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 took place in July of 1950 with 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.

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 12th. 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 16th 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	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Detroit Red Wings	70	44	13	13	101	236	139	566
Toronto Maple Leafs	70	41	16	13	95	212	138	823
Montreal Canadiens	70	25	30	15	65	173	184	835
Boston Bruins	70	22	30	18	62	178	197	656
New York Rangers	70	20	29	21	61	169	201	774
Chicago Black Hawks	70	13	47	10	36	171	280	615

Scoring leaders

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	70	43	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

Leading Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shut outs; AVG = Goals against average

Player	Team	GP	MINS	GA	SO	AVG
Al Rollins	Toronto Maple Leafs	40	2373	70	5	1.77
Terry Sawchuck	Detroit Red Wings	70	4200	139	11	1.99

Stanley 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.

Playoff bracket

Semi-finals

Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 28	Boston Bruins	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	0
March 31	Boston Bruins	1	Toronto Maple Leafs	1	OT¹
April 1	Toronto Maple Leafs	3	Boston Bruins	0
April 3	Toronto Maple Leafs	3	Boston Bruins	1
April 7	Boston Bruins	1	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
April 8	Toronto Maple Leafs	6	Boston Bruins	0

¹ Note: March 31st game called after one overtime due to curfew

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

Montreal Canadiens vs. Detroit Red Wings

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 27	Montreal Canadiens	3	Detroit Red Wings	2	4 OT
March 29	Montreal Canadiens	1	Detroit Red Wings	0	3 OT
March 31	Detroit Red Wings	2	Montreal Canadiens	0
April 3	Detroit Red Wings	4	Montreal Canadiens	1
April 5	Montreal Canadiens	5	Detroit Red Wings	2
April 7	Detroit Red Wings	2	Montreal Canadiens	3

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2

Stanley Cup finals

The 1951 finals were notable in that they set the NHL record (which still stands) for the most overtime games in a single series, and is the only finals series to date where every single game went into overtime. Bill Barilko scored the Cup winning goal at 2:53 of overtime in Game 5. It was the last goal Barilko would ever score as he was killed in a plane crash in northern Ontario later that summer. His remains were not discovered until 1962. Coincidentally, 1962 was also the next time the Leafs would hoist Lord Stanley's mug.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 11	Montreal Canadiens	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	3	OT-Smith
April 14	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	Montreal Canadiens	3	OT-M. Richard
April 17	Montreal Canadiens	1	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	OT-Kennedy
April 19	Montreal Canadiens	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	3	OT-Watson
April 21	Montreal Canadiens	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	3	OT-Barilko (2:53)

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

Playoff scoring leaders