1962-63 NHL season

Stanley Cup champion Toronto Maple Leafs

The 1962-63 NHL season was the 46th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs won their second Stanley Cup in a row as they defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to one.

League Business

Due to forays by goalies Don Head and Glenn Hall into the offensive zone, the league passed a rule forbidding goaltenders from crossing the center red line.

Regular Season

Some diversionary news hit the sports pages the day of the All-star game when it was reported that Frank Mahovlich had been sold to Chicago for $1 million and James D. Norris produced a cheque for the amount. On the advice of Conn Smythe, Punch Imlach declined the deal, Imlach stating that a million dollars doesn't score goals, and Mahovlich would remain a Maple Leaf.

A serious incident took place October 23rd between the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Black Hawks. A vicious stick-swinging duel took place between Gilles Tremblay and Reg Fleming that was said to be the worst since the Geoffrion-Murphy incident in 1953. Both players received match penalties and $100 fines. Tremblay emerged with a bad cut on his head that required many stitches. Coach Toe Blake had some caustic remarks for Fleming when he was leaving the ice which almost resulted in another fight. The Canadiens and Back Hawks played to a 4-4 tie. President Campbell suspended Tremblay and Fleming for three games.

Glenn Hall's consecutive game streak came to an end on November 8 when he suffered a pinched nerve in his back and he was relieved by Denis DeJordy in the first period of a game Chicago tied Boston 3-3. DeJordy played well in the next game as the Black Hawks beat the Canadiens 3-1.

Chicago was improving and moved into a first place tie with Detroit when they blanked Boston 5-0 November 29th. Mikita scored two goals and Bobby Hull had one. The same night, the Rangers shut out the Red Wings 5-0 as Gump Worsley played a fine game. Worsley was unlucky in his next game as Chicago beat the Rangers 5-1. Worsley badly injured his shoulder and had to be replaced by Marcel Pelletier. Gump went to the hospital where he would have his shoulder in traction for ten days.

Andy Hebenton had the hat trick on December 16 as the Rangers beat Detroit 5-2 at Madison Square Garden. The game was spoiled by a brawl, the chief participants being Dave Balon, Bill Gadsby, Doug Barkley and Terry Sawchuk. All were fined.

Andy Bathgate got both goals when they tied Montreal 2-2 at the Montreal Forum on January 5. This was the tenth consecutive game in which he had scored. The streak was terminated when Jacques Plante blanked the Rangers 6-0 in New York.

Jean Beliveau scored his 300th NHL goal January 26th when the Rangers beat the Canadiens 4-2 at the Forum. Goals had not come very fast this year, and he hinted that this might be his last season. The writers didn't take him seriously, however. The next night, the Canadiens beat the Black Hawks 3-1 at Chicago Stadium and Beliveau scored a spectacular goal, giving a beautiful exhibition of stick-handling.

Bernie Geoffrion and Don Marshall were back on January 31, but the Canadiens lost 6-3 to Toronto at the Forum. Coach Toe Blake was not pleased with the officiating and was quoted in a French newspaper that referee Eddie Powers handled the game as if he had bet on the outcome. This attracted the attention of NHL president Clarence Campbell who said the matter would be investigated. Later, Blake was fined $200 by Campbell. Powers considered the fine inadequate and submitted his resignation as a referee. He cited Red Storey when Campbell wouldn't support decisions he made. Powers then sued Blake for libel.

Bobby Hull scored all three goals as Chicago beat Boston 3-1 February 17th. On the same night, Montreal beat Detroit 6-1 and Howie Young established a penalty record when he high-sticked a Canadiens player and then commenced a tantrum which drew him a minor, major, misconduct and game misconduct totalling 27 minutes. His season total was now 208 minutes in penalties. NHL president Campbell then tacked on a three game suspension.

Detroit ousted the Rangers from the playoffs March 3rd with a 3-2 win.

Bernie Geoffrion was in trouble for an incident during a game March 5th that Montreal won 4-3. Referee Vern Buffey had given Jacques Plante a penalty for slashing Howie Young and then a bench penalty when the Canadiens protested. Geoffrion threw his stick at Buffey and his gloves as well. Geoffrion was given a match penalty and president Campbell assessed Geoffrion a five game suspension.

The career of Lou Fontinato was ended, March 9, 1963.

Lou Fontinato's career came to a tragic end March 9th when he tried to check Vic Hadfield and instead was thrown headlong into the boards by the Ranger player. Fontinato lay motionless on the ice for some time before being carried off the ice on a stretcher and taken to Montreal General Hospital where the diagnosis was a fractured neck, a crushed cervical vertebra. He gradually recovered from his paralyzed condition, but would never play hockey again. Jacques Laperriere replaced Fontinato on the Canadiens defence.

