19 December in Sports History

We are bringing you the top moments in sports history that occurred on December 19, the athletes who starred in the roles, along with the jersey numbers they may have worn.

Sports history is made every day of the year. We will preserve at least a small sampling from some great athletes every day based on the uniform number they wore.

52 - 9 - 99 - 13 -  33 - 10 - 21 - 7 - 13

Photo courtesy of Wikiemdia Commons of the 1904-05 Dawson City Nuggets ice hockey team in front of Dey's Arena in Ottawa. Back row, left to right: Hector Smith, George Kennedy, Lorne Hannay, Jim Johnston, Norman Watt
Front row, left to right: Albert Forrest, Joseph Boyle, Randy McLennan. Taken by an Unknown author.

December 19, 1904 - Dawson City Nuggets hockey team's challenge to Lord Stanley's Cup in the midst of the 1904 season was accepted by the Ottawa Silver Seven, the defending champs. Back prior to the 1926 seasons Cup control of the NHL, any hockey club in Canada could challenge for the trophy. The thing was that Dawson City was located in the middle of the Yukon Territory of the Klondike, some 4000 miles away from Ottawa. It was on this December 19, frigid Klondike day that the team began its legenday 9-day trek to Seattle to catch a train to Ottawa to play in Stanley Cup on January 13, 1905. To get to the Ottawa ice, the Nuggets had to travel by bicycle, dog sled, dingy railroad coach, boat and, the last vehicle mode; the transcontinental rail. The travel ended with the Silver Seven besting the Nuggets, finishing with a 23-2 embarassing loss by Dawson City. They did however play 23 exhibition games onthe return ride home winning 13 of them.

December 19, 1917 - 1st NHL game played on artificial ice in Toronto

December 19, 1917 - Quebec Bulldogs play their 1st professional hockey game

December 19, 1947 - 1948 NFL Draft: Harry Gilmer, Number 52 from University of Alabama first pick by Washington Redskins

December 19, 1974 - Number 9, Dave Kryskow scored the Washington Capitals 1st NHL shorthanded goal

December 19, 1984 - Edmonton's Number 99, Wayne Gretzky, at 23 years old, became 18th and youngest NHL skater to score 1,000 points

December 19, 1987 - NHL Boston Bruins Number 13, Ken Linseman and St. Louis Blues Number 9, Doug Gilmour set a record for the fastest two goals in league history, scoring 2 seconds apart

December 19, 1989 - Boston Celtics legendary star Number 33, Larry Bird began a NBA free throw streak of 71 games

December 19, 2000 - Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid's Portuguese midfielder Number 10, Luís Figo was named as the best soccer player in Europe ahead of Juventus midfielder Number 21, Zinedine Zidane and Milan striker Number 7, Andriy Shevchenko

December 19, 2010 - "Miracle at the New Meadowlands", Philadelphia Eagles trail New York Giants by 21 points with eight minutes to play, before scoring 4 touchdowns in final 7 minutes, including dramatic walk-off punt returned for a touchdown by Number 10, DeSean Jackson

December 19, 2018 - Houston Rockets set NBA single-game record with 26 three-pointers in 136-118 victory over Washington Wizards; 8 players hit from deep as Rockets shoot 26-of-55 (47.3%); Number 13, James Harden led scoring surge, shooting 6-of-11 from beyond the 3 point arc.

A Very Special thanks to information obtained from the following brilliant internet sites: On This Day Sports, the Sports Reference's family of website databases & Stathead.com.

Banner photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of The Ottawa Hockey Club, nicknamed the "Silver Seven", were the Stanley Cup champions in 1905.
Standing, left to right: Rat Westwick, Mac MacGilton, Billy Gilmour, Frank McGee
Sitting, left to right: Dave Finnie, Harvey Pulford, Alf Smith, Arthur A. C. Moore. Contributed by Thomas Patrick Gorman