1950–51 Montreal Canadiens season



The 1950–51 Montreal Canadiens season was the 42nd in franchise history. The team placed first third in the regular season to qualify for the playoffs. The Canadiens lost in the 1951 Stanley Cup Finals to the Toronto Maple Leafs 4 games to 1. All five games were decided in overtime.

Regular Season
Montreal fans were excited when it was reported that two junior stars, Jean Beliveau and Bernie Geoffrion, would be given a trial in a December 16th game with the Rangers. The Canadiens played a 1-1 tie before 14,158 fans. Geoffrion scored the Canadiens goal in his debut.

In March, Rocket Richard ran into trouble in a game with Detroit. Richard was tripped and rose with a cut between the eyes. No penalty was called and Richard commenced an argument with referee Hugh McLean. He continued his argument too long and was given a misconduct penalty. Richard then skated to the penalty box and found Leo Reise of Detroit there to welcome him with derisive remarks which infuriated Richard, who then punched Reise, and when linesman Jim Primeau rushed to intervene, Richard took a poke at him and Richard was given a game misconduct. The Canadiens took a train to New York for a game against the Rangers, and the next morning, Richard encountered referee McLean and linesman Primeau in the lobby of the Picadilly Hotel. No punches were thrown, but Richard grabbed McLean by the tie and then Primeau intervened. Considerable profanity filled the air, but cooler heads separated the trio before fists could fly. NHL President Clarence Campbell took a dim view of the matter and fined the Rocket $500 for conduct prejudicial to the welfare of hockey.

Montreal Canadiens 4, Detroit Red Wings 2
The Canadiens first played the Detroit Red Wings in the Semi-finals. The first four games of the series was won by the visiting team. The Canadiens then won the last two to win the series four games to two to advance to the final against Toronto.

Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Montreal Canadiens 1
The Canadiens lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs four games to one with Bill Barilko scoring the series winning goal in overtime in Game 5. All five games in the series were decided in overtime. Canadiens forward Bob Dawes played his only game of the 1951 playoffs in the last game of the Finals. He suffered a compound fracture of the right leg and never played in the NHL again.

Regular Season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Playoffs

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals

MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts

Awards and Records

 * Maurice Richard, Right Wing, NHL First Team All-Star

Video
Highlights of Game 5 of the Finals including goals by Richard, the game tying goal with 32 seconds left by Tod Sloan and the overtime winner by Bill Barilko.