1954–55 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1954–55 Montreal Canadiens season was the Canadiens' 46th season of play. The Canadiens finished in second place in the National Hockey League (NHL) with a record of 41 wins, 18 losses, and 11 ties for 93 points. In the playoffs, they defeated the Boston Bruins in five games in the semi-finals before falling to the Detroit Red Wings in seven games in the Stanley Cup Finals.

This season was notable for the suspension of Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Montreal's star player, by NHL president Clarence Campbell after a vicious fight with Boston defenceman Hal Laycoe and Richard punching an on-ice official. The suspension sparked a riot by angry Canadiens fans on March 17, 1955, during a game against the Red Wings (see below).

Regular season

The Richard Riot

For more details on this topic, see Richard Riot.

On March 13, 1955, Canadiens star Maurice Richard was involved in a fighting incident in Boston. Boston's Hal Laycoe high-sticked Richard and cut him on the head, momentarily leaving Richard dazed and prone on the ice. Richard then got up off the ice and attacked Laycoe, breaking his stick on Laycoe. While linesman Cliff Thompson restrained Richard, Laycoe got up and punched Richard. Richard broke free and punched Thompson in the face. This was Richard's second incident with an official that season and a league disciplinary hearing was held. NHL president Clarence Campbell (who had previously been criticized publicly by Richard) then suspended Richard for the rest of the season and the playoffs; at the time, this was the longest suspension for an on-ice incident in NHL history. The Bruins' Laycoe received no fine or suspension for his actions. Public outrage from Montreal soon poured in, but Campbell stood firm, and moreover announced that he would be attending the Canadiens' next home game against the Red Wings on March 17.

Midway into the first period, Campbell arrived with his fiancée. Outraged Canadiens fans immediately began pelting them with eggs, vegetables, and various debris, with more being thrown at him each time the Red Wings scored, building up a 4–1 lead on Montreal. The continuous pelting of various objects stopped when a tear gas bomb was set off inside the Forum not far from where Campbell was sitting. The Forum was ordered evacuated and Campbell ruled the game forfeited to the Red Wings. That was the last straw, as a riot ensued outside the Forum, causing $500,000 in damage to the neighbourhood and the Forum itself. Hundreds of stores were looted and vandalized within a 15-block radius of the Forum. Twelve policemen and 25 civilians were injured. The riot continued well into the night, with police arresting people by the truckload. Local radio stations, which carried live coverage of the riot for over seven hours, had to be forced off the air. The riot was eventually over at 3 am, and left Montreal's Rue Ste-Catherine a mess.

Richard's suspension also cost him the Art Ross Trophy, the closest he ever came to winning it. When Richard's teammate Bernie Geoffrion passed him on the last day of the regular season, he was booed by Montreal faithful. Geoffrion, a right winger, was struggling to gain recognition of his considerable talents because the three leading right wingers of the 1950s were Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings, Andy Bathgate of the New York Rangers, and Richard, Geoffrion's own teammate.

The Canadiens lost the Cup Final to Detroit in seven games, but would win the Cup in the year after, fittingly over the Red Wings — and the next four years in a row after that. Richard retired in 1960 after the Canadiens' fifth straight Stanley Cup, a record that still stands.

Final standings

National Hockey League^[1]
		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Detroit Red Wings	70	42	17	11	204	134	+70	95
2	Montreal Canadiens	70	41	18	11	228	157	+71	93
3	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	24	24	22	147	135	+12	70
4	Boston Bruins	70	23	26	21	169	188	−19	67
5	New York Rangers	70	17	35	18	150	210	−60	52
6	Chicago Black Hawks	70	13	40	17	161	235	−74	43

