# 1952–53 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1952–53 Montreal Canadiens season was the Canadiens' 44th season of play. The Canadiens placed second in the regular season, defeated the Chicago Black Hawks in the semi-final and the Boston Bruins in the final to win the club's seventh Stanley Cup championship. The last surviving member of the team was Paul Masnick, who died on March 23, 2024.

## Regular season
### 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 |

### Record vs. opponents

1952–53 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 4–5–5 | 2–10–2 | 9–2–3 | 5–7–2 | 8–5–1 |
| Chicago | 5–4–5 | — | 3–9–2 | 3–7–4 | 10–3–1 | 6–6–2 |
| Detroit | 10–2–2 | 9–3–2 | — | 4–4–6 | 7–3–4 | 7–4–3 |
| Montreal | 2–9–3 | 7–3–4 | 4–4–6 | — | 7–2–5 | 7–5–2 |
| New York | 7–5–2 | 3–10–1 | 3–7–4 | 2–7–5 | — | 2–8–4 |
| Toronto | 5–8–1 | 6–6–2 | 4–7–3 | 5–7–2 | 8–2–4 | — |

## Schedule and results

Regular season results :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | October 9, 1952 | 2–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | W | October 11, 1952 | 2–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 1–1–0 |
| 3 | T | October 12, 1952 | 1–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 1–1–1 |
| 4 | W | October 16, 1952 | 3–1 | New York Rangers (1952–53) | 2–1–1 |
| 5 | W | October 18, 1952 | 2–1 | Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 3–1–1 |
| 6 | L | October 19, 1952 | 1–6 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 3–2–1 |
| 7 | T | October 23, 1952 | 2–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 3–2–2 |
| 8 | W | October 25, 1952 | 9–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 4–2–2 |
| 9 | L | October 29, 1952 | 5–7 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) | 4–3–2 |
| 10 | W | November 1, 1952 | 4–1 | New York Rangers (1952–53) | 5–3–2 |
| 11 | T | November 2, 1952 | 2–2 | @ New York Rangers (1952–53) | 5–3–3 |
| 12 | W | November 6, 1952 | 3–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) | 6–3–3 |
| 13 | W | November 8, 1952 | 6–4 | Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 7–3–3 |
| 14 | L | November 13, 1952 | 1–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) | 7–4–3 |
| 15 | W | November 15, 1952 | 2–0 | Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 8–4–3 |
| 16 | L | November 16, 1952 | 1–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 8–5–3 |
| 17 | T | November 22, 1952 | 2–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) | 8–5–4 |
| 18 | T | November 23, 1952 | 2–2 | @ New York Rangers (1952–53) | 8–5–5 |
| 19 | T | November 27, 1952 | 2–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 8–5–6 |
| 20 | T | November 29, 1952 | 1–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 8–5–7 |
| 21 | L | November 30, 1952 | 1–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 8–6–7 |
| 22 | L | December 4, 1952 | 1–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) | 8–7–7 |
| 23 | L | December 6, 1952 | 1–2 | Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 8–8–7 |
| 24 | T | December 7, 1952 | 2–2 | @ New York Rangers (1952–53) | 8–8–8 |
| 25 | W | December 10, 1952 | 2–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) | 9–8–8 |
| 26 | W | December 11, 1952 | 3–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 10–8–8 |
| 27 | W | December 13, 1952 | 3–0 | Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 11–8–8 |
| 28 | T | December 14, 1952 | 0–0 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 11–8–9 |
| 29 | W | December 18, 1952 | 6–2 | New York Rangers (1952–53) | 12–8–9 |
| 30 | L | December 20, 1952 | 3–6 | Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 12–9–9 |
| 31 | W | December 21, 1952 | 4–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 13–9–9 |
| 32 | L | December 24, 1952 | 0–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) | 13–10–9 |
