Curt Bennett: 1978-79 O-Pee-Chee 31

1978-79 O-Pee-Chee 31 Curt Bennett Hockey Card (Front)

1978-79 O-Pee-Chee 31 Curt Bennett Hockey Card (Back)

1978-79 O-Pee-Chee NHL Checklist

Card Notes

Once scored 00:27 into game.

En Français

Il a déjà marqué un but 27 secondes après le début d’un match.

Details

Curt Bennett’s goal 27 seconds into a game came on January 14, 1977 at the Omni in Atlanta in a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues. Bennett put one past St. Louis goalie Doug Grant with help from Barry Gibbs and Bill Clement to give the Flames the early lead. It was all the offense Bennett would provide in the game with Rey Comeau scoring both of Atlanta’s other goals, including the game winner.

Earlier in that 1976-77 NHL season, Curt scored on the only penalty shot of his NHL career. On October 9, 1976, Atlanta’s third game of the campaign, the Philadelphia Flyers came to town and the Flames took the win 4-3.

Bennett opened the scoring 1:43 into the game, assisted by Rick Bowness. At 4:46, Curt was tripped up by Andre Dupont on a breakaway and was awarded the penalty shot. He successfully put the puck past Philadelphia goalie Bernie Parent to give the Flames an early 2-0 lead. Again, it was Rey Comeau with the game winner for Atlanta.

1978-79 would turn out to be the only full season for Bennett with the St. Louis Blues. He was traded midway through the previous campaign with Barry Gibbs and Phil Myre for Yves Belanger, Bob MacMillan, Dick Redmond. Though the Blues went 1-4 against the his old club in 1978-79, Bennett had three goals and an assist against the Flames.

In one of the losses to the Flames, Curt piled up 29 penalty minutes stemming from a melee in the first period of a 4-1 loss on November 28, 1978. Alongside brother Harvey Bennett, the fisticuffs also included Brad Marsh and Willi Plett from the Flames. Curt had a fighting major, minor for unsportsmanlike, a gross misconduct and a match penalty. Those went with a previous minor penalty.

Between 1970-71 and 1979-80, Curt Bennett played 580 regular season and 21 playoff games in the National Hockey League with the St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers and Atlanta Flames. With Atlanta, he had a pair of 30+ goal seasons, topping out with a career best 34 in 1975-76.

Curt Bennett NHL Career Stats

Regular Season

Year	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1970-71	St. Louis Blues	4	2	0	2	0
1971-72	St. Louis Blues	31	3	5	8	30
1972-73	New York Rangers	16	0	1	1	11
1972-73	Atlanta Flames	52	18	17	35	9
1973-74	Atlanta Flames	71	17	24	41	34
1974-75	Atlanta Flames	80	31	33	64	40
1975-76	Atlanta Flames	80	34	31	65	61
1976-77	Atlanta Flames	76	22	25	47	36
1977-78	Atlanta Flames	25	3	7	10	10
1977-78	St. Louis Blues	50	7	17	24	54
1978-79	St. Louis Blues	74	14	19	33	62
1979-80	Atlanta Flames	21	1	3	4	0
	Totals	580	152	182	334	347

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1970-71	St. Louis Blues	2	0	0	0	0
1971-72	St. Louis Blues	10	0	0	0	12
1972-73	New York Rangers	0	0	0	0	0
1972-73	Atlanta Flames	0	0	0	0	0
1973-74	Atlanta Flames	4	0	1	1	34
1974-75	Atlanta Flames	0	0	0	0	0
1975-76	Atlanta Flames	2	0	0	0	4
1976-77	Atlanta Flames	3	1	0	1	7
1977-78	Atlanta Flames	0	0	0	0	0
1977-78	St. Louis Blues	0	0	0	0	0
1978-79	St. Louis Blues	0	0	0	0	0
1979-80	Atlanta Flames	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals	21	1	1	2	57