HENDERSON: ‘ I’M NEVER GOING TO COMPLAIN’
Paul Henderson turned 75 on Sunday.
That will make those of us who remember watching him score t he greatest goal in Canadian hockey history on a blackand- white TV in an elementary school gymnasium feel old. How about Henderson? “I feel terrific,” Henderson, who scored the winning goal for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union, said over the phone Tuesday afternoon from his home in Mississauga, Ont.
That’s fantastic news because Henderson’s health has been an issue since 2009, when he was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Six years ago, when Team Canada celebrated the 40th anniversary of its historic victory over the Soviets, Henderson wasn’t able to take part in the festivities because of his health. That same year he entered a clinical cancer trial in Bethesda, Md., that he says saved his life.
“You’ve got to be in bad shape to get into a clinical trial and I was down 30 pounds and I was not looking good ... in fact, I was on the way out,” Henderson said Tuesday. “I still have cancer, but it’s holding at bay.”
Henderson c huckled when recalling a recent visit to his doctor’s office and telling him about some aches and pains he was experiencing.
“My doctor looked at me and said: ‘ Paul, in a month you’re going to be 75 and you played what, 17 or 18 years of pro hockey? And you’re blaming the pills for your aches and pains,’ ” Hender- son recalled. “We laughed like crazy. Overall, I’m really blessed. I’ ve got a great, great wife, married 55 years. A wonderful family, seven grandkids. I’m just a very fortunate guy, I’m never going to complain.”
In the children’s book The Greatest Jersey Ever, which was published last year to pass on the legacy of the Summit Series to the next generation of Canadians, there’s a photo of Henderson’s two hockey- playing grandsons — Alton and Logan — from the back wearing their No. 19 and No. 72 jerseys. Alton, 16, has always worn No. 19 in honour of his grandfather, while Logan, 12, chose No. 72 for the Summit Series.
“It’s my favourite picture in the book,” Henderson said.
Hockey fans will get to see Henderson, along with Wayne Gretzky, again this weekend in a new Budweiser TV ad for the Super Bowl to promote the beer company’s new Gold- Synced Lights. Henderson and Gretzky are shown along with a bar full of hockey fans singing: “This red light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.”
He n d e r s o n said he enjoyed filming the commercial in part because it gave him an opportunity to meet new people, which is a big part of his life as a motivational speaker. Henderson and his wife, Eleanor, travel the country holding marriage conferences and speaking about their strong Christian beliefs.
“The great thing about being Paul Henderson is we get to meet people right across the country," Henderson said. “One thing about Canadians, they’re really polite. There’s no negative side to it. When people come over to talk to you and they have a big smile and they say it was one of the most iconic moments … it’s kind of hard to get blasé about that. It’s all positive … that’s why I love it.”
When asked if he ever goes a day without someone reminding him about The Goal he scored 46 years ago, Henderson chuckled and said: “For sure … on days when I don’t leave the house.”
I still find it hard to believe the man who scored the most famous goal in Canadian history isn’t in the Hockey Hall of Fame, but Henderson isn’t complaining.
“To be really truthful, I’ve said it many times, I don’t think I deserve to be in there if you go in on the basis of your NHL career because that’s the thing they seem to base it on," Henderson said. "I would be embarrassed to go in there. There are a lot of retired players that I think deserve to go in there before I do.”
But Henderson wouldn’t say no if the Hall of Fame wanted to induct him in a special category — which it definitely should.
“I have no problem if I never get put in,” Henderson said. “I’ve gotten every other award in the world, the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario, the Queen’s Jubilee, Order of Hockey in Canada, International Hockey Hall of Fame.”
Henderson recently discovered he had received yet another special honour. While attending one of his youngest grandson’s hockey games, a parent came up and introduced his 12- year- old son to Henderson and told him the story about their family adopting a rescue dog from Russia. The boy went online to do some research on Russia to find a name for the dog and came across the 1972 Summit Series. The dog is named Henderson.
“I looked at my wife and I said: ‘ I’ve got everything now.’ ” Henderson said with a laugh. "Now I’ve got a dog named after me, so I can die a happy man.”