Born	September 25, 1892(1892-09-25), Ottawa, Ontario
Died	November 12, 1976 (aged 84), Ottawa, Ontario
Position	Goaltender
Shot	Left
Pro clubs	Ottawa Senators Montreal Maroons
Pro career	1912 – 1931
Hall of Fame, 1965

Clinton Stevenson "Praying Bennie" Benedict (September 25, 1892 – November 12, 1976) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played for the Ottawa Senators and the Montreal Maroons. He played on four Stanley Cup-winning squads. He was the first goaltender in the National Hockey League (NHL) to wear a face mask. He led league goaltenders in shutouts seven times over his professional career. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Benedict was one of the first great goalies in professional hockey and a great innovator in the sport. He was the first goalie to drop to his knees to stop the puck along the ice. At the time, dropping to the ice was illegal, but Benedict circumvented the rules by pretending to pray on his knees. This earned him the nickname "praying Benny." The first rule change of the NHL was made to legalize his playing style.

Contents 1 Playing career 1.1 Career statistics 2 Awards and achievements 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Playing career

Benedict played senior-level hockey at 17, playing for the Ottawa Stewartons of the Ottawa City league in 1909–10, moving to the Ottawa New Edinburghs of the Inter-provincial Amateur Hockey Union the following season. Benedict joined the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey Association (NHA) in the 1912–13 season. Although the Senators had at the time future Hall of Famer Percy LeSueur as their starting goaltender, Benedict played 10 games for the club. He played one more season as backup to LeSueur and took over as starting goaltender in the 1914–15 season. He led the league in Goals Against Average (GAA) that season and the following two seasons to start his career. He played 12 seasons overall for the Senators.

After winning three Stanley Cups with the Senators, his career changed in the 1923–24 season. Benedict developed a problem with drinking, which at first was kept secret by the Senators. Benedict occasionally played for the Senators while under the effects. In the playoffs, Benedict and the Senators played poorly and were quickly eliminated. Management withheld some of his salary for his behaviour. Benedict sued the team in return and the Senators countersued, revealing in court documents the extent of Benedict's behaviour. Once the Ottawa papers found out about the court case, the secret was out. The two sides quickly settled to minimize the publicity.^[1]

Benedict's career with the Senators was finished. On October 20, 1924, Benedict was traded along with Punch Broadbent to the expansion Montreal Maroons. It was a new lease on life for Benedict who played for six seasons with the Maroons. In 1926, he won another Stanley Cup with the Maroons.

In 1930, some 30 years before Jacques Plante popularized the goalie mask, Clint was the first goalie to wear facial protection in the NHL with the Montreal Maroons using it for five games during the 1929–30 season. On January 7, 1930, he was hit by a shot from Howie Morenz in the face, breaking the bridge of his nose.^[2] Benedict was out of action for six weeks. He returned on February 20, 1930 against the New York Americans wearing the mask. He played with the mask on for five games, the last being on March 4, 1930 when he got hit in the face during a goal-mouth scramble.^[3] He had to leave the game due to blood coming from his nose. It was his last game in the NHL. When asked about his shortlived face mask Benedict remarked:

“

It was leather with a big nosepiece. The nosepiece proved to be the problem, because it obscured my vision.[4]

”

The next season he played for the Windsor Bulldogs senior hockey team, the Maroons farm team, leading them to the IHL championship.

In 1932, Benedict became manager and coach of Saint John of the Maritime Senior Hockey League, a position he held for two seasons.

Benedict was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1965, much later than would be expected of a player of his ability and career and possibly due to the events of 1924. Benedict lived to 84 years of age, dying in 1976 in Ottawa.

[edit] Career statistics

				Regular season									Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GPI	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA		GPI	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1909–10	Ottawa Stewartons	OCSHL		7	5	2	0	420	21	0	3.0		1	0	1	0	60	2	0	2.0
1910–11	Ottawa New Edinburghs	OCSHL		6	2	3	1	360	24	0	4.0
1910–11	Ottawa New Edinburghs	IPAHU		5	5	0	0	300	18	0	3.6		3	3	0	0	180	13	0	4.25
1911–12	Ottawa New Edinburghs	IPAHU		7	5	2	0	420	21	0	3.0		1	0	1	0	60	2	0	2.0
1912–13	Ottawa Senators	NHA		10	2	1	0	275	16	1	3.49
1913–14	Ottawa Senators	NHA		9	5	3	0	474	29	0	3.67
1914–15	Ottawa Senators	NHA		20	14	6	0	1243	65	0	3.14		2	1	1	0	120	2	1	0.5
1914–15	Ottawa Senators	Stanley Cup											3	0	3	0	360	26	1	8.6
1915–16	Ottawa Senators	NHA		24	13	11	0	1447	72	2	1.99
1916–17	Ottawa Senators	NHA		18	14	4	0	1103	50	1	2.72
1917–18	Ottawa Senators	NHL		7	5	2	0	420	21	0	3.0		1	0	1	0	60	2	0	2.0
1918–19	Ottawa Senators	NHL		18	12	6	0	1149	53	2	2.77		5	1	4	0	300	26	0	5.2
1919–20	Ottawa Senators	NHL		24	19	5	0	1443	64	5	2.66
1919–20	Ottawa Senators	Stanley Cup											5	3	2	0	300	11	1	2.2
1920–21	Ottawa Senators	NHL		24	14	10	0	1457	75	2	3.09		7	5	2	0	420	12	2	2.0
1920–21	Ottawa Senators	Stanley Cup											5	3	2	0	300	12	0	2.4
1921–22	Ottawa Senators	NHL		24	14	8	2	1508	84	2	3.32		2	0	1	1	120	5	1	3.0
1922–23	Ottawa Senators	NHL		24	14	9	1	1486	54	4	2.18		8	6	2	0	480	10	3	1.00
1922–23	Ottawa Senators	Stanley Cup											6	5	1	0	361	8	1	1.33
1923–24	Ottawa Senators	NHL		22	16	6	0	1356	45	3	1.99		2	0	2	0	120	5	0	2.5
1924–25	Montreal Maroons	NHL		30	9	19	2	1843	65	2	2.12
1925–26	Montreal Maroons	NHL		36	20	11	5	2288	73	6	1.91		8	5	1	2	480	8	4	1.0
1925–26	Montreal Maroons	Stanley Cup											4	3	1	0	249	3	3	0.75
1926–27	Montreal Maroons	NHL		43	20	19	4	2748	65	13	1.42		2	0	1	1	132	2	0	1.0
1927–28	Montreal Maroons	NHL		44	24	14	6	2690	76	7	1.7		9	5	3	1	555	8	4	1.0
1928–29	Montreal Maroons	NHL		37	14	16	7	2300	57	11	1.49
1929–30	Montreal Maroons	NHL		14	6	6	1	420	33	0	2.63
1930–31	Windsor Bulldogs	IHL		40	20	15	5	752	90	1	2.18
NHL totals				362	191	142	28	22357	858	58	2.30		28	11	12	5	1707	53	9	1.86

[edit] Awards and achievements

• 1965 - Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
• 1966 - named all-star goalie for the time period 1893–1926 by NHL historian Charles Coleman^[5]
• 1966 - inducted into Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame^[6]
• 1998 - Ranked number 77 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.

[edit] References

• Coleman, Charles L. (1966). The Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol. 1, 1893-1926 inc.. National Hockey League. 

[edit] External links

• Clint Benedict's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Clint Benedict's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database