Schedule and results

Regular season results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 7, 1954	4–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1954–55)	1–0–0
2	W	October 9, 1954	4–1	Boston Bruins (1954–55)	2–0–0
3	T	October 11, 1954	2–2	@ Boston Bruins (1954–55)	2–0–1
4	L	October 13, 1954	2–3	Detroit Red Wings (1954–55)	2–1–1
5	W	October 15, 1954	3–0	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1954–55)	3–1–1
6	W	October 16, 1954	3–1	@ Detroit Red Wings (1954–55)	4–1–1
7	L	October 21, 1954	1–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1954–55)	4–2–1
8	W	October 23, 1954	7–1	New York Rangers (1954–55)	5–2–1
9	L	October 24, 1954	2–4	@ New York Rangers (1954–55)	5–3–1
10	W	October 27, 1954	3–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1954–55)	6–3–1
11	W	October 30, 1954	5–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1954–55)	7–3–1
12	W	November 6, 1954	4–1	Detroit Red Wings (1954–55)	8–3–1
13	W	November 7, 1954	4–3	@ Boston Bruins (1954–55)	9–3–1
14	W	November 11, 1954	7–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1954–55)	10–3–1
15	W	November 13, 1954	2–1	Boston Bruins (1954–55)	11–3–1
16	L	November 14, 1954	1–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1954–55)	11–4–1
17	L	November 17, 1954	2–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1954–55)	11–5–1
18	W	November 18, 1954	5–4	Toronto Maple Leafs (1954–55)	12–5–1
19	W	November 20, 1954	4–1	New York Rangers (1954–55)	13–5–1
20	L	November 21, 1954	0–2	@ Boston Bruins (1954–55)	13–6–1
21	T	November 23, 1954	4–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1954–55)	13–6–2
22	W	November 25, 1954	3–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1954–55)	14–6–2
23	W	November 27, 1954	4–1	Detroit Red Wings (1954–55)	15–6–2
24	L	November 28, 1954	1–4	@ New York Rangers (1954–55)	15–7–2
25	T	November 30, 1954	3–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1954–55)	15–7–3
26	W	December 2, 1954	4–1	@ Detroit Red Wings (1954–55)	16–7–3
27	T	December 5, 1954	3–3	@ New York Rangers (1954–55)	16–7–4
28	L	December 8, 1954	1–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1954–55)	16–8–4
29	W	December 9, 1954	2–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1954–55)	17–8–4
30	L	December 11, 1954	0–3	Boston Bruins (1954–55)	17–9–4
31	T	December 12, 1954	2–2	@ Boston Bruins (1954–55)	17–9–5
32	W	December 16, 1954	5–1	New York Rangers (1954–55)	18–9–5
33	W	December 18, 1954	4–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1954–55)	19–9–5
34	W	December 19, 1954	5–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1954–55)	20–9–5
35	W	December 25, 1954	4–1	New York Rangers (1954–55)	21–9–5
36	T	December 29, 1954	1–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1954–55)	21–9–6
37	W	December 30, 1954	7–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1954–55)	22–9–6
38	W	January 1, 1955	4–1	Detroit Red Wings (1954–55)	23–9–6
39	L	January 2, 1955	2–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1954–55)	23–10–6
40	W	January 6, 1955	6–0	Chicago Black Hawks (1954–55)	24–10–6
41	T	January 8, 1955	1–1	Boston Bruins (1954–55)	24–10–7
42	W	January 9, 1955	7–1	@ New York Rangers (1954–55)	25–10–7
43	L	January 15, 1955	3–4	Detroit Red Wings (1954–55)	25–11–7
44	L	January 16, 1955	0–6	@ Boston Bruins (1954–55)	25–12–7
45	W	January 20, 1955	6–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1954–55)	26–12–7
46	W	January 22, 1955	5–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1954–55)	27–12–7
47	W	January 23, 1955	5–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1954–55)	28–12–7
48	T	January 26, 1955	1–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1954–55)	28–12–8
49	W	January 29, 1955	4–0	Boston Bruins (1954–55)	29–12–8
50	L	January 30, 1955	1–7	@ Detroit Red Wings (1954–55)	29–13–8
51	W	February 3, 1955	3–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1954–55)	30–13–8
52	W	February 5, 1955	3–1	New York Rangers (1954–55)	31–13–8
53	W	February 6, 1955	7–3	@ New York Rangers (1954–55)	32–13–8
54	L	February 9, 1955	1–3	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1954–55)	32–14–8
55	L	February 13, 1955	1–4	@ New York Rangers (1954–55)	32–15–8
56	W	February 17, 1955	4–2	Detroit Red Wings (1954–55)	33–15–8
57	W	February 19, 1955	10–2	New York Rangers (1954–55)	34–15–8
58	T	February 24, 1955	1–1	Toronto Maple Leafs (1954–55)	34–15–9
59	W	February 26, 1955	4–1	Boston Bruins (1954–55)	35–15–9
60	W	February 27, 1955	7–1	@ New York Rangers (1954–55)	36–15–9
61	W	March 2, 1955	3–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1954–55)	37–15–9
62	W	March 3, 1955	4–1	@ Boston Bruins (1954–55)	38–15–9
63	T	March 5, 1955	4–4	Chicago Black Hawks (1954–55)	38–15–10
64	W	March 6, 1955	4–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1954–55)	39–15–10
65	T	March 10, 1955	0–0	Toronto Maple Leafs (1954–55)	39–15–11
66	W	March 12, 1955	2–1	Boston Bruins (1954–55)	40–15–11
67	L	March 13, 1955	2–4	@ Boston Bruins (1954–55)	40–16–11
68‡	L	March 17, 1955	1–4	Detroit Red Wings (1954–55)	40–17–11
69	W	March 19, 1955	4–2	New York Rangers (1954–55)	41–17–11
70	L	March 20, 1955	0–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1954–55)	41–18–11

