Camille Henry
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Camille Joseph Wilfred Henry (January 31, 1933 - September 11, 1997) was a professional ice hockey player.
Born in Quebec City, Henry, nicknamed 'the eel', had his greatest success wearing number 21 for the New York Rangers where he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as National Hockey League rookie of the year in 1954 (beating out Jean Beliveau). Although he usually played Centre, Camille was the second team NHL all star left winger in 1958, the year he also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship combined with production. In 1964/65 he was team Captain. At 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) and 150 lb (68 kg), he was generally regarded as the smallest man in the NHL at the time and suffered numerous injuries throughout his career. He was known for his ability to swat the puck out of mid air to score goals. He did a few stints in the minor leagues including the Providence Reds in 1955/56 when they won the American Hockey League Championship - the Calder Cup. (Like Gump Worsley the year before (1953), he was named rookie of the year then was sent by the New York Rangers to the minor leagues for a year - probably to lessen his value and keep his compensation low). He played for the Chicago Blackhawks later in his career and he coached the Kansas City Blues of the Central Hockey League in 1969/70 and then coached the New York Raiders of the World Hockey Association but he never duplicated his early success.
After his retirement he lived in Quebec City and held down security jobs eventually becoming essentially destitute. He was widely considered to have an alcohol consumption problem and died shortly after receiving his first reimbursement for the players pension fund which was awarded by the courts.
An interesting trivia note: on November 1, 1959, that fateful night when Jacques Plante first donned a mask, Camille was the first and the only one in that game to score on him.
[edit] Career statistics
| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1953-54 | New York Rangers | NHL | 66 | 24 | 15 | 39 | 10 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1954-55 | New York Rangers | NHL | 21 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 4 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1956-57 | New York Rangers | NHL | 36 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 1957-58 | New York Rangers | NHL | 70 | 32 | 24 | 56 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 1958-59 | New York Rangers | NHL | 70 | 23 | 35 | 58 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1959-60 | New York Rangers | NHL | 49 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 6 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1960-61 | New York Rangers | NHL | 53 | 28 | 25 | 53 | 8 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1961-62 | New York Rangers | NHL | 60 | 23 | 15 | 38 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1962-63 | New York Rangers | NHL | 60 | 37 | 23 | 60 | 8 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1963-64 | New York Rangers | NHL | 68 | 29 | 26 | 55 | 8 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1964-65 | New York Rangers | NHL | 48 | 21 | 15 | 36 | 20 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1964-65 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 22 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1967-68 | New York Rangers | NHL | 36 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1968-69 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 64 | 17 | 22 | 39 | 8 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 1969-70 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 15 Seasons | NHL Total | 727 | 279 | 249 | 528 | 88 | 47 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 7 | |||
[edit] See also
| Preceded by Lorne "Gump" Worsley |
Winner of the Calder Trophy 1954 |
Succeeded by Ed Litzenberger |
| Preceded by Andy Bathgate |
New York Rangers captains 1964-65 |
Succeeded by Bob Nevin |
| Preceded by Andy Hebenton |
Winner of the Lady Byng Trophy 1958 |
Succeeded by Alex Delvecchio |
