1952–53 NHL season

1952–53 NHL season
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	October 9, 1952 – April 16, 1953
Number of games	70
Number of teams	6
Regular season
Season champion	Detroit Red Wings
Season MVP	Gordie Howe (Detroit Red Wings)
Top scorer	Gordie Howe (Detroit Red Wings)
Stanley Cup
Champions	Montreal Canadiens
Runners-up	Boston Bruins

The 1952–53 NHL season was the 36th season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the Boston Bruins four games to one in the final series.

League business

The NHL almost had a seventh franchise, as the Cleveland Barons of the American Hockey League applied for a franchise. They were accepted with the proviso that they deposit $425,000 to show good faith, and prove they had sufficient working capital to consort with the other NHL teams. They could not come up with the working capital and transfer of applicants stock to Cleveland residents. As a result, the Barons were told to apply at a later date.

A big deal was made between Toronto and Chicago as the Maple Leafs shipped Al Rollins, Gus Mortson and Cal Gardner for goaltender Harry Lumley.

Sid Abel was signed by Chicago to be player-coach.

What was rumour became fact in September when Arthur M. Wirtz and James D. Norris became the new owners of the near bankrupt Chicago Black Hawks.

James E. Norris, owner of the Detroit Red Wings since 1932 and father of James D. Norris, Chicago owner, died of a heart attack on December 4, 1952, and his daughter Marguerite became the owner. She became the first female owner of an NHL franchise since Ida Querrie owned the Toronto St. Patricks in 1923 when her husband Charlie transferred his stock in the team to her to avoid paying Eddie Livingstone any money in Livingstone's lawsuit against him.

NHL on-ice officials changed to orange-coloured uniforms in March 1953. The officials had worn cream-coloured uniforms which were not distinguishable from some team's home-ice uniforms.

Regular season

For the fifth straight season the Detroit Red Wings lead the league in points. Gordie Howe won the Hart Trophy over Al Rollins, but on the strength of Rollins' goaltending, Chicago made the playoffs for the first time since 1946.

The first television broadcast in Canada of an NHL game occurred on October 1 of this year. It was a French language broadcast of a game between the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings with the Canadiens winning 2–1.^[1] The French language telecast was produced by 24 year old Gerald Renaud. On November 1, the first English-language broadcast airs, with Foster Hewitt calling the action, starting in the second period because Conn Smythe was concerned that it would cut into the crowds at the arena.^[2] Smythe, the Leafs' managing director, sold the Leafs' television rights for a paltry $100 per game.

Highlights

Gump Worsley made his NHL debut October 9, 1952, in goal for the New York Rangers at the Detroit Olympia and lost 5–3, as Ted Lindsay scored in a tip-in on the power play for Worsley's first goal against him. The Production line scored 3 goals that night as Alex Delvecchio and Gordie Howe also had goals. Marty Pavelich scored what proved to be the winning goal.

On November 8, 14,562 fans were in attendance at the Montreal Forum when the Canadiens beat Chicago 6–4. Elmer Lach scored his 200th career goal. Fifty seconds later, after Emile "Butch" Bouchard fed him the puck, Rocket Richard rifled a puck past Al Rollins for his 325th goal, breaking Nels Stewart's record for career goals.^[2] It was ten years to the day since Richard had scored his first NHL goal.^[2] "Old Poison" sent the following telegram: "Congratulations on breaking record. Hope you will hold it for many seasons. Best of luck to you and rest of team."

When Terry Sawchuk was injured in practice, the Red Wings brought up Glenn Hall and he made his NHL debut on December 27 and played well in a 2–2 tie with Montreal. Hall then picked up his first career shutout January 7, blanking Boston 4–0.

Red Wings General Manager Jack Adams got into some trouble on January 18 when, after a 3–2 loss to Montreal, he entered the officials room and argued with referee Red Storey. Dick Irvin, coach of Montreal, was very upset over this and NHL president Clarence Campbell agreed, fining Adams $500.

Gump Worsley got his first career shutout January 11 when the New York Rangers defeated the Canadiens 7–0 in Montreal.

Butch Bouchard Night was held on February 28 and he was presented with a car and a TV set. Detroit spoiled the night with a 4–3 victory.

There was consternation in Toronto when Max Bentley suddenly vanished and was reported back at his home in Delisle, Saskatchewan. Conn Smythe convinced him to return and he did, playing the remaining games of the schedule.

Ted Lindsay scored 4 goals on March 2 as Detroit pummelled Boston by a score of 10–2.

