Hal Murphy

Hal Murphy played only one game in the NHL. That one game was surrounded by a strange set of circumstances.

On October 27th, 1952 Canadiens goaltender Gerry McNeil suffered a badly broken cheekbone when he took a puck in the face. A young unproven kid named Jacques Plante was called up and played in 3 games. However in order to protect Plante's amateur status, the Canadiens weren't allowed to use Plante for a 4th game that season. So the Habs asked Hal to step in for the November 8th, 1952 game against Chicago.

Hal had played 3 games that season with the Montreal Royals of the QSHL. Murphy made the most of his only NHL experience. He won the game for the Habs 6-4 over the Chicago Black Hawks. He made 20 saves on 24 shots.

Murphy returned to senior hockey the next day, never to get another chance in the NHL again.

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