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Paul Henderson
1972 Summit Series hero a former Hamilton Red Wing Paul Henderson is best remembered for scoring the winning goal in the Canada versus USSR Summit Series in 1972. This was a historical benchmark for Canadian hockey, but the right-winger from Kincardine was the scoring ace of the OHA Junior loop when he played for the Hamilton Red Wings in the 1960s. It was during Hamilton’s Memorial Cup-winning season of 1962-63 that Henderson scored 49 goals in 48 games to lead the league. Henderson started with the OMHA in the late 1950s, playing for Lucknow in the juvenile division where he finished the 1958-59 season with 68 goals in 20 games. After starting with the Hamilton Bs he was promoted to play with the Red Wings during Christmas of 1960, and by March of 1961 he had scored only twice. “I think I lacked confidence when I moved up,” Henderson said in a 1961 interview. “But I have two years left and I hop I’ll start to score again next year.” By January 17 of 1963 the 20-year old had amassed 29 goals, leading the league, but he was not satisfied, especially when he was in a six-game scoring slump.
“I’m all tensed up,” he explained to the press. “I know I’m getting too anxious. I’m missing goals now that would have been easy earlier in the season. “I hope I can get one against Guelph,” he continued. “If I don’t, I think I’ll get a hatful in a hurry.” Then a week later, Henderson was off again, and had picked up five more markers to bring his tally to 34. He also had a two-game call-up to the parent Detroit Red Wings that season while in Hamilton, and got the nod to the show for the 1963-64 season. He scored three times in his 32-game season with Detroit. After a 38-game stint with the Pittsburgh Hornets of the AHL the same season, he returned to Detroit for the next four seasons. Henderson acquired the nickname “The Shadow” for his checking ability against Chicago Black Hawk great Bobby Hull in 1966, and was now playing left wing with the Red Wings.
“I feel stronger coming in from left wing,” he said at the time. “When I’m on right wing, I’m against the boards. But on left wing I carry the puck more towards center ice.” Henderson was also a fan of Red Wings coach Sid Abel. “I like the atmosphere here. There’s good feeling between the coach and the players. You’re treated like a person here, not like a small cog in a big machine.” Abel’s hunch of moving Henderson to the opposite wing worked, as his goal output increased from eight in the 1964-65 season to 22 the next year. And he scored 21 goals in the 1966-67 season, playing in 23 fewer games. Henderson’s game-winning goal against the Montreal Canadiens in January of 1966 was his sixth such feat of the season, but he was quick to point out sometimes you’re in the right place at the right time.
“I was just standing in front of the net,” Henderson related to Pete Waldmeir of the Detroit News, “and Floyd Smith took a shot that hit the post. The puck skittered along in front of the crease and just as the defenseman got his stick on it, I reached over and poked it in. “Really, when you play on the line with Normie Ullman all you have to do is skate like hell for the front of the net, stay alert, and yell. He’ll dig it out and give it to you.” Late in the 1967-68 season Henderson was involved in a multi-player trade that saw him go to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The next season with the Leafs he scored 27 goals, but in his fifth year of his seven-year tenure with Toronto, he scored 38 times. And it was during this time in the eight-game Summit Series he scored seven times, including the historical winner against the USSR.
Henderson stayed with the Leafs for a couple of more seasons, but his output was nothing like in previous seasons. He was not happy with the Leaf franchise. The newly-formed World Hockey Association was robbing NHL clubs of their talent, and Henderson signed on with the Toronto Toros of the WHA, playing there for two seasons before moving to the Birmingham Bulls for the 1976-77 season for a three-year hitch. In 1979 he signed with the Atlanta Flames, playing for the NHL club for one season before finishing his hockey career with the Bulls, now in the Central Hockey League. Henderson scored 236 goals in 707 NHL games, and 140 goals in 360 WHA games, but it was his goal in Moscow in 1972 that has placed him in hockey immortality. During the mid-1970s Henderson turned to Christianity, works for
the Campus of Christ, and has been a keynote speaker on the lecture
circuit. He is also an inducted member in the Canadian Sports Hall
of Fame.
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