1950–51 NHL season

The 1950–51 NHL season was the 34th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens four games to one for the Stanley Cup to win their fifth Cup in seven years.

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 seasonand 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 androse with a cut between the eyes. No penalty was called and Richard commenced an argumentwith 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 himwith derisive remarks which infuriated Richard, who then punched Reise, and when linesmanJim 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, andthe 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 thenPrimeau intervened. Considerable profanity filled the air, but cooler heads separated thetrio before fists could fly. NHL President Clarence Campbell took a dim view of the matterand 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

tanley Cup 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.

Playoff bracket

4TeamBracket
RD1-seed1=1
RD1-team1=Detroit Red Wings
RD1-score1=2
RD1-seed2=3
RD1-team2=Montreal Canadiens
RD1-score2=4
RD1-seed3=2
RD1-team3=Toronto Maple Leafs
RD1-score3=4
RD1-seed4=4
RD1-team4=Boston Bruins
RD1-score4=1
RD2-seed1=3
RD2-team1=Montreal Canadiens
RD2-score1=1
RD2-seed2=2
RD2-team2=Toronto Maple Leafs
RD2-score2=4

emi-finals

Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

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

Playoff scoring leaders

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

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):
*Alex Delvecchio, Detroit Red Wings
*Bernie Geoffrion, Montreal Canadiens
*Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens
*Dollard St. Laurent, Montreal Canadiens
*Danny Lewicki, Toronto Maple Leafs

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):
*Joe Carveth, Detroit Red Wings
*Glen Harmon, Montreal Canadiens
*Wally Stanowski, New York Rangers
*Pat Egan, New York Rangers
*Buddy O'Connor, New York Rangers
*Bill Barilko, Toronto Maple Leafs

ee also

*List of Stanley Cup champions
*4th National Hockey League All-Star Game
*National Hockey League All-Star Game
*1950 in sports
*1951 in sports

References

* [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Hockey Database]
* [http://nhl.com/ NHL.com]