Mush March had a habit of scoring big goals - and keeping the pucks as souvenirs

Harold “Mush” March stood only 5-foot-5 and weighed around 140 pounds, but he made an impact on NHL history that far exceeded his physical size.

Born on this date in 1908 in Silton, Sask., March scored two memorable goals in Chicago Blackhawks’ history, including the double-overtime winner that gave Chicago the 1934 Stanley Cup championship.

March first came to public attention as the top scorer of the Regina Monarchs, who won the 1928 Memorial Cup as Canadian junior champions. Newspaper accounts of the era credited him with scoring 67 goals in 24 games for the Monarchs, including seven of their 12 goals in the three-game Memorial Cup final against the Ottawa Gunners.

He went from the Monarchs directly to the Black Hawks, as they were then called, and played 17 seasons in Chicago. He was known as a rugged performer who never shied away from the bigger players on opposing teams. On Nov. 12, 1931, he scored the first goal in the first game ever played at Maple Leaf Gardens, and kept the puck as a souvenir.

When the Leafs played their last game at the Gardens in February 1999, the Hawks were again the opponent and March was invited to return for the last game. He brought the puck and, along with Red Horner, the last surviving Leaf from that first game, he used it in a ceremonial faceoff between Toronto’s Mats Sundin and Chicago’s Doug Gilmour.

On Apr. 10, 1934, at Chicago Stadium, March’s goal at 10:05 of the second overtime period gave the Hawks a 1-0 win over Detroit in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final. He kept that puck too.

March was the last surviving member of the 1934 champs and played for Chicago's next Cup winner in 1938. His size was not a reflection of his durability, and when he retired in 1945, only Dit Clapper had played in more regular season games in NHL history than March’s 761. Including the playoffs, he scored 165 goals and 410 points.

March remained with the NHL as a linesman for several seasons after his playing days. He was 93 years old when he passed away in January 2002.

His pucks, and other souvenirs he had collected during and after his playing career, were sold at auction in the years following his death.

Also born on this date:

1906 – Leroy Goldsworthy was born in Two Harbors, Minn. March’s teammate with the 1934 Hawks, Goldsworthy had little of March’s stability as a player, bouncing around between at least 14 pro clubs, including six NHL teams. He scored 67 goals in 360 games with Chicago, the New York Rangers, the New York Americans, the Detroit Falcons/Red Wings, the Montreal Canadiens, and the Boston Bruins.

1951 – Mike Antonovich was born in Calumet, Minn. Antonovich spent most of his career in the World Hockey Association, joining the Minnesota Fighting Saints for their (and the WHA’s) first season in 1972-73. He is fifth on the all-time list for games played in the WHA, having also been a member of the Edmonton Oilers and the New England Whalers after both editions of the Fighting Saints folded in mid-season in 1976 and in 1977. Antonovich joined the NHL with the Whalers in 1979-80 and was later with the Minnesota North Stars and the New Jersey Devils.

1958 – Kjell Samuelsson was born in Tingsryd, Sweden. He was already a 25-year-old longtime pro in his homeland before the Rangers chose him in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft and convinced him to play in North America. He later became a regular with the Philadelphia Flyers, twice being chosen the team’s best defenseman, but won his only Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992. Samuelsson later returned to the Flyers and spent his last NHL season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Before his retirement in 1999, he was the last active NHL player born in the 1950s.

1960 – Doug Lidster was born in Kamloops, B.C. Another veteran defenseman who retired in 1999, Lidster won championships with the Rangers in 1994 and with the Dallas Stars in his final season, although his name was left off the Stanley Cup on that occasion because he hadn’t played in enough regular season games and did not appear in either of the last two playoff rounds. Nevertheless, he did dress in 977 total games with the Rangers, the Stars, the St. Louis Blues, and the Vancouver Canucks, who drafted him out of Colorado College in 1980.