This Day In Hockey History: March 1st

1963 - Ron Francis was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The Hockey Hall of Famer is the NHL's 4th all time leading scorer with 1798 points.

1968 - Parts of the roof blew off the Philadelphia Spectrum. The lengthy repairs forced the Flyers to to play their final month of the season on the road, with their "home" games moved to Toronto, New York, and Quebec City.

1970 - Minnesota North Stars end their team-record 20 game winless streak (0-15-5) with a convincing 8-0 win over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs. Cesare Maniago recorded the shutout for the North Stars.

1977 - Steve Shutt became the 4th player in Montreal Canadiens history to score 50 goals in a season, in the Canadiens' 5-4 win over the Islanders at New York. Shutt joined Rocket Richard, Boom Boom Geoffrion and Guy Lafleur.

1980 - NY Islanders' Ken Morrow made his NHL debut in a 4-3 loss against Detroit. Morrow joined the team after winning a Gold Medal for Team USA in the 1980 Winter Olympics.

1988 - Edmonton's Wayne Gretzky picked up a first period assist to move ahead of Gordie Howe as the NHL's all time leader in career assists. Howe had 1,049 assists in 26 years, Gretzky 1,050 in 9 years.

1989 - Steve Yzerman scored a goal and added two assists to become the 11th player in NHL history to score 60 goals in a season. The Red Wings beat the visiting New York Islanders 6-5.

1992 - The Vancouver Canucks beat the Calgary Flames 11-0 for the biggest win in team history. Kirk McLean got the shutout.

1993 - Pavel Bure scored twice to become the first player in Vancouver history to get 50 goals in a season. The Canucks won 5-2 against the Sabres in a neutral site game played in Hamilton.

1993 - Florida Panthers named Bobby Clarke as the first General Manager in team history. Clarke stayed with the team one season before returning to the Philadelphia Flyers.

1997 - Washington obtained Adam Oates, Bill Ranford and Rick Tocchet from Boston, in exchange for Jim Carey, Anson Carter, Jason Allison, and Washington's 3rd round pick in 1997 Entry Draft (Lee Goren).

2001 - Joe Thornton of the Boston Bruins scores his first career hat trick in the Bruins 3-1 win against the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning.

Happy Birthday to Ron Francis, Max Bentley, Allan Stanley, Pat Boutette, Jocelyn Guevremont, Alex Steen, Paul Haynes, Marcus Nilson, Marc Habscheid, Roland Eriksson, Richard Mulhern, Brian Sutherby, Claude Boivin, Brad Winchester, Billy Coutu and Claude Vilgrain.