1949-50 Boston Bruins Gord Henry Jersey

Starting his career with his hometown Owen Sound Orphans in 1940, Gord Henry signed to play goal for the Philadelphia Falcons of the Eastern Amateur Hockey League for two seasons, beginning in 1943-44. He also appeared in three games for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League during the 1944-45 season.

The following season you never knew where Henry would surface next, as he played 16 games for Hershey in the AHL and 4 for the Baltimore Clippers and one each for the Falcons as well as the New York Rovers, all in the EAHL and four different clubs in all before ending his season with 3 playoff games for the Bears.

He spent the majority of his 1946-47 season with the Boston Olympics of the EAHL, seeing action in 43 games, winning 21. He again returned to Hershey at the end of the season, playing in 5 games before going 8-3 in the postseason with 5 shutouts and a 1.45 goals against average as the Bears won the Calder Cup as AHL champions for the first of eight times in team history.

The 1946-47 Hershey Bears

The Hershey Bears receiving the 1947 Calder Cup with Henry on the far right

With the championship on his resume, he became the dominant goaltender for Hershey for the next eight seasons, beginning with 68 appearances in 1947-48, winning 25. The following season he would again appear in 66 games for the Bears, winning 28 times. The Bears would return to the Calder Cup Finals that season after sweeping Indianapolis and Cleveland before taking the Providence Reds to a seventh game. Henry finished the postseason with a 7-4 record.

He would also make his NHL debut with with the Boston Bruins for a single, memorable game on this date in 1949 as he became only the 6th goaltender in league history to record a shutout in his first ever game, blanking the Montreal Canadiens 3-0.

Henry under attack by Maurice Richard of Montreal

He continued to be the mainstay in goal for Hershey in 1949-50 as well as making two more starts for the Bruins, dropping both contests despite a 2.50 goals against average.

Henry would set a career highs in 1950-51 as he appeared in 70 games, winning 38. Despite not playing any regular season games for Boston that season, he was called upon to make two starts in the playoffs for the Bruins.

Nearly equaling his stats from the previous season, he won 35 games from 68 starts in 1951-52. In 1952-53, the reliable Henry was again in goal for 64 games, winning 31 while leading the AHL in appearances for the third straight season and fourth time in his career, with the first being in 1949. Once again, the Bruins came calling during the postseason, as Henry saw action in 3 playoff games for Boston.

Milt Schmidt and Henry while with the Bruins

For the seventh consecutive season, Henry appeared in over 60 games with 63 and won 30 or more for the fourth consecutive season, totaling 33.

In 1954-55, he once more led the Bears in games played, but was limited to just 23 after being forced to miss the remainder of the season following a car accident in mid January, which ended his career with Hershey.

For the 1955-56 season he returned home to Owen Sound, playing 20 games with the Mercurys in senior hockey. His final game would come in 1956-57 with the Philadelphia Ramblers of the Eastern Hockey League before he retired from play.

Unusually, Henry would play in more NHL playoff games, five, than he would NHL regular season games, having appeared in just three, but memorably winning the first by shutout, only the 6th goaltender to do so.

Today's featured jersey is a 1949-50 Boston Bruins Gord Henry Jersey. In honor of the Bruins 25th anniversary in 1948-49, they would adopt a new logo, the spoked "B". The "B" was flanked by the numbers 24 and 49. For 1949-50, the "B" would change from a yellow curved font to a black block font, creating a new version of the logo which would remain unchanged for 45 years until a the logo would be updated with black outlines around the yellow spokes as part of a new set of jerseys adopted for their move from their long time home Boston Garden to the new Fleet Center.

Today's featured jersey would remain in use for just two seasons until the sleeves gained an extra yellow stripe and black sleeve ends.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Today's video segment in on the Hershey Bears and their long time home, Hershey Park Arena.

2007-08 Hershey Bears Chris Bourque Jersey

July by the Numbers travels back in time for jersey #17.

The Hershey Bears, founded in 1932, are the oldest club in the American Hockey League, having joined the league back in 1938. They have been members of the league 18 years longer than the Rochester Americans and have 54 more years in the league than the Providence Bruins, truly making them the senior member of the AHL.

Founded by the founder of the Hershey Chocolate Company, Milton S. Hershey, the club was originally called the Hershey B'ars. Responding to criticism that the name was too commercial, the name evolved to the Bears by 1936. They moved to the Hershey Sports Arena in 1936, later renamed Hersheypark Arena, which remained their home until 2002.

