The Patrick family found Warren Godfrey playing for the Tacoma Rockets in the PCHL in 1951-52. The following year, he was a regular on the Boston Bruins blue line. Twice a Stanley Cup finalist, Godfrey got his championship in 1966-67 with the Pittsburgh Hornets of the American Hockey League.
As per almost each and every Warren Godfrey hockey card, right from the start, the defenseman’s name was ‘Rocky’. Rocky passed away back in 1997.
Junior and Minor Pro
Hockey Card Collection
NHL Career
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Warren Godfrey – Junior and Minor Pro
Godfrey spent an uneventful two seasons of junior hockey in the OHA Junior A. In 1949-50, Warren spent time with the Galt Red Wings. In 1950-51, he moved up the road to the Waterloo Hurricanes.
According to many of his hockey cards, it was the 1951-52 season that made him the apple in the eye of the Patrick family. It was his first season of pro hockey and Godfrey was playing in the PCHL for Muzz Patrick and the Tacoma Rockets.
Warren Godfrey Collection
He was teamed with the legendary Babe Pratt and it turned out to be his only year in the minors before his NHL career took off. Of course, he would return for a lengthy spell in the minors later in his career.
In fact, it was eleven season later when Warren began splitting time between the NHL and the minors again. In 1963-64, he spent most of his time in the American Hockey League with the Pittsburgh Hornets.
It was with the Hornets in 1966-67 when Godfrey got his only championship. Pittsburgh was full of veterans like Don McKenney, Ab McDonald, Parker MacDonald, Bob McCord, Val Fonteyne, Pete Mahovlich and Doug Harvey. Those names would be back in the NHL the following season after expansion. The Hornets would be gone forever, replaced by the Penguins.
The Hornets finished first overall in the nine team AHL. In the finals, Pittsburgh knocked out the Rochester Americans for the Calder Cup championship.
While most of his teammates found jobs in the expanded National Hockey League, Godfrey took a step down, playing for the Fort Worth Wings in the CPHL. Coached by Fern Flaman, the Wings reached the finals before falling to the Tulsa Oilers. Warren did get a 12 game call up to the NHL Red Wings, his last games of his NHL career.
Warren Godfrey concluded his pro hockey career in 1968-69, playing in the AHL with the Rochester Americans.
Warren Godfrey – National Hockey League
Between 1952-53 an 1967-68, Godfrey played in 788 regular season NHL games. Over that time, he scored 32 and assisted on 125 for 157 points. He played an additional 52 games in the Stanley Cup playoffs, adding five points.
Over his career, Warren bounced back and forth between the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings. His career started with Boston in 1952-53. The Bruins finished just fourth in the six team league with only 69 points in 70 games. Yet, Boston reached the Stanley Cup finals before falling to the Habs.
After two more seasons with the Bruins, Godfrey was shipped to the Red Wings in the famous deal that sent Terry Sawchuk to Boston. Going to Detroit with Warren were Real Chevrefils, Ed Sandford, Gilles Boisvert and Norm Corcoran. Going with Sawchuk to the Bruins were Marcel Bonin, Vic Stasiuk and Lorne Davis.
With the Red Wings, Godfrey once again got a chance to play in the Stanley Cup finals. Once again, it was with a below .500 team. The Red Wings finished fourth with 66 points over 70 games. They lost in the finals to the third place Chicago Blackhawks. It would be the closest he would come to the Cup.
After ending up in Boston for the 1962-63 season, in October, 1963, Warren was traded back to Detroit for Gerry Odrowski. Godfrey would play sparingly with the NHL club through the final years of his career.
Warren Godfrey – Rookie Card
The Warren Godfrey rookie card appears as number 85 in the 1952-53 Parkhurst NHL hockey card set. He was shown with the Bruins.
Godfrey last appeared on cardboard in 1962-63. Because he switched from Detroit to Boston just before the start of the season, he was included in the 1962-63 Topps set as a member of the Bruins. Parkhurst also had him in their 1962-63 set as a member of the Red Wings.
It wasn’t the first time Warren was included in both sets. Like many, in 1954-55 he was with the Boston Bruins in both the Topps and Parkhurst sets. It was the year of Topps entering the hockey card world and they included all six teams. Afterwards, the two companies would split the league up.
Warren would toil with the Red Wings into the 1967-68 season. However, his games were limited, never playing more than 26 NHL games in a season after 1962-63.
As mentioned, both Topps and Parkhurst stuck to the fact that his nickname was ‘Rocky’ and included it on almost all his hockey cards. In 1962-63, Topps noted the oddity of Godfrey wearing a helmet on the ice.
Warren Godfrey Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1949-50 | Galt Red Wings | OHL | 17 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 1950-51 | Waterloo Hurricanes | OHL | 51 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 131 |
| 1951-52 | Tacoma Rockets | PCHL | 61 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 66 |
| 1952-53 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 60 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 40 |
| 1953-54 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 70 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 71 |
| 1954-55 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 64 | 1 | 17 | 18 | 58 |
| 1955-56 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 67 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 86 |
| 1956-57 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 69 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 103 |
| 1957-58 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 67 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 56 |
| 1958-59 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 69 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 44 |
| 1959-60 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 69 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 60 |
| 1960-61 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 63 | 3 | 16 | 19 | 62 |
| 1961-62 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 69 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 84 |
| 1962-63 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 66 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 56 |
| 1963-64 | Pittsburgh Hornets | AHL | 57 | 6 | 21 | 27 | 53 |
| 1963-64 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 1964-65 | Pittsburgh Hornets | AHL | 56 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 44 |
| 1964-65 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 1965-66 | Memphis Wings | CPHL | 11 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 1965-66 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 26 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 22 |
| 1966-67 | Pittsburgh Hornets | AHL | 59 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 54 |
| 1966-67 | Memphis Wings | CPHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1966-67 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1967-68 | Fort Worth Wings | CPHL | 41 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 52 |
| 1967-68 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 1968-69 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 67 | 3 | 17 | 20 | 70 |
| NHL Totals | 788 | 32 | 125 | 157 | 752 |