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
Final standings
 National Hockey League GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM Detroit Red Wings  70  44  13  13 101 236  139 566 Toronto Maple Leafs  70  41  16  13 95 212  138 823 Montreal Canadiens  70  25  30  15  65173  184835 Boston Bruins  70  22  30  18  62178  197 656 New York Rangers  70  20  29  21 61 169  201 774 Chicago Black Hawks  70  13  47  10 36 171  280 615

Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
 Player Team GP G A PtsGordie Howe Detroit Red Wings  7043  43  86Maurice Richard Montreal Canadiens 65  42  24  66Max Bentley  Toronto Maple Leafs  67  21  41  62Sid Abel  Detroit Red Wings  69  23  38  61Milt Schmidt  Boston Bruins  62  22  39  61Ted Kennedy  Toronto Maple Leafs 63  18 4361Ted Lindsay  Detroit Red Wings  67 24 35  59

Leading Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shut outs; AVG = Goals against average
 Player Team GP MINS GA SO AVGAl Rollins  Toronto Maple Leafs  40  2373  70  5  1.77Terry Sawchuck  Detroit Red Wings 70  4200  139  11  1.99

Stanley Cup Playoffs
All dates in 1951

The second ranked Toronto Maple Leafs eliminated the fourth ranked Boston Bruins in five games, and the third ranked 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.

Playoff bracket

Semi-finals
Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
 Date Away Score Home Score NotesMarch 28 Boston Bruins 2 Toronto Maple Leafs0 March 31 Boston Bruins 1 Toronto Maple Leafs 1 OT1April 1 Toronto Maple Leafs 3 Boston Bruins 0 April 3 Toronto Maple Leafs 3 Boston Bruins 1 April 7 Boston Bruins 1 Toronto Maple Leafs 4 April 8 Toronto Maple Leafs 6 Boston Bruins 0 
1 Note: March 31st game called after one overtime due to curfew
Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

Montreal Canadiens vs. Detroit Red Wings
 Date Away Score Home Score NotesMarch 27 Montreal Canadiens 3 Detroit Red Wings2 4 OTMarch 29 Montreal Canadiens 1 Detroit Red Wings 0 3 OTMarch 31 Detroit Red Wings 2 Montreal Canadiens 0 April 3 Detroit Red Wings 4 Montreal Canadiens 1 April 5 Montreal Canadiens 5 Detroit Red Wings 2 April 7 Detroit Red Wings 2 Montreal Canadiens 3 
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2

Finals
 see 1951 Stanley Cup Finals

Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
 Date Away Score Home Score NotesApril 11Montreal Canadiens2Toronto Maple Leafs3OT-SmithApril 14Toronto Maple Leafs2Montreal Canadiens3OT-M. RichardApril 17Montreal Canadiens1Toronto Maple Leafs2OT-KennedyApril 19Montreal Canadiens2Toronto Maple Leafs3OT-WatsonApril 21Montreal Canadiens2Toronto Maple Leafs3OT-Barilko (2:53)

Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

Playoff scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
 Player Team GP G A PtsMaurice Richard  Montreal Canadiens  11 9 4  13Max Bentley Toronto Maple Leafs  11  2  11  13Sid Smith  Toronto Maple Leafs 11 7  3  10

NHL Awards
 Prince of Wales Trophy:  Detroit Red Wings Art Ross Memorial Trophy:  Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings Calder Memorial Trophy:  Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red WingsHart Memorial Trophy:  Milt Schmidt, Boston BruinsLady Byng Memorial Trophy:  Red Kelly, Detroit Red WingsVezina Trophy:  Al Rollins, Toronto Maple Leafs

All-Star teams
 First Team    Position    Second TeamTerry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings GChuck Rayner, New York RangersRed Kelly, Detroit Red Wings DJimmy Thomson, Toronto Maple LeafsBill Quackenbush, Boston Bruins DLeo Reise, Detroit Red WingsMilt Schmidt, Boston Bruins CTed Kennedy, Toronto Maple Leafs
 Sid Abel, Detroit Red Wings (tied)Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings RWMaurice Richard, Montreal CanadiensTed Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings LWSid Smith, Toronto Maple Leafs

First games
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1950–51 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):
Alex Delvecchio, Detroit Red Wings
Bernie Geoffrion, Montreal Canadiens
Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens
Dollard St. Laurent, Montreal Canadiens
Danny Lewicki, Toronto Maple Leafs

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):
Joe Carveth, Detroit Red Wings
Glen Harmon, Montreal Canadiens
Wally Stanowski, New York Rangers
Pat Egan, New York Rangers
Buddy O'Connor, New York Rangers
Bill Barilko, Toronto Maple Leafs

References

Hockey Database
NHL.com

Category:1950 in North America
Category:1951 in North America
Category:National Hockey League seasons