Andy Hebenton

Andrew Alexander "Spuds" Hebenton (October 3, 1929 January 29, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger, and holds the record for the longest streak without missing a game in professional hockey history.

Andy Hebenton
Hebenton on a 1962 Topps hockey card
Born (1929-10-03)October 3, 1929
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Died January 29, 2019(2019-01-29) (aged 89)
Gresham, Oregon, U.S.
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 182 lb (83 kg; 13 st 0 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shot Left
Played for New York Rangers
Boston Bruins
Playing career 19491976

Playing career

After playing junior hockey for a local Winnipeg team, Hebenton made his professional debut in 1949 for the Cincinnati Mohawks of the American Hockey League. The following season he moved on to the Victoria Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey League (subsequently renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL). He starred with Victoria for five seasons, his best year being 1955, when he scored 46 goals and was named to the league's First All-Star team.

The following season his rights were purchased by the New York Rangers of the NHL, for whom he played for eight seasons. He scored twenty goals or more in five of those seasons, his best year coming in 1958–59, when he scored 33 goals and 29 assists and was the runner up for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for gentlemanly play, which he had won in 1956-57. After the 1962–63 season, the Boston Bruins acquired Hebenton in the waiver draft, for whom he played his final NHL season. He played 630 straight NHL games in all, breaking the record for the most consecutive games (a mark subsequently broken by Garry Unger in the 1970s[1] and currently held by Doug Jarvis).

Hebenton's rights were sold by Boston after the 1963–64 season to the Portland Buckaroos of the WHL, and he remained in Portland for the rest of the league's history (barring two seasons back in Victoria), becoming one of the WHL's all-time leading scorers and perennial stars, and missing only two games. He was a perennial winner of the Fred Hume Cup for gentlemanly play, winning it nearly half the seasons it was offered, the final time when he was 43 years old.

From the 1953 season, with the Cougars, through to the end of the 1967 season, Hebenton played at least 1,054 consecutive regular season professional games; including playoff games, Hebenton played 1,076 consecutive professional games.[2]

Retirement

When the WHL folded in 1974, Hebenton played four games for the Seattle Totems in the Central Hockey League to wrap up his professional career, having played 26 professional seasons in all, a mark exceeded only by Gordie Howe and Jaromir Jagr in hockey history. He played two seasons for a version of the Buckaroos in semi-pro leagues before hanging up his skates for good.

In all, Hebenton played in 630 NHL games, scoring 189 goals and 202 assists for 391 points. He likewise played in 1056 PCHL/WHL games, scoring 425 goals and 532 assists for 957 points. Hebenton's remarkable consecutive games streak lasted at least from the 1952 season through to the end of the 1967 season—he missed three games in 1951 for the Victoria Cougars and two games in 1966/67 with the Victoria Maple Leafs so the streak was likely longer—for an unrivalled total of at least 1,054 consecutive games. By contrast, Doug Jarvis' professional streak—the second longest in history—is 988 games. He died on January 29, 2019 in at an assisted living facility in Gresham, Oregon at the age of 89.[3][4]

Career achievements

  • MJHL Second All-Star Team (1949)
  • PCHL Championship (1951)
  • WHL Championships (1965 & 1966)
  • WHL Second All-Star Team (1955, 1965 & 1970)
  • WHL First All-Star Team (1971 & 1973)
  • Lady Byng Trophy (1957)
  • Played in NHL All-Star Game in 1960
  • Fred Hume Cup Winner (Most Gentlemanly Player WHL) (1965, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 & 1974)
  • Currently fifth all-time in NHL for consecutive games played
  • Fourth all-time in WHL games played, third in goals scored, eighth in assists and fourth in points scored.
  • "Honoured Member" of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame
  • In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, was ranked No. 53 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons[5]

Family

Hebenton's son Clay was a professional hockey goaltender between 1973–1980, most notably as the starting goaltender for the World Hockey Association's Phoenix Roadrunners in the 1977 season. It was the first time a father and son were active in professional hockey at the same time, followed by Gordie Howe and his sons Mark Howe and Marty Howe in the WHA in 1974.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GPGAPtsPIM GPGAPtsPIM
1946–47 St. Boniface Canadiens MAHA
1946–47 Winnipeg Canadians MJHL 2421133415
1947–48 Winnipeg Canadians MJHL 3030134334 65386
1949–50 Cincinnati Mohawks AHL 4487150
1949–50 Montreal Royals QSHL 50220
1950–51 Victoria Cougars PCHL 5616163212 126392
1951–52 Victoria Cougars PCHL 6731255681 1366125
1952–53 Victoria Cougars WHL 7027245146
1953–54 Victoria Cougars WHL 7021244529 53140
1954–55 Victoria Cougars WHL 7046348020 51122
1955–56 New York Rangers NHL 702414388 51012
1956–57 New York Rangers NHL 7021234410 52022
1957–58 New York Rangers NHL 7021244517 62354
1958–59 New York Rangers NHL 703329628
1959–60 New York Rangers NHL 701927464
1960–61 New York Rangers NHL 7026285410
1961–62 New York Rangers NHL 7018244210 61230
1962–63 New York Rangers NHL 701522378
1963–64 Boston Bruins NHL 701211238
1964–65 Portland Buckaroos WHL 7034407416 1076130
1965–66 Victoria Maple Leafs WHL 7231457612 146111714
1966–67 Victoria Maple Leafs WHL 7224366019
1967–68 Portland Buckaroos WHL 7016294510 124370
1968–69 Portland Buckaroos WHL 7426517726 112130
1969–70 Portland Buckaroos WHL 723642789 112790
1970–71 Portland Buckaroos WHL 7229528110 1163914
1971–72 Portland Buckaroos WHL 7230346412 113472
1972–73 Portland Buckaroos WHL 7230366626
1973–74 Portland Buckaroos WHL 7828447216 102462
1974–75 Seattle Totems CHL 40000
1974–75 Portland Buckaroos WIHL 20411150
WHL totals 934378491869251 10035427734
NHL totals 63018920239183 2265118

References

  1. "Unger's N.H.L. Streak Ends While Simmer's Reaches 12". The New York Times. The New York Times. 24 December 1979. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  2. Ronberg, Gary (24 April 1967). "The Thousand and One Nights of Andy Hebenton". Vault. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  3. Goldstein, Richard (2019-02-02). "Andy Hebenton, N.H.L. Ironman with 630 Consecutive Games, Dies at 89". The New York Times.
  4. "Obituary: Former NHL iron man Andy Hebenton played for Victoria Cougars".
  5. Cohen, Russ; Halligan, John; Raider, Adam (2009). 100 Ranger Greats: Superstars, Unsung Heroes and Colorful Characters. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0470736194. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
Preceded by
Earl Reibel
Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy
1957
Succeeded by
Camille Henry
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