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The Cache is NOT at the posted co-ordinates. To find this cache you will have to solve the puzzle. Hidden within the puzzle are the co-ordinates for the cache. The cache itself should not be hard to find once you have the co-ordinates. Please log all attempts at solving the cache so I can adjust the difficulty level if needed. Have fun!
Our family loves hockey and so we wanted to make a hockey themed cache. The majority of the trade items are hockey themed but there is also other small items. Please stay with the theme and trade hockey items for the same. There is a FTF prize of a Tim Hortons card and could the first to find please start the "Canadian Hockey Travel Bug" off on its journey.
Now for the puzzle and some great hockey history:
Bobby Orr, now I do not think that anyone that lived in Canada growing up has not heard of him. He is widely known for revolutionizing the defenseman position in the NHL and is easily one of the greatest NHL players of all time. The Boston Bruins signed him from Bantam at age 14. He would not be able to play for the Bruins until he was 18 though, and played for the Oshawa Generals until then. He would play for the Boston Bruins for 10 years until ending his career with the Chicago Blackhawks after the 1978/79 season. During his time with the Bruins he would lead the team to 2 Stanley Cups, scoring the clinching goal both times. One of those goals, known as “The Goal”, scored on May 10th 1970 against the St. Louis Blues, would become one of the most famous goals of all time. He also won 8 straight Norris Trophies,3 Hart Trophies, and 2 Art Ross Trophies and I believe is still the only defenseman to win a scoring title. He continues to hold the record for the most points by a defenseman in a single season (139). In just 657 games he would score 270 goals and 915 total points, which is amazing for a defenseman.
“Mr. Hockey” really needs no introduction either, as Gordie Howe is definitely one of the greatest of all time. He was known for his scoring prowess, physical strength, and of course his temper. The “Gordie Howe Hat Trick” consisted of a goal, an assist, and a fight in a single game. He played back in the day when a straight stick would benefit him the most, as he was ambidextrous. He started his career in Detroit with the Red Wings and would win 4 Stanley Cups, 6 Hart Trophies and 6 Art Ross Trophies. He would stay in Detroit most of his career but would finish with the Hartford Whalers after the 1979-1980 season. During his career he would rack up 801 goals, 1049 assists and 1685 penalty minutes. He currently is 3rd on the all-time points list.
Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion, also a hall of famer, was one of the main innovators of the slap shot and helped make the slap shot into what it is today. Some believe he invented the slap shot. He actually received his nickname “Boom Boom” because of his explosive shot. He began playing in the NHL in 1951 for the Montreal Canadiens and would play for that team for 14 years before ending his career with the New York Rangers. He was the 2nd player in NHL history to score 50 goals in a season. Along with a few other superstars on the “Habs” he helped them win 6 Stanley Cups. He was well known for playing through injuries and broke his nose 6 times and had over 400 stitches during his career. He even requested that a cast be cut off once so he could play. He would end his career with 822 points, 393 goals, a Calder Memorial Trophy, 2 Art Ross Trophies, and one Hart Memorial Trophy.
Who can forget Lorne “Gump” Worsley. He would get his nickname from friends saying he looked like Andy Gump from the comic strips. A great junior career preceded his signing with the New York Rangers in 1952. That same year he would win the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year despite playing for the last place New York Rangers. He would miss the following season due to a salary dispute, but would come back and play for the Rangers for another 9 seasons until being traded to the Montreal Canadiens in 1963. He would win 4 Stanley Cups with the “Habs” and in 1968, after winning the Vezina Trophy for the regular season, would go undefeated for 11 straight games in the playoffs. He would actually finish his career with the Minnesota North Stars and retire after the 1973-74 season. He would finish his career with 335 wins, 43 shutouts, and a GAA 2.88. He was the 2nd to last NHL goalie to NOT wear a mask and would only wear one for the last 6 games of his career. A reporter once asked him why he did not wear a mask, his answer “My face is my mask”.
Another defenseman who would ‘light’ up the league was none other than Denis Potvin. He would be drafted 1st Overall by the New York Islanders in 1973. His first year he would resurrect the last place team and win the Calder Trophy. He would play his entire career with the Islanders and play in over 1000 games for the team. During his career he would help the Islanders to 4 straight Stanley Cups. He would also become only the second defenseman to score over 100 points in a season. He won the James Norris Memorial for best defenseman 3 times. He would retire with 310 goals, 742 assists, and 1052 points. He had outstanding playoff numbers with 56 goals, 108 assists, and 164 total points and would retire as the leader in those playoff categories.
