1965-66 NHL season

The 1965-66 NHL season was the 49th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Montreal Canadiens won their second consecutive Stanley Cup as they defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to two in the final series.

League Business

Two new trophies was introduced for this season. Jack Adams won the first Lester Patrick Trophy for his contribution to hockey in the United States. This was also the first season the Conn Smythe Trophy was awarded for the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The only significant rules change for this season was a requirement that teams suit up two goaltenders for each game.

February saw the momentous announcement that six conditional franchises had been awarded to Los Angeles, San Francisco, St. Louis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, all to begin play in 1967. The St. Louis franchise was surprising, as no formal application from the city had been tendered. It was awarded to fulfill the wishes of James D. Norris and Arthur Wirtz, owners of the Chicago Black Hawks, who also owned the St. Louis Arena which they wanted to sell.

On the debit side, a strong bid from Vancouver was rejected, much to the anger of Canadians and the protest of Prime Minister Lester Pearson, and the rumor was widely spread, fuelled by a corroborating statement from Leafs' general manager Punch Imlach that the Toronto and Montreal owners had vetoed the bid out of a dislike for sharing television money.

Predictions

The Canadian Magazine, a weekend supplement to many Canadian newspapers, published on October 23 predictions on the upcoming NHL season by journalists from each NHL city.

Red Burnett, Toronto

1. Montreal
2. Chicago
3. Toronto
4. Detroit
5. New York
6. Boston

Stanley Cup: Toronto

Pat Curran, Montreal

1. Montreal
2. Chicago
3. Detroit
4. Toronto
5. Boston
6. New York

Stanley Cup: Montreal

Jack Griffin, Chicago

1. Montreal
2. Chicago
3. Toronto
4. New York
5. Detroit
6. Boston

Stanley Cup: Chicago

Jack Berry, Detroit

1. Montreal
2. Detroit
3. Toronto
4. Chicago
5. New York
6. Boston

Stanley Cup: Detroit

Leo Monahan, Boston

1. Montreal
2. Chicago
3. Detroit
4. Toronto
5. Boston
6. New York

Stanley Cup: Montreal

Red Foley, New York

1. Montreal
2. Chicago
3. Toronto
4. New York
5. Detroit
6. Boston

Stanley Cup: Montreal

Consensus

1. Montreal
2. Chicago
3. Toronto
4. Detroit
5. Boston
6. New York

Stanley Cup: Montreal

Regular Season

Among notable players to debut this season was Ed Giacomin for the Rangers, Bill Goldsworthy for the Bruins, Ken Hodge for Chicago and Mike Walton for Toronto. However, the career of future Hockey Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay was over, as his request for reinstatement as an active player was vetoed by the Toronto ownership.

Arnie Brown and Mike McMahon, Jr. scale the glass, November 21, 1965.

During the November 21, 1965 game at Madison Square Garden, with the scored tied 1-1 between the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers, at 9:50 of the third period, Ranger goalie Eddie Giacomin made what appeared to be a save. However, the goal judge signalled a goal, believing that Giacomin's glove crossed the goal line while the puck was in it. Rangers general manager Emile Francis was furious, left his seat and ran to the goal judge to protest. Along the way, he got into an altercation with some fans who started to punch him. Ten Ranger players scaled the glass and a melee of Rangers fighting with their own fans ensued. It took police fifteen minutes to break up the altercation. Francis suffered a cut over one eye which required stitches. The game ended in a 3-3 tie.

Gordie Howe scored his 600th NHL goal in Montreal November 27th in a 3-2 loss to the Canadiens to the cheers of the local fans. Among lesser milestones in the season were Frank Mahovlich's 250th goal and John Bucyk's and Claude Provost's 200th.

Hull with his record-breaking 51st goal, March 12, 1966.

In an unusual incident, the Red Wings' jerseys were stolen from the visitors' dressing room in Montreal the night before a January game, and Detroit was compelled to play in the uniforms of their junior farm team in Hamilton, which were express shipped to Montreal in time for the match.

James D. Norris, owner of the Chicago Black Hawks, died of a heart attack in late February.

Bobby Hull set a new record for goals in a season with 54 and a new record for points in a season with 97, earning him the Art Ross Trophy and his second straight Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player. Jacques Laperriere of Montreal won the Norris Trophy as best defenseman. In possibly the weakest Calder choice in history, Brit Selby won the Calder Memorial Trophy as best rookie.

