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Clint Benedict

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Clint Benedict
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1965
Born (1892-09-26)September 26, 1892
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Died November 12, 1976(1976-11-12) (aged 84)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Height 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for Ottawa Senators
Montreal Maroons
Playing career 1912–1931

Clinton Stevenson "Praying Benny" Benedict (September 26, 1892 – November 12, 1976) was a Canadian professional lacrosse goalie, ice hockey goaltender who played for the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Maroons. He played on four Stanley Cup-winning squads. He was the first goaltender in the National Hockey League (NHL) to wear a face mask. He led league goaltenders in shutouts seven times over his professional career. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Benedict played for the Ottawa Stars Lacrosse Club, winning the City Championship in 1911. He later played professionally with the Ottawa Capitals Lacrosse Club earning distinction for his tenacity under fire. This helped him immeasurably in his transition into professional hockey.

Benedict was one of the first great goalies in professional hockey and a great innovator in the sport. He was the first goalie to drop to his knees to stop the puck along the ice; at the time, dropping to the ice was illegal. This earned him the nickname "Praying Benny." The first rule change the NHL made legalized his playing style.

Playing career

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Benedict played senior-level hockey at 17, playing for the Ottawa Stewartons of the Ottawa City Hockey League in 1909–10, moving to the Ottawa New Edinburghs of the Interprovincial Amateur Hockey Union (IPAHU) the following season. Benedict joined the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey Association (NHA) in the 1912–13 season. Although the Senators had at the time future Hockey Hall of Famer Percy LeSueur as their starting goaltender, Benedict played 10 games for the club. During the 1912–13 season he was also manager Art Ross' goaltender of choice for the NHA All-Stars, a team which played in five exhibition games against the PCHA All-Stars, losing three games to two.

Benedict with the Ottawa Senators.

Benedict played one more season as backup to LeSueur, in 1913–14, and took over as starting goaltender in the 1914–15 season. He led the league in goals against average (GAA) that season and the following two seasons to start his career. He played 12 seasons overall for the Senators, five in the NHA and seven in the NHL.

After winning three Stanley Cups with the Senators, his career changed in the 1923–24 season. Benedict developed a problem with drinking, which at first was kept secret by the Senators. Benedict occasionally played for the Senators while under the effects. In the playoffs, Benedict and the Senators played poorly and were quickly eliminated. Management withheld some of his salary for his behaviour. Benedict sued the team in return and the Senators countersued, revealing in court documents the extent of Benedict's behaviour. Once the Ottawa papers found out about the court case, the secret was out. The two sides quickly settled to minimize the publicity.[1]

Benedict's career with the Senators was finished. On October 20, 1924, Benedict was traded along with Punch Broadbent to the expansion Montreal Maroons. It was a new lease on life for Benedict who played for six seasons with the Maroons. In 1926, he won another Stanley Cup with the Maroons after having recorded three shutouts in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Victoria Cougars.

In 1930, some 30 years before Jacques Plante popularized the goalie mask, Clint was the first goalie to wear facial protection in the NHL with the Montreal Maroons using it for five games during the 1929–30 season.[2] On January 7, 1930, he was hit by a shot from Howie Morenz in the face, breaking the bridge of his nose.[3] Benedict was out of action for six weeks. He returned on February 20, 1930 against the New York Americans wearing the mask. He played with a mask for five games in total and according to author Douglas Hunter, Benedict modified or tried different masks during the sequence of games.[4] His last game wearing a mask was on March 4, 1930 when he got hit in the face during a goal-mouth scramble.[5] He had to leave the game due to blood coming from his nose. When asked about his short-lived face mask Benedict remarked:

It was leather with a big nosepiece. The nosepiece proved to be the problem, because it obscured my vision.[6]

The game against Ottawa was his last game in the NHL. In June 1930, Benedict was placed on waivers.[7] The next season, he played for the Windsor Bulldogs senior hockey team, the Maroons farm team, leading them to the IHL championship. In 1932, Benedict became manager and coach of Saint John Beavers of the Maritime Senior Hockey League, a position he held for two seasons. Benedict was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1965, much later than would be expected of a player of his ability and career and possibly due to the events of 1924. Benedict lived to 84 years of age, dying in 1976 in Ottawa.

Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP W L T Min GA SO GAA GP W L T Min GA SO GAA
1909–10 Ottawa Stewartons OCHL 7 5 2 0 420 21 0 3.00 1 0 1 0 60 2 0 2.00
1910–11 Ottawa New Edinburghs IPAHU 5 5 0 0 300 18 0 3.60 3 3 0 0 180 13 0 4.25
1910–11 Ottawa Stewartons OCHL 6 2 3 1 360 24 0 4.00 — — — — — — — —
1911–12 Ottawa New Edinburghs IPAHU 11 11 0 0 657 34 0 3.11 4 3 1 0 237 18 0 4.56
1912–13 Ottawa Senators NHA 10 7 2 1 275 16 1 3.49 — — — — — — — —
1912–13 NHA All-Stars Exh. 5 2 3 0 300 30 0 6.00 — — — — — — — —
1913–14 Ottawa Senators NHA 9 5 3 0 474 29 0 3.67 — — — — — — — —
1914–15 Ottawa Senators NHA 20 14 6 0 1243 65 0 3.14 2 1 1 0 120 2 1 1.00
1914–15 Ottawa Senators St-Cup — — — — — — — — 3 0 3 — 180 26 0 8.67
1915–16 Ottawa Senators NHA 24 13 11 0 1447 72 1 2.99 — — — — — — — —
1916–17 Ottawa Senators NHA 18 14 4 0 1103 50 1 2.72 2 1 1 0 120 7 0 3.50
1917–18 Ottawa Senators NHL 22 9 13 0 1337 114 1 5.12 — — — — — — — —
1918–19 Ottawa Senators NHL 18 12 6 0 1152 53 2 2.76 5 1 4 0 300 26 0 5.20
1919–20 Ottawa Senators NHL 24 19 5 0 1443 64 5 2.66 — — — — — — — —
1919–20 Ottawa Senators St-Cup — — — — — — — — 5 3 2 — 300 11 1 2.20
1920–21 Ottawa Senators NHL 24 14 10 0 1462 75 2 3.08 2 2 0 0 120 0 2 0.00
1920–21 Ottawa Senators St-Cup — — — — — — — — 5 3 2 — 300 12 0 2.40
1921–22 Ottawa Senators NHL 24 14 8 2 1510 84 2 3.34 2 0 1 1 120 5 1 2.50
1922–23 Ottawa Senators NHL 24 14 9 1 1486 54 4 2.18 2 1 1 0 120 2 1 1.00
1922–23 Ottawa Senators St-Cup — — — — — — — — 6 5 1 — 361 8 1 1.33
1923–24 Ottawa Senators NHL 22 15 7 0 1356 45 3 1.99 2 0 2 0 120 5 0 2.50
1924–25 Montreal Maroons NHL 30 9 19 2 1843 65 2 2.12 — — — — — — — —
1925–26 Montreal Maroons NHL 36 20 11 5 2288 73 6 1.91 4 2 0 2 240 5 1 1.25
1925–26 Montreal Maroons St-Cup — — — — — — — — 4 3 1 — 240 3 3 0.75
1926–27 Montreal Maroons NHL 43 20 19 4 2748 65 13 1.42 2 0 1 1 132 2 0 0.91
1927–28 Montreal Maroons NHL 44 24 14 6 2690 76 7 1.70 9 5 3 1 555 8 4 0.86
1928–29 Montreal Maroons NHL 37 14 16 7 2300 57 11 1.49 — — — — — — — —
1929–30 Montreal Maroons NHL 14 6 6 1 752 38 0 3.03 — — — — — — — —
1930–31 Windsor Bulldogs IHL 40 20 15 5 2478 92 1 2.23 — — — — — — — —
St-Cup totals — — — — — — — — 23 14 9 — 1381 60 5 2.61
NHA totals 81 53 26 1 4542 232 3 3.06 4 2 2 0 240 9 1 2.25
NHL totals 362 190 143 28 22,367 863 57 2.32 28 11 12 5 1707 53 9 1.86

Awards and achievements

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References

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Bibliography

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  • Coleman, Charles L. (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol. 1, 1893-1926 inc. National Hockey League.

Notes

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  1. ^ Fischer, Doug (June 23, 2008). "The trials and triumphs of Clint Benedict". The Ottawa Citizen. p. A1.
  2. ^ Custance, Craig. "Fifty years after Plante's breakthrough, goalie mask is about sanity, not toughness". Sporting News. Archived from the original on December 7, 2009. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
  3. ^ "Maroons defeat Canadiens, 2-1, in thrilling contest" Montreal Gazette. Jan. 8, 1930 (pg. 16). Retrieved 2021-08-08.
  4. ^ Hunter, Douglas. A Breed Apart: An Illustrated History of Goaltending. p. 37.
  5. ^ "Kilrea Notches 4 Counters When Senators Humble Maroons". Ottawa Citizen. March 5, 1930. p. 11.
  6. ^ Dryden, Steve (2000). The Hockey News: Century Of Hockey. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. p. 32. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
  7. ^ "Montreal Maroons Will Let Out Benny". Ottawa Citizen. June 19, 1930. p. 11.
  8. ^ Coleman 1966, p. 791.
  9. ^ "Past Inductees". Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2008-04-12. Retrieved 2008-01-11.
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