1950–51 NHL season

1950–51 NHL season
League National Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
Duration October 11, 1950 – April 21, 1951
Number of games 70
Number of teams 6
Regular season
Season champion Detroit Red Wings
Season MVP Milt Schmidt (Boston Bruins)
Top scorer Gordie Howe (Detroit Red Wings)
Stanley Cup
Champions Toronto Maple Leafs
  Runners-up Montreal Canadiens

The 1950–51 NHL season was the 34th season of the National Hockey League. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens four games to one for the Stanley Cup to win their fifth Cup in seven years.

League business

The league implemented a rule requiring all teams to provide an emergency goaltender for every game, for use by either team in case of illness or injury.[1]

Regular season

The biggest trade in NHL history at the time took place in July 1950 with Sugar Jim Henry, Gaye Stewart, Bob Goldham and Metro Prystai of Chicago going to Detroit for Harry Lumley, Black Jack Stewart, Al Dewsbury, Don Morrison and Pete Babando, an exchange of nine players altogether.

Joe Primeau was named coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs with Hap Day kicked upstairs to assistant general manager. Toronto came flying out of the gate, undefeated in 11 games. Al Rollins had a great year, finishing with a 1.75 goals against average in 40 games. The Leafs had hoped to have Rollins share the Vezina Trophy with Turk Broda, but the league decided Rollins alone would be the recipient. The Leafs' .679 win percentage remains their all time best for a season, despite the fact that they were second in the league standings behind Detroit.

With the New York Rangers slumping this season, they hired a hypnotist, Dr. David Tracy, to help relax the team. The treatment remained in doubt and the Rangers lost to Boston November 12. Asked why the treatment didn't work, Dr. Tracy said that he should have worked with the goaltender (Chuck Rayner) as he wasn't relaxed enough.

Montreal fans were excited when it was reported that two junior stars, Jean Beliveau and Bernie Geoffrion, would be given a trial in a December 16 game with the Rangers. The Canadiens played a 1–1 tie before 14,158 fans. Geoffrion scored the Canadiens goal in his debut.

Chicago was in third place at mid-season when bad luck struck. Their captain, Black Jack Stewart, ruptured a disc in his back and had to undergo surgery. He was finished for the season and his career was in jeopardy. Aggravating things were injuries to Gus Bodnar and Bill Gadsby. The Black Hawks won only two games in the second half and finished last.

In March, Rocket Richard ran into trouble in a game with Detroit. Richard was tripped and rose with a cut between the eyes. No penalty was called and Richard commenced an argument with referee Hugh McLean. He continued his argument too long and was given a misconduct penalty. Richard then skated to the penalty box and found Leo Reise of Detroit there to welcome him with derisive remarks which infuriated Richard, who then punched Reise, and when linesman Jim Primeau rushed to intervene, Richard took a poke at him and Richard was given a game misconduct. The Canadiens took a train to New York for a game against the Rangers, and the next morning, Richard encountered referee McLean and linesman Primeau in the lobby of the Picadilly Hotel. No punches were thrown, but Richard grabbed McLean by the tie and then Primeau intervened. Considerable profanity filled the air, but cooler heads separated the trio before fists could fly. NHL President Clarence Campbell took a dim view of the matter and fined the Rocket $500 for conduct prejudicial to the welfare of hockey.

The Detroit Red Wings got hot in the second half, overtaking Toronto and finished in first place again, becoming the first team with more than 100 points. Gordie Howe led the NHL in goals, assists, and points while goaltender Terry Sawchuk won the Calder Trophy as the league's best rookie. Sawchuk set a record for most wins by a goalie, as he was in net for all of Detroit's 44 victories.

