for good. The game dates were 1/27/96 vs. Los Angeles (who wore their Burger King jerseys, making for the single most visually appalling game in league history), 2/2/96 vs. the Hartford Whalers, 3/3/96 vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3/8/96 vs. the Buffalo Sabres, 4/3/96 vs. the Edmonton Oilers and one final time on 4/12/96 vs. the Dallas Stars, going 3-2-1 in those games.

We've even read an account that the players said theydid not want to wear them for a second season and additionally did not want any pictures of them wearing the jersey in the following year's Mighty Ducks media guide!

Little is known about who was involved in the development of the Wild Wing and what their thought process was. Apparently no one wants to take credit for being responsible for the worst jersey in NHL history, but you can safely bet that non-hockey people at Disney had a large part in such an unconventional approach to hockey sweater design.

As a result of it's short period of use, there were no additional patches worn on this jersey, not that you would be able to pick one out among all the visual noise of the design anyway.

This jersey must be classified as "Weird" and "Ugly". If it weren't for then owner Disney's involvement with the jersey, we'd include "curious", but with Disney involved, there's no curiosity as to where this monstrosity came from. We will also allow ourselves a bit of leeway in the case of this especially horrid jersey and also classify it as "Stupid".

In all honesty, if you strip away the cartoon logo and font used, the jersey pattern of the pointed shoulder area, similar to the current Penguins home jerseys of the day, and sleeve striping is a good base from which to work from. But the accolades stop there.

The primary jade color of the jersey was just too trendy, too "California", to embrace. The font was thin and reedy and much too busy for it's own good. The secondary logos were hard enough to live with on the home and road jerseys for traditionalists, but the front of the jersey?

It's the stupidest thing we've ever seen on an NHL jersey, bar none.

Here is the all-time greatest photo of the Wild Wing jersey, as Teemu Selanne imitates the design on the front of the jersey with his arms in the air and stick raised. The only thing missing is the hole in the ice below him!

Our video section begins with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim debuting their new "Wild Wing" jerseys against the Los Angeles Kings, who were wearing their awful "Burger King" jerseys for the first time during same game.

Next, a goal by Paul Kariya while the Worst Dressed Game in NHL History™ continues.

That wraps up our trip through the "Curious, Weird and Ugly" Collection for this year. There are other jerseys that certainly qualify, most specifically the Atlanta Thrashers alternates of 2003-04, or the Todd McFarlane designed Edmonton Oilers alternates of 2001-02, the New York Islanders road construction workers vests of 2002-03, the Vancouver Canucks color fading alternates of 2001-02 or the Philadelphia Flyers alternates of 2002-03 as well as nearly anything and everything from the Reebok Edge Uniform System™ (9% less wind drag, 14% lighter and 50% more expensive!). Many also mention the Calgary Flames "Flaming Horse Head" alternates of 1998-99, but we happen to think those are pretty cool and refuse to add them to the discussion.

The most recent entry in the collection, confirmed by any search on the internet for "ugly hockey jerseys", is the Montreal Canadiens 1912-13 throwbacks worn last year to celebrate the Canadiens 100th anniversary which were most often compared to prison uniforms. They were scheduled to wear them twice, but then coach Bob Gainey opted to skip their second scheduled appearance due to the reaction to them after the first time and go with the more traditional 1916 jerseys instead.

There could also be a book written about some of the "Hideous, Stupid and Embarrassing" jerseys that have been forced on unsuspecting minor league hockey players over the years, but the vast majority of those are one time only jerseys that are outlandish on purpose in order to generate some publicity for the clubs, unlike the strange and weird NHL jerseys I've chronicled that were meant to be taken seriously only to suffer the unanticipated backlash from both the fans and the media.

If you have any nominees for inclusion in the "Curious, Weird and Ugly" Collection, feel free to add your thoughts in the comments section below.

1998-99 Mighty Ducks of Anahiem Teemu Selanne Jersey

On this date in 1998, the NHL Board of Governors announced the creation of the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy to be awarded to the NHL's leading goal scorer every season.

