The other great goalie from Owen Sound, Ontario. Harry Lumley has the Ontario Hockey League rink named after him but Les Binkley cannot be denied as one of the ‘could have beens’ left out of the limelight by a six team, six goalie NHL. At 33, Binkley got his chance via NHL expansion and made the most of his time in the big leagues.
Of course, his hockey career didn’t start in 1967-68. Les was an outstanding goalie in the highly competitive minors for over a decade. His only championship came early, helping the 1956-57 Charlotte Clippers to an EHL title.
Junior and Minor Pro
Hockey Card Collection
NHL and WHA Career
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Les Binkley – Junior and Minor Pro
Les Binkley played four years of OHA Junior A hockey (predecessor of the OHL) from 1950-51 to 1953-54. Two of the teams that he played for no longer exist, the Owen Sound Mintos and the Galt Black Hawks. His third team, the Kitchener Greenshirts, soon after became the Peterborough Petes.
Les Binkley Collection
He played strictly in the minors until the 1967 NHL Expansion saw him get a new hockey life with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Along the way, Binkley appeared in the EHL, IHL, AHL and WHL. Legend has it, and it’s mentioned on mostly all of his hockey cards, that Les was out of hockey in 1958-59 and acting as the trainer for the Cleveland Barons of the AHL. After a goalie injury, his career was revived with those Barons.
However, in the two previous seasons, Les had considerable success in the EHL with the Charlotte Clippers. In 1956-57, he played all 64 regular season games along with all 13 in the playoffs. The Clippers dominated the six team league, finishing first overall by a 30 point margin over the second place Philadelphia Ramblers. Binkley was selected as the Second All-Star Team goalie.
The Clippers met up with the Ramblers in the finals and it took seven games before they were declared champs. In front of Binkley on defense was a pair of rugged players that would become NHL coaches of some fame: John Muckler and John Brophy.
The following year, 1957-58, Binkley again appeared in all 64 regular season games for Charlotte. The team finished first overall but with just a one point edge over the second place Washington Presidents. Les appeared in 12 of 14 playoff games and the Clippers were bounced in the finals by the Presidents in seven games.
Binkley spent five years with the Barons in the American Hockey League. In 1961-62, despite being in his seventh year of pro hockey, Les was considered a rookie in the AHL and was awarded the Dudley ‘Red’ Garrett Memorial Award as the league’s top first year player.
In 1961-62, Les played in 60 of Cleveland’s 70 regular season games and posted a 3.02 goals against average. The Barons finished second overall in the eight team league. In the Calder Cup playoffs, Cleveland faced off against the first place Springfield Indians in the opening round in what was probably the worst playoff format in hockey history. The Barons lost the series and Binkley played in just three of his team’s six games.
Twice in the AHL, Binkley was a Second Team All-Star. Both times, he had to share the honours. In 1963-64, he tied with Roger Crozier of the Pittsburgh Hornets. In 1965-66, he tied with George Gardner, also of the Hornets. Interestingly, in 1965-66 Les was awarded the Harry ‘Hap’ Holmes Memorial Award for the lowest GAA with a 2.93 over 66 games. His team even reached the Calder Cup finals before falling to the Rochester Americans.
In 1966-67, Les played his only season in the WHL. It would be his last year as a full-time minor league player. He found himself in familiar territory, named the Second Team All-Star goalie.
His only return to the minors came in 1975-76, his final year of pro hockey. Binkley played 24 games in the NAHL with the Buffalo Norsemen while also appearing in the World Hockey Association with the Toronto Toros.
Les Binkley – NHL and WHA
Les Binkley played in the National Hockey League from 1967-68 to 1971-72, all with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was the first ever player signed by the Penguins and was not part of the expansion draft.
In his first year, he put up outstanding numbers with a 2.88 goals against average and six shutouts over 54 games. Over his first two years with the Penguins, Binkley saw the bulk of action as the team’s number one goalie. By 1969-70 and 1970-71, he was reduced to Al Smith’s backup. In 1971-72, Jim Rutherford took over the number one job with Pittsburgh.
Les jumped to the WHA for the rebel league’s inaugural season, 1972-73. His first year was spent with the Ottawa Nationals and he moved with the franchise to Toronto where he finished out his career with the Toros.
Over his first three years in the World Hockey Association, Binkley was backup to Gilles Gratton. In his final year, with Gratton off to the NHL, Les played just seven games and was one of six different goalies for the Toros.
Les Binkley – Rookie Card
The Les Binkley rookie card appears as number 100 in the 1968-69 O-Pee-Chee and 1968-69 Topps sets. The card is valued at more than twice that of a common card. He is shown with the Pittsburgh Penguins and dons the original Penguins jersey with the word Pittsburgh spelled diagonally down the front of the uniform.
The only card in the Binkley main stream collection that doesn’t show him with the Penguins is his 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee card. He is shown with the Ottawa Nationals of the WHA. Despite three more years in the WHA, that was Binkley’s last hockey card.
Les Binkley Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | A | PIM | SO | GAA |
| 1967-68 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 54 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2.88 |
| 1968-69 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.29 |
| 1969-70 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 27 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3.21 |
| 1970-71 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 34 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.86 |
| 1971-72 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 31 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.51 |
| 1972-73 | Ottawa Nationals | WHA | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.72 |
| 1973-74 | Toronto Toros | WHA | 27 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.27 |
| 1974-75 | Toronto Toros | WHA | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.65 |
| 1975-76 | Toronto Toros | WHA | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.73 |