1954–55 NHL season

National Hockey League season August 2023 1954–55 NHL season National Hockey League Ice hockey October 7, 1954 – April 14, 1955 Regular season 70 6 CBC, SRC (Canada)None (United States) Season champion Detroit Red Wings Ted Kennedy (Maple Leafs) Hart Memorial Trophy Bernie Geoffrion (Canadiens) Art Ross Trophy Stanley Cup 1955 Stanley Cup Final Detroit Red Wings Montreal Canadiens 1955–56 NHL season 1953–54 NHL season 1955–56 1953–54 NHL The 1954–55 NHL season was the 38th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams played 70 games each. The Detroit Red Wings were the Stanley Cup champions as they defeated the Montreal Canadiens four games to three in the best-of-seven final series. The Canadiens were without star forward Maurice 'Rocket' Richard who had been suspended for the playoffs, a suspension which led to the March 17, 1955 "Richard Riot" in Montreal. League business Art Ross announced at the league governors meeting that his connection with Boston would terminate at the end of September. As this would be his last appearance at a league meeting, he took the opportunity to thank the governors and others associated with the league during the 30 years of his being officer of the Boston club for the kindness, courtesy and cooperation he had received, and extended his good wishes for the continued success of the league. Conn Smythe and Frank Selke voiced the good wishes of all present to Ross on his retirement. Prior to the season, Red Wings head coach Tommy Ivan left Detroit to become general manager of the Chicago Black Hawks, and Jimmy Skinner replaced him behind the bench in the Motor City. One of the first things Ivan did at Chicago was to establish an extensive farm system, something the Black Hawks never had. Regular season On December 18, 1954, Maurice Richard scored his 400th career goal against Chicago netminder Al Rollins in a 4–1 Canadiens victory over the Black Hawks. Montreal and Toronto played to a 1–1 tie on December 29, at Maple Leaf Gardens. Maurice Richard got a standing ovation when he scored his 401st goal late in the first period. In a scoreless tie at the Montreal Forum on March 10, a new ice cleaner and resurfacer called a Zamboni was used for the first time. The fans were not appreciative of Toronto's defensive style in this game and threw garbage, including pig's feet, on the ice. The Richard Riot took place on March 17, 1955. Maurice Richard had been suspended by league president Clarence Campbell after an incident in a game against Boston where Richard punched the referee. Richard was suspended for the rest of the season and the playoffs. Campbell's subsequent appearance at a Canadiens' game at the Montreal Forum incited a group of protesters and led to violence in the Forum and in downtown Montreal. Final standings Playoffs Playoff bracket The top four teams in the league qualified for the playoffs. In the semifinals, the first-place team played the third-place team, while the second-place team faced the fourth-place team, with the winners advancing to the Stanley Cup Final. In both rounds, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series). Stanley Cup Final Semifinals 1 Detroit 4 3 Toronto 0 2 Montreal 4 4 Boston 1 1 Detroit 4 2 Montreal 3 Semifinals (1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (3) Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto Maple Leafs Detroit Red Wings Maple Leaf Gardens Olympia Stadium March 22 4–7 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-det/1955/03/22/1954030111#game=1954030111,game_state=final Brian