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The 1951-52 NHL season was the 35th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup by sweeping the Montreal Canadiens four games to none.
Regular season
Chicago, who had made the mammoth nine player deal the previous season, now decided to make the largest cash deal for players to this time by paying $75,000 for Jim McFadden, George Gee, Jimmy Peters, Clare Martin, Clare Raglan, and Max McNab.
Conn Smythe offered $10,000 for anyone who found Bill Barilko, missing since August 26th. Barilko and Dr.Henry Hudson had left Rupert House on James Bay in the doctor's light plane for Timmins, Ontario after a weekend fishing trip and had not been found.
Montreal opened the season before a crowd of 15,100 fans as the Canadiens beat Chicago 4-2. Rocket Richard had a goal and Bernie Geoffrion had two. On the same night, Terry Sawchuk had his first shutout of the season as Detroit beat Boston 1-0.
A long standing feud between Boston president Weston Adams and general manager Art Ross ended on October 12th when Adams sold his stock in Boston Garden to Walter Brown.
Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth and Prince Phillip were in attendance at the Montreal Forum, and Floyd Curry came alive with the hat trick and Richard scored two goals as Montreal beat the New York Rangers 6-1.
Inspired by the return of Black Jack Stewart to the lineup, Chicago had a rare trouncing of the Red Wings right at the Olympia, 6-2. During the game, Chicago's Gus Bodnar twisted his shoulder and Harry Lumley hurt a knee. Trainer Moe Roberts, who played his first game in the NHL for Boston in 1925-26, played the rest of the way in goal for Chicago and played quite well at age 46.
Chicago wasn't drawing well and so they decided to experiment with afternoon games. It worked, as the largest crowd of the season, 13,600 fans, showed up for a January 20th game in which Chicago lost to Toronto 3-1.
Elmer Lach night was held March 8th at the Forum in Montreal as the Canadiens tied Chicago 4-4. 14,452 fans were on hand to see Lach presented with a car, rowboat, TV set, deepfreeze chest, bedroom and dining room suites, a refrigerator and many other articles.
On the last night of the season, March 23rd, 1952, with nothing at stake at Madison Square Garden, 3,254 fans saw Chicago's Bill Mosienko score the fastest hat trick in NHL history, 3 goals in 21 seconds. Lorne Anderson was the goaltender who gave up the goals to Chicago. Gus Bodnar also set a record with the fastest three assists in NHL history as he assisted on all three goals Mosienko scored. Chicago beat the New York Rangers 7-6.
For the fourth straight season, the Detroit Red Wings finished first overall in the National Hockey League.
Final standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes| National Hockey League | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 44 | 14 | 12 | 100 | 215 | 133 | 694 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 34 | 26 | 10 | 78 | 195 | 164 | 661 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 29 | 25 | 16 | 74 | 168 | 157 | 841 |
| Boston Bruins | 70 | 25 | 29 | 16 | 66 | 162 | 176 | 601 |
| New York Rangers | 70 | 23 | 34 | 13 | 59 | 192 | 219 | 532 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 17 | 44 | 9 | 43 | 158 | 241 | 627 |
Scoring leaders
Stanley Cup playoffs
Playoff bracket
NHL awards
See also
- List of Stanley Cup champions
- 5th National Hockey League All-Star Game
- National Hockey League All-Star Game
- Ice hockey at the 1952 Winter Olympics
- 1951 in sports
- 1952 in sports
References
"1951-52 NHL season"