This Day In Hockey History: June 1st

1931 - Work began on Toronto's new arena, "Maple Leaf Gardens". The building opened just 165 days later, on November 12, 1931.

1949 - The NHL announced an increase of its regular season schedule from 60 to 70 games.

1976 - In the NHL Amateur draft held in Montreal, the Washington Capitals used the #1 pick overall to select Rick Green.

1979 - Philadelphia's Bernie Parent announced his retirement from the NHL, due to an eye injury.

1982 - Calgary Flames fired head coach Al MacNeil and named Bob Johnson as his replacement. Johnson joined the Flames after a 15 year stint as head coach of Wisconsin University.

1987 - Vancouver Canucks fired head coach Tom Watt. Bob McCammon was later named as his replacement.

1988 - Philadelphia Flyers named Paul Holmgren as their new head coach, the seventh in the team's 22 year history. Holmgren replaced Mike Keenan, to become the first former Flyers' player to coach the team.

1988 - Jean Perron resigned as coach of the Montreal Canadiens.

1992 -Pittsburgh complete sweep of Chicago for a 2nd consecutive Stanley Cup. It was also the first NHL game ever played in June.

1993 - Los Angeles' Wayne Gretzky scored a goal and added three assists and Luc Robitaille scored twice to lead the Kings to a 4-1 win at Montreal, in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

1996 - John Vanbiesbrouck made 39 saves as Florida won 3-1 at Pittsburgh, in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. The Panthers advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals.

2000 - New York Rangers named Glen Sather as their new General Manager.

Happy Birthday to Paul Coffey, Dan Quinn, Morris Lukowich, Ladislav Nagy, Michal Grosek, Murray Baron, Henry Boucha, Leo Reise, Mattias Weinhandl, Matt Halischuk, Vladimir Krutov, Jaroslav Svoboda, Mark Fistric, Larry Zeidel, Serge Boisvert, Jeff Hackett, Michel Plasse, and Mike Dunham.