Lumley, Harry
Hockey
b. Nov. 11, 1926, Owen Sound, ONT
d. Sept. 13, 1998
"Apple Cheeks" Lumley made his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings early in the 1943-44 season, not long after his 17th birthday. He gave up 13 goals in two games. Lumley also made a brief appearance for the New York Rangers against Detroit when the Rangers' goaltender was injured. The Red Wings loaned Lumley to New York for the remainder of the game and he wasn't scored upon in Detroit's 5-3 victory.
He split the 1944-45 season between the Red Wings and the Indianapolis Capitols of the American Hockey League, turning in a respectable 3.22 goals-against average during his time with Detroit. The following season, he became the Red Wings' regular goaltender.
In the 1950 Stanley Cup playoffs, Lumley had three shutouts and gave up an average of just 1.85 goals a game to lead Detroit to the championship.
He was then traded to Chicago, where he had two mediocre seasons, but he rebounded in Toronto after being traded to the Maple Leafs in 1952. In two of his four seasons there, Lumley averaged fewer than 2 goals a game, and he won the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goalie in 1954, when he had 13 shutouts. That was the modern NHL record until Tony Esposito broke it in 1970.
Toronto sold him back to Chicago in 1956, but Lumley refused to report to the Blackhawks. He spent nearly two seasons with the AHL's Buffalo Bisons before joining the Boston Bruins during the 1957-58 season. He spent most of 1958-59 back in the AHL, with the Providence Reds, but played in 42 games with the Bruins in 1959-60. That was his final NHL season, but he played for the Winnipeg Warriors in the World Hockey League in 1960-61 before retiring.