{{Short description|Canadian ice hockey player (1878–1929)}} {{Infobox ice hockey player | image = Riley Hern 1910.jpg | image_size = 230px | caption = Hern in 1910 | position = Goaltender | catches = Left | height_ft = 5 | height_in = 9 | weight_lb = 170 | played_for = Pittsburgh Keystones (WPHL)<br />Portage Lakes (IPHL)<br />Montreal Wanderers (ECAHA/NHA) | birth_date = {{birth date|1878|12|5}} | birth_place = St. Marys, Ontario, Canada | death_date = {{death date and age|1929|6|24|1878|12|5}} | death_place = Montreal, Quebec, Canada | career_start = 1898 | career_end = 1911 | halloffame = 1963 }} '''William Milton''' "'''Riley'''" '''Hern''' (December 5, 1878 – June 24, 1929) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He was the first professional goaltender to play on a Stanley Cup-winning team.<ref name="b107">{{cite book |title=Without Fear: Hockey's 50 greatest goaltenders |author=Kevin Allen and Bob Duff |year=2002 |publisher=Triumph Books |location=Chicago |isbn=1-57243-484-8 |page=107}}</ref>
==Biography== Hern began playing ice hockey at an early age, playing for school teams in St. Marys and Stratford, playing both as a goaltender and a forward.<ref name="bio">{{cite web|url=http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p196208&type=Player&page=bio&list=ByName#photo|title=Riley Hern — Biography|publisher=Hockey Hall of Fame|accessdate=2008-07-24}}</ref> Hern played for Stratford Legionnaires from 1898 to 1901.<ref name="b108"/> thumb|left|125px|Hern with Portage Lakes HC. He began his professional career with the Pittsburgh Keystones of the Western Pennsylvania Hockey League (WPHL) during the 1901–02 season. In his first season, Hern led the league in wins, with nine in 14 games. Hern, as a result, was named to the WPHL All-Star Team. However, in the next season, he led the league in losses, losing 10 out of 11 games. In the 1904–05 season, Hern played with the Portage Lakes Hockey Club of the International Professional Hockey League (IPHL). He played, in total, three seasons with Portage Lakes.<ref name="stats">{{cite web|url=http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p196208&type=Player&page=statsawards&list=ByName#photo|title=Riley Hern — Career statistics|publisher=Hockey Hall of Fame|accessdate=2008-07-24}}</ref>
In the 1906–07 season, Hern joined the Montreal Wanderers of the Eastern Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA). Hern posted a 10–0 regular season record in his first season with the Wanderers.<ref name="b108">{{cite book |title=Without Fear: Hockey's 50 greatest goaltenders |author=Kevin Allen and Bob Duff |year=2002 |publisher=Triumph Books |location=Chicago |isbn=1-57243-484-8 |page=108}}</ref> The Wanderers won the Stanley Cup four times, three straight seasons, from 1906 to 1908, and in 1910. The Wanderers also successfully defended the Cup in six out of seven challenges in that time span. The only challenge they lost was against the Kenora Thistles in January 1907; the Wanderers reclaimed the Cup in their own successful challenge two months later.
Hern retired from playing professional ice hockey in 1911, at the age of 30. Hern went on to become a successful businessman, owning a haberdashery in Montreal. He was involved in organizing various ice hockey leagues and printing schedules.<ref name="b109"/> Hern also served as an NHL referee and a goal judge.<ref name="bio"/><ref name="b109">{{cite book |title=Without Fear: Hockey's 50 greatest goaltenders |author=Kevin Allen and Bob Duff |year=2002 |publisher=Triumph Books |location=Chicago |isbn=1-57243-484-8 |page=109}}</ref>
Hern died at Ross Memorial Pavilion of a heart ailment that had been ailing him for six weeks on June 24, 1929.<ref>{{cite news |date= June 25, 1929|title= Riley' Hern died in his 49th year |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=cHEtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LowFAAAAIBAJ&hl=fr&pg=6752%2C4150081 |newspaper= Montreal Gazette}}</ref> He was inducted posthumously into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1963.{{sfn|Hockey Hall of Fame|2003|p=56}}
Hern's grandson is Allan F. Nicholls, who played the role of Charlestown Chiefs captain Johnny Upton in the 1977 film ''Slap Shot''.
