Forty-five years ago today, Paul Henderson scored one of the most iconic goals in hockey history: the winner in Game 8 of the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union. Coming in the midst of the Cold War, the Canadian victory was bigger than hockey.
If Henderson had never scored that goal, though, most hockey fans probably wouldn't know who he was. In 707 NHL games, the left winger collected just 236 goals and 477 points.
Here are five more players who didn't light up the scoresheet over their careers, but still became responsible for some of the most legendary goals in hockey history.
Bill Barilko
Without Bill Barilko's Stanley Cup-clinching overtime goal in 1951, The Tragically Hip song "Fifty-Mission Cap" wouldn't exist.
For those unfamiliar with the Canadian hit, Barilko's goal in '51 won the Toronto Maple Leafs the Cup, but later that summer, he boarded a single-engine private plane bound for a weekend fishing trip and disappeared. His body initially couldn't be found. The Leafs didn't win another Cup until 1962 - the same year Barilko's body and the wreckage of the plane was discovered.
The man they called "Bashin' Bill" had just 62 points in 252 career regular-season NHL games. He did live up to his nickname, though, accumulating 456 penalty minutes.
Bobby Baun
Bobby Baun set the bar for "hockey tough" incredibly high.
In Game 6 of the 1964 Stanley Cup Final, the Maple Leafs were trailing the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in the series. Midway through the third period, Baun was stretchered off after blocking a shot. It turned out he fractured his ankle on the play. However, he returned later in the period, and wound up scoring the OT winner to force a Game 7, which the Leafs ended up winning.
Baun played 17 NHL seasons, finishing with a career high of just 20 points.
Uwe Krupp
In their first season in existence, the Colorado Avalanche produced an unlikely hero despite having stars such as Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg on the roster.
Towering German defenseman Uwe Krupp, who finished with 281 points in 729 career NHL games, scored the triple-overtime winner in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final to complete the sweep for the Avs. He's probably never had to pay for a drink in Denver since.
Petr Svoboda
This was the golden goal before the golden goal.
The 1998 Olympics were the first to allow NHL players, and goaltender Dominic Hasek carried the Czech Republic in Nagano. With the gold-medal contest locked in a 0-0 tie midway through the third period, Petr Svoboda notched what would be the only goal of the game - and the biggest goal in Czech hockey history.
Svoboda's career didn't feature many other thrilling moments, though. In 1,028 regular-season games, he scored just 58 goals.
Alec Martinez
The most recent of these career-defining goals came from the stick of Los Angeles Kings defenseman Alec Martinez. After notching the OT winner in Game 7 of the 2014 Western Conference Final, Martinez played the hero once again by potting the Cup clincher in overtime of Game 5 against the New York Rangers.
