The history of our house
Over the next few months I’m hoping to be posting a lot more about our efforts to renovate our house. There are two reasons for this change of focus: First, I think it will interesting to share some of the things we’re doing to make this place a little more energy efficient and environmentally friendly; and second, I’m going to be spending a lot of time on it, so it only makes sense to incorporate it into my blog. I hope it’s interesting and useful. Before I get into that, I wanted to share an interesting piece of history about our house.
Our house is only 57 years old, and we understand that we are the third owners. Prior to us there was another young couple that lived here for 2 or 3 years. Before that the original owner was Jim Henry, who was a goalie in the NHL between 1941 and 1955. While he played for the New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks, he is best know for his time with the Boston Bruins from 1951-1955. During this time he played in the NHL All-Star game (1952) and it was during the 1952 playoffs that one of the most memorable hockey photos was taken, of Jim Henry shaking Rocket Richard‘s hand after Richard beat him for the game and series-winning goal in overtime in game 7.
The context of the photo is nicely described in Boston.com’s article on Henry’s passing:
This trademark toughness was captured in one of the most dramatic images in Bruins history. The photo showed Mr. Henry, face puffy and right eye blackened, shaking hands with Maurice “The Rocket” Richard, himself blood-streaked and black-eyed, following Game 7 of the Stanley Cup semifinals on April 8, 1952. Richard, who had been knocked unconscious in the first period, had just scored an overtime goal against Mr. Henry, sending Montreal to the Cup finals.
Henry went on to play in the Stanley Cup finals in 1953, where the Bruins lost to the Canadians 3 games to 1.
While “Sugar” Jim Henry is not one of the most well-known names in hockey, as a goaltender he was certainly no slouch: In 407 NHL games he recorded 27 shutouts and a 2.87 career goals-against average. According to rangers.nhl.com, he held a New York Rangers record with 29 wins in the 1941-42 season, until it was broken by Henrik Lundquist 64 years later.
Henry retired from the Bruins after a shot shattered his eye socket in a game against the Montreal Canadians (or perhaps he broke his jaw, depending on the source ). Another source (pdf) tells of Henry suffering the injury to his eye socket, completing the double-overtime game, and then undergoing a three-hour operation.
After retiring from the NHL, Sugar Jim returned to Winnipeg to settle down with his family. His obituary tells of his fondness for is community, and the joy he took in the small things:
These years also saw the growth of the “Neighbourhood Popcorn Committee” in St. James. Here, during the warm months on a nightly basis, Jim, Tommy Finn and Harold would set up their lawn chairs and keep a watchful eye – and running commentary – on their wonderful, caring community.
Tommy “Finn” still lives next door and, while Harold’s wife still lives across the street, sadly Harold passed away shortly after we moved in.
It’s quite an experience to be able to learn so much about someone who previously owned our house and even more remarkable to find that it is someone with such a storied history. I sometimes think about Jim as I wander around the house and crawl in the attic, pondering the renovations ahead. And, while I appreciate the history, I must confess I did take out what I must assume must have been Jim’s workbench constructed, as it was, of massive fir lumber. You don’t find that around much anymore.
Sorry Mr. Henry. I hope you can forgive me. We’ll try to do your house proud!
(And, for you information, here are “Sugar” Jim Henry’s career stats)
