1950–51 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 1950–51 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 34th season in the NHL. The Maple Leafs finished 2nd in the league and won the 1951 Stanley Cup Finals over the Montreal Canadiens 4 games to 1. The 1951 Finals is famous for Bill Barilko scoring the winning goal in overtime and all five games being decided in overtime.
==Off-season==
==Regular Season==
===Final Standings===
===Game Log===
Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results 	Regular Season Results
No. 	R 	Date 	Score 	Opponent 	Record
1 	L 	October 14, 1950 	1–2 	Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) 	0–1–0
2 	T 	October 15, 1950 	4–4 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) 	0–1–1
3 	W 	October 18, 1950 	2–0 	@ Boston Bruins (1950–51) 	1–1–1
4 	W 	October 21, 1950 	5–0 	New York Rangers (1950–51) 	2–1–1
5 	W 	October 22, 1950 	5–3 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51)	3–1–1
6 	W 	October 25, 1950 	1–0 	Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) 	4–1–1
7 	W 	October 28, 1950 	4–2 	Boston Bruins (1950–51) 	5–1–1
8 	T 	October 29, 1950 	3–3 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51)	5–1–2
9 	W 	November 1, 1950 	5–3 	Montreal Canadiens (1950–51) 	6–1–2
10 	W 	November 2, 1950 	2–1 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1950–51) 	7–1–2
11 	T 	November 4, 1950 	2–2 	New York Rangers (1950–51) 	7–1–3
12 	W 	November 8, 1950 	5–3 	@ New York Rangers (1950–51) 	8–1–3
13 	L 	November 11, 1950 	1–3 	Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) 	8–2–3
14 	W 	November 12, 1950 	7–0 	@ Boston Bruins (1950–51) 	9–2–3
15 	L 	November 16, 1950 	2–5 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1950–51) 	9–3–3
16 	W 	November 18, 1950 	5–4 	New York Rangers (1950–51) 	10–3–3
17 	L 	November 19, 1950 	1–3 	@ Boston Bruins (1950–51) 	10–4–3
18 	W 	November 22, 1950 	5–2 	Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) 	11–4–3
19 	W 	November 23, 1950 	2–1 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) 	12–4–3
20 	W 	November 25, 1950 	4–1 	Montreal Canadiens (1950–51) 	13–4–3
21 	W 	November 26, 1950 	3–2 	@ New York Rangers (1950–51) 	14–4–3
22 	T 	November 30, 1950 	0–0 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1950–51) 	14–4–4
23 	T 	December 2, 1950 	0–0 	Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) 	14–4–5
24 	T 	December 3, 1950 	3–3 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51)	14–4–6
25 	W 	December 6, 1950 	3–1 	Montreal Canadiens (1950–51) 	15–4–6
26 	W 	December 9, 1950 	8–1 	Boston Bruins (1950–51) 	16–4–6
27 	L 	December 10, 1950 	2–3 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) 	16–5–6
28 	L 	December 13, 1950 	3–4 	Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) 	16–6–6
29 	W 	December 14, 1950 	7–1 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51)	17–6–6
30 	L 	December 16, 1950 	2–3 	Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) 	17–7–6
31 	W 	December 17, 1950 	4–2 	@ Boston Bruins (1950–51) 	18–7–6
32 	W 	December 20, 1950 	6–1 	Montreal Canadiens (1950–51) 	19–7–6
33 	T 	December 23, 1950 	2–2 	Boston Bruins (1950–51) 	19–7–7
34 	L 	December 27, 1950 	1–3 	@ New York Rangers (1950–51) 	19–8–7
35 	L 	December 30, 1950 	1–3 	Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) 	19–9–7
36 	W 	December 31, 1950 	4–2 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) 	20–9–7
37 	L 	January 6, 1951 	2–4 	New York Rangers (1950–51) 	20–10–7
