A COLORFUL CHARACTER ALWAYS APPRECIATED BY HIS TEAMMATES, GOALIE GUMP WORSLEY BACKSTOPPED THE CANADIENS TO FOUR STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONSHIPS IN THE 1960S, TWICE CAPTURING THE VEZINA TROPHY.

June 4, 1963 was one of the best days of Lorne Worsley’s hockey life. The diminutive Montreal native, who had spent the past decade as the goalie on a perennially mediocre New York Rangers squad was homeward bound, was traded to the Canadiens.

“Gump”– a nickname earned as a result of his resemblance to a comic strip character – first entered the professional ranks in 1949. He broke into the NHL in 1952-53 and won the Calder Trophy, but was replaced the following season at Madison Square Garden by youngster Johnny Bower.

In 1954-55, after a year away from Broadway, he rejoined the Blueshirts to a hero’s welcome. His style was acrobatic and he seemed to be off his feet as much as he was on them. The maskless Worsley was one of very few true stars in the Rangers’ lineup during the 1950s and early 1960s. Quick with a quip and always good for a quote, Worsley was a reporter’s dream. Asked what NHL team gave him the most trouble, Gump, without missing a beat or batting an eye, answered “The Rangers.”

Worsley spent most of his first two years with the Montreal organization in Quebec City, backstopping the Aces to consecutive first place AHL finishes. Called up to the Habs during the 1964-65 campaign, he played 19 regular season games and eight more in the playoffs. That spring, after appearing in over 600 NHL games, Lorne Worsley’s name was finally engraved on the Stanley Cup.

Well past the age when most goalies have moved on to less hazardous employment, Worsley continued to strap on the pads, enjoying the best years of his long career. “It beats carrying a lunchbox,” said the man who had done both.

He put up the best numbers of his career while with the Canadiens, winning a second Stanley Cup in 1966 and splitting the Vézina Trophy with stable mate Charlie Hodge. He had a hand in two more Stanley Cup Championships, in 1968 and again the following year.

Worsley’s 1.98 goals-against average led the NHL in 1968; he and young Rogatien Vachon were awarded the Vézina Trophy after the season concluded.

Worsley left Montreal for Minnesota during the 1969-70 season, playing there until his retirement in 1974.

Despite being past his prime age-wise, Gump Worsley excelled year after year in playoff competition. The Habs made the postseason every year he played in Montreal, earning him a spot among the Canadiens’ all-time goaltending greats in the playoffs.

Worsley ranks fifth all-time in Habs history in games played and fourth in wins in the NHL’s second season. Only two other goalies in franchise history own a lower goals-against average than the 1.92 that Worley posted in his years with Montreal and his regular season GAA of 2.42 is sixth best among Habs goaltenders. Worsley appeared in 172 regular season games as a member of the Canadiens, winning 92 and tying 25 others. They lost only 44 times with the Gumper in the net, less than one-quarter of his outings.

In 1980, Lorne Worsley, among the great goaltenders of all time and one of very few men to play pro hockey in four different decades, was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Worsley passed away at the age of 77 on January 27, 2007.