Celebrating Bibeault’s Unique And Unusual Red Wings Connection

The post Celebrating Bibeault’s Unique And Unusual Red Wings Connection appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.

Paul Bibeault makes save for Montreal wearing a Red Wings jersey.

Today, we celebrate the birthday of former goalie Paul Bibeault, who played 214 games with four Original Six NHL franchises, none of which were the Detroit Red Wings.

And yet, Bibeault is the holder of a one-of-a-kind achievement in the history of the franchise. In this, the centennial season of Red Wings hockey, it’s a unique moment worth remembering.

Bibeault is the only player to wear a Red Wings jersey in an NHL regular-season game and never play for the Red Wings.

During the 1942-43 season, the Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens played a home-and-home weekend. On Saturday, November 14, the Wings won 5-2 at Montreal. The following night, the Wings were 3-1 winners over the Habs on home ice.

It was during this game that things started to get weird. Three Montreal playoffs were held up at the Canada-US border. They were lacking the proper paperwork to cross the border during wartime. That left the Canadiens with just 12 skaters for their road trip.

Something else appears to have been left behind in Canada – the No. 18 jersey worn by Canadiens defenseman Tony Graboski. During the game at Olympia Stadium, Graboski wore Bibeault’s No. 1. In the official report of the game, Bibeault is listed as wearing No. 0. However, there’s no mention of this fact in any of the stories from the papers covering the game.

On his website Puckstruck, hockey historian Stephen Smith sought to get to the bottom of this mystery. Was Graboski’s jersey lost, damaged, or forgotten in the hurried packing for the overnight trip to Detroit?

No further reporting was done on the matter.

Bibeault Plays In Red Wings Jersey

Two nights later, Montreal continued to Boston for a game against the Bruins. Graboski again wore Bibeault’s No. 1 jersey in this game. Bibeault, meanwhile, wore No. 16 – a red Detroit Red Wings jersey with No. 16 on the back.

It appears that the Canadiens borrowed the sweater, normally worn that season by Detroit forward Conny Brown, from the Red Wings for the road trip to Boston.

“He wore a Detroit jersey because one of Les Canadiens had lost his and Detroit’s colors are much like Montreal’s,” reported the Boston Globe following a 4-1 win by the Bruins.

The post Celebrating Bibeault’s Unique And Unusual Red Wings Connection appeared first on Detroit Hockey Now.