Camille Henry


Joseph Wilfred Camille "The Eel" Henry was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger/centre who played for the New York Rangers, Chicago Black Hawks, and St. Louis Blues in the National Hockey League.

Playing career

Born in Quebec City, Henry, nicknamed 'The Eel' played in the Quebec [Major Junior Hockey League|Quebec Junior Hockey League] with the Quebec Citadelles during his junior career. Henry led the league in goals in 1951-52 with 52 and in 1952-53 with 46. He also led the league in points in 1951-52 with 114. He was selected to the QJHL First All-Star Team in 1951-52 and 1952-53. Henry also made an appearance in the 1953 Memorial Cup playoffs, posting 21 points in 8 games.
Henry made his National Hockey League debut with the New York Rangers in 1953-54. He had his greatest success wearing number 21 for the Rangers. At 5 ft 7 in and 150 lb, he was the smallest man in the NHL at the time and suffered numerous injuries throughout his career. He was known for his ability to swat the puck out of mid-air to score goals. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the National Hockey League rookie of the year beating out Jean Béliveau of the Montreal Canadiens. After playing 21 games with the Rangers the following season, Henry was traded to the Providence Reds of the American Hockey League. He was then loaned to the Quebec Aces in the Quebec Hockey League. Henry returned to the Reds in AHL season|1955-56], and led the AHL in goals with 50. Henry also led the Reds to a Calder Cup championship and, in the process, scored 10 goals in 9 games to lead all players in playoff scoring.
In 1956-57, Henry returned to the Rangers. He split his time with the Rangers and the Reds that season, before playing for 7 straight seasons with only the Rangers. Camille was selected as an NHL Second All-Star Team left winger in 1957-58, the year he also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for best sportsmanship combined with production. In 1964-65, he was named captain of the New York Rangers. He also played in the 1958, 1963, and 1964 NHL All-Star Games. In 1964-65, Henry was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks for Paul Shmyr. Henry played 22 games with the Black Hawks posting 8 points. During that season, Henry also made his first ever trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Black Hawks ended up losing in 7 games to the Montreal Canadiens.
He returned to New York in 1967–68, where he split his time with the Buffalo Bisons in the AHL. Henry was traded to the St. Louis Blues in 1968-69 where he went to the Stanley Cup finals in 1969. He played 2 seasons with the Blues before retiring.

Notable appearances

On November 1, 1959 when Jacques Plante first wore a mask for protection in a game, Henry was the only player to score on him in that game.
On December 12, 1963 Henry participated in an NHL record when the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers combined for the fastest three goals by two teams in NHL history. Dave Balon and Gilles Tremblay scored for Montreal and Henry scored for the Rangers, all within 18 seconds. The record stood until Feb. 10, 1983.
Henry scored the first-ever hat trick for the St. Louis Blues.

Post-playing career

Henry coached the Kansas City Blues of the Central Hockey League in 1969-70 and then coached the New York Raiders of the World Hockey Association but he never duplicated his early success. He coached the New Jersey Rockets semi-pro hockey club that played at Ice World in Totowa, NJ in the mid/late 1970s. Henry eventually ran the twin rinks in Totowa, New Jersey, and Branchbrook Park in Newark.
Henry was married and divorced from Dominique Michel, famed Quebec chanteuse and comedienne. After his retirement Henry lived in Quebec City and held security jobs, eventually becoming essentially destitute. He was widely considered to have an alcohol consumption problem that was complicated by diabetes. He died shortly after receiving his first reimbursement for the players' pension fund that was awarded by the courts.

Awards and achievements