On May 3, we celebrate the birthdays of 32 NHL players, past and present. Today's list includes several Stanley Cup winners, two members of the Hockey Hall of Fame, and one of the few goaltenders to ever score a goal in a game. Let's take a look at some names that will blow out the candle today.
Rod Langway (1957)
Rod Langway is one of two players born on May 2 to be awarded a plaque in the Hockey Hall of Fame. A veteran of his 15 years in the NHL, he won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Montreal Canadiens (1979) and then went on to win the Stanley Cup as a member of the Montreal Canadiens (1979) and then as a longtime member of the Washington Capitals (since 1983). (1993), building on that legacy. While patrolling the Capitals' blue line, he was named the winner of the Norris Trophy in consecutive seasons in 1983 and 1984.
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Langway appeared in six All-Star Games and earned All-Star honors twice in the postseason. His best season was the 1980-81 season when he was 23 years old, in which he scored 45 points thanks to 11 goals and 34 assists. That season, Langway recorded a career-high 120 penalty minutes and finished fifth in Norris Trophy voting. Although he played in 994 games and finished his career with 51 goals, 278 assists, and 329 points, he remained one of the few players to play without a helmet in the 1990s.
Vyacheslav Kozlov (1972)
Vyacheslav Kozlov, born May 2, is the most successful player in his NHL career. Not only did he win two Stanley Cup titles (1997 and 1998), he was the only player to costume for more than 1,000 contests, finishing his 18-year career. There are 1,182 games. Meanwhile, he is the only player to score over 400 points, collecting 356 goals and 497 assists for a total of 853 points.
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A third-round pick (45th overall) in the 1990 draft, Kozlov made his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings in 1991-92 at the age of 19. He stayed with the organization for 10 seasons and won two Stanley Cups before venturing out to play a season with the Buffalo Sabers (2001-02). He was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers in 2002, playing seven seasons before retiring in 2010.
Ron Hextall (1964)
Ron Hextall's accomplishments in the NHL are truly unique. His career has been filled with unconventional accomplishments, whether it was when he became the first goaltender to score by firing the puck into an empty net on ice or when he amassed the most penalty minutes by a goaltender. Ta. Now, as a former team executive, he has spread his wings further, winning a Stanley Cup title as assistant general manager.
Meanwhile, Hextall is just one of five players in league history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy without winning the Stanley Cup, accomplishing the feat in the 1987 Stanley Cup Final. During his playing career, he had a record of 296 wins, 214 losses, and 69 losses in 608 games, and led the Philadelphia Flyers to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1987 and 1997. He won his Vezina Trophy in 1987 and earned All-Rookie his team honors in the same season.
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Hextall played six seasons with the Flyers as a sixth-round pick (119th overall) before being traded to the Quebec Nordiques in 1992 for Eric Lindros, where he played one season before being traded to the New York Islanders. . After two seasons away, he returned to the Flyers and played five more seasons, retiring in 1999 with two goals (one in the regular season and one in the playoffs) and 461 penalty minutes, which ranks 42nd in team history. .
After retiring, Hextall became a scout and director of player personnel for the Flyers before moving to Los Angeles and serving as assistant general manager for the Kings, who won the Stanley Cup in 2012. He eventually returned to the Flyers as general manager and most recently served in the same role with the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2021-2023.
Current players celebrating their birthdays (age)
Editor's note: bold name of stanley cup winner
- Nico Sturm – San Jose Sharks (29)
Inactive players celebrating birthday (age)
- Joe Hall (1881 – 1919) HHOF
- Reg Bentley (1914 – 1980)
- fern majo (1916 – 1966)
- billy taylor (1919 – 1990)
- Jack Johnson (1925 – 2015)
- Bob Daly (1953 – 2016)
- Robbie Moore (1954 – 2022)
- Kevin Kemp (70)
- Dick Lambie (69)
- Don McIver (69)
- Peter Ihnachuk (67)
- Alain Côté (67)
- David Jensen (63)
- John Carter (61)
- paul boutilier (61)
- Jeff Chychran (58)
- Troy Crowder (56)
- Ted Crowley (54)
- Scott Fraser (52)
- Chonghua Year (50)
- Jeff Halpern (48)
- Eric Beaudoin (44)
- RJ Umberger (42)
- Brad Mills (41)
- Anders Lindbeck (36)
- Teemu Hartikainen (34)
- Brendan Ranford (32)
- Colton White (27)
