Eddie Giacomin
| Eddie Giacomin | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hockey Hall of Fame, 1987 | |||
| Born |
June 6, 1939 Sudbury, ON, CAN |
||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | ||
| Weight | 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb) | ||
| Position | Goaltender | ||
| Caught | Left | ||
| Played for |
New York Rangers Detroit Red Wings |
||
| Playing career | 1959–1978 | ||
Edward "Ed" Giacomin (born June 6, 1939 in Sudbury, Ontario) is a retired professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings in the National Hockey League, as well as for the Providence Reds of the American Hockey League.
Despite suffering serious burns in a kitchen accident, Giacomin made the Providence Reds for good in the 1960–61 season. Unfortunately, in the Original Six days of the 1960s, with only six starting goaltending jobs in the NHL, positions were hard to obtain in the big leagues, and Giacomin starred for the Reds for five full seasons. Giacomin also served brief stints with the Eastern Hockey League's legendary Clinton Comets during the 1958/59 and the 1959/60 seasons.
NHL teams became interested in Giacomin, with Detroit and the New York Rangers expressing the most interest. New York ultimately traded three players and starting goaltender Marcel Paille to the Reds for Giacomin in 1965. Giacomin was impressive in his first month as Rangers goaltender, but faltered thereafter, and lost his starting job in New York. The following season he improved markedly, leading the NHL in shutouts and backstopping the Rangers to only their second playoff berth in nine seasons.
A classic stand-up goaltender and a skilled stickhandler known for leaving the crease to play the puck, Giacomin would be the Rangers' starting goaltender for the next nine seasons, leading the league in games played four straight years from 1967, in shutouts in 1967, 1968 and 1971, and sharing the Vezina Trophy with partner Gilles Villemure in 1971. Typical of his bravery was in a game in the 1971 playoffs against Chicago when Bobby Hull skated over the back of his hand. Eddie did not leave the game, and when the Rangers won the game, even the Black Hawks used the word "guts" to describe his courage. During this stretch the Rangers had a string of success second only to the powerful Boston Bruins, the pinnacle of which was making it to the Stanley Cup finals in 1972, losing to the Bruins in a hard-fought six game series.
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