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63-64TorML

Stanley Cup champion Toronto Maple Leafs

The 1963-64 NHL season was the 47th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs won their third consecutive Stanley Cup by defeating the Detroit Red Wings four games to three in the final series.

A big trade took place in June with the New York Rangers trading Gump Worsley, Dave Balon, Len Ronson and Leon Rochefort to the Montreal Canadiens for Jacques Plante, Don Marshall and Phil Goyette.

The governors noted with profound regret the death of William Northey, who died August 9th at 92. It was decided to establish a memorial for his favorite charity, Montreal Children's Hospital.

It was announced that Ron Andrews would replace Ken McKenzie as the NHL's director of publicity.

Predictions[]

The Canadian magazine was a weekend supplement that appeared in the Saturday editions of many newspapers in Canada. On October 19,1963, they published their annual NHL predictions by one reporter from each of the six NHL cities.

Individual Predictions[]

Canadian magazine 's experts' pre-season predictions
Rank Red Burnett
(Toronto)
Pat Curran
(Montreal)
Jack Griffin
(Chicago)
Don Anderson
(New York)
Lou Monahan
(Boston)
Jack May
(Detroit)
1. Toronto Toronto Toronto Toronto Toronto Toronto
2. Chicago Montreal Chicago Chicago Chicago Chicago
3. Detroit Chicago New York New York Montreal Detroit
4. New York Detroit Detroit Montreal New York New York
5. Montreal New York Montreal Detroit Detroit Montreal
6. Boston Boston Boston Boston Boston Boston
Stanley Cup Toronto Toronto Chicago Toronto Toronto Toronto

Combined Predictions[]

On the basis of 6 points for a 1st place, 5 for a second, etc.

Regular Season[]

Howe-Sawchuk

Gordie Howe (left) and Terry Sawchuk broke NHL records this season.

Jacques Plante made his debut as a Ranger October 9th in Chicago and it was a rough game for him, losing 3-1 and being cut by an elbow of Johnny McKenzie.

Gordie Howe scored two goals in Detroit's opener as the Red Wings beat Chicago 5-3. Howe was now only two goals shy of Maurice Richard's all-time career goal scoring record.

Montreal handed the Rangers a 6-2 pasting in their opener at the Forum. The fans both cheered and jeered Jacques Plante, now a Ranger.

Montreal defeated Detroit 6-4 in Detroit, but the highlight of the game was Gordie Howe scoring his 544th goal to tie Maurice Richard and he drew a five minute ovation. Gump Worsley was the victim of the goal.

Toronto defeated Montreal 6-3 at the Forum October 30th in a penalty-filled game. The main event was put on by Terry Harper and Bob Pulford who drew majors. Gump Worsley badly pulled his hamstring and would be replaced by Charlie Hodge for the season. On November 8, 1963, Maple Leaf Gardens was the first arena in the NHL to have separate penalty boxes. [1]

1963-Nov10-Howe 545 goal

Gordie Howe scores his 545th career goal, November 10, 1963.

The Detroit Red Wings blanked the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 on November 10th. While the Wings were a man short, Gordie Howe scored on Charlie Hodge for his 545th career goal, breaking Maurice Richard's record. Yet another record was tied by Terry Sawchuk when he recorded his 94th career NHL shutout, tying him with George Hainsworth as the all-time NHL shutout leader.

Chicago defeated Toronto 2-0 on November 28th and Johnny McKenzie was severely injured when sandwiched by Bobby Baun and Carl Brewer. He was taken to hospital and an operation was performed on his spleen.

There was a lengthy delay in the start of a game between Detroit and Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens on November 30th while the ice surface was repaired. A rodeo had been held and the cleaning job took longer than expected. Despite a terrible ice surface, a ragged game was played that ended in a 1-1 tie. Roger Crozier was hit with a slap shot by Frank Mahovlich but returned after a ten minute rest. The plucky goalkeeper had sustained a double fracture of the cheekbone and was unable to play the next night. The game was delayed for 20 minutes while Hank Bassen was located to replace Crozier. Toronto won the game 4-1.

Dec7,63Fight

December 7, 1963 brawl.

