1951–52 NHL season

The 1951–52 NHL season was the 35th season of the National Hockey League. The Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup by sweeping the Montreal Canadiens four games to none.
==League business==
A long standing feud between Boston president Weston Adams and general manager Art Ross ended on October 12, 1951 when Adams sold his stock in Boston Garden to Walter Brown.
Chicago, who had made the mammoth nine player deal the previous season, now decided to make the largest cash deal for players to this time by paying $75,000 for Jim McFadden, George Gee, Jimmy Peters, Clare Martin, Clare Raglan, and Max McNab. 
===Rule changes===
The league mandated that road teams would now wear a basic white uniform, while home teams will wear coloured uniforms.
The goal crease is enlarged from 3 × 7 feet to 4 × 8 feet. The faceoff circles are expanded from a 10-foot radius to a 15-foot radius.
==Regular season==
Conn Smythe offered $10,000 for anyone who found Bill Barilko, missing since August 26th. Barilko and Dr. Henry Hudson had left Rupert House on James Bay in the doctor's light plane for Timmins, Ontario after a weekend fishing trip and had not been found. 
For the fourth straight season, the Detroit Red Wings finished first overall in the National Hockey League.
===Highlights===
Montreal opened the season before a crowd of 15,100 fans as the Canadiens beat Chicago 4-2. Rocket Richard had a goal and Bernie Geoffrion had two. On the same night, Terry Sawchuk had his first shutout of the season as Detroit beat Boston 1-0.
Princess (later Queen) Elizabeth and Prince Phillip were in attendance at the Montreal Forum, and Floyd Curry came alive with the hat trick and Richard scored two goals as Montreal beat the New York Rangers 6-1.
Inspired by the return of Black Jack Stewart to the lineup, Chicago had a rare trouncing of the Red Wings right at the Olympia, 6-2. During the game, Chicago's Gus Bodnar twisted his shoulder and Harry Lumley hurt a knee. Trainer Moe Roberts, who played his first game in the NHL for Boston in 1925-26, played the rest of the way in goal for Chicago and played quite well at age 46. Roberts would stand as the oldest person to ever play an NHL game until Gordie Howe returned to the NHL at age 51 in 1979.
Chicago wasn't drawing well and so they decided to experiment with afternoon games. It worked, as the largest crowd of the season, 13,600 fans, showed up for a January 20 game in which Chicago lost to Toronto 3-1.
Elmer Lach night was held March 8 at Montreal Forum as the Canadiens tied Chicago 4-4. 14,452 fans were on hand to see Lach presented with a car, rowboat, TV set, deepfreeze chest, bedroom and dining room suites, a refrigerator and many other articles.
On the last night of the season, March 23, 1952, with nothing at stake at Madison Square Garden, 3,254 fans saw Chicago's Bill Mosienko score the fastest hat trick in NHL history, 3 goals in 21 seconds. Lorne Anderson was the goaltender who gave up the goals to Chicago. Gus Bodnar also set a record with the fastest three assists in NHL history as he assisted on all three goals Mosienko scored. Chicago beat the New York Rangers 7-6. 
===Final standings===
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
National Hockey League	GP	W 	L 	T 	Pts	GF 	GA 	PIM
Detroit Red Wings 	70	44	14	12	100	215	133	694
Montreal Canadiens 	70	34	26	10	78 	195	164	661
Toronto Maple Leafs 	70	29	25	16	74 	168	157	841
Boston Bruins 	70	25	29	16	66 	162	176	601
New York Rangers 	70	23	34	13	59 	192	219	532
Chicago Black Hawks 	70	17	44	9 	43 	158	241	627
==Playoffs==
In the playoffs, Detroit finished 8–0, sweeping the defending Stanley Cup champions Toronto (the first time in NHL history the cup champs were swept in the first round) and Montreal, the first time a team had gone undefeated in the playoffs since the 1934–35 Montreal Maroons. The Wings scored 24 goals in the playoffs, compared to a combined five goals for their opponents. Detroit goaltender Terry Sawchuk did not give up a goal on home ice during the playoffs.
