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It was on December 31, 1972, that something would occur in an NHL game for the final time. As the Detroit Red Wings played host to the Minnesota North Stars in their traditional New Year's Eve game at Olympia Stadium, Andy Brown got the start on goal for Detroit. Future Hockey Hall of Famer Gump Worsley was between the pipes for the North Stars.
Neither netminder was wearing a mask. This would be the final time in NHL history that two maskless netminders would oppose each other in a game.
Detroit opened fast, with three first-period goals, taking a 3-1 lead to the dressing room at the first intermission. Minnesota countered with three second-period goals to fashion a 4-3 advantage after 40 minutes. Detroit's Mickey Redmond netted the only goal of the third period to fashion a 4-4 tie.
Worsley made 22 saves. He even drew an assist on Jean-Paul Parise's goal that gave Minnesota a 4-3 lead. Brown, playing just his fourth game of the season, would stop 20 shots. The two netminders would meet again on March 27, 1974. By then, Worsley, in his final NHL season, had donned a mask. Brown was playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins in that game.
Brown never opted for facial protection. When he got the nod in goal for the Penguins in a 6-3 loss to the Atlanta Flames on April 7, 1974, Brown would be the last maskless netminder in NHL history. To Flames forward, Rey Comeau went the historic footnote of scoring the final goal in NHL history against a goalie who wasn't wearing a mask.
Brown jumped to the WHA's Indianapolis Racers, where he'd played three more seasons of pro hockey without a mask before leaving the game for good in 1977.