The Chicago Blackhawks were able to contain their excitement when a rookie named Phil Esposito scored his first NHL goal on January 25, 1964. The marker failed to help Chicago avoid a 5-3 defeat at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings, and besides, the team really wasn't looking for the young player to contribute much in that way.

An unheralded player as a junior, Esposito moved up through the Chicago farm system by learning how to be a pretty decent playmaker. He wasn't a great skater, but he handled the puck well and was a good passer, talents the Blackhawks felt could complement superstar left wing Bobby Hull.

Little did they realize what talent Esposito truly had.

Esposito played in 27 games during his rookie season, scoring three goals and adding two assists, numbers that didn't exactly set the world on fire. Over the next three seasons, Esposito averaged just over 23 goals and 56 points, but fell out of favor with the team when he failed to score a point during a first-round playoff loss to Toronto in 1967.

During that off-season, the Blackhawks sent him, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield to Boston for Pit Martin, Gilles Marotte and Jack Norris, a deal considered by many to be the biggest steal in hockey history.

Esposito spent his next eight seasons in Boston rewriting the NHL scoring books. As a Bruin, he became the first player to ever score at least 100 points in a season, and scored at least 60 goals four times during his career.

The big centerman finished his career playing six seasons with the Rangers and ended up with 717 goals, which stands as the fourth-highest total in league history. It is something few people could have imagined when Esposito put the puck in an NHL net for the first time ever during the week of Jan. 24 - 30.

January 24

Scoring 50 goals a season was expected of Mike Bossy.

Few players were able to score goals as naturally as Mike Bossy of the Islanders. A magician with his stick, Bossy became the first player to score 50 goals in his rookie season, and tallied at least that many in nine straight campaigns, which is still an NHL record. Of all his 50-goal seasons, the most memorable came in 1980-81 when he reached the plateau in 50 games, becoming the first NHLer to do so since Maurice Richard in 1944-45. Bossy reached the milestone on this date in 1981, when he beat Quebec goalie Ron Grahame to key a 7-3 Islanders victory.

January 25

Richard Martin was a legend in Buffalo.

Playing with Gilbert Perreault and Rene Robert, Rick Martin helped form the "French Connection" line, one of the most famous NHL units of all time. Martin was the purest goal scorer of the trio and showed his prowess on this date in 1977 when he scored his second goal of the game with less than two minutes remaining in the third period to give the Wales Conference All-Stars a 4-3 victory over the Campbell Conference. Martin's dramatics earned him the MVP award for the game.

January 26

Alex Kaleta played seven seasons with Chicago and New York.

A player who scores three consecutive goals is considered to have accomplished a natural hat-trick, but what about a team that does it in three straight games? However unlikely it sounds, it did actually happen. In fact, on this date in 1946, Alex Kaleta of Chicago scored four goals, becoming the third Blackhawk player in as many games to score at least three goals. Unfortunately, Kaleta's effort couldn't help Chicago avoid a 6-5 loss in Toronto.

January 27

Ulf Sterner blazed a trail for Swedish players.

Players such as Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin and Niklas Lindstrom are so much a part of the NHL fabric these days, it's hard to remember a time when Swedes weren't skating in hockey's greatest league. But that was the case until this date in 1964, when Ulf Sterner took to ice for the Rangers and became the first player from his country to play in the NHL. Sterner, one of Sweden's greatest international-level players, lasted only four games in New York, failing to record a point.

January 28

Wayne Gretzky scored more points in his streak than most players in a season.(Allsport)

No baseball player has ever seriously threatened Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, but Wayne Gretzky came close to that magic sports number during the 1983-84 season. It was Gretzky's fifth year in the league with the Oilers, and he scored at least a point every night during a stretch of 51 consecutive games en route to a 205-point campaign. The streak ended on this date in 1984 when Los Angeles Kings goalie Markus Mattsson kept the Great One off the scoreboard. During his run, Gretzky had tallied 61 goals and 92 assists for 153 points.

January 29

Garry Unger played with six teams in 16 NHL seasons.

Before Brett Hull came along, Garry Unger was considered the greatest goal scorer to ever wear a St. Louis Blues uniform. He scored at least 30 times in each of his eight full seasons with the Blues, and was an All-Star in seven of those campaigns. His most memorable All-Star appearance took place on this date in 1974 when Unger earned the MVP award after scoring a short-handed goal in the third period to snap a tie and lead the West to a 6-4 victory.

January 30

Babe Pratt got beaten by the odds.

Babe Pratt was the NHL's MVP in 1943 after setting a new record for defensemen by scoring 57 points for Toronto and eventually, a Hall of Famer. Still his name will always be associated with one of the blackest events in NHL history. It took place on this date in 1946 when Pratt became the first NHL player to be suspended, a result of him betting on teams other than his own. Unlike Pete Rose, Pratt admitted his transgression and was reinstated after nine games, but was traded later that season to Boston.

Historical photos courtesy of hockeyonline.com