1955-56 NHL season

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The 1955-56 NHL season was the 39th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Montreal Canadiens were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the Detroit Red Wings four games to one in the best-of-seven final series.

Contents 1 Regular season 1.1 Final standings 1.2 Scoring leaders 2 Stanley Cup playoffs 2.1 Playoff bracket 3 NHL awards 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Regular season

After a record seven straight seasons at the top of the NHL, the Detroit Red Wings' dynasty came to an end as a new dynasty began with the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens set a new record for wins in a season with 45. The Canadiens had a new coach, their one-time great left-winger, Hector "Toe" Blake.

Dick Irvin took over as coach in the Windy City, but could not get them out of the cellar, though they did improve. It was sort of a homecoming for Irvin as he started his coaching career with Chicago in 1930.

When the Hawks went to the Montreal Forum on October 22, Irvin was presented with a set of silver flatware by William Northey, representing the Canadian Arena Company. In the game itself, rookie Henri Richard scored two goals as Montreal shut out Chicago 6-0.

On November 5, Jean Béliveau scored three goals in 44 seconds as Montreal beat Boston 4-3. The record for fastest hat trick still was held by Bill Mosienko with three goals in 21 seconds.

At a governors meeting in December, a discussion took place concerning the uniforms worn by officials. It was contended that the present orange and black uniforms were confusing to players and fans, particularly when red uniforms are worn by either of the participating teams. Furthermore, it was pointed out that the existing uniforms showed up black on television. It was unanimously agreed that officials uniforms shoud be changed to black and white vertical stripes.

With Montreal frequently racking up two or three goals on any one power play, NHL President Clarence Campbell said he'd like the penalty rule revised to a penalized player returning to the ice when a power play goal is scored on a minor penalty.

On January 11, a crowd of 15,570 delighted fans at Madison Square Garden watched the Rangers trounce the Canadiens 6-1. Pete Conacher was a star for the Broadway Blueshirts with two goals. Lou Fontinato and Maurice Richard had a gala fight and Fontinato knocked out Richard with a punch that required several stitches above Richard's eye.

Montreal routed the Rangers 9-4 on February 18 as Beliveau had the hat trick and Richard two. The Rocket was incensed when referee Louis Maschio gave his brother a misconduct penalty and his teammates had to cool him off.

Jean Beliveau set a record for goals by a center when he scored his 45th goal March 15. Maurice Richard was hurt in this game when he fell over Chicago Black Hawk defenceman Pierre Pilote's skate and went headlong into the goal. He required stitches and was taken to hospital for X-rays. The Rocket was back in the lineup on St. Patrick's Day as the Canadiens trounced the Rangers 7-2 and Richard had the hat trick.

Rookie Glenn Hall had a fabulous year with 12 shutouts and a 2.11 goals against average for the ever-powerful Detroit Red Wings. He received the Calder Memorial Trophy over Henri "Pocket Rocket" Richard.

[edit] 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	45	15	10	100	222	131	977
Detroit Red Wings	70	30	24	16	76	183	148	794
New York Rangers	70	32	28	10	74	204	203	911
Toronto Maple Leafs	70	24	33	13	61	153	181	1051
Boston Bruins	70	23	34	13	59	147	185	929
Chicago Black Hawks	70	19	39	12	50	155	216	826

[edit] Scoring leaders

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Jean Béliveau	Montreal Canadiens	70	47	41	88	143
Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	70	38	41	79	100
Maurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens	70	38	33	71	89
Bert Olmstead	Montreal Canadiens	70	14	56	70	94
Tod Sloan	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	37	29	66	100
Andy Bathgate	New York Rangers	70	19	47	66	59

[edit] Stanley Cup playoffs

[edit] Playoff bracket

	Semifinals					Finals
	1	Montreal Canadiens	4
	3	New York Rangers	1
						1	Montreal Canadiens	4
						2	Detroit Red Wings	1
	2	Detroit Red Wings	4
	4	Toronto Maple Leafs	1

[edit] NHL awards

Prince of Wales Trophy:	Montreal Canadiens
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Glenn Hall, Detroit Red Wings
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Earl Reibel, Detroit Red Wings
Vezina Trophy:	Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens

[edit] See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 9th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• Ice hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics
• 1955 in sports
• 1956 in sports

[edit] References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com

NHL seasons
1951-52 | 1952-53 | 1953-54 | 1954-55 | 1955-56 | 1956-57 | 1957-58 | 1958-59 | 1959-60