1952-53 NHL season

The 1952-53 NHL season was the 36th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Montreal Canadiens were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the Boston Bruins four games to one in the final series.

League Business

The NHL almost had a seventh team, as the Cleveland Barons applied for a franchise. They were accepted with the proviso that they deposit $425,000 to show good faith, and prove they had sufficient working capital to consort with the other NHL teams. They could not come up with the working capital and transfer of applicants stock to Cleveland residents. As a result, Cleveland was told to apply at a later date.

A big deal was made between Toronto and Chicago as the Maple Leafs shipped Al Rollins, Gus Mortson and Cal Gardner for goaltender Harry Lumley.

Sid Abel was signed by Chicago to be player-coach.

What was rumour became fact in September when Arthur M. Wirtz and James D. Norris became the new owners of the near bankrupt Chicago Black Hawks.

James E. Norris, owner of the Detroit Red Wings since 1932 and father of James D. Norris, Chicago owner, died of a heart attack December 4, 1952, and his daughter Marguerite became the first female owner of an NHL franchise since Ida Querrie owned the Toronto St. Patricks in 1923 when her husband Charlie transferred his stock in the team to her to avoid paying Eddie Livingstone any money in Livingstone's lawsuit against him.

Regular Season

For the fifth straight season the Detroit Red Wings lead the league in points. Gordie Howe won the Hart Trophy over Al Rollins, but on the strength of Rollins' goaltending, Chicago made the playoffs for the first time since 1946.

The first NHL game broadcast in Canada on television occurred on 9 October of this year. It was played between the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings with the Canadiens winning 2-1. The French language telecast was produced by 24 year old Gerald Renaud. In April of this same season, Toronto Maple Leafs games started being broadcasted with Foster Hewitt calling the action. Conn Smythe, the Leaf's managing director, sold the Leaf's television rights for a paltry $100 a game. In comparison, Leaf games are currently sold for over $700,000 a game.

Highlights

Gump Worsley made his NHL debut October 9, 1952 in goal for the New York Rangers at the Detroit Olympia and lost 5-3, as Ted Lindsay scored in a tip-in on the power play for Worsley's first goal against him. The Production line scored 3 goals that night as Alex Delvecchio and Gordie Howe also had goals. Marty Pavelich scored what proved to be the winning goal.

On November 8, 14,562 fans were in attendance at the Montreal Forum when the Canadiens beat Chicago 6-4. Elmer Lach scored his 200th career goal. Fifty seconds later, after Butch Bouchard fed him the puck, Rocket Richard rifled a puck past Al Rollins for his 325th goal, breaking Nels Stewart's unbeatable-record for career goals. "Old Poison" sent the following telegram: "Congratulations on breaking record. Hope you will hold it for many seasons. Best of luck to you and rest of team."

When Terry Sawchuk was injured in practice, the Red Wings brought up Glenn Hall and he made his NHL debut December 27 and played well in a 2-2 tie with Montreal. He then picked up his first career shutout January 7, blanking Boston 4-0.

Red Wings General Manager Jack Adams got into trouble January 18 when, after a 3-2 loss to Montreal, he entered the officials room and argued with referee Red Storey. Dick Irvin, coach of Montreal, was very upset about this and NHL president Clarence Campbell agreed, fining Adams $500.

Gump Worsley had his first career shutout January 11 in a rare Ranger pounding of his hometown Habs, 7-0.

Butch Bouchard Night was held February 28 and he was presented with a car and a TV set. Detroit spoiled the night with a 4-3 victory.

There was consternation in Toronto when Max Bentley suddenly vanished and was reported back at his home in Delisle, Saskatchewan. Conn Smythe convinced him to return and he did, playing the remaining games of the schedule.

Ted Lindsay scored 4 goals on March 2, 1953 as Detroit pummelled Boston again, 10-2.