Jacques Lemaire has had quite a career, first as a player then as a Manager and Coach. He would start playing for the Red, White and Blue Canadiens in the 1967-68 season. He would play his entire career with Montreal winning a total of 8 Stanley Cups. He is one of only 6 players to have scored 2 Stanley Cup winning goals. He would play a total of 12 seasons for the “Habs”, and would score 20 goals in each of them. He retired after the 1978-79 season with 366 goals, 469 assists, and 835 total points. He had a very fast slap shot and claimed to have practiced shooting a steel puck. His playing career over, he would then win 3 more Stanley Cups; 2 as the Assistant Manager of the Montreal Canadiens and one as the Coach of the New Jersey Devils. He would also win a Gold Medal in the 2010 Olympics as the assistant coach of Team Canada.
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I have been a hockey fan for a very long time. For some reason when I was young I started cheering for the Quebec Nordiques, but I am not really sure why. In 1995 the franchise moved to Denver and became the Colorado Avalanche. I continued to cheer for the original “Northmen” but started to gradually cheer more and more for the Vancouver Canucks. At this time I said to myself that if the Canucks ever got a top tier goalie, that I would switch allegiances to Vancouver for good. That happened on June 23rd, 2006, when Vancouver traded for Roberto Luongo(Luuuuuu) from the Florida Panthers. He has been nothing short of spectacular in a Canucks Jersey and for the Canadian Olympic Team in 2010. He was originally drafted 4th overall by the New York Islanders, and was traded to Florida on June 24th, 2000. He is the first goalie team captain since the 1947-48 NHL season.
My favourite player of all time was none other than Joe Sakic (Burnaby Joe), who was drafted in Round 1(15th overall) by the Quebec Nordiques in 1987 and played for the Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche until his retirement on Jul 9th, 2009. He racked up impressive stats during his tenure as one of the elite forwards in the NHL and will most certainly be inducted into the National Hockey League Hall of Fame. During his career he led the Avalanche to 2 Stanley Cups, won the Conn Smythe, Hart Memorial, Lady Byng Memorial trophies and the Lester B. Pearson award. He was known as having one of the most feared wrist shots ever in the NHL, as well as being one of the strongest team leaders in league history. At the conclusion of his career, he was ranked eighth all-time in the NHL with 1641 points, 14th all-time with 625 goals and 11th all-time with 1016 assists.[6] In the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, he helped lead Canada to its first men’s gold medal in 50 years and was voted the tournament’s most valuable player.
One of the first European players to pave the way for many more exciting players to come was none other than B?rge Salming or “The King”. On May 12, 1973 he was drafted as a free agent by the Toronto Maple Leafs and then would become one of the top defensemen of his time. In his first game in the NHL he was named the “Best Player of the Game”. During his 16 years with the Maple Leafs he would amass 148 goals and 620 assists. In one of those games he would be knocked down and then cut by Gerard Gallant’s skate on his face and have more than 200 stitches. After his tenure with the Leafs he would play one more season with the Detroit Red Wings before retiring from the NHL. He would finish his career with 150 goals and 637 assists. He still holds most career points and goals by a Leaf defenseman. He would be the first Swedish player inducted into the NHL Hockey Hall of fame in 1996.
Many may not remember him, but Ace Bailey was the first NHL Player to have his jersey number retired. He was one of the first players ever to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. During the Leafs first season, he would lead the NHL in goals with 22, and in points with 32. He would almost get the scoring title a second time the following season and just missed it by one point. In 1932, he would help the Maple Leafs win a Stanley Cup. Unfortunately on December 12, 1933 he would get hit from behind by Eddie Shore of the Boston Bruins and suffer a severe head injury. He would never play in the NHL again but survived the injury.
Mr. Devil, as he often referred, played a total of 1283 games(the franchise record) for the New Jersey Devils from 1983-2003. Others may remember him by his “toothless” smile resulting from a puck. He was drafted by the Devils in the first round of the 1982 entry draft. He was a stay at home defenseman, but a fan favourite none the less because of his gritty play. He never was much of a goal scorer, but was one of the league’s best shut down men or “Shadows”. Mr. Devil would help New Jersey win 3 Stanley Cups. He would retire with over 2200 penalty minutes.
Both young and old should know Nicklas Lidstrom. Drafted in 1989 by the Detroit Red Wings, he would begin his career in the 1991-1992 season. Considered to be the best defenseman of his era, he has amassed an amazing amount of awards and trophies. He scored 60 points in his rookie season, won 4 Stanley Cups, an amazing 6 Norris Trophies(nominated for the Norris Trophy 10 of the last 12 seasons), 11 time NHL All-Star, he won the Conn Smythe Trophy in the 2002 playoffs becoming the first European to do so, and would also win a Gold Medal with the Swedish Olympic Hockey team in 2006. He has only missed 28 games in a possible 1440 games. He is the current captain of the Red Wings, after assuming the captaincy from Steve Yzerman in 2006. To date he has acquired 237 goals and 809 assists for a total of 1046 regular season points, as well as 50 goals and 125 assists for a total of 175 playoff points. He will certainly be inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame once he retires.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Vg'f va gurve ahzoref.