Roy Edwards


Allan Roy Edwards was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played 206 games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Red Wings and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In 1958, at age 21, Edwards backstopped the Whitby Dunlops, Canada's representative, to the IIHF World Hockey Championship at Oslo, Norway. He posted a perfect 7–0 record in the eight-team round-robin tournament. In those seven games, Edwards played every minute. He recorded three shutouts and surrendered just six total goals to achieve an impressive 0.86 goals-against average.
In 1960 he became property of the Chicago Black Hawks. His name was engraved on the Stanley Cup in 1961 even though he never played a single game for Chicago.
Edwards' road to the NHL was a long, winding one. In nine years, he played for seven teams in four leagues. On June 6, 1967 the Pittsburgh Penguins selected him in the expansion draft, but traded him to the Detroit Red Wings the very next day.
In 1967–68, Roger Crozier, the Red Wings' first-string goaltender, retired due to illness, and Edwards was called upon to take his place. He led the team in games and wins for four consecutive seasons.
A collision in 1970 with an opposing forward and the goalpost caused a hairline fracture in Edwards' skull, and this caused him headaches and dizzy spells. His health caused him to retire, but only briefly. He made a comeback with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and after one season there he returned to the Wings. He had his best season in 1972–73: he won 27 games and led the NHL with six shutouts. The following season, he lost his first three games and retired for good.
Edwards was the uncle of Don Edwards, also an NHL goalie.