on this day

on this day in 1918, Georges Vezina recorded the NHL's first ever shut out as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Arenas 9-0. in a season in which 18 of the 36 games (includes the Montreal Wanderers defaulted two games to the Canadiens and Arenas after their arena burned down. their withdrawal from the league came afterwards) had 10 goals scored total and 5 of those games the winning team scored at least 10. Georges Vezina was nicknamed "the Chicoutimi Cucumber" because the Chicoutimi native was cool in the net. that was the era in which the goalies were not allowed to fall to the ice to stop the puck. they got a penalty if they did. sadly he collapsed after starting the first game of the 1925-26 season against the Pittsburgh Pirates (not the baseball team). he wsa diagnosed with tuberculosis and died in March 1926. the Vezina trophy was named after him, first for the goalie who gave up the fewest goals, then for the top goalie voted by the GM'S.