29 December in Sports History

In this edition of the Sports Break, we cover the top events in sports history along with the players and athletes that were a part of them on December 29. As a bonus, we also place the jersey number worn at the time with the athlete.

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.

9 - 12 - 6 - 11 - 8 - 99 - 7 - 12

December 29, 1945 - Montreal right wing Number 9, Maurice Richard scored twice in the Canadiens' 5-4 loss to the Chicago Black Hawks and in doing so, recorded his 100th NHL career goal. This feat was reached in just 145 games, then fastest in NHL history. It has been since broken by Number , Mike Bossy, 100 goals in 129 games

December 29, 1955 - NHL officials wear new vertically striped black-and-white sweaters for the first time in Montreal Canadiens' 5-2 win over Toronto Maple Leafs

December 29, 1968 - AFL Championship, Shea Stadium, NYC: New York Jets beat Oakland Raiders 27-23; Jets Number 12, QB Joe Namath 3 TD passes sparks Jets to win

December 29, 1970 - Ballon d'Or: Bayern Munich striker Number 9, Gerd Müller wins award for best European football player ahead of West Ham United defender Number 6, Bobby Moore and Cagliari forward Number 11, Luigi Riva

December 29, 1981 - Ballon d'Or: German 1-2-3 with Bayern Munich forward Number 11, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge taking title of Europe's best football player for the 2nd straight year; beats teammate Number 8, Paul Breitner and Barcelona midfielder Number 8, Bernd Schuster

December 29, 1984 - Number 99, Wayne Gretzky of Edmonton scored his NHL career 32nd hat trick and adds 3 assists in Edmonton's 6-3 win over Detroit Red Wings for his 100th point in just 35 games; 2nd fastest in history - recorded 100 points in 34 games in 1983

December 29, 1987 - Ballon d'Or: Milan's Dutch midfielder Number 10, Ruud Gullit wins best football player in Europe award ahead of Number 10, Paulo Futre (Porto/Atlético Madrid) and Real Madrid striker Number 7, Emilio Butragueño

December 29, 1989 - Wayne Gretzky and Martina Navratilova, named athletes of decade by the Associated Press

December 29, 2007 - New England Patriots Number 12, Quarterback, Tom Brady set a then-NFL record, throwing his 50th TD pass, and the New England Patriots become the first team in NFL history to finish the regular season 16-0

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 Hockey players of the Montreal Canadiens Maurice Richard, Elmer Lach and Tony Demers on the ice of the Forum (cropped) circa Novemebr 26, 1942 taken by Conrad Poirier.