Hall's life, memories of Montreal Forum connect once more during funeral

MONTREAL -- A casual look around the fabled Montreal Forum on Monday found no trace of the late Glenn Hall's missing equipment, a duffel bag that never arrived for the goalie's NHL debut more than seven decades ago.

That his flimsy leather leg pads, battered skates and gloves and paper-thin shoulder and arm pads have vanished into the mists of time is exactly how "Mr. Goalie" forever wanted it.

"I never went back to the Forum looking for them," Glenn said with a laugh during a talk long ago. "Because I might just have found them."

One of the greatest goalies in hockey history died Jan. 7 in Stony Plain, Alberta, at age 94, having been in delicate health for some weeks.

From left, the Conn Smythe Trophy, Stanley Cup, Vezina Trophy and Calder Memorial Trophy, all of which Glenn Hall won during his career. Seen with the trophies in the NHL's Montreal office are pucks from his teams -- Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks and St. Louis Blues -- and his 1964-65 Topps card.

On Monday, Glenn was celebrated at a funeral in Stony, as it's known to the locals, the small town 25 miles from Edmonton that was his home since 1965, when he and his late wife, Pauline, bought a 155-acre farm as an offseason escape from the pressures of hockey.

Glenn's Hockey Hall of Fame career was inextricably linked to the Forum, from his NHL debut with the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 27, 1952, as an emergency call-up for the injured Terry Sawchuk, earning a 2-2 tie wearing borrowed equipment, through his final game in Montreal, a 6-3 loss with the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 3, 1970.

He loved the Canadiens as much as any NHL goalie can love an opponent that steamrolled him for decades, respectful of the historic franchise that overflowed with some of the game's greatest players.

An overhead view of the street-level concourse of the Montreal Forum on Jan. 19, 2026. A small Canadiens logo on the floor is roughly where center ice was on the rink, display cases containing Forum memorabilia are seen along a second-floor walkway.

In Montreal, near the hour of Glenn's funeral service, I chose the Forum as the place where I'd reflect on a dear friend's life and career.

The building, erected in 1924, is but a shadow of its magnificent former self, the grand arena of brick and mortar and soul closed to hockey in March 1996, with the Canadiens relocating to the Molson (now Bell) Centre a mile and a lifetime away.

In 1997 designated a National Historic Site by the government of Canada, the Forum today houses a multiscreen movie theater, a college campus, a few restaurants, a sports bar and arcade, and a comedy club.

Chicago Black Hawks goalie Glenn Hall follows the puck during a 1960s Montreal Forum game.

Beyond memorabilia in eight small showcases displayed on an upper level, with a selection of team photos, miniature retired number banners and a couple dozen Forum red seats, there's little to remind that this was the Canadiens' home address for 22 of their 24 Stanley Cup championships, on whose ice they won 12 of those titles.

Glenn's memories of Montreal were much warmer than his Forum statistics, a visitor with the Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks and Blues.

In 80 NHL regular-season games at the corner of Atwater and Ste. Catherine streets, he was 14-49 with 17 ties, a 3.48 goals-against average and one shutout. In the Stanley Cup Playoffs: 3-18 with a 3.60 GAA, .893 save percentage and one shutout.

His list of milestones against the Canadiens at the Forum is impressive, for better or worse:

A photo illustration in the Montreal Star of Oct. 21, 1958, showing Maurice "Rocket" Richard's 500th career goal, scored on Chicago's Glenn Hall at the Montreal Forum.

Glenn surrendered Maurice Richard's 500th NHL goal in a 3-1 loss with the Black Hawks on Oct. 19, 1957, "The Rocket" becoming the first in NHL history to reach that plateau.

On Jan. 24, 1960, he tied Canadiens icon Georges Vezina's record for major pro-league consecutive regular-season games with 328.

In the 1961 Stanley Cup semifinals, Glenn shut out the Canadiens 3-0 in Game 5 at the Forum on April 1, then 3-0 in Game 6 at Chicago Stadium three nights later, eliminating Montreal to end their run of five straight championships, the Black Hawks going on to defeat Detroit and win the Cup.

On Nov. 10, 1962, with a strained back, he sat on Chicago's Forum bench, his untouchable record streak of 502 consecutive regular-season games ended, Denis DeJordy making 33 saves for a 3-1 win.

Glenn Hall defends the Montreal Forum net for the 1967-68 St. Louis Blues, Dickie Moore rushing the puck with Canadiens defenseman Serge Savard giving chase.

On May 13, 1968, the NHL Board of Governors voted Glenn winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the postseason, despite the Canadiens completing a four-game sweep of the Blues in the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final at the Forum.

And he played seven of his NHL goaltending-record 13 All-Star Games at the Forum, winning two and losing two with no decision in the other three, 15 goals allowed while playing the full 60 minutes in four of the seven games.

Of the 2,223 goals Glenn allowed over 906 regular-season games, he had no difficulty remembering the first two in his NHL debut: future Canadiens Hall of Famers Doug Harvey, then Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion.

