1956 - 57 NHL season 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 would 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 " 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 ) :