Galen Head

Canadian ice hockey player (1947–2020)

Galen Russell Head (April 16, 1947 – March 14, 2020) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who spent the majority of his career, which lasted from 1967 to 1976, with the Johnstown Jets of the Eastern Hockey League and North American Hockey League. Head played one game in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings during the 1967 68 NHL season and wore #15.

Head started out playing in the Grande Prairie Minor Hockey Association at age 13. Three years later, Head moved to senior hockey and played in the South Peace Hockey League as a member of the Grande Prairie Athletics, where he won SPHL Rookie Of The Year honors in 1963–64. He remained with the Athletics until midway through the 1964–65 season, where he received an invite from the Edmonton Oil Kings. Head remained with the Oil Kings during the 1965–66 season, where he faced off against the Oshawa Generals, a team led by future Hockey Hall Of Fame member Bobby Orr. Head continued to play with the Oil Kings for one more season, scoring 50 goals and 42 assists and trailing Garnet "Ace" Bailey in regular season point totals.

Head received an invitation from the National Hockey League's Detroit Red Wings to attend training camp in the fall of 1967. Head later became player/coach of the Jets during the 1973–74 season as a result of a coach walking out prior to the start of the season. Head was later named official head coach that season and be named captain of the team. He played until the 1975–76 season, after which he retired after eight seasons with the Jets. Head ranks among the leader in many career statistics in Johnstown history. His 308 goals as a member of the Jets ranks third all time, while his 601 points rank fourth and his 293 assists are sixth highest. His wife, Grace Head, had a credited speaking part as "Pam", one of the hockey wives in the movie. Head was one of several people responsible for founding the Bishop McCort hockey program in 1985. With Head leading the team as head coach, McCort won three Pennsylvania state championships over a period of eleven years.