1950 - 51 NHL season The 1950 - 51 NHL season was the 34th season of the National Hockey League . Six teams each played 70 games . The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens four games to one for the Stanley Cup to win their fifth Cup in seven years . Regular season . The biggest trade in NHL history at the time took place in July of 1950 with Sugar Jim Henry , Gaye Stewart , Bob Goldham , and Metro Prystai of Chicago going to Detroit for Harry Lumley , Black Jack Stewart , Al Dewsbury , Don Morrison , and Pete Babando , an exchange of nine players altogether . Joe Primeau was named coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs with Hap Day kicked upstairs to assistant general manager . Toronto came flying out of the gate , undefeated in 11 games . Al Rollins had a great year , finishing with a 1 . 75 goals against average in 40 games . The Leafs had hoped to have Rollins share the Vezina Trophy with Turk Broda , but the league decided Rollins alone would be the recipient . The Leafs ' . 679 win percentage remains their all time best for a season , despite the fact that they were second in the league standings behind Detroit . With the New York Rangers slumping this season , they hired a hypnotist , Dr . David Tracy , to help relax the team . The treatment remained in doubt and the Rangers lost to Boston November 12th . Asked why the treatment didn ' t work , Dr . Tracy said that he should have worked with the goaltender ( Chuck Rayner ) as he wasn ' t relaxed enough . Montreal fans were excited when it was reported that two junior stars , Jean Beliveau and Bernie Geoffrion , would be given a trial in a December 16th game with the Rangers . The Canadiens played a 1 - 1 tie before 14 , 158 fans . Geoffrion scored the Canadiens goal in his debut . Chicago was in third place at mid - season when bad luck struck . Their captain , Black Jack Stewart , ruptured a disc in his back and had to undergo surgery . He was finished for the season and his career was in jeopardy . Aggravating things were injuries to Gus Bodnar and Bill Gadsby . The Black Hawks won only two games in the second half and finished last . In March , Rocket Richard ran into trouble in a game with Detroit . Richard was tripped and rose with a cut between the eyes . No penalty was called and Richard commenced an argument with referee Hugh McLean . He continued his argument too long and was given a misconduct penalty . Richard then skated to the penalty box and found Leo Reise of Detroit there to welcome him with derisive remarks which infuriated Richard , who then punched Reise , and when linesman Jim Primeau rushed to intervene , Richard took a poke at him and Richard was given a game misconduct . The Canadiens took a train to New York for a game against the Rangers , and the next morning , Richard encountered referee McLean and linesman Primeau in the lobby of the Picadilly Hotel . No punches were thrown , but Richard grabbed McLean by the tie and then Primeau intervened . Considerable profanity filled the air , but cooler heads separated the trio before fists could fly . NHL President Clarence Campbell took a dim view of the matter and fined the Rocket $ 500 for conduct prejudicial to the welfare of hockey . The Detroit Red Wings got hot in the second half , overtaking Toronto and finished in first place again , becoming the first team with more than 100 points . Gordie Howe led the NHL in goals , assists , and points while goaltender Terry Sawchuk won the Calder Trophy as the league ' s best rookie . Sawchuk set a record for most wins by a goalie , as he was in net for all of Detroit ' s 44 victories . Scoring leaders . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points " Leading Goaltenders . " Note : GP = Games played ; MIN = Minutes played ; GA = Goals against ; SO = Shut outs ; AVG = Goals against average " Stanley Cup Playoffs . " All dates in 1951 " The second seed Toronto Maple Leafs eliminated the fourth seed Boston Bruins in five games , and the third seed Montreal Canadiens upset first overall Detroit Red Wings in six , setting up a Leafs – Canadiens Stanley Cup final series , won by the Leafs 4 – 1 . Semi - finals . Boston Bruins vs . Toronto Maple Leafs " Toronto wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 1 " Montreal Canadiens vs . Detroit Red Wings " Montreal wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 2 " Finals . Montreal Canadiens vs . Toronto Maple Leafs " Toronto wins best - of - seven series 4 games to 1 " Playoff scoring leaders . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points " Debuts . The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1950 - 51 ( 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 1950 - 51 ( listed with their last team ) : Attendance . " Regular Season Only "