1959–60 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1959–60 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 51st season of play. The team had another outstanding season, placing first in the league and winning the Stanley Cup for the fifth consecutive season, and the 12th time in team history.

1959–60 Montreal Canadiens
Stanley Cup champions
League1st NHL
1959–60 record40–18–12
Goals for255
Goals against178
Team information
General managerFrank J. Selke
CoachToe Blake
CaptainMaurice Richard
Alternate captainsBernie Geoffrion
Doug Harvey
Tom Johnson
ArenaMontreal Forum
Team leaders
GoalsJean Beliveau (34)
AssistsHenri Richard (43)
PointsJean Beliveau (74)
Penalty minutesHenri Richard (66)
WinsJacques Plante (40)
Goals against averageJacques Plante (2.54)

Regular season

On Sunday, November 1, 1959, at 3:06 of the first period, Jacques Plante was hit in the face by a shot fired by Andy Bathgate. Plante came back in the game wearing a mask (the second goaltender in NHL history to wear a mask after Clint Benedict) starting a trend where all NHL goaltenders today wear a mask.

Jacques Plante

The use of the goalie mask was Plante's most enduring contribution to the game, however, occurred as a result of an incident on November 1, 1959. He was hit in the face by a shot from New York Rangers player Andy Bathgate, needing to go to the dressing room for stitches. When he returned, he was wearing the crude home-made goalie mask that he'd been using in practices. His coach, Toe Blake, was livid, but he had no other goalie to call upon, and Plante refused to return to the goal unless he kept the mask. Blake agreed on the condition that Plante discard the mask when the cut healed. Only Camille Henry beat him in that game, which the Canadiens won 3–1. In the ensuing days Plante refused to discard the mask, and as the Canadiens continued to win, Blake became less obstinate. The unbeaten streak stretched to 18 games. Plante didn't wear the mask, at Blake's request, against Detroit on March 8, 1960. The Canadiens lost 3–0, and the mask returned for good the next night. Plante subsequently designed his own mask and masks for other goalies. Although Plante was not the first NHL goalie known to wear a facemask (Montreal Maroons goaltender Clint Benedict had done so thirty years before), Plante introduced the mask as everyday equipment, which continues to this day.

Final standings
National Hockey League[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1Montreal Canadiens70401812255178+7792
2Toronto Maple Leafs7035269199195+479
3Chicago Black Hawks70282913191180+1169
4Detroit Red Wings70262915186197−1167
5Boston Bruins7028348220241−2164
6New York Rangers70173815187247−6049

Record vs. opponents
1959–60 NHL Records [2]
Team BOS CHI DET MTL NYR TOR
Boston —5–6–35–8–14–88–4–26–6–2
Chicago 6–5–3—4–8–23–7–411–1–24–8–2
Detroit 8–5–18–4–2—2–7–54–6–44–9–1
Montreal 8–47–3–47–2–5—6–6–210–3–1
New York 4–8–21–11–26–4–46–6–2—2–9–3
Toronto 6–6–28–4–29–4–13–10–19–2–3—

