The1965–66 NHL season was the49thseason of theNational Hockey League. Six teams played 70 games each. TheMontreal Canadiens won their second consecutiveStanley Cup as they defeated theDetroit Red Wings four games to two in the final series.

A new trophy was introduced for this season.Jack Adams won the firstLester Patrick Trophy for his contribution to hockey in the United States.^[1]

February saw the momentous announcement that six conditional franchises had been awarded toLos Angeles,San Francisco,St. Louis,Minneapolis–St. Paul,Philadelphia andPittsburgh, all tobegin 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 ofJames D. Norris andArthur Wirtz, owners of theChicago Black Hawks, who also owned theSt. Louis Arena, which they wanted to sell.^[2]

On the debit side, a strong bid from Vancouver was rejected, much to the anger of many Canadians and the protest of their Prime MinisterLester Pearson. A rumour was widely spread — fuelled by a corroborating statement from Leafs' general managerPunch Imlach that the Toronto and Montreal owners had vetoed the bid out of a dislike for sharing the proceeds fromtelevision broadcasts of the games. Vancouver would eventually get an NHL franchise in1970.^[3]

Thethird NHL amateur draft was held on April 27, 1965, at theQueen Elizabeth Hotel inMontreal,Quebec.Andre Veilleux was selected first overall by theNew York Rangers.

For the second consecutive year, theCanadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) called for the end the NHL's system of sponsoringjunior ice hockey teams and instead allow players who graduated from junior hockey to be chosen in theNHL amateur draft. CAHA presidentLionel Fleury asked the NHL to terminate the existing professional-agreement rather than letting it expire in 1968.^[4] NHL presidentClarence Campbell declined to terminate the agreement since 95 per cent of NHL players were produced by sponsored junior teams. The NHL felt that a draft of players might be viable but wanted to draft players at a younger age than 20, and wanted to continue making payments directly to amateur teams instead of the CAHA dispersing funds as it saw fit.^[5] Discussions remained unresolved until a new agreement with the requested changes was reached in August 1966.^[6]

The only significant rule change for this season was a requirement that the teams suit up two goaltenders for each game.^[7]

Among notable players to debut during this season wereEd Giacomin for the Rangers,Bill Goldsworthy for the Bruins,Ken Hodge for Chicago andMike Walton for Toronto. In the meantime, however, the career of futureHockey Hall of FamerTed Lindsay was over, as his request for reinstatement as an active player was vetoed by the Toronto ownership.

Ed Giacomin put together a six-game unbeaten streak early in the season to the delight of the fans. But the Rangers' inexperience behind the blueline caught up with them as the team began to lose and the Rangers were out of contention quickly, which cost coachRed Sullivan his job.Emile Francis took over the coaching reins, but the Rangers were headed nowhere this season.Worse,Rod Gilberthad to undergo a second spinal fusion surgery if he wanted to play hockey again. The Rangers missed his offense.

Gordie Howe scored his 600th NHL goal in Montreal on November 27 in a 3–2 loss to the Canadiens to the cheers of the local fans. Among lesser milestones in the season wereFrank Mahovlich's 250th goal andJohnny Bucyk's andClaude Provost's 200th.

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 inHamilton, which were express shipped to Montreal in time for the match.^[8]

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

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).

The second game of the semifinal series between Detroit and Chicago on April 10, was nationally televised in the United States.^[9]

For the fourth straight year, it wasMontreal vs. Toronto andDetroit vs. Chicago in the first round. The Canadiens were victorious over the Leafs in four straight games, while the Wings beat the Hawks in six.

The Montreal Canadiens were the best regular season team, earning 90 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs earned the third seed with 79 points. This was the twelfth playoff series between these tworivals, with Toronto winning six of their eleven previous series. This was a rematch from the1965 semifinals, where Montreal won in six games. Toronto won sixteen of twenty-eight points in this year's regular season series.

The Canadiens defeated the Maple Leafs in a four-game sweep.

The Chicago Black Hawks earned the second seed with 82 points. The Detroit Red Wings earned the fourth seed with 74 points. This was the eighth playoff series between these tworivals, with Detroit winning four of their seven previous series. This was a rematch of the1965 semifinals, where Chicago won in seven games. Chicago earned twenty-four of twenty-eight points in this year's regular season series.

The Red Wings upset the Black Hawks in six games.

The Montreal Canadiens were the defending champions in their twenty-second Stanley Cup Finals, after winning their thirteenth championship theprevious year with a seven-game victory over the Chicago Black Hawks. This was the Detroit Red Wings' eighteenth Stanley Cup Finals, having won seven championships previously. Their most recent Finals came in1964, when they lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games. This was the eleventh playoff series between these two teams, with Detroit winning seven of their ten previous series. Their most recent series had come in the1958 semifinals, where Montreal won in a four-game sweep. Montreal won eighteen of twenty-eight points in this year's regular season series. Detroit would not return to the Stanley Cup Finals again until1995.

Behind the skilled goaltending ofRoger 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 the Canadiens won the Cup four games to two.Roger Crozier won theConn Smythe Trophy as a member of the losing team.

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. No left-winger would pace the NHL in points again untilAlexander Ovechkin in2007–08.Jacques Laperriere of Montreal won the Norris Trophy as best defenceman.

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

Source: NHL.^[10]

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

• Boston Bruins:Milt Schmidt
• Chicago Black Hawks:Billy Reay
• Detroit Red Wings:Sid Abel
• Montreal Canadiens:Toe Blake
• New York Rangers:Emile Francis
• Toronto Maple Leafs:Punch Imlach

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):

• J. P. 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

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

Hockey Night in Canada onCBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games.HNIC also began producing Wednesday night regular season game telecasts forCTV. Games were typically not broadcast in their entirety until the1968–69 season, and were typically joined in progress.

NBC agreed to air 1966 Sunday afternoon playoff games, marking the first time since the1959–60 season that the NHL aired nationally in the U.S., and the first time ever that postseason games aired on American network television. The clinching Game 6 of the1966 Stanley Cup Finals on Thursday, May 5 aired acrossRKO General-owned stations.

• 1965–66 NHL transactions
• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1965 NHL amateur draft
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• 1965 in sports
• 1966 in sports

• Diamond, Dan, ed. (1994).Years of glory, 1942–1967: the National Hockey League's official book of the six-team era. Toronto, ON: McClelland and Stewart.ISBN 0-7710-2817-2.
• Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000).Total Hockey. Total Sports.ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
• Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011).The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates.ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
• Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000).Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
• Duplacey, James (1996).The annotated rules of hockey. New York: Lyons & Burford, Publishers.ISBN 1-55821-466-6.
• Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003).The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, Illinois: Publications International Inc.ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.
• McFarlane, Brian (1973).The Story of the National Hockey League. New York: Pagurian Press.ISBN 0-684-13424-1.

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com

• 1965–66 NHL season
• 1965–66 in American ice hockey by league
• 1965–66 in Canadian ice hockey by league

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from August 2023
• Use Canadian English from January 2021
• All Wikipedia articles written in Canadian English
• Short description is different from Wikidata