1959-60 NHL season

The 1959-60 NHL season was the 43rd season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens were the Stanley Cup winners as they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4 games to 0 for their fifth straight Stanley Cup.

Regular Season

The year was marked by important changes in the NHL. Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante, like Clint Benedict before him, began to wear a mask in regularly. While Plante had previously used his mask in practice to avoid getting injured, starting in 1956, his coach, Toe Blake would not permit him to wear it during regulation play. However, on November 1, 1959, Plante's nose was broken when he was hit by a shot fired by Andy Bathgate and he was taken to the dressing room for stitches. When he returned, he was wearing the crude home-made mask that he had been using in practices. Blake was livid, but he had no other goaltender to call upon and Plante refused to return to the goal unless he wore the mask. Blake agreed on the condition that Plante discard the mask when the cut healed. The Canadiens won the game 3–1. In the ensuing days Plante refused to discard the mask, and as the Canadiens continued to win, Blake was less vocal about it. The unbeaten streak stretched to 18 games.

Phil Watson suffered an ulcer and was quietly dismissed as Ranger coach and replaced by Alf Pike. Gump Worsley was demoted to Springfield of the AHL and Worsley screamed he was finished with hockey. But he reported to Springfield anyway. Eddie Shore, known for his criticism of his players, gave Worsley a surprise vote of confidence. Gump played well for the Indians.

There was trouble brewing for Rangers right-winger sniper Andy Bathgate, who'd ripped open Plante's nose on the night of the goalie mask's official NHL debut, when, in an article in True Magazine, ghosted by Dave Anderson, he listed the names of players whom he considered guilty of the dangerous act of spearing. This was brought to the attention of NHL President Clarence Campbell, who then fined Bathgate $500 and Ranger general manager Muzz Patrick $100 on the grounds the article was prejudicial to and against the welfare of the league.

Jack McCartan stops Bobby Hull, March 9, 1960.

Gump Worsley, demoted to Springfield of the AHL, was brought back up as Marcel Paille was even worse in goal. Gump and the Rangers beat the Canadiens 8-3 in his first game back. Then a week later, Gump got bombed 11-2. Nothing had changed. Later against the Chicago Black Hawks, Worsley suffered an injury that finished him for the season. Hawks' winger Bobby Hull skated over his catching glove and severed two tendons in his fingers. Al Rollins was called up to replace him. Later, Olympic hero Jack McCartan played a few games for the Rangers and performed well.

This regular season, like the two preceding it and the two following it, belonged to the Montreal Canadiens as they were in the midst of five straight first overall finishes and at the tail end of five straight Stanley Cup victories. The Detroit Red Wings, who were dead last and missed the playoffs the previous season, squeaked into the playoffs riding a Hart Memorial Trophy performance by their ageless star right-winger Gordie Howe.

This season marked the first season of the Original Six era during which every active player had played for Original Six teams only. Ken Mosdell, the last player to play for another team, retired the previous season.

Bronco Horvath had his best NHL season in 1959-60.

Going into the last game of the season against the Chicago Black Hawks, the Bruins had been eliminated from the playoffs. However, the Art Ross Trophy was still up for grabs between Bronco Horvath and Chicago's Bobby Hull. Horvath led the scoring race with 39 goals and 41 assists, while Hull had 38 goals and 41 assists. With Chicago leading 1-0, as the first period neared its end, Bob Armstrong's shot from the point hit Horvath on the left jaw. He collapsed and was rushed to hospital by taxi while still wearing his uniform. While receiving x-rays, he missed a seven goal second period in which Hull scored once that ended with the score tied 4-4. With the x-rays negative, Horvath returned for the third period but was dazed and didn't record any points. Doug Mohns put the Bruins up 5-4 but at 13:01, Hull's pass to the front of the Bruins net bounced off the skate of teammate Eric Nesterenko and into the Boston goal. The game ended in a 5-5 tie with Hull winning the Art Ross Trophy by one point. Horvath was given a $1000 bonus by the Bruins for his accomplishment and ended tied with Hull for the goal scoring lead with 39.

Final Standings

National Hockey League

	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
Montreal Canadiens	70	40	18	12	92	255	178
Toronto Maple Leafs	70	35	26	9	79	199	195
Chicago Black Hawks	70	28	29	13	69	191	180
Detroit Red Wings	70	26	29	15	67	186	197
Boston Bruins	70	28	34	8	64	220	241
New York Rangers	70	17	38	15	49	187	247

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Bobby Hull	Chicago Black Hawks	70	39	42	81
Bronco Horvath	Boston Bruins	68	39	41	80
Jean Beliveau	Montreal Canadiens	60	34	40	74
Andy Bathgate	New York Rangers	70	26	48	74
Henri Richard	Montreal Canadiens	70	30	43	73
Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	70	28	45	73
Bernie Geoffrion	Montreal Canadiens	59	30	41	71
Don McKenney	Boston Bruins	70	20	49	69
Vic Stasiuk	Boston Bruins	69	29	39	68
Dean Prentice	New York Rangers	70	32	34	66

