It’s easy to forget that it all started at the NHL level for Glenn Hall with the Detroit Red Wings.

The man known as Mr. Goalie became a netminding icon with the Chicago Blackhawks. He put the St. Louis Blues on the hockey map, backstopping the club to Stanley Cup final appearances in each of their first three NHL seasons.

However, Hall’s NHL roots, and in fact his route to NHL stardom, began on a path to Detroit.

Hall, 94, recalled those beginnings in Mr. Goalie, the documentary filmmaker Ryan McInerney crafted about his remarkable career. The film had its world premiere on Sunday at the Windsor International Film Festival.

It was a fitting locale for the launch. Hall played junior with the OHA’s Windsor Spitfires when they were a feeder club for the Red Wings. And as he was stopping pucks in Windsor, seeking to earn a contract from Detroit, among his supporters were a couple of famous Red Wings.

Red Wings Supported Hall

“Ted Lindsay and Gord Howe and (Red Wings teammate) Steve Black, they used to come to the games and simply encourage me,” Hall said. “When they were in the stands, you wanted to play well. You wanted to impress them.

“It was nice that they would come.”

Hall made his NHL debut for Detroit in a 2-2 tie against the Montreal Canadiens at the Montreal Forum. He shared a unique memory from that night, something that might be hard to believe in today’s NHL.

On this day in 1955, Glenn Hall picked up his third straight shutout as the @DetroitRedWings blanked the Canadiens 2-0 #Hockey365 #LGRW pic.twitter.com/32UYkRMiiY

— Mike Commito (@mikecommito) December 18, 2020

“(Detroit goalie Terry) Sawchuk had been hurt and I was summoned to Montreal,” Hall said. “But my equipment didn’t get there.

“I used (Detroit trainer and practice goalie) Lefty Wilson’s equipment. It was the worst equipment. The skates were unbelievable. But I played pretty well.”

Hall would become Detroit’s regular netminder in 1955, after Sawchuk was dealt to Boston. He won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie that season and was named to the NHL First All-Star Team.

Hall Supported Lindsay

Two years later, Hall was the one on the move, mainly because he’d returned the support that Lindsay offered him as a teenager. Hall was among Lindsay’s staunchest backers as the Detroit captain sought to form a players’ association to improve working conditions for NHLers.

Detroit GM Jack Adams cautioned his young goalie not to associate with Lindsay.

“I was told not to talk to him,” Hall said. “I said, ‘Look, Teddy encouraged us when we were kids in junior hockey. If you’ve got an argument with him, that’s your argument. It’s not mine.

“I said that Ted is a friend and a great teammate.”

Hall remembered a particular day when an angry Adams bellowed at him.

“He said, ‘Lindsay, Hall. Get in my office,’” Hall said.

In the summer of 1957, the two players were on the move, going from Detroit to Chicago in a trade.

Hall would eventually pay Lindsay the ultimate tribute.

He named his second son Lindsay Hall.