Henry "Hank, Red" Bassen (December 6, 1932 - May 29, 2009) was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 goaltender

Goaltender

In ice hockey, the goaltender is the player who defends his team's goal net by stopping shots of the puck from entering his team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring...

. Bassen served as a back-up goaltender in the National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 for the Chicago Black Hawks

Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...

, Detroit Red Wings

Detroit Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...

 and Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...

. He was the father of Bob Bassen

Bob Bassen

Robert P. Bassen is a retired Canadian ice hockey centre. He began his career in the National Hockey League in 1984 when he was signed as a free agent by the New York Islanders....

 who played 765 regular seasons games in the NHL.

Playing career

Bassen began his NHL career in 1954 with the Chicago Black Hawks where he spent two seasons as back-up to Al Rollins

Al Rollins

Elwin Ira Rollins was a professional Canadian ice hockey goaltender who played for the Chicago Black Hawks, New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs.-Playing career:...

. Bassen went on to have starting roles in the Western Hockey League

Western Hockey League (minor pro)

The Western Hockey League was a minor pro ice hockey league that operated from 1952 to 1974. Managed for most of its history by Hockey Hall of Fame member Al Leader, it was created out of the merger of the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Canada Senior Hockey League...

 for the Calgary Stampeders

Calgary Stampeders

The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium...

, Seattle Americans and the Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver Canucks (WHL)

The Vancouver Canucks were a minor league professional ice hockey team in the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Hockey League. Inaugurated in 1945 with the PCHL, they became a WHL team with the merger of the PCHL with the Western Canada Senior Hockey League in 1952...

 before moving to the Detroit Red Wings where over three seasons he would serve as back-up to Terry Sawchuk

Terry Sawchuk

Terrance Gordon Sawchuk was a Ukrainian-Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers.-Early life and playing career:Sawchuk was born and raised...

 between 1960 and 1963.

During the 1963-64 season, Bassen played seven games with the Indianapolis Capitals/Cincinnati Wings

Cincinnati Wings

The Indianapolis Capitals/Cincinnati Wings were a professional ice hockey team that operated for one season in the Central Hockey League. Originally named the Indianapolis Capitals, the team started the 1963-64 season playing out of the Pepsi Coliseum in Indianapolis, but only 9 games into the...

 in the CPHL and 26 games with the Pittsburgh Hornets in the AHL

American Hockey League

The American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...

.

After spending most of the season with the Pittsburgh Hornets, Bassen returned to the Red Wings roster to serve back-up once more, this time to Roger Crozier

Roger Crozier

Roger Allan Crozier was a Canadian professional hockey goaltender who played fourteen seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres and Washington Capitals....

 during the 1963–64 NHL season. He played one final year with the Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...

, backing up Les Binkley

Les Binkley

Leslie John Binkley is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Binkley played goaltender in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Penguins, in the World Hockey Association for the Ottawa Nationals and Toronto Toros...

 before retiring in 1968.

After retiring Bassen managed the junior Calgary Wranglers

Calgary Wranglers

The Calgary Wranglers were a junior ice hockey team that played in the Western Hockey League from 1977 until 1987. The Wranglers played their home games in Calgary, Alberta, at the Stampede Corral.-Season-by-season Record:...

 from 1984–86 and had two sons go on to play professional hockey.

Bassen died on May 29, 2009 of heart failure at age 76.

Awards and achievements

• WCJHL Second All-Star Team (1950)
• WCJHL First All-Star Team (1952)
• OHA
  Ontario Hockey Association
  The Ontario Hockey Association is the governing body for the majority of Junior and Senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey Association. Other Ontario sanctioning bodies along with the...
  
  -Sr. First All-Star Team (1954)
• WHL
  Western Hockey League (minor pro)
  The Western Hockey League was a minor pro ice hockey league that operated from 1952 to 1974. Managed for most of its history by Hockey Hall of Fame member Al Leader, it was created out of the merger of the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Canada Senior Hockey League...
  
   First All-Star Team (1960)
• Outstanding Goaltender Award (fewest goals against - WHL) (1960)
• Leader Cup (MVP - WHL) (co-winner - Guyle Fielder
  Guyle Fielder
  Guyle Abner Fielder is a retired American professional ice hockey center. He is the third-leading scorer in professional hockey history, behind only Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe, and holds the records as the leading games played, career assists and career points in minor league hockey...
  
  ) (1960)

External links