1965 - 66 NHL season The 1965 - 66 NHL season was the 49th season of the National Hockey League . Six teams each played 70 games . The Montreal Canadiens won their second consecutive Stanley Cup as they defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to two in the final series . League Business . Two new trophies was introduced for this season . Jack Adams won the first Lester Patrick Trophy for his contribution to hockey in the United States . This was also the first season the Conn Smythe Trophy was awarded for the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs . The only significant rules change for this season was a requirement that teams suit up two goaltenders for each game . February saw the momentous announcement that six conditional franchises had been awarded to Los Angeles , San Francisco , St . Louis , Minneapolis - St . Paul , Philadelphia and Pittsburgh , all to begin play in 1967 . The St . Louis franchise was surprising , as no formal application from the city had been tendered . It was awarded to fulfill the wishes of James D . Norris and Arthur Wirtz , owners of the Chicago Black Hawks , who also owned the St . Louis Arena which they wanted to sell . On the debit side , a strong bid from Vancouver was rejected , much to the anger of Canadians and the protest of Prime Minister Lester Pearson , and the rumor was widely spread - fuelled by a corroborating statement from Leafs ' general manager Punch Imlach that the Toronto and Montreal owners had vetoed the bid out of a dislike for sharing television money . Predictions . The " Canadian Magazine , " a weekend supplement to many Canadian newspapers , published on October 23 predictions on the upcoming NHL season by journalists from each NHL city . Red Burnett , Toronto . Stanley Cup : Toronto Pat Curran , Montreal . Stanley Cup : Montreal Jack Griffin , Chicago . Stanley Cup : Chicago Jack Berry , Detroit . Stanley Cup : Detroit Leo Monahan , Boston . Stanley Cup : Montreal Red Foley , New York . Stanley Cup : Montreal Consensus . Stanley Cup : Montreal Regular season . Among notable players to debut this season was Ed Giacomin for the Rangers , Bill Goldsworthy for the Bruins , Ken Hodge for Chicago and Mike Walton for Toronto . In the meantime , however , the career of future Hockey Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay was over , as his request for reinstatement as an active player was vetoed by the Toronto ownership . Gordie Howe scored his 600th NHL goal in Montreal November 27th in a 3 - 2 loss to the Canadiens to the cheers of the local fans . Among lesser milestones in the season were Frank Mahovlich ' s 250th goal and John Bucyk ' s and Claude Provost ' s 200th . In an unusual incident , the Red Wings ' jerseys were stolen from the visitors ' dressing room in Montreal the night before a January game , and Detroit was compelled to play in the uniforms of their junior farm team in Hamilton , which were express shipped to Montreal in time for the match . James D . Norris , owner of the Chicago Black Hawks , died of a heart attack in late February . Bobby Hull set a new record for goals in a season with 54 and a new record for points in a season with 97 , earning him the Art Ross Trophy and his second straight Hart Trophy as the league ' s most valuable player . Jacques Laperriere of Montreal won the Norris Trophy as best defenseman . In possibly the weakest Calder choice in history , Brit Selby won the Calder Memorial Trophy as best rookie . 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 . The second game of the semi - final series between Detroit and Chicago on April 10th , in which Detroit won by the score of 7 - 0 , was reputed to be the first nationally televised hockey game in the United States . Stanley Cup Finals . Behind the skilled goaltending of Roger Crozier , who had missed parts of the regular season with illness , the Red Wings won the first two games of the Finals . However , Crozier was injured in the fourth game and seemed not to recover his form , and the Canadiens won the Cup four games to two . Roger Crozier won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the outstanding player of the playoffs . Debuts . The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1965 - 66 ( 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 1965 - 66 ( listed with their last team ) :