1954–55 NHL season
The 1954–55 NHL season was the 38th season of the National Hockey League. The Detroit Red Wings were the Stanley Cup champions as they defeated the Montreal Canadiens four games to three in the best-of-seven final series. The Canadiens were without star forward Maurice 'Rocket' Richard who had been suspended for the playoffs, a suspension which led to the March 17, 1955 "Richard Riot" in Montreal.
| 1954–55 NHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 7, 1954 – April 14, 1955 |
| Number of games | 70 |
| Number of teams | 6 |
| TV partner(s) | CBC, SRC (Canada) None (United States) |
| Regular season | |
| Season champion | Detroit Red Wings |
| Season MVP | Ted Kennedy (Maple Leafs) |
| Top scorer | Bernie Geoffrion (Canadiens) |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Champions | Detroit Red Wings |
| Runners-up | Montreal Canadiens |
League business
Art Ross announced at the league governors meeting that his connection with Boston would terminate at the end of September. As this would be his last appearance at a league meeting, he took the opportunity to thank the governors and others associated with the league during the 30 years of his being officer of the Boston club for the kindness, courtesy and cooperation he had received, and extended his good wishes for the continued success of the league. Conn Smythe and Frank Selke voiced the good wishes of all present to Ross on his retirement.
Prior to the season, Red Wings head coach Tommy Ivan left Detroit to become general manager of the Chicago Black Hawks, and Jimmy Skinner replaced him behind the bench in the Motor City. One of the first things Ivan did at Chicago was to establish an extensive farm system, something the Black Hawks never had.
Regular season
On December 18, 1954, Maurice Richard scored his 400th career goal against Chicago netminder Al Rollins in a 4–1 Canadiens victory over the Black Hawks. Montreal and Toronto played to a 1–1 tie on December 29, at Maple Leaf Gardens. Maurice Richard got a standing ovation when he scored his 401st goal late in the first period.
In a scoreless tie at the Montreal Forum on March 10, a new ice cleaner and resurfacer called a Zamboni was used for the first time. The fans were not appreciative of Toronto's defensive style in this game and threw garbage, including pig's feet, on the ice.
The Richard Riot took place on March 17, 1955. Maurice Richard had been suspended by league president Clarence Campbell after an incident in a game against Boston where Richard punched the referee. Richard was suspended for the rest of the season and the playoffs. Campbell's subsequent appearance at a Canadiens' game at the Montreal Forum incited a group of protesters and led to violence in the Forum and in downtown Montreal.
Final standings
| 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 |
Playoffs
Playoff bracket
| Semifinals | Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||
| 1 | Detroit | 4 | |||||||
| 3 | Toronto | 0 | |||||||
| 1 | Detroit | 4 | |||||||
| 2 | Montreal | 3 | |||||||
| 2 | Montreal | 4 | |||||||
| 4 | Boston | 1 | |||||||
(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (3) Toronto Maple Leafs
| March 22 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4–7 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| Brian Cullen (1) – pp – 07:00 George Armstrong (1) – 13:01 |
First period | 11:54 – Vic Stasiuk (1) 19:06 – Dutch Reibel (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 01:36 – Glen Skov (1) 09:48 – pp – Dutch Reibel (2) | ||||||
| Sid Smith (1) – 02:53 Ted Kennedy (1) – pp – 12:38 |
Third period | 03:54 – Gordie Howe (1) 07:40 – pp – Gordie Howe (2) 15:07 – pp – Ted Lindsay (1) | ||||||
| Harry Lumley | Goalie stats | Terry Sawchuck | ||||||
| March 24 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1–2 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| Sid Smith (2) – 00:17 | First period | 08:09 – pp – Gordie Howe (3) 08:54 – pp – Alex Delvecchio (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Harry Lumley | Goalie stats | Terry Sawchuck | ||||||
| March 26 | Detroit Red Wings | 2–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| Ted Lindsay (2) – pp – 01:36 Dutch Reibel (3) – 11:46 |
First period | 07:29 – pp – Sid Smith (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck | Goalie stats | Harry Lumley | ||||||
| March 29 | Detroit Red Wings | 3–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Vic Stasiuk (2) – 05:38 Gordie Howe (4) – 09:20 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Tony Leswick (1) – 19:33 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck | Goalie stats | Harry Lumley | ||||||
| Detroit won series 4–0 | |
(2) Montreal Canadiens vs. (4) Boston Bruins
| March 22 | Boston Bruins | 0–2 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 06:23 – pp – Bernie Geoffrion (1) 12:35 – pp – Jean Beliveau (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jim Henry | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante, Charlie Hodge | ||||||
