With Ottawa in the Ontario Hockey League, Potvin won the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the league’s top defenseman in his final two seasons. He was the first of only three players ever to win the Kaminsky and the Norris Trophy (the NHL’s award to their top defenseman). Potvin would go on to win the Norris on three occasions with the Islanders. In his final season in junior, Denis put up 123 points. That total stands today as an Ottawa 67’s team record for most points in a single regular season by a defenseman.
Denis Potvin first appeared on cardboard in the 1974-75 O-Pee-Chee / Topps series. The Denis Potvin rookie card, number 195, is worth up to $40 for the O-Pee-Chee card and $25 for the Topps card, according to Beckett Hockey Monthly. That card is the fourth most valuable in the 1974-75 series behind Bobby Orr and the coaching rookie cards of Scotty Bowman and Don Cherry.
Potvin won the Calder Trophy in 1973-74 as the NHL’s top first year player. His career went nowhere other than up
from there. In an NHL career than spanned from 1973-74 until 1987-88, Denis won three Norris Trophies and led the New York Islanders to four consecutive Stanley Cup victories beginning in 1979-80.
Denis Potvin was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991 and had his number 5 retired by the Islanders the following year. His number 7 that he wore with the Ottawa 67’s has been retired by that club. Doug Wilson, long time NHLer with the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks and 1982 winner of the Norris Trophy, shares the retirement of number 7 with Potvin. Wilson and the Sharks are the focus of this article on San Jose Sharks Trivia and the included video. Take a look at this article for more info on 67’s honoured numbers: Ottawa 67’s retired numbers.