Roy Worters is the shortest player in NHL history, but he was a giant in goal.

At 5-foot-3, 135 pounds, "Shrimp" Worters was a seminal figure in goaltending. He was the first goalie to win the Hart Trophy as the League's most valuable player in 1929.

He also was the first goaltender to use a blocker to deflect shots to the corner rather than trying to catch it and the first to post back-to-back shutouts in his first two games on a new team.

A Vezina Trophy winner (1931) and two-time NHL Second Team All-Star (1932, 1934), Worters is 14th in NHL history with 67 shutouts.

His 2.28 goals-against average in 12 seasons is 12th-best among NHL goaltenders to play at least 100 games, a remarkable feat considering that Worters seldom played on contending teams.

Born Oct. 19, 1900 in Toronto, Worters spent several seasons playing amateur and senior hockey. He became a star with the Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets of the United States Amateur Hockey Association, helping the team to championships in 1923-24 and 1924-25.

Worters joined the NHL with the expansion Pittsburgh Pirates in 1925-26 and went 18-16-1 record and a 1.90 GAA, and was second in the League with seven shutouts. He spent three seasons in Pittsburgh and was traded to the New York Americans on Nov. 1, 1928.

The trade immediately paid off for New York. Worters went 16-12-10 with a 1.15 GAA and 13 shutouts in 38 games. His play helped lift the Americans from last place in the five-team Canadian Division the previous season to second in 1928-29.

In Worters' nine seasons with New York -- except for one game in 1929-30 when he was loaned to the Montreal Canadiens -- he had 119 wins and 45 shutouts in 361 games, but his play wasn't enough to turn the Americans into Stanley Cup contenders; they reached the playoffs twice during his time.

Worters retired after the 1936-37 season with a record of 171-230-82 in 484 games, and he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969.

Worters died of throat cancer on Nov. 7, 1957 at age 57.