NHL Hall of Famer Greg Hall, who set untouchable record, dead at age 94

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Glenn Hall, the Hockey Hall of Famer and NHL record holder for starting 502 games straight as a goaltender, has died at the age of 94.

His Chicago Blackhawks team confirmed the news of his death on Thursday, describing Hall as 'a cornerstone of our franchise' and hailing Hall's 'monumental' legacy.

Nicknamed 'Mr. Goalie,' Hall stopped pucks in an era when players were bare-faced, before masks of any kind became commonplace. He did it as well as just about anyone of his generation, which stretched from the days of the Original Six into the expansion era.

The Blackhawks confirmed the team received word of Hall´s death from his family. A league historian in touch with Hall´s son, Pat, said Hall died at a hospital in Stony Plain, Alberta, on Wednesday.

The team held a silence to honor Hall and Bob Pulford, who died January 5, on Wednesday night before their game against the St. Louis Blues. 

Hall backstopped Chicago to the Stanley Cup in 1961 and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 1968 with St. Louis when the Blues reached the final before losing to Montreal. He was the second of just six Conn Smythe winners from a team that did not hoist the Cup.

Glenn Hall, the Hockey Hall of Famer and NHL goaltender record holder, has died 

His run of more than 500 games in net is one of the most untouchable records in sports, given how the position has changed in the decades since. Second in history is Alec Connell with 257 from 1924-30.

'Glenn was sturdy, dependable and a spectacular talent in net,' Commissioner Gary Bettman said. 'That record, set from 1955-56 to 1962-63, still stands, probably always will, and is almost unfathomable - especially when you consider he did it all without a mask.'

Counting the postseason, Hall started 552 games in a row.

Hall won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1956 when playing for the Detroit Red Wings. After two seasons, he was sent to the Black Hawks along with legendary forward Ted Lindsay.

Hall earned two of his three Vezina Trophy honors as the league's top goalie with Chicago, in 1963 and '67. The Blues took him in the expansion draft when the NHL doubled from six teams to 12, and he helped them reach the final in each of their first three years of existence, while winning the Vezina again at age 37.

Hall was in net when Boston's Bobby Orr scored in overtime to win the Cup for the Bruins in 1970, a goal that's among the most famous in hockey history because of the flying through the air celebration that followed. He played one more season with St. Louis before retiring in 1971.

'His influence extended far beyond the crease,' Blues chairman Tom Stillman said. 'From the very beginning, he brought credibility, excellence, and heart to a new team and a new NHL market.'

A native of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Hall was a seven-time first-team NHL All-Star who had 407 wins and 84 shutouts in 906 regular-season games. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975, and his No. 1 was retired by Chicago in 1988.

Hall was chosen as one of the top 100 players in the league's first 100 years.

Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz called Hall an innovator and 'one of the greatest and most influential goaltenders in the history of our sport and a cornerstone of our franchise.'

'We are grateful for his extraordinary contributions to hockey and to our club, and we will honor his memory today and always,' Wirtz said.

Fellow Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur, the league's all-time leader in wins with 691 and games played with 1,266, posted a photo of the last time he saw Hall along with a remembrance of him.

'Glenn Hall was a legend, and I was a big fan of his,' Brodeur said on social media. 'He set the standard for every goaltender who followed. His toughness and consistency defined what it meant to play.'