# 1955–56 NHL season

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 champions as they beat the Detroit Red Wings four games to one in the best-of-seven final series.

## League business

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 were 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 should be changed to black and white vertical stripes. The black and white uniforms were first worn on December 29, 1955.
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. The Canadiens was the lone club to vote against the new legislation.

## Regular season

The streak of seven straight seasons at the top of the NHL held by the Detroit Red Wings' dynasty came to an end as the Montreal Canadiens were tops. The Canadiens set a new record for wins in a season with 45. The Canadiens had a new coach, their one-time great former All-Star left-winger, Hector "Toe" Blake.
Dick Irvin, formerly the coach in Montreal, whom Habs' GM Frank Selke Sr. found a little truculent, took over as coach in Chicago, 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.

### Highlights

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 Beliveau scored three goals in 44 seconds as Montreal beat Boston 4–3. The record for the fastest hat trick still was held by Bill Mosienko with three goals in 21 seconds.
On December 29, officials debuted the new "zebra" outfits in a game between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs.
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 Rangers 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.
Beliveau set a record for goals by a center when he scored his 45th goal on March 15. Maurice Richard was hurt in this game when he fell over 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.

### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 45 | 15 | 10 | 222 | 131 | +91 | 100 |
| 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 30 | 24 | 16 | 183 | 148 | +35 | 76 |
| 3 | New York Rangers | 70 | 32 | 28 | 10 | 204 | 203 | +1 | 74 |
| 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 24 | 33 | 13 | 153 | 181 | −28 | 61 |
| 5 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 23 | 34 | 13 | 147 | 185 | −38 | 59 |
| 6 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 19 | 39 | 12 | 155 | 216 | −61 | 50 |

## Playoffs
### Playoff bracket

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Stanley Cup Finals | Stanley Cup Finals | Stanley Cup Finals |
| 1 | Montreal | 4 | | | |
| 3 | New York | 1 | | | |
| 3 | New York | 1 | 1 | Montreal | 4 |
| | | | 2 | Detroit | 1 |
| 2 | Detroit | 4 | 2 | Detroit | 1 |
| 4 | Toronto | 1 | | | |

### Semifinals
#### (1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (3) New York Rangers

* Montreal won series 4–1

#### (2) Detroit Red Wings vs. (4) Toronto Maple Leafs

* Detroit won series 4–1

### Stanley Cup Finals

* Montreal won series 4–1

## Awards

Award winners :
| Prince of Wales Trophy: (Regular season champion) | Montreal Canadiens |
| Art Ross Trophy: (Top scorer) | Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens |
| Calder Memorial Trophy: (Best first-year player) | Glenn Hall, Detroit Red Wings |
| Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player) | Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens |
| James Norris Memorial Trophy: (Best defenceman) | Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens |
| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship) | Earl Reibel, Detroit Red Wings |
| Vezina Trophy: (Goaltender of team with the best goals-against average) | Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens |

### All-Star teams

| First team | Position | Second team |
| Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens | G | Glenn Hall, Detroit Red Wings |
| Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens | D | Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings |
| Bill Gadsby, New York Rangers | D | Tom Johnson, Montreal Canadiens |
| Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens | C | Tod Sloan, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens | RW | Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings |
| 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 |
| Jean Beliveau | 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 |
| Bernie Geoffrion | Montreal Canadiens | 59 | 29 | 33 | 62 | 66 |
| Earl Reibel | Detroit Red Wings | 68 | 17 | 39 | 56 | 10 |
| Alex Delvecchio | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 25 | 26 | 51 | 24 |
| Dave Creighton | New York Rangers | 70 | 20 | 31 | 51 | 43 |
Source: NHL

### 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 |
| Jacques Plante | Montreal Canadiens | 64 | 3840 | 119 | 1.86 | 42 | 12 | 10 | 7 |
| Glenn Hall | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 4200 | 147 | 2.10 | 30 | 24 | 16 | 12 |
| Terry Sawchuk | Boston Bruins | 68 | 4080 | 177 | 2.60 | 22 | 33 | 13 | 9 |
| Harry Lumley | Toronto Maple Leafs | 59 | 3527 | 159 | 2.70 | 21 | 28 | 10 | 3 |
| Lorne Worsley | New York Rangers | 70 | 4200 | 199 | 2.84 | 32 | 28 | 10 | 4 |
| Al Rollins | Chicago Black Hawks | 58 | 3480 | 172 | 2.97 | 17 | 30 | 11 | 3 |

## Coaches

* Boston Bruins: Milt Schmidt
* Chicago Black Hawks: Dick Irvin
* Detroit Red Wings: Jimmy Skinner
* Montreal Canadiens: Toe Blake
* New York Rangers: Phil Watson
* Toronto Maple Leafs: King Clancy

## Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1955–56 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
* Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks
* Norm Ullman, Detroit Red Wings
* Henri Richard, Montreal Canadiens
* Claude Provost, Montreal Canadiens
* Bob Turner, Montreal Canadiens
* Bronco Horvath, New York Rangers
* Andy Hebenton, New York Rangers
* Jean-Guy Gendron, New York Rangers
* Billy Harris, Toronto Maple Leafs

## Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1955–56 (listed with their last team):
* Bill Quackenbush, Boston Bruins
* Ed Sandford, Chicago Black Hawks
* Bob Goldham, Detroit Red Wings
* Emile "Butch" Bouchard, Montreal Canadiens
* Don Raleigh, New York Rangers
* Joe Klukay, Toronto Maple Leafs

## Broadcasting

This was the fourth season of Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television. Coverage included selected Stanley Cup playoff games. Both regular season and playoff games were not broadcast in their entirety until the 1968–69 season, and were typically joined in progress, while the radio version of HNIC aired games in their entirety.