Andy Hebenton

Andrew Alexander "Spuds" Hebenton (October 3, 1929 – January 29, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger, and holds the record for the longest streak without missing a game in professional hockey history.

Andy Hebenton
Hebenton on a 1962 Topps hockey card
Born	(1929-10-03)October 3, 1929 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Died	January 29, 2019(2019-01-29) (aged 89) Gresham, Oregon, U.S.
Height	5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight	182 lb (83 kg; 13 st 0 lb)
Position	Right wing
Shot	Left
Played for	New York Rangers Boston Bruins
Playing career	1949–1976

Playing career

After playing junior hockey for a local Winnipeg team, Hebenton made his professional debut in 1949 for the Cincinnati Mohawks of the American Hockey League. The following season he moved on to the Victoria Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey League (subsequently renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL). He starred with Victoria for five seasons, his best year being 1955, when he scored 46 goals and was named to the league's First All-Star team.

The following season his rights were purchased by the New York Rangers of the NHL, for whom he played for eight seasons. Hebenton scored his first NHL goal on October 16, 1955, in New York's 4-1 loss at Boston. He scored twenty goals or more in five of those seasons, his best year coming in 1958–59, when he scored 33 goals and 29 assists and was the runner up for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for gentlemanly play, which he had won in 1956-57. After the 1962–63 season, the Boston Bruins acquired Hebenton in the waiver draft, for whom he played his final NHL season. He played 630 straight NHL games in all, breaking the record for the most consecutive games (a mark subsequently broken by Garry Unger in the 1970s^[1] and currently held by Phil Kessel).

Hebenton's rights were sold by Boston after the 1963–64 season to the Portland Buckaroos of the WHL, and he remained in Portland for the rest of the league's history (barring two seasons back in Victoria), becoming one of the WHL's all-time leading scorers and perennial stars, and missing only two games. He was a perennial winner of the Fred Hume Cup for gentlemanly play, winning it nearly half the seasons it was offered, the final time when he was 43 years old.

From the 1953 season, with the Cougars, through to the end of the 1967 season, Hebenton played at least 1,054 consecutive regular season professional games; including playoff games, Hebenton played 1,076 consecutive professional games.^[2]

Retirement

When the WHL folded in 1974, Hebenton played four games for the Seattle Totems in the Central Hockey League to wrap up his professional career, having played 26 professional seasons in all, a mark exceeded only by Gordie Howe and Jaromír Jágr in hockey history. He played two seasons for a version of the Buckaroos in semi-pro leagues before hanging up his skates for good.

In all, Hebenton played in 630 NHL games, scoring 189 goals and 202 assists for 391 points. He likewise played in 1056 PCHL/WHL games, scoring 425 goals and 532 assists for 957 points. Hebenton's remarkable consecutive games streak lasted at least from the 1952 season through to the end of the 1967 season—he missed three games in 1951 for the Victoria Cougars and two games in 1967/1968 with the Portland Buckaroos-so the streak was likely longer, for an unrivalled total of at least 1,054 consecutive games. By contrast, Doug Jarvis' professional streak—the second longest in history—is 988 games. He died on January 29, 2019, in at an assisted living facility in Gresham, Oregon, at the age of 89.^[3][4]

Hebenton was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.^[5]

Career achievements

• MJHL Second All-Star Team (1949)
• PCHL Championship (1951)
• WHL Championships (1965 & 1966)
• WHL Second All-Star Team (1955, 1965 & 1970)
• WHL First All-Star Team (1971 & 1973)
• Lady Byng Trophy (1957)
• Played in NHL All-Star Game in 1960
• Fred Hume Cup Winner (Most Gentlemanly Player WHL) (1965, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973 & 1974)
• Currently fifth all-time in NHL for consecutive games played
• Fourth all-time in WHL games played, third in goals scored, eighth in assists and fourth in points scored.
• Honoured Member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame
• In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, was ranked No. 53 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons^[6]