They joined the International-American Hockey League in 1938, which was shortened to the American Hockey League in 1940.

The Bears won their first Calder Cup championship in 1947 after defeating Cleveland in four games by a combined score of 24-3 with two shutouts in Round 1. They then advanced to the finals against Pittsburgh, who had ended the Bears season in each of their three prior meetings. The Bears turned the tables this time. While it took the full seven games, three of the Bears four victories were by shutout.

The 1947 Calder Cup presentation to the Hershey Bears

The Bears would not win another until 1958, aided by the demise of the Pittsburgh Hornets in 1956. With the roster of the Hornets, who had won two recent championships now up for grabs, the Bears signed seven players from Pittsburgh to set them on course for back-to-back titles in 1958 and 1959. One of those players, Willie Marshall, would lead the Bears in scoring for seven consecutive seasons from 1956 to 1963.

Another one of the Hornets players brought to Hershey was Frank Mathers, a 31 year old, five time AHL First Team All-Star defenseman who would go on to become an integral part of the Bears organization for 35 years as a player/coach all the way to team president!

In 1958 the Bears also acquired Mike Nykoluk, a 23 year old with some NHL experience who would play for Hershey for the next 14 seasons and retire as the AHL's fourth leading scorer of all time. His #8 would become the first number retired by the Bears.

Mike Nykoluk

It would take the Bears until 1969 to capture their next Calder Cup with a 4 games to 1 victory over the Quebec Aces.

They reached the top of the heap again in 1974 with a balanced squad that did not place a single scorer in the league's top ten, but roared through the playoffs with a 12-2 record to take the Calder Cup home to Pennsylvania at the same time the Philadelphia Flyers were doing the same with the Stanley Cup, giving the state the top two trophies in North American professional hockey for the first time, a feat not repeated until 2009, this time by the Bears and Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Bears next championship arrived in 1980, although the Flyers were unable to hold up their end of "the double" when they lost in the Stanley Cup Finals to the New York Islanders.

Hershey celebrated their 50th season in style, winning 50 regular season games and romping through the playoffs undefeated to win the seventh title in team history, which was celebrated with a victory parade attended by 10,000 fans back at home two days later.

Mathers #3 was retired on March 9, 1991 with representatives from each of his Calder Cup winning teams present at the arena.

Tim Tookey, the second leading scorer in team history and fifth in the AHL, and Arnie Kullman both had their #9 retired on December 9, 1995.

While the 1980 club swept the playoffs in their entirety, the 1996-97 Bears had a much longer, tougher route. A first round 3-1 win over Kentucky opened their playoffs prior to a long, rugged seven game series over their rivals from Philadelphia. There was no time or chance to rest, as Springfield also stretched the Bears to a full seven games in the conference finals. The Bears made relatively easy work over Hamilton in the championship, prevailing 4 games to 1 to secure their eighth Calder Cup for Hershey and their final one in their original home.

The 1997 Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears

After over 60 years at Hersheypark Arena, the Bears moved into the brand new Giant Center in 2002. Five seasons later they began a new run of success. Following a first place regular season finish with a then team record 114 points, the Bears dominated the 2007 playoffs with 16 wins and just three losses, never losing more than one game in any round, to hang a brand new banner in their new arena for the first time, the ninth in club history.

The Bears established new league record in 2008-09 by winning their 10th championship after knocking out Philadelphia in four, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in seven and Providence in five to earn the right to face the Manitoba Moose, who they took six games to defeat before raising the cup.

For the first time in over 50 years, the Bears repeated as Calder Cup champions in 2009-10. They blitzed the league during the regular season with a dominant 60-17-0-3 record to set a new team record with 123 points, easily the best mark in the AHL. Bridgeport and Albany fell in one game over the minimum in the division playoffs before Manchester put up a better fight before falling in six. Hershey then faced off against Texas, who also lasted six games before falling to the Bears, a team with 77 more seasons in the league.

Today's featured jersey is a 2007-08 Hershey Bears Chris Bourque jersey. It should be mentioned that this special throwback jersey style is not "brown" and white, but chocolate and white.

The jersey is in keeping with the style the team wore back in their original home, Hersheypark Arena prior to adopting a new logo and modern looking jerseys after moving into the Giant Center. When a team as been around as long as the Bears, they have many classic styles to choose from and in this case made an attractive choice.

