Gump Worsley
|
|
|
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Worsley was born to Mr. and Mrs. William Worsley, who had emigrated to Canada from Scotland. He was their youngest son, and was born at a very bad time, the Great Depression, when his father lost his job. He grew up in his early years in poverty, receiving food baskets from the Masons, a respected organization. When his father finally found work again, there was great joy in the family. He stated in his book They Call Me Gump years later "Now we began getting a weekly allowance. I received five or ten cents a week...and I'd feel like a millionaire."
Worsley began his hockey on the playgrounds in his Montreal hometown. He was a forward, but his diminutive size resulted in his being knocked down quite a bit, so his coach on his playground league team recommended he play in goal. So, in his last year of juvenile hockey, he switched to goal.
Worsley got the nickname "Gump" from a high school chum who saw that his hair stuck up like Andy Gump's in the old comic strip.
Worsley engaged in some behavior that nearly got him in trouble. He was part of a gang that liked to hang around a restaurant that had a pinball machine, and some of his companions were ruffians. One night in revenge, they released a skunk in this restaurant that sent its foul odor throughout the place.
Worsley decided at age 16 to try out for the Verdun Cyclones in the Quebec Junior League. He made the team, and toiled valiantly in goal for a team that didn't always have a good defense. It was during his days in Verdun that he met his future wife, Doreen Chapman. They began dating during his days with Verdun.
In 1948-49, the New York Rovers borrowed him and he played well in the two games he played and was invited to the New York Rangers training camp in 1949. With future Hall of Famer Chuck Rayner still playing sharp, Worsley was not going to make the Rangers and was farmed to the New York Rovers, a semi-pro team. He did very well for the Rovers and was promoted to the St. Paul Saints of the United States Hockey League the following season. He won the Chuck Gardiner Memorial Trophy as the league's leading goalkeeper that year and was now nearing his NHL career.
It was with the Rovers that he developed his fear of flying: a Viscount airplane carrying the team caught fire and made an emergency landing in Milwaukee. From then on, Gump suffered terribly whenever he flew.
Gump married Doreen Chapman on June 30th, 1951, and they honeymooned in New York. Eventually, they had a son, Lorne Jr., then another son, Dean, followed by son, Drew, and then a daughter, Lianne.
He was moved a notch higher to the Saskatoon Quakers of the Western Hockey League in 1951-52 and led the team to the Lester Patrick Cup championship.
Worsley was not supposed to make the Rangers in 1952-53, but Rayner pulled a leg muscle and Gump made his NHL debut in a 5-3 loss to Detroit. He had a young, inexperienced defense in front of him and in getting the first two shutouts of his career, he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's top rookie. But Gump found that rookie heroics do not necessarily assure one of a job and Rangers general manager Frank Boucher decided to give the 29 year old Johnny Bower a chance to play and Gump was farmed out to Vancouver of the Western Hockey League. He had a great season and was named the league's most valuable player, leading the Canucks to first place.
He returned to the Rangers in 1954-55, but faced so much rubber that he could not turn in a good season. Things finally improved when the tyrannical Phil Watson took over as coach and Gump improved his play with four shutouts in 1955-56. In 1957-58, he led the Rangers to their highest finish since 1941-42, finishing second, despite the fact Gump had spent some time in Providence that year. The next three years were miserable for Gump, and he drank to forget the losses. He even was farmed out to Eddie Shore's Springfield Indians in 1959-60, but nothing could help the Rangers then.
In 1961-62, the Rangers made the playoffs and his goaltending was nearly reponsible for a Ranger upset of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but bad luck continued to strike the Rangers. They missed the playoffs the next season.
With Montreal general managerFrank Selke and coach Toe Blake tired of Jacques Plante's hypochondria, they traded the great goaltender to the Rangers for Gump and two other players. But bad luck struck Gump when he pulled a muscle in his leg and Charlie Hodge won the goaltending job with the Montreal Canadiens. But in 1964-65, Coach Blake called up Gump from the minors and he was very prominent in the Stanley Cup playoffs when the team won the Stanley Cup. Gump then won his first Vezina Trophy the following year and the Canadiens repeated as Stanley Cup champions. In 1966-67, Gump had knee surgery and missed quite a bit of action. The following year, 1967-68, however, was his finest with a 1.98 goals against average and 6 shutours. He then won 11 Stanley Cup games as the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup. In 1968-69, Claude Ruel took over as coach and the two did not get along. With fans razzing him and a rough plane ride to Chicago, Gump finally succumbed to the goaltender's occupational disease: a nervous breakdown. He was out for a month and received psychiatric treatment. He came back beautifully and led the Canadiens to another Stanley Cup.
In 1969-70, Coach Ruel really got angry at Gump's easy-going way. During the season, he began using young Rogatien Vachon in goal in place of Gump. Finally, with Worsley out of shape, the Canadiens tried to farm him out to Nova Scotia, but Gump refused resolutely to be demoted. The Canadiens suspended him, but finally decided to sell him to the Minnesota North Stars. He turned the team around and the team made the playoffs as a result. He did well the following year, also, but the North Stars did not like paying his big contract and left him open in the intraleague draft. No one took Gump, and, feeling unappreciated, he took a pay cut. But he had his second best season and earned big bonuses for it as he led the North Stars to second place in the Western Division. The next season, he was off to a good start when he pulled a leg muscle. After coming back, he found he was not effective and retired. However, North Stars general manager Wren Blair lured him out of retirement for one more season. The team played very badly and missed the playoffs and Gump retired for keeps.
He later scouted for the North Stars, discovering goaltender Don Beaupre, who had some success in the NHL. Gump also was a goaltending coach with the Montreal Canadiens in 1992-93 and the team won the Cup that year.
Gump spent his last four years seriously ill. On January 22th, 2007, he suffered a heart attack and he died four days later on January 26th, 2007.
[edit] Transactions
- Traded to Montreal Canadiens by New York Rangers with Dave Balon, Leon Rochefort and Len Ronson for Jacques Plante, Don Marshall and Phil Goyette, June 4, 1963.
- Traded to Minnesota North Stars by Montreal Canadiens for cash, February 27, 1970.
[edit] Statistics
[edit] Awards and Accomplishments
[edit] Video Gallery
[edit] Picture Gallery
[edit] See Also
[edit] Recent Gump Worsley ArmchairGM Stories
|
No pages found. |
