Paul Henderson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the Canadian ice hockey player. For others with the same name, see Paul Henderson (disambiguation).
Paul Henderson (born January 28, 1943 in Lucknow, Ontario) is a retired Canadian hockey left winger who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League
He is best known for scoring the winning goal against the Soviet Union at 19:26 of the third period in game eight of the 1972 Summit Series on September 28, 1972.
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[edit] Playing career
Paul Henderson played left wing in various professional leagues in North America, as well as for Team Canada in international competitions. Henderson is best known for scoring hockey's most famous goal, helping Team Canada clinch the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union in the dying seconds of the final game.
Henderson played his junior career with the Hamilton Red Wings of the OHA from 1960 to 1963. He would help lead Hamilton to the Memorial Cup title in 1962.
Henderson played 13 seasons in the NHL. After a two game tryout late in the 1962-63 season and half a season with Pittsburgh Hornets of the AHL in 1963-64, Henderson stayed with the parent club in Detroit until 1968. He was a consistent scorer with Detroit, scoring 22 and 21 goals in 1965-66 and 1966-67. He was traded by Detroit with Norm Ullman and Floyd Smith to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Frank Mahovlich, Garry Unger, Pete Stemkowski and the contract rights to Carl Brewer on March 3, 1968.
In Toronto, Henderson enjoyed his best seasons playing on a line with Ullman and Ron Ellis. He recorded goal totals of 27,20,30,38,18(in 40 games) and 24 through the 1973-74 season. Following his 38 goal season of 1971-72, he was among the NHL players selected to compete against the USSR in the 1972 Summit Series. He became famous in Canada after scoring the winning goals in the final three games of the eight-game series, securing the Canadian victory. He also played for Canada in the 1974 Summit Series in which Canadian WHA players were pitted against the Soviet team.
In 1974, Henderson left the Maple Leafs and the NHL altogether, jumping to the rival WHA where he played for the Toronto Toros. He remained with the Toros franchise after its relocation to Birmingham, Alabama, where the team was re-named the Birmingham Bulls - and as the team was transferred to the Central Hockey League in 1979.
He returned to the NHL in 1980 for one final season, playing for the Atlanta Flames. The following season he returned to the Birmingham Bulls and retired in 1981.
[edit] Hall of fame debate
Henderson has not been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and there has been much debate over his omission. He scored one of the most famous goals in Hockey and Canadian sports history when he scored the winning goal in the deciding game eight of the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union. If Henderson was inducted, it would be due almost entirely to the historical significance of that goal (plus his game-winners in games six and seven as well). Although his NHL numbers were respectable (236 goals and 477 points in 707 career NHL games), they are not close to the levels of those generally selected for induction. His candidacy has led to many debates among hockey fans, because although his performance in the Summit Series made him one of the most well known names in hockey, many fans feel that it is not right to honour a player's entire career because of one highlight.
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[edit] Awards
- Led the Ontario Hockey Association Junior "A" League in goals in 1963 (49)
- Played in the 1972 NHL All-Star Game
- Played in the 1973 NHL All-Star Game
- MasterWorks honouree (2004) by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada (video clip).
[edit] Records
- Most game-winning goals in 1972 Summit Series (3; record was jointly held with Vladimir Vikulov (2), prior to Game 8)
- Most consecutive game-winning goals in 1972 Summit Series (3; record was held by Vladimir Vikulov (2), prior to Game 8)
- Most goals in 1972 Summit Series (7, tied with Phil Esposito and Alexander Yakushev)
- One of two players (the other being Frank Mahovlich), to have played for Canada in the 1972 Summit Series and 1974 Summit Series
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1960-61 | Hamilton | OHA Jr. A | 30 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1961-62 | Hamilton | OHA Jr. A | 50 | 24 | 19 | 43 | 68 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 13 | ||
| 1962-63 | Hamilton | OHA Jr. A | 48 | 49 | 27 | 76 | 53 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1962-63 | Detroit | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1963-64 | Pittsburgh | AHL | 38 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 18 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1963-64 | Detroit | NHL | 32 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 1964-65 | Detroit | NHL | 70 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 30 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1965-66 | Detroit | NHL | 69 | 22 | 24 | 46 | 34 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 10 | ||
| 1966-67 | Detroit | NHL | 46 | 21 | 19 | 40 | 10 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1967-68 | Detroit | NHL | 50 | 13 | 20 | 33 | 35 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1967-68 | Toronto | NHL | 13 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 8 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1968-69 | Toronto | NHL | 74 | 27 | 32 | 59 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1969-70 | Toronto | NHL | 67 | 20 | 22 | 42 | 18 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1970-71 | Toronto | NHL | 72 | 30 | 30 | 60 | 34 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 1971-72 | Toronto | NHL | 73 | 38 | 19 | 57 | 32 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 1972-73 | Toronto | NHL | 40 | 18 | 16 | 34 | 18 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1973-74 | Toronto | NHL | 69 | 24 | 31 | 55 | 40 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 1974-75 | Toronto | WHA | 58 | 30 | 33 | 63 | 18 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1975-76 | Toronto | WHA | 65 | 26 | 29 | 55 | 22 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1976-77 | Birmingham | WHA | 81 | 23 | 25 | 48 | 30 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1977-78 | Birmingham | WHA | 80 | 37 | 29 | 66 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1978-79 | Birmingham | WHA | 76 | 24 | 27 | 51 | 20 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1979-80 | Birmingham | CHL | 47 | 17 | 18 | 35 | 10 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1979-80 | Atlanta | NHL | 30 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1980-81 | Birmingham | CHL | 35 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 38 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| NHL Totals | 707 | 236 | 241 | 477 | 304 | 56 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 28 | ||||
| WHA Totals | 360 | 140 | 143 | 283 | 112 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||||
[edit] International play
- Played for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series.
- Played for Team Canada in the 1974 Summit Series.
- One of three players to have played for Team Canada both Summit Series. The other two were Pat Stapleton and Frank Mahovlich.
International Statistics
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Canada | Summit | 8 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 4 |
| 1974 | Canada | Summit | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
[edit] References
- 1972 Summit Series.com. 1972 Summit Series.com. Retrieved on 2006-03-09.
- Paul Henderson. The Summit in 1974: Canada plays USSR. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.
