Georges Vezina Biography - Early Years, Joined The Montreal Canadiens, Won First Stanley Cup, Chronology, Played Through Injury, Illness
hockey seasons league goalie
1887-1926
Canadian hockey player
Because of a trophy given out by the National Hockey League (NHL) to the best goalie in the league in his honor, the name of Georges Vezina remains alive to this day. Many consider Vezina—who played for 15 seasons (1910-25) all for the Montreal Canadiens—the NHL's first great goaltender. Playing in 328 straight games, Vezina was an innovative goalie who mastered and defined the early stand-up style of play. Nicknamed the "Chicoutimi Cucumber" for his hometown and calm coolness during games, Vezina's career was cut short by several seasons when he developed tuberculosis. Though he played for at least two seasons while in the early stages of the disease—holding the league's lowest goals against average and backstopping the Canadiens to one of the two Stanley Cups they would win with him in goal—Vezina played his last game at the beginning of the 1925-26 season, dying several months later. As Stan Fischler wrote in The All-New Hockey's 100: A Personal Ranking of the Best Players in Hockey History, "Georges Vezina … was a nonpareil athlete whose ability was matched only by his infinite sportsmanship."
Georges Vezina
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Vezina was born on January 21, 1887 in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada, a small town located on the Saguenay River. He was the son of Jacques Vezina and his wife, who were both employed as bakers. Vezina played hockey from his youth when the game was still in its infancy. He might have played on his town's first hockey team ever. The game probably had been brought to Chicoutimi by some employees…
Vezina joined the Montreal Canadiens in the fall of 1910, and he would spend his entire professional career with the team. The Canadiens were part of the National Hockey Association (NHA) until 1917, when the league folded. They then joined the NHL in 1917. Before the 1926-27 season, the Stanley Cup was played for by the team that won the NHA/NHL, against whichever team won the Pacific Coast Hocke…
It was not until the 1915-16 season that the Montreal Canadiens became a really competitive team, with good offensive players on board like Newsy Lalonde, to match the defensive prowess given by Vezina. This led to Montreal's playing for its first Stanley Cup, after winning the NHA championship, against the Portland Rosebuds of the PCHA. The series went to a decisive fifth game in Portland,…
By the early 1920s, Vezina showed how tough of a player he really was when he played after suffering a serious injury, then a deadly disease. During one game in Hamilton, Ontario in the 1922-23 season, Vezina's head was cut open and he suffered a broken nose when an opponent slammed into him. Vezina continued to play in every game, and played well. He won a game against Ottawa a short time …
During the season opener against Pittsburgh in his home ice, Mt. Royal Arena, on November 28, 1925, he played in the first period despite a 102-105 degree temperature, fatigue, and serious chest pains. Vezina did not allow one goal. During the intermission, Vezina had an arterial hemorrhage, bled from the mouth, and lost consciousness. The goalie insisted on playing the second period, but collapse…
The Vezina Trophy was named in honor of Georges Vezina. After his tragic death from tuberculosis, the owners of the Montreal Canadians (Leo Dandurand, Louis Letourneau, and Joe Cattarinich) donated a trophy to the National Hockey League during the 1926-27 season. The Vezina was originally given to the goaltender who played the most games for his team and allowed the fewest number of goals during t…
Diamond, Dan, and Joseph Romain. Hockey Hall of Fame: The Official History of the Game and Its Greatest Stars. New York: Doubleday, 1988. Fischler, Stan. The All-New Hockey's 100: A Personal Ranking of the Best Players in Hockey History. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Limited, 1988. Fischler, Stan. Golden Ice. New York: Wynwood Books, 1990. Fischler, Stan, and Shirley Fischler. Fischlers�…
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over 2 years ago
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