| 1960–61 NHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 5, 1960 – April 16, 1961 |
| Games | 70 |
| Teams | 6 |
| TV partner(s) | CBC,SRC (Canada) None (United States) |
| Regular season | |
| Season champion | Montreal Canadiens |
| SeasonMVP | Bernie Geoffrion (Canadiens) |
| Top scorer | Bernie Geoffrion (Canadiens) |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Champions | Chicago Black Hawks |
| Runners-up | Detroit Red Wings |
| NHL seasons | |
The1960–61 NHL season was the44thseason of theNational Hockey League. Six teams played 70 games each. TheChicago Black Hawks defeated theDetroit Red Wings in theStanley Cup Finals four games to two to win theStanley Cup. It was the first series since1950 with two American-based teams. It was Chicago's first Cup win since1938; they would not win another until2010.
Red Wings' forwardGordie Howe became the first player in NHL history to score 1,000 regular-season points. It took seven more seasons before theMontreal Canadiens'Jean Beliveau would match the feat.
The originalHart Trophy was retired, as all its plaques were filled and its general condition had deteriorated. A new trophy was commissioned and the award was renamed the Hart Memorial Trophy.
On September 15, 1960,Maurice "Rocket" Richard announced his retirement from hockey. During his career, he had led all scorers with a record 544 goals plus an additional 82 goals in the playoffs. Despite the league expanding the number of games in a season to 70 games from 50 since Richard's famous50 goals in 50 games, Richard remained the only player to score 50 goals in a season, until this season.
By this season, the Chicago Black Hawks were a strong team. They had an especially powerful defence, which hadPierre Pilote,Al Arbour,Jack Evans, andElmer Vasko. Up front, youngstersBobby Hull andStan Mikita led the offense, and goaltenderGlenn Hall was the Hawks' steady presence between the pipes.
It was reported thatEddie Shore, the great Boston Bruins defenceman and four-time league MVP from the 1930s, had been stricken with aheart attack, but was resting comfortably in aSpringfield, Massachusetts hospital.
On October 13, the Canadiens routed the Rangers 8–4, withBernie Geoffrion andDickie Moore each scoring hat tricks.
Jack McCartan got his only NHL shutout for theNew York Rangers by blanking the Black Hawks 2–0 on October 19. Chicago'sReg Fleming set a record with 37 penalty minutes in this game. They included three major penalties for battles withDean Prentice,Eddie Shack, andJohn Hanna, a misconduct, and a game misconduct.
On December 1, the Canadiens, who had tradedAndré Pronovost to Boston forJean-Guy Gendron, defeated theToronto Maple Leafs 6–3 at theMontreal Forum. Gendron had a goal, but the main feature was the 21 penalties refereeFrank Udvari had to call, including several majors in the third period.Henri Richard took onFrank Mahovlich, Dickie Moore squared off withBob Pulford, and Marcel Bonin scrapped withBobby Baun. Toronto general manager and head coachGeorge "Punch" Imlach was in a bad mood following the game and said to the press among other things that Udvari and linesmen Loring Doolittle and George Hayes should have been picked as the three stars for the help they gave to Montreal. Imlach's comments were brought to the attention of NHL presidentClarence Campbell, who fined the Leafs bench boss $200.
In the new year, Stan Mikita helped to spark Chicago. He scored two goals in a 3–2 win over the Rangers on January 4 and scored the winner when the Black Hawks beat Boston 4–3 the following night.
Former Canadiens defencemanLeo Lamoureux died inIndianapolis on January 11 at age 45.
Chicago defeated the Rangers 4–3 on March 8. New York goalieGump Worsley pulled a hamstring muscle and Joe Shaefer replaced him with the score 1–1. The next night, the Rangers were eliminated from the playoffs as Bernie Geoffrion potted a hat trick in a 6–1 pasting by the Canadiens.
