1958-59
OFF-SEASON
Three big name offensive stars have left the game as Sid Abel, Ted Kennedy and Elmer Lach have all decided to retire.
Lach retires at the age of 40 after a 17 year career with Montreal that saw him finish as the NHL's all-time assist leader with 750 and second only to his longtime linemate Maurice Richard in career points with 1055. A veteran of 930 regular season games Lach led the NHL in scoring twice, won a Hart Trophy, a Calder Trophy and a Conn Smythe in his career. He was a four-time first team all-star and won 9 Stanley Cups in his career. Only Bob Goldham and Kenny Mosdell have played more NHL games than Lach.
Abel finished his career with 25 games in Montreal this season after playing 13 years and 865 games for Detroit. He is third all-time in assists with 555 and 5th with 871 career points. He was named NHL MVP 4 times in his career and led the league in scoring once. He had 20 points in 13 games and was a big reason the Wings won their only Stanley Cup in 47-48. The four time first team all-star would also win a Cup in his final season with Montreal despite being held pointless in 9 playoff games.
Ted Kennedy retires at the age of 32 after 14 seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He won 5 Stanley Cups with Toronto and was named the winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1946-47. Kennedy led the NHL in scoring in 1947-48 and finished with 779 career points in 886 games. His 337 goals are 6th most all-time.
New players entering the league this season include Jean Ratelle and Rod Gilbert with the Rangers, Jacques Laperriere to Montreal, Vic Hadfield and Pat Stapleton with Chicago and Jim Pappin in Toronto.
REGULAR SEASON
Montreal still finished with the league's best record but the Habs dominance of the past few years was no where near as pronounced this time. Of course a big reason why was the absence of Jean Beliveau and Dickie Moore. Moore was hurt 7 games into the year when he suffered a serious arm injury that ended his season. Beliveau returned from an eye injury in February, scored 9 points in 7 games before breaking his elbow and ending his season. The third member of the big line, Bernie Geoffrion, carried the offense with help from Henri Richard and Claude Provost. Norris Trophy winning defenseman Doug Harvey also missed substantial time. Jacques Plante was his usual outstanding self in net.
Detroit finally found the Production Line as Gordie Howe had a career year at the age of 30, scoring 30 goals as he played center on a line with veteran Ted Lindsay and 26 year old Alex Delvecchio - who led the NHL in scoring with 76 points.
Chicago, led by 29 year old Bronco Horvath (32-34-66) and 19 goals from 20 year old rookie Bobby Hull, found it's way back in to the playoffs after a 3 year absence.
Code:
GP W L T PTS
Montreal Canadiens 70 43 15 12 98
Toronto Maple Leafs 70 39 22 9 87
Detroit Red Wings 70 32 24 14 78
Chicago Black Hawks 70 24 30 16 64
New York Rangers 70 17 38 15 49
Boston Bruins 70 17 43 10 44
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Alex Delvecchio DET 70 26 50 76
Bernie Geoffrion MON 67 38 37 75
Henri Richard MON 70 35 38 73
Gordie Howe DET 70 35 35 70
Claude Provost MON 70 30 37 67
Bronco Horvath CHI 70 32 34 66
Ted Lindsay DET 70 23 41 64
Don McKenney BOS 70 27 32 59
Fleming Mackell TOR 70 16 39 55
Andy Bathgate NYR 70 19 33 52
PLAYOFFS
Despite being without Jean Beliveau and Dickie Moore the Canadiens had little trouble beating Toronto for the fifth straight season in the semi-finals. Montreal prevailed in 5 games led by 7 points from Donnie Marshall.
Detroit would win it's fourth straight semi-final series as the Red Wings beat Chicago behind 6 goals from Gordie Howe in a 6 game series. Howe is now 31 and had a very slow start to his career. In 727 career regular season games he has 156 goals and 350 points.
For the fourth straight season Montreal and Detroit meet in the finals and for the first time the Wings draw first blood as Detroit takes Game One on the road by a 4-3 score. Red Wings defenseman Harry Howell led the Wings with a pair of goals in the contest.
Montreal rebounded with a 2-1 victory in Game Two as Claude Provost had a goal and an assist while Donnie Marshall had two helpers. Gordie Howe was the only Red Wing to beat Jacques Plante, who made 31 saves in the game.
The Red Wings return to The Olympia for Game Three and emerge with a 4-1 victory led by a 30 save performance from Detroit netminder Gump Worsley.
Worsley is again the story in Game Four as he and his Red Wings teammates shutout Montreal 1-0 to take a 3 games to one lead in the series. Red Sullivan's first period power play goal accounts for all of the scoring in the contest.
Montreal's run of 4 straight Stanley Cup titles is not over yet as the Habs win Game Five 2-1. Both Plante and Worsley are tremendous in net. Fred Burchill gets the Detroit goal early in the second period but before the period ends Bernie Geoffrion and Phil Goyette have Montreal in the lead. Claude Provost assisted on both Habs markers.
The series goes back to Detroit for Game Six with the Wings looking for their second Stanley Cup title in franchise history. Donnie Marshall gives Montreal and early lead but before the first period is over Detroit scores twice as Ted Lindsay and Red Sullivan beat Plante. Gordie Howe gives Detroit some insurance with the only goal of the second period and the Wings lead is 3-1 with just 20 minutes seperating them from the Stanley Cup.
Ted Lindsay makes it 4-1 Detroit with assists to Howe and Alex Delvecchio at the 12 minute mark. However two quick goals from Marshall and Claude Provost cuts the Wings lead to 1 with just over a minute remaining in regulation. Montreal pulls it's goalie and gets a couple of good chances but Gump Worsley is equal to the task and the Wings hang on for a 4-3 victory.
The Red Wings win the Stanley Cup for just the second time in team history and end a run of 3 straight losses to Montreal in the finals. Detroit has reached the finals 13 times in franchise history, but ended up on the losing end 11 times.
Gordie Howe led all playoff scorers with 8 goals and tied Montreal's Donnie Marshall for the point lead with 12 but the Conn Smythe Trophy went to Red Wing rearguard Harry Howell. The 26 year old had 5 goals and 11 points in 12 playoff games.
Other Award winners:
HART TROPHY: Pierre Pilote Chicago (70GP 14-32-46)
VEZINA TROPHY: Jacques Plante Montreal (39-14-9, 2.04)
NORRIS TROPHY: Tom Johnson Montreal (70GP 7-44-51)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Alex Delvecchio Detroit (70GP 26-50-76)
CALDER TROPHY: Gerry James Detroit (72GP 14-12-26)
Red Wing 24 year old rookie Gerry James wins the Calder Trophy and also sets an unofficial record for games played in a season as he appeared in 72 because he was traded mid-season from Boston to Detroit.
The game does not select the all-star team but I will start naming first and second team all-stars
Code:
POS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM
G Terry Sawchuk Toronto Jacques Plante Montreal
D Tom Johnson Montreal Bill Gadsby Chicago
D Pierre Pilote Chicago Red Kelly Toronto
C Gordie Howe Detroit Henri Richard Montreal
LW Ted Lindsay Detroit Don Marshall Montreal
RW Bernie Geoffrion Montreal Alex Delvecchio Detroit