The 1961–62 NHL season was the 45th

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL). The

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Divi ...

were the Stanley Cup champions as they defeated the Chicago Black Hawks four games to two.

League business

At a meeting of the owners and governors,

Conn Smythe Constantine Falkland Cary Smythe, MC (; February 1, 1895 – November 18, 1980) was a Canadian businessman, soldier and sportsman in ice hockey and horse racing. He is best known as the principal owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Nationa ...

resigned as Toronto's governor, to be replaced by his son,

Stafford Smythe Conn Stafford Smythe (March 15, 1921 – October 13, 1971) was the son of Conn Smythe and president of Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd. and the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team from 1961–1969 and from 1970 until his death. Early years Born in Toronto, ...

. Thereupon, Conn Smythe was appointed honorary governor.

Pre-season

A big trade took place between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers with Doug Harvey and

Albert Langlois Joseph Albert Oliver "Junior" Langlois (November 6, 1934 – September 19, 2020) was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League with four teams between 1958 and 1966. Langlois started his NHLcareer with the Montrea ...

going to the Rangers for Lou Fontinato. Harvey was named player-coach of the Rangers. In an exhibition game in

Trail, British Columbia Trail is a city in the West Kootenay region of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It was named after the Dewdney Trail, which passed through the area. The town was first called Trail Creek or Trail Creek Landing, and the name was shorte ...

, Jean Beliveau tore knee ligaments and would be unavailable for some time. This followed a knee injury to Dickie Moore. Several holdouts on the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Black Hawks were reported.

Stan Mikita Stanley Mikita (born Stanislav Guoth; May 20, 1940 – August 7, 2018) was a Slovak-born Canadian ice hockey player for the Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League, generally regarded as the best centre of the 1960s. In 2017, he was ...

, Reg Fleming and

Dollard St. Laurent Joseph Dollard Herve St. Laurent (May 12, 1929 – April 6, 2015) was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman. Dollard started his National Hockey League career with the Montreal Canadiens in 1951. He would spend eight years in Montreal before being t ...

refused to sign their contracts, but they eventually came to terms.

Regular season

Glenn Hall received one of the greatest standing ovations in NHL history just before the NHL All-star game began. He had difficulty suppressing his emotions at the tremendous welcome he received. The All-stars defeated the Black Hawks 3–1. Doug Harvey scored a goal in his debut as player-coach of the Rangers when they trounced the Boston Bruins 6–2 right at Boston Garden. The Rangers downed the Bruins again at Madison Square Garden 6–3 as Andy Bathgate had the hat trick and Camille Henry had two goals. Montreal downed the Rangers 3–1 in their home opener as Henri Richard led the way with two goals playing with Beliveau and Moore, two cripples who were not expected to play. Doug Harvey was given an ovation by the crowd as he skated out in a Ranger uniform. The new defence pair of Al MacNeil and Lou Fontinato turned in a good game. Earl Ingarfield, Sr. had a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

on November 19 as the Rangers beat the Maple Leafs 5–3. The Broadway Blueshirts were showing some power, and three nights later, Doug Harvey picked up three assists and

Gump Worsley Lorne John "Gump" Worsley (May 14, 1929 – January 26, 2007) was a professional ice hockey goaltender. Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, 'Gump' was given his nickname because friends thought he looked like comic-strip character Andy Gump. C ...

picked up a shutout as the Rangers blanked the Red Wings 4–0. The win put the Rangers into first place and the following night they beat the Bruins 4–3 as Harvey scored the winner. Ab McDonald had the hat trick December 6, as Chicago drubbed the Rangers 8–3 right at Madison Square Garden. Bill Hay had four assists for the Black Hawks. Toronto took over first place January 10 when they beat the Bruins 7–5. Frank Mahovlich scored two goals on his 24th birthday and Dave Keon also had two goals. Glenn Hall played his 500th consecutive game January 17, but was beaten 7–3 by Montreal. In a losing cause, Bobby Hull scored two goals, including his 20th of the season. Glenn Hall received a car from James D. Norris, president of the Black Hawks. Percy LeSueur, famous Ottawa goaltender in the old NHA, died on January 28, 1962, at age 79. Bobby Hull scored four goals February 1 as the Black Hawks defeated Detroit 7–4. The Rangers defeated the Red Wings 3–2 at home March 14, but the two highlights were Gordie Howe's 500th goal on Gump Worsley and a penalty shot for the Rangers Andy Bathgate. Howe took a pass from Alex Delvecchio and made a nice move to get by Doug Harvey. Howe switched to a left-handed shot and beat Worsley with a backhander for the 500th goal. Midway through the third period,

