October 13, 1948: The Durnan Rule

Bill Durnan

October 13, 1948: The National Hockey League institutes what becomes known as the Durnan Rule. No goaltender can ever again be a team's official Captain.

Very few goalies had been their team's Captain. John Ross Roach of the Toronto St. Patricks (Maple Leafs) in 1924-25, George Hainsworth of the Montreal Canadiens in 1932-33, and Charlie Gardiner of the Chicago Black Hawks and Alex Connell of the Ottawa Senators in 1933-34.

The death of Gardiner following his leading the Hawks to the 1934 Stanley Cup may have led to the curtailing of the practice as a tribute. In January 1948, when an injury forced the retirement of Toe Blake, the Canadiens named Bill Durnan their Captain.

At the age of 32, the Toronto native had won the Vezina Trophy 4 times, and would win it twice more; and helped them win the Cup in 1944 and 1946. He retired after the 1950 season, was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1964, and died in 1972. In 2017, he was named one of the NHL's 100th Anniversary 100 Greatest Players.

So what led to the rule, and what did Durnan have to do with it? He left the crease so often to argue calls that other teams claimed he was giving the Canadiens unscheduled timeouts. So, starting with the 1948-49 season, the NHL passed a rule barring goaltenders from performing the duties of Captain, and it became known as the "Durnan Rule."

While Roberto Luongo was named "Captain" of the Vancouver Canucks in 2008, Luongo had no on-ice rights as such, making Durnan the last goalie to officially serve as captain, and to wear the C on his jersey in the National Hockey League.

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October 13, 1948 was a Wednesday. Baseball season had ended 2 days earlier, with the Cleveland Indians beating the Boston Braves in the World Series. Football was in midweek. And the season of the league that would become the NBA didn't start until November 1.

But, as stated, a new NHL season began. There was 1 game: The Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 3-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. The Captains of those "Original Six" teams for this season, none of them goalies? Sid Abel of the Red Wings, Gaye Stewart of the Black Hawks, Ted "Teeder" Kennedy of the defending Stanley Cup-winning Toronto Maple Leafs, Milt Schmidt of the Boston Bruins, Neil Colville of the New York Rangers, and Émile "Butch" Bouchard of the Montreal Canadiens.