Toronto blanked Chicago 3-0 on December 7, 1963 in a wild brawl. Three minutes before the end of the game, Reg Fleming speared Eddie Shack, and after the Chicago player entered the penalty box, Bobby Baun decided to drag him out. Both benches emptied and a free-for-all started, and seven major penalties, six misconducts, three game misconducts and $25 fines were assessed against 22 players who left the benches. The game was completed with each team two men short. NHL president Clarence Campbell fined coaches Billy Reay and Punch Imlach $1000 for allowing their players to fight. Fleming was fined $200, Baun $150, Larry Hillman $150, Murray Balfour $100, and Carl Brewer $50. The 22 players that left the bench were fined $100 each.

Johnny Bower got his third consecutive shutout January 4th with a 3-0 win over Chicago. Mahovlich scored two goals in the win. During the game, the Black Hawks got a bench penalty and Reg Fleming was chosen to serve it. Fleming mocked referee Vern Buffey by applauding which led to a misconduct penalty, after which Fleming bumped Buffey and was given a game misconduct.

On January 18th, Terry Sawchuk broke George Hainsworth's record of career NHL shutouts with his 95th in a 2-0 win over Montreal. Hainsworth still held the major league record with 104, 10 in the Western Hockey League. That same night, Boston, the laughing stock of the league, had some laughs of their own when they walked right into Toronto and clobbered the Leafs 11-0, Andy Hebenton and Dean Prentice each scoring hat tricks. It was Pete Stemkowski's first NHL game and remains the largest shutout victory in Bruins team history. Next, the Bruins walked right into the Forum in Montreal January 25th and whitewashed the Canadiens 6-0, and then shut out Toronto 2-0 the next night.

Andybathgate

Andy Bathgate was traded by New York to Toronto.

On February 1st, Bobby Rousseau joined the elite who have scored five goals in a game when he scored five against Detroit in a 9-3 trouncing of Detroit.

On February 5th, the Rangers had a 2-1 lead late in the third period when Andy Hebenton and Orland Kurtenbach scored 27 seconds apart to give the Bruins a 3-2 win.

A trade that was rumoured most of the season finally took place when the New York Rangers traded Andy Bathgate and Don McKenney to Toronto in exchange for Dick Duff, Bob Nevin, Arnie Brown, Bill Collins and Rod Seiling on February 22, 1964. Ranger fans did not like the deal and in the next game chants of "Muzz must go!" were heard (referring to Muzz Patrick, the Rangers general manager.)

Wildor Larochelle, a former Canadiens player of the early 1930's, died March 23rd at age 58.

Final Standings[]

National Hockey League
GP W L T GF GA PIM Pts
Montreal Canadiens 70 36 21 13 209 167 982 85
Chicago Black Hawks 70 36 22 12 218 169 1116 84
Toronto Maple Leafs 70 33 25 12 192 172 928 78
Detroit Red Wings 70 30 29 11 191 204 771 71
New York Rangers 70 22 38 10 186 242 715 54
Boston Bruins 70 18 40 12 170 212 858 48

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
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
Stan Mikita Chicago Black Hawks 70 39 50 89 146
Bobby Hull Chicago Black Hawks 70 43 44 87 50
Jean Beliveau Montreal Canadiens 68 28 50 78 42
Andy Bathgate New York Rangers / Toronto Maple Leafs 71 19 58 77 34
Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings 69 26 47 73 70

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
Johnny Bower Toronto Maple Leafs 51 3009 106 2.11 24 16 11 5
Charlie Hodge Montreal Canadiens 62 3720 140 2.26 33 18 11 8
Glenn Hall Chicago Black Hawks 65 3860 148 2.30 34 19 11 7
Terry Sawchuk Detroit Red Wings 53 3140 138 2.64 25 20 7 5
Eddie Johnston Boston Bruins 70 4200 211 3.01 18 40 12 6
Don Simmons Toronto Maple Leafs 21 1191 63 3.17 9 9 1 3
Jacques Plante N.Y. Rangers 65 3900 220 3.38 22 36 7 3
Roger Crozier Detroit Red Wings 15 900 51 3.40 5 6 4 2

Stanley Cup Playoffs[]

This playoff season saw the exact same match-ups as the previous season with the two Canadian teams, Toronto and Montreal, and the two American teams, Detroit and Chicago, matching up. As with last season, the Maple Leafs ousted the Canadiens and the Red Wings beat the Black Hawks. For the first time since the league began using the best-of-seven playoff format in 1939, all three series went the full seven games.