Final Standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

National Hockey League

	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Montreal Canadiens	70	41	21	8	90	239	173	884
Chicago Black Hawks	70	37	25	8	82	240	187	815
Toronto Maple Leafs	70	34	25	11	79	208	187	811
Detroit Red Wings	70	31	27	12	74	221	194	804
Boston Bruins	70	21	43	6	48	174	275	787
New York Rangers	70	18	41	11	47	195	261	894

Scoring Leaders

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Bobby Hull	Chicago Black Hawks	65	54	43	97	70
Stan Mikita	Chicago Black Hawks	68	30	48	78	58
Bobby Rousseau	Montreal Canadiens	70	30	48	78	20
Jean Beliveau	Montreal Canadiens	67	29	48	77	50
Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	70	29	46	75	83

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	35	1998	75	2.25	18	10	5	3
Gump Worsley	Montreal Canadiens	51	2899	114	2.36	29	14	6	2
Charlie Hodge	Montreal Canadiens	26	1301	56	2.58	12	7	2	1
Glenn Hall	Chicago Black Hawks	64	3747	164	2.63	34	21	7	4
Roger Crozier	Detroit Red Wings	64	3734	173	2.78	27	24	12	7
Dave Dryden	Chicago Black Hawks	11	453	23	3.05	3	4	1	0
Terry Sawchuk	Toronto Maple Leafs	27	1521	80	3.16	10	11	3	1
Cesare Maniago	N.Y. Rangers	28	1613	94	3.50	9	16	3	2
Ed Giacomin	N.Y. Rangers	36	2096	128	3.66	8	19	7	0
Bernie Parent	Boston Bruins	39	2083	128	3.69	11	20	3	1
Eddie Johnston	Boston Bruins	33	1744	108	3.72	10	19	2	1

Stanley Cup Playoffs

The second game of the semi-final series between Detroit and Chicago on April 10th, in which Detroit won by the score of 7-0, was reputed to be the first nationally televised hockey game in the United States.

Roger Crozier in the playoffs.

Stanley Cup Finals

Behind the skilled goaltending of Roger Crozier, who had missed parts of the regular season with illness, the Red Wings won the first two games of the Finals. However, Crozier was injured in the fourth game and seemed not to recover his form, and the Canadiens won the Cup four games to two. Roger Crozier won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the outstanding player of the playoffs.

Playoff Bracket

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

Mid-Season NHL Awards

1965-66 NHL awards
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Brit Selby, Toronto Maple Leafs
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Alex Delvecchio, Detroit Red Wings
Vezina Trophy:	Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks

Mid-Season All-Star Teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks	G	Roger Crozier, Detroit Red Wings
Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks	D	Doug Barkley, Detroit Red Wings
Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens	D	Allan Stanley, Toronto Maple Leafs
Norm Ullman, Detroit Red Wings	C	Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks
Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings	RW	Bobby Rousseau, Montreal Canadiens
Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks	LW	Doug Mohns, Chicago Black Hawks

Second Half NHL Awards

1965-66 NHL awards
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Brit Selby, Toronto Maple Leafs
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Pat Stapleton, Chicago Black Hawks
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Alex Delvecchio, Detroit Red Wings
Vezina Trophy:	Gump Worsley & Charlie Hodge, Montreal Canadiens

Second Half All-Star Teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Gump Worsley, Montreal Canadiens	G	Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks
Pat Stapleton, Chicago Black Hawks	D	Harry Howell, New York Rangers
J.C. Tremblay, Montreal Canadiens	D	Allan Stanley, Toronto Maple Leafs
Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens	C	Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks
Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings	RW	Bobby Rousseau, Montreal Canadiens
Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks	LW	Frank Mahovlich, Toronto Maple Leafs

NHL Awards

1965-66 NHL Awards
Prince of Wales Trophy:	Montreal Canadiens
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Brit Selby, Toronto Maple Leafs
Conn Smythe Trophy:	Roger Crozier, Detroit Red Wings
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Alex Delvecchio, Detroit Red Wings
Vezina Trophy:	Gump Worsley & Charlie Hodge, Montreal Canadiens
Lester Patrick Trophy:	J.J. "Jack" Adams

All-Star Teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks	G	Gump Worsley, Montreal Canadiens
Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens	D	Allan Stanley, Toronto Maple Leafs
Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks	D	Pat Stapleton, Chicago Black Hawks
Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks	C	Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens
Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings	RW	Bobby Rousseau, Montreal Canadiens
Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks	LW	Frank Mahovlich, Toronto Maple Leafs

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1965-66 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Jean-Paul Parise, Boston Bruins
• Derek Sanderson, Boston Bruins
• Bernie Parent, Boston Bruins
• Barry Ashbee, Boston Bruins
• Pete Mahovlich, Detroit Red Wings
• Danny Grant, Montreal Canadiens
• Ed Giacomin, New York Rangers

Last Games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1965-66 (listed with their last team):

• Bill Gadsby, Detroit Red Wings

Gallery

Frank Mahovlich, Gerry Cheevers (playing in his first game for the Bruins), Don Awrey, October 27, 1965.

Reg Fleming's game winner, November 27, 1965.

Bob Dillabough scores on Gump Worsley, December 5, 1965.

Bruins Tom Williams and #19 Reg Fleming, Leafs Johnny Bower and Kent Douglas, December 19, 1965.

Bruce Gamble and Ron Stewart, March 6, 1966.

Tim Horton, John Bucyk and Pit Martin in 1966 action.

Bernie Parent, Gilles Marotte and Dave Keon in 1965-66 season action.

Don Awrey, Bernie Parent, Bob Woytowich in 1965-66 season action.

See Also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1965 NHL Amateur Draft
• National Hockey League All-Star Game

References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com