1958–59 NHL season

National Hockey League season August 2023 1958–59 NHL season National Hockey League Ice hockey October 8, 1958 – April 18, 1959 Regular season 70 6 CBC, SRC (Canada)CBS (United States) Season champion Montreal Canadiens Andy Bathgate (Rangers) Hart Memorial Trophy Dickie Moore (Canadiens) Art Ross Trophy Stanley Cup 1959 Stanley Cup Finals Montreal Canadiens Toronto Maple Leafs 1959–60 NHL season 1957–58 NHL season 1959–60 1957–58 NHL The 1958–59 NHL season was the 42nd season of the National Hockey League. Six teams played 70 games each. The Montreal Canadiens were the Stanley Cup champions as they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs four games to one in the best-of-seven final series. This marked the fourth consecutive Stanley Cup win for the Canadiens as they became the first team to win four in a row. League business The NHL and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) negotiated a new professional-amateur agreement, since the previous deal had expired in 1955, and the groups had operated on a gentleman's agreement.Allan Cup Champions To Defend World Ice Crown Sullivan Jack Jack Sullivan (journalist) May 21, 1958 Brandon Daily Sun Brandon, Manitoba 11 https://newspaperarchive.com/sports-clipping-may-21-1958-1563414/ CAHA secretary George Dudley announced that NHL would pay C$40,000 towards developing amateur players, and the agreement set rules for negotiation lists and reserve lists and an earlier deadline to decide which players might be moved from a junior team to a professional team. The CAHA agreed that amateurs aged 17 and older would use same rules as the professionals except for overtime.Pro-Amateur Agreement Reached January 3, 1959 Winnipeg Free Press Winnipeg, Manitoba 38 https://newspaperarchive.com/sports-clipping-jan-03-1959-1563481/ Regular season The Toronto Maple Leafs, last-place finishers the previous season, brought up Johnny Bower to share goaltending duties with Ed Chadwick and bolstered the defence by adding Carl Brewer and Allan Stanley to aid Tim Horton and Bobby Baun. Ralph Backstrom and Jean Beliveau each had two goals apiece in a 9–1 Montreal win at the Montreal Forum on October 23. Rudy Pilous, coach of the Black Hawks, was displeased with his team's performance and fined his team $100 for the poor performance. Beliveau had a hat trick November 29 as Montreal beat Detroit 6–2 at the Forum. Gordie Howe was injured in a collision with Doug Harvey near the end of the first period and was taken to hospital, returning for the third period. The next night, Montreal defeated the Red Wings 7–0 as Jacques Plante got his third shutout of the season. On January 3, Harvey was back in the Canadiens' lineup and scored two goals in a 5–1 win over the New York Rangers at the Forum. In the last minute of play, Plante got two penalties, one of them a major that sparked the fight. Jimmy Bartlett had skated into Plante, and Plante retaliated by punching Bartlett, provoking a bench-clearing brawl. Referee Dalton McArthur gave Bartlett a double major, one for charging and one for fighting, and a misconduct penalty. On February 1, the Rangers downed the Red Wings 5–4 at Madison Square Garden. Lou Fontinato became incensed when Gordie Howe struck Eddie Shack with his stick, and challenged the right wing. Howe broke Fontinato's nose in the fight. On February 5, the Rangers beat the Wings 5–0 on Worsley's shutout. Detroit coach Sid Abel, formerly Howe's centerman, fined 14 players $100 each for playing what he described as "the worst game of hockey he had seen in 20 years". On February 15 at Madison Square Garden, Worsley had Montreal shut out with ten minutes remaining. Then the Canadiens scored 5 goals to win 5–1. Coach Phil Watson ordered every player except Worsley out on the ice for an after-game workout. Watson said Worsley hadn't played so badly. General manager Muzz Patrick said the workout was in lieu of fines. With five games left in the season, the Rangers had a seven-point lead over Toronto. Then the Rangers went into a tailspin, and the Leafs got hot. The key game was played March 19 between Toronto and the Canadiens. Plante could not play due to a severe case of boils, and so the Canadiens used Claude