While it’s true that records are made to be broken, every once in a while you come across an exception; a record so outlandish that there’s simply no chance it will ever be eclipsed.
Glenn Hall, the man they called “Mr. Goalie,” holds just such a record.
Between 1955 and 1962, Hall tended goal for the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks in 502 consecutive NHL games – more than 7 complete 70-game seasons. Almost as impressive, Hall did it while putting up Hall of Fame numbers and inventing a brand new method of playing his position. Oh, and he did it all without wearing a mask.
Hall came up through the ranks in the usual way, moving up from the Humboldt Indians of the Saskatchewan Junior League to the Windsor Spitfires of the top tier Ontario Hockey Association. He signed with Detroit in 1951, but bounced between Red Wing farm clubs in Indianapolis and Edmonton for most of the next 4 years.
Hall may never have even had the chance to play in the NHL, let alone set records, had it not been for Jack Adams, the famously ornery GM of the Detroit Red Wings.
Prior to the 1955-56 season, Hall had spent a grand total of 6 games between the pipes for the Red Wings. Of course, there was a good reason for that. The Detroit cage was usually home to the legendary Terry Sawchuk and, as NHL teams only carried 1 goaltender in those days, Hall was simply the odd man out.
Hall got his big break when Adams shockingly traded Sawchuk to Boston prior to the 1955 season. That’s when Hall’s streak really began. He played every one of Detroit’s 70 games that year and won the Calder trophy as the league’s top rookie. He played another full slate the next year, posting a combined goals-against-average of 2.15 over those 2 seasons.
As a reward for his inspired play, Adams re-acquired Sawchuk from Boston and then shipped Hall to Chicago in July 1957. But Hall carried on as if nothing had happened. He backstopped every game the Blackhawks played for the next 5 years, and led them to their last Stanley Cup Championship in 1961.
The streak ended on November 7, 1962. It didn’t stop because Hall was playing badly. He didn’t take a puck to the head, break any bones or shred any ligaments – nothing so dramatic. Hall’s streak ended when he threw out his back doing up the straps on his pads.
That mundane occurrence ended the greatest iron man streak in sports. During the streak, Hall also worked 49 playoff games, was named to the NHL’s 1st All Star Team 3 times and to the 2nd Team another 3.
Hall went on to play over 400 more games after the streak ended and sits 3rd on the all-time list for games played behind only Sawchuk (971) and Patrick Roy (1029). His career also featured 3 Vezina trophies (1963, 1967 with Denis DeJordy and 1969 with Jacques Plante), the NHL’s award for the team allowing the fewest goals in a season. He was also credited with pioneering the “butterfly” style of goaltending.
Yet, for all his great play and innovations, Hall absolutely hated his job. He was known to throw up before every game and sometimes even between periods. He always claimed he was only in it for the money and regularly threatened to retire. In fact, he once said he wanted to retire since he was 15, except that playing goal was the only way he could feed his family.
So Hall became a legend for a lot of reasons. But his greatest accomplishment was that 502 consecutive games played streak. With goalies never playing all of their team’s games anymore, it’s a record that will never be broken. Besides, you’d have to be nuts to try.
