Gordon "Red" Henry, EBUG Beats The Habs in Cup Final



Vegas Golden Knights goalie, Adin Hill replaced the injured Lauent Brossoit against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of the 2023 Pacific Division Final. Hill became only the seventh goalie in NHL history to record their first post-season victory in relief, AFTER the first round of the playoffs.
The first one to accomplish this was famously, Lester Patrick who came from behind the bench to lead the New York Rangers to a win in Game two of the 1928 Stanley Cup Final.
The second ever goaltender was the relative unknown, Gord Henry.
The 1953 Stanley Cup Final pitted the 3rd place Boston Bruins against the 2nd place Montreal Canadiens. Game 1 saw Montreal rookie Jacques Plante defeat "Sugar" Jim Henry by a score of 4-2. In Game 2, the Bruins goalie was injured with just over two minutes left in the first period and replaced by his namesake (unrelated) Gord Henry. Milt Dunnell of The Toronto Star described it eloquently:
"Sugar Jim Henry, better known to Detroit as sugar-coated strychnine, got his skate caught in a crevice at Montreal Saturday night. He popped an ocelet, or whatever it is that pops when a goaltender goes in the opposite direction from his skates. That brought in another Henry, Gordon the Red. He held off the desperate Habitants while the Bruins went on to square their Stanley Cup set.
Gord Henry allowed but one goal in his 43 minutes of play in a 4-1 Bruins win. Dunnell continued;
History almost repeated Saturday night. After Sugar Jim was hurt, Red Henry, who took his place, got a skate puncture his arm...While Red was being cased for stitching, Lester's son, (Bruins coach) Lynn, paced the dressing-room floor. "I may have to emulate my old man yet," Lynn cracked. "Why don't you give it a try," a reporter urged. "Are you kidding?" Lynn demanded. "I only played goal for one period of hockey in my life, and I missed 25 shots." You have to conclude the earlier generation of Patricks was made of more venturesome stuff.
Red Henry would have to start Game 3 for the still-injured Sugar Jim, but this time didn't fair as well. Montreal won 3-0 behind their number one goalie returning to action, Gerry McNeil. It got even worse for Red in Game 4 in a 7-3 loss. With Boston now down three games to one, Sugar Jim returned, only to lose on a goal by Elmer Lach for a 1-0 Montreal overtime victory. 
Gord "Red" Henry would not play in the NHL again, he returned for his seventh season as starter for the AHL's Hershey Bears and retired from hockey in 1957.









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