Pronovost in goal. He let in five goals before coach Toe Blake replaced him in the third period with Claude Cyr; it was Cyr's first and last NHL game. Toronto won 6–3. The Canadiens brought up Charlie Hodge from the Montreal Royals and on March 22, he beat the Rangers 4–2. The Rangers still had a chance to make the playoffs if Detroit beat Toronto. The Leafs won 6–4 and ousted the Rangers from the playoffs. The Montreal Canadiens again won the regular season standings; their players dominated the All-Star nominations (with six of a possible twelve, the same number as in 1956) and trophies as Jacques Plante won his fourth straight Vezina Trophy, Tom Johnson won the James Norris Memorial Trophy, ending teammate Doug Harvey's four-year monopoly, and Dickie Moore won the Art Ross Trophy, setting a new record for total points in a season: with a 41-goal, 55-assist campaign, Moore broke Howe's league record by a single point. This season marked the final time until 1967 with an active player who had played for a team not in the Original Six. Former Brooklyn Americans player Ken Mosdell suited up for two postseason games for the Canadiens that year, and retired after Montreal won the Cup. 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 Finals. 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 Finals Semifinals 1 Montreal 4 3 Chicago 2 2 Boston 3 4 Toronto 4 1 Montreal 4 4 Toronto 1 Semifinals (1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (3) Chicago Black Hawks Following game six, Ottawa Journal sports editor Bill Westwick quoted league president Clarence Campbell as accusing the referee Red Storey of "freezing" in the final minutes of the near-riotous game.Campbell Says United Press International April 7, 1959 Ottawa Journal Ottawa, Ontario 5 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94834005/westwick-1959/ Storey subsequently resigned as a referee. Campbell stated that Westwick took the words out of context, accused him of "breaking confidence" in the article.After 47 years, Bill Westwick writes his final 30 Lake Stuart August 30, 1973 Ottawa Citizen Ottawa, Ontario 27 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94373583/westwick-1973/ Westwick's fellow newsmen defended his article and did not question its veracity.Bill Westwick: Good reporter, good man, good friend MacCabe Eddie Eddie MacCabe June 21, 1990 Ottawa Citizen Ottawa, Ontario 31 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94361542/westwick-1990/ Chicago Black Hawks Montreal Canadiens Chicago Stadium Montreal Forum March 24 2–4 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/chi-vs-mtl/1959/03/24/1958030111#game=1958030111,game_state=final Tod Sloan (1) – pp – 16:34 10:46 – Claude Provost (1) No scoring 04:05 – Henri Richard (1)19:23 – pp – Marcel Bonin (1) Tod Sloan (2) – 03:26 02:04 – Marcel Bonin (2) Glenn Hall Jacques Plante March 26 1–5 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/chi-vs-mtl/1959/03/26/1958030112#game=1958030112,game_state=final Eric Nesterenko (1) – sh – 14:35 05:56 – Marcel Bonin (3)12:01 – pp – Bernie Geoffrion (1)12:48 – Dickie Moore (1) No scoring 08:29 – pp – Jean Beliveau (1)17:06 – pp – Marcel Bonin (4) No scoring No scoring Glenn Hall Jacques Plante March 28 2–4 1 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-chi/1959/03/28/1958030113#game=1958030113,game_state=final 11:17 – Al Arbour (1)13:15 – Lorne Ferguson (1) No scoring 16:44 – Ed Litzenberger (1) Marcel Bonin (5) – 06:30 19:54 – en – Glen Skov (1) Henri Richard (2) – 08:48 Glenn Hall Jacques Plante March 31 1–3 1 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-chi/1959/03/31/1958030114#game=1958030114,game_state=final 18:08 – Bobby Hull (1) Marcel Bonin (6) – pp – 04:33 No scoring No scoring 13:26 – Lorne Ferguson (2)19:49 – en – Glen Skov (2) No scoring Glenn Hall Jacques Plante April 2 2–4 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/chi-vs-mtl/1959/04/02/1958030115#game=1958030115,game_state=final No scoring 01:34 – Andre Pronovost (1)10:48 – pp – Marcel Bonin (7)14:35 – Claude Provost (2)16:38 – pp – Bernie Geoffrion (2) Tod Sloan (3) – pp – 03:00 No scoring Eric Nesterenko (2) – 05:11 No scoring Glenn Hall Jacques Plante April 4 5–4 