George Hainsworth

After leaving in 1925 from the hockey Georges Vezin , the Montreal Canadiens was in dire need of an equivalent replacement. A worthy successor was found in the team of the West Canadian Hockey League "Saskatoon Shakes", which was then headed by a former player and coach of Khabs, Newsey Lalonde . George Hainsworth was already in his early thirties, by the time he joined Shakes in 1923 (Lalond was recommended by Hainsworth coach and general manager of Canadiens Leo Danduran ) he already had considerable hockey experience, 12 years playing for various Hockey Association clubs Ontario . "Montreal" offered the goalkeeper a contract for 6.5 thousand dollars a year.

That “Canadiens” was not mistaken with the choice of goalkeeper, George Hainsworth proved already in his first season in the NHL, ending it with indicators of 1.47 missed pucks and 14 “dry” games in 44 games and becoming the first owner of the newly established prize of Vesin Trophy . Over the next 2 seasons, the goalkeeper's indicators only improved: 1.05 and 13 “dry” games in 44 matches (1927/28) and 0.92 and 22 “dry” games in 44 matches (1928/29) (an unsurpassed record NHL). In the next 2 years, George Hainsworth, securing his star status, helped the team win 2 Stanley Cups. In the season 1932–33, the goalkeeper performed the duties of the team captain - only 8 goalkeepers in league history were honored with the right to wear such a title.

In 1933, Canadiens, who were experiencing serious financial problems due to the global economic crisis, traded George Hainsworth to Toronto . The goalkeeper helped Maple Leafs to reach the Cup final in 1935, but the following year Toronto canceled the contract with the goalkeeper, who was 41 years old by that time. But this was not the end of George Hainsworth's professional career: the veteran goalkeeper accepted the offer of Montreal, whose main goalkeeper was injured at the time. Having played the last 4 matches in his career as a member of the team, in whose history he entered many glorious pages, George Hainsworth finally hung the skates on a nail.

After completing his hockey career, George Hainsworth worked as an inspector at Dominion Electrohum Limited. In 1949, the former hockey player became a member of the city council of Kitchener .

On October 9, 1950, returning from the guests of Heinsworth - George and his wife Alma went to visit his son Bill, who lived in the city of Val-d'Or - got into a car accident near the city of Gravenhurst. The car of George Hainsworth collided with a truck; former hockey player died on the spot from injuries sustained in a collision. George Hainsworth was 55 years old. On October 13 of the same year, he was buried in the town of Kitchener at the Woodloon cemetery.

• Stanley Cup Winner: 1930, 1931
• Winner of the Vezin Trophy : 1927, 1928, 1929
• NHL All-Star Match : 1934
• Winner of the record for the reliability coefficient for the season among NHL goalkeepers: 0.92 in the season 1928-29.
• Winner of the record for the number of “dry” matches for the season among NHL goalkeepers: 22 matches in the season 1928-29.
• With 94 matches played for zero, he is one of the top three NHL goalkeepers who have played the largest number of dry matches in their careers.
• Takes the third place in the list of professional goalkeepers, who played the largest number of “dry” matches in their career, in the entire history of professional hockey.
• With an indicator of 1.93, ranked second in the list of the most reliable goalkeepers in the NHL in the history of the league.
• Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame since 1961.
• Included in the list of the top 100 NHL players by The Hockey News .

• George Hainsworth - Statistics on The Internet Hockey Database (eng.)
• George Hainsworth - page on the site legendsofhockey.net
• George Hainsworth - page on hockeygoalies.org