Final Standings

National Hockey League	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
Detroit Red Wings	70	36	16	18	90	222	133
Montreal Canadiens	70	28	23	19	75	155	148
Boston Bruins	70	28	29	13	69	152	172
Chicago Black Hawks	70	27	28	15	69	169	175
Toronto Maple Leafs	70	27	30	13	67	156	167
New York Rangers	70	17	37	16	50	152	211

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Scoring Leaders

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Player	Team	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	70	49	46	95	57
Ted Lindsay	Detroit Red Wings	70	32	39	71	111
Maurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens	70	28	33	61	112
Wally Hergesheimer	New York Rangers	70	30	29	59	10
Alex Delvecchio	Detroit Red Wings	70	16	43	59	28
Paul Ronty	New York Rangers	70	16	38	54	20

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	SO
Terry Sawchuk	Detroit Red Wings	63	3780	120	1.90	32	15	16	9
Gerry McNeil	Montreal Canadiens	66	3960	140	2.12	25	23	18	10
Harry Lumley	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	4200	167	2.39	27	30	13	10
Jim Henry	Boston Bruins	70	4200	142	2.46	28	29	13	7
Al Rollins	Chicago Black Hawks	70	4200	175	2.50	27	28	15	6
Chuck Rayner	New York Rangers	20	1200	58	2.90	4	8	8	1
Gump Worsley	New York Rangers	50	3000	153	3.06	13	29	8	2

Stanley Cup Playoffs

Playoff Bracket

	Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Detroit Red Wings	2
	3	Boston Bruins	4
						3	Boston Bruins	1
						2	Montreal Canadiens	4
	2	Montreal Canadiens	4
	4	Chicago Black Hawks	3

Boston Bruins 4, Detroit Red Wings 2

The Bruins and Red Wings last met in the 1946 Semi-finals where the Bruins won 4 games to 1. Detroit were heavy favorites, having finished in first place with 21 more points than Boston. Boston's Woody Dumart effectively checked Gordie Howe, limiting him to 2 goals in the series, having scored 49 in the regular season. Boston's line of Ed Sandford, Johnny Peirson and Fleming Mackell led offensively with Sandford scoring 6 goals. Detroit's coach Tommy Ivan acknowledged that Bruins goalie Jim Henry was the biggest reason for Boston's upset. Detroit had over 40 shots in every game but one in the series.

Game 1 at the Detroit Olympia saw the Red Wings dominate the Bruins from the opening whistle. First period goals by Ted Lindsay and two by Marty Pavelich staked Detroit to a 3-0 lead. A second period goal by Alex Delvecchio and third period goals by Metro Prystai, Johnny Wilson and Lindsay's second lead Detroit to a 7-0 rout with Terry Sawchuk picking up the shutout.

Game 2 at Detroit saw the Bruins bounce back. Playing with a greater commitment to defense and countering off the rush, Fleming Mackell staked the Bruins to a 1-0 lead before Howe tied it up on the Power play with John McIntyre in the box. Making up for his penalty, McIntyre's pass to Dave Creighton put the Bruins ahead 2-1 at the end of the first period. The Wings couldn't solve Jim Henry in the second period but veteran Joe Klukay put the Bruins up 3-1. Third period goals by Bruins Johnny Peirson and Creighton's second of the game stunned the Wings crowd. Two late goals by Metro Prystai weren't enough as the Bruins won 5-3 and tied the series going to Boston.

Game 3 at the Boston Garden was the turning point in the series. In a clean, hard-fought game in which only two penalties were called, Ed Sandford opening the scoring for the Bruins. Tony Leswick tied it up in the second but the Wings couldn't solve Jim Henry and the game went into overtime. Dave Creighton fed Jack McIntyre a pass at 12:29 of the first OT who snapped it past Sawchuk for a Bruins 2-1 win.

Game 4 at Boston was a reversal of Game 1. The Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 lead on first period goals by Sandford and McIntyre. After an early second period fight between Mackell and Pavelich, the Bruins poured it on and goals by Milt Schmidt, McIntyre's second of the game and Dave Creighton made it 5-0 Boston. The Wings recovered later in the second and goals by Prystai and Delvecchio made it 5-2. Henry barred the door in the third period and Sandford's second of the game made it 6-2 Bruins. The Wings were on the brink of elimination going back to Detroit.

