This Day In Hockey History: Dec 9th

1924 - Toronto St. Pats signed Clarence "Hap" Day while the youngster was playing at the University of Toronto.

1979 - Rookie Eddie Mio recorded the first shutout in Edmonton Oilers' NHL history (and the first of his first career) in a 3-0 win over the Hartford Whalers, in Edmonton.

1989 - The NHL announced plans to expand from 21 teams to 28 teams within the next decade. The announcement was made by league President John Ziegler at the meeting of the NHL's Board of Governors in Palm Beach, Florida.

1989 - Rangers' John Vanbiesbrouck and Islanders' rookie Mark Fitzpatrick traded shutouts as the Rangers and Islanders played to the first scoreless tie in the rivals' history.

1999 - Herb Brooks was named the new head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, replacing Kevin Constantine.

2003 - Markus Naslund scored his 4th goal of the game 24 seconds into overtime as the Canucks won 4-3 against the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins. It was Naslund's 10th career hat trick.

Happy Birthday to Pit Martin, Petr Nedved, Nick Libett, Bep Guidolin, Dana Murzyn, Germain Gagnon, Nevin Markwart, and Noel Price.