Best player all-time – Gretzky or Howe? Best team – 1950’s Montreal Canadiens or 1980’s Edmonton Oilers? Should Paul Henderson be in the Hockey Hall of Fame? Three very common questions. My answers? Neither – Howie Morenz. Neither – Detroit Red Wings of the past decade and a half. No – Henderson should not be in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Why the Henderson argument? Seven goals over eight games in 1972. Paul scored seven goals while playing all eight games of the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union. Three of those goals were game winners. One of those goals won the series for Canada. That was the highlight of a decent but borderline mediocre pro hockey career that was plagued with injuries throughout.
Henderson played in the National Hockey League from 1962-63 (a two game call-up from junior) to 1973-74 with the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. After five years in the World Hockey Association with the Toronto Toros / Birmingham Bulls, Paul returned to the NHL for 30 games with the Atlanta Flames in 1979-80. He played 707 regular season NHL games, scoring 236 goals and totalling 477 points. His WHA career consisted of 360 games while contributing 283 points.
Paul Henderson Collection
The hockey card world shows him some respect. The Paul Henderson rookie card from the 1965-66 Topps set is valued at $50. Summit Series teammate Phil Esposito led the way that year with his rookie card currently valued at $400. The complete set consists of 128 cards and is valued at $2700. Henderson’s card from the following season is also rated and valued at $15 but after that he falls into common card obscurity.
Paul found great success as a junior in the OHA. He played for the Hamilton Red Wings for three years from 1960-61 to 1962-63. In his second season, the team was crowned OHA champs before moving on to defeat the Edmonton Oil Kings in five games to capture the Memorial Cup. The following year, Henderson led the league with 49 goals over 48 games. However, his 76 points weren’t enough to capture the Eddie Powers Trophy. That honour went to Wayne Maxner of the Niagara Falls Flyers with 94 points.
One of the items on the mythical Hall of Fame checklist is a Stanley Cup victory. Paul came close twice early in his career but never got his name inscribed on hockey’s holy grail. In 1963-64, he split his season between the Red Wings and the American Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Hornets. He played all 14 games for Detroit in the playoffs as the team took Toronto to the limit in the final series before falling to the Maple Leafs. Two years later, the Red Wings once again found themselves in the final series, this time losing out to the Montreal Canadiens in six games.
A 30+ goal scorer twice in the NHL and twice in the WHA, Henderson’s personal best came in 1971-72, scoring 38 for the Maple Leafs. That total placed him tenth in the league and earned him a spot on that legendary Summit Series Canada squad.
However, if you look at his numbers 1966-67, it’s a year that could have been. Playing in just 46 of 70 regular season games for the Red Wings, Henderson scored 21 goals. This was on pace for 32 goals if he’d played the full schedule. 32 goals would have placed him third in the NHL behind Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita. Paul was also on pace for 61 points which would have tied him for seventh with Phil Goyette of the Rangers and Phil Esposito of the Chicago Blackhawks.
His WHA best was 37 goals in 1977-78 with the Bulls which didn’t place him in the top ten in the highly offensive league.
Paul Henderson Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1962-63 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 1963-64 | Pittsburgh Hornets | AHL | 38 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 18 |
| 1963-64 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 32 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 14 |
| 1964-65 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 70 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 30 |
| 1965-66 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 69 | 22 | 24 | 46 | 34 |
| 1966-67 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 46 | 21 | 19 | 40 | 10 |
| 1967-68 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 50 | 13 | 20 | 33 | 35 |
| 1967-68 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 13 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 8 |
| 1968-69 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 74 | 27 | 32 | 59 | 16 |
| 1969-70 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 67 | 20 | 22 | 42 | 18 |
| 1970-71 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 72 | 30 | 30 | 60 | 34 |
| 1971-72 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 73 | 38 | 19 | 57 | 32 |
| 1972-73 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 40 | 18 | 16 | 34 | 18 |
| 1973-74 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 69 | 24 | 31 | 55 | 40 |
| 1974-75 | Toronto Toros | WHA | 58 | 30 | 33 | 63 | 18 |
| 1975-76 | Toronto Toros | WHA | 65 | 26 | 29 | 55 | 22 |
| 1976-77 | Birmingham Bulls | WHA | 81 | 23 | 25 | 48 | 30 |
| 1977-78 | Birmingham Bulls | WHA | 80 | 37 | 29 | 66 | 22 |
| 1978-79 | Birmingham Bulls | WHA | 76 | 24 | 27 | 51 | 20 |
| 1979-80 | Birmingham Bulls | CHL | 47 | 17 | 18 | 35 | 10 |
| 1979-80 | Atlanta Flames | NHL | 30 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 6 |
| 1980-81 | Birmingham Bulls | CHL | 35 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 38 |
| NHL Totals | 707 | 236 | 241 | 477 | 304 | ||
| WHA Totals | 360 | 140 | 143 | 283 | 112 |