1961–62 NHL season

The 1961–62 NHL season was the 45th season of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Toronto Maple Leafs were the Stanley Cup champions as they defeated the Chicago Black Hawks four games to two.
==League business==
At a meeting of the owners and governors, Conn Smythe resigned as Toronto's governor, to be replaced by his son, Stafford Smythe. Thereupon, Conn Smythe was appointed honorary governor.
==Pre-season==
A big trade took place between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers with Doug Harvey and Albert Langlois going to the Rangers for Lou Fontinato. Harvey was named player-coach of the Rangers.
In an exhibition game in Trail, British Columbia, Jean Beliveau tore knee ligaments and would be unavailable for some time. This followed a knee injury to Dickie Moore.
Several holdouts on the Stanley Cup champion Chicago Black Hawks were reported. Stan Mikita, Reg Fleming and Dollard St. Laurent refused to sign their contracts, but they eventually came to terms.
==Regular season==
Glenn Hall got one of the greatest standing ovations in NHL history just before the NHL All-star game began. He had difficulty suppressing his emotions at the tremendous welcome he received. The All-stars defeated the Black Hawks 3-1.
Doug Harvey scored a goal in his debut as player-coach of the Rangers when they trounced the Boston Bruins 6-2 right at Boston Garden. The Rangers downed the Bruins again at Madison Square Garden 6-3 as Andy Bathgate had the hat trick and Camille Henry had two goals.
Montreal downed the Rangers 3-1 in their home opener as Henri Richard led the way with two goals playing with Beliveau and Moore, two cripples who were not expected to play. Doug Harvey was given an ovation by the crowd as he skated out in a Ranger uniform. The new defence pair of Al MacNeil and Lou Fontinato turned in a good game.
Earl Ingarfield had a hat trick November 19th as the Rangers beat the Maple Leafs 5-3. The Broadway Blueshirts were showing some power, and three nights later, Doug Harvey picked up three assists and Gump Worsley picked up a shutout as the Rangers blanked the Red Wings 4-0. The win put the Rangers into first place and the following night they beat the Bruins 4-3 as Harvey scored the winner.
Ab McDonald had the hat trick December 6th, as Chicago drubbed the Rangers 8-3 right at Madison Square Garden. Red Hay had four assists for the Black Hawks.
Toronto took over first place January 10th when they beat the Bruins 7-5. Frank Mahovlich scored two goals on his 24th birthday and Dave Keon also had two goals.
Glenn Hall played his 500th consecutive game January 17th, but was beaten 7-3 by Montreal. In a losing cause, Bobby Hull scored two goals, including his 20th of the season. Glenn Hall received a car from James D. Norris, president of the Black Hawks.
Percy LeSueur, famous Ottawa goaltender in the old NHA, died January 28th at age 79.
Bobby Hull scored four goals February 1st as the Black Hawks defeated Detroit 7-4.
The Rangers defeated the Red Wings 3-2 at home March 14th, but the two highlights were Gordie Howe's 500th goal on Gump Worsley and a penalty shot for the Rangers Andy Bathgate. Howe took a pass from Alex Delvecchio and made a nice move to get by Doug Harvey. Howe switched to a left-handed shot and beat Worsley with a backhander for the 500th goal. Midway through the third period, Dean Prentice had a breakaway and was skating toward the Detroit goal, when Hank Bassen, the Detroit goalkeeper, slid his stick to break up the play. Referee Eddie Powers awarded a penalty shot, but somehow forgot that the rules had been changed that season to read that the offended player must take the shot, not one of his teammates, and Powers permitted Andy Bathgate to take the shot. Bathgate gave Bassen some of his slick dekes and Bassen flopped on his face, allowing Bathgate to fire the puck into the open net for the winning goal. From there, the Rangers held on and made the playoffs for the first time since 1958.
Bobby Hull joined the 50 goal club when he scored his 50th goal at about the five minute mark of the first period as the Chicago Black Hawks beat the New York Rangers 4-1 right at Madison Square Garden in the final game of the season.
The first 43 seasons saw only one 50 goal scorer, Maurice "Rocket" Richard. Then last season, 1960-61, Bernie Geoffrion scored 50. This season saw another 50 goal scorer in Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks. From this point onwards, far more seasons than not would see at least one player score fifty in a season. 
===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
Montreal Canadiens 	70	42	14	14	98 	259	166	818
Toronto Maple Leafs 	70	37	22	11	85 	232	180	762
Chicago Black Hawks 	70	31	26	13	75 	217	186	894
New York Rangers 	70	26	32	12	64 	195	207	668
Detroit Red Wings 	70	23	33	14	60 	184	219	684
Boston Bruins 	70	15	47	8 	38 	177	306	712
==Playoffs==
===Series===
The Black Hawks returned to the Final, by defeating the first-place Canadiens four games to two in one semi-final. In the other, the second-place Maple Leafs defeated the Rangers, also in six games to advance to the Final.