Our video section today features the Hershey Bears at Hershey Park Arena.

1949-50 Boston Bruins Gord Henry Jersey

Starting his career with his hometown Owen Sound Orphans in 1940, Gord Henry signed to play goal for the Philadelphia Falcons of the Eastern Amateur Hockey League for two seasons, beginning in 1943-44. He also appeared in three games for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League during the 1944-45 season.

The following season you never knew where Henry would surface next, as he played 16 games for Hershey in the AHL and 4 for the Baltimore Clippers and one each for the Falcons as well as the New York Rovers, all in the EAHL and four different clubs in all before ending his season with 3 playoff games for the Bears.

He spent the majority of his 1946-47 season with the Boston Olympics of the EAHL, seeing action in 43 games, winning 21. He again returned to Hershey at the end of the season, playing in 5 games before going 8-3 in the postseason with 5 shutouts and a 1.45 goals against average as the Bears won the Calder Cup as AHL champions for the first of eight times in team history.

The 1946-47 Hershey Bears

The Hershey Bears receiving the 1947 Calder Cup with Henry on the far right

With the championship on his resume, he became the dominant goaltender for Hershey for the next eight seasons, beginning with 68 appearances in 1947-48, winning 25. The following season he would again appear in 66 games for the Bears, winning 28 times. The Bears would return to the Calder Cup Finals that season after sweeping Indianapolis and Cleveland before taking the Providence Reds to a seventh game. Henry finished the postseason with a 7-4 record.

He would also make his NHL debut with with the Boston Bruins for a single, memorable game on this date in 1949 as he became only the 6th goaltender in league history to record a shutout in his first ever game, blanking the Montreal Canadiens 3-0.

Henry under attack by Maurice Richard of Montreal

He continued to be the mainstay in goal for Hershey in 1949-50 as well as making two more starts for the Bruins, dropping both contests despite a 2.50 goals against average.

Henry would set a career highs in 1950-51 as he appeared in 70 games, winning 38. Despite not playing any regular season games for Boston that season, he was called upon to make two starts in the playoffs for the Bruins.

Nearly equaling his stats from the previous season, he won 35 games from 68 starts in 1951-52. In 1952-53, the reliable Henry was again in goal for 64 games, winning 31 while leading the AHL in appearances for the third straight season and fourth time in his career, with the first being in 1949. Once again, the Bruins came calling during the postseason, as Henry saw action in 3 playoff games for Boston.

Milt Schmidt and Henry while with the Bruins

For the seventh consecutive season, Henry appeared in over 60 games with 63 and won 30 or more for the fourth consecutive season, totaling 33.

In 1954-55, he once more led the Bears in games played, but was limited to just 23 after being forced to miss the remainder of the season following a car accident in mid January, which ended his career with Hershey.

For the 1955-56 season he returned home to Owen Sound, playing 20 games with the Mercurys in senior hockey. His final game would come in 1956-57 with the Philadelphia Ramblers of the Eastern Hockey League before he retired from play.

Unusually, Henry would play in more NHL playoff games, five, than he would NHL regular season games, having appeared in just three, but memorably winning the first by shutout, only the 6th goaltender to do so.

Today's featured jersey is a 1949-50 Boston Bruins Gord Henry Jersey. In honor of the Bruins 25th anniversary in 1948-49, they would adopt a new logo, the spoked "B". The "B" was flanked by the numbers 24 and 49. For 1949-50, the "B" would change from a yellow curved font to a black block font, creating a new version of the logo which would remain unchanged for 45 years until a the logo would be updated with black outlines around the yellow spokes as part of a new set of jerseys adopted for their move from their long time home Boston Garden to the new Fleet Center.

Today's featured jersey would remain in use for just two seasons until the sleeves gained an extra yellow stripe and black sleeve ends.

photo courtesy of Classic Auctions

Today's video segment in on the Hershey Bears and their long time home, Hershey Park Arena.

2007-08 Hershey Bears Chris Bourque Jersey

July by the Numbers travels back in time for jersey #17.

The Hershey Bears, founded in 1932, are the oldest club in the American Hockey League, having joined the league back in 1938. They have been members of the league 18 years longer than the Rochester Americans and have 54 more years in the league than the Providence Bruins, truly making them the senior member of the AHL.

