1955-56
OFF-SEASON
The Chicago Black Hawks dealt goaltender Sugar Jim Henry to the New York Rangers in exchange for winger Wally Hergesheimer. The 34 year old Henry has played 830 career NHL games including 11 seasons with the Rangers before moving to Chicago 3 years ago. He appeared in all 70 games for the Black Hawks last year, going 19-41-10 with a 3.17 GAA. The Hawks appear to be looking at 30 year old Johnny Bower as their starter this season.
Boston's Roy Conacher highlights the list of players retiring. The 38 year old spent 17 seasons with Bruins, playing in 823 games while amassing 797 career points. He was the rookie of the year in 1939 and led the league in scoring in 1942-43. A three time first team all-star, Conacher helped lead the Bruins to 3 Stanley Cup titles.
The Bruins also lost defenseman Jack Crawford, a veteran of 887 games, and forward Don Gallinger, who played in 545 career games to retirement.
Montreal says good bye to a pair of blueliners in Butch Bouchard and Ken Reardon. The 34 year old Bouchard was a 2 time Norris Trophy winner and had 465 points in 845 games with the Habs. Reardon is also 34 and won 1 Norris Trophy as well as a Conn Smythe. They each were a part of 6 Stanley Cup championships.
The final retirement of note is that of Chuck Rayner. The 34 year old goaltender played in 698 career NHL games with the Rangers and Detroit. He was 353-230-105 in his career and also played in 95 playoff games, winning his only Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 1948. He was overshadowed much of his career by Turk Broda and later Jacques Plante in Montreal.
Notable newcomers this year include Frank Mahovlich and Bob Nevin, both 17 years old, along with 16 year old Carl Brewer. All 3 join the Leafs organization.
REGULAR SEASON
Another dominant regular season for the Montreal Canadiens as the line of Dickie Moore, Jean Beliveau and Bernie Geoffrion continued to be the best in the league. Beliveau missed 21 games with injury but still finished 5th in league scoring while his linemates were 1-2.
Code:
GP W L T PTS
Montreal Canadiens 70 49 9 12 110
Toronto Maple Leafs 70 32 31 7 71
Detroit Red Wings 70 31 30 9 71
Chicago Black Hawks 70 30 33 7 67
Boston Bruins 70 24 31 15 63
New York Rangers 70 15 47 8 38
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Dickie Moore MON 70 44 38 82
Bernie Geoffrion MON 70 32 46 78
Bronco Horvath CHI 70 32 37 69
Tod Sloan TOR 70 24 45 69
Jean Beliveau MON 49 22 45 67
Pete Conacher CHI 70 21 41 62
Don McKenney BOS 70 29 31 60
Ron Stewart TOR 69 25 35 60
Ted Lindsay DET 70 18 39 57
Doug Harvey MON 70 20 35 55
PLAYOFFS
Montreal swept Toronto in 4 straight games with Habs goaltender Jacques Plante earning shutouts in three of the contests. The line of Beliveau, Geoffrion and Moore combined for 8 goals and 17 points in the series.
Meanwhile the Chicago Black Hawks, making just their second playoff appearance since 1931, pushed Detroit to the brink but came up just short of winning their first playoff series in franchise history. The Hawks blew a 3 games to one lead and a 3-1 lead in the second period of Game Seven before falling 4-3 in overtime. Gordie Howe, who still has done very little in his career, came up big in the series with the overtime winner.
Game One of the finals was the Jean Beliveau show as the Montreal pivot scored 4 times in a 5-2 Canadiens victory. A 37 save performance from Detroit goaltender Gump Worsley in Game Two allowed Detroit to claim a 2-1 victory and leave Montreal with the series tied.
Jacques Plante responded with a 27 save shutout in Game Three as Montreal won 5-0. Maurice Richard scored twice to lead the Habs. Once again the Wings responded as Detroit scored three times in the final five minutes of Game Four to earn a 4-3 victory and knot the series at 2 games apiece.
Montreal took Game Five by a 4-2 score as Dickie Moore had a goal and 2 assists while Jean Beliveau added 3 helpers.
The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup two days later with a 2-0 victory in Game Six. Jacques Plante got his second shutout of the finals and 5th of this playoff but the big story was Gump Worsley in the Detroit cage as he made 41 saves in this game. Kenny Mosdell got the Habs on the board midway through the first period and Claude Provost added an insurance marker midway through the second to give Montreal their second straight Cup and 7th since the sim began. For Detroit it was yet another year of disappointment as the Wings have been to the finals 5 times in the last 6 years and lost every one of them. Since the sim began Detroit is 1-9 in Stanley Cup final series.
Jean Beliveau led all players with 18 points including 7 goals and was rewarded with the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. Linemate Dickie Moore tied Beliveau for the playoff goal lead with 7 and finished second in scoring with 13 points, the same number as Detroit's Red Sullivan.
Other Award winners:
HART TROPHY: Dickie Moore Montreal (70GP 44-38-82)
VEZINA TROPHY: Jacques Plante Montreal (49-9-12, 1.44)
NORRIS TROPHY: Doug Harvey Montreal (70GP 20-35-55)
ART ROSS TROPHY: Dickie Moore Montreal (70GP 44-38-82)
CALDER TROPHY: Dick Duff Toronto (66 GP 9-20-29)
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 Jacques Plante Montreal Terry Sawchuk Toronto
D Doug Harvey Montreal Bill Barilko Toronto
D Bill Gadsby Chicago Pierre Pilote Chicago
C Jean Beliveau Montreal Bronco Horvath Chicago
LW Dickie Moore Montreal Ted Lindsay Detroit
RW Bernie Geoffrion Montreal Tod Sloan Toronto