Frosty's Hockey World - Gerry Cheevers

Gerry Cheevers

Gerry Cheevers Biography from The Legends of Hockey

One of the first aggressive, straying goalies, Gerry "Cheesy" Cheevers was the backbone of the offensively talented Boston Bruins that won the Stanley Cup in 1970 and 1972. It was an improbable peak to a career that began inauspiciously during the Original Six years, when there were exactly six goalies in the National Hockey League - and he wasn't one of them.

Born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Cheevers was raised in Toronto and the Leafs were interested in him from the time he was a youngster. They sent him to the St. Michael's Majors in the Ontario junior league to develop, and that is exactly what happened. Although he played a few games at left wing for the Majors, he was a goalie for most of his five years there. But the Leafs had Johnny Bower in goal and Cheevers wasn't going to displace the "China Wall" from the Leaf cage.

Cheevers was sent to the farm team in Pittsburgh and played two games with Toronto without making much of an impression. And he didn't join Boston until 1965-66 after being claimed by the Bruins in the summer Intra-League Draft when Punch Imlach left him open for the taking.

By 1968 he was the number one man in Boston, the savior on a team that had the incomparable Bobby Orr and, soon, Phil Esposito and the other great scoring stars. While all the others were in the offensive zone putting the puck in the net, Cheevers was frequently left to his own devices to prevent goals. The only criticism, one that stuck with him his whole career, was that he roamed too much, sometimes with negative consequences.

During practice in the 1968-69 season, he began what was to be his most famous trademark - painting stitches on his mask to indicate where a puck had hit him. "I was trying to get out of practice one day," he explained, "when this shot that couldn't have broken an egg hit me in the mask. I faked a serious injury and went into the dressing room. I was sitting there having a Coke when Harry Sinden came in and told me to get back out onto the ice. All the guys were laughing, so I knew I had to do something. I told the trainer to paint a 30-stitch gash on the mask. Then I went out and told Harry, See how bad it is!" In ensuing years, he periodically added more scars and his mask became a symbol of the first generation of mask-wearing goalies demonstrating the safety of face protection.

In the summer of 1972, fresh from a Stanley Cup, Cheevers was one of a number of superstars to leave the NHL and join the upstart World Hockey Association. He signed an incredible seven-year, $1.4 million contract with the Cleveland Crusaders, which he thought would be the last contract of his career. But after less than four years he asked to be bought out and returned to the Bruins and the NHL for most of the next four seasons.

Cheevers was considered the finest playoff goalie of his day thanks in part to his team attitude. He didn't care how many goals he let in as long as his Bruins scored one more. Shutouts and trophies meant nothing. Only the Stanley Cup counted. His career playoff record was 53-34, one of the best ratios in league history.

In 1985, Cheevers was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Gerry Cheevers

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Player Statistics courtesy of HockeyDB.com
Gerry Cheevers		Goalie Born Sep 2 1940 -- St. Catharines, ONT Height 5.11 -- Weight 180 -- Shoots L

			RS Scoring				RS Goalie Stats										PO Scoring
Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	PIM	Min	GA	EN	SO	GAA	W	L	T	Svs	Pct	GP	G	A	PIM
1959-60	Toronto St. Michael's	OHA	36	0	0	0	0	111	0	5	3.08	0	0	0	0	0.000
1960-61	Toronto St. Michael's	OHA	30	0	1	0	0	94	0	2	3.13	0	0	0	0	0.000
1961-62	Sault Ste. Marie Thunderbirds	EPHL	29	0	0	0											-	-	-	-
1961-62	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL	2	0	0	0											-	-	-	-
1962-63	Sudbury Wolves	EPHL	51	0	1	10											8	0	0	0
1962-63	Rochester Americans	AHL	19	0	0	2	0	75	0	1	3.95	0	0	0	0	0.000	-	-	-	-
1963-64	Rochester Americans	AHL	66	0	1	6	0	187	1	3	2.84	0	0	0	0	0.000	2	0	0	0
1964-65	Rochester Americans	AHL	72	0	1	26	4359	195	3	5	2.68	0	0	0	0	0.000	10	0	0	0
1965-66	Oklahoma City Blazers	CPHL	29	0	0	8	0	73	0	3	2.49	0	0	0	0	0.000	9	0	0	2
1965-66	Boston Bruins	NHL	7	0	0	0											-	-	-	-
1966-67	Oklahoma City Blazers	CPHL	25	0	0	4	0	71	0	1	2.80	0	0	0	0	0.000	11	0	0	16
1966-67	Boston Bruins	NHL	22	0	0	12	1298	72	0	1	3.33	0	0	0	0	0.000	-	-	-	-
1967-68	Boston Bruins	NHL	47	0	2	8	2646	125	3	3	2.83	23	17	5	0	0.000	4	0	0	4
1968-69	Boston Bruins	NHL	52	0	0	14	3112	145	1	3	2.80	0	0	0	0	0.000	9	0	0	17
1969-70	Boston Bruins	NHL	41	0	0	4	2384	108	0	4	2.72	0	0	0	0	0.000	13	0	1	2
1970-71	Boston Bruins	NHL	40	0	0	4	2400	109	0	3	2.72	27	8	5	1227	0.918	6	0	0	4
1971-72	Boston Bruins	NHL	41	0	2	25	2420	101	0	2	2.50	27	5	8	0	0.000	8	0	0	0
1972-73	Cleveland Crusaders	WHA	52	0	1	30	3144	149	2	5	2.83	32	20	0	1546	0.912	9	0	0	4
1973-74	Cleveland Crusaders	WHA	59	0	0	30	3562	180	4	4	3.03	30	20	6	1731	0.906	5	0	0	6
1974-75	Cleveland Crusaders	WHA	52	0	1	59	3076	167	2	4	3.26	26	24	2	1596	0.905	5	0	0	0
1975-76	Cleveland Crusaders	WHA	28	0	0	15	1570	95	1	1	3.58	11	14	1	739	0.886	-	-	-	-
1975-76	Boston Bruins	NHL	15	0	0	2	900	41	1	1	2.73	8	2	5	422	0.911	-	-	-	-
1976-77	Boston Bruins	NHL	45	0	4	46	2700	137	0	3	3.04	30	10	5	0	0.000	14	0	0	4
1977-78	Boston Bruins	NHL	21	0	1	14	1086	48	1	1	2.65	10	5	2	0	0.000	12	0	0	6
1978-79	Boston Bruins	NHL	43	0	2	23	2509	132	1	1	3.16	23	9	10	0	0.000	-	-	-	-
1979-80	Boston Bruins	NHL	42	0	0	62	2479	116	3	4	2.81	24	11	7	0	0.000	10	0	0	0

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