A Missed Chance for Him to Save a Few Faces

Norm Brady of Seal Beach may have been the first hockey goalie to wear a mask. In response to a trivia item about Jacques Plante of the Montreal Canadiens becoming the first NHL goalie to regularly wear a mask in 1959, Brady wrote to say he wore one as a high school goalie in Baltimore in 1938.

Brady, also a catcher on his school’s baseball team, began wearing his catcher’s mask in practice to protect his face after being “creamed by a puck.” He tried wearing the catcher’s mask in a game, but a referee told him to take it off.

“Can you imagine how rich I would be, how many faces and eyes I would have saved, if I had patented a mask?” Brady asked.

*

Trivia time: What year did the Los Angeles Kings join the NHL, and what other teams joined at the same time?

*

On the fly: Miami Dolphin defensive lineman Jason Taylor, interviewed by Dan Patrick for his “Outtakes” column in ESPN the Magazine, talks about his college days playing for the Akron Zips. Taylor explains the nickname comes from the zipper on the side of rubber boots, which are made in Akron.

The school mascot, however, is a kangaroo.

Taylor: “What, we’re supposed to have a giant zipper running around?”

*

You be the judge: Channel 9’s Alan Massengale, on his “Point After” segment Wednesday night, said, “Three Las Vegas judges scored the governor’s debate. I don’t know the result, but I’m confident they were wrong.”

*

Call him Ace: According to T&L; Golf magazine, Miller Barber won a new sport utility vehicle with a hole in one at a charity golf tournament last year. It was his 25th hole in one, far short of the record of 59 by amateur Norman Manley, the magazine said.

But it was the 13th time Barber had won a car with an ace, which is believed to be a record.

During a special promotion sponsored by an automaker during the 1960s, the magazine said, Barber drove away with new wheels nine years in a row, including back-to-back weeks.

*

Luck of the draw: Regarding a Minnesota Twin-New York Yankee matchup in the first round of the playoffs, reader Erik Schuman of Fountain Valley says, “The entire state of Minnesota must be breathing a collective sigh of relief.”

Schuman points out Minnesota teams have not fared well against Southern California teams in playoffs in the last year. The Angels eliminated the Twins, the Lakers eliminated the Timberwolves, the Mighty Ducks eliminated the Wild and the Sparks eliminated the Lynx.

*

Trivia answer: 1967. The other expansion teams that year were the California Seals, the Minnesota North Stars, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the St. Louis Blues.

*

And finally: “Tampa Bay defensive lineman Warren Sapp joined the offense Sunday against Atlanta and caught a touchdown pass,” says comedy writer Jerry Persiho. “He then jumped up and down like he was on a pogo stick. He registered a six on the scoreboard and a four on the Richter scale.”

*

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.