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George Hainsworth

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George Hainsworth
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1961
Born (1893-06-26)June 26, 1893
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died October 9, 1950(1950-10-09) (aged 57)
Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Weight 150 lb (68 kg; 10 st 10 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
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

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Hainsworth was born in the Kew Beach area of Toronto in 1893.[1] His parents, John Hainsworth and Mary James, were both from England.[2] Hainsworth's family moved to Berlin, Ontario, where his father was a water commissioner for many years.[3] Previously, his father had worked as a plumber in Toronto. He also owned a plumbing retail business, Hainsworth Plumbing, in Berlin.[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.[4]

Playing career

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Kitchener Greenshirts in 1917–18, Hainsworth in the middle of the front row.

Hainsworth played junior hockey for the Berlin Union Jacks then moved up to senior hockey with the Berlin City Seniors and the Kitchener Greenshirts.[4] Hainsworth won the Allan Cup, as senior amateur champions of Canada, with the Kitchener Greenshirts in 1918. 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).[3] Dandurand had to pay $5,000 to Saskatoon for the rights to Hainsworth.[4]

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 the team goaltender(s) who allowed the least goals 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 playing all 44 games.[5] 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.[3] He helped the Maple Leafs reach the 1935 Stanley Cup Finals. In 1936, Turk Broda won the goaltender job for Toronto, and Leaf manager Conn Smythe gave Hainsworth his outright release on November 25, 1936.[6] Hainsworth retired, but was persuaded to join the Canadiens again after goaltender Wilf Cude was injured.[7] He played four more games for the Montreal Canadiens, from December 12 to 20, 1936, before retiring for good.[8][9]

Post career

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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.[10]

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.[10] He was 57. His funeral was held October 13 at St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Kitchener and the burial was at Woodland Cemetery.[11]

Awards and achievements

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Records

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  • He is third all-time in professional (including both NHL and WCHL/WHL) shutouts with 104.
  • His 94 career NHL shutouts are third on the NHL's all-time list behind Martin Brodeur's 125 and Terry Sawchuk's 103.
  • Has the second lowest career goals against average in the NHL with 1.93, behind Alex Connell's 1.91.
  • Holds the NHL single-season shutout record with 22 shutouts in 1928–29.
  • Holds the NHL single-season goals against average record with 0.92 in 1928–29.
  • Holds the NHL single-playoffs record of time in net without allowing a goal, at 270 minutes and 8 seconds, in 1929-30.

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T Min GA SO GAA GP W L T Min GA SO GAA
1910–11 Berlin Mavericks Minor-ON — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
1911–12 Berlin Union Jacks OHA Jr 4 3 1 0 240 13 0 3.25 6 2 3 1 360 30 0 5.00
1912–13 Berlin City Seniors OHA Sr 4 3 1 0 240 12 1 3.00 8 4 3 1 480 35 1 4.38
1913–14 Berlin City Seniors OHA Sr 7 7 0 0 420 11 0 1.57 9 7 1 1 590 31 1 3.15
1914–15 Berlin City Seniors OHA Sr 5 5 0 0 300 9 1 1.80 4 2 1 1 240 19 1 4.75
1915–16 Berlin City Seniors OHA Sr 8 8 0 0 480 18 1 2.85 4 2 2 0 280 18 0 3.86
1916–17 Kitchener Kew Beach TIHL — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
1917–18 Kitchener Greenshirts OHA Sr 9 9 0 0 540 31 0 3.44 5 3 1 1 298 10 1 2.01
1918–19 Kitchener Greenshirts OHA Sr 9 5 3 1 570 28 0 2.95 — — — — — — — —
1919–20 Kitchener Greenshirts OHA Sr 8 6 2 0 480 16 1 2.00 2 0 1 1 150 6 0 2.40
1920–21 Kitchener Greenshirts OHA Sr 10 7 3 0 600 22 3 2.20 1 0 1 0 60 6 0 6.00
1921–22 Kitchener Greenshirts OHA Sr 10 3 7 0 600 38 1 3.80 — — — — — — — —
1922–23 Kitchener Greenshirts OHA Sr 12 8 4 0 720 32 1 2.67 — — — — — — — —
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 2 0 1 1 120 6 0 3.00
1925–26 Saskatoon Sheiks WHL 30 18 11 1 1812 64 4 2.12 2 0 1 1 129 4 0 1.86
1926–27 Montreal Canadiens NHL 44 28 14 2 2739 67 14 1.47 4 1 1 2 252 6 1 1.43
1927–28 Montreal Canadiens NHL 44 26 11 7 2730 48 13 1.05 2 0 1 1 128 3 0 1.41
1928–29 Montreal Canadiens NHL 44 22 7 15 2800 43 22 0.92 3 0 3 0 180 5 0 1.67
1929–30 Montreal Canadiens NHL 42 20 13 9 2680 108 4 2.42 6 5 0 1 480 6 3 0.75
1930–31 Montreal Canadiens NHL 44 26 10 8 2740 89 8 1.95 10 6 4 0 722 21 2 1.75
1931–32 Montreal Canadiens NHL 48 25 16 7 3008 110 6 2.20 4 1 3 0 300 13 0 2.60
1932–33 Montreal Canadiens NHL 48 18 25 5 2980 115 8 2.32 2 0 1 1 120 8 0 4.00
1933–34 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 48 26 13 9 3010 119 3 2.37 5 2 3 0 302 11 0 2.19
1934–35 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 48 30 14 4 2957 111 8 2.25 7 3 4 0 461 12 2 1.57
1935–36 Toronto Maple Leafs NHL 48 23 19 6 3000 106 8 2.12 9 4 5 0 541 27 0 2.99
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 465 246 144 74 29,104 937 94 1.93 52 22 25 5 3484 112 8 1.93

Bibliography

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  • Podnieks, Andrew (2003). Honoured Members: Hockey Hall of Fame. Bolton, Ontario: Fenn Publishing. ISBN 1-55168-239-7.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Podnieks 2003, p. 42.
  2. ^ a b "George Henry Hainsworth". Waterloo Region Generations. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Dandurand Pat Newsy Wise to Hainsworth". Toronto Daily Star. October 11, 1950. p. 16.
  4. ^ a b c "Hainsworth, One of Hockey's All-Time Greats, Killed". Montreal Gazette. October 11, 1950. p. 16.
  5. ^ Pelletier, Joe. "George Hainsworth". habslegends.blogspot.com.au. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  6. ^ "Hainsworth Is Cut From Leaf Roster". The Montreal Gazette. November 26, 1936. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  7. ^ "Canadiens Use Hainsworth - Subs For Injured Cude". Windsor Daily Star. December 14, 1936. p. 17. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "Cude Back in Nets for Chicago Game". The Montreal Gazette. December 22, 1936. p. 14. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
  10. ^ a b "Ex-Leaf Goalkeeper Dies In Head-On Highway Crash". Toronto Daily Star. October 10, 1950. pp. 1–2.
  11. ^ "Hainsworth Funeral to be held Friday". Toronto Daily Star. October 11, 1950. p. 1.
  12. ^ "George Hainsworth (1926-1937)". hockeygoalies.org. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  13. ^ "George Hainsworth". oshof.ca. Ontario Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
[edit]
Preceded by Montreal Canadiens captain
1932–33 		Succeeded by
Sylvio Mantha
Preceded by
New Award
 Winner of the Vezina Trophy
1927, 1928, 1929 		Succeeded by
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