George Hainsworth

George Hainsworth
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1961
Born (1893-06-26)June 26, 1893
Toronto, ON, CAN
Died October 9, 1950(1950-10-09) (aged 57)
Gravenhurst, ON, CAN
Height 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Weight 150 lb (68 kg; 10 st 10 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Right
Played for Montreal Canadiens
Toronto Maple Leafs
Saskatoon Sheiks
Playing career 1926–1937

George Henry Hainsworth (June 26, 1893 – October 9, 1950) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League, and the Saskatoon Crescents in the Western Canada Hockey League. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Personal

Hainsworth was born in the Kew Beach area of Toronto in 1893.[1] Hainsworth's family moved to Berlin, Ontario, where his father was a water commissioner for many years.[2] After his playing days were over, Hainsworth returned to Berlin (now named Kitchener) with his wife Alma and son Bill. Bill played goaltender, like his father, and played in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) as a junior and later as a senior player but never a professional.[3]

Playing career

Hainsworth played junior hockey for the Berlin Union Jacks then moved up to senior hockey with the Berlin City Seniors and the Kitchener Greenshirts.[3] One of the games he played for Kitchener against the Toronto Argonaut Rowing Club in the 1923 OHA playoffs was the first game that Foster Hewitt broadcast. By the end of the 1922–23 season, Hainsworth had played five seasons for the Greenshirts. At that time, Newsy Lalonde, manager of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) Saskatoon Crescents, needed a goalie. On the recommendation of Montreal Canadiens' part-owner Leo Dandurand, Lalonde signed Hainsworth to a pro contract of $2,500 per season with Saskatoon. Hainsworth played three seasons with Saskatoon before he was signed by Dandurand to play goal for Montreal in 1926. The Western league was in the process of folding, and Dandurand signed Hainsworth to a $6,500 per year contract before Toronto claimed him from the Western league players who were en masse moving to the National Hockey League (NHL).[2] Dandurand had to pay $5,000 to Saskatoon for the rights to Hainsworth.[3]

There was a need for a top goaltender in Montreal. Georges Vezina, the Canadiens goaltender, had recently died of tuberculosis. Vezina had played every game in team history from the 1910–11 NHA season until the opening game of the 1925–26 NHL season, when the illness proved too much for him. In his memory, the team decided to create the Vezina Trophy for most valuable goaltender in the NHL.

Hainsworth proved up to the challenge by winning the Vezina Trophy for the 1926–27, 1927–28 and 1928–29 NHL seasons. In 1928–29, he set an all-time record with 22 shutouts and a 0.92 goals against average while only playing 44 games.[4] In 1930 he set an NHL record that still stands, going 270 minutes and 8 seconds without allowing a goal during the playoffs for the Canadiens. He backstopped the Canadiens to back to back Stanley Cups in 1930 and 1931. Hainsworth served as the Canadiens' captain during 1932–33, becoming the second of only eight goalies to serve as an NHL team's captain.

Hainsworth was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1933 for Lorne Chabot in a move by Dandurand to land another French-Canadian on his roster and boost attendance.[2] Hainsworth helped the Maple Leafs reach the 1935 Stanley Cup Final. In 1936, Turk Broda won the goaltender job for Toronto, and Leaf manager Conn Smythe gave Hainsworth his outright release on November 25, 1936.[5] Hainsworth retired, but was persuaded to join the Canadiens again after goaltender Wilf Cude was injured.[6] Hainsworth played four more games for the Montreal Canadiens, from December 12 to 20, 1936, before retiring for good.[7][8]

Post career

In 1936, Hainsworth became a radio inspector with Dominion Electrohome Ltd. During World War II, he was a member of Kitchener's civil defence guard. In 1949, he was elected to Kitchener's city council.[9]

Hainsworth died in a head-on collision between his car and a light panel truck near Gravenhurst, Ontario, on Monday, October 9, 1950.[1] Hainsworth was pronounced dead at the scene from several broken ribs which punctured his heart. Hainsworth was returning home from Val D'Or, Quebec, where he and his wife had visited their son Bill.[9] He was 57. His funeral was held October 13 at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Kitchener and the burial was at Woodlawn Cemetery.[10]