^[2]

‡ Forfeited to Detroit after one period. Goals and assists for the game still counted as official.

Playoffs

Montreal defeated the Boston Bruins 4–1 to reach the finals.

Stanley Cup Final

For more details on this topic, see 1955 Stanley Cup Finals.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score
April 3	Montreal	2	Detroit	4
April 5	Montreal	1	Detroit	7
April 7	Detroit	2	Montreal	6
April 9	Detroit	3	Montreal	5
April 10	Montreal	1	Detroit	5
April 12	Detroit	3	Montreal	6
April 14	Montreal	1	Detroit	3

Detroit wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 3.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Geoffrion, BernieBernie Geoffrion	RW	70	38	37	75	57
Richard, MauriceMaurice Richard	RW	67	38	36	74	125
Beliveau, JeanJean Beliveau	C	70	37	36	73	58
Olmstead, BertBert Olmstead	LW	70	10	48	58	103
Mosdell, KenKen Mosdell	C	70	22	32	54	82
Harvey, DougDoug Harvey	D	70	6	43	49	58
Moore, DickieDickie Moore	LW	67	16	20	36	32
MacKay, CalumCalum MacKay	LW	50	14	21	35	39
Leclair, JackieJackie Leclair	C	59	11	22	33	12
Johnson, TomTom Johnson	D	70	6	19	25	74
Curry, FloydFloyd Curry	RW	68	11	10	21	36
St. Laurent, DollardDollard St. Laurent	D	58	3	14	17	24
Bouchard, EmileEmile Bouchard	D	70	2	15	17	81
Litzenberger, EdEd Litzenberger	C/RW	29	7	4	11	12
MacPherson, BudBud MacPherson	D	30	1	8	9	55
Marshall, DonDon Marshall	LW	39	5	3	8	9
Mazur, EddieEddie Mazur	D/LW	25	1	5	6	21
Meger, PaulPaul Meger	LW	13	0	4	4	6
Masnick, PaulPaul Masnick	C	19	0	1	1	0
Rousseau, GuyGuy Rousseau	LW	2	0	1	1	0
Talbot, Jean-GuyJean-Guy Talbot	D	3	0	1	1	0
Bartlett, JimJim Bartlett	LW	2	0	0	0	4
Binette, AndreAndre Binette	G	1	0	0	0	0
Blaine, GarryGarry Blaine	RW	1	0	0	0	0
Evans, ClaudeClaude Evans	G	4	0	0	0	0
Hodge, CharlieCharlie Hodge	G	14	0	0	0	0
Lamirande, Jean-PaulJean-Paul Lamirande	LW/D	1	0	0	0	0
Plante, JacquesJacques Plante	G	52	0	0	0	2
Ronty, PaulPaul Ronty	C	4	0	0	0	2
Tessier, OrvalOrval Tessier	C	4	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Plante, JacquesJacques Plante	3080	52	33	12	7	110	2.14	5
Hodge, CharlieCharlie Hodge	820	14	6	4	4	31	2.27	1
Binette, AndreAndre Binette	60	1	1	0	0	4	4.00	0
Evans, ClaudeClaude Evans	200	4	1	2	0	12	3.60	0
Team:	4160	70	41	18	11	157	2.26	6

