1950–51 NHL season

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The 1950–51 NHL season was the 34th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens four games to one for the Stanley Cup to win their fifth Cup in seven years.

Regular season

Final standings

National Hockey League GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM
Detroit Red Wings 70 44 13 13 101 236 139 566
Toronto Maple Leafs 70 41 16 13 95 212 138 823
Montreal Canadiens 70 25 30 15 65 173 184 835
Boston Bruins 70 22 30 18 62 178 197 656
New York Rangers 70 20 29 21 61 169 201 774
Chicago Black Hawks 70 13 47 10 36 171 280 615

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player Team GP G A Pts
Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings 70 43 43 86
Maurice Richard Montreal Canadiens 65 42 24 66
Max Bentley Toronto Maple Leafs 67 21 41 62
Sid Abel Detroit Red Wings 69 23 38 61
Milt Schmidt Boston Bruins 62 22 39 61
Ted Kennedy Toronto Maple Leafs 63 18 43 61
Ted Lindsay Detroit Red Wings 67 24 35 59

Leading Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shut outs; AVG = Goals against average

Player Team GP MINS GA SO AVG
Al Rollins Toronto Maple Leafs 40 2373 70 5 1.77
Terry Sawchuck Detroit Red Wings 70 4200 139 11 1.99

Stanley Cup Playoffs

All dates in 1951

The second ranked Toronto Maple Leafs eliminated the fourth ranked Boston Bruins in five games, and the third ranked Montreal Canadiens upset first overall Detroit Red Wings in six, setting up a Leafs – Canadiens Stanley Cup final series, won by the Leafs 4–1.

Playoff bracket

  Semifinals Finals
                 
1  Detroit Red Wings 2  
3  Montreal Canadiens 4  
    3  Montreal Canadiens 1
  2  Toronto Maple Leafs 4
2  Toronto Maple Leafs 4
4  Boston Bruins 1  

Semi-finals

Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
March 28 Boston Bruins 2 Toronto Maple Leafs 0
March 31 Boston Bruins 1 Toronto Maple Leafs 1 OT1
April 1 Toronto Maple Leafs 3 Boston Bruins 0
April 3 Toronto Maple Leafs 3 Boston Bruins 1
April 7 Boston Bruins 1 Toronto Maple Leafs 4
April 8 Toronto Maple Leafs 6 Boston Bruins 0
1 Note: March 31st game called after one overtime due to curfew

Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

Montreal Canadiens vs. Detroit Red Wings

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
March 27 Montreal Canadiens 3 Detroit Red Wings 2 4 OT
March 29 Montreal Canadiens 1 Detroit Red Wings 0 3 OT
March 31 Detroit Red Wings 2 Montreal Canadiens 0
April 3 Detroit Red Wings 4 Montreal Canadiens 1
April 5 Montreal Canadiens 5 Detroit Red Wings 2
April 7 Detroit Red Wings 2 Montreal Canadiens 3

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2

Finals

see 1951 Stanley Cup Finals

Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
April 11 Montreal Canadiens 2 Toronto Maple Leafs 3 OT-Smith
April 14 Toronto Maple Leafs 2 Montreal Canadiens 3 OT-M. Richard
April 17 Montreal Canadiens 1 Toronto Maple Leafs 2 OT-Kennedy
April 19 Montreal Canadiens 2 Toronto Maple Leafs 3 OT-Watson
April 21 Montreal Canadiens 2 Toronto Maple Leafs 3 OT-Barilko (2:53)

Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

Playoff scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player Team GP G A Pts
Maurice Richard Montreal Canadiens 11 9 4 13
Max Bentley Toronto Maple Leafs 11 2 11 13
Sid Smith Toronto Maple Leafs 11 7 3 10

NHL Awards

Prince of Wales Trophy: Detroit Red Wings
Art Ross Memorial Trophy: Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Calder Memorial Trophy: Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings
Hart Memorial Trophy: Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings
Vezina Trophy: Al Rollins, Toronto Maple Leafs

All-Star teams

First Team   Position   Second Team
Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings G Chuck Rayner, New York Rangers
Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings D Jimmy Thomson, Toronto Maple Leafs
Bill Quackenbush, Boston Bruins D Leo Reise, Detroit Red Wings
Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins C Ted Kennedy, Toronto Maple Leafs


Sid Abel, Detroit Red Wings (tied)

Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings RW Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Ted Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings LW Sid Smith, Toronto Maple Leafs

First games

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1950–51 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1950–51 (listed with their last team):

References