| 33 | T | December 27, 1952 | 2–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 13–10–10 |
| 34 | W | December 31, 1952 | 2–0 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 14–10–10 |
| 35 | T | January 1, 1953 | 2–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 14–10–11 |
| 36 | L | January 3, 1953 | 0–1 | Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 14–11–11 |
| 37 | T | January 8, 1953 | 4–4 | New York Rangers (1952–53) | 14–11–12 |
| 38 | W | January 10, 1953 | 5–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 15–11–12 |
| 39 | L | January 11, 1953 | 0–7 | @ New York Rangers (1952–53) | 15–12–12 |
| 40 | W | January 15, 1953 | 2–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 16–12–12 |
| 41 | T | January 17, 1953 | 1–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 16–12–13 |
| 42 | W | January 18, 1953 | 3–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 17–12–13 |
| 43 | W | January 21, 1953 | 1–0 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) | 18–12–13 |
| 44 | W | January 22, 1953 | 4–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) | 19–12–13 |
| 45 | L | January 24, 1953 | 1–5 | Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 19–13–13 |
| 46 | T | January 25, 1953 | 3–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 19–13–14 |
| 47 | W | January 28, 1953 | 2–1 | @ New York Rangers (1952–53) | 20–13–14 |
| 48 | W | January 29, 1953 | 5–2 | New York Rangers (1952–53) | 21–13–14 |
| 49 | T | January 31, 1953 | 0–0 | Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 21–13–15 |
| 50 | L | February 1, 1953 | 3–4 | @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 21–14–15 |
| 51 | W | February 5, 1953 | 2–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) | 22–14–15 |
| 52 | L | February 7, 1953 | 1–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 22–15–15 |
| 53 | T | February 8, 1953 | 1–1 | @ New York Rangers (1952–53) | 22–15–16 |
| 54 | W | February 12, 1953 | 3–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 23–15–16 |
| 55 | T | February 14, 1953 | 2–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) | 23–15–17 |
| 56 | L | February 15, 1953 | 0–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 23–16–17 |
| 57 | L | February 19, 1953 | 1–4 | Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 23–17–17 |
| 58 | W | February 21, 1953 | 4–1 | New York Rangers (1952–53) | 24–17–17 |
| 59 | W | February 25, 1953 | 2–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) | 25–17–17 |
| 60 | W | February 26, 1953 | 4–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) | 26–17–17 |
| 61 | L | February 28, 1953 | 3–4 | Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 26–18–17 |
| 62 | L | March 5, 1953 | 0–5 | @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 26–19–17 |
| 63 | W | March 7, 1953 | 1–0 | Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 27–19–17 |
| 64 | L | March 8, 1953 | 3–4 | @ New York Rangers (1952–53) | 27–20–17 |
| 65 | T | March 12, 1953 | 2–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) | 27–20–18 |
| 66 | W | March 14, 1953 | 3–2 | New York Rangers (1952–53) | 28–20–18 |
| 67 | L | March 15, 1953 | 1–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 28–21–18 |
| 68 | L | March 19, 1953 | 1–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) | 28–22–18 |
| 69 | L | March 21, 1953 | 1–2 | Boston Bruins (1952–53) | 28–23–18 |
| 70 | T | March 22, 1953 | 1–1 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) | 28–23–19 |

## Stanley Cup Finals

| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
| April 9 | Boston | 2 | Montreal | 4 | |
| April 11 | Boston | 4 | Montreal | 1 | |
| April 12 | Montreal | 3 | Boston | 0 | |
| April 14 | Montreal | 7 | Boston | 3 | |
| April 16 | Boston | 0 | Montreal | 1 | OT |
Montreal won the best-of-seven series 4 games to 1.

