Today in hockey history saw a mix of significant trades, a franchise cornerstone acquired, and the beginning of a Stanley Cup Final series.
One notable transaction occurred on June 28, 1964, when the Montreal Canadiens acquired a future star goaltender. The Canadiens traded Guy Allen and Paul Reid to the Boston Bruins for Alex Campbell and a 16-year-old Ken Dryden. Dryden would lead the Canadiens to six Stanley Cup championships in eight seasons. The Bruins drafted Dryden with the 14th pick of the 1964 NHL Amateur Draft but traded him a few weeks later. Before turning pro, Dryden played at Cornell University, where he recorded a 76-4-1 record.
In another transaction, on June 28, 1985, the Detroit Red Wings signed undrafted free agent Adam Oates after he completed his college career at RPI. Oates played his first four NHL seasons in Detroit, amassing 54 goals and 199 points. He was later traded to the St. Louis Blues along with Paul MacLean for Bernie Federko and Tony McKegney following the 1988-89 season. Oates retired with 341 goals and 1,079 assists and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012.
On June 28, 1938, the American Hockey League (AHL) was officially formed, marking a pivotal moment for the development of hockey outside the NHL. The newly formed league welcomed the Hershey Bears, who would become the longest-continuous hockey franchise outside of the NHL's Original Six. The AHL was created through the merger of the Canadian-American Hockey League (Can-Am League) and the International Hockey League (IHL), both of which had been established in the 1920s. The league was initially known as the International American Hockey League (IAHL). After their second season in 1940, the IAHL was renamed to the American Hockey League.
The Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens faced off in Game 1 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final on June 28, 2021. The Lightning won the game 5-1, taking an early series lead. Nikita Kucherov recorded his second consecutive 30-point postseason, joining a select group of players including Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jari Kurri, and Mario Lemieux. Cole Caufield of the Canadiens became only the second player in NHL history to play in a Stanley Cup Final and win the Hobey Baker Award in the same season.
Birthdays for notable hockey figures also fall on this day. George Gee, born on June 28, 1993, in Stratford, Ontario, played nine seasons in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings, scoring 135 goals and 318 points in 551 games. He had a career-high 20 goals for Chicago during the 1946-47 season.