Gordie Howe scored 49 goals to nearly tie Rocket Richard's record. Howe was held off the scoresheet in the final game of the season by Richard's Canadiens. Howe set a new points record for the season with 95 points and won the Art Ross and Hart trophies.^[2]

Final standings

National Hockey League^[3]

		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Detroit Red Wings	70	36	16	18	222	133	+89	90
2	Montreal Canadiens	70	28	23	19	155	148	+7	75
3	Chicago Black Hawks	70	27	28	15	169	175	-6 −6	69
4	Boston Bruins	70	28	29	13	152	172	-20 −20	69
5	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	27	30	13	156	167	-11 −11	67
6	New York Rangers	70	17	37	16	152	211	-59 −59	50

Playoffs

In a major upset, first-place Detroit was defeated in the semi-final by the Boston Bruins in six games. In the other semi-final, the fourth-place Chicago Black Hawks, making their first playoff appearance in seven years, took a 3–2 series lead after losing the first two games to the second-place Montreal Canadiens, but could not finish the job, losing in seven games.

Final

see 1953 Stanley Cup Finals

In the final, the Bruins could not continue their winning ways, losing to Montreal in five games.

After the Final, the Cleveland Barons of the American Hockey League applied to play a Stanley Cup challenge. The NHL governors turned down the challenge, stating that the Cleveland club operated in a league of lower standing.^[4][2]

Playoff bracket

	Semi-finals					Stanley Cup Final
	1	Detroit Red Wings	2
	3	Boston Bruins	4
						3	Boston Bruins	1
						2	Montreal Canadiens	4
	2	Montreal Canadiens	4
	4	Chicago Black Hawks	3

Awards

Prince of Wales Trophy: (Best regular-season record)	Detroit Red Wings
Art Ross Trophy: (Top scorer)	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Calder Memorial Trophy: (Top first-year player)	Lorne "Gump" Worsley, New York Rangers
Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player)	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship)	Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings
Vezina Trophy: (Goaltender of team with best goals-against record)	Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings

All-Star teams

First team	Position	Second team
Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings	G	Gerry McNeil, Montreal Canadiens
Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings	D	Bill Quackenbush, Boston Bruins
Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens	D	Bill Gadsby, Chicago Black Hawks
Fleming MacKell, Boston Bruins	C	Alex Delvecchio, Detroit Red Wings
Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings	RW	Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Ted Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings	LW	Bert Olmstead, Montreal Canadiens

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

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

Player	Team	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	70	49	46	95	57
Ted Lindsay	Detroit Red Wings	70	32	39	71	111
Maurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens	70	28	33	61	112
Wally Hergesheimer	New York Rangers	70	30	29	59	10
Alex Delvecchio	Detroit Red Wings	70	16	43	59	28
Paul Ronty	New York Rangers	70	16	38	54	20
Metro Prystai	Detroit Red Wings	70	16	34	50	12
Red Kelly	Detroit Red Wings	70	19	27	46	8
Bert Olmstead	Montreal Canadiens	69	17	28	45	83
Fleming Mackell	Boston Bruins	65	27	17	44	63

^[5]

Leading goaltenders

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
Terry Sawchuk	Detroit Red Wings	63	3780	120	1.90	32	15	16	9
Gerry McNeil	Montreal Canadiens	66	3960	140	2.12	25	23	18	10
Harry Lumley	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	4200	167	2.39	27	30	13	10
Jim Henry	Boston Bruins	70	4200	142	2.46	28	29	13	7
Al Rollins	Chicago Black Hawks	70	4200	175	2.50	27	28	15	6
Chuck Rayner	New York Rangers	20	1200	58	2.90	4	8	8	1
Lorne Worsley	New York Rangers	50	3000	153	3.06	13	29	8	2

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1952–53 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Jerry Toppazzini, Boston Bruins
• Glenn Hall, Detroit Red Wings
• Marcel Bonin, Detroit Red Wings
• Ed Litzenberger, Montreal Canadiens
• Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens
• Harry Howell, New York Rangers
• Dean Prentice, New York Rangers
• Gump Worsley, New York Rangers
• Andy Bathgate, New York Rangers
• Ron Murphy, New York Rangers
• Ron Stewart, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1952–53 (listed with their last team):

• Pentti Lund, Boston Bruins
• Chuck Rayner, New York Rangers

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 6th National Hockey League All-Star Game
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• 1952 in sports
• 1953 in sports

References

• Coleman, Charles L. (1976), Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol III, Sherbrooke, QC: Progressive Publications 
• 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. Kingston, NY: 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 (2008), Hockey’s Book of Firsts, North Dighton, MA: JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9 
• Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International Inc. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1. 
• McFarlane, Brian (1969), 50 Years Of Hockey, Winnipeg, MAN: Greywood Publishing, ISBN B000GW45S0 
• McFarlane, Brian (1973). The Story of the National Hockey League. New York, NY: Pagurian Press. ISBN 0-684-13424-1. * Mouton, Claude (1987). Montreal Canadiens. Key Porter Books. ISBN 1-55013-051-X. 

Notes

External links

• Hockey Database for NHL 52–53
• NHL.com

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1952–53 NHL season by team Teams Boston Chicago Detroit Montreal New York Toronto See also All-Star Game 1953 Stanley Cup Finals Tansactions