Paul Henderson (born January 28, 1943 in Kincardine, Ontario, Canada) is a retired Canadian hockey left winger who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Flames. He grew up in Lucknow, Ontario and is best known for scoring the winning goal against the USSR in game eight of the 1972 Summit Series.
Henderson is best known for scoring hockey’s most famous goal (a.k.a. the Goal of the Century), helping Team Canada clinch the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union in the last couple of seconds of the final game.
Paul Henderson played his junior career with the Hamilton Red Wings of the OHA from 1960 to 1963. He would help lead Hamilton to the Memorial Cup title in 1962.
Henderson played 13 seasons in the NHL. He began his career in 1962 with the Detroit Red Wings, staying there until 1968 (with the exception of the 1963 season, when he played for the Pittsburgh Hornets of the AHL). He was traded by Detroit with Norm Ullman and Floyd Smith to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Frank Mahovlich, Garry Unger, Pete Stemkowski and the contract rights to Carl Brewer on March 3, 1968.
He was among the NHL players selected to compete against the USSR in the 1972 Summit Series. He became famous in Canada after scoring the winning goals in the final three games of the eight-game series, securing the Canadian victory. He also played for Canada in the 1974 Summit Series in which Canadian WHA players were pitted against the Soviet team.
In 1974 Henderson left the Maple Leafs and the NHL altogether, jumping to the rival WHA where he played for the Toronto Toros. He remained with the Toros franchise after its relocation to Birmingham, Alabama and re-named the Birmingham Bulls. He stayed with the team when it transferred to the CHL in 1979.
He returned to the NHL in 1980 for one final season, playing for the Atlanta Flames. The following season he returned to the CHL’s Birmingham Bulls and retired in 1981.
