This Day in Hockey History – February 8, 1975 – Low in Score, High in Penalties

Feb 8, 2020

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On one end of the rink, rookie goalie Pete LoPresti earned his first NHL shutout. In the other team’s penalty box, Dave “The Hammer” Schultz broke his own record for most penalty minutes in one season. Those were the highlights when the Minnesota North Stars hosted the Philadelphia Flyers at the Metropolitan Sports Center on February 8, 1975. A crowd of 15,230 watched the home team shutout the visitors 5-0.

Minnesota-born Pete LoPresti was drafted by the North Stars in 1974, and at 20, he was the youngest goalie then playing in the NHL. He was the son of goalie Sam LoPresti, who was also born in Minnesota and also wore No. 1. Sam only played two seasons in the NHL, for the Chicago Blackhawks, lasting from 1940 to 1942. During his 74 NHL games, he had four shutouts, the first (on February 27, 1940) being nearly 35 years before that of his son and the last (on February 15, 1942) being a week shy of 33 years before. The LoPresti goalies would become the first father and son to both have NHL shutouts.

For Pete’s turn to shine, as the Minneapolis Star Tribune gushed, “LoPresti picked a perfect time to have his best game as a professional, and his teammates responded with their finest hour.” In front of him, the North Stars outshot the Flyers 13-2 in the first period. That gave Minnesota a franchise record for fewest shots allowed while giving Philadelphia their lowest number of shots taken. The second period went much the same with Minnesota outshooting Philadelphia 14-5. As the Philadelphia Inquirer noted, “Lopresti had his busiest period in the third, being forced to make some tough saves as the Flyers tried to avert the shutout.” Still, the Flyers only managed 10 shots to the Stars’ 15.

In all, LoPresti made 26 saves. The Star Tribune recapped, “Through it all, LoPresti was spectacular. He got some good breaks, but the best goalies are the ones who, when beaten, get lucky. On one penalty kill at the end of the second period, LoPresti made three or four brilliant saves, and two other Flyer attempts got by him, only to carom off goal pipes and miss.”

Meanwhile, Minnesota scored four goals within the first ten minutes of the game. Their final goal came at 12:48 of the third period.

After allowing four goals, the Flyers amped up the aggressive style that gave them the nickname Broad Street Bullies. “They tend to commit so many fouls that only the most flagrant get called,” claimed the Minneapolis newspaper. “A string of penalties continued through the second period, and on into the third.”

“Naturally, the Flyers’ Dave Schultz was the first to show his frustration,” acknowledged the Philadelphia press. Schultz was a key enforcer for the Flyers from 1971 to 1976, and he earned his nickname as “The Hammer.” In a recent game, Clarence Campbell had warned him of an impending suspension after receiving a game misconduct. That did not slow Schultz down as he proceeded to collect two minors, a major, a minor, a misconduct, and a game misconduct for a total of 31 of the team’s 67 penalty minutes. He had more minutes than all of Minnesota’s at 29.

With the 31 penalty minutes, Schultz broke his own record for most penalty minutes in a single season. He had had 348 the previous season and was already at 350 minutes with 27 games yet to go. He ended the 1974-75 season with a whopping 472 penalty minutes, still the record to this day.

Despite the lopsided game, Minnesota would finish 15th overall, failing to make playoffs. Philadelphia finished second overall and won their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

As for the opposing goalie and enforcer, they remained with their respective teams for a while longer. LoPresti stayed in Minnesota until he was chosen by Edmonton in the 1979 expansion draft. He only played two games there, during the 1980-81 season. Pete’s NHL career lasted 175 games with a save percentage of .872. Either he was not as good as his father or his team wasn’t because Pete had a goals against average of 4.07 compared to Sam’s 3.12. However, Pete did have one more shutout than his dad, for a total of five.

Meanwhile, Schultz’s time in Philadelphia lasted until 1976. He then was traded three times before his career ended in 1980. His career total came out to 2,292 penalty minutes, which places him 35th in the all-time list.