Just 5'8", Pat Stapleton stood tall among the world's best in 1972. He was simply outstanding.
Stapleton was often paired with Bill White. Neither were considered to be elite defensemen at the NHL level, but both were very very good.
This defensive defenseman holds perhaps hockey's most valuable piece of memorabilia. He has the puck that Paul Henderson put into the net with just 34 seconds left in the game and the tournament.
He denied for years until video was discovered that showed him picking up the puck after Henderson scored. He was well known as a collector of significant pucks, sticks etc while he played in the NHL, but he denies it has any special meaning.
"It's just a puck," he insists. He's not even sure where it is, or so he says. It's in a box in his garage somewhere.
One day he will dig it out. But he doesn't have grand plans of giving it to the Hockey Hall of Fame. He doesn't even plan on auctioning it off for a handsome reward that it is sure to fetch.
"What I want to do is skate with it with my grandchildren on the pond," Stapleton said. "What we'll do is skate around for a while and then shoot it into a snow bank. And that'll be it.
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