Cullen (1) – pp – 07:00George Armstrong (1) – 13:01 11:54 – Vic Stasiuk (1)19:06 – Dutch Reibel (1) No scoring 01:36 – Glen Skov (1)09:48 – pp – Dutch Reibel (2) Sid Smith (1) – 02:53Ted Kennedy (1) – pp – 12:38 03:54 – Gordie Howe (1)07:40 – pp – Gordie Howe (2)15:07 – pp – Ted Lindsay (1) Harry Lumley Terry Sawchuck March 24 1–2 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-det/1955/03/24/1954030112#game=1954030112,game_state=final Sid Smith (2) – 00:17 08:09 – pp – Gordie Howe (3)08:54 – pp – Alex Delvecchio (1) No scoring No scoring No scoring No scoring Harry Lumley Terry Sawchuck March 26 2–1 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-tor/1955/03/26/1954030113#game=1954030113,game_state=final 07:29 – pp – Sid Smith (3) Ted Lindsay (2) – pp – 01:36Dutch Reibel (3) – 11:46 No scoring No scoring No scoring No scoring Harry Lumley Terry Sawchuck March 29 3–0 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-tor/1955/03/29/1954030114#game=1954030114,game_state=final No scoring No scoring No scoring Vic Stasiuk (2) – 05:38Gordie Howe (4) – 09:20 No scoring Tony Leswick (1) – en – 19:33 Harry Lumley Terry Sawchuck Detroit won series 4–0 (2) Montreal Canadiens vs. (4) Boston Bruins Boston Bruins Montreal Canadiens Boston Garden Montreal Forum March 22 0–2 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-mtl/1955/03/22/1954030121#game=1954030121,game_state=final No scoring No scoring No scoring 06:23 – pp – Bernie Geoffrion (1)12:35 – pp – Jean Beliveau (1) No scoring No scoring Jim Henry Jacques Plante, Charlie Hodge March 24 1–3 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-mtl/1955/03/24/1954030122#game=1954030122,game_state=final No scoring No scoring Real Chevrefils (1) – 16:43 01:31 – Floyd Curry (1)11:08 – Calum MacKay (1)13:43 – Jean Beliveau (2) No scoring No scoring Jim Henry Jacques Plante, Charlie Hodge March 27 2–4 1 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-bos/1955/03/27/1954030123#game=1954030123,game_state=final 13:53 – Leo Labine (1)18:25 – Fern Flaman (1)18:45 – Real Chevrefils (2) No scoring 18:47 – Hal Laycoe (1) No scoring No scoring Ken Mosdell (1) – 00:30Jack LeClair (1) – sh – 18:46 Jim Henry Jacques Plante, Charlie Hodge March 29 4–3 1 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-bos/1955/03/29/1954030124#game=1954030124,game_state=final No scoring No scoring 06:15 – pp – Don McKenney (1)09:55 – Leo Labine (2) Tom Johnson (1) – 03:51Floyd Curry (2) – pp – 12:43 08:52 – Ed Sandford (1) Bernie Geoffrion (2) – 12:40 No scoring Don Marshall (1) – sh – 03:05 Jim Henry Jacques Plante, Charlie Hodge March 31 1–5 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-mtl/1955/03/31/1954030125#game=1954030125,game_state=final No scoring 03:43 – Jack LeClair (2)14:43 – pp – Dickie Moore (1) Lorne Ferguson (1) – pp – 15:52 07:55 – Floyd Curry (3)11:18 – Jack LeClair (3) No scoring 08:14 – Jean Beliveau (3) Jim Henry Jacques Plante Montreal won series 4–1 Stanley Cup Final 1955 Stanley Cup Final Montreal Canadiens Detroit Red Wings Montreal Forum Olympia Stadium April 3 2–4 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-det/1955/04/03/1954030211#game=1954030211,game_state=final No scoring No scoring Floyd Curry (4) – 05:09 14:00 – pp – Alex Delvecchio (2) Floyd Curry (5) – 08:57 13:05 – Vic Stasiuk (3)17:07 – sh – Marty Pavelich (1)19:42 – en – Ted Lindsay (3) Jacques Plante Terry Sawchuck April 5 1–7 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-det/1955/04/05/1954030212#game=1954030212,game_state=final No scoring 02:15 – sh – Marcel Pronovost (1)09:57 – Ted Lindsay (4)16:00 – Alex Delvecchio (3)17:11 – Gordie Howe (5) No scoring 08:10 – Ted Lindsay (5)15:48 – pp – Ted Lindsay (6)19:37 – Ted Lindsay (7) Ken Mosdell (2) – 12:32 No scoring Jacques Plante, Charlie Hodge Terry Sawchuck April 7 2–4 1 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-mtl/1955/04/07/1954030213#game=1954030213,game_state=final 08:30 – pp – Bernie Geoffrion (3)08:42 – pp – Bernie Geoffrion (4) Red Kelly (1) – pp – 18:13 14:23 – Bernie Geoffrion (5) Vic Stasiuk (4) – 16:16 07:50 – Jack LeClair (4) No scoring Jacques Plante Terry Sawchuck April 9 3–5 1 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-mtl/1955/04/09/1954030214#game=1954030214,game_state=final 00:40 – Calum MacKay (2) Dutch Reibel (4) – 12:38 03:41 – Bernie Geoffrion (6)08:25 – Jean Beliveau (4)09:07 – Tom Johnson (2) No scoring 02:33 – Floyd Curry (6) Dutch Reibel (5) – 03:40Jim Hay (1) – 12:000 Jacques Plante Terry Sawchuck April 10 1–5 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-det/1955/04/10/1954030215#game=1954030215,game_state=final Jean Beliveau (5) – pp – 08:01 12:59 – Glen Skov (2)18:59 – Gordie Howe (6) No scoring 12:29 – pp – Gordie Howe (7)16:20 – pp – Gordie Howe (8) No scoring 02:09 – Vic Stasiuk (5) Jacques Plante Terry Sawchuck April 12 3–6 1 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-mtl/1955/04/12/1954030216#game=1954030216,game_state=final 07:30 – Jean Beliveau (6) Alex Delvecchio (4) – 13:36 03:45 – pp – Jack LeClair (5)05:21 – pp – Bernie Geoffrion (7)18:18 – Bernie Geoffrion (8) Alex Delvecchio (5) – pp – 15:54 00:19 – Floyd Curry (7)18:55 – Calum MacKay (3) Red Kelly (2) – 16:23 Jacques Plante Terry Sawchuck April 14 1–3 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-det/1955/04/14/1954030217#game=1954030217,game_state=final No scoring No scoring No scoring 07:12 – Alex Delvecchio (6)19:49 – Gordie Howe (9) Floyd Curry (8) – pp – 14:35 02:59 – Alex Delvecchio (7) Jacques Plante Terry Sawchuck Detroit won series 4–3 Awards + Award winnersPrince of Wales Trophy:(Regular season champion) Detroit Red WingsArt Ross Trophy:(Top scorer) Bernie Geoffrion, Montreal CanadiensCalder Memorial Trophy:(Best first-year player) Ed Litzenberger, Chicago Black HawksHart Trophy:(Most valuable player) Ted Kennedy, Toronto Maple LeafsJames Norris Memorial Trophy:(Best defenceman) Doug Harvey, Montreal CanadiensLady Byng Memorial Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) Sid Smith, Toronto Maple LeafsVezina Trophy:(Goaltender of team with the best goals-against average) Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings + All-Star teams First team   Position   Second teamHarry Lumley, Toronto Maple Leafs GTerry Sawchuk, Detroit Red WingsDoug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens DBob Goldham, Detroit Red WingsRed Kelly, Detroit Red Wings DFern Flaman, Boston BruinsJean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens CKen Mosdell, Montreal CanadiensMaurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens RWBernie Geoffrion, Montreal CanadiensSid Smith, Toronto Maple Leafs LWDanny Lewicki, New York Rangers 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 Bernie Geoffrion Montreal Canadiens 70 38 37 75 57 Maurice Richard Montreal Canadiens 67 38 36 74 125 Jean Beliveau Montreal Canadiens 70 37 36 73 58 Earl Reibel Detroit Red Wings 70 25 41 66 15 Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings 64 29 33 62 68 Red Sullivan Chicago Black Hawks 69 19 42 61 51 Bert Olmstead Montreal Canadiens 70 10 48 58 103 Sid Smith Toronto Maple