Glenn Hall
Glenn Henry Hall was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. During his National Hockey League career, which lasted from 1952 to 1971 with the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks, and St. Louis Blues, Hall set a record with 502 consecutive games played as a goaltender. He won the Vezina Trophy three times, was voted the first team All-Star goaltender seven times, and was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as best rookie in 1956. He also won the Stanley Cup with the Black Hawks in 1961. Nicknamed "Mr. Goalie", he was the first goaltender to use the butterfly style. In 2017, Hall was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history.
Early life
Hall was the second son of Henry and Agnes Hall, born on October 3, 1931 in Humboldt, Saskatchewan. His father worked for Canadian National Railways as a train engineer, but picked up odd jobs in the depth of the Great Depression to ensure his family's wellbeing. As he grew up, he developed a slight speech impediment. Hall began playing ice hockey in the area, initially as a forward, but transitioned to a goaltender at the peewee level, after his team was left with none and everyone else refused to take on the position. Hall married his wife, Pauline, on May 5, 1954. Their first child was stillborn.Playing career
Amateur
Hall played minor ice hockey with the Humboldt Indians. While with the Indians he registered for a development camp in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan organized by the National Hockey League 's Detroit Red Wings. Attended by Red Wings' scout Fred Pinkney, Hall caught his eye when he caught a puck barehanded after the glove that the Red Wings had provided slipped off his hand during play. Pinkney reported his find to the Red Wings' general manager, Jack Adams.During the NHL's Original Six era, NHL teams owned their developmental affiliates down to the major junior level. The Red Wings' Ontario Hockey Association affiliate, the Windsor Spitfires, were looking for a new goaltender ahead of the 1949–50 season. Adams brought Hall in from Saskatchewan and he established himself in training camp as the team's future goalie. In his first season with Windsor he helped the team to second place in the division with a record of 31 wins, 11 losses and one tie. However, he developed a pre-game ritual that followed him for the rest of his career. Prior to games, Hall would get so anxious that he would vomit. Always a goaltender who relied on his reflexes and preparation, Hall developed his stickhandling with Windsor. The Spitfires qualified for the playoffs and beat the Toronto Marlies in the first round but were knocked out by the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters in the following round. In his second season in the OHA in 1950–51 he led the league in shutouts with six and earned the Red Tilson Trophy as the league's most valuable player. In the offseason he attended Chuck Rayner's goaltending camp, called Hockey Haven, where Rayner taught him the importance of skating and puck handling.
Professional
Detroit Red Wings
Based on Hall's play with the Spitfires and Terry Sawchuk's play in the American Hockey League, Detroit chose to trade their starting goalie, Harry Lumley in the 1950 offseason to make way for the two younger goalies. With Sawchuk now with Detroit, the goaltender acquired in the Lumley trade, Jim Henry, had his rights sold to the Boston Bruins in training camp and Hall was assigned to the Red Wings' AHL affiliate, the Indianapolis Capitals for the 1951–52 season. The Capitals finished last, but despite the team's poor play, Hall was routinely complimented for his and given the team MVP honours at season's end. Once the Capitals were eliminated from playoff contention, Hall was recalled by Detroit, but did not appear in their 1952 playoff run. Detroit still put Hall's name on the Stanley Cup, before he had played his first NHL game. The Capitals folded after the season and for the 1952–53 season, Hall was assigned to the Red Wings' new senior affiliate, the Edmonton Flyers of the Western Hockey League. Despite the team beginning slowly, Hall's play remained above reproach. As the season wore on, the Flyers improved and at Christmas break, Hall was recalled after Sawchuk suffered an injury in practice. Sawchuk was expected to miss two weeks and Hall would be his replacement. Hall arrived in Montreal to find that his equipment had not, and was forced to borrow goaltending gear from the Red Wings' equipment trainer in order to play. He made his NHL debut against the Montreal Canadiens on December 27, 1952, a game that ended in a 2–2 tie despite the Red Wings being outshot 34 to 17. He recorded his first NHL win in the next game, a 7–1 victory over the Boston Bruins. He was only expected to play five games before Sawchuk returned, and in his fifth game, he marked his first NHL and professional shutout in a 2–0 blanking