1965-66 NHL season

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The 1965-66 NHL season was the 49th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. Another new trophy was introduced for this season. Jack Adams won the first Lester Patrick Trophy for his contribution to hockey in the United States. The Montreal Canadiens won their second consecutive Stanley Cup as they defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to two in the final series.

This season, it was made obligatory for teams to suit up two goaltenders for each game.

There were so many unsigned players before the all-star game that in order to avoid a farce, it was decided to permit unsigned players to play

Contents 1 Regular season 1.1 Final standings 1.2 Scoring leaders 1.3 Leading goaltenders 2 Stanley Cup playoffs 3 Stanley Cup Finals 3.1 Playoff bracket 4 NHL awards 5 See also 6 References

[edit] Regular season

The New York Rangers introduced a rookie goaltender destined for greatness, but not this year. Ed Giacomin lost twice to Montreal, but went on an 6 game unbeaten streak and it seemed the Rangers might be going places. They did—down. The roof fell in as Giacomin was beaten twice and then hammered 9-3 by Montreal on November 20th in which Ralph Backstrom and Bobby Rousseau each had hat tricks. The next night, they had a 3-2 lead and Detroit tied it on a goal that rapidly bounced in and out of the net. Rangers General Manager Emile Francis refused to believe that Detroit had scored and argued with goal judge Arthur Reichart. Fans got on Francis, telling him to shut up in terms that suggested a destination. Soon Francis was fighting with the fans. Ranger players saw that their manager was in trouble and in a bizarre scene, half the team climbed over the glass to the aid of Francis and the result was that 12 Rangers were fined a total of $1,800 and Francis $250. The Rangers then lost games in droves and Emile Francis fired coach Red Sullivan and went behind the bench himself.Francis did no better.The Rangers continued to lose and finished last.

Bobby Hull started the season with a rush and had the hat trick when Chicago blanked Toronto 4-0 in the season opener at Maple Leaf Gardens. He continued his rampage with another hat trick in a 9-0 conquest of Toronto at Chicago Stadium November 7th.

Gordie Howe scored his 600th NHL goal in Montreal November 27th in a 3-2 loss to the Canadiens. 15,000 fans roared their approval as Howe beat Gump Worsley and programs and newspaper were thrown in celebration. Later, Howe was booed when he clipped J.C. Tremblay with an elbow that earned him a major penalty.

Pat Stapleton was a real find for the Black Hawks on defence and was playing very well.

General Manager Hap Emms was desperate at Boston and considered bringing up Bobby Orr from the Oshawa Generals. Orr would not be 18 until March and it was doubtful that permission would be given to play him.

Two hapless teams made a desperate trade and swapped rugged forwards as Boston traded Reg Fleming to the New York Rangers in exchange for Johnny McKenzie.

Bad news greeted the New York Rangers as Rod Gilbert was through for the season. He had to have surgery on his back February 1rst. The surgery was performed by Dr. Kazuo Yanagisawa and it was a success.

It was announced February 9th that the governors of the NHL had awarded six conditional franchises to be placed in Los Angeles, San Francisco, St. Louis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Vancouver was rejected, as the presentation by Messrs. McLean and Hewitt did not impress the governors. The indignation at the rejection of Vancouver spread throughout Canada.

James D. Norris, principal owner of the Chicago Black Hawks, died of a heart attack February 25th.

Bobby Hull scored his 50th goal March 2nd when Chicago beat Detroit 5-4. On March 12th, Chicago defeated the Rangers 4-2, and at 5:34 of the third period, Lou Angotti fed Hull the puck and Hull slapped it by Cesare Maniago for the record-breaking 51rst goal. There was a seven minute uproar by 22,000 fans following the goal.

The Bruins beat Toronto March 31rst and Gilles Marotte, an outstanding rookie defenceman, had a bad experience. Eddie Shack cut loose with a slap shot and his stick broke. The jagged end flew up and a large splinter was impaled in Marotte's throat. The crowd gasped as he skated to his bench with the piece of wood dangling from his neck. Fortunately, it had not penetrated very far and he received prompt first aid.

Bobby Hull set a new record for goals in a season with 54 and a new record for points in a season with 97 earing him the Art Ross Trophy and his second straight Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player.

[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	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

[edit] 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

[edit] Leading goaltenders

[edit] Stanley Cup playoffs

[edit] Stanley Cup Finals

The Montreal Canadiens lost the first two games to Detroit 3-2 and 5-2 and looked really uptight. However, coach Toe Blake relaxed his team and they took the next four. A key game was game four. A Canadiens player ran into Roger Crozier, the plucky Red Wings goaltender, and Crozier suffered a wrenched knee. Hank Bassen took over in goal and gave up goals to Jean Beliveau and Ralph Backstrom as the Canadiens won 2-1. Crozier was back for games five and six. The Canadiens won the Cup four games to two, clinching it in the sixth game.

Because of his heroic effort against the Canadiens, Roger Crozier won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the outstanding player in the playoffs.

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1965 NHL Amateur Draft
• 19th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• 1965 in sports
• 1966 in sports

[edit] References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com

NHL seasons
1961-62 | 1962-63 | 1963-64 | 1964-65 | 1965-66 | 1966-67 | 1967-68 | 1968-69 | 1969-70