## Player statistics
### Regular season
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Maurice Richard | RW | 70 | 28 | 33 | 61 | 112 |
| Bert Olmstead | LW | 69 | 17 | 28 | 45 | 83 |
| Elmer Lach | C | 53 | 16 | 25 | 41 | 56 |
| Bernie Geoffrion | RW | 65 | 22 | 17 | 39 | 37 |
| Doug Harvey | D | 69 | 4 | 30 | 34 | 67 |
| Paul Meger | LW | 69 | 9 | 17 | 26 | 38 |
| Dick Gamble | LW | 69 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 26 |
| Floyd Curry | RW | 68 | 16 | 6 | 22 | 10 |
| Ken Mosdell | C | 63 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 27 |
| Billy Reay | C | 56 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 26 |
| Paul Masnick | C | 53 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 44 |
| Tom Johnson | D | 70 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 63 |
| Emile Bouchard | D | 58 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 55 |
| John McCormack | C | 59 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 9 |
| Dickie Moore | LW | 18 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 19 |
| Dollard St. Laurent | D | 54 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 34 |
| Jean Beliveau | C | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Bud MacPherson | D | 59 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 67 |
| Gaye Stewart | LW | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Ed Litzenberger | C/RW | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Gerry Desaulniers | C | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Ivan Irwin | D | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Reg Abbott | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry McNeil | G | 66 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hal Murphy | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacques Plante | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rollie Rousseau | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Gerry McNeil | 3960 | 66 | 25 | 23 | 18 | 140 | 2.12 | 10 |
| Jacques Plante | 180 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1.33 | 0 |
| Hal Murphy | 60 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4.00 | 0 |
| Team: | 4200 | 70 | 28 | 23 | 19 | 148 | 2.11 | 10 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Bernie Geoffrion | RW | 12 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 12 |
| Maurice Richard | RW | 12 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 |
| Elmer Lach | C | 12 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 6 |
| Dickie Moore | LW | 12 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 13 |
| Ken Mosdell | C | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Tom Johnson | D | 12 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Doug Harvey | D | 12 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 8 |
| Eddie Mazur | D/LW | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| Bert Olmstead | LW | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Calum MacKay | LW | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Floyd Curry | RW | 12 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Paul Meger | LW | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Dollard St. Laurent | D | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Emile Bouchard | D | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Lorne Davis | RW | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Billy Reay | C | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Dick Gamble | LW | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Paul Masnick | C | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Bud MacPherson | D | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Doug Anderson | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John McCormack | C | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gerry McNeil | G | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacques Plante | G | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Gerry McNeil | 486 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 1.98 | 2 |
| Jacques Plante | 240 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 1.75 | 1 |
| Team: | 726 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 23 | 1.90 | 3 |
    Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
    Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

## Awards

* Stanley Cup (NHL Playoff Champions)

### All-Star teams

| First team | Position |
| Doug Harvey | D |
| Second team | Position |
| Gerry McNeil | G |
| Maurice Richard | RW |
| Bert Olmstead | LW |

## Transactions

The following is a list of all transactions that have occurred for the Montreal Canadiens during the 1952–53 NHL season. It lists which team each player has been traded to and for which player(s) or other consideration(s), if applicable.
| September 22, 1952 | To Montreal Canadienscash | To Chicago Black HawksGerry Couture |
| October 8, 1952 | To Montreal Canadiensrights to Frank Eddolls | To New York Rangerscash |

## Citations

* ↑ "The oldest living Canadiens Stanley Cup champion has passed away | Offside". dailyhive.com. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
* ↑ "Standings: 1952–1953". National Hockey League. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
* ↑ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
* ↑ "1952–53 Montreal Canadiens Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 4, 2009.
* ↑ "1952-53 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
* 1 2 "NHL trades for 1952-1953". NHL Trade Tracker. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
* ↑ Diamond, Dan, ed. (2003). Total NHL. Chicago: Triumph Books. p. 521. ISBN 978-1-57243-604-6.
* ↑ Diamond, Dan, ed. (2003). Total NHL. Chicago: Triumph Books. p. 548. ISBN 978-1-57243-604-6.