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-chi/1959/04/04/1958030116#game=1958030116,game_state=final 13:05 – pp – Ted Lindsay (2) Doug Harvey (1) – 02:20 05:52 – Ed Litzenberger (2) Dickie Moore (2) – pp – 09:09Claude Provost (3) – sh – 10:22 03:24 – pp – Ed Litzenberger (3)14:32 – Ted Lindsay (2) Dickie Moore (3) – 13:18Claude Provost (4) – 18:32 Glenn Hall Jacques Plante Montreal won series 4–2 (2) Boston Bruins vs. (4) Toronto Maple Leafs Toronto Maple Leafs Boston Bruins Maple Leaf Gardens Boston Garden March 24 1–5 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-bos/1959/03/24/1958030121#game=1958030121,game_state=final No scoring 07:50 – Jerry Toppazzini (1) Gerry Ehman (1) – 06:07 10:53 – Leo Labine (1)11:53 – Vic Stasiuk (1)18:45 – sh – Larry Leach (1) No scoring 06:18 – Don McKenney (1) Johnny Bower Harry Lumley March 26 2–4 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-bos/1959/03/26/1958030122#game=1958030122,game_state=final Dick Duff (1) – 15:45 10:00 – Fleming MacKell (1)12:14 – pp – Fleming MacKell (2) Ron Stewart (1) – 08:09 No scoring No scoring 15:59 – Jean-Guy Gendron (1)19:15 – en – Leo Labine (2) Johnny Bower Harry Lumley March 28 2–3 1 1 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-tor/1959/03/28/1958030123#game=1958030123,game_state=final 16:21 – Bob Pulford (1) Vic Stasiuk (2) – pp – 02:43 No scoring Vic Stasiuk (3) – 17:34 17:08 – Gerry Ehman (2) No scoring 05:02 – Gerry Ehman (3) No scoring Johnny Bower Harry Lumley March 31 2–3 1 1 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-tor/1959/03/31/1958030124#game=1958030124,game_state=final 06:58 – pp – Gerry Ehman (4) No scoring No scoring No scoring 02:46 – Brian Cullen (1) Jerry Toppazzini (2) – 02:02Bronco Horvath (1) – 07:20 11:21 – pp – Frank Mahovlich (1) No scoring Johnny Bower Harry Lumley April 2 4–1 1 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-bos/1959/04/02/1958030125#game=1958030125,game_state=final Bert Olmstead (1) – pp – 09:26 No scoring Dick Duff (2) – 06:37 No scoring Frank Mahovlich (2) – 00:19Bob Pulford (2) – sh – 09:02 11:25 – Jerry Toppazzini (3) Johnny Bower Harry Lumley April 4 5–4 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-tor/1959/04/04/1958030126#game=1958030126,game_state=final 15:13 – pp – Bert Olmstead (2) Jerry Toppazzini (4) – pp – 07:28Don McKenney (2) – 09:34 03:50 – Frank Mahovlich (3) Johnny Bucyk (1) – 09:57Johnny Bucyk (2) – 17:19 02:55 – Gerry Ehman (5)07:37 – sh – Frank Mahovlich (4) Bronco Horvath (2) – 12:56 Johnny Bower Harry Lumley April 7 3–2 1 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-bos/1959/04/07/1958030127#game=1958030127,game_state=final Larry Regan (1) – pp – 05:33 01:11 – pp – Vic Stasiuk (4) No scoring 14:33 – Leo Boivin (1) Bob Pulford (3) – 08:36Gerry Ehman (6) – 17:27 No scoring Johnny Bower Harry Lumley Toronto won series 4–3 As of , this is the last time the Maple Leafs defeated the Bruins in a playoff series. Stanley Cup Finals 1959 Stanley Cup Finals Toronto Maple Leafs Montreal Canadiens Maple Leaf Gardens Montreal Forum April 9 3–5 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-mtl/1959/04/09/1958030211#game=1958030211,game_state=final Dick Duff (3) – sh – 04:53Billy Harris (1) – 06:24 00:36 – Henri Richard (3)15:41 – Ralph Backstrom (1) Ron Stewart (2) – 18:26 16:28 – Andre Pronovost (2) No scoring 11:59 – Marcel Bonin (8)15:02 – pp – Dickie Moore (4) Johnny Bower Jacques Plante April 11 1–3 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-mtl/1959/04/11/1958030212#game=1958030212,game_state=final No scoring 05:12 – pp – Tom Johnson (1) Ron Stewart (3) – 11:41 No scoring No scoring 05:02 – Claude Provost (5)18:33 – Claude Provost (6) Johnny Bower Jacques Plante April 14 2–3 1 1 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-tor/1959/04/14/1958030213#game=1958030213,game_state=final 16:29 – Billy Harris (2) Marcel Bonin (9) – pp – 17:31 17:11 – Bert Olmstead (3) No scoring No scoring Dickie Moore (5) – 01:30 10:06 – Dick Duff (4) No scoring Johnny Bower Jacques Plante April 16 3–2 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-tor/1959/04/16/1958030214#game=1958030214,game_state=final No scoring No scoring No scoring No scoring 03:45 – Billy Harris (3)18:36 – Frank Mahovlich (5) Ab McDonald (1) – 09:54Ralph Backstrom (2) – 13:01Bernie Geoffrion (3) – 15:56 Johnny Bower Jacques Plante April 18 3–5 2 www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-mtl/1959/04/18/1958030215#game=1958030215,game_state=final No scoring 04:13 – pp – Ralph Backstrom (3)13:42 – Bernie Geoffrion (4)16:26 – Tom Johnson (2) Bob Pulford (4) – pp – 04:27 09:55 – Marcel Bonin (10)19:25 – pp – Bernie Geoffrion (5) Frank Mahovlich (6) – 12:07Bert Olmstead (4) – 16:19 No scoring Johnny Bower Jacques Plante Montreal won series 4–1 Awards 1958–59 NHL awardsPrince of Wales Trophy:(Regular season champion) Montreal CanadiensArt Ross Trophy:(Top scorer) Dickie Moore, Montreal CanadiensCalder Memorial Trophy:(Best first-year player) Ralph Backstrom, Montreal CanadiensHart Trophy:(Most valuable player) Andy Bathgate, New York RangersJames Norris Memorial Trophy:(Best defenceman) Tom Johnson, Montreal CanadiensLady Byng Memorial Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) Alex Delvecchio, Detroit Red WingsVezina Trophy:(Goaltender of team with the best goals-against average) Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens All-Star teams First team   Position   Second teamJacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens GTerry Sawchuk, Detroit Red WingsTom Johnson, Montreal Canadiens DMarcel Pronovost, Detroit Red WingsBill Gadsby, New York Rangers DDoug Harvey, Montreal CanadiensJean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens CHenri Richard, Montreal CanadiensAndy Bathgate, New York Rangers RWGordie Howe, Detroit Red WingsDickie Moore, Montreal Canadiens LWAlex Delvecchio, Detroit Red Wings 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 Dickie Moore Montreal Canadiens 70 41 55 96 61 Jean Beliveau Montreal Canadiens 64 45 46 91 67 Andy Bathgate New York Rangers 70 40 48 88 48 Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings 70 32 46 78 57 Ed Litzenberger Chicago Black Hawks 70 33 44 77 37 Bernie Geoffrion Montreal Canadiens 59 22 44 66 30 George "Red" Sullivan New York Rangers 70 21 42 63 56 Andy Hebenton New York Rangers 70 33 29 62 8 Don McKenney Boston Bruins 70 32 30 62 20 Tod Sloan Chicago Black Hawks 59 27 35 62 79 Dinger 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 Games played MIN Minutes Played GA Goals Against GAA Goals Against Average W Wins L Losses T Ties SO ShutoutsJacques Plante Montreal Canadiens 67 4000 144 2.15 38 16 13 9Johnny Bower Toronto Maple Leafs 39 2340 107 2.74 15 17 7 3Glenn Hall Chicago Black Hawks 70 4200 208 2.97 28 29 13 1Lorne Worsley New York Rangers 67 4001 199 2.97 26 30 11 2Ed Chadwick Toronto Maple Leafs 31 1860 92 2.97 12 15 4 3Terry Sawchuk Detroit Red Wings 67 4020 202 3.01 23 36 8 5Don Simmons Boston Bruins 58 3480 183 3.16 24 26 8 3 Coaches Boston Bruins: Milt Schmidt Chicago Black Hawks: Rudy Pilous Detroit Red Wings: Sid Abel Montreal Canadiens: Toe Blake New York Rangers: Phil Watson Toronto Maple Leafs: Punch Imlach Debuts The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1958–59 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks John McKenzie, Chicago Black Hawks Bill Hicke*, Montreal Canadiens Eddie Shack, New York Rangers Last games The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1958–59 (listed with their last team): Earl Reibel, Boston Bruins Real Chevrefils, Boston Bruins Danny Lewicki, Chicago Black Hawks Gus Mortson, Detroit Red Wings Kenny Mosdell, Montreal Canadiens (Last active from the New York Americans/ Brooklyn Americans and last player from the pre-Original Six era.) Wally Hergesheimer, New York Rangers Broadcasting Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and selected Stanley Cup playoff games. 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. In the U.S., this was the third season of a four-year deal with CBS to televise Saturday afternoon regular season games. This season, CBS aired games from October to March. See also 1958–59 NHL transactions List of Stanley Cup champions National Hockey League All-Star Game 1958 in sports 1959 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 1958 Category:1958–59 in American ice hockey by league Category:1958–59 in Canadian ice hockey by league