The 1963 Stanley Cup Finals was the

championship series In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match sy ...

of the

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

's (NHL) 1962–63 season, and the culmination of the 1963 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the defending champion

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 Div ...

and the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

. The Maple Leafs won the best-of-seven series, four games to one, to win the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

, their second straight NHL championship.

Paths to the Finals

Toronto defeated the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

4–1 to advance to the finals and Detroit defeated the

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

4–2

Game summaries

Johnny Bower John William Bower (né Kiszkan; November 8, 1924 – December 26, 2017), nicknamed "The China Wall", was a Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender who won four Stanley Cups during his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 2017 he was named one ...

limited the Wings to 10 goals in the five games, and five different Leafs had multiple-goal games: Duff, Nevin, Stewart, Kelly and Keon. The Leafs had finished first in the regular season, and were installed as 13–5 favourites by oddsmakers.Jenish, p. 212

Game one

In the first 68 seconds,

Dick Duff Terrance Richard Duff (born February 18, 1936) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played 18 seasons for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, Los Angeles Kings, and New York Rangers in the National Ho ...

scored twice on Detroit's

Terry Sawchuk Terrance Gordon Sawchuk (December 28, 1929 – May 31, 1970) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kin ...

, the fastest two goals to start a game in Stanley Cup history. The Leafs would suffer a second-period letdown but would win 4–2 to take the lead in the series. Because of the second period letdown,

Punch Imlach George "Punch" Imlach (March 15, 1918 – December 1, 1987) was a Canadian ice hockey coach and general manager best known for his association with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, and t ...

would put the team through a morning practice the next morning.Jenish, p.213

Game two

The Leafs would again win 4–2 and would again have to have a morning after workout assigned by Imlach.

Game three

The series now moved to Detroit. The team was sequestered out of town in a

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

hotel. The Red Wings, led by rookie centre

Alex Faulkner Selm Alexander Faulkner (born May 21, 1936) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player and was the first National Hockey League (NHL) player from Newfoundland and Labrador. He played in the NHL from 1961 to 1964 with the Toronto Maple L ...

's two goals, including the winner, captured the game three–2. It was his third game-winning goal and all had been scored on Sundays. Faulkner was a native of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

and

Howie Meeker Howard William Meeker (November 4, 1923 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian professional hockey player in the National Hockey League, youth coach and educator in ice hockey, and a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament. He became best ...

, exclaimed that there would be "dancing in the streets tonight".

Game four

The Leafs felt that they had let game three slip away due to overconfidence and were determined to not repeat the mistake in game four. The game was close, and was tied 2–2 until with ten minutes to go

Dave Keon David Michael Keon (born March 22, 1940) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He played professionally from 1960 to 1982, including 15 seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1986. Ke ...

scored.

Red Kelly Leonard Patrick "Red" Kelly (July 9, 1927 – May 2, 2019) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. He was also a Liberal Member of Parliament for the Toronto-area riding of York West from 1962 to 1965, during which time he also ...

added another to make the score 4–2. On the way to the dressing room the Leafs' players were pelted with paper cups, programs and food containers.Jenish, p.214

Game five

Back in Toronto, the Red Wings kept the score close. After Keon scored a short-handed goal,

Marcel Pronovost Joseph René Marcel Pronovost (June 15, 1930April 26, 2015) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and coach. He played in 1,206 games over 20 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons for the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs bet ...

scored for Detroit to tie the game. The game and series winner was scored by

Eddie Shack Edward Steven Phillip Shack (February 11, 1937July 25, 2020), also known by his nicknames "the Entertainer" and "the Nose", was a Canadian professional ice hockey player of Ukrainian descent who played for six National Hockey League (NHL) teams ...

with seven minutes to go on a deflection. Shack had scored the goal unintentionally as he later admitted. Keon then scored another short-handed goal to put the game out of reach for Detroit. The Leafs celebrated their second consecutive

by throwing Imlach,

Harold Ballard Harold Edwin Ballard (born Edwin Harold Ballard, July 30, 1903 – April 11, 1990) was a Canadian businessman and sportsman. Ballard was an owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) as well as their home arena, Maple ...

and

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, S ...

into the showers fully clothed. The team was given a victory parade along Bay Street with a reception at Toronto City Hall.Jenish, p.215 As of 2019, this is the only one of the last seven big four championship series involving a Toronto team (all of which have been won by Toronto) which did not last exactly six games.

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1963 Stanley Cup was presented to Maple Leafs captain George Armstrong by NHL President

Clarence Campbell Clarence Sutherland Campbell, (July 9, 1905 – June 24, 1984) was a Canadian ice hockey executive, referee, and soldier. He refereed in the National Hockey League (NHL) during the 1930s, served in the Canadian Army during World War II, then s ...

following the Maple Leafs 3–1 win over the Red Wings in game five. The following Maple Leafs players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup 1962–63 Toronto Maple Leafs

Notes

References

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Stanley Cup Finals Detroit Red Wings games Toronto Maple Leafs games April 1963 sports events in Canada 1963 in Toronto Ice hockey competitions in Detroit Ice hockey competitions in Toronto 1963 in Detroit