Founded by the founder of the Hershey Chocolate Company, Milton S. Hershey, the club was originally called the Hershey B'ars. Responding to criticism that the name was too commercial, the name evolved to the Bears by 1936. They moved to the Hershey Sports Arena in 1936, later renamed Hersheypark Arena, which remained their home until 2002.

They joined the International-American Hockey League in 1938, which was shortened to the American Hockey League in 1940.

The Bears won their first Calder Cup championship in 1947 after defeating Cleveland in four games by a combined score of 24-3 with two shutouts in Round 1. They then advanced to the finals against Pittsburgh, who had ended the Bears season in each of their three prior meetings. The Bears turned the tables this time. While it took the full seven games, three of the Bears four victories were by shutout.

The 1947 Calder Cup presentation to the Hershey Bears

The Bears would not win another until 1958, aided by the demise of the Pittsburgh Hornets in 1956. With the roster of the Hornets, who had won two recent championships now up for grabs, the Bears signed seven players from Pittsburgh to set them on course for back-to-back titles in 1958 and 1959. One of those players, Willie Marshall, would lead the Bears in scoring for seven consecutive seasons from 1956 to 1963.

Another one of the Hornets players brought to Hershey was Frank Mathers, a 31 year old, five time AHL First Team All-Star defenseman who would go on to become an integral part of the Bears organization for 35 years as a player/coach all the way to team president!

In 1958 the Bears also acquired Mike Nykoluk, a 23 year old with some NHL experience who would play for Hershey for the next 14 seasons and retire as the AHL's fourth leading scorer of all time. His #8 would become the first number retired by the Bears.

It would take the Bears until 1969 to capture their next Calder Cup with a 4 games to 1 victory over the Quebec Aces.

They reached the top of the heap again in 1974 with a balanced squad that did not place a single scorer in the league's top ten, but roared through the playoffs with a 12-2 record to take the Calder Cup home to Pennsylvania at the same time the Philadelphia Flyers were doing the same with the Stanley Cup, giving the state the top two trophies in North American professional hockey for the first time, a feat not repeated until 2009, this time by the Bears and Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Bears next championship arrived in 1980, although the Flyers were unable to hold up their end of "the double" when they lost in the Stanley Cup Finals to the New York Islanders.

Hershey celebrated their 50th season in style, winning 50 regular season games and romping through the playoffs undefeated to win the seventh title in team history, which was celebrated with a victory parade attended by 10,000 fans back at home two days later.

Mathers #3 was retired on March 9, 1991 with representatives from each of his Calder Cup winning teams present at the arena.

Tim Tookey, the second leading scorer in team history and fifth in the AHL, and Arnie Kullman both had their #9 retired on December 9, 1995.

While the 1980 club swept the playoffs in their entirety, the 1996-97 Bears had a much longer, tougher route. A first round 3-1 win over Kentucky opened their playoffs prior to a long, rugged seven game series over their rivals from Philadelphia. There was no time or chance to rest, as Springfield also stretched the Bears to a full seven games in the conference finals. The Bears made relatively easy work over Hamilton in the championship, prevailing 4 games to 1 to secure their eighth Calder Cup for Hershey and their final one in their original home.

After over 60 years at Hersheypark Arena, the Bears moved into the brand new Giant Center in 2002. Five seasons later they began a new run of success. Following a first place regular season finish with a then team record 114 points, the Bears dominated the 2007 playoffs with 16 wins and just three losses, never losing more than one game in any round, to hang a brand new banner in their new arena for the first time, the ninth in club history.

The Bears established new league record in 2008-09 by winning their 10th championship after knocking out Philadelphia in four, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in seven and Providence in five to earn the right to face the Manitoba Moose, who they took six games to defeat before raising the cup.

For the first time in over 50 years, the Bears repeated as Calder Cup champions in 2009-10. They blitzed the league during the regular season with a dominant 60-17-0-3 record to set a new team record with 123 points, easily the best mark in the AHL. Bridgeport and Albany fell in one game over the minimum in the division playoffs before Manchester put up a better fight before falling in six. Hershey then faced off against Texas, who also lasted six games before falling to the Bears, a team with 77 more seasons in the league.

Today's featured jersey is a 2007-08 Hershey Bears Chris Bourque jersey. It should be mentioned that this special throwback jersey style is not "brown" and white, but chocolate and white.

