1887 Birth of the “Chicoutimi Cucumber”
Georges Vézina was the greatest hockey goalie of his generation. Growing up poor, he did not play on skates until he was sixteen and went unrecognized by scouts because his community was in remote northern Quebec. It was not until 1910 when Georges was already 23 that he came to the attention of the Montreal Canadiens who were beaten by Vézina’s Chicoutimi squad. He eventually accepted a contract from the impressed Canadiens and in his rookie season lead the league in fewest goals allowed, a feat he would repeat another 6 times.
In 1916 Vézina and the Canadiens played the champions of the Pacific Coast League, the Portland Rosebuds, for the Stanley Cup, which they won 3 games to two. In honour of this triumph Vézina named his newborn son Marcel Stanley. The “Chicoutimi Cucumber”, so-named because of his coolness in the net, would win another Stanley Cup and play stellar goal until the first game of the 1925-26 season when he collapsed on the ice. He died shortly thereafter of tuberculosis.
When the Hockey Hall of Fame held its inaugural vote in 1945, Vézina was one of 9 players selected. The NHL trophy for best goal-tender is named after him.