Hall of Fame goaltender Harry Lumley became a goalie by accident.
He won a Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings. Later in his career he captured a Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He recorded 71 career shutouts including 7 in the Stanley Cup playoffs. But Harry Lumley only became a goalie only because one of his teammates failed to show up for a hockey game.
Harry “Apple Cheeks” Lumley was born on November 11, 1926 in Owen Sound, Ontario. His nickname was due to his rosy cheeks. Like most young Canadian boys Harry grew up playing hockey. One day his Strathcona Public School hockey team was getting ready to play in the Owen Sound School hockey league when it was realized that their goalie was missing. The coach had to find a replacement, and quickly.
As he surveyed the team of twelve-year olds his eyes found the gangly youth who towered over the rest of the team. He had found his replacement goalie. “Lumley”, he shouted, “Put on the pads, you are playing goal!”
Lumley recorded a shutout in his first game. And, the rest was history.
In 1943, before his seventeenth birthday, Harry signed a professional contract with the Detroit Red Wings.
He started his professional career in Indianapolis. It was not long before Jack Adams, the wily general manager and coach of the Red Wings, became aware of the youngster tending the twine for his Indianapolis farm club. In December 1943, barely seventeen years of age, Harry Lumley made his first start in National Hockey League.
His opponents were the New York Rangers. After shutting out the Rangers in the first period, Harry recalled thinking that the NHL wasn’t so tough. But the second period was to be a totally different experience for the youngster!
The Rangers peppered the Red Wing rookie with shots from every angle. New York put six pucks behind Lumley before the final buzzer put a merciful end to the youngster agony.
His second NHL game was not any better. Chicago put seven goals behind him and after the final whistle Harry was told that he was headed but to the minors. But, before he returned to Indianapolis, Lumley would have a unique experience.
For some reason, Harry’s train to Indianapolis was not due to leave Detroit until after the Red Wings played another game. Their opponent was the Rangers.
With Harry sitting in the stands, Detroit was leading the game. But at the end of the second period the Rangers’ goalie was injured. In the 1940s NHL teams only carried one goalie. If the visiting team’s goalie could not play the home team would often offer a player from the stands to substitute. When New York asked if Detroit had a spare goalie they could use, they offered Lumley’s services.
During the third period, wearing a Rangers’ jersey, Harry stood on his head stopping everything that his Red Wing teammates fired in his direction.
Although he shut out his team, the Rangers still lost the game.
After the game an irate Detroit coach screamed at his players “the best Red Wing player tonight wasn’t even wearing a Red Wings’ sweater!”
The following season, after 20 games in the minors, Harry became the youngest regular goalie in the history of the NHL, when at the age of 18, he was named the starting netminder for the rest of the 1944-45 season.
Lumley took the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup finals, only to lose in heart-breaking series with the Maple Leafs.
But in the 1949-50 Stanley Cup playoffs, Harry achieved the dream of every hockey player when he led the Red Wings to the Stanley Cup.
Despite his stellar goaltending, including three shutouts in the playoffs, on their way to a Stanley Cup championship, Harry found himself heading to Chicago in a multi-player trade.
His stay in the Windy City ended, just prior to the beginning of the 1952-53 season when Lumley was traded to Toronto. After a disappointing first season with the Leafs Harry had a brilliant season in 1953-54, leading the league in shutouts (13) and winning the Vezina Trophy with the league’s goals against average (1.86).
He was an NHL First All-Star both in 1954 and 1955 with the Leafs.
Despite his great play, Harry was traded to Chicago after the end of the 1955-56 season. However, Lumley was not in any hurry to report to the Hawks, instead he spent one and a half seasons with their Buffalo farm club before being traded to the Boston Bruins.
Lumley retired from the NHL at the end of the 1960 season.
Two decades after he last donned the goalie pads in the National Hockey League, Harry “Apple Cheeks” Lumley received the ultimate recognition when in 1980 he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