It was quite a race for playoff positions as 5 points separated fourth and first. Gordie Howe lead the Red Wings and the NHL as he won his sixth and last Art Ross Trophy and Hart Trophy.

Final Standings

National Hockey League

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PIM	Pts
Toronto Maple Leafs	70	35	23	12	221	180	816	82
Chicago Black Hawks	70	32	21	17	194	178	906	81
Montreal Canadiens	70	28	19	23	225	183	751	79
Detroit Red Wings	70	32	25	13	200	194	964	77
New York Rangers	70	22	36	12	211	233	657	56
Boston Bruins	70	14	39	17	198	281	636	45

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for 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	38	48	86	100
Andy Bathgate	New York Rangers	70	35	46	81	54
Stan Mikita	Chicago Black Hawks	65	31	45	76	69
Frank Mahovlich	Toronto Maple Leafs	67	36	37	73	56
Henri Richard	Montreal Canadiens	67	23	50	73	57

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
Jacques Plante	Montreal Canadiens	56	3320	138	2.49	22	14	19	5
Don Simmons	Toronto Maple Leafs	28	1680	70	2.50	15	8	5	1
Glenn Hall	Chicago Black Hawks	66	3910	166	2.52	30	20	15	5
Terry Sawchuk	Detroit Red Wings	48	2781	117	2.52	21	17	7	3
Johnny Bower	Toronto Maple Leafs	42	2520	109	2.60	20	15	7	1
Hank Bassen	Detroit Red Wings	16	960	52	3.25	6	5	5	0
Gump Worsley	New York Rangers	67	3980	217	3.27	22	34	10	2
Bob Perreault	Boston Bruins	22	1320	82	3.73	3	12	7	1
Eddie Johnston	Boston Bruins	50	2880	193	4.02	11	27	10	1

Stanley Cup Playoffs

see 1963 Stanley Cup Finals

Playoff Bracket

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

NHL Awards (Mid-Season)

1962-63 NHL awards (Mid-Season)
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Andy Bathgate, New York Rangers
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Kent Douglas, Toronto Maple Leafs
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Dave Keon, Toronto Maple Leafs
Vezina Trophy:	Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens

All-Star Teams (Mid-Season)

First Team	Position	Second Team
Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks	G	Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings
Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks	D	Moose Vasko, Chicago Black Hawks
Carl Brewer, Toronto Maple Leafs	D	Jean Guy Talbot, Montreal Canadiens
Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks	C	Henri Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings	RW	Andy Bathgate, New York Rangers
Frank Mahovlich, Toronto Maple Leafs	LW	Gilles Tremblay, Montreal Canadiens

NHL Awards

1962-63 NHL Awards
Prince of Wales Trophy:	Toronto Maple Leafs
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Kent Douglas, Toronto Maple Leafs
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Dave Keon, Toronto Maple Leafs
Vezina Trophy:	Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks

All-Star Teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks	G	Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings
Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks	D	Tim Horton, Toronto Maple Leafs
Carl Brewer, Toronto Maple Leafs	D	Moose Vasko, Chicago Black Hawks
Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks	C	Henri Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings	RW	Andy Bathgate, New York Rangers
Frank Mahovlich, Toronto Maple Leafs	LW	Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1962-63 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Eddie Johnston, Boston Bruins
• Paul Henderson, Detroit Red Wings
• Claude Larose, Montreal Canadiens
• Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens
• Terry Harper, Montreal Canadiens
• Jim Neilson, New York Rangers
• Kent Douglas, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last Games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1962-63 (listed with their last team):

• Bob Turner, Chicago Black Hawks
• Jack Evans, Chicago Black Hawks
• Vic Stasiuk, Detroit Red Wings
• Lou Fontinato, Montreal Canadiens

Regular Season Attendance

1. Montreal: 499,756
2. Toronto: 497,662
3. Chicago: 482,770
4. New York: 460,536
5. Detroit: 404,000
6. Boston: 380,792

Gallery

John Bucyk scores on Johnny Bower, October 13, 1962.

Eddie Johnston makes a save in his first NHL game, October 25, 1962.

Bob Perreault and #21 Jerry Toppazzini battle Leafs Dave Keon, December 15, 1962.

John Bucyk scores, January 20, 1963.

Leafs Eddie Shack jumps between Bruins #22 Irv Spencer and Jean-Guy Gendron, January 26, 1963.

Doug Mohns, Murray Oliver, Johnny Bower, February 23, 1963.

Bruins Eddie Johnston clears the puck away from Leafs #12 Ron Stewart while Leo Boivin watches, March 3, 1963.

See Also

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

References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com