1952–53 NHL season

1952–53 NHL season
League National Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
Duration October 9, 1952 – April 16, 1953
Number of games 70
Number of teams 6
Regular season
Season champion Detroit Red Wings
Season MVP Gordie Howe (Detroit Red Wings)
Top scorer Gordie Howe (Detroit Red Wings)
Stanley Cup
Champions Montreal Canadiens
  Runners-up Boston Bruins

The 1952–53 NHL season was the 36th season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the Boston Bruins four games to one in the final series.

League business

The NHL almost had a seventh franchise, as the Cleveland Barons of the American Hockey League applied for a franchise. They were accepted with the proviso that they deposit $425,000 to show good faith, and prove they had sufficient working capital to consort with the other NHL teams. They could not come up with the working capital and transfer of applicants stock to Cleveland residents. As a result, the Barons were told to apply at a later date.

A big deal was made between Toronto and Chicago as the Maple Leafs shipped Al Rollins, Gus Mortson, and Cal Gardner for goaltender Harry Lumley.

Sid Abel was signed by Chicago to be player-coach.

What was rumoured became fact in September when Arthur M. Wirtz and James D. Norris became the new owners of the near bankrupt Chicago Black Hawks.

James E. Norris, owner of the Detroit Red Wings since 1932 and father of James D. Norris, Chicago owner, died of a heart attack on December 4, 1952, and his daughter Marguerite became the owner. She became the first female owner of an NHL franchise since Ida Querrie owned the Toronto St. Patricks in 1923 when her husband Charlie transferred his stock in the team to her to avoid paying Eddie Livingstone any money in Livingstone's lawsuit against him.

NHL on-ice officials changed to orange-coloured uniforms in March 1953. The officials had worn cream-coloured uniforms which were not distinguishable from some team's home-ice uniforms.

Regular season

For the fifth straight season, the Detroit Red Wings lead the league in points. Gordie Howe won the Hart Trophy over Al Rollins, but on the strength of Rollins' goaltending, Chicago made the playoffs for the first time since 1946.

The first television broadcast in Canada of an NHL game occurred on October 1 of this year. It was a French language broadcast of a game between the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings with the Canadiens winning 2–1.[1] The French language telecast was produced by 24-year-old Gerald Renaud. On November 1, the first English language broadcast aired, with Foster Hewitt calling the action, starting in the second period because Conn Smythe was concerned that it would cut into the crowds at the arena.[2] Smythe, the Leafs' managing director, sold the Leafs' television rights for a paltry $100 per game.

Highlights

Gump Worsley made his NHL debut October 9, 1952, in goal for the New York Rangers at the Detroit Olympia and lost 5–3, as Ted Lindsay scored in a tip-in on the power play for Worsley's first goal against him. The Production line scored 3 goals that night as Alex Delvecchio and Gordie Howe also had goals. Marty Pavelich scored what proved to be the winning goal.

On November 8, 14,562 fans were in attendance at the Montreal Forum when the Canadiens beat Chicago 6–4. Elmer Lach scored his 200th career goal. Fifty seconds later, after Emile "Butch" Bouchard fed him the puck, Rocket Richard rifled a puck past Al Rollins for his 325th goal, breaking Nels Stewart's record for career goals.[2] It was ten years to the day since Richard had scored his first NHL goal.[2] "Old Poison" sent the following telegram: "Congratulations on breaking record. Hope you will hold it for many seasons. Best of luck to you and rest of team."

When Terry Sawchuk was injured in practice, the Red Wings brought up Glenn Hall and he made his NHL debut on December 27 and played well in a 2–2 tie with Montreal. Hall then picked up his first career shutout January 7, blanking Boston 4–0.

Red Wings General Manager Jack Adams got into some trouble on January 18 when, after a 3–2 loss to Montreal, he entered the officials room and argued with referee Red Storey. Dick Irvin, coach of Montreal, was very upset over this and NHL president Clarence Campbell agreed, fining Adams $500.

Gump Worsley got his first career shutout January 11 when the New York Rangers defeated the Canadiens 7–0 in Montreal.

Butch Bouchard Night was held on February 28 and he was presented with a car and a TV set. Detroit spoiled the night with a 4–3 victory.

There was consternation in Toronto when Max Bentley suddenly vanished and was reported back at his home in Delisle, Saskatchewan. Conn Smythe convinced him to return and he did, playing the remaining games of the schedule.

Ted Lindsay scored 4 goals on March 2 as Detroit pummeled Boston by a score of 10–2.