Toronto'sJohnny Bower, who appeared on his way to winning theVezina Trophy, strained a leg muscle and would have to take a rest.Cesare Maniago played in goal for the Leafs on March 16 and lost 5–2. It looked like two players, Toronto'sFrank Mahovlich and Montreal'sBernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, were going to hit 50 goals, but Mahovlich ended up slumping near the end of the season and missed 50 by two goals. Geoffrion scored his 50th goal that night and got a wild ovation. He also added 45 assists and led the league in scoring.
Toronto played a 2–2 tie with the Rangers in their final game of the season andBobby Baun was a victim of his own hard-hitting.Camille Henry of the Rangers ran into Baun and Henry's skate cut Baun in the neck. Baun returned for the third period, but after the game, while boarding the team bus, he began to gasp desperately. He groped for attention and waved his arms, and his teammates finally realized he was in trouble and rushed him to the hospital where an emergency operation was performed to permit breathing. Baun missed some action in the playoffs as the result of the injury.
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 41 | 19 | 10 | 254 | 188 | +66 | 92 |
| 2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 39 | 19 | 12 | 234 | 176 | +58 | 90 |
| 3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 29 | 24 | 17 | 198 | 180 | +18 | 75 |
| 4 | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 25 | 29 | 16 | 195 | 215 | −20 | 66 |
| 5 | New York Rangers | 70 | 22 | 38 | 10 | 204 | 248 | −44 | 54 |
| 6 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 15 | 42 | 13 | 176 | 254 | −78 | 43 |
For theMontreal Canadiens, their defeat to eventual Stanley Cup championChicago Black Hawks in the first round ended two streaks (ten consecutive Finals appearances and five consecutive Stanley Cup wins). TheDetroit Red Wings defeated theToronto Maple Leafs in the other semifinal to set up an all-American final between Chicago and Detroit.
The top four teams in the league qualified for the playoffs. In the semifinals, the first-place team played the third-place team, while the second-place team faced the fourth-place team, with the winners advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals. In both rounds, teams competed in abest-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series).
| Semifinals | Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||
| 1 | Montreal | 2 | |||||||
| 3 | Chicago | 4 | |||||||
| 3 | Chicago | 4 | |||||||
| 4 | Detroit | 2 | |||||||
| 2 | Toronto | 1 | |||||||
| 4 | Detroit | 4 | |||||||
| March 21 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–6 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Tod Sloan (1) – 11:04 | First period | 02:53 –Bernie Geoffrion (1) | ||||||
| Pierre Pilote (1) –pp – 19:23 | Second period | 01:21 –Gilles Tremblay (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 03:23 –Claude Provost (1) 06:10 –Dickie Moore (1) 07:57 –Phil Goyette (1) 10:06 –pp –Jean-Guy Talbot (1) | ||||||
| Glenn Hall | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante | ||||||
| March 23 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4–3 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Stan Mikita (1) –pp – 09:02 Kenny Wharram (1) – 13:18 | Second period | 16:02 –Bernie Geoffrion (2) 18:36 –Henri Richard (1) | ||||||
| Bobby Hull (1) – 08:23 Ed Litzenberger (1) – 17:05 | Third period | 10:26 –Phil Goyette (2) | ||||||
| Glenn Hall | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante | ||||||
| March 26 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–2 | 3OT | Chicago Black Hawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 18:33 –Murray Balfour (1) | ||||||
| Henri Richard (2) –pp – 19:24 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third overtime period | 12:12 –pp – Murray Balfour (2) | ||||||
| Jacques Plante | Goalie stats | Glenn Hall | ||||||
| March 28 | Montreal Canadiens | 5–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| Phil Goyette (3) – 04:02 Dickie Moore (2) – 17:57 | First period | 04:24 –Dollard St. Laurent (1) | ||||||
| Bill Hicke (1) Dickie Moore (3) –pp – 14:18 | Second period | 09:28 –Stan Mikita (2) | ||||||
| Bill Hicke (2) – 04:24 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jacques Plante | Goalie stats | Glenn Hall | ||||||
