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 |