| March 24 | Boston Bruins | 1–3 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Real Chevrefils (1) – 16:43 | Second period | 01:31 – Floyd Curry (1) 11:08 – Calum MacKay (1) 13:43 – Jean Beliveau (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jim Henry | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante, Charlie Hodge | ||||||
| March 27 | Montreal Canadiens | 2–4 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 13:53 – Leo Labine (1) 18:25 – Fern Flaman (1) 18:45 – Real Chevrefils (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 18:47 – Hal Laycoe (1) | ||||||
| Ken Mosdell (1) – 00:30 Jack LeClair (1) – sh – 18:46 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jacques Plante, Charlie Hodge | Goalie stats | Jim Henry | ||||||
| March 29 | Montreal Canadiens | 4–3 | OT | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Tom Johnson (1) – 03:51 Floyd Curry (2) – pp – 12:43 |
Second period | 06:15 – pp – Don McKenney (1) 09:55 – Leo Labine (2) | ||||||
| Bernie Geoffrion (2) – 12:40 | Third period | 08:52 – Ed Sandford (1) | ||||||
| Don Marshall (1) – sh – 03:05 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jacques Plante, Charlie Hodge | Goalie stats | Jim Henry | ||||||
| March 31 | Boston Bruins | 1–5 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 03:43 – Jack LeClair (2) 14:43 – pp – Dickie Moore (1) | ||||||
| Lorne Ferguson (1) – pp – 15:52 | Second period | 07:55 – Floyd Curry (3) 11:18 – Jack LeClair (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 08:14 – Jean Beliveau (3) | ||||||
| Jim Henry | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante | ||||||
| Montreal won series 4–1 | |
Stanley Cup Finals
| April 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 2–4 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Floyd Curry (4) – 05:09 | Second period | 14:00 – pp – Alex Delvecchio (2) | ||||||
| Floyd Curry (5) – 08:57 | Third period | 13:05 – Vic Stasiuk (3) 17:07 – sh – Marty Pavelich (1) 19:42 – Ted Lindsay (3) | ||||||
| Jacques Plante | Goalie stats | Terry Sawchuck | ||||||
| April 5 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–7 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 02:15 – sh – Marcel Pronovost (1) 09:57 – Ted Lindsay (4) 16:00 – Alex Delvecchio (3) 17:11 – Gordie Howe (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 08:10 – Ted Lindsay (5) 15:48 – pp – Ted Lindsay (6) 19:37 – Ted Lindsay (7) | ||||||
| Ken Mosdell (2) – 12:32 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jacques Plante, Charlie Hodge | Goalie stats | Terry Sawchuck | ||||||
| April 7 | Detroit Red Wings | 2–4 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Red Kelly (1) – pp – 18:13 | First period | 08:30 – pp – Bernie Geoffrion (3) 08:42 – pp – Bernie Geoffrion (4) | ||||||
| Vic Stasiuk (4) – 16:16 | Second period | 14:23 – Bernie Geoffrion (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 07:50 – Jack LeClair (4) | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante | ||||||
| April 9 | Detroit Red Wings | 3–5 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Dutch Reibel (4) – 12:38 | First period | 00:40 – Calum MacKay (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 03:41 – Bernie Geoffrion (6) 08:25 – Jean Beliveau (4) 09:07 – Tom Johnson (2) | ||||||
| Dutch Reibel (5) – 03:40 Jim Hay (1) – 12:000 |
Third period | 02:33 – Floyd Curry (6) | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante | ||||||
| April 10 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–5 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| Jean Beliveau (5) – pp – 08:01 | First period | 12:59 – Glen Skov (2) 18:59 – Gordie Howe (6) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 12:29 – pp – Gordie Howe (7) 16:20 – pp – Gordie Howe (8) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 02:09 – Vic Stasiuk (5) | ||||||
| Jacques Plante | Goalie stats | Terry Sawchuck | ||||||
| April 12 | Detroit Red Wings | 3–6 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Alex Delvecchio (4) – 13:36 | First period | 07:30 – Jean Beliveau (6) | ||||||
| Alex Delvecchio (5) – pp – 15:54 | Second period | 03:45 – pp – Jack LeClair (5) 05:21 – pp – Bernie Geoffrion (7) 18:18 – Bernie Geoffrion (8) | ||||||
| Red Kelly (2) – 16:23 | Third period | 00:19 – Floyd Curry (7) 18:55 – Calum MacKay (3) | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante | ||||||
| April 14 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–3 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 07:12 – Alex Delvecchio (6) 19:49 – Gordie Howe (9) | ||||||
| Floyd Curry (8) – pp – 14:35 | Third period | 02:59 – Alex Delvecchio (7) | ||||||
| Jacques Plante | Goalie stats | Terry Sawchuck | ||||||
| Detroit won series 4–3 | |
Awards
| Prince of Wales Trophy: (Regular season champion) | Detroit Red Wings |
