Andy Hebenton: Complete Collection of a True Ironman

He’s not in the Hockey Hall of Fame and his 1957-58 Topps rookie card doesn’t fetch hundreds of dollars. In the NHL world, outside of New York, he isn’t well known. Yet, Andy Hebenton is a hockey legend and a true ironman of the sport.

Hebenton played in the National Hockey League for nine seasons from 1955-56 to 1963-64. His first eight were with the Rangers and his final NHL season was spent with the Boston Bruins. Over those nine seasons, Andy never missed a single regular season game. This feat alone still counts as the fifth longest games played streak in league history.

What makes him even greater is the fact that, starting in 1952-53 with the Victoria Cougars of the WHL and ending with the Portland Buckaroos of the WHL in 1973-74, Hebenton played ever single one of his team’s regular season games. The streak of consecutive professional hockey games played sits somewhere around 1,563. In contrast, the NHL record belongs to Doug Jarvis at 988 games.

Andy won one major award during his National Hockey League days – the Lady Byng Trophy in 1956-57, just his second year in the league. In the WHL, he won the Byng equivalent, the Fred J. Hume Cup, five times.

Hebenton wasn’t just a nice guy that played every game. He could provide some pretty decent offense. In 1954-55, his last year in the WHL before his nine year stay in the NHL, Andy finished second in the league with 46 goals and was seventh with 80 points. In his rookie season with the Rangers, Andy led the team with 24 goals. The total tied him for eighth in the league. The Calder Trophy went to a goaltender that season, Glenn Hall of the Detroit Red Wings.

Andy’s best offensive output in the NHL came during the 1958-59 season when his 33 goals tied him for fourth in the league and his 62 points placed him tied for eighth. Two years later, his 26 goals would perch him just on the edge of the top 10. In the year in between, he played in his only NHL All-Star Game.

Playoff success eluded Hebenton in the NHL but in the WHL it came hard and fast. In the ten seasons between 1964-65 and 1973-74, Andy was on three Championship (Lester Patrick Cup) teams and five finalists. All but one of those years was with the Portland Buckaroos. In 1965-66, he was a member of the Victoria Maple Leafs team that won the championship.

What follows is the complete collection of NHL hockey cards featuring Andy Hebenton.

1957-58 Topps #58 – The Andy Hebenton rookie card.

1958-59 Topps #46.

1959-60 Topps #16.

1960-61 Topps #42.

1961-62 Topps #55.

1962-63 Topps #54.

1963-64 Topps #15.

 

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1949-50	Montreal Royals	QSHL	5	2	0	2	0
1949-50	Cincinnati Mohawks	AHL	44	8	7	15	0
1950-51	Victoria Cougars	PCHL	56	16	16	32	12
1951-52	Victoria Cougars	PCHL	66	31	25	56	81
1952-53	Victoria Cougars	WHL	70	27	24	51	46
1953-54	Victoria Cougars	WHL	70	21	24	45	29
1954-55	Victoria Cougars	WHL	70	46	34	80	20
1955-56	New York Rangers	NHL	70	24	14	38	8
1956-57	New York Rangers	NHL	70	21	23	44	10
1957-58	New York Rangers	NHL	70	21	24	45	17
1958-59	New York Rangers	NHL	70	33	29	62	8
1959-60	New York Rangers	NHL	70	19	27	46	4
1960-61	New York Rangers	NHL	70	26	28	54	10
1961-62	New York Rangers	NHL	70	18	24	42	10
1962-63	New York Rangers	NHL	70	15	22	37	8
1963-64	Boston Bruins	NHL	70	12	11	23	8
1964-65	Portland Buckaroos	WHL	70	34	40	74	16
1965-66	Victoria Maple Leafs	WHL	72	31	45	76	12
1966-67	Victoria Maple Leafs	WHL	72	24	36	60	19
1967-68	Portland Buckaroos	WHL	70	16	29	45	10
1968-69	Portland Buckaroos	WHL	74	26	51	77	26
1969-70	Portland Buckaroos	WHL	72	36	42	78	9
1970-71	Portland Buckaroos	WHL	72	29	52	81	10
1971-72	Portland Buckaroos	WHL	72	30	34	64	12
1972-73	Portland Buckaroos	WHL	72	30	36	66	26
1973-74	Portland Buckaroos	WHL	78	28	44	72	16
1974-75	Seattle Totems	CHL	4	0	0	0	0
	NHL Totals		630	189	202	391	83