Roger Crozier: Acrobatic, Small And Rookie Of The Year

I seem to recall, sometime back in the 1970’s, reading a book at my public school library that I’m sure was an autobiography of Roger Crozier. However, I can find no trace of such a book today.

There is no doubt that Crozier one of the greater goaltenders of his time. If not for Pancreatitis, that nagged him for his entire career and ultimately forced his retirement, who knows how much longer and greater his career would have been.

Roger is well defined by his hockey cards. On nearly every card, it states something about his size, his acrobatic style and the fact that he was a Calder Trophy winner. Thus, the title to this article.

Roger Crozier – Junior and Minor Pro

Crozier played his major junior hockey in the OHA with the St. Catherines Teepees. He played nearly every game between the pipes for the Teepees for three seasons from 1959-60 to 1961-62.

In his rookie year with St. Catherines, Roger was the lone goalie for the Teepees as the team captured the Memorial Cup championship. The team met the Edmonton Oil Kings in the finals and won the best-of-seven in six games. That team also featured Vic Hadfield and Chico Maki with legendary Max Kaminsky behind the bench.

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Roger Crozier Collection

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During his second year with the Teepees, Crozier saw his first pro action. Roger was called up to the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League for a three game stint. He first made his mark in the pros with the 1962-63 St. Louis Braves of the CPHL. He appeared in 70 of the team’s 72 regular season games and was again called up to the Bisons, this time for four games.

That St. Louis club was led offensively by Murray Hall, Alain Caron and a young Phil Esposito. However, the Braves were the lone team in the five team CPHL that did not qualify for post season action. Crozier was give twelve minutes in penalties that year. That stat was prominently noted on his 1964-65 Topps rookie card.

1963-64 was the start of a three year run of high level personal accolades for Crozier. He appeared in 44 AHL games with the Pittsburgh Hornets, recording a 2.34 goals against average. Roger was backed up that season by Hank Bassen with Joe Daley also appearing in two games for the Hornets.

Crozier and Bassen combined for the Harry Holmes Memorial Award as the best goaltending duo in the AHL. Roger was also honoured with the Dudley ‘Red’ Garrett Memorial Award as the league’s top first year player. To top it off, he was named the Second Team All-Star goalie, shared with Les Binkley.

Roger would return to the minors just once after that 1963-64 season. In 1967-68, as a member of the Detroit Red Wings, he was sent down to the Fort Worth Wings of the CPHL for a five game stint.

Roger Crozier – NHL

Crozier played in the National Hockey League fro 1963-64 to 1976-77 with the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals. Originally, he was property of the Chicago Blackhawks and was traded to the Red Wings in the summer of 1963 along with Ron Ingram for Howie Young. Over his career, Roger recorded a respectable 30 shutouts, placing him tied for 62nd all-time in the NHL with Cesare Maniago.

With Terry Sawchuk off to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Crozier was thrust into the number one role for the Red Wings in his rookie 1964-65 season. Roger came through, playing all 70 games for Detroit, posting a 2.42 GAA, .904 save percentage and six shutouts. For his efforts, he was honoured with the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year.

There was no sophomore jinx for Crozier. In 1965-66, playing 64 regular season games, he posted seven shutouts while recording a 2.78 GAA and .904 save percentage. Backed up again by Hank Bassen, Crozier and the Wings finished fourth in the six team league during the regular season.

However, they reached the Stanley Cup finals before losing in six to the Montreal Canadiens. Despite being on the losing end, Crozier was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. It was just the second time the award was given out and he remains just one of five players to take home the Smythe while not winning the championship.

The Red Wings protected Crozier when it came to the 1970 NHL Expansion Draft. However, he ended up with the Buffalo Sabres anyway. Buffalo drafted Tom Webster first overall in the draft. The Sabres then dealt Webster to Detroit for Roger.

Crozier once more played in a Stanley Cup final series. This time, it was in 1974-75 with Buffalo. He appeared in five playoff games, backing up Gary Bromley, as the Sabres were edge by the Philadelphia Flyers in the finals.

His very short NHL coaching career took place in 1981-82. Gary Green started the season as head coach of the Washington Capitals. Shortly after the season was underway, Green was let go. Crozier stepped in for a single game and was then replaced by Bryan Murray.

Between 1999-00 and 2006-07, the Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award was handed out to the NHL goalie with the highest save percentage.

Roger Crozier – Rookie Card

The Roger Crozier rookie card appears as number 47 in the 1964-65 Topps set. He is shown with the Red Wings and the card is valued at three times that of a common card.

The backs of pretty much all Crozier cards come off as a broken record. His 1971-72 O-Pee-Chee card sums them all up in basically bullet form.

• One of hockey’s most acrobatic goalies.
• Former rookie of the year.
• All-Star and playoff MVP.
• Has overcome several stomach ailments to star in NHL.
• One of smallest goalies in hockey.

Season	Team	GP	A	PIM	SO	GAA
1963-64	Detroit Red Wings	15	0	0	2	3.40
1964-65	Detroit Red Wings	70	0	10	6	2.42
1965-66	Detroit Red Wings	64	0	2	7	2.78
1966-67	Detroit Red Wings	58	0	2	4	3.35
1967-68	Detroit Red Wings	34	0	2	1	3.30
1968-69	Detroit Red Wings	38	0	0	0	3.33
1969-70	Detroit Red Wings	34	0	0	0	2.65
1970-71	Buffalo Sabres	44	0	0	1	3.68
1971-72	Buffalo Sabres	63	0	10	2	3.51
1972-73	Buffalo Sabres	49	0	4	3	2.76
1973-74	Buffalo Sabres	12	0	2	0	3.80
1974-75	Buffalo Sabres	23	2	8	3	2.62
1975-76	Buffalo Sabres	11	1	0	1	2.61
1976-77	Washington Capitals	3	0	0	0	1.17