Born in Eveleth, Minnesota, Frank Brimsek wasn’t your ordinary offensively-driven hockey player growing up. Instead, he was the one amongst the other kids that would step into the net and take on their shots — trying to keep every one of them out of his net.
Fast forward through his days at St. Cloud State and Brimsek made a name for himself playing for the Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets in the Eastern Amateur Hockey League (EAHL). It was there that he really showcased what he could do between the pipes — winning 14 of 16 exhibition games in 1934-35 and finishing with 20 wins and eight shutouts, the most in the league, in 1935-36.
From there, Brimsek was shopped around the NHL, getting an offer from the Detroit Red Wings, who wanted him to play for their amateur team first. Brimsek decided against it and was later picked up by the Boston Bruins in October of 1937.
Brimsek officially made his NHL debut on November 3, 1938, in Toronto. From there, ‘Mr. Zero’ was born as Brimsek was on his way to playing over 500 NHL games and kicking it off with a Calder Trophy winning season in 1938-39 as the NHL’s rookie of the year.
Frank Brimsek’s Calder Craze
In his first NHL game against the Maple Leafs, Brimsek allowed two goals in a 3-2 win over Toronto. It was his first career NHL win in his first career NHL game and the Bruins got a taste of what was to come with Brimsek.
After winning his first two games of the season, he would lose his third, before going on a seven-game win streak in which he secured six shutouts and gave up just two goals against — landing him the obvious nickname. At the time, he also set the NHL record for the longest shutout streak at 231 minutes and 54 seconds.
Brimsek had no losing streak span more than two games during his rookie campaign and he closed out the season on another eight-game win streak — adding another shutout to his already impressive rookie run. In fact, Brimsek finished the season with a record of 33-9-1 in 43 games played as a 23-year-old. He had a 1.56 goals against average (GAA) and 10 shutouts — both of which led the NHL that season.
He out duelled teammate Roy Conacher — who had 26 goals and 37 points as a 22-year-old — for the Calder Trophy. He also added the Vezina Trophy in his rookie campaign becoming the first goalie in NHL history to win both awards in the same season.
Frank Brimsek Still…
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