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Geoffrion, BernieBernie Geoffrion	RW	12	8	5	13	8
Beliveau, JeanJean Beliveau	C	12	6	7	13	18
Curry, FloydFloyd Curry	RW	12	8	4	12	4
MacKay, CalumCalum MacKay	LW	12	3	8	11	8
Mosdell, KenKen Mosdell	C	12	2	7	9	8
Harvey, DougDoug Harvey	D	12	0	8	8	6
Moore, DickieDickie Moore	LW	12	1	5	6	22
Leclair, JackieJackie Leclair	C	12	5	0	5	2
St. Laurent, DollardDollard St. Laurent	D	12	0	5	5	12
Olmstead, BertBert Olmstead	LW	12	0	4	4	21
Johnson, TomTom Johnson	D	12	2	0	2	22
Marshall, DonDon Marshall	LW	12	1	1	2	2
Bouchard, EmileEmile Bouchard	D	12	0	1	1	37
Bartlett, JimJim Bartlett	LW	2	0	0	0	0
Gamble, DickDick Gamble	LW	2	0	0	0	2
Hodge, CharlieCharlie Hodge	G	4	0	0	0	0
McAvoy, GeorgeGeorge McAvoy	D	4	0	0	0	0
Plante, JacquesJacques Plante	G	12	0	0	0	0
Ronty, PaulPaul Ronty	C	5	0	0	0	2

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA
Plante, JacquesJacques Plante	639	12	6	3	30	2.82
Hodge, CharlieCharlie Hodge	84	4	1	2	6	4.29
Team:	723	12	7	5	36	2.99

^[3]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Art Ross Memorial Trophy: Bernie Geoffrion
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Doug Harvey
Jean Beliveau, Centre, NHL First Team All-Star
Bernie Geoffrion, Right Wing, NHL Second Team All-Star
Doug Harvey, Defence, NHL First Team All-Star
Ken Mosdell, Centre, NHL Second Team All-Star
Maurice Richard, Right Wing, NHL First Team All-Star

Roster

1954-55 Montreal Canadiens roster

Forwards

4 – Beliveau • 5 – Geoffrion • 6 – Curry • 8 – Leclair • 9 – Richard • 11 – MacKay • 12 – Moore • 14 – Ronty • 15 – Olmstead • 17 – Litzenberger • 17 – Blaine • 18 – Mosdell • 20 – Meger • 20 – Bartlett • 22 – Tessier • 22 – Marshall • 23 – Mazur • 23 – Lamirande • 24 – Rousseau

Defenseman

2 – Harvey • 3 – Bouchard • 10 – Johnson • 19 – St. Laurent • 21 – MacPherson • 23 – Talbot

Goalies

1 – Binette • 1 – Plante • 29 – Hodge • 30 – Evans

General Manager: Frank J. Selke • Coach: Dick Irvin

^[4]

References

Canadiens on Hockey Database

↑ "1954–1955 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
↑ "1954–55 Montreal Canadiens Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
↑ "1954-55 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-28.
↑ Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-May-03.

Montreal Canadiens

Founded in 1909
Based in Montreal, Quebec

Franchise

History

Personnel

Owners: Molson family (Geoff Molson, chairman)
General manager: Marc Bergevin
Head coach: Michel Therrien
Team captain: Max Pacioretty
Current roster

Arenas

Rivalries

Affiliates

AHL: St. John's IceCaps

ECHL: Brampton Beast

General managers

Head coaches

Media

TV	City TV (English) Sportsnet East (English) Réseau des sports (French) TVA Sports (French)

Radio	English TSN Radio 990 French 98,5 FM

Culture and lore

Montreal Canadiens seasons

1900s	1909–10

1910s	1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20

1920s	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30

1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40

1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50

1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60

1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70

1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80

1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90

1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00

2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10

2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

1954–55 NHL season

Teams	Boston Chicago Detroit Montreal New York Toronto

See also	All-Star Game Richard Riot Topps Hockey Stanley Cup Finals

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1954–55 Montreal Canadiens season

Regular season

The Richard Riot

Final standings

Schedule and results

Playoffs

Stanley Cup Final

Player statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Awards and records

Roster

See also

References