Maurice Roberts (ice hockey)

History

Roberts played ten NHL games with the Boston Bruins, New York Americans, and Chicago Black Hawks, and spent sixteen seasons in the minor leagues, primarily with the Cleveland Barons and New Haven Eagles. His career was interrupted for four seasons when he enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II, after which he played only one more regular season of professional hockey. He made his NHL debut with the Boston Bruins on December 8, 1925, substituting for injured regular Doc Stewart in a 3-2 win against the Montreal Maroons; at age 19, he was the youngest goaltender in NHL history until surpassed by Harry Lumley nearly twenty years later. On November 25, 1951, Roberts, then an assistant trainer with the Black Hawks, finished the third period for the injured Lumley, allowing no goals but losing 5–2 to the Detroit Red Wings. At 45, he became the oldest player to play in an NHL game, a record later broken by Gordie Howe in 1979 and also passed by Chris Chelios; he remains the oldest goaltender to play in an NHL game. He was the final NHL player active in the 1920s. Roberts was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005.