Final standings

National Hockey League[2]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Detroit Red Wings 70 44 13 13 236 139 +97 101
2 Toronto Maple Leafs 70 41 16 13 212 138 +74 95
3 Montreal Canadiens 70 25 30 15 173 184 −11 65
4 Boston Bruins 70 22 30 18 178 197 −19 62
5 New York Rangers 70 20 29 21 169 201 −32 61
6 Chicago Black Hawks 70 13 47 10 171 280 −109 36

Playoffs

All dates in 1951

The second seed Toronto Maple Leafs eliminated the fourth seed Boston Bruins in five games, and the third seed Montreal Canadiens upset first overall Detroit Red Wings in six, setting up a Leafs – Canadiens Stanley Cup final series, won by the Leafs 4–1.

Final

Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
April 11Montreal Canadiens2Toronto Maple Leafs3OT-Smith
April 14Toronto Maple Leafs2Montreal Canadiens3OT-M. Richard
April 17Montreal Canadiens1Toronto Maple Leafs2OT-Kennedy
April 19Montreal Canadiens2Toronto Maple Leafs3OT-Watson
April 21Montreal Canadiens2Toronto Maple Leafs3OT-Barilko (2:53)

Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

Playoff bracket

Semi-finals Stanley Cup Final
      
1 Detroit Red Wings 2
3 Montreal Canadiens 4
3 Montreal Canadiens 1
2 Toronto Maple Leafs 4
2 Toronto Maple Leafs 4
4 Boston Bruins 1

Awards

Award winners
Prince of Wales Trophy:
(Regular season champion) 		Detroit Red Wings
Art Ross Trophy:
(Top scorer) 		Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Calder Memorial Trophy:
(Best first-year player) 		Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings
Hart Trophy:
(Most valuable player) 		Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:
(Excellence and sportsmanship) 		Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings
Vezina Trophy:
(Goaltender of team with best goals-against record) 		Al Rollins, Toronto Maple Leafs
All-Star teams
First team   Position   Second team
Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings G Chuck Rayner, New York Rangers
Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings D Jimmy Thomson, Toronto Maple Leafs
Bill Quackenbush, Boston Bruins D Leo Reise, Detroit Red Wings
Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins C Ted Kennedy, Toronto Maple Leafs


Sid Abel, Detroit Red Wings (tied)

Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings RW Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Ted Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings LW Sid Smith, Toronto Maple Leafs

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player Team GP G A Pts
Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings 7043 43 86
Maurice Richard Montreal Canadiens 65 42 24 66
Max Bentley Toronto Maple Leafs 67 21 41 62
Sid Abel Detroit Red Wings 69 23 38 61
Milt Schmidt Boston Bruins 62 22 39 61
Ted Kennedy Toronto Maple Leafs 63 18 43 61
Ted Lindsay Detroit Red Wings 67 24 35 59
Tod Sloan Toronto Maple Leafs 70 31 25 56
Red Kelly Detroit Red Wings 70 17 37 54
Sid Smith Toronto Maple Leafs 70 30 21 51

Source: NHL[3]

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Player Team GP MIN GA GAA W L T SO
Al Rollins Toronto Maple Leafs 40 2373 70 1.77 27 5 8 5
Terry Sawchuk Detroit Red Wings 70 4200 139 1.99 44 13 13 11
Turk Broda Toronto Maple Leafs 31 1827 68 2.23 14 11 5 6
Gerry McNeil Montreal Canadiens 70 4200 184 2.63 25 30 15 6
Jack Gelineau Boston Bruins 70 4200 197 2.81 22 30 18 4
Chuck Rayner New York Rangers 66 3940 87 2.85 19 28 19 2
Emile Francis New York Rangers 5 260 14 3.23 1 1 2 0
Harry Lumley Chicago Black Hawks 64 3785 246 3.90 12 41 10 3
Marcel Pelletier Chicago Black Hawks 6 355 29 4.90 1 5 0 0

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1950–51 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1950–51 (listed with their last team):

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Fischler et al. Duplacey, p. 196.
  2. ↑ "1950–1951 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  3. ↑ Dinger 2011, p. 148.

External links

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