Gordie Howe scored 49 goals to nearly tie Rocket Richard's record. Howe was held off the scoresheet in the final game of the season by Richard's Canadiens. Howe set a new points record for the season with 95 points and won the Art Ross and Hart trophies.[2]

Final standings

National Hockey League[3]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Detroit Red Wings 70 36 16 18 222 133 +89 90
2 Montreal Canadiens 70 28 23 19 155 148 +7 75
3 Chicago Black Hawks 70 27 28 15 169 175 −6 69
4 Boston Bruins 70 28 29 13 152 172 −20 69
5 Toronto Maple Leafs 70 27 30 13 156 167 −11 67
6 New York Rangers 70 17 37 16 152 211 −59 50

The Wikipedia template for the final standings automatically ranks Chicago finishing third and Boston finishing fourth, tying with 69 total points. In fact Boston was granted the 3rd seed by virtue of the NHL's tie-breaking procedures (the team with more wins gets the higher seed) and Chicago was granted the 4th seed (as shown in the playoff bracket below).

Playoffs

In a major upset, first-place Detroit was defeated in the semi-final by the Boston Bruins in six games. In the other semi-final, the fourth-place Chicago Black Hawks, making their first playoff appearance in seven years, took a 3–2 series lead after losing the first two games to the second-place Montreal Canadiens, but could not finish the job, losing in seven games.

Final

see 1953 Stanley Cup Finals

In the final, the Bruins could not continue their winning ways, and lost to Montreal in five games.

After the Final, the Cleveland Barons of the American Hockey League applied to play a Stanley Cup challenge. The NHL governors turned down the challenge, stating that the Cleveland club operated in a league of lower standing.[4][2]

Playoff bracket

Semi-finals Stanley Cup Final
      
1 Detroit Red Wings 2
3 Boston Bruins 4
3 Boston Bruins 1
2 Montreal Canadiens 4
2 Montreal Canadiens 4
4 Chicago Black Hawks 3

Awards

Prince of Wales Trophy:
(Best regular-season record) 		Detroit Red Wings
Art Ross Trophy:
(Top scorer) 		Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Calder Memorial Trophy:
(Top first-year player) 		Lorne "Gump" Worsley, New York Rangers
Hart Trophy:
(Most valuable player) 		Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:
(Excellence and sportsmanship) 		Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings
Vezina Trophy:
(Goaltender of team with best goals-against record) 		Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings

All-Star teams

First team   Position   Second team
Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings G Gerry McNeil, Montreal Canadiens
Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings D Bill Quackenbush, Boston Bruins
Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens D Bill Gadsby, Chicago Black Hawks
Fleming MacKell, Boston Bruins C Alex Delvecchio, Detroit Red Wings
Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings RW Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Ted Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings LW Bert Olmstead, Montreal Canadiens

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
Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings 70 49 46 95 57
Ted Lindsay Detroit Red Wings 70 32 39 71 111
Maurice Richard Montreal Canadiens 70 28 33 61 112
Wally Hergesheimer New York Rangers 70 30 29 59 10
Alex Delvecchio Detroit Red Wings 70 16 43 59 28
Paul Ronty New York Rangers 70 16 38 54 20
Metro Prystai Detroit Red Wings 70 16 34 50 12
Red Kelly Detroit Red Wings 70 19 27 46 8
Bert Olmstead Montreal Canadiens 69 17 28 45 83
Fleming Mackell Boston Bruins 65 27 17 44 63

[5]

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
Terry Sawchuk Detroit Red Wings 63 3780 120 1.90 32 15 16 9
Gerry McNeil Montreal Canadiens 66 3960 140 2.12 25 23 18 10
Harry Lumley Toronto Maple Leafs 70 4200 167 2.39 27 30 13 10
Jim Henry Boston Bruins 70 4200 142 2.46 28 29 13 7
Al Rollins Chicago Black Hawks 70 4200 175 2.50 27 28 15 6
Chuck Rayner New York Rangers 20 1200 58 2.90 4 8 8 1
Lorne Worsley New York Rangers 50 3000 153 3.06 13 29 8 2

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1952–53 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1952–53 (listed with their last team):

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ CBC Archives. (May 29, 2009). " Hockey Night in Canada." CBC. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Dryden 2000, p. 55.
  3. ↑ "1952–1953 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  4. ↑ Mouton(1987), p. 117
  5. ↑ Dinger 2011, p. 149.

External links

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