He and Canadiens legend Jacques Plante would become goaltending stablemates for two seasons in St. Louis, combining in 1968-69 to win the Vezina Trophy -- Hall's third, Plante's seventh. They'd be presented the trophy and their souvenir miniatures on Forum ice by NHL senior executive Brian O'Neill on Nov. 13, 1969.

Glenn Hall at home in Stony Plain, Alberta in June 2019 with a photo of himself, Jacques Plante and their 1968-69 Vezina Trophy won with the St. Louis Blues, and on Montreal Forum ice accepting the award in November 1969 from NHL executive Brian O'Neill.

Glenn had endless respect and admiration for many of the Canadiens who made his life miserable in games, especially iconic captain Jean Beliveau.

Forty-one different Canadiens scored on him on Forum ice in the regular season, 22 during the playoffs. Beliveau was the most prolific in both, scoring 40 goals with 51 assists in 74 scheduled games, with 10 goals and 19 assists in 18 postseason games.

Henri Richard ranked second with 24 goals and 36 assists in 72 regular-season games. Dickie Moore, a teammate with the Blues in 1967-68, ranked second in the playoffs with eight goals and 14 assists in 14 games.

"Dickie was the greatest competitor I ever saw," Glenn said, adding that Scotty Bowman of the Blues was his favorite coach.

Glenn Hall at home in Stony Plain, Alberta, in October 2014, with a puck signed by Montreal Canadiens legend Jean Beliveau. The Canadiens captain scored more Montreal Forum goals on Hall, regular season and playoffs, than any other player.

"Jean Beliveau was such a great player. And later, Henri Richard was so good, so quietly. They were two guys who'd score without the puck being on their stick very long.

"You knew with Jean or Henri it would be a trouble deal. I respected them because they were the type of player who would force a goalkeeper to improve. If you figured out how to stop the good ones, they'd figure out something new. And that was always part of my education."

Montreal meant much more to him than just the games.

Glenn recalled memorable meals with teammates at the landmark Bens Delicatessen, long since closed, and fancy dinners at the Beaver Club, also gone, in the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel.

From left: Glenn Hall, Bernie Geoffrion, Jean Beliveau, Bob Goldham, Red Kelly (wearing a helmet) and Gordie Howe during Stanley Cup Final action between the Detroit Red Wings and Canadiens at the Montreal Forum in March of 1956.

He remembered one Beaver Club dinner "on my $1.19 meal money," during which teammate Bill Hay asked their waiter for ketchup.

"The waiter said, 'The chef doesn't want you to put ketchup on his food,' and Bill said, 'Well, you tell the chef he isn't going to be eating my meal.'"

In 2017, Glenn remembered Noel Picard, his late friend and fellow original member of the Blues, upon the defenseman's passing.

Seventeen years to the day of the goalie's NHL debut, the Blues were riding an overnight train from Toronto to Montreal on Dec. 27, 1969, and Picard was having some kind of disagreement with St. Louis broadcaster Gus Kyle.

Chicago Black Hawks goalie Glenn Hall takes the shot of Montreal Canadiens forward Phil Goyette off his shoulder during a 1958-59 game at the Montreal Forum. From left: Lorne Ferguson, Goyette, Elmer Vasko, Hall, Ken Wharram and Andre Pronovost.

Kyle was above Glenn in the train's sleeper car, the shoes of both men under Mr. Goalie's berth. At some point during the night, Picard took one of the shoes, thinking it was Kyle's, and threw it off the speeding train into a snowbank.

Glenn awoke to find one of his shoes missing and immediately and furiously pinned the blame on Picard, a notorious practical joker whose gag had missed the mark.

"Pic just kept saying to me, with that thick French accent, 'Truly, truly… I t'ot it was Gus's shoe!'" he recalled.

Montreal choked with snow upon the train's arrival, the goalie would borrow one of teammate Frank St. Marseille's rubber galoshes and, wearing that and the one shoe he had left, trudged into a downtown shoe store.

Back and front cover of the pamphlet distributed at Glenn Hall's funeral in Stony Plain, Alberta, on Jan. 19, 2026.

"I told the guy behind the counter, 'Don't say a word. Just give me a pair of Size 9s like the ones you have in the window,'" Glenn said, laughing.

The Blues would thump the Canadiens 5-0 at the Forum on Dec. 30, his only regular-season shutout on Montreal ice.

"I remember that because it didn't happen very often," Glenn said of the game, having made 26 saves. "The guys knew I was mad. The back-checkers were running into each other that night. They did nothing but play defense."

The ice of the Forum is gone, of course, other city landmarks lost, too, but on Monday in Montreal, the clock rewound to another time, to an NHL of six, then 12 teams. For a few quiet hours, there was a strong bond between a former cathedral of hockey and a Stony Plain church, the lives of an arena and a goaltending legend connected one last time.

Top photo: Glenn Hall is remembered on a video board in the NHL's Montreal offices on Jan. 19, 2026.