| April 1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–0 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Moose Vasko (1) –pp – 08:34 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ab McDonald (1) – 13:17 Stan Mikita (3) – 15:40 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Glenn Hall | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante | ||||||
| April 4 | Montreal Canadiens | 0–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 01:15 –Bill Hay (1) 05:49 –pp –Bobby Hull (2) 15:58 –Eric Nesterenko (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jacques Plante | Goalie stats | Glenn Hall | ||||||
| Chicago won series 4–2 | |
| March 22 | Detroit Red Wings | 2–3 | 2OT | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | ||
| Alex Delvecchio (1) – 00:14 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 02:20 –pp –Bob Nevin (1) | ||||||
| Howie Young (1) – 01:46 | Third period | 14:26 –Ron Stewart (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second overtime period | 04:51 –George Armstrong (1) | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck | Goalie stats | Cesare Maniago | ||||||
| March 25 | Detroit Red Wings | 4–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Marcel Pronovost (1) – 07:49 Leo Labine (1) –sh – 16:27 | Second period | 04:04 –Billy Harris (1) | ||||||
| Gerry Melnyk (1) – 05:34 Vic Stasiuk (1) – 08:02 | Third period | 09:49 –Frank Mahovlich (1) | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck | Goalie stats | Cesare Maniago | ||||||
| March 26 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 0–2 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 04:51 –Gordie Howe (1) 06:13 –Val Fonteyne (1) | ||||||
| Johnny Bower | Goalie stats | Terry Sawchuck | ||||||
| March 28 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1–4 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| Bert Olmstead (1) –pp – 12:52 | First period | 19:08 –pp –Leo Labine (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 11:20 –Gordie Howe (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 03:24 –Marcel Pronovost (2) 19:55 –en –Val Fonteyne (2) | ||||||
| Johnny Bower | Goalie stats | Terry Sawchuck | ||||||
| April 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 3–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| Gordie Howe (3) –sh – 04:26 Len Lunde (1) –pp – 14:11 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Al Johnson (1) – 05:27 | Second period | 16:11 –pp –Red Kelly (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 13:51 –Dave Keon (1) | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck | Goalie stats | Johnny Bower | ||||||
| Detroit won series 4–1 | |
Chicago defeated the Red Wings in six games to win their first Cup since1938, and their last until2010.
| April 6 | Detroit Red Wings | 2–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 09:39 –pp –Bobby Hull (3) 10:10 –Kenny Wharram (2) 13:15 – Bobby Hull (4) | ||||||
| Len Lunde (2) –pp – 16:14 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Al Johnson (2) – 19:18 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck,Hank Bassen | Goalie stats | Glenn Hall | ||||||
| April 8 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–3 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 08:10 –Howie Young (2) 17:39 –pp –Alex Delvecchio (2) | ||||||
| Pierre Pilote (2) – 00:41 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 19:22 – Alex Delvecchio (3) | ||||||
| Glenn Hall | Goalie stats | Hank Bassen | ||||||
| April 10 | Detroit Red Wings | 1–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 11:54 –Stan Mikita (4) 14:19 –Ron Murphy (1) 18:16 –Murray Balfour (3) | ||||||
| Gordie Howe (4) – 09:28 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Hank Bassen | Goalie stats | Glenn Hall | ||||||
| April 12 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–2 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bill Hay (2) – 07:34 | Second period | 08:48 –pp –Alex Delvecchio (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 13:10 –Bruce MacGregor (1) | ||||||
| Glenn Hall | Goalie stats | Terry Sawchuck | ||||||
| April 14 | Detroit Red Wings | 3–6 | Chicago Black Hawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| Leo Labine (3) – 02:14 Howie Glover (1) –pp – 15:35 | First period | 09:36 –Murray Balfour (4) 10:04 –Ron Murphy (2) | ||||||
