The 1959 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1958–59 season, and the culmination of the 1959 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the three-time defending champion Montreal Canadiens and their arch-rival Toronto Maple Leafs. It was the third Stanley Cup Finals meeting in the history of the Canadiens–Maple Leafs rivalry. Montreal was making its ninth consecutive appearance in the Finals series. It was Toronto's first appearance since their 1951 win over Montreal. The Canadiens won the series, four games to one, for their fourth straight Cup victory.
| 1959 Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| * indicates periods of overtime. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location(s) | Montreal: Forum de Montréal (1, 2, 5) Toronto: Maple Leaf Gardens (3, 4) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | Montreal: Toe Blake Toronto: Punch Imlach | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Captains | Montreal: Maurice Richard Toronto: George Armstrong | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | April 9–18, 1959 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Marcel Bonin (9:55, second) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Canadiens: Jean Beliveau (1972; did not play) Bernie Geoffrion (1972) Doug Harvey (1973) Tom Johnson (1970) Dickie Moore (1974) Jacques Plante (1978) Henri Richard (1979) Maurice Richard (1961) Maple Leafs: George Armstrong (1975) Johnny Bower (1976) Dick Duff (2006) Tim Horton (1977) Frank Mahovlich (1981) Bert Olmstead (1985) Bob Pulford (1991) Allan Stanley (1981) Coaches: Toe Blake (1966, player) Punch Imlach (1984) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Paths to the Finals
editMontreal defeated the Chicago Black Hawks in six games to reach the Finals. Toronto defeated the Boston Bruins in seven games to reach the Finals.
Game summaries
editMaurice Richard, hampered by injuries, had no points during the playoffs.
| April 9 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3–5 | Montreal Canadiens | Forum de Montréal | Recap | |||
| Dick Duff (3) - sh - 4:53 Billy Harris (1) - 6:24 |
First period | 00:36 - Henri Richard (3) 15:41 - Ralph Backstrom (1) | ||||||
| Ron Stewart (2) - 18:26 | Second period | 16:28 - Andre Pronovost (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 11:59 - Marcel Bonin (8) 15:02 - pp - Dickie Moore (4) | ||||||
| Johnny Bower 26 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante 21 saves / 24 shots | ||||||
| April 11 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1–3 | Montreal Canadiens | Forum de Montréal | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 5:12 - pp - Tom Johnson (1) | ||||||
| Ron Stewart (3) - 11:41 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 5:02 - Claude Provost (5) 18:33 - Claude Provost (6) | ||||||
| Johnny Bower 38 saves / 41 shots | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante 28 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| April 14 | Montreal Canadