Darcy Wakaluk Day

December 5 isn't a particularly relevant day when it comes to observed holidays or anything. According to internet lore, the day has been claimed as International Ninja Day, National Blue Jeans Day, and International Volunteer Day, but Haitians claim it as Discovery Day where Christopher Columbus landed on the island back in 1492. While all of those days may be important to some, hockey fans likely don't care about celebrating ninjas or blue jeans, so we need something else to celebrate on today that had a major impact on the game. I feel like the man to the left did something very significant on this day where we should give him some recognition, so I'm crowning today as "Darcy Wakaluk Day" for what he did on this date back in 1987!

Wakaluk was a seventh-round pick our of the WHL where he played with both the Kelowna Wins and Spokane Chiefs. Buffalo chose him with thr 144th-overall pick in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, and they would assign him to the Rochester Americans in 1986-87 after his WHL days. His first professional season wasn't spectacular by any means as he played just 11 games for the Americans while splitting time with the IHL's Flint Spirits. He did show promise, though, as he went 2-2-3 in his 11 games with a 2.86 GAA and a .910 save percentage before playing in five playoff games for the Americans.

The Americans liked what they saw in the small sample size that Wakaluk played behind Daren Puppa and Mike Craig, though, and he was on the Americans' roster to start the 1987-88 season. He wrestled the starting job away from Puppa in Rochester, playing 55 games in '87-88 where the Pincher Creek, Alberta native went 27-15-3 with a 3.45 GAA and an .881 save percentage. While those stats may not sparkle by today's standards, there was one statistic that stood out as Wakaluk made a little hockey history on December 5, 1987.

The Rochester Americans were visiting the Utica Devils that night, and Wakaluk was between the pipes for the Americans. As time ticked down on the Saturday night contest, the Americans found themselves leading 4-2 while killing a penalty. Utica, needing goals, pulled their netminder for the 6-on-4 opportunity, and that's when this moment in Darcy Wakaluk's life and hockey history happened.

You might smile at that goal scored by Wakaluk and think, "Why is this historical, Teebz" to which I'd reply by pointing out that Darcy Wakaluk scored the first goal in AHL history when he did that, but he was also the first goaltender in hockey history to be credited with a goal by shooting the puck down the ice and hitting the net!

You can read Darcy's reaction from the December 7 edition of the Schenectady Gazette where they highlighted Wakaluk's goal.

As you can read above, Wakaluk became the third goalie in North American professional hockey credited with a goal behind New York Islanders legend Billy Smith and former Canadiens netminder Michel Plasse who did it in the Central Hockey League. However, neither of those goalies shot the puck down the ice in their goal-scoring moments whereas you witnessed Wakaluk above shooting the puck the length of the ice to score on Utica.

If you're a Philadelphia Flyers fan, you may also remember that Ron Hextall shot a puck down the ice and scored a goal in 1987 to become the first NHL goalie to score a goal by shooting the puck. Would you believe it if I told you that Wakaluk's goal and Hextall's goal were just three days apart? We go to writer Dick Trust of The Telegraph.

Based on the timeline of events, that makes Darcy Wakaluk's goal the first to be shot by a goalie down the length of the ice for a goal as his came three days prior to Hextall scoring. You might think that Hextall had been influenced by Wakaluk's highlight three days earlier to try and replicate the same thing in the NHL, but the truth is that Hextall had been working on shooting the puck down the ice for some time in practice. Obviously, the conditions have to be just right to pull off a move like this, and Hextall hadn't had the chance to test his goal-scoring skills prior to his goal on December 8 against the Bruins. In short, it was just coincidence that these two goalie goals happened three days apart!

Let the historical records show that Darcy Wakaluk was the first goaltender in AHL to score, and the third netminder to be credited with goal in North American hockey history. Let them also show that Ron Hextall was the second goaltender in the NHL to score, and the first goaltender in the NHL to shoot the puck the length of the ice to score a goal. Finally, let the record show that Darcy Wakaluk's goal three days before Hextall's goal made Wakaluk the first goaltender in North American professional hockey history to fire the puck 180-feet down the ice and light the lamp!

Hockey history is pretty darn awesome, right?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!