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 won the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive season, defeating the Boston Bruins four games to one in the best-of-seven final series. The final game was a clutch goal by Montreal defenseman Tom Johnson that put the Canadiens as Stanley Cup Champions by winning the game by a score of 3-2.
==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 dominant 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
National Hockey League	GP	W 	L 	T 	Pts	GF 	GA 	PIM
Detroit Red Wings 	70	38	20	12	88 	198	157	656
Montreal Canadiens 	70	35	23	12	82 	210	155	870
Boston Bruins 	70	34	24	12	80 	195	174	978
New York Rangers 	70	26	30	14	66 	184	227	870
Toronto Maple Leafs 	70	21	34	15	57 	174	192	829
Chicago Black Hawks 	70	16	39	15	47 	169	225	809
==Playoffs==
===Playoff bracket===
===Semifinals===
{| class="wikitable" 	Detroit Red Wings vs. Boston Bruins	Detroit Red Wings vs. Boston Bruins	Detroit Red Wings vs. Boston Bruins	Detroit Red Wings vs. Boston Bruins	Detroit Red Wings vs. Boston Bruins	Detroit Red Wings vs. Boston Bruins
Date 	Away Team 	Away Team 	Home Team 	Home Team 	 	
26. March 	Boston 	3 	1 	Detroit 	 	
28. March 	Boston 	2 	7 	Detroit 	 	
31. March 	Detroit 	3 	4 	Boston 	 	
2. April 	Detroit 	1 	2 	Boston 	 	
4. April 	Boston 	4 	3 	Detroit 	 	
Boston won series 4:1.	Boston won series 4:1. 	Boston won series 4:1. 	Boston won series 4:1. 	Boston won series 4:1. 	Boston won series 4:1. 	
=== Final ===
Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins	Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins	Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins	Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins	Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins	Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins
Date 	Away Team 	Away Team 	Home Team 	Home Team 	
6. April 	Boston 	1 	5 	Montreal 	
9. April 	Boston 	0 	1 	Montreal 	
11. April 	Montreal 	4 	2 	Boston 	
14. April 	Montreal 	0 	2 	Boston 	
16. April 	Boston 	1 	5 	Montreal 	
Montreal won series 4:1. 	Montreal won series 4:1. 	Montreal won series 4:1. 	Montreal won series 4:1. 	Montreal won series 4:1. 	Montreal won series 4:1.
==Awards==
*Prince of Wales Trophy: 	Detroit Red Wings
*Art Ross Memorial Trophy: 	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
*Calder Memorial Trophy: 	Larry Regan, Boston Bruins
*Hart Memorial Trophy: 	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
*James Norris Memorial Trophy: 	Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens
*Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: 	Andy Hebenton, New York Rangers
*Vezina Trophy: 	Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens
===All-Star teams===
First team 	  Position  	Second team
Glenn Hall, Detroit Red Wings 	G 	Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens
Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens 	D 	Fern Flaman, Boston Bruins
Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings 	D 	Bill Gadsby, New York Rangers
Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens	C 	Ed Litzenberger, Chicago Black Hawks
Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings 	RW 	Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Ted Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings 	LW 	Real Chevrefils, Boston Bruins
==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	44	45	89 	72
Ted Lindsay 	Detroit Red Wings 	70	30	55	85 	103
Jean Beliveau 	Montreal Canadiens 	69	33	51	84 	105
Andy Bathgate 	New York Rangers 	70	27	50	77 	60
Ed Litzenberger	Chicago Black Hawks	70	32	32	64 	48
Maurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens 	63	33	29	62 	74
Don McKenney 	Boston Bruins 	69	21	39	60 	31
Dickie Moore 	Montreal Canadiens 	70	29	29	58 	56
Henri Richard 	Montreal Canadiens 	63	18	36	54 	71
Norm Ullman 	Detroit Red Wings 	64	16	36	52 	47
===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
Jacques Plante	Montreal Canadiens 	61	3660	122	2.00	31	18	12	9
Glenn Hall 	Detroit Red Wings 	70	4200	156	2.23	38	20	12	4
Terry Sawchuk 	Boston Bruins 	34	2040	81 	2.38	18	10	6 	2
Don Simmons 	Boston Bruins 	26	1560	63 	2.42	13	9 	4 	4
Ed Chadwick 	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	4200	186	2.66	21	34	15	5
Al Rollins 	Chicago Black Hawks	70	4080	222	3.17	16	39	15	3
Lorne Worsley 	New York Rangers 	68	4080	217	3.24	26	28	14	3
==Team Photos==
56-57BosBru.jpg|Boston Bruins
56-57ChiBH.jpg|Chicago Black Hawks
56-57DetRW.jpg|Detroit Red Wings
56-57MtlCdn.jpg|Montreal Canadiens
56-57NYR.jpg|New York Rangers
56-57TorML.jpg|Toronto Maple Leafs
==References==
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==External links==
*Hockey Database
*NHL.com
Category:1956 in ice hockey
Category:1957 in ice hockey