Family

Hebenton's son Clay was a professional hockey goaltender between 1973–1980, most notably as the starting goaltender for the World Hockey Association's Phoenix Roadrunners in the 1977 season.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1946–47	St. Boniface Canadiens	MAHA		—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—	—
1946–47	Winnipeg Canadians	MJHL		24	21	13	34	15		—	—	—	—	—
1947–48	Winnipeg Canadians	MJHL		30	30	13	43	34		6	5	3	8	6
1949–50	Cincinnati Mohawks	AHL		44	8	7	15	0		—	—	—	—	—
1949–50	Montreal Royals	QSHL		5	0	2	2	0		—	—	—	—	—
1950–51	Victoria Cougars	PCHL		56	16	16	32	12		12	6	3	9	2
1951–52	Victoria Cougars	PCHL		67	31	25	56	81		13	6	6	12	5
1952–53	Victoria Cougars	WHL		70	27	24	51	46		—	—	—	—	—
1953–54	Victoria Cougars	WHL		70	21	24	45	29		5	3	1	4	0
1954–55	Victoria Cougars	WHL		70	46	34	80	20		5	1	1	2	2
1955–56	New York Rangers	NHL		70	24	14	38	8		5	1	0	1	2
1956–57	New York Rangers	NHL		70	21	23	44	10		5	2	0	2	2
1957–58	New York Rangers	NHL		70	21	24	45	17		6	2	3	5	4
1958–59	New York Rangers	NHL		70	33	29	62	8		—	—	—	—	—
1959–60	New York Rangers	NHL		70	19	27	46	4		—	—	—	—	—
1960–61	New York Rangers	NHL		70	26	28	54	10		—	—	—	—	—
1961–62	New York Rangers	NHL		70	18	24	42	10		6	1	2	3	0
1962–63	New York Rangers	NHL		70	15	22	37	8		—	—	—	—	—
1963–64	Boston Bruins	NHL		70	12	11	23	8		—	—	—	—	—
1964–65	Portland Buckaroos	WHL		70	34	40	74	16		10	7	6	13	0
1965–66	Victoria Maple Leafs	WHL		72	31	45	76	12		14	6	11	17	14
1966–67	Victoria Maple Leafs	WHL		72	24	36	60	19		—	—	—	—	—
1967–68	Portland Buckaroos	WHL		70	16	29	45	10		12	4	3	7	0
1968–69	Portland Buckaroos	WHL		74	26	51	77	26		11	2	1	3	0
1969–70	Portland Buckaroos	WHL		72	36	42	78	9		11	2	7	9	0
1970–71	Portland Buckaroos	WHL		72	29	52	81	10		11	6	3	9	14
1971–72	Portland Buckaroos	WHL		72	30	34	64	12		11	3	4	7	2
1972–73	Portland Buckaroos	WHL		72	30	36	66	26		—	—	—	—	—
1973–74	Portland Buckaroos	WHL		78	28	44	72	16		10	2	4	6	2
1974–75	Seattle Totems	CHL		4	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1974–75	Portland Buckaroos	WIHL		20	4	11	15	0		—	—	—	—	—
WHL totals				934	378	491	869	251		100	35	42	77	34
NHL totals				630	189	202	391	83		22	6	5	11	8

References

1. "Unger's N.H.L. Streak Ends While Simmer's Reaches 12". The New York Times. 24 December 1979. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
2. Ronberg, Gary (24 April 1967). "The Thousand and One Nights of Andy Hebenton". Vault. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
3. Goldstein, Richard (2019-02-02). "Andy Hebenton, N.H.L. Ironman with 630 Consecutive Games, Dies at 89". The New York Times.
4. "Obituary: Former NHL iron man Andy Hebenton played for Victoria Cougars".
5. "Andy Hebenton". Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame - Honoured members database. Sport Manitoba. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
6. Cohen, Russ; Halligan, John; Raider, Adam (2009). 100 Ranger Greats: Superstars, Unsung Heroes and Colorful Characters. John Wiley & Sons. p. 106. ISBN 978-0470736197. Retrieved February 3, 2020.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

Preceded by Earl Reibel	Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy 1957	Succeeded by Camille Henry