Dave Gatherum

On October 11, 1953 Dave Gatherum made his debut in the National Hockey League. Thanks to an injury to Detroit's regular goaltender Terry Sawchuk, the Red Wings summoned Gatherum from the Quebec Senior League for 3 games. He went 2-0-1

In his very first game Gatherum became the 7th NHL goaltender to record a shutout in his first career game as the Red Wings won 3-0 over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.

He stretched his shutout to streak to 100 minutes and 21 seconds, setting a NHL record for longest shutout sequence by a goaltender from start of career. In fact, his three games he allowed only three goals.

Not bad, eh? 2-0-1 with the a GAA of 1.00 with 1 shutout. You would think that would earn him another trial. But Sawchuk returned and Gatherum was released and never surfaced in the NHL again.

Gatherum returned to Quebec to play senior hockey. He later moved to Edmonton then to British Columbia where he starred with the Kelowna Packers for several seasons.

In 2009 a pretty cool story emerged. The Detroit Red Wings acknowledge Gatherum's contributions 55 years earlier by giving him a Stanley Cup ring. The Wings won the Stanley Cup in 1954. Though Gatherum had played just 3 games and was not around in the playoffs, they gave him a Stanley Cup ring 5 decades later.

The box arrived at his Thunder Bay home completely unannounced with a note from Mike and Marian Illitch:

"We are very pleased to be able to acknowledge your past Stanley Cup Championship by presenting you with a 2008 championship ring. We sincerely thank you for the pride you brought to the team, the city of Detroit, and the State of Michigan, and we congratulate you on your accomplishment.


Mike and Marian."