Harry Lumley seemed like a grizzled veteran in the Detroit Red Wings net, but that's only because he got such an early start.

Known as "Apple Cheeks" due to his ruddy complexion and full face, Lumley made his NHL debut during the 1943-44 season. At 17, he was the youngest goalie in NHL history.

"There was such a shortage of players (because of World War II) and I made it," said Lumley, who played three games that season, two for Detroit and one on loan to the New York Rangers, allowing 13 goals in the process.

He still qualified as an NHL rookie when he backstopped the Wings to a seven-game loss in the 1944-45 Stanley Cup final and was the first teenager in NHL history to tend goal in a Stanley Cup final game. A fiery netminder, Lumley once pummeled Montreal's Ken Reardon with punches when he invaded his crease and also went toe-to-toe with Toronto counterpart Turk Broda in a 1947 brawl between the Wings and Leafs. "The back of your legs had no padding and Lumley had the blade of his stick carving his initials in the calves of the opposition," remembered Red Wings announcer Budd Lynch.

Lumley's sensational goaltending lifted Detroit to the 1949-50 Stanley Cup. Down 3-2 in the semifinals against Toronto, Lumley posted consecutive shutouts to get the Wings to the final. He added another zero in the finals, as Detroit captured the championship with a seven-game verdict over the Rangers. Lumley's clutch nature is best exemplified by his 4-1 record with one shutout and a 1.60 goals-against average in seventh games of playoff series.

Lumley's only slip-up in 1949-50 was an injury which allowed hot prospect Terry Sawchuk to suit up for seven games, enough to show Detroit GM Jack Adams that he would be the team's goalie of the future. In July, Lumley was shipped to Chicago as part of a nine-player deal. His best season as a Red Wing turned out to be Lumley's last.

After leaving Detroit, Lumley also played for Toronto and Boston, establishing the Leafs' single-season shutout record of 13 in 1953-54, a season in which he earned the Vezina Trophy and the first of two consecutive NHL First All-Star Team nods.

Enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1980, Lumley's competitive nature continued after hockey. He was partners with Jim Keeling in ownership of Orangeville Raceway and raced standardbreds, as well as driving the starting gate.

BORN:
Owen Sound, Ontario, November 11, 1926

ACQUIRED:
Signed as a free agent, October 13, 1943

BEST SEASON WITH RED WINGS:
1947-48 (30-18-12, 7 SO, 2.45 GAA)

TOTALS WITH RED WINGS:
GP-324, W-163, L-105, T-56, SO-7, GAA-2.75

HONORS:
Led NHL in shutouts, 1947-48; Elected to Hockey Hall of Fame, in 1980