===Semifinals===
{| class="wikitable" 	Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Date 	Away Team 	Away Team 	Home Team 	Home Team 	 	
March 25 	Toronto 	0 	3 	Detroit 	 	
March 27 	Toronto 	0 	1 	Detroit 	 	
March 29 	Detroit 	6 	2 	Toronto 	 	
April 1 	Detroit 	3 	1 	Toronto 	 	
Detroit won the series 4:0.	Detroit won the series 4:0. 	Detroit won the series 4:0. 	Detroit won the series 4:0. 	Detroit won the series 4:0. 	Detroit won the series 4:0. 	
===Final===
Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score
April 10	Detroit 	3 	Montreal	1
April 12	Detroit 	2 	Montreal	1
April 13	Montreal	0 	Detroit 	3
April 15	Montreal	0 	Detroit 	3
Detroit wins best-of-seven series 4 games to none
===Playoff bracket===
==Awards==
*Prince of Wales Trophy: 	Detroit Red Wings
*Art Ross Memorial Trophy: 	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
*Calder Memorial Trophy: 	Bernie Geoffrion, Montreal Canadiens
*Hart Memorial Trophy: 	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
*Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: 	Sid Smith, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Vezina Trophy: 	Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings
 All-Star teams
First team 	  Position  	Second team
Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings	G 	Jim Henry, Boston Bruins
Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings 	D 	Hy Buller, New York Rangers
Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens 	D 	Jimmy Thomson, Toronto Maple Leafs
Elmer Lach, Montreal Canadiens 	C 	Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins
Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings 	RW 	Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Ted Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings 	LW 	Sid Smith, Toronto Maple Leafs
==Player statistics==
===Scoring leaders===
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Player 	Team 	GP	G 	A 	PTS	PIM
Gordie Howe 	Detroit Red Wings 	70	47	39	86 	78
Ted Lindsay 	Detroit Red Wings 	70	30	39	69 	123
Elmer Lach 	Montreal Canadiens 	70	15	50	65 	36
Don Raleigh 	New York Rangers 	70	19	42	61 	14
Sid Smith 	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	27	30	57 	6
Bernie Geoffrion	Montreal Canadiens 	67	30	24	54 	66
Bill Mosienko 	Chicago Black Hawks	70	31	22	53 	10
Sid Abel 	Detroit Red Wings 	70	17	36	53 	32
Ted Kennedy 	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	19	33	52 	33
Milt Schmidt 	Boston Bruins 	69	21	29	50 	57
Source: NHL
===Leading goaltenders===
Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes Played; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts
Player 	Team 	GP	MIN 	GA 	GAA 	W 	L 	T 	SO
Terry Sawchuk	Detroit Red Wings 	70	4200	133	1.90	44	14	12	12
Al Rollins 	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	4170	154	2.22	29	24	16	5
Gerry McNeil 	Montreal Canadiens 	70	4200	164	2.34	34	26	10	5
Jim Henry 	Boston Bruins 	70	4200	176	2.51	25	29	16	7
Chuck Rayner 	New York Rangers 	53	3180	159	3.00	18	25	10	2
Emile Francis	New York Rangers 	14	840 	42 	3.00	4 	7 	3 	0
Source: NHL
==Team Photos==
51-52BosBru.jpg|Boston Bruins
51-52ChiBH.jpg|Chicago Black Hawks
51-52DetRW.jpg|Detroit Red Wings
51-52MtlCdn.jpg|Montreal Canadiens
51-52NYR.jpg|New York Rangers
51-52TorML.jpg|Toronto Maple Leafs
== References ==
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;Notes
==External links==
* Hockey Database
* NHL.com
Category:1951 in ice hockey
Category:1952 in ice hockey