| Vic Stasiuk (2) – 18:49 | Second period | 16:25 – Murray Balfour (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 02:51 –pp –Stan Mikita (5) 07:02 –Pierre Pilote (3) 13:27 – Stan Mikita (6) | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck | Goalie stats | Glenn Hall | ||||||
| April 16 | Chicago Black Hawks | 5–1 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 15:24 –pp –Parker MacDonald (1) | ||||||
| Reg Fleming (1) –sh – 06:45 Ab McDonald (2) – 18:49 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Eric Nesterenko (2) – 00:57 Jack Evans (1) – 06:27 Kenny Wharram (3) – 18:00 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Glenn Hall | Goalie stats | Hank Bassen | ||||||
| Chicago won series 4–2 | |
| 1960–61 NHL awards | |
|---|---|
| Prince of Wales Trophy: (Regular season champion) | Montreal Canadiens |
| Art Ross Trophy: (Top scorer) | Bernie Geoffrion, Montreal Canadiens |
| Calder Memorial Trophy: (Best first-year player) | Dave Keon, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Hart Memorial Trophy: (Most valuable player) | Bernie Geoffrion, Montreal Canadiens |
| James Norris Memorial Trophy: (Best defenceman) | Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens |
| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship) | Red Kelly, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Vezina Trophy: (Goaltender of team with the best goals-against average) | Johnny Bower, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| First team | Position | Second team |
|---|---|---|
| Johnny Bower, Toronto Maple Leafs | G | Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks |
| 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 | Henri Richard, Montreal Canadiens |
| Bernie Geoffrion, Montreal Canadiens | RW | Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings |
| Frank Mahovlich, Toronto Maple Leafs | LW | Dickie Moore, Montreal Canadiens |
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernie Geoffrion | Montreal Canadiens | 64 | 50 | 45 | 95 | 29 |
| Jean Beliveau | Montreal Canadiens | 69 | 32 | 58 | 90 | 57 |
| Frank Mahovlich | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 48 | 36 | 84 | 131 |
| Andy Bathgate | New York Rangers | 70 | 29 | 48 | 77 | 22 |
| Gordie Howe | Detroit Red Wings | 64 | 23 | 49 | 72 | 30 |
| Norm Ullman | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 28 | 42 | 70 | 34 |
| Red Kelly | Toronto Maple Leafs | 64 | 20 | 50 | 70 | 12 |
| Dickie Moore | Montreal Canadiens | 57 | 35 | 34 | 69 | 62 |
| Henri Richard | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 24 | 44 | 68 | 91 |
| Alex Delvecchio | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 27 | 35 | 62 | 26 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Hodge | Montreal Canadiens | 30 | 1800 | 74 | 2.47 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 4 |
| Johnny Bower | Toronto Maple Leafs | 58 | 3480 | 145 | 2.50 | 33 | 15 | 10 | 2 |
| Glenn Hall | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 4200 | 176 | 2.51 | 29 | 24 | 17 | 6 |
| Hank Bassen | Detroit Red Wings | 34 | 2120 | 98 | 2.77 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 0 |
| Jacques Plante | Montreal Canadiens | 40 | 2400 | 112 | 2.80 | 23 | 11 | 6 | 2 |
| Terry Sawchuk | Detroit Red Wings | 38 | 2080 | 112 | 3.23 | 12 | 17 | 7 | 2 |
| Don Simmons | Boston Bruins | 18 | 1080 | 58 | 3.23 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 1 |
| Lorne Worsley | New York Rangers | 59 | 3473 | 191 | 3.30 | 20 | 29 | 8 | 1 |
| Bruce Gamble | Boston Bruins | 52 | 3120 | 193 | 3.71 | 12 | 33 | 7 | 0 |
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1960–61 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1960–61 (listed with their last team):
Hockey Night in Canada onCBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games. Games were not broadcast in their entirety until the1968–69 season, and were typically joined in progress, while the radio version ofHNIC aired games in their entirety.
In the U.S.,CBS decided not the renew its agreement to continue airing Saturday afternoon regular season games in 1960–61, and the NHL would not be able to attract another American national network until the1965–66 season.