The jersey is in keeping with the style the team wore back in their original home, Hersheypark Arena prior to adopting a new logo and modern looking jerseys after moving into the Giant Center. When a team as been around as long as the Bears, they have many classic styles to choose from and in this case made an attractive choice.

Our video section today features the Hershey Bears most recent championship victory celebration in 2010, the 11th championship in team history.

Next up is an awesome video celebrating the Bears 70th anniversary with lots of great old photos and excellent game footage.

2009-10 Hershey Bears Chris Bourque Jersey

The North American hockey season concluded last night when the Hershey Bears completed a decisive comeback in the AHL Calder Cup Finals with a 4-0 blanking of the Texas Stars.

In an unusual final series, the Stars won Games 1 and 2 in Hershey, 2-1 and then a 4-3 thriller when Travis Morin scored the game winner with just 46 seconds remaining.

Hershey turned the tables on the first year Stars back in Austin, Texas with a three game sweep, taking Game 3 by a decisive 6-3 score followed by a 4-2 win in Game 4 after trailing 2-1 halfway through the second period before scoring at 13:45 of the second to tie the game and then going ahead on a power play goal with just over two minutes remaining. The Bears added an empty net goal with 27 seconds left to clinch the victory and even the series at two games apiece.

Game 5 in Texas saw the Stars on the board first at 8:03 of the first period on the power play. It would be the final goal Texas would score this season, as the Bears and goaltender Michal Neuvirth would put the clamps on the Stars offense for the remainder of the series. Francois Bouchard evened the score at 11:12 of the second period and Alexandre Giroux put the Bears on the brink of the championship with his overtime goal at 13:28 of overtime. It was the Bears record setting eight overtime win of the 2010 postseason.

The Bears now looked to be sitting good, with the rest of the finals scheduled for back in Pennsylvania on home ice.

The Bears, the number one seed in the East who had a league leading 123 regular season points from a 60-17-0-3 record, took care of business in front of a franchise record 11,002 fans, the sixth consecutive standing room only crowd of the series.

John Carlson opened the scoring at 12:29 of the first period on the power play before Karl Alzner added a second 1:54 later as Hershey let their intentions to clinch the title be know by outshooting Texas 17-4 in the opening period.

Patrick McNeill extended the Bears lead to three midway through the second period and then got the party started with a power play goal with five minutes remaining in the game. All four Bears goals came from defensemen and Neuvirth made 22 saves for the shutout.

Chris Bourque was named the recipient of the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP as a result of his league-leading 27 points from seven goals and 20 assists in 21 games. This was Bourque's fifth season in Hershey, fourth finals appearance and third championship.

Hershey became the first team to repeat as champions since the Springfield Indians back in 1991. The title was their third in the last five years and 11th in franchise history, dating back to their entry into the league in 1938, six years after their founding in 1932.

The Bears have now won Calder Cup championships in 1947, 1958 and 1959, 1969, 1974, 1980, 1988 and 1997 before adding titles in 2006 and now back-to-back in 2009 and 2010. This season also saw the club set a record with 12 consecutive wins and a league record with 24 straight wins at home. Keith Aucoin, who led the league with 71 assists, and Giroux, whose 50 goals were 13 more than anyone else, finished 1-2 in the AHL scoring race, with Aucion's 106 edging out Giroux's 103 as the pair easily distanced third place with 85 points.

Over the course of their history the Bears have retired four numbers for seven players, with #3 being retired for Hockey Hall of Famer Frank Mathers and Ralph Keller, #8 for Mike Nykoluk, #9 for both Arnie Kullman and Tim Tookey as well as #16 for Willie Marshall and Mitch Lamoureux.

Today's featured jersey is a 2009-20 Hersey Bears Chris Bourque jersey as worn during this year's Calder Cup Finals as shown by the 2010 Calder Cup Finals patch on the right chest.

Bourque, the son of Hall of Famer Ray Bourque, has played five seasons for Hershey, as well as 33 games in the NHL with Bears parent club, the Washington Capitals (13) as well as the Pittsburgh Penguins (20). Unlike his defenseman father, Chris plays left wing and scored his first NHL goal on December 30, 2008 against the Buffalo Sabres.

Our video highlights feature highlights of the 2010 Calder Cup Finals between the Hershey Bears and the Texas Stars.