Riley Hern is regarded by some as being among the best goaltenders of all time, coming in at 25th overall according to veteran hockey writers Kevin Allen and Bob Duff in their 2002 book ''Without Fear: Hockey's 50 Greatest Goaltenders''.
==Career statistics== ===Regular season=== {| BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" width="75%" |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ALIGN="center" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP ! W ! L ! T ! MIN ! GA ! SO ! GAA |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1901–02 | Pittsburgh Keystones | WPHL | 19 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 780 | 40 | 2 | 3.08 |- ALIGN="center" | 1902–03 | Pittsburgh Keystones | WPHL | 12 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 460 | 61 | 0 | 7.96 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1903–04 | Portage Lakes | Exhib. | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 840 | 21 | 4 | 1.50 |- ALIGN="center" | 1903–04 | Portage Lakes | W-S | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 120 | 6 | 0 | 3.00 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1904–05 | Portage Lakes | IPHL | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 1374 | 81 | 2 | 3.54 |- ALIGN="center" | 1905–06 | Portage Lakes | IPHL | 20 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 1215 | 70 | 1 | 3.46 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1906–07 | Montreal Wanderers | ECAHA | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 610 | 39 | 0 | 3.84 |- ALIGN="center" | 1907–08 | Montreal Wanderers | ECAHA | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 610 | 52 | 0 | 5.11 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1908–09 | Montreal Wanderers | ECHA | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 728 | 61 | 0 | 5.03 |- ALIGN="center" | 1909–10 | Montreal Wanderers | NHA | 13 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 780 | 47 | 1 | 3.62 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1910–11 | Montreal Wanderers | NHA | 16 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 973 | 88 | 0 | 5.43 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" align="center" | ECAHA/ECHA totals ! 32 ! 27 ! 5 ! 0 ! 1948 ! 152 ! 0 ! 4.68 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" align="center" | NHA totals ! 29 ! 19 ! 10 ! 0 ! 1753 ! 135 ! 1 ! 4.62 |}
===Playoffs=== {| BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" width="75%" |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" | ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" | |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ALIGN="center" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP ! W ! L ! T ! MIN ! GA ! SO ! GAA |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1901–02 | Pittsburgh Keystones | WPHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 1 | 1 | 1.50 |- ALIGN="center" | 1906–07 | Montreal Wanderers | St-Cup | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 360 | 25 | 0 | 4.17 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1907–08 | Montreal Wanderers | St-Cup | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 300 | 16 | 0 | 3.20 |- ALIGN="center" | 1908–09 | Montreal Wanderers | St-Cup | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 120 | 10 | 0 | 5.00 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1909–10 | Montreal Wanderers | St-Cup | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" align="center" | St-Cup totals ! 14 ! 10 ! 4 ! 0 ! 840 ! 54 ! 0 ! 3.86 |} ==References== ===Bibliography=== * {{cite book |title=Honoured Members: Hockey Hall of Fame |year=2003 |isbn=1-55168-239-7 |author=Hockey Hall of Fame |publisher=Fenn Publishing |location=Bolton, Ontario }} ===Notes=== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{icehockeystats|legendsm=P196208|Riley Hern}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hern, Riley}} Category:1878 births Category:1929 deaths Category:Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Category:Hockey Hall of Fame inductees Category:Montreal Wanderers (NHA) players Category:People from St. Mary's, Ontario Category:Ice hockey people from Perth County, Ontario Category:Pittsburgh Keystones (ice hockey) players Category:Portage Lakes Hockey Club players Category:Stanley Cup champions