38 	T 	January 9, 1951 	3–3 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) 	20–10–8
39 	T 	January 13, 1951 	3–3 	Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) 	20–10–9
40 	L 	January 14, 1951 	1–2 	@ New York Rangers (1950–51) 	20–11–9
41 	W 	January 18, 1951 	5–2 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1950–51) 	21–11–9
42 	W 	January 20, 1951 	2–1 	Boston Bruins (1950–51) 	22–11–9
43 	T 	January 21, 1951 	0–0 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) 	22–11–10
44 	W 	January 24, 1951 	4–3 	Montreal Canadiens (1950–51) 	23–11–10
45 	W 	January 27, 1951 	2–1 	New York Rangers (1950–51) 	24–11–10
46 	W 	January 28, 1951 	4–3 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51)	25–11–10
47 	W 	February 1, 1951 	3–1 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1950–51) 	26–11–10
48 	W 	February 3, 1951 	6–3 	Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) 	27–11–10
49 	T 	February 4, 1951 	3–3 	@ Boston Bruins (1950–51) 	27–11–11
50 	W 	February 7, 1951 	3–1 	Montreal Canadiens (1950–51) 	28–11–11
51 	L 	February 10, 1951 	1–2 	Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) 	28–12–11
52 	W 	February 11, 1951 	5–3 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51)	29–12–11
53 	T 	February 15, 1951 	2–2 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1950–51) 	29–12–12
54 	W 	February 17, 1951 	2–0 	New York Rangers (1950–51) 	30–12–12
55 	W 	February 18, 1951 	5–2 	@ New York Rangers (1950–51) 	31–12–12
56 	T 	February 21, 1951 	2–2 	Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) 	31–12–13
57 	W 	February 24, 1951 	6–2 	Boston Bruins (1950–51) 	32–12–13
58 	L 	March 1, 1951 	1–3 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1950–51) 	32–13–13
59 	W 	March 3, 1951 	3–0 	Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51) 	33–13–13
60 	L 	March 5, 1951 	1–3 	@ Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) 	33–14–13
61 	L 	March 7, 1951 	0–3 	Detroit Red Wings (1950–51) 	33–15–13
62 	W 	March 10, 1951 	5–3 	Boston Bruins (1950–51) 	34–15–13
63 	L 	March 11, 1951 	1–3 	@ Boston Bruins (1950–51) 	34–16–13
64 	W 	March 14, 1951 	3–1 	@ New York Rangers (1950–51) 	35–16–13
65 	W 	March 15, 1951 	5–3 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1950–51)	36–16–13
66 	W 	March 17, 1951 	3–1 	New York Rangers (1950–51) 	37–16–13
67 	W 	March 18, 1951 	4–1 	@ New York Rangers (1950–51) 	38–16–13
68 	W 	March 21, 1951 	2–0 	Montreal Canadiens (1950–51) 	39–16–13
69 	W 	March 24, 1951 	4–1 	Boston Bruins (1950–51) 	40–16–13
70 	W 	March 25, 1951 	1–0 	@ Boston Bruins (1950–51) 	41–16–13
==Playoffs==
===Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Boston Bruins 1 (One tie)===
Having last met in the 1949 Semi-finals, the Leafs dispatched the Bruins again by a 4-1 series score with one game ending in a tie, the last playoff tie in NHL history.
Game 1 at Maple Leaf Gardens saw two rookie goalies play their first career playoff game. The Bruins Jack Gelineau would record his only career playoff shutout in Game 1 while the Leafs Al Rollins had a fantastic regular season and won the Vezina Trophy. Game 1 wouldn't turn out well for Rollins who gave up a goal to Lorne Ferguson at 14:48 of the first period. Less than two minutes later, Rollins was knocked out of the series after a collision with the Bruins Pete Horeck. Veteran goalie Turk Broda, who'd retire the next season, stepped in for Rollins. Broda gave up a goal early in the third period to Woody Dumart and Gelineau stopped all 24 Leaf shots for a 2-0 win.
