1956–57 NHL season

1956–57 NHL season
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	October 11, 1956 – April 16, 1957
Number of games	70
Number of teams	6
Regular season
Season champion	Detroit Red Wings
Season MVP	Gordie Howe (Red Wings)
Top scorer	Gordie Howe (Red Wings)
Stanley Cup
Finals champions	Montreal Canadiens
Runners-up	Boston Bruins
NHL seasons
← 1955–56 1957–58 →

The 1956–57 NHL season was the 40th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive season, defeating the Boston Bruins four games to one in the best-of-seven final series. The final game was a clutch goal by Montreal defenseman Tom Johnson that put the Canadiens as Stanley Cup Champions by winning the game by a score of 3-2.

Regular season

On October 1, it was announced that Dick Irvin had resigned as coach of Chicago due to ill health. He was suffering from bone cancer and had been ill for two years and had been hospitalized in Montreal. Irvin had been several days late to training camp. Tommy Ivan took over as coach. Later in the season, it was reported that Irvin had undergone minor surgery for anemia at Ross Memorial Hospital. Irvin died on May 15, 1957.

Dave Trottier, the former Montreal Maroons star, died November 13, 1956 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was 50 years old.

Ted Lindsay, Detroit's star left wing, became the fourth player to score 300 career goals on November 18 when he picked up two goals in an 8-3 pasting of the Montreal Canadiens. The other players to reach this prestigious mark were Nels Stewart, Maurice Richard and Gordie Howe (who played opposite Lindsay for most of the latter's career).

On January 5, the Rangers and the Black Hawks played an afternoon game at Madison Square Garden where the Rangers beat the Black Hawks 4-1. This game was broadcast on the Columbia Broadcast System network (CBS). Glen Skov spoiled Lorne "Gump" Worsley's would-be shutout with a goal in the third period.

Montreal beat Toronto 2-1 at the Forum in Montreal on January 10 and moved into first place. The game was hard-fought and referee Frank Udvari found it necessary to rule with an iron hand that angered the fans. Fans thought he was being filthy, calling chippy penalties against the Habs and deliberately failing to call hooking and holding penalties by the Maple Leafs. The blow-off came in the last two minutes of the game. Maurice Richard received a high-sticking penalty. At 18:14, knowing his Maple Leafs were in danger, Toronto coach Howie Meeker pulled goaltender Ed Chadwick for six attackers. Here, Dick Duff scored the tying goal, causing Richard, arguably the most popular and maybe the most outstanding player in Canadiens history, to go berserk and commence a heated argument with Udvari, and Richard banged his stick on the ice. He might have attacked Udvari if his teammates hadn't restrained him. Fans threw programmes, paper cups, hats and other debris and the game was held up. When it did resume, Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion set up Don Marshall for the winning goal with a mere 6 seconds left to play. Although the fans were pleased with the outcome, an angry hum commenced as the players and officials left the ice. Udvari had to be escorted to his dressing room by police and ushers. A large part of the crowd now directed its attention to NHL President Clarence Campbell seated in his box seat and he became the target of jeers and threats. The situation began to show some of the aspects of the Richard Riot of two years previous when Richard had been suspended for an attack on an official. It was at least 30 minutes before Campbell was able to leave under police protection.

Terry Sawchuk had been playing well and was a candidate for the Hart Memorial Trophy, when he came down with mononucleosis. He came back too soon and by January 16, he announced his retirement from hockey, a temporary one as he would be back in Detroit next season.

Glenn Hall wasn't as good as the previous season, but led the Detroit Red Wings to first place. Hall had played only two games prior to 1955-56, but had shown such promise Sawchuk was sent off.

Rule changes

At the start of this season, the NHL changed the way power plays work. Prior to this season, a team could score as many goals as they wanted in a two-minute power play with the penalised player remaining in the penalty box. The NHL changed it so that when a goal is scored on a two-minute power play, the power play finished. The reason for this was because the Montreal Canadiens were so dominant on the power play, the NHL needed a way of ensuring parity. The previous season saw the Canadiens score 26% of all the league's power play goals. Oddly enough, the number of power play goals league-wide actually increased from 251 to 265 after the rule changed. Montreal, though, scored 10 fewer power play goals.

