# 1952–53 NHL season

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 rumoured 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 11, 1952. It was a French language broadcast of a game between the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings with the Canadiens winning 2–1. The French language telecast was produced by 24-year-old Gerald Renaud. On November 1, the first English language broadcast aired, 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.

### 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. It was ten years to the day since Richard had scored his first NHL goal. "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.
Ted Lindsay scored 4 goals on March 2 as Detroit pummeled 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.

### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | 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 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 28 | 29 | 13 | 152 | 172 | −20 | 69 |
| 4 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 27 | 28 | 15 | 169 | 175 | −6 | 69 |
| 5 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 27 | 30 | 13 | 156 | 167 | −11 | 67 |
| 6 | New York Rangers | 70 | 17 | 37 | 16 | 152 | 211 | −59 | 50 |

## Playoffs

In a major upset, first-place Detroit was defeated in the semifinal by the Boston Bruins in six games. In the other semifinal, 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.

### Playoff bracket

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Stanley Cup Finals | Stanley Cup Finals | Stanley Cup Finals |
| 1 | Detroit | 2 | | | |
| 3 | Boston | 4 | | | |
| 3 | Boston | 4 | 3 | Boston | 1 |
| | | | 2 | Montreal | 4 |
| 2 | Montreal | 4 | 2 | Montreal | 4 |
| 4 | Chicago | 3 | | | |

### Semifinals
#### (1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (3) Boston Bruins

* Boston won series 4–2

#### (2) Montreal Canadiens vs. (4) Chicago Black Hawks

* Montreal won series 4–3

### Stanley Cup Finals

In the finals, the Bruins could not continue their winning ways, and lost to Montreal in five games.
After the finals, 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.
* Montreal won series 4–1

## 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 |

### 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 |

## Coaches

* Boston Bruins: Lynn Patrick
* Chicago Black Hawks: Sid Abel
* Detroit Red Wings: Tommy Ivan
* Montreal Canadiens: Dick Irvin
* New York Rangers: Bill Cook
* Toronto Maple Leafs: Joe Primeau

## 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
* Pete Babando, New York Rangers

## Broadcasting

The television version of Hockey Night in Canada made its debut on CBC Television. Regular season games were not broadcast in their entirety until the 1968–69 season, and were typically joined in progress at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, while the radio version of HNIC aired games in their entirety. Television coverage this season did not extend to the Stanley Cup playoffs.