Ernest Alfred Linton Wakely (born November 27, 1940) is a Canadian former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as goalie or netminder) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their own team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays ...

. He played 113 games in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

from 1962 to 1972, and 334 games in the

World Hockey Association The World Hockey Association () was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972–73 WHA season, 1972 to 1978–79 WHA season, 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (N ...

from 1972 to 1979.

Career

Wakely was a goaltender in the

(NHL) for the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

and

St. Louis Blues The St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis. The Blues compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

. He also played for the

Quebec Aces The Quebec Aces, also known in French as Les As de Québec, were an amateur and later a professional men's ice hockey team from Quebec City, Quebec. History The Aces were founded in 1928 by Anglo-Canadian Pulp and Paper Mills, the name Aces stan ...

, the Cleveland Barons (AHL),

Winnipeg Jets The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The te ...

San Diego Mariners The San Diego Mariners were a professional ice hockey team based in San Diego, California, that competed in the World Hockey Association (WHA). The team played its home games at the San Diego Sports Arena. Previous to being in San Diego, the tea ...

Cincinnati Stingers The Cincinnati Stingers were an ice hockey team based in Cincinnati that played in the World Hockey Association from 1975 to 1979 and in the Central Hockey League during the 1979–80 season. Their home arena was Riverfront Coliseum. They are th ...

, Houston Aeros,

Houston Apollos The Houston Apollos were a minor professional ice hockey team based in Houston, Texas. They played in the Central Hockey League from 1965 to 1969, and then from 1979 to 1981. History From 1965 to 1969, they were a farm team of the NHL's Montreal ...

, and Birmingham Bulls of the

. Wakely was goaltender for the 1958–59

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

-winning

Winnipeg Braves The St. James Canadians were a Canadian junior hockey team in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League until 2003, folding officially in 2004. The Canadians played out of the St. James Civic Centre, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. As the Winnipeg Braves, th ...

of the

MJHL The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a Junior ice hockey, Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The MJHL consists of thirt ...

. In the

1969–70 NHL season The 1969–70 NHL season was the 53rd season of the National Hockey League. For the third straight season, the St. Louis Blues reached the Stanley Cup Finals, and for the third straight year, the winners of the expansion West Division were swept ...

Wakely took over in St. Louis for

Glenn Hall Glenn Henry Hall (born October 3, 1931) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. During his National Hockey League career with the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks, and St. Louis Blues, Hall seldom missed a game and was a co ...

. Wakely appeared in 30 games, won 12, and recorded an NHL league-leading goals against average of 2.11 in leading the Blues to the

Stanley Cup Finals The Stanley Cup Finals in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media, ) is the annual championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). The winner is awarded the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional spo ...

against the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

. Although Wakely did not start the first game of the finals, he replaced Jacques Plante early in the game after Plante was injured. Wakely played well through the second period, but Boston prevailed in that game 6–1 and swept the Blues in four straight games to win the Stanley Cup. The following season, Wakely played in 51 games, won 20, and posted a 2.79 GAA. Two years later, he played with the Winnipeg Jets and former Chicago Black Hawks star

Bobby Hull Robert Marvin Hull (January 3, 1939 – January 30, 2023) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. His blond hair, skating speed, end-to-end rushes, and ability to shoot t ...

in the World Hockey Association. No other goalie played more games in the WHA and his 16 shutouts are also a WHA career record.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Awards and achievements

*Turnbull Cup (

) Championship (1959) *

Championship (1959) *

Top Goaltender (1961) * CPHL Championship (1964) *Engraved on the Stanley Cup in 1965, and 1968 with Montreal (he only dressed for two games in playoffs and did not play) *Played in 1971 NHL All-Star Game *Played in

1972–73 WHA All-Star Game The 1973 World Hockey Association All-Star Game was held in the Le Colisée in Quebec City, Quebec home of the Quebec Nordiques, on January 6, 1973. After a plan to pit WHA players against European players fell down due to legal reasons, the leagu ...

and 1973–74 WHA All-Star Game *Honoured Member of the

Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame The Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum is a hall of fame and museum for ice hockey in Manitoba, located on the main level of the Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1985, when the first honoured members were named ...

*Inaugural member of the

World Hockey Association Hall of Fame The World Hockey Association Hall of Fame is an independent organization dedicated to honoring the World Hockey Association (WHA), which operated from 1972 to 1979 as a major professional ice hockey league. Honourees were inducted in 2010 and 201 ...

(2010)

References

External links

*
Ernie Wakely's biography
a

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakely, Ernie 1940 births Living people Birmingham Bulls (WHA) players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Cincinnati Stingers players Cleveland Barons (1937–1973) players Houston Aeros (WHA) players Montreal Canadiens players Quebec Aces (AHL) players St. Louis Blues players San Diego Mariners players Seattle Totems (WHL) players Spokane Comets players Ice hockey people from Flin Flon Stanley Cup champions Winnipeg Braves players Winnipeg Jets (WHA) players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen Winnipeg Warriors (minor pro) players