Everything about The 1956-57 Nhl Season totally explained
The
1956-57 NHL season was the 40th
season of the
National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The
Montreal Canadiens were the
Stanley Cup winners as they beat the
Boston Bruins four games to one in the best-of-seven final series.
Regular season
On
October 1, it was announced that
Dick Irvin had resigned as coach of
Chicago due to ill health. He was suffering from bone cancer and had been ill for two years and had been hospitalized in Montreal. Irvin had been several days late to training camp.
Tommy Ivan took over as coach. Later in the season, it was reported that Irvin had undergone minor surgery for anemia at Ross Memorial Hospital. Irvin died on
May 15,
1957.
Dave Trottier, the former
Montreal Maroons star, died
November 13,
1956 in
Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was 50 years old.
Ted Lindsay, Detroit's star left wing, became the fourth player to score 300 career goals on
November 18 when he picked up two goals in an 8-3 pasting of the Montreal Canadiens. The other players to reach this prestigious mark were
Nels Stewart,
Maurice Richard and
Gordie Howe (who played opposite Lindsay for most of the latter's career).
On
January 5, the Rangers and the Black Hawks played an afternoon game at
Madison Square Garden where the Rangers beat the Black Hawks 4-1. This game was broadcast on the Columbia Broadcast System network (
CBS).
Glen Skov spoiled
Lorne "Gump" Worsley's would-be shutout with a goal in the third period.
Montreal beat Toronto 2-1 at the
Forum in
Montreal on
January 10 and moved into first place. The game was hard-fought and referee
Frank Udvari found it necessary to rule with an iron hand that angered the fans. Fans thought he was being filthy, calling chippy penalties against the Habs and deliberately failing to call hooking and holding penalties by the Maple Leafs. The blow-off came in the last two minutes of the game.
Maurice Richard received a high-sticking penalty. At 18:14, knowing his Maple Leafs were in danger, Toronto coach
Howie Meeker pulled goaltender Ed Chadwick for six attackers. Here,
Dick Duff scored the tying goal, causing Richard, arguably the most popular and maybe the most
outstanding player in Canadiens history, to go berserk and commence a heated argument with Udvari, and Richard banged his stick on the ice. He might have attacked Udvari if his teammates hadn't restrained him. Fans threw programmes, paper cups, hats and other debris and the game was held up. When it did resume,
Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion set up
Don Marshall for the winning goal with a mere 6 seconds left to play. Although the fans were pleased with the outcome, an angry hum commenced as the players and officials left the ice. Udvari had to be escorted to his dressing room by police and ushers. A large part of the crowd now directed its attention to NHL President
Clarence Campbell seated in his box seat and he became the target of jeers and threats. The situation began to show some of the aspects of the
Richard Riot of two years previous when Richard had been suspended for an attack on an official. It was at least 30 minutes before Campbell was able to leave under police protection.
Terry Sawchuk had been playing well and was a candidate for the
Hart Memorial Trophy, when he came down with
mononucleosis. He came back too soon and by
January 16, he announced his retirement from hockey, a temporary one as he'd be back in Detroit next season.
Glenn Hall wasn't as good as the previous season, but led the
Detroit Red Wings to first place. Hall had played only two games prior to
1955-56, but had shown such promise Sawchuk was sent off.
Rule changes
At the start of this season, the NHL changed the way power plays work. Prior to this season, a team could score as many goals as they wanted in a two minute power play with the penalised player remaining in the penalty box. The NHL changed it so that when a goal is scored on a two minute power play, the power play finished. The reason for this was because the Montreal Canadiens were so dominate on the power play, the NHL needed a way of ensuring parity. The previous season saw the Canadiens score 26% of all the league's power play goals. Oddly enough, the number of power play goals league-wide actually increased from 251 to 265 after the rule changed. Montreal, though, scored 10 fewer power play goals.
Final standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Stanley Cup playoffs
» see 1957 Stanley Cup Finals
Playoff bracket
NHL awards
All-Star teams
| First Team |
Position |
Second Team |
| Glenn Hall, Detroit Red Wings |
G |
Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens |
| Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens |
D |
Fern Flaman, Boston Bruins |
| Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings |
D |
Bill Gadsby, New York Rangers |
| Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens |
C |
Ed Litzenberger, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings |
RW |
Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens |
| Ted Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings |
LW |
Real Chevrefils, Boston Bruins |
Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1956-57 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1956-57 (listed with their last team):
Cal Gardner, Boston Bruins
Harry Watson, Chicago Black Hawks
Marty Pavelich, Detroit Red Wings
Gerry McNeil, Montreal Canadiens
Ted Kennedy, Toronto Maple LeafsFurther Information
Get more info on '1956-57 Nhl Season'.
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