Forget about Wayne Gretzky’s records. The most unbeatable mark in the NHL history book? Glenn Hall’s run of 503 successive starts (552 games including playoffs). Hall played in every one of his teams’ games from the start of 1955-56 until sustaining a back injury early in 1962-63. It’s even more incredible considering only three goalies have played in every game for their team in a single season since, and none of those instances occurred after 1969-70. Hall finished his career in St. Louis, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1975.
Despite the end of Hall’s streak, the second page of the issue features an even more impactful story. Fred Cederberg’s dispatch from the Toronto Telegram dives into Leafs president Stafford Smythe proposing a “universal draft.” Included are ideas such as ridding the NHL of “protected areas, sponsorships, protected lists and other pseudo-secret workings which go into developing pro hockey players.“
It’s perhaps difficult to fathom now, but Smythe’s idea was in the interest of making the NHL more competitive and ending a period of outright dominance by Toronto and Montreal, who had won all but five of the previous 19 Stanley Cups at the time.
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