Hockey players, especially goaltenders, have pre-game rituals. Some are more unusual than others. But it's hard to imgine anyone having stranger rituals than goaltending great Glenn Hall who, because of nerves, would become physically ill while waiting the start of a game. "I always felt I played better if I was physically sick before the game. If I wasn't sick, I felt I hadn't done everything I could to try to win" Hall once said

For almost two decades, Glenn Henry Hall, was one of the dominant goalies in the NHL. During his 18 seasons (1952-53, 1954-1971) in the league -- four with Detroit, 10 with Chicago, and four with St. Louis -- Hall had a lifetime 2.51 goals-against average, and was consistently recognized as a top goaltender, being selected to the All-Star team 11 times. 

Born Oct. 3, 1931, at Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Hall led the NHL in shutouts for six seasons, including his rookie campaign when he won the Calder Trophy, and had 84 regular-season shutouts. He still holds the NHL record for most consecutive games by a goaltender, with 502, and appeared in 906 league games. The streak began at the start of the 1955-56 season and ran through the first 12 contests of the 1962-63 campaign. On November 7, 1962, during his 503rd straight game, Hall was finally removed from a game against the Boston Bruins with a back injury in the first period. In Stanley Cup playoffs he had 113 appearances, playing a total of 6,899 minutes. His name appears three times on the Vezina Trophy, and in his first season with the St. Louis Blues was recipient of the Conn Smyth Trophy for his performance in the Stanley Cup playoffs. 

The Blues grabbed the 36-year-old Hall from Chicago during the NHL's first-ever expansion draft in 1967, and he went on to add another chapter in his outstanding career. With St. Louis he posted goals-against averages of 2.48, 2.17, 2.91, and 2.42 with that team, recording 16 shutouts along the way, and helping the Blues to three consecutive Stanley Cup finals. Until the final half of his last active season Hall played without a mask, and most of his career was during the time when teams carried only one goalie, a true tribute to his durability. Glenn Hall played in 13 All-Star games (recording an 0.81 goals-against average) and averaged 2.79 in 15 playoff competition.

Glenn Hall is also reknowned as the "Grandfather of the Butterfly." He was the first goalie to practice and perfect the now common "butterfly stance," as he'd fall on his legs to take away the bottom corners and five-hole and let his rapier-like arm reflexes take care of the top corners.

Hall was elected to the Hockey Hall-of-Fame in 1975.