While Richard never won the Art Ross Trophy as the leading point scorer during his career, he did lead the league in goal scoring on five occasions, was the first player in NHL history to score 500 goals and captured the attention of the hockey world when he became the first player to ever score 50 goals in 50 games.

Maurice Richard with the trophy named in his honor

The trophy, donated by his former club the Montreal Canadiens, was first awarded to Teemu Selanne of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, whose 47 goals were three more than his closest pursuers. 1998-99 would actually be the third time Selanne would lead the league in goal scoring, having scored an amazing 76 goals as a rookie in 1992-93 and topped the league the year before with 52. Selanne had also previously won the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year following his record-shattering rookie campaign and later added the Masterton Trophy in 2006.

Pavel Bure, then of the Florida Panthers, took home the award the following two seasons with first a dominating 58 goals, 14 more than anyone else, in 1999-2000 and retained the award with 59 goals the following season.

The Calgary Flames Jarome Iginla won his first Richard Trophy after scoring 52 goals to win the goal scoring title by 11. He was followed by the Colorado Avlanche's Milan Hejduk's 50 goals in 2002-03.

The league-wide emphasis on defensive play, the tolerance of obstruction combined with the increasing size of goaltender equipment reached it's peak in 2003-04 when the league leaders in goals were limited to 41 goals, the lowest winning total in the 12 year history of the award.

Three players shared the award that season, Iginla for the second time, Russian Ilya Kovalchuk of the Atlanta Thrashers as well as the 19 year old Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Rick Nash and Jarome Iginla accept their award in 2004

Following the NHL lockout of 2004-05, rule changes were instituted to eliminate obstruction and limit the size of goalie gear and the resulting increase in goal scoring was immediate, with Jonathan Cheechoo of the San Jose Sharks benefitting from not only the new rules package, but the mid-season acquisition of playmaker Joe Thornton from the Boston Bruins, won the award with 56 goals, double his total of 28 in 2003-04.

Vincent Lecavalier of the Tampa Bay Lightning set a career high with 52 goals on his way to the goal scoring title in 2006-07 the year prior to the third Russian to win the award, the dynamic Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, who won back to back titles, first with 65 goals in 2007-08, the highest total since the inception of the Richard Trophy, and backed that up with 56 in 2008-09.

Most recently, the Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby broke through with his first title with 51, which he shared with the impressive second year player Steve Stamkos of the Lightning, who equalled Crosby's goal total of 51.

Today's featured jersey is a 1998-99 Mighty Ducks of Anahiem Teemu Selanne fourth jersey, as worn during the season Selanne's 47 goals won the inaugural Richard Trophy.

Third, or "alternate", jerseys were first introduced to the NHL in 1995-96, with the Mighty Ducks first alternate jersey being the disastrous "Wild Wing" jersey, abandoned after only six wearings. The Mighty Ducks reentered the alternate jersey program in 1997-98 with a white jersey (first worn during one of their opening pair of games in Japan) and for good measure produced today's featured jersey, a jade version of the white jersey. It was the first time in NHL history that a team had a fourth different jersey to pick from.

This jade fourth jersey was worn for just two seasons before being retired. Selanne was the NHL's leading goal scorer both of the two seasons this jersey was used, including winning the inaugural Rocket Richard Trophy in 1999.

Our video section today begins with a look at the legendary Rocket Richard.

Our next video is Alexander Ovechkin accepting his Richard Trophy in 2009.

Here is an interview with 2010 Richard Trophy winners Stamkos and Crosby.

1996-97 Mighty Ducks of Anahem Frank Banham Jersey

On April 13, 1998, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim's rookie Frank Banham scored his seventh goal of the season on a tap in at 13:44 of the third period against goalie Patrick Roy to tie their game with the Colorado Avalanche at 2-2. The game would end in a tie.

Frank Banham of the Mighty Ducks

Two days later rookie Matt Cullen opened the scoring of the Mighty Ducks game against the Edmonton Oilers at 17:29 of the first period. Czech rookie Josef Marha scored his eight goal of the season at 11:11 of the second period to extend the Mighty Ducks lead to 2-0 before the Oilers would respond with four straight goals prior to rookie Banham pulling the Mighty Ducks within one at 8:36 of the third period when he scored his eighth goal of the season. The Oilers would seal the game with an empty net goal to win 5-3.

On April 18th, the Mighty Ducks traveled to Los Angeles to face the Kings. Another Czech, rookie Pavel Trnka netted his third goal of the season on the power play at 17:28 of the first period. 83 seconds later rookie Mike Crowley scored his first NHL goal at 18:51 to widen the margin to two goals. A little over halfway through the second period Banham scored a goal in his third consecutive game to give the Mighty Ducks a 3-0 lead. The Kings scored on the power play in the third before rookie Marha's ninth goal of the season accounted for the final 4-1 score.

The final game of the regular season came on this date in 1998 with St. Louis visiting The Pond. Rookie Crowley, from the University of Minnesota, got the Mighty Ducks on the board with his second goal of the year with 2:40 remaining in the first period. It was the ninth consecutive goal scored by Mighty Ducks rookies over a span of four games.

After a St. Louis goal in the second period, Travis Green got the Mighty Ducks veterans on the board to end the rookie scoring streak at 9:27 of the second. Rookie Jeff Nielsen, also from Minnesota, scored the final Anaheim goal of the regular season with his fourth with 2:50 left in the game to make the score 4-3 for St. Louis.

Cullen has now played 12 NHL seasons and is currently with the Ottawa Senators, his fourth NHL club.

Banham played 32 NHL games, 27 with Anaheim and five with the Phoenix Coyotes, scoring nine goals and 11 points. He has played the majority of his career in Europe, spending time in Finland, Russia, Switzerland and primarily the Austrian league where he continues to play today.

Marha originally played for the Colorado Avalanche, the Mighty Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks over six seasons, totaling 159 games and 53 points prior to finding a home with Davos in Switzerland, where he just completed his ninth consecutive season.

Nielsen played two full seasons with Anaheim followed by 59 games with the Minnesota Wild to finish his career with 252 games played.

Trnka played six seasons with the Mighty Ducks before a trade to the Florida Panthers. He returned to his native Czech Republic where he continues to play.

Crowley made it into 67 games with Anaheim over three seasons before his playing days concluded in the 2001-02 season with the Houston Aeros of the AHL.

Today's featured jersey is a Nike 1996-97 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Frank Banham jersey.

The Mighty Ducks wore four jerseys in 1997-98, their normal home white and road eggplant jerseys. They also re-introduced a third jersey to their set following the disastrous "Wild Wing" jersey of 1995-96. The new alternate jersey used the standard team logo on the front of a white jersey with full length sleeve stripes and a new number font.

Boldly, the Mighty Ducks also produced a fourth jersey, reversing the colors of the third jersey, promoting jade to the primary color. The fourth jersey would see use for two seasons, while the white third jersey would be used for three seasons, the final one seeing a change in manufacturer to Pro Player.

As has happened before, today's video section illustrates how a player who fails to crack an NHL lineup, or is a journeyman at best, can move to Europe and have a long, successful career has a professional hockey player.

Case in point, Frank Banham, whose 32 games make him all but forgotten in NHL terms. Banham, with a total of nine NHL goals and 11 points, is considered to be "a sniper" while with with the Espoo Blues in Finland, where he scored 24 goals in 56 games in 2000-01.

Now playing with the Slovenian club Ljubljana Olimpija HK, which competes in the Austrian Erste Bank Hockey League, he electrifies the crowd with this game winning, spin-o-rama, backhanded goal, captured clearly on the replay.

2004-05 saw Banham play for SaiPa Lapeenranta in Finland, scoring 24 goals and 49 points in 56 games, captured here is this highlight reel.

While with Red Bull Salzberg he was a part of back to back Austrian championships in 2007 and 2008 and inspired a devoted following, as evidenced by this tribute video.