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

National Hockey League	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Detroit Red Wings	70	38	20	12	88	198	157	656
Montreal Canadiens	70	35	23	12	82	210	155	870
Boston Bruins	70	34	24	12	80	195	174	978
New York Rangers	70	26	30	14	66	184	227	870
Toronto Maple Leafs	70	21	34	15	57	174	192	829
Chicago Black Hawks	70	16	39	15	47	169	225	809

Playoffs

Playoff bracket

	Semifinals					Finals
	1	Detroit Red Wings	1
	3	Boston Bruins	4
						3	Boston Bruins	1
						2	Montreal Canadiens	4
	2	Montreal Canadiens	4
	4	New York Rangers	1

Semifinals

Detroit Red Wings vs. Boston Bruins Date Away Team Home Team 26. March Boston 3 1 Detroit 28. March Boston 2 7 Detroit 31. March Detroit 3 4 Boston 2. April Detroit 1 2 Boston 4. April Boston 4 3 Detroit Boston won series 4:1.

New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens Date Away Team Home Team Notes 26. March Montreal 4 1 NY Rangers 28. March Montreal 3 4 NY Rangers OT 30. March NY Rangers 3 8 Montreal 2. April NY Rangers 1 3 Montreal 4. April NY Rangers 3 4 Montreal OT Montreal won series 4:1.

Final

Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins
Date	Away Team		Home Team
6. April	Boston	1	5	Montreal
9. April	Boston	0	1	Montreal
11. April	Montreal	4	2	Boston
14. April	Montreal	0	2	Boston
16. April	Boston	1	5	Montreal
Montreal won series 4:1.

Awards

• Prince of Wales Trophy: Detroit Red Wings
• Art Ross Memorial Trophy: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
• Calder Memorial Trophy: Larry Regan, Boston Bruins
• Hart Memorial Trophy: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
• James Norris Memorial Trophy: Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens
• Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Andy Hebenton, New York Rangers
• Vezina Trophy: Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens

All-Star teams

First team	Position	Second team
Glenn Hall, Detroit Red Wings	G	Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens
Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens	D	Fern Flaman, Boston Bruins
Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings	D	Bill Gadsby, New York Rangers
Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens	C	Ed Litzenberger, Chicago Black Hawks
Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings	RW	Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Ted Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings	LW	Real Chevrefils, Boston Bruins

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	44	45	89	72
Ted Lindsay	Detroit Red Wings	70	30	55	85	103
Jean Beliveau	Montreal Canadiens	69	33	51	84	105
Andy Bathgate	New York Rangers	70	27	50	77	60
Ed Litzenberger	Chicago Black Hawks	70	32	32	64	48
Maurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens	63	33	29	62	74
Don McKenney	Boston Bruins	69	21	39	60	31
Dickie Moore	Montreal Canadiens	70	29	29	58	56
Henri Richard	Montreal Canadiens	63	18	36	54	71
Norm Ullman	Detroit Red Wings	64	16	36	52	47

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
Jacques Plante	Montreal Canadiens	61	3660	122	2.00	31	18	12	9
Glenn Hall	Detroit Red Wings	70	4200	156	2.23	38	20	12	4
Terry Sawchuk	Boston Bruins	34	2040	81	2.38	18	10	6	2
Don Simmons	Boston Bruins	26	1560	63	2.42	13	9	4	4
Ed Chadwick	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	4200	186	2.66	21	34	15	5
Al Rollins	Chicago Black Hawks	70	4080	222	3.17	16	39	15	3
Lorne Worsley	New York Rangers	68	4080	217	3.24	26	28	14	3

Team Photos

• 

  Boston Bruins

• 

  Chicago Black Hawks

• 

  Detroit Red Wings

• 

  Montreal Canadiens

• 

  New York Rangers

• 

  Toronto Maple Leafs

References

• Coleman, Charles L. (1976), Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol III, Sherbrooke, QC: Progressive Publications 
• (1994) in Diamond, Dan: 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. 
• (2000) in Diamond, Dan: Total Hockey. Kingston, NY: Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X. 
• (2011) The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5. 
• (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,  
• (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, ISBN B000GW45S0 
• McFarlane, Brian (1973). The Story of the National Hockey League. New York, NY: Pagurian Press. ISBN 0-684-13424-1. 

Notes

External links

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com

National Hockey League seasons

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