Charlie Hodge (ice Hockey) - NHL Career

NHL Career

Hodge's first NHL game occurred in 1954 with Montreal. But because teams in that era only carried one goalie, and Montreal had perhaps the best goalie of the era in Jacques Plante, Hodge was only used in emergency situations. During this time, he played mostly in the AHL. When Plante was traded in 1962, Hodge got his chance to play full-time. He twice won the Vezina Trophy for being the goaltender of the team allowing the fewest number of goals during the regular season, once outright in 1963–1964 and shared with Gump Worsley in 1965–1966. Hodge's name appears on the league championship Stanley Cup six times, although he only actually played in one of those finals. He also played 1 game in the finals in 1955, but lost to Detroit. In 1967, young goaltender Rogatien Vachon was called up by the Canadiens. Vachon played superbly, and there was no more room for Hodge. Hodge was left unprotected in 1967 and he was picked up by the Oakland Seals in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft.