Every Canadian will know the name Paul Henderson and one of Canadian hockey’s greatest moments of the 1972 Summit Series which had 12 million Canadians look on during game 8 when Henderson scored the goal which decided the series.
What may not be known about the Kincardine native is his introduction to hockey which all began in the basement of a Chinese restaurant in Lucknow.
When Paul Henderson wasn’t even a year old, the hockey world had its sights on a family in Lucknow when three brothers were put on stage at their shot of joining the Toronto Maple Leafs as they were invited to training camp.
Bill, Ab and George Chin all received the invite to camp in Owen Sound during the 1944-45 season and played in three blue and white games. While all three were eventually sent home, their careers left a mark on the hockey world.
The youngest, George went on to to have a successful junior career with the Windsor Spitfires, Bill joined the Chatham St Clair Maroons who won the Turner Cup in 1949-50 and was named into the Chatham Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.
But their hockey careers as it may have seemed to wind down, one persons was just about to begin in the basement of the Chin’s restaurant in Lucknow.
The Chinese restaurant included a larder in the basement and the floor would often have a thin layer of water which froze in the winter which allowed family and friends to play hockey, one being Paul Henderson.
Henderson first learned to play hockey with the Chins where he used old catalogs as shin pads. The Chin patriarch, Charlie eventually provided Henderson with his first set of hockey equipment with Ab Chin coaching Henderson all the way to his NHL career.
Henderson led a strong NHL career with 236 goals, 241 assists with 477 points over 707 games but is easily remembered as what is considered as one of the biggest moments in Canadian sports history as the coveted game eight winning goal with just 34 seconds left in the third period from Henderson.
The summit series goal seen around the world was voted “Sports Moment of the Century” by The Canadian Press.
