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10. Earl Seibert

10. Earl Seibert

Earl Seibert may never have won the Norris Trophy as the National Hockey League’s top Defenseman (you can't win an award that didn't exist yet), but look at the consecutive string of All-NHL Selections he had!

As a New York Ranger, Seibert was a First Team All-Star in 1935, and in the season he was traded to Chicago, he was a Second Team All-Star.  Over the next five seasons (1936-37 to 1940-41), he was a Second Team All-Star, and in the three years following (although the league was depleted due to World War II), he was a First Team All-Star.  WWII or not, that is one hell of a streak!

Seibert was a very serious player on and off the ice, and his tenacious negotiating essentially led to the Rangers' ownership looking to unload him rather than pay him.  New York’s loss was Chicago’s gain, and Seibert went on a near-decade run of being one of the best shot blockers and checkers in the game and also one of the toughest, as Eddie Shore famously said that Seibert was one player that he was actually afraid to fight!  Seibert anchored the Blackhawks' blueline, leading Chicago to a Stanley Cup in 1938, and he did score 191 Points over 410 Games, which for a Defenceman in that era is very good.

Sadly, many remember Earl Seibert for ending the career of Howie Morenz in 1937 when he drove him awkwardly into the boards, shattering his leg.  Morenz would die from complications of the injury six weeks later. 

Seibert would enter the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1963.

The Bullet Points

  • Position: Defence
  • Acquired: Traded to the New York Rangers for Art Coulter 1/15/36.
  • Departed: Traded to the Detroit Red Wings with Future Considerations (which would be Fido Purpur) for Cully Simon, Don Grosso and Butch McDonald 1/2/45.
  • Games Played: 410
  • Notable Statistics: 217 Goals
    314 Assists
    531 Points
    400 PIM
    .47 PPG
    N/A Plus/Minus*
    40.2 Point Shares

    23 Playoff Games
    7 Goals
    5 Assists
    12 Points
    34 PIM
    .52 PPG
    N/A Plus/Minus*

    *Plus/Minus was not calculated when Seibert played.
  • Major Accolades and Awards:

    Stanley Cup Champion (1938)
    First Team All-Star (1942, 1943 & 1944)
    Second Team All-Star (*1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940 & 1941)
    Most Short-Handed Goals (1937)

    *Seibert was traded from the New York Rangers midway through the season
  • Notable Top Ten Finishes: Top Ten Hart Trophy Finishes:
    4th in 1994

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