Did They Really Play There?

As unreal as it may seem, Frank Mahovlich played in Alabama.

Yes, the six time Stanley Cup champion turned Canadian Senator best remembered for playing with Toronto, and also starring with Detroit and Montreal and with Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series, finished his Hall of Fame career with the Birmingham Bulls of the WHA.

Here's his Bulls hockey card:

It just doesn't seem right!

For this week's top ten let's take a look at some other players who just never looked right in short stints with teams we often forgot they even played with.

Wayne Gretzky, St. Louis Blues - 31 games in those ugly Blues threads was more than enough.

Reggie Leach, California Golden Seals - I do not know if anyone ever looked right in those ugly jerseys and white skates. But especially not Philadelphia's "rifleman" Reggie Leach.

Jacques Plante, Edmonton Oilers - The most influential if not the greatest goalie of all time will forever be associated with the Montreal Canadiens. He bounced around late in his career, including 8 games with Boston and a season in the WHA with the Edmonton Oilers.

Bobby Hull, Hartford Whalers - I bet you forgot the great Bobby Hull actually ended his career with all of 12 games with the Hartford Whalers.


Grant Fuhr, Calgary Flames - After leading Edmonton to all those victories in the classic Battle of Alberta, seeing Grant Fuhr end his career in Calgary was just plain wrong.


Steve Smith, Calgary Flames - Speaking of just plain wrong, another Oilers legend who wound down his career in Calgary was Steve Smith. I know he scored the most famous goal in Calgary Flames history, but that was while he was still with the Oilers!

Eric Lindros, Toronto Blue Jays - The Big E wanted to play in Toronto so badly that he even tried switching sports!

Bobby Orr, Chicago Blackhawks - The saddest thing about this picture is it never should have happened. Alan Eagleson screwed his biggest client royally.

Wayne Gretzky, Soviet National Team - No, the NHL did not trade The Great One to Russia for Viacheslav Fetisov, as the photo suggests. The two captains exchanged jerseys at the conclusion of Rendez Vous '87. Still, it just does not look right.