Awards and achievements

Records

Career statistics

Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA
1923–24 Saskatoon Crescents WCHL 30 15 12 3 1849 73 4 2.37
1924–25 Saskatoon Crescents WCHL 28 16 11 1 1700 75 2 2.65
1925–26 Saskatoon Sheiks WHL 30 18 11 1 1812 64 4 2.12
1926–27 Montreal Canadiens NHL 44 28 14 2 2732 67 14 1.47
1927–28 Montreal Canadiens NHL 44 26 11 7 2730 48 13 1.05
1928–29 Montreal Canadiens NHL 44 22 7 15 2800 43 22 0.92
1929–30 Montreal Canadiens NHL 42 20 13 9 2680 108 4 2.42
1930–31 Montreal Canadiens NHL 44 26 10 8 2740 89 0 1.95
1931–32 Montreal Canadiens NHL 48 25 16 7 2998 110 6 2.20
1932–33 Montreal Canadiens NHL 48 18 25 5 2980 115 8 2.32
1933–34 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 48 26 13 9 3010 119 3 2.37
1934–35 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 48 30 14 4 2957 111 8 2.25
1935–36 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 48 23 19 6 3000 106 8 2.12
1936–37 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 3 0 2 1 190 9 0 2.84
1936–37 Montreal Canadiens NHL 4 2 1 1 270 12 0 2.67
WCHL totals 88 49 34 5 5361 212 10 2.37
NHL totals 465 246 145 74 29,087 937 94 1.93
Pro Career totals 553 295 179 79 34,448 1149 104 2.00

Playoffs

Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA
1924-25 Saskatoon Crescents WCHL 2 0 1 1 120 6 0 3.00
1925-26 Saskatoon Sheiks WHL 2 0 1 1 129 4 0 1.86
1926-27 Montreal Canadiens NHL 4 1 1 2 252 6 1 1.43
1927-28 Montreal Canadiens NHL 2 0 1 1 128 3 0 1.41
1928-29 Montreal Canadiens NHL 3 0 3 0 180 5 0 1.67
1929-30 Montreal Canadiens NHL 6 5 0 1 481 6 3 0.75
1930-31 Montreal Canadiens NHL 10 6 4 0 722 21 2 1.75
1931-32 Montreal Canadiens NHL 4 1 3 0 300 13 0 2.60
1932-33 Montreal Canadiens NHL 2 0 1 1 120 8 0 4.00
1933-34 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 5 2 3 0 302 11 0 2.19
1934-35 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 7 3 4 0 460 12 2 1.57
1935-36 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 9 4 5 0 541 27 0 2.99
NHL totals 52 22 25 5 3486 112 8 1.93

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hockey Hall of Fame 2003, p. 42.
  2. 1 2 3 "Dandurand Pat Newsy Wise to Hainsworth". Toronto Daily Star. October 11, 1950. p. 16.
  3. 1 2 3 "Hainsworth, One of Hockey's All-Time Greats, Killed". Montreal Gazette. October 11, 1950. p. 16.
  4. ↑ Pelletier, Joe. "George Hainsworth". http://habslegends.blogspot.com.au. Retrieved 22 May 2014. External link in |work= (help)
  5. ↑ "Hainsworth Is Cut From Leaf Roster". The Montreal Gazette. November 26, 1936. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Canadiens Use Hainsworth - Subs For Injured Cude". Windsor Daily Star. December 14, 1936. p. 17. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Red Wings Suffer 4-3 Setback at the Hands of the Canadiens". The Windsor Daily Star. December 16, 1936. p. 28. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Cude Back in Nets for Chicago Game". The Montreal Gazette. December 22, 1936. p. 14. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Ex-Leaf Goalkeeper Dies In Head-On Highway Crash". Toronto Daily Star. October 10, 1950. pp. 1–2.
  10. ↑ "Hainsworth Funeral to be held Friday". Toronto Daily Star. October 11, 1950. p. 1.
  11. ↑ "George Hainsworth (1926-1937)". hockeygoalies.org. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  12. ↑ "George Hainsworth". http://oshof.ca/. Retrieved 25 September 2014. External link in |website= (help)

External links

Preceded by
Sylvio Mantha		 Montreal Canadiens captain
1932–33 		Succeeded by
Sylvio Mantha
Preceded by
New Award		 Winner of the Vezina Trophy
1927, 1928, 1929 		Succeeded by
Cecil Thompson
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