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
Jacques Plante	Montreal Canadiens	69	4140	175	3	2.54
Glenn Hall	Chicago Black Hawks	70	4200	179	6	2.56
Terry Sawchuk	Detroit Red Wings	58	3480	155	5	2.67
Johnny Bower	Toronto Maple Leafs	66	3960	177	5	2.68
Don Simmons	Boston Bruins	28	1680	91	2	3.25
Harry Lumley	Boston Bruins	42	2520	146	2	3.48
Gump Worsley	New York Rangers	39	2301	135	0	3.52

Stanley Cup Playoffs

All dates in 1960

The momentum did not stop for the Habs as they played the minimum number of games to win the Stanley Cup. Montreal, in the process, became the last Cup winners in NHL history to go undefeated in the playoffs to date. After winning the Stanley Cup, Maurice Richard retired from the NHL as a champion.

Playoff Bracket

	Semifinals					Finals
	1	Montreal Canadiens	4
	3	Chicago Black Hawks	0
						1	Montreal Canadiens	4
						2	Toronto Maple Leafs	0
	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
	4	Detroit Red Wings	2

Semi-finals

Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks had lead the league in scoring, but the well-oiled machine called the Montreal Canadiens managed to hold him to only one goal as the Canadiens swept the Black Hawks in four. The Toronto Maple Leafs, though, had a slightly tougher time against the Gordie Howe led Detroit Red Wings as it took the Leafs 6 games, including one in triple overtime, to win the series.

Chicago Black Hawks vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 24	Chicago Black Hawks	3	Montreal Canadiens	4
March 26	Chicago Black Hawks	3	Montreal Canadiens	4	(OT)
March 29	Montreal Canadiens	4	Chicago Black Hawks	0
March 31	Montreal Canadiens	2	Chicago Black Hawks	0

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0

Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 23	Detroit Red Wings	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	1
March 26	Detroit Red Wings	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
March 27	Toronto Maple Leafs	5	Detroit Red Wings	4	(3OT)
March 29	Toronto Maple Leafs	1	Detroit Red Wings	2	(OT)
April 2	Detroit Red Wings	4	Toronto Maple Leafs	5
April 3	Toronto Maple Leafs	4	Detroit Red Wings	2

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

Finals

see 1960 Stanley Cup Finals

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 7	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	Montreal Canadiens	4
April 9	Toronto Maple Leafs	1	Montreal Canadiens	2
April 12	Montreal Canadiens	5	Toronto Maple Leafs	2
April 14	Montreal Canadiens	4	Toronto Maple Leafs	0

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0

Playoff Leading Scorers

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Henri Richard	Montreal Canadiens	8	3	9	12
Bernie Geoffrion	Montreal Canadiens	8	2	10	12
Leonard "Red" Kelly	Toronto Maple Leafs	10	3	8	11
Dickie Moore	Montreal Canadiens	8	6	4	10
Alex Delvecchio	Detroit Red Wings	6	2	6	8
Jean Beliveau	Montreal Canadiens	8	5	2	7
Bert Olmstead	Toronto Maple Leafs	10	3	4	7

NHL Awards

1959-60 NHL Awards
Prince of Wales Trophy:	Montreal Canadiens
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Bill Hay, Chicago Black Hawks
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Don McKenney, Boston Bruins
Vezina Trophy:	Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens

All-Star Teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks	G	Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens
Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens	D	Allan Stanley, Toronto Maple Leafs
Marcel Pronovost, Detroit Red Wings	D	Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks
Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens	C	Bronco Horvath, Boston Bruins
Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings	RW	Bernie Geoffrion, Montreal Canadiens
Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks	LW	Dean Prentice, New York Rangers

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1959-60 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Dallas Smith, Boston Bruins
• Bill Hay, Chicago Black Hawks
• J.C. Tremblay, Montreal Canadiens
• Dave Balon, New York Rangers
• Ken Schinkel, New York Rangers

Last Games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1959-60 (listed with their last team):

• Fleming MacKell, Boston Bruins
• Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens
• Al Rollins, New York Rangers
• Harry Lumley, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Dave Creighton, Toronto Maple Leafs

Gallery

Billy Harris, Pierre Pilote, Glenn Hall, Ed Litzenberger, December 20, 1959.

Vic Stasiuk from John Bucyk and Bronco Horvath, January 23, 1960.

Jean-Guy Gendron falls over Jacques Plante, January 19, 1960.

Harry Lumley, #4 Bob Armstrong and #15 Ab McDonald in 1959-60 action. Note the gold pants with black jerseys and socks.

Johnny Wilson, John Bucyk and Johnny Bower in 1959-60 action.

See Also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 13th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• Ice hockey at the 1960 Winter Olympics

References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com