| 1966 Stanley Cup Final | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| * indicates periods of overtime. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location(s) | Montreal:Montreal Forum (1, 2, 5) Detroit:Olympia Stadium (3, 4, 6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | Montreal:Toe Blake Detroit:Sid Abel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Captains | Montreal:Jean Beliveau Detroit:Alex Delvecchio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | April 24 – May 5, 1966 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Roger Crozier (Red Wings) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Henri Richard(2:20, OT, G6) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Canadiens: Jean Beliveau (1972) Yvan Cournoyer (1982) Dick Duff (2006) Jacques Laperriere (1987; did not play) Henri Richard (1979) Gump Worsley (1980) Red Wings: Andy Bathgate (1978) Leo Boivin (1986) Alex Delvecchio (1977) Bill Gadsby (1970) Gordie Howe (1972) Norm Ullman (1982) Coaches: Sid Abel (1969, player) Toe Blake (1966, player) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The1966 Stanley Cup Final was thechampionship series of theNational Hockey League's (NHL)1965–66 season, and the culmination of the1966 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by theDetroit Red Wings and the defending championMontreal Canadiens. This was the fifth Detroit-Montreal Cup Final; they previously met in1952,1954,1955, and1956, with the Red Wings winning the former three and the Canadiens winning the latter. The Canadiens defeated the Red Wings in six games to win theStanley Cup for the seventh time in eleven years. This was the last Cup Final appearance for the Red Wings until1995.
Montreal defeated theToronto Maple Leafs 4–0 to advance to the finals, and Detroit defeated theChicago Black Hawks 4–2.
With this series,Toe Blake had coached the Canadiens to seven Cups in eleven years.Henri Richard, a member of all seven championship teams, would score the series winner in game six in overtime. Two minutes into the extra period, Richard broke in on Red Wing goalieRoger Crozier, lost his footing on the newly resurfaced ice as he cut across the goalmouth, and sprawled into Crozier. The puck went in, and even though Crozier and the Wings protested that Richard had pushed the puck in with his hand, the goal stood. His brilliant play in goal, even in defeat, earned Crozier theConn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs, becoming the first player to win the award as a member of the losing team.
| April 24 | Detroit Red Wings | 3–2 | Montreal Canadiens | Forum de Montréal | Recap | |||
| Floyd Smith (3) - 13:25 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bill Gadsby (1) - 5:14 | Second period | 4:23 -Ralph Backstrom (2) | ||||||
| Paul Henderson (3) - 2:14 | Third period | 2:36 -Terry Harper (2) | ||||||
| Roger Crozier 33 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Gump Worsley 32 saves / 35 shots | ||||||
| April 26 | Detroit Red Wings | 5–2 | Montreal Canadiens | Forum de Montréal | Recap | |||
| Andy Bathgate (6) -pp - 18:39 | First period | 6:55 -pp -J.C. Tremblay (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bruce MacGregor (1) - 1:51 Ab McDonald (1) - 2:45 Floyd Smith (4) - 12:28 Dean Prentice (5) - 16:25 | Third period | 12:00 -Yvan Cournoyer (1) | ||||||
| Roger Crozier 23 saves / 25 shots | Goalie stats | Gump Worsley 29 saves / 34 shots | ||||||
| April 28 | Montreal Canadiens | 4–2 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| Dave Balon (1) - 15:40 Jean Beliveau (3) - 19:12 | First period | 4:20 -Norm Ullman (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gilles Tremblay (3) - 1:45 Gilles Tremblay (4) -pp - 3:21 | Third period | 19:59 -Gordie Howe (4) | ||||||
| Gump Worsley 29 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Roger Crozier 27 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| May 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 2–1 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jean Beliveau (4) -pp - 19:51 | Second period | 11:24 -Norm Ullman (4) | ||||||
| Ralph Backstrom (3) - 13:37 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gump Worsley 22 saves / 23 shots | Goalie stats | Roger Crozier 3 saves / 3 shots Hank Bassen 28 saves / 30 shots | ||||||
| May 3 | Detroit Red Wings | 1–5 | Montreal Canadiens | Forum de Montréal | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 1:06 -Claude Provost (2) 19:21 -pp -Yvan Cournoyer (2) | ||||||
| Norm Ullman (5) - 14:22 | Second period | 1:05 -Dave Balon (2) 11:22 -Bobby Rousseau (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 5:31 -Dick Duff (2) | ||||||
| Roger Crozier 28 saves / 33 shots | Goalie stats | Gump Worsley 20 saves / 21 shots | ||||||
| May 5 | Montreal Canadiens | 3–2 | OT | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | ||
| Jean Beliveau (5) - 9:08 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Leon Rochefort (1) - 10:11 | Second period | 11:55 -pp -Norm Ullman (6) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 10:30 -Floyd Smith (5) | ||||||
| Henri Richard (1) - 2:20 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gump Worsley 28 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Roger Crozier 19 saves / 22 shots | ||||||
| Montreal won series 4–2 | |
Roger Crozier winsConn Smythe Trophy.
The 1966 Stanley Cup was presented to Canadiens captain Jean Beliveau byNHL PresidentClarence Campbell following the Canadiens 3–2 win over the Red Wings in game six.
The following Canadiens players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup
1965–66 Montreal Canadiens
In 1966,NBC became the first[1] television network in the United States to air a national broadcast of aStanley Cup Playoff game. The network provided coverage of four Sunday afternoon playoff games[2][3] during the1965–66 postseason.[4] On April 10[5] and April 17,[6] NBC aired semifinal games between theChicago Black Hawks and theDetroit Red Wings. On April 24[7] and May 1,[8] NBC aired Games 1 and 4[9] of the Stanley Cup Finals between theMontreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings.Win Elliot served as the play-by-play man whileBill Mazer served as the color commentator for the games.[10]
NBC's coverage of the 1966 Stanley Cup Finals marked the first time that hockey games were broadcast on network television incolor.[11] TheCBC would follow suit the following year. NBC's Stanley Cup coverage preempted a sportsanthology series calledNBC Sports in Action, hosted byJim Simpson andBill Cullen, who were between-periods co-hosts for the Stanley Cup broadcasts.
The next season, the Red Wings finished a distant fifth, 24 points out of the playoffs, marking the beginning of a 20 year slump known as the "Dead Wings" era. The Red Wings only made the playoffs four times in the next 20 years between 1967 and 1986, and would not return to the Stanley Cup Finals again until1995, where they were swept by theNew Jersey Devils.
The Canadiens would return to the Stanley Cup Finals thenext season, but lost to theToronto Maple Leafs in six games. However, the Canadiens would eventually become a dynasty, winning the Stanley Cup in1968,1969,1971,1973,1976,1977,1978, and1979.
| Preceded by | Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup champions 1966 | Succeeded by |
Stanley Cup Final by prearranged inter-league competitions 1915–1926 and by NHL playoff champion since 1927 | |||
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