| Art Ross Trophy: (Top scorer) | Bernie Geoffrion, Montreal Canadiens |
| Calder Memorial Trophy: (Best first-year player) | Ed Litzenberger, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player) | Ted Kennedy, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| James Norris Memorial Trophy: (Best defenceman) | Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens |
| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship) | Sid Smith, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Vezina Trophy: (Goaltender of team with the best goals-against average) | Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings |
Player statistics
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernie Geoffrion | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 38 | 37 | 75 | 57 |
| Maurice Richard | Montreal Canadiens | 67 | 38 | 36 | 74 | 125 |
| Jean Beliveau | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 37 | 36 | 73 | 58 |
| Earl Reibel | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 25 | 41 | 66 | 15 |
| Gordie Howe | Detroit Red Wings | 64 | 29 | 33 | 62 | 68 |
| Red Sullivan | Chicago Black Hawks | 69 | 19 | 42 | 61 | 51 |
| Bert Olmstead | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 10 | 48 | 58 | 103 |
| Sid Smith | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 33 | 21 | 54 | 14 |
| Ken Mosdell | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 22 | 32 | 54 | 82 |
| Danny Lewicki | New York Rangers | 70 | 29 | 24 | 53 | 8 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Lumley | Toronto Maple Leafs | 69 | 4140 | 133 | 1.93 | 23 | 24 | 22 | 8 |
| Terry Sawchuk | Detroit Red Wings | 68 | 4080 | 132 | 1.94 | 40 | 17 | 11 | 12 |
| Jacques Plante | Montreal Canadiens | 52 | 3120 | 109 | 2.10 | 31 | 13 | 7 | 5 |
| Charlie Hodge | Montreal Canadiens | 14 | 820 | 31 | 2.27 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| John Henderson | Boston Bruins | 45 | 2652 | 109 | 2.47 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 5 |
| Lorne Worsley | New York Rangers | 65 | 3900 | 195 | 3.00 | 15 | 33 | 17 | 4 |
| Jim Henry | Boston Bruins | 27 | 1548 | 79 | 3.06 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 1 |
| Hank Bassen | Chicago Black Hawks | 21 | 1260 | 63 | 3.00 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 0 |
| Al Rollins | Chicago Black Hawks | 44 | 2640 | 149 | 3.39 | 9 | 27 | 8 | 0 |
Coaches
- Boston Bruins: Milt Schmidt
- Chicago Black Hawks: Frank Eddolls
- Detroit Red Wings: Jimmy Skinner
- Montreal Canadiens: Dick Irvin
- New York Rangers: Muzz Patrick
- Toronto Maple Leafs: King Clancy
Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1954–55 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
- Don McKenney, Boston Bruins
- Don Cherry*, Boston Bruins (only NHL game of career)
- Charlie Hodge, Montreal Canadiens
- Jean-Guy Talbot, Montreal Canadiens
- Lou Fontinato, New York Rangers
- Dick Duff, Toronto Maple Leafs
Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1954–55 (listed with their last team):
- Gus Bodnar, Boston Bruins
- Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins
- Jim Henry, Boston Bruins
- Bill Mosienko, Chicago Black Hawks
- Paul Ronty, Montreal Canadiens
- Edgar Laprade, New York Rangers
- Bill Ezinicki, New York Rangers
- Don Cherry, Boston Bruins (Only NHL game of his career)
Broadcasting
This was the third season of Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television. Coverage included selected Stanley Cup playoff games. Both regular season and playoff games were not broadcast in their entirety until the 1968–69 season, and were typically joined in progress, while the radio version of HNIC aired games in their entirety.
See also
References
- Coleman, Charles L. (1976), Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol III, Sherbrooke, QC: Progressive Publications
- Diamond, Dan, ed. (1994). Years of glory, 1942–1967: the National Hockey League's official book of the six-team era. Toronto, ON: McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-2817-2.
- Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Kingston, NY: Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
- Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
- Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
- Duplacey, James (2008), Hockey's Book of Firsts, North Dighton, MA: JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9
- Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International Inc. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.
- McFarlane, Brian (1969), 50 Years Of Hockey, Winnipeg, MAN: Greywood Publishing, ASIN B000GW45S0
- McFarlane, Brian (1973). The Story of the National Hockey League. New York, NY: Pagurian Press. ISBN 0-684-13424-1.
- Notes
- "1954–1955 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
- "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- Dinger 2011, p. 149.