Skara Brae () is a large stone-built Neolithic settlement on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of mainland Orkney, Scotland. It consists of ten houses, and was occupied from roughly 3100–2500. It is Europe's most complete Neolithic village. The level of preservation is such that it is a main part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney. This is one of four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Scotland, the others being the Old Town and New Town of Edinburgh; New Lanark in South Lanarkshire; and St Kilda in the Western Isles.
Until 1850, Skara Brae lay under years of soil sediment when in the winter of that year a large storm stripped the grass from the large mound known as Skerrabra.
The outline of several of stone buildings was revealed and initial excavations were undertaken by William Watt, the laird of Skaill. It was fully excavated between 1928 and 1930 by Vere Gordon Childe following another storm in 1926.
Skara Brae (disambiguation)
Skara Brae is a Neolithic settlement on the west coast of mainland Orkney, Scotland.
The name may also refer to:
José Théodore
José Nicholas Théodore (born September 13, 1976 in Laval, Quebec) is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He plays for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League. Before that he played for the Montreal Canadiens where he won the Vezina and Hart trophies in 2001–02 before being traded to the Avalanche in 2006.
Georges Vézina
Joseph-Georges-Gonzague Vézina (pronounced: ), nicknamed "The Chicoutimi Cucumber" (January 21, 1887 – March 27, 1926) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played five seasons in the National Hockey League and seven in the National Hockey Association for the Montreal Canadiens. He won the Stanley Cup, a trophy for the best hockey team, two times with the Canadiens, in 1916 and 1924. Vézina played in 327 consecutive regular season games and 39 playoff games, before leaving early during a game in 1925 due to illness. Vézina was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and died on March 27, 1926
The only goaltender to play for the Canadiens between 1910 and 1925, Vézina helped the team win the Stanley Cup in 1916 and 1924, while going to the Stanley Cup Finals three more times. Vézina allowed the fewest goals against in the league seven times in his career: four times in the NHA and three times in the NHL. In 1918, Vézina became the first NHL goaltender to record a shutout and the first to earn an assist on a goal. At the start of the 1926–27 NHL season, the Canadiens donated the Vezina Trophy to the NHL as an award to the goaltender who allowed the fewest goals during the season. Since 1981, the award has been given to the best goaltender as chosen by a vote of NHL general managers. In Vézina's hometown of Chicoutimi, the sports arena is named the Centre Georges-Vézina in honour of Vézina. When the Hockey Hall of Fame opened in 1945, Vézina was one of the original twelve inductees.
Georges Vézina, the youngest of eight children, was born on January 21, 1887 in Chicoutimi, Quebec, to Jacques Vézina, a local baker and an immigrant from St. Nicolas de La Rochelle in France, and his wife Clara. Vézina attended school at the Petit Séminaire de Chicoutimi until the age of fourteen, when he left the school to help at his father's bakery. He played hockey from a young age, participating in informal street hockey matches with others his own age. Vézina played in these matches in his shoes, and used skates for the first time at age sixteen when he joined the local team in Chicoutimi. As Chicoutimi was in a remote area of Quebec, more than 200 kilometres from Quebec City, the hockey club was not in any organised league. Instead or scheduled games the club, known as the Saguenéens ("People from the Saguenay", the region where Chicoutimi is located), toured the province, playing informal games against different clubs.
Vézina married Marie-Adélaïde-Stella Morin on June 3, 1908 in Chicoutimi. After Vézina's death, it was reported that he had twenty-two children. This rumour was started when the Canadiens' manager, Leo Dandurand, told newspapers that Vézina "speaks no English and has twenty-two children, including three sets of triplets, and they were all born in the space of nine years." The Vézinas actually only had two children and Georges spoke some English. In 1912 they had their first child, a son named Jean-Jules. A second son was born the night of the Montreal Canadiens' first Stanley Cup win in 1916. To honour the event, Georges named the child Marcel Stanley. When not playing hockey, Vézina operated a tannery in Chicoutimi, living a quiet life.
On February 17, 1910, the Chicoutimi Hockey Club played an informal game against the Montreal Canadiens, a professional team in the National Hockey Association. Though playing an weaker team the Canadiens did not score a goal, losing the game. This prompted Joseph Cattarinich, goaltender for the Canadiens, to convince his team to offer a tryout to Georges Vézina, who was Chicoutimi's goaltender. Vézina at first refused the offer, staying in Chicoutimi until the Canadiens later returned in December of that year. This time they convinced Georges, along with his brother Pierre, to come to Montreal. The two Vézina brothers arrived on December 22, 1910. While Pierre failed to make the team, Georges impressed the Canadiens, especially with the use of his stick to block shots. Vézina was signed to a contract for C$800 per season, and made his professional debut December 31, 1910 against the Ottawa Senators. He would play all sixteen games for the Canadiens in the 1910–11 season, finishing with eight wins and eight losses, while giving up the fewest goals in the league.
The following season Vézina again had the fewest goals against in the league, and won eight games, along with ten losses. Vézina recorded his first career shutout during the 1912–13 season, defeating Ottawa 6–0 on January 18, 1913 for one of his nine wins in the season. The Canadiens finished first in the NHA for the first time in 1913–14, in a tie with the Toronto Blueshirts. Once again, Vézina led the league with the fewest goals against, while posting thirteen victories and seven losses. Under the NHA rules, the first place team would play in the Stanley Cup Finals, but due to the tie for first, the Canadiens had to play a two-game, total goals series against Toronto. Vézina shut out the Blueshirts in the first game, a 2–0 win for Montreal, but let in six goals in the second game, allowing the Blueshirts to play for the Stanley Cup, which they won.
After losing fourteen games and finishing last in the NHA in 1914–15, Vézina and the Canadiens won sixteen games during the 1915–16 season, and the team ended up first in the league. As league leaders, the Canadiens were chosen to play in the 1916 Stanley Cup Finals, where they played against the Portland Rosebuds, champions of the rival Pacific Coast Hockey Association. The Canadiens defeated the Rosebuds three games to two in the best of five games series, winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in team history. Vézina's second son was born the night of the fifth game, which coupled with a bonus of $238 each member of the Canadiens received for the championship, led to him considering the series as the best part of his career. The next season Vézina again led the NHA with the fewest goals against, the fourth time in seven years he did so, helping the Canadiens to again reach the Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Seattle Metropolitans.