Game 2 at Toronto was a rough affair that had a very strange ending. After Bill Barilko put the Leafs up 1-0, he'd become involved in several incidents. The second period saw seven fights break out and Barilko received a game misconduct for a hit on Dunc Fisher that resulted in Fisher leaving the game on a stretcher. Johnny Peirson tied the game up at the 9:26 of the second. The game went scoreless in the third, resulting in overtime. The first OT period was also scoreless and it was 11:45pm on a Saturday night. The city of Toronto had a curfew law that prohibited professional sporting events from occurring on Sunday. As a result, the game ended after one overtime period and was declared a draw. The game is not officially counted in NHL game registers though the statistics in the game are. In OT, Johnny Peirson suffered a broken cheek and was lost for the remainder of the series.
Game 3 at Boston Garden saw the 36 year old Broda play brilliantly and shut the Bruins out. Cal Gardner opened the scoring at 3:02 of the second period on a solo rush. Stopped in front of the Bruins net by Bill Quackenbush and Murray Henderson, he managed to get off a shot as he was falling that eluded Gelineau. Fern Flaman got revenge for the Bruins trading him with a Power play goal on a point shot at 13:11. Max Bentley added a goal in the third period and the series was tied.
Game 4 at Boston saw the Leafs outlast the Bruins who opened the scoring at 7:50 of the first period with Dunc Fisher's only point of the series. The Leafs Sid Smith evened the score on the power play with the Bruins Bill Ezinicki in the box. Max Bentley put the Leafs up for good two minutes later. Barilko's second of the series in the third period finished a 3-1 win and a 2-1-1 series lead for the Leafs.
Game 5 at Toronto was held after a three day layoff. With Gord Henry replacing Jack Gelineau in the Bruins net, the Leafs dominated the ailing Bruins with two goals by Joe Klukay (including one shorthanded), Fleming Mackell and Ted Kennedy before Bill Ezinicki scored a consolation goal for the Bruins.
Game 6 at Boston saw the Leafs win the series with a 6-0 whitewashing of the Bruins with Gord Henry again in net. Klukay scored twice with individual markers by Kennedy, Mackell, Sid Smith and Tod Sloan. The Leafs took the series 4-1-1.
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	Record
1	March 28	Boston Bruins 	2-0 	Toronto Maple Leafs	1-0
2	March 31	Boston Bruins 	1-1 (OT)	Toronto Maple Leafs	1-0-1
3	April 1 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3-0 	Boston Bruins 	1-1-1
4	April 3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3-1 	Boston Bruins 	2-1-1
5	April 7 	Boston Bruins 	1-4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	1-1-3
6	April 8 	Toronto Maple Leafs	6-0 	Boston Bruins 	4-1-1
===Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Montreal Canadiens 1===
Every game went into overtime in this series. Bill Barilko scored the Cup-winning goal, his last goal in the NHL as he would die in a plane crash during the summer.
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 11	Montreal	2 	Toronto 	3 	OT
April 14	Montreal	3 	Toronto 	2 	OT
April 17	Toronto 	2 	Montreal	1 	OT
April 19	Toronto 	3 	Montreal	2 	OT
April 21	Montreal	2 	Toronto 	3 	OT
==Player Stats==
===Regular Season===
;Scoring
Player 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
Max Bentley 	67	21	41	62 	34
Ted Kennedy 	63	18	43	61 	32