Dean Prentice Dean Sutherland Prentice (October 5, 1932 – November 2, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 22 seasons between 1952–53 and 1973–74. He had 10 NHL seasons with 20 or ...

had a breakaway and was skating toward the Detroit goal, when Hank Bassen, the Detroit goalkeeper, slid his stick to break up the play. Referee Eddie Powers awarded a penalty shot, but somehow forgot that the rules had been changed that season to read that the offended player must take the shot, not one of his teammates, and Powers permitted Andy Bathgate to take the shot. Bathgate gave Bassen some of his slick dekes and Bassen flopped on his face, allowing Bathgate to fire the puck into the open net for the winning goal. From there, the Rangers held on and made the playoffs for the first time since 1958. Bobby Hull joined the 50 goal club when he scored his 50th goal at about the five-minute mark of the first period as the Chicago Black Hawks beat the New York Rangers 4–1 at Madison Square Garden in the final game of the season. Hall and

Jacques Plante Joseph Jacques Omer Plante (; January 17, 1929 – February 27, 1986) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. During a career lasting from 1947 to 1975, he was considered to be one of the most important innovators in hockey. He played ...

of the Canadiens played every minute of every game in goal; other than Eddie Johnston of the Bruins two seasons later in 1964, they were the last major professional goaltenders to do so. The first 43 seasons saw only one 50 goal scorer,

Maurice "Rocket" Richard Joseph Henri Maurice "Rocket" Richard (; ; August 4, 1921 – May 27, 2000) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens. He was the first player in NHL hist ...

. Then last season, 1960–61, Bernie Geoffrion scored 50. This season saw another 50 goal scorer in Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks. From this point onwards until the new century, far more seasons than not would see at least one player score fifty in a season.

Final standings

Playoffs

Playoff bracket

Semifinals

The Black Hawks returned to the Finals, by defeating the first-place Canadiens four games to two in the semifinal. In the other, the second-place Maple Leafs defeated the Rangers, also in six games to advance to the Finals.

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (3) Chicago Black Hawks

(2) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (4) New York Rangers

Stanley Cup Finals

In the Finals, the Maple Leafs defeated the defending champions in six games. It was the first of three consecutive Stanley Cup wins by the Maple Leafs.

Awards

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

''Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes''

Leading goaltenders

''Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts''

Coaches

*Boston Bruins: Phil Watson *Chicago Black Hawks: Rudy Pilous *Detroit Red Wings: Sid Abel *Montreal Canadiens: Toe Blake *New York Rangers: Doug Harvey *Toronto Maple Leafs: Punch Imlach

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1961–62 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): * Ed Westfall, Boston Bruins * Pat Stapleton, Boston Bruins * Pit Martin, Detroit Red Wings *

Red Berenson Gordon Arthur "Red, The Red Baron" Berenson (born December 8, 1939) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre and head coach of the Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team from 1984 to 2017. Berenson was inducted into Canada's Sports ...

, Montreal Canadiens * Vic Hadfield, New York Rangers *

Gerry Cheevers Gerald Michael "Cheesie" Cheevers (born 7 December 1940) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) and World Hockey Association (WHA) between 1961 and 1980. Cheevers is best known for ...

, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1961–62 (listed with their last team): *

, Chicago Black Hawks * Leo Labine, Detroit Red Wings * Marcel Bonin, Montreal Canadiens * Johnny Wilson, New York Rangers * Bert Olmstead, Toronto Maple Leafs

References

* * * * * * * * * * ;Notes

External links

Hockey DatabaseNHL.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1961-62 NHL season 1961–62 in American ice hockey by league 1961–62 in Canadian ice hockey by league