1952-53 Parkhurst 31 Al Rollins Hockey Card (Front)
1952-53 Parkhurst 31 Al Rollins Hockey Card (Back)
1952-53 Parkhurst NHL Checklist
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Card Notes
Won the Vezina Trophy (the goalkeeper who has played the most games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it) with Leafs in ’50-51. Came to Chicago this year in the Lumley deal.
Details
What Al Rollins did for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1950-51 is probably one of the franchise’s most underrated performances. A rookie, having played just two NHL games previous to that season, Rollins put up a 1.77 goals against average with five shutouts over 40 games. In the playoffs, Rollins carried on with a 1.71 GAA over four games while veteran Turk Broda played in eight games as the Leafs captured the Stanley Cup championship.
Along with the Vezina Trophy, Rollins had some consideration for Hart Trophy, finishing eighth in voting. He was second in Calder Trophy voting, behind just Terry Sawchuk of the Detroit Red Wings.
After playing all 70 games for the Leafs in 1951-52, Al was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks just prior to the 1952-53 season with Cal Gardner, Gus Mortson and Ray Hannigan for Harry Lumley. With the Hawks, Rollins won the Hart Trophy in 1953-54, despite the team winning just 12 of 70 games. Al put up a 3.23 GAA with 5 shutouts over 66 games. The previous season, he was second to Gordie Howe in Hart voting.
2 of his 5 shutouts in 1953-54 were 0-0 ties and one was won by just a 1-0 margin. Early in the season, Rollins had a streak of nearly 3 full games without allowing a goal. In a 6-1 win over the New York Rangers, he allowed a powerplay goal by Don Raleigh at 12:05 of the second. The next game was a 1-0 shutout over the Canadiens followed by a 0-0 tie with the Boston Bruins. The streak came to an end at 12:25 of the first period in a 3-1 loss to Toronto with George Armstrong scoring.
Between 1949-50 and 1959-60, Al Rollins appeared in 430 regular season and 13 playoff games in the National Hockey League with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers.