This week’s Moment takes us back to the 1928 Stanley Cup Finals, when the Montreal Maroons took on the New York Rangers, led by 44-year-old coach/GM Lester Patrick. A NHL Hall-of-Famer, Patrick is considered one of the founding fathers of modern ice hockey, creating several rules including the center red line, and was the namesake of the Patrick Division (the precursor to the Atlantic/Metropolitan Division). He won six Stanley Cups, including two as a player, but his finest moment came unexpectedly on April 7, 1928.

The Rangers had lost Game 1, and early in the second period of Game 2 their goalie took a puck to the eye. The doctor told Coach Patrick to bring in a replacement—but the team didn’t have one. Patrick lobbied to suit up Ottawa Senators star Alex Connell, who was sitting in the stands, or even a minor-league goalie who also happened to be there, but the Maroons’ coach shot him down.

So Patrick, a former defenseman, donned the pads himself for the first time, making him not only the oldest goalie in Stanley Cup Finals history to this day, but presumably the least prepared as well. At one point, on a chest-high shot, Patrick dropped his stick and simply caught the puck with two hands.

Miraculously, he stopped all but one shot he faced, and the Rangers won 2-1 in overtime on their way to claiming their first-ever Stanley Cup.