Riley Hern

William Milton "Riley" Hern (December 5, 1878 – June 24, 1929) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He was the first professional goaltender to play on a Stanley Cup-winning team.

Biography Hern began playing ice hockey at an early age, playing for school teams in St. Marys and Stratford, playing both as a goaltender and a forward. Hern played for Stratford Legionnaires from 1898 to 1901.

In the 1906–07 season, Hern joined the Montreal Wanderers of the Eastern Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA). Hern posted a 10–0 regular season record in his first season with the Wanderers. The Wanderers won the Stanley Cup four times, three straight seasons, from 1906 to 1908, and in 1910. The Wanderers also successfully defended the Cup in six out of seven challenges in that time span. The only challenge they lost was against the Kenora Thistles in January 1907; the Wanderers reclaimed the Cup in their own successful challenge two months later.

Hern retired from playing professional ice hockey in 1911, at the age of 30. Hern went on to become a successful businessman, owning a haberdashery in Montreal. He was involved in organizing various ice hockey leagues and printing schedules.

Hern died at Ross Memorial Pavilion of a heart ailment that had been ailing him for six weeks on June 24, 1929. He was inducted posthumously into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1963.

Hern's grandson is Allan F. Nicholls, who played the role of Charlestown Chiefs captain Johnny Upton in the 1977 film Slap Shot.

Riley Hern is regarded by some as being among the best goaltenders of all time, coming in at 25th overall according to veteran hockey writers Kevin Allen and Bob Duff in their 2002 book Without Fear: Hockey's 50 Greatest Goaltenders.

Career statistics Regular season Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA 1901–02 Pittsburgh Keystones WPHL 19 14 5 0 780 40 2 3.08 1902–03 Pittsburgh Keystones WPHL 12 1 10 0 460 61 0 7.96 1903–04 Portage Lakes Exhib. 14 13 1 0 840 21 4 1.50 1903–04 Portage Lakes W-S 2 2 0 0 120 6 0 3.00 1904–05 Portage Lakes IPHL 24 15 7 2 1374 81 2 3.54 1905–06 Portage Lakes IPHL 20 15 5 0 1215 70 1 3.46 1906–07 Montreal Wanderers ECAHA 10 10 0 0 610 39 0 3.84 1907–08 Montreal Wanderers ECAHA 10 8 2 0 610 52 0 5.11 1908–09 Montreal Wanderers ECHA 12 9 3 0 728 61 0 5.03 1909–10 Montreal Wanderers NHA 13 12 1 0 780 47 1 3.62 1910–11 Montreal Wanderers NHA 16 7 9 0 973 88 0 5.43 ECAHA/ECHA totals 32 27 5 0 1948 152 0 4.68 NHA totals 29 19 10 0 1753 135 1 4.62

Playoffs Season Team League GP W L T MIN GA SO GAA 1901–02 Pittsburgh Keystones WPHL 1 1 0 0 40 1 1 1.50 1906–07 Montreal Wanderers St-Cup 6 3 3 0 360 25 0 4.17 1907–08 Montreal Wanderers St-Cup 5 5 0 0 300 16 0 3.20 1908–09 Montreal Wanderers St-Cup 2 1 1 0 120 10 0 5.00 1909–10 Montreal Wanderers St-Cup 1 1 0 0 60 3 0 3.00 St-Cup totals 14 10 4 0 840 54 0 3.86