Leafs 70 33 21 54 14 Ken Mosdell Montreal Canadiens 70 22 32 54 82 Danny Lewicki New York Rangers 70 29 24 53 8 Source: NHLDinger 2011 149 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 SOHarry Lumley Toronto Maple Leafs 69 4140 133 1.93 23 24 22 8Terry Sawchuk Detroit Red Wings 68 4080 132 1.94 40 17 11 12Jacques Plante Montreal Canadiens 52 3120 109 2.10 31 13 7 5Charlie Hodge Montreal Canadiens 14 820 31 2.27 7 3 4 1John Henderson Boston Bruins 45 2652 109 2.47 15 14 15 5Lorne Worsley New York Rangers 65 3900 195 3.00 15 33 17 4Jim Henry Boston Bruins 27 1548 79 3.06 8 12 6 1Hank Bassen Chicago Black Hawks 21 1260 63 3.00 4 9 8 0Al Rollins Chicago Black Hawks 44 2640 149 3.39 9 27 8 0 Coaches Boston Bruins: Milt Schmidt Chicago Black Hawks: Frank Eddolls Detroit Red Wings: Jimmy Skinner Montreal Canadiens: Dick Irvin New York Rangers: Muzz Patrick Toronto Maple Leafs: King Clancy Debuts The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1954–55 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): Don McKenney, Boston Bruins Don Cherry*, Boston Bruins (only NHL game of career) Charlie Hodge, Montreal Canadiens Jean-Guy Talbot, Montreal Canadiens Lou Fontinato, New York Rangers Dick Duff, Toronto Maple Leafs Last games The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1954–55 (listed with their last team): Gus Bodnar, Boston Bruins Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins Jim Henry, Boston Bruins Bill Mosienko, Chicago Black Hawks Paul Ronty, Montreal Canadiens Edgar Laprade, New York Rangers Bill Ezinicki, New York Rangers Don Cherry, Boston Bruins (Only NHL game of his career) Broadcasting This was the third season of Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television. Coverage included selected Stanley Cup playoff games. Both regular season and playoff games were not broadcast in their entirety until the 1968–69 season, and were typically joined in progress, while the radio version of HNIC aired games in their entirety. See also 1954–55 NHL transactions 1954 NHL Intra-League Draft List of Stanley Cup champions 8th National Hockey League All-Star Game National Hockey League All-Star Game 1954 in sports 1955 in sports References Coleman Charles L. 1976 Sherbrooke, Quebec Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol III Progressive Publications Years of glory, 1942–1967: the National Hockey League's official book of the six-team era Diamond, Dan 1994 McClelland and Stewart Toronto, ON 0-7710-2817-2 Total Hockey Diamond, Dan Total Sports 2000 1-892129-85-X Kingston, New York Dinger Ralph 2011 The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012 Dan Diamond & Associates 978-1-894801-22-5 Toronto, ON registration https://archive.org/details/nationalhockeyle0000unse_u6g5 Dryden Steve Century of hockey McClelland & Stewart Ltd. Toronto, ON 2000 0-7710-4179-9 Duplacey James 2008 North Dighton, Massachusetts Hockey's Book of Firsts JG Press 978-1-57215-037-9 Fischler Stan Fischler Shirley Hughes Morgan Romain Joseph Duplacey James 2003 The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League Publications International Inc. 0-7853-9624-1 Lincolnwood, Illinois Fischler 2003 McFarlane Brian 1969 50 Years Of Hockey Winnipeg, MAN Greywood Publishing B000GW45S0 McFarlane Brian The Story of the National Hockey League Pagurian Press New York 1973 0-684-13424-1 registration https://archive.org/details/storyofnationalh0000mcfa Notes External links Hockey Database NHL.com 1954 Category:1954–55 in American ice hockey by league Category:1954–55 in Canadian ice hockey by league