NHL great Glenn Hall remembered as humble, strong Stony Plain community advocate

CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson looks at the life of NHL hockey legend Glenn Hall, also known as Mr. Goalie, and the impact he had in Stony Plain.

He was “tough as a hockey player,” Grant Stevenson said of his grandfather, Glenn Hall, on Thursday, a day after the longtime resident of his farm near Stony Plain, Alta., passed away aged 94. “Off the ice, he was always that kind, soft-spoken, supportive grandparent to us.

“And very unique.”

Was he ever.

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Mr. Goalie, as Hall was known over his storied career and into retirement, was one of the best in the final years of the National Hockey League’s Original 6 era in the 1950s and ’60s and into its early expansion phase.

And before we go further into his background, that ‘unique,’ ‘tough’ part can be summed up by an NHL record he holds that will very likely never be broken: 502 consecutive complete games played in an NHL net. Chew that over and consider the Humboldt, Sask., native played most of his pro career bare-faced.

Before he broke into the NHL full-time in 1955, he spent three years in the Detroit Red Wings’ farm system toiling for the Edmonton Flyers of the old Western Hockey League.

Hall was a three-time Stanley Cup winner – twice as a player with the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks, and once as the goalie coach of the Calgary Flames in 1989 – a three-time Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s top goalie, was awarded the Calder Trophy in 1956 as the league’s top rookie and was given the Conn Smythe Trophy as the 1968 Stanley Cup Final’s most-valuable player for the losing St. Louis Blues.

But for all the accolades Hall earned on his way to the Hockey Hall of Fame, he was a humble man, said retired NHL player Cam Connor, whose “path crossed a few times” with Hall over the years at banquets and other functions.

He compared Hall’s demeanour to that of another NHL ‘Mister’: Gordie Howe, a.k.a. Mr. Hockey, the proto-typical power forward who also hailed from Saskatchewan and is considered one of the game’s greats.

“The two are very similar,” Connor – who played for the Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens over a 12-year career in the 1970s and ’80s – told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday.

“They have so much that they’ve accomplished in the game of hockey that they never brag about whatsoever. You’ve got to pull things out of them if you want to learn a little bit about their past and what they’ve accomplished. And that’s what he was like. That’s what Gordie Howe was like. They’re very special people.”

Stony Plain Mayor William Choy said Thursday he is “honoured” to call Hall his friend and someone who was a “die-hard advocate for sports in our community.”

“He was a great hockey player, a great goalie ... but it was his character, his focus on family, his focus on community – those are the things that trickle down. Many times, he came out to Stony Plain minor hockey (events) and just to be here as a presence for the youth.”

Hall was married to wife Pauline for 55 years before she passed away in 2009. They had four children and nine grandchildren, including Stevenson.

To him, he was Grandpa Glenn, of course, “driving around in his truck, teaching us how to drive, golfing with us in the front yard, skating on the slough, stuff like that.”

And although “he wasn’t a normal grandpa,” he said, getting support from Hall had a positive influence as he navigated his own way up through his hockey career. Stevenson, who is from Spruce Grove, played 47 games in the NHL with the San Jose Sharks and today is a head coach for a Northern Alberta Xtreme hockey academy team.

“I know normal grandpas aren’t signing 200 pucks over a six pack of beer, but it was always special when he was around, very supportive,” he said. “He never really gave me tactical advice or (said), ‘You need to do this.’ It was always about things I could do that weren’t skill related: work hard, be a good teammate; the harder you work, the luckier you’re going to get.

“It was always subtle, positive, very supportive things that really helped me throughout my career.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson