Today is Hockey Day in America. To celebrate the day in the U.S. of A, NBC and NBCSN are provided nine hours of NHL action.

The Montreal Canadiens hosting the New Jersey Devils is part of their broadcast schedule.

Larry Robinson will be behind the bench, as an assistant coach for the Devils tonight, and had an integral part in a Sunday February telecast by NBC in 1974.

Suffice to say, the second period of the national broadcast between the Canadiens and the Philadelphia Flyers ended in a bit of a tussle. You've likely seen the following clip a few times in the past.

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It can be easily argued that the Hockey Hall of Fame is missing quite a few names on it's wall of enshrined members. The late Pat Burns is one of the most recent that comes to mind. In the player department, one player immediately comes to my mind,and that man is Rogatien "Rogie" Vachon.

A case for Vachon's induction to the HHOF has been made on several occcasions, including those by Robert Lefebvre, Dave Stubbs and Todd Denault.

I first wrote on Rogie's NHL debut on my old site which came on February 18, 1967.

Called up for the Habs farm team in Houston, he 21-year-old rookie would face the Detroit Red Wings, and come out on the winning end with a 41-save performance.

His first stop would be on a breakaway by Gordie Howe, in which Vachon came out to stop the 30-foot shot. "I expected to do it differently," said Howe. "But the kid made a heck of a save. He looks like a pretty good netminder."

"There was no time to be nervous," Vachon said on facing the Red Wings legend. "I just thought about making the stop and not about who it was."

Howe would eventually beat Vachon, and Dean Prentice would be the only other Detroit player to score in the 3-2 win.

Vachon's performance gained praise from head coach Toe Blake. "He'll be up here a long time if he keeps playing like that.," Blake said. "He's very cool and alert. It was a gamble that paid off." The gamble the Habs coach was referring to was playing the rookie over Charlie Hodge.

"I figured I was just here for the ride," Vachon said following the win Saturday night. "I sure got a surprise when the coach told me I was going to start."

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Just last night, Max Pacioretty picked up his first career NHL hat-trick, popping in an empty net goal, as the clock ticked it's last seconds, against the New York Islanders.

The goal was Pacioretty's 22nd of the season, eclipsing any prior personal single-season goal scoring marks in his recent hockey career. Twenty-four hours later the Canadiens forward was a little dumbfounded as he and Josh Gorges greeted autograph seekers in Toronto Friday night. "It still feels kinda weird," he said as he and his teammate welcomed fans, signed autographs and posed for pictures.

Pacioretty's three goal night will be the first of hopefully many in a Habs uniform, and it came on the eve the 40th anniversary of Guy Lafleur notching his third hat-trick of his rookie season on February 10, 1972.

Our astute video man, Francis Bouchard had mentioned this feat a week back, and was able to dig up some video clips of that evening during a 7-1 routing of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Lafleur's rookie season may have been one of the most anticipated in hockey history, leading up to that point. With Jean Beliveau retiring the season prior, Lafleur was deemed the next in line in Canadiens greatness even before he set foot on the ice. Having scored 100-plus goals in two straight seasons with the Quebec Remparts (QMJHL), fans and media were expecting the 20-year-old to bear the torch right out of the gate.

It would take a four season's until that would truly emerge, but watching Francis' compilation gives us an insight into what was expected, and what would eventually become routine at the Montreal Forum and any other NHL barn.

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With this year's NHL All-Star Game held in Ottawa. We thought we'd dig into the archoves and pull up Robert and Francis' look back at one of the Ottawa area's greatest Habs legends.

Aurele Joliat joined the Canadiens in 1922, stayed on scene for sixteen seasons, scored 270 career goals, won a Hart Trophy and three Stanley Cups. He departed from the game, owning several Canadiens team records.

Incredibly, the player who hailed from the New Edinburgh borough of Ottawa, came within a few hundred bucks of becoming an Ottawa Senator one year before his acquisition by the Canadiens!

More on that in a bit.

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For Montreal Canadiens fans in the GTA looking for something to do this week, why not stop by the Powerade Centre in Brampton?

This Wednesday, a team of Habs Alumni will be squaring off against the Osler Crusaders in "Hockey Night For Osler." Game time is 7:30pm, with proceeds going towards the William Osler Health System Foundation's Pediatric Program.

The Crusader's team is made up of doctors, staff & donors of William Osler Health System.

Confirmed Habs Alumni include:

Stéphane Richer, Sergio Momesso, Claude Lemieux, Karl Dykhuis, Gaston Gingras, Mathieu Dandenault, Normand Dupont, Patrice Brisebois, Gilbert Delorme, Gaston Gingras, Guy Carbonneau, Jocelyn Lemieux and Richard Sevigny.

Tickets are $15 plus the $3 Ticketmaster fee. Tickets can also be purchased at the Powerade Centre box office or by calling the foundation at 416-494-2120 ext 32167.

A sledge hockey demonstration will also take place during the game. Local minor hockey clubs have been feverishly selling tickets as well. The PeeWee Canucks sold the most tickets, and their reward is to play the last five minutes of the first period against the former Habs.

Former NHL referee, and Brampton native, Ron Wicks will be on hand to make sure the teams play it fair and square. Other events and raffles are planned, including a chance for a stick signed by all the Habs Alumni.

It will certainly be a worthy event, as this is the first time that the Habs Alumni team has appeared in the GTA for a charity game.

Hope to see you there!

We know there's been a lot of scrutiny by a select group of fans and media, over Scott Gomez's goalless drought this season.

It will be at least one more game, maybe two before the Habs center gets a chance to net a goal this season. Including last season's playoffs, Gomez has gone 49 games without scoring a goal. He's at 11 calendar months and counting, if you'd rather track it this way.

But while Gomez's futility record is one to look at, did anyone seem to care that Canadiens legend Henri Richard went as long without a goal? No, I didn't think so. Perhaps the current No. 11 needs to have a chat wit the legendary No. 16.

On January 10, 1973, The Pocket Rocket scored his first two goals season, and added two assists, snapping a 47-game goal-scoring drought. The two goals came at the expense of the Minnesota North Stars, who were thumped 6-0 by the Canadiens.

His last prior goal came during the regular season, on March 26, 1972, against the Boston Bruins. He went without a goal in the 1972 playoffs.

At the time, Richard was seventh in career active goal scorers. Given his legacy of an already insurmountable 10 Stanley Cups to his name, chances are that Forum fans didn't take out their frustrations on the then 36-year old center. It helped too that he had a list of future Hall of Famers in his supporting roster.

Hockey resume aside however, that would not matter to head coach Scotty Bowman, who was notorious for benching even the best players if he felt they were struggling. Thus Richard found himself on the bench, on several occasions, early on in his new coach's first season.

The total could be off by a game or so, depending on if The Pocket Rocket missed any games due to injury. With an assist from Robert Lefebvre, we do know that the 52-game drought, reported on the Hockey Hall of Fame site, is inaccurate.

But while Richard's goal scoring touch was apparently behind him, his leadership and heart still played an important roll with the club. There was no Corsi, Fenwick or PTO to give his supporters any proof that Richard still belonged with the club, but if there were we'd have to suspect he'd excel.

Richard finished the regular season with 8 goals and 35 assists, but brought it when necessary in the playoffs.

Amidst speculation that the 1973 Stanley Cup Playoffs would be his last, Richard would score six times in the post season, en route to his eleventh Cup. It was his first, and only time to hold Lord Stanley's mug as Canadiens captain. He played two more seasons, scoring 19 goals in the following year, before retiring in 1975.

Of note, that January game was also a birthday celebration for another Canadiens legend, Frank Mahovlich. The Big M celebrated his then 35th birthday that night with two goals of his own. Mahovlich is a healthy 74 years old today.

1934: The Canadiens' Armand Mondou became the first player in NHL history to take a penalty shot. He missed in his attempt against George Hainsworth of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

1949: Maurice Richard scored twice to lead the Canadiens to a 4-2 win against the Maple Leafs.

1960: Dickie Moore scored twice, and defenseman Al Langlois had three assists to lead the Canadiens to a 9-7 win against the New York Rangers.

1974: Henri Richard scored two goals and added three assists to lead the Canadiens to an 11-1 win over the Washington Capitals.

Habs born on this day: Billy Boucher (1899), Bill Sutherland (1934)

1942: Buddy O'Connor had a goal and five assists (including an NHL-record four assists in the third period) in a 10-4 win over the New York Rangers.In that game rookie Maurice Richard scored his first NHL goal. Toe Blake scored twice for the Canadiens, to give him 100 in his NHL career.

1952: Richard scored his 325th career goal, to break the all-time record for career NHL goals, held by Nels Stewart. It came in a 6-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in Montreal. On that same night, Elmer Lach became the 5th player in franchise history to score 200 goals as a member of the Canadiens.

Thanks to Francis Bouchard for finding a clip of Richard's record setting goal.

1969: Jacques Lemaire scored his first career NHL hat trick as the Canadiens won 6-3 against the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.

1978: Ken Dryden recorded his 42nd career shutout as the Canadiens won 6-0 over the Washington.Capitals.

1980: Michel Larocque recorded his 17th (and final) career shutout as the Canadiens won 3-0 over the visiting Los Angeles Kings.

Habs born on this day: Bob Gracie (1910)