Playoff Bracket[]

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

Stanley Cup Finals[]

The 1964 Stanley Cup finals between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings was an exciting series. Toronto won the first game by one goal, 3-2, and the second game was won by Detroit by one goal in overtime. The third game saw Detroit win, again by one goal, and take a two games to one series lead. The Leafs came back in game four with a 4-2 victory to tie the series. But game five was won, again by one goal, by Detroit giving the Wings a three games to two lead. Game six saw the second overtime of the series, but before the game went into overtime, Toronto defenceman Bobby Baun stopped a hard shot and was taken off the ice with a broken ankle. He later returned to the game in overtime, with the broken ankle, and scored the game winning goal. After six close games, game seven was anticlimactic as Toronto handily won 4-0 for the Stanley Cup, their third in a row.

NHL Awards (Mid-Season)[]

1963-64 NHL awards (Mid-Season)
Art Ross Memorial Trophy: Stan Mikita
Calder Memorial Trophy: Jacques Laperriere
Hart Memorial Trophy: Jean Beliveau
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Pierre Pilote
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Ken Wharram
Vezina Trophy: Glenn Hall

All-Star Teams (Mid-Season)[]

First Team   Position   Second Team
Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks G Johnny Bower, Toronto Maple Leafs
Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks D Moose Vasko, Chicago Black Hawks
Tim Horton, Toronto Maple Leafs D Bob Baun, Toronto Maple Leafs
Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens C Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks
Kenny Wharram, Chicago Black Hawks RW Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks LW Frank Mahovlich, Toronto Maple Leafs Dave Balon, Montreal Canadiens (tie)

NHL Awards (Second Half)[]

1963-64 NHL awards (Second Half)
Art Ross Memorial Trophy: Stan Mikita
Calder Memorial Trophy: Jacques Laperriere
Hart Memorial Trophy: Jean Beliveau
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Pierre Pilote
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Ken Wharram
Vezina Trophy: Charlie Hodge

All-Star Teams (Second Half)[]

First Team   Position   Second Team
Charlie Hodge, Montreal Canadiens G Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks
Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks D Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens
Tim Horton, Toronto Maple Leafs D Moose Vasko, Chicago Black Hawks
Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks C Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens
Kenny Wharram, Chicago Black Hawks RW Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks LW Camille Henry, New York Rangers

NHL Awards[]

1963-64 NHL Awards
Prince of Wales Trophy: Montreal Canadiens
Art Ross Memorial Trophy: Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks
Calder Memorial Trophy: Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens
Hart Memorial Trophy: Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens
James Norris Memorial Trophy: Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Ken Wharram, Chicago Black Hawks
Vezina Trophy: Charlie Hodge, Montreal Canadiens
1963-64NHL1AS

First All-Star Team

1963-64NHL2AS

Second All-Star Team

All-Star Teams[]

First Team   Position   Second Team
Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks G Charlie Hodge, Montreal Canadiens
Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks D Moose Vasko, Chicago Black Hawks
Tim Horton, Toronto Maple Leafs D Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens
Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks C Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens
Kenny Wharram, Chicago Black Hawks RW Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks LW Frank Mahovlich, Toronto Maple Leafs
PhilEspositoChiBH

Phil Esposito made his NHL debut.

Debuts[]

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1963-64 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last Games[]

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1963-64 (listed with their last team):

Team Captains[]

Attendance[]

  1. Chicago: 581,593
  2. Toronto: 494,634
  3. Montreal: 488,663
  4. New York: 435,531
  5. Boston: 368,002
  6. Detroit: 364,219

Gallery[]

Video[]

First two periods of the 1963 All-Star game with commercials and intermission features.

A short video of Bob Leiter hitting Eddie Shack, causing glass on the side boards to shatter and then the fight between the two, January 18, 1964.

Game 6 of the 1964 Semi-finals between Montreal and Toronto, April 13, 1965.

See Also[]

References[]


NHL Seasons

1959-60 | 1960-61 | 1961-62 | 1962-63 | 1963-64 | 1964-65 | 1965-66 | 1966-67 | 1967-68

  1. Hockey’s Book of Firsts, p.72, James Duplacey, JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9
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