Roy Thomas “Shrimp” Worters Shortest goalie in NHL history and legend

Move over Mike Palmateer, Darren Pang, and Gilles Meloche — on my walk through Pine Hills Cemetery in Scarborough, I discovered the grave of the great (and shortest) NHL goalie of all time: Roy “Shrimp” Worters.

Born in Toronto, Roy stood just 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 130 pounds — a far cry from today’s average NHL goalie at 6 foot 2. But what Worters lacked in size, he more than made up for in skill, reflexes, and fearlessness.

He was a giant in goal.

Worters played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and later the New York Americans (Amerks) — a team that predates the New York Rangers, who only joined the NHL in 1926. Despite his height, Roy recorded 66 shutouts in his career, becoming one of the league’s most formidable netminders.

Traded to the Americans in 1929, he won the Hart Trophy (league MVP) in his first season, posting an astonishing 1.15 goals-against average — a number almost unthinkable in today’s high-scoring NHL.

It helped having a wall of bruising defencemen in front of him, including “Bullet” Joe Simpson, “Red” Dutton, and Canadian sports legend Lionel “Big Train” Conacher, named the country’s athlete of the half-century.

Worters was also the first NHL goalie to record back-to-back shutouts, and in 1931, he added the Vezina Trophy to his mantle. In 1969, long after his playing days ended, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Sadly, Roy Worters never hoisted the Stanley Cup, but his legacy as one of hockey’s greats — and perhaps its greatest underdog — is well secured.

Roy Worters died in Toronto on November 7, 1957. He was only 57.

1900-1957