Tod Sloan 	70	31	25	56 	105
Sid Smith 	70	30	21	51 	10
Cal Gardner 	66	23	28	51 	42
Harry Watson 	68	18	19	37 	18
Jimmy Thomson 	69	3 	33	36 	76
Danny Lewicki 	61	16	18	34 	26
Joe Klukay 	70	14	16	30 	16
Fleming MacKell	70	12	13	25 	40
Howie Meeker 	49	6 	14	20 	24
John McCormack 	46	6 	7 	13 	2
Gus Mortson 	60	3 	10	13 	142
Bill Barilko 	58	6 	6 	12 	96
Ray Timgren 	70	1 	9 	10 	20
Bill Juzda 	65	0 	9 	9 	64
Fern Flaman 	39	2 	6 	8 	64
Hugh Bolton 	13	1 	3 	4 	4
Phil Maloney 	1 	1 	0 	1 	0
Bob Hassard 	12	0 	1 	1 	0
Andy Barbe 	1 	0 	0 	0 	2
Dusty Blair 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
Bobby Copp 	2 	0 	0 	0 	2
Turk Broda 	31	0 	0 	0 	4
Al Rollins 	40	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player 	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T 	GA 	GAA 	SA	SV	SV%	SO
Al Rollins	2373	40	27	5 	8 	70 	1.77	 	 	 	5
Turk Broda	1827	31	14	11	5 	68 	2.23	 	 	 	6
Team: 	4200	70	41	16	13	138	1.97	 	 	 	11
===Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player 	GP	G	A 	Pts	PIM
Max Bentley 	11	2	11	13 	4
Sid Smith 	11	7	3 	10 	0
Ted Kennedy 	11	4	5 	9 	6
Tod Sloan 	11	4	5 	9 	18
Joe Klukay 	11	4	3 	7 	0
Bill Barilko 	11	3	2 	5 	31
Fleming MacKell	11	2	3 	5 	9
Harry Watson 	5 	1	2 	3 	4
Cal Gardner 	11	1	1 	2 	4
Howie Meeker 	11	1	1 	2 	14
Fern Flaman 	9 	1	0 	1 	8
Gus Mortson 	11	0	1 	1 	4
Jimmy Thomson 	11	0	1 	1 	34
Ray Timgren 	11	0	1 	1 	2
Turk Broda 	8 	0	0 	0 	0
Danny Lewicki 	9 	0	0 	0 	0
Bill Juzda 	11	0	0 	0 	7
Al Rollins 	4 	0	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player 	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA 	SA	SV	SV%	SO
Turk Broda	492	8 	5	1	 	9 	1.10	 	 	 	2
Al Rollins	210	4 	3	1	 	6 	1.71	 	 	 	0
Team: 	702	10	8	2	 	15	1.28	 	 	 	2
==Awards and Records==
*Vezina Trophy: Al Rollins
*Ted Kennedy, Center, NHL Second Team All-Star
*Sid Smith, Left Wing, NHL Second Team All-Star
*Jimmy Thomson, Defense, NHL Second Team All-Star
==1951 Toronto Maple Leafs==
Turk Broda, Al Rollins, Jimmy Thomson, Gus Mortson, Bill Barilko, Bill Juzda, Fern Flaman, Hugh Bolton, Ted Kennedy (captain), Sid Smith, Tod Sloan, Cal Gardner, Howie Meeker, Harry Watson, Max Bentley, Joe Klukay, Danny Lewicki, Ray Timgren, Fleming Mackell, Johnny McCormack, Bob Hassard, Conn Smythe (manager), Joe Primeau (coach), Tim Daly (trainer)
==Gallery==
1950-51NHLTorontoHomeOpener.jpg|Home Opener
50-51NHLTorontoRadioAd.jpg|Radio Ad
8Nov1950-Smith_scores_Rayner.jpg|Leafs Sid Smith scores over sprawled Rangers Buddy O'Connor and Chuck Rayner, November 8, 1950.
31Mar1951-Gelineau_Henderson_Timgren.jpg|Jack Gelineau and Murray Henderson defend against Ray Timgren in Game 2 of the 1951 Semi-finals, March 31, 1951.
31Mar1951-Gelineau_Schmidt.jpg|Gelineau and Milt Schmidt defend in Game 2 of the 1951 Semi-finals, March 31, 1951.
51barilko.jpg|Bill Barilko scores the 1951 Cup winning goal in overtime.
21Apr1951-Barilko_lauded.jpg|Barilko lauded after scoring the 1951 Cup winning goal.
==Video==
Highlights of Game 5 of the Finals including goals by Richard, the game tying goal with 32 seconds left by Tod Sloan and the overtime winner by Bill Barilko.
1951 Stanley Cup (Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens) - Archive News Reel
==References==
*Maple Leafs on Hockey Database
*Maple Leafs on Database Hockey
Category:Stanley Cup championship seasons
Category:Toronto Maple Leafs seasons
Toronto Maple Leafs season, 1950–51
Toronto Maple Leafs season, 1950–51