====Chicago Black Hawks vs. Montreal Canadiens====
*Game 1 March 27 1962 Chicago 1 At Montreal 2
*Game 2 March 29 1962 Chicago 3 At Montreal 4
*Game 3 April 1 1962 Montreal 1 At Chicago 4
*Game 4 April 3 1962 Montreal 3 at Chicago 5
*Game 5 April 5 1962 Chicago 4 At Montreal 3
*Game 6 April 8 1962 Montreal 0 at Chicago 2
====Toronto Maple Leafs vs. New York Rangers====
Date 	Visitors	Score	Home 	Score	Notes	Report
March 27	New York	2 	Toronto 	4 	 	
March 29	New York	1 	Toronto 	2 	 	
April 1 	Toronto 	4 	New York	5 	 	
April 3 	Toronto 	2 	New York	4 	 	
April 5 	New York	2 	Toronto 	3 	2OT 	
April 7 	New York	1 	Toronto 	7 	 	
===Final===
Stan Mikita broke Gordie Howe's 1955 playoff record of 20 points, finishing with 21, but it was not enough as the Leafs would defeat the Black Hawks. Dave Keon, making his playoff debut, scored two goals and an assist in the Final.
Date 	Visitors	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 10	Chicago 	1 	Toronto	4 	
April 12	Chicago 	2 	Toronto	3 	
April 15	Toronto 	0 	Chicago	3 	
April 17	Toronto 	1 	Chicago	4 	
April 19	Chicago 	4 	Toronto	8 	
April 22	Toronto 	2 	Chicago	1 	
===Playoff bracket===
==Awards==
*Prince of Wales Trophy: 	Montreal Canadiens
*Art Ross Memorial Trophy: 	Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks
*Calder Memorial Trophy: 	Bobby Rousseau, Montreal Canadiens
*Hart Memorial Trophy: 	Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens
*James Norris Memorial Trophy: 	Doug Harvey, New York Rangers
*Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: 	Dave Keon, Toronto Maple Leafs
*Vezina Trophy: 	Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens
===All-Star teams===
First Team 	  Position  	Second Team
Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens 	G 	Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks
Doug Harvey, New York Rangers 	D 	Carl Brewer, Toronto Maple Leafs
Jean-Guy Talbot, Montreal Canadiens	D 	Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks
Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks 	C 	Dave Keon, Toronto Maple Leafs
Andy Bathgate, New York Rangers 	RW 	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks 	LW 	Frank Mahovlich, 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
Bobby Hull 	Chicago Black Hawks	70	50	34	84 	35
Andy Bathgate 	New York Rangers 	70	28	56	84 	44
Gordie Howe 	Detroit Red Wings 	70	33	44	77 	54
Stan Mikita 	Chicago Black Hawks	70	25	52	77 	97
Frank Mahovlich	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	33	38	71 	87
Alex Delvecchio	Detroit Red Wings 	70	26	43	69 	18
Ralph Backstrom	Montreal Canadiens 	66	27	38	65 	29
Norm Ullman 	Detroit Red Wings 	70	26	38	64 	54
Bill Hay 	Chicago Back Hawks 	60	11	52	63 	34
Claude Provost 	Montreal Canadiens 	70	33	29	62 	22
===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 	70	4200	166	2.37	42	14	14	4
Johnny Bower 	Toronto Maple Leafs	59	3540	151	2.56	31	18	10	2
Glenn Hall 	Chicago Black Hawks	70	4200	185	2.64	31	26	13	9
Hank Bassen 	Detroit Red Wings 	27	1620	75 	2.78	9 	12	6 	3
Lorne Worsley 	New York Rangers 	60	3531	173	2.94	22	27	9 	2
Terry Sawchuk 	Detroit Red Wings 	43	2580	141	3.28	14	21	8 	5
Don Head 	Boston Bruins 	38	2280	161	4.24	9 	26	3 	2
Bruce Gamble 	Boston Bruins 	28	1680	121	4.32	6 	18	4 	1
==Team Photos==
61-62BosBru.jpg|Boston Bruins
61-62ChiBH.jpg|Chicago Black Hawks
61-62DetRW.jpg|Detroit Red Wings
61-62MtlCdn.jpg|Montreal Canadiens
61-62NYR.jpg|New York Rangers
61-62TorML.jpg|Toronto Maple Leafs
==References==
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==External links==
*Hockey Database
*NHL.com
 
Category:1961 in ice hockey
Category:1962 in ice hockey