of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hall played well enough that when Sawchuk said he was not ready to play, Hall played a sixth game before being returned to Edmonton. With Edmonton, Hall and the team finished in fourth place, but qualified for the playoffs. The Flyers advanced to the final where they beat the Saskatoon Quakers to take the league title. Hall was named to the WHL's Second All-Star Team.While Hall won a championship that season, Sawchuk struggled as the Red Wings were ousted in the first round by the Bruins. This led Jack Adams to declare the goaltending position open to whoever deserved it. However, this was not the case, as Hall was assigned to Edmonton for the entirety of the 1953–54 season and when Sawchuk missed time, he was replaced by career backup Dave Gatherum. Hall continued his excellent play and appeared in all 70 regular season games the Flyers played that season. He was once again named to the league's Second All-Star Team. Edmonton finished fourth again and advanced to the playoff semifinals where they were knocked out by the Calgary Stampeders. In the playoffs, he recorded two shutouts. He returned to Edmonton for the 1954–55 season, leading the league in wins with 38 and was named to the league's First All-Star Team. In February 1955, he was recalled by Detroit after Sawchuk's play was beginning to be affected by his off-ice behaviour. Publicly Adams stated that it was to give Sawchuk a break, but in reality Sawchuk was sent for team-mandated counseling for his alcoholism. The break was supposed to be a three-game stint, however, after winning his first two games, he received word that his wife was in labour and left Detroit to return to Edmonton. He spent the rest of the season in Edmonton, during which the team won the WHL championship. They then took part in the Canadian East versus West championship facing the Quebec Aces. The Flyers lost to the Aces in a controversial nine-game series.
In the offseason, Adams completely remade the Red Wings, trading eleven players off the roster, including Sawchuk who was sent to Boston. Going into training camp Hall was told by head coach Jimmy Skinner that the goaltending position was his to lose. Skinner, Hall's coach in Windsor, had replaced Tommy Ivan as the Red Wings' coach the season prior. The first game of the new season the Stanley Cup champion, the Red Wings, faced off against a team comprising the NHL's all stars from the other teams in the league. As their starting goalie in the 1955–56 season, Hall faced the all-stars in his first game and won 3–1. In that first full season, he established the butterfly style of goaltending that he pioneered. The style was doubted by coaches and older goalies such as Al Rollins, who believed the "stand up" form, which was the dominant form of the time, was better and Hall was blamed for the team's early struggles. However, the team's play turned around and Hall recorded seven shutouts by December, including three in a row. The team finished second in the league behind the Montreal Canadiens. Hall played every game of his first full season, recording twelve shutouts, winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year, and being voted the Second Team All-Star goaltender. He finished second behind Jacques Plante for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the goaltender with the lowest goals allowed. The team advanced to the 1956 Stanley Cup final, facing Plante's Canadiens, but lost the series. He played in the All-Star Game to start the season again, this time as one of the league's all-stars. During his second full season with Detroit, he again played every game and was voted as the First Team All-Star goaltender after leading the league in wins with 38. He finished runner-up to Plante again for the Vezina Trophy, while the team finished first in the league. However, the season was marred by conflict within the Red Wings organization. Teammate Ted Lindsay moved to form a union for the league's players by utilising the All-Star Game to talk to the NHL teams' other leaders. News reached management of the unionisation attempt and Jack Adams confronted every player on the Red Wings, deciding to try and isolate Lindsay from the team. Hall refused to follow Adams' orders and fell out with the Red Wings' general manager. In the playoffs, the Red Wings faced the Bruins in the first round. The Bruins had lost their starting goaltender and were going with their backup, Don Simmons. Adams saw a path to the Stanley Cup, but a shot cut Hall's face that required 18 stitches to close in the series. Despite having an enormous cut on his face, Hall finished the series but did not play as well as he had during the regular season. After the Bruins eliminated the Red Wings, Adams confronted Hall again and then publicly blamed Hall for the series loss. In the offseason, as Adams once again made over his team, Hall was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks along with Lindsay.