Schedule and results
Regular season results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1WOctober 8, 19594–1Boston Bruins (1959–60)1–0–0
2TOctober 10, 19591–1Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)1–0–1
3LOctober 11, 19594–8@ Boston Bruins (1959–60)1–1–1
4WOctober 15, 19594–2Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)2–1–1
5LOctober 17, 19592–4New York Rangers (1959–60)2–2–1
6WOctober 18, 19596–5@ New York Rangers (1959–60)3–2–1
7WOctober 22, 19594–1Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)4–2–1
8WOctober 24, 19595–1Boston Bruins (1959–60)5–2–1
9WOctober 25, 19592–1@ Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)6–2–1
10WOctober 27, 19592–1@ Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)7–2–1
11TOctober 28, 19591–1@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)7–2–2
12TOctober 31, 19592–2Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)7–2–3
13WNovember 1, 19593–1@ New York Rangers (1959–60)8–2–3
14WNovember 5, 19598–2New York Rangers (1959–60)9–2–3
15TNovember 7, 19592–2Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)9–2–4
16WNovember 12, 19593–0Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)10–2–4
17WNovember 14, 19598–1Boston Bruins (1959–60)11–2–4
18WNovember 15, 19594–1@ Boston Bruins (1959–60)12–2–4
19WNovember 21, 19594–1@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)13–2–4
20WNovember 22, 19593–1@ Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)14–2–4
21WNovember 26, 19594–2@ Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)15–2–4
22WNovember 28, 19591–0Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)16–2–4
23WNovember 29, 19594–2@ Boston Bruins (1959–60)17–2–4
24LDecember 2, 19590–1@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)17–3–4
25LDecember 3, 19594–7New York Rangers (1959–60)17–4–4
26TDecember 5, 19592–2Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)17–4–5
27TDecember 6, 19594–4@ Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)17–4–6
28LDecember 12, 19592–3Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)17–5–6
29TDecember 13, 19594–4@ Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)17–5–7
30WDecember 17, 19598–2Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)18–5–7
31WDecember 19, 19595–3New York Rangers (1959–60)19–5–7
32LDecember 20, 19595–6@ New York Rangers (1959–60)19–6–7
33WDecember 26, 19599–2Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)20–6–7
34WDecember 27, 19593–1@ Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)21–6–7
35WDecember 30, 19593–2@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)22–6–7
36WJanuary 2, 19606–5Boston Bruins (1959–60)23–6–7
37LJanuary 3, 19603–8@ New York Rangers (1959–60)23–7–7
38WJanuary 9, 19602–1Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)24–7–7
39LJanuary 10, 19600–3@ Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)24–8–7
40WJanuary 14, 19603–1Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)25–8–7
41WJanuary 16, 19608–2Boston Bruins (1959–60)26–8–7
42WJanuary 17, 19603–1@ Boston Bruins (1959–60)27–8–7
43WJanuary 21, 196011–2New York Rangers (1959–60)28–8–7
44WJanuary 23, 19604–2Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)29–8–7
45WJanuary 24, 19603–2@ Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)30–8–7
46TJanuary 27, 19602–2@ New York Rangers (1959–60)30–8–8
47WJanuary 28, 19604–2@ Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)31–8–8
48TJanuary 30, 19602–2Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)31–8–9
49LJanuary 31, 19605–6@ Boston Bruins (1959–60)31–9–9
50WFebruary 4, 19604–2Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)32–9–9
51WFebruary 6, 19605–3Boston Bruins (1959–60)33–9–9
52LFebruary 7, 19601–4@ New York Rangers (1959–60)33–10–9
53WFebruary 10, 19604–2@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)34–10–9
54LFebruary 13, 19606–7@ Boston Bruins (1959–60)34–11–9
55LFebruary 14, 19600–2@ Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)34–12–9
56TFebruary 18, 19603–3Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)34–12–10
57TFebruary 20, 19603–3New York Rangers (1959–60)34–12–11
58WFebruary 21, 19606–3@ Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)35–12–11
59LFebruary 24, 19601–3@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)35–13–11
60WFebruary 27, 19603–2New York Rangers (1959–60)36–13–11
61WMarch 3, 19605–1Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)37–13–11
62TMarch 5, 19602–2Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)37–13–12
63LMarch 6, 19602–4@ Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)37–14–12
64LMarch 8, 19600–3@ Detroit Red Wings (1959–60)37–15–12
65WMarch 9, 19609–4@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)38–15–12
66WMarch 12, 19605–0Chicago Black Hawks (1959–60)39–15–12
67LMarch 13, 19602–3@ Boston Bruins (1959–60)39–16–12
68LMarch 17, 19602–6Toronto Maple Leafs (1959–60)39–17–12
69WMarch 19, 19605–1Boston Bruins (1959–60)40–17–12
70LMarch 20, 19601–3@ New York Rangers (1959–60)40–18–12

[3]

Playoffs

The Canadiens placed first in the standings and met the Chicago Black Hawks in the first round of the playoffs. The Canadiens swept the Hawks 4–0 to move on to the finals against Toronto.

Stanley Cup finals
Further information: 1960 Stanley Cup Finals

Montreal swept the Maple Leafs, outscoring them 15–5, en route to being the first team since the 1952 Detroit Red Wings to go without a loss in the playoffs.

After the series Rocket Richard retired. He went out with style, finishing with his 34th finals goal in game three.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
April 7Toronto Maple Leafs2Montreal Canadiens4
April 9Toronto Maple Leafs1Montreal Canadiens2
April 12Montreal Canadiens5Toronto Maple Leafs2
April 14Montreal Canadiens4Toronto Maple Leafs0

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0.

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Jean BeliveauC6034407457
Henri RichardC7030437366
Bernie GeoffrionRW5930417136
Dickie MooreLW6222426454
Marcel BoninW5917345159
Claude ProvostRW7017294642
Phil GoyetteC652122434
Don MarshallLW701622384
Maurice RichardRW5119163550
Andre PronovostLW6912193161
Tom JohnsonD644252959
Ralph BackstromC6413152824
Doug HarveyD666212745
Ab McDonaldLW689132226
Albert LangloisD671141548
Jean-Guy TalbotD691141560
Bill HickeRW433101317
Bob TurnerD5409940
J.C. TremblayD110110
Reggie FlemingD/LW30002
Charlie HodgeG10000
Cec HoekstraC40000
Jacques PlanteG690002
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Jacques Plante4140694017121752.543
Charlie Hodge60101033.000
Team:4200704018121782.543

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Henri RichardC839129
Bernie GeoffrionRW8210124
Dickie MooreLW864104
Jean BeliveauC85276
Marcel BoninW814512
Don MarshallLW82240
Maurice RichardRW81342
Doug HarveyD83036
Phil GoyetteC82134
Bill HickeRW71230
Andre PronovostLW81230
Ralph BackstromC70332
Albert LangloisD803318
Claude ProvostRW81120
Jean-Guy TalbotD81128
Tom JohnsonD80114
Jacques PlanteG80000
Bob TurnerD80000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Jacques Plante489880111.353
Team:489880111.353

[4]

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

See also

References
  1. "1959–1960 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  2. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. "1959–60 Montreal Canadiens Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 4, 2009.
  4. "1959-60 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
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