HALL, Glenn Henry

(b. 3 October 1931 in Humbolt, Saskatchewan, Canada), star National Hockey League goaltender who holds the record for most consecutive games played by an NHL netminder.

Glenn Hall, the second son of Henry ("Hank") Hall and Agnes Cruickshank, was born in the tiny village of Humbolt, seventy-five miles from Saskatoon. His father, a Canadian National Railways engineer for more than thirty years, was a serious hockey fan and encouraged him in his pursuit of Canada's national pastime. Hall attended local schools and completed high school, but his real focus was on hockey.

Although Hall made his mark in sports tending goal, he played forward until he was twelve years old. He was captain of his team, and if the coach did not show up for a game he was in charge of designating the position each skater was to play. On one such occasion, he decided to experiment playing in net. Because his was a poor team, there was plenty of action for the goalie, and he liked it. He played the position until his retirement in 1971.

Hall's official hockey records begin with his two seasons as goalie for his hometown Humbolt Indians, of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. From there he moved to the Windsor, Ontario, Spitfires, the Junior team sponsored by the Detroit Red Wings. During his stint in the Ontario Hockey Association he began his collection of significant awards, being voted the winner of the "Red" Tilson Trophy, the equivalent of Most Valuable Player in the circuit. His next stop was with the Indianapolis Capitols of the American League, where he received rave notices for his outstanding performances.

Although both Detroit management and the rest of the National Hockey League (NHL) were impressed when Hall filled in for the injured Terry Sawchuck in 1952–1953 (his Goals Against Average was a stingy 1.67 during those six games), the Wings were not about to oust the game's number-one goaltender by replacing him, especially with an untried rookie. The result was his assignment to their apprenticeship club, the Edmonton Flyers of the Western Hockey League, for two seasons. Hall's contention is that during all of those fledgling years he was never specifically coached in his position. "You learned by watching, and trial and error," he recalled. "If you were not paying attention you fell by the wayside!"

The bombastic Jack Adams, manager of the parent Motor City sextet, was seldom satisfied with the status quo, even after championship seasons. During the summer of 1955 he traded his All-Star goalie, Sawchuck, to the Boston Bruins and promoted Hall to the world's premier loop. As the 1955–1956 schedule began, the man who was to become known as "Mr. Goalie" commenced his streak of 502 regular-season games. He soon made his employers forget their former netminder: earning twelve shutouts, registering an amazing 2.11 Goals Against Average, being awarded the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year, and being selected Second All Star Goalie. Despite surpassing his first-year successes the following campaign by being chosen First All-Star backstop, Hall's differences with the Red Wing bosses saw him shipped off to Chicago after the 1956–1957 season.

For ten consecutive seasons Hall anchored the defensive system of the Blackhawks, his Goals Against Average never exceeding 3.00 and dipping to a sensational 2.30 the first year he won the Vezina Trophy, the circuit's top goalie award. During his tenure in the Windy City he was voted to either the first or second All Star team eight times, and repeated as number-one netminder again in 1966–1967. It was there that Hall earned his long-lasting nickname. The public address announcer made it a habit of introducing him as "Number one, Mr. Goalie."

As talented as he was, life as a professional guardian of the nets brought little pleasure Hall's way during the passing years. He said, "I'd sometimes ask myself, what on earth am I doing in hockey? If I could support my four kids any other way, you can bet I wouldn't be playing goal! If I had to start over again, I wouldn't have been a hockey player. I'd have worked in the post office!"

He had very good reason to make those comments. Hall's passion to excel affected his nerves to the degree that he was nauseous before games began. One year, near the end of his career, he was so distraught about the stress he was feeling that he was ready to quit. Hall was allergic to leather, making it necessary for him always to wear white cotton gloves under his hockey gauntlets. Because he was unable to adjust to wearing a protective facemask, he became more and more vulnerable to injury caused by the erratic shooting associated with the slapshot. On one occasion a screened drive caught him full in the mouth, knocking him unconscious. Hall was taken to the infirmary, where a doctor administered multiple stitches without anaesthetic. After an hour of torturous facial repairs, he picked up his stick and mitts and returned to action.

Because of his reticence about standing in the goal crease while forwards and defensemen fired the puck his way at speeds up to one hundred miles per hour, Hall often held out for more money as an incentive to return to the hockey battleground. This fostered a legend that grew with the passing of time. When it came time to renew his contract each fall, it was said that Hall was late reporting to training camp because he was "painting the barn" on his 160-acre farm near Edmonton, Alberta. This came to the fore when, in 1967, the expansion St. Louis Blues made him a part of their drafted roster. Hall had made the decision to retire that spring, but the Missouri franchise was determined to solidify their new team with solid netminding. When the barn-painting theme came up, manager Murray Patrick said he was willing to help him paint it if he would just put his name on the dotted line. He finally did, for an unprecedented $47,500 per year.

Hall's finest hour came during the 1968 NHL Stanley Cup finals. Although the much weaker St. Louis sextet was no match for the Eastern Division Champion Montreal Canadiens, "Mr. Goalie" was at his acrobatic best, fending off shot after shot in a losing cause. As one journalist described it, "He defended the St. Louis goal with the agile ferocity of the entire Green Bay football club!" Hall's extraordinary performance earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.

Teamed with the aging Jacques Plante, Hall's name was once again engraved on the Vezina Trophy in 1968–1969. His contribution to that joint honor was recognized by his once more being voted the first All-Star goalie of the twelve-team league. Two years later Hall hung up his pads once and for all.

Hall's avocation had always been farming. Even though he coached briefly at the Junior level and was a goaltending consultant for the Colorado Rockies and then the Calgary Flames, he has retired to do, in his own words, "the things I like to do." At this writing he lives on his Stoney Plain, Alberta, farm with Pauline, his wife of forty-seven years, enjoying their four children and grandchildren, who live nearby.

Hall's life and career are considered in Richard Beddoes, Stan Fischler, and Ira Gitler, Hockey (1973); Trent Frayne, The Mad Men of Hockey (1974); Dick Irvin, In the Crease (1995); Brian McFalone, Over the Glass and Into the Crowd (1997); and Total Sports Publishing, Total Hockey (2000). There is as yet no full-length published biography of Hall.

Glen R. Goodhand