Game 5 at Detroit saw the Wings determined to not be eliminated at home. They came out on fire and goals by Lindsay and Bob Goldham in the game's first minute had them in front 2-0. The game got chippy and multiple penalties for high sticking were called. Benny Woit made it 3-0 Wings but the rough play continued as Klukay and Lindsay got into a mix-up. In the second period, Howe scored his second and last goal of the series before Ed Sandford got the Bruins on the board. However, the Wings Johnny Wilson responded and the period ended with the Wings up 5-1. After an early goal in the third period by Sandford, the game boiled over. Leo Labine was given a misconduct for high sticking. Glen Skov made it 6-2 Detroit but the Bruins wouldn't relent and Schmidt made it 6-3. Tony Leswick high sticked Fleming Mackell resulting in a fight and the Bruins going on the power play. Schmidt scored making it 6-4. After Marcel Pronovost took an interference penalty, a frustrated Terry Sawchuk protested to referee Red Storey which resulted in a misconduct. The Wings held on for an unconvincing 6-4 win.

Game 6 at Boston went wrong the beginning for the Red Wings. Tony Leswick took a slashing penalty and and Ed Sandford scored his 6th goal of the series on the power play to open the scoring for Boston. The Bruins went up 2-0 in the second on McIntyre's goal. Late in the second, third liner Reg Sinclair gave the Wings hope, cutting the lead to 2-1. In the third period, the Wings poured it on but to no avail. Woody Dumart continued to hold Howe off the board and a long shot by Fleming Mackell got by Sawchuk making it 3-1 Bruins. Ted Lindsay responded two minutes later but the first playoff goal for Leo Labine sealed a 4-2 victory and a 4-2 series win for the Bruins.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	March 24	Boston Bruins	0-7	Detroit Red Wings	0-1
2	March 26	Boston Bruins	5-3	Detroit Red Wings	1-1
3	March 29	Detroit Red Wings	1-2 (OT)	Boston Bruins	1-2
4	March 31	Detroit Red Wings	2-6	Boston Bruins	1-3
5	April 2	Boston Bruins	4-6	Detroit Red Wings	3-2
6	April 5	Detroit Red Wings	2-4	Boston Bruins	1-4

Montreal Canadiens 4, Boston Bruins 1

see 1953 Stanley Cup Finals

NHL Awards

1953 NHL Award winners.

Prince of Wales Trophy:	Detroit Red Wings
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Lorne "Gump" Worsley, New York Rangers
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings
Vezina Trophy:	Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings

All-Star Teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings	G	Gerry McNeil, Montreal Canadiens
Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings	D	Bill Quackenbush, Boston Bruins
Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens	D	Bill Gadsby, Chicago Black Hawks
Fleming MacKell, Boston Bruins	C	Alex Delvecchio, Detroit Red Wings
Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings	RW	Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Ted Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings	LW	Bert Olmstead, Montreal Canadiens

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1952-53 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Jerry Toppazzini, Boston Bruins
• Glenn Hall, Detroit Red Wings
• Marcel Bonin, Detroit Red Wings
• Ed Litzenberger, Montreal Canadiens
• Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens
• Harry Howell, New York Rangers
• Dean Prentice, New York Rangers
• Gump Worsley, New York Rangers
• Andy Bathgate, New York Rangers
• Ron Murphy, New York Rangers
• Ron Stewart, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last Games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1952-53 (listed with their last team):

• Pentti Lund, Boston Bruins
• Chuck Rayner, New York Rangers

Gallery

Bruins Jim Henry stops Gordie Howe while Metro Prystai looks on in Game 6 of the 1953 Semi-finals, April 5, 1953.

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Video

Highlights of the December 21, 1952 game between the Bruins and the Habs. This was the third game of a tryout for Jean Beliveau (who wears #12) and he scores twice in Montreal's 4-3 win. A first period fight between Jack McIntyre and Bernie Geoffrion (in response to McIntyre breaking Billy Reay's cheek), a dust-up between Milt Schmidt and Maurice Richard as well as goals by Dave Creighton and Beliveau are shown. The end has highlights of the December 7, 1952 Toronto Maple Leafs versus Chicago Blackhawks game including a goal by George Armstrong.

NHL 52-53 First Beliveau's game for Habs

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A fascinating video of hockey at all levels in 1953 featuring Jean Béliveau playing for the Quebec Aces and at the 6:45 mark, three minutes of excellent footage of the January 17, 1953 Canadiens-Red Wings game. Gordie Howe's game tying goal at 18:53 of the third period is shown.

Here's Hockey!

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See Also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 6th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game

References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com