NHL organists were household names during Original Six era

Legendary hockey reporter Stan Fischler writes a weekly scrapbook for NHL.com. Fischler, known as "The Hockey Maven," shares his humor and insight with readers each Wednesday. This week turns musical, spotlighting revered organists who played at the old Madison Square Garden, Chicago Stadium, Maple Leaf Gardens and other NHL arenas in a previous century.

Music played at NHL arenas these days is a far cry from yester-century when every team employed an organist -- and only an organist -- for its patrons' musical pleasure. Fortunately, there remain throwbacks today and one plays for the New Jersey Devils.

Pete Cannarozzi has hit the ivories for the Devils since 2001 and played his 1,000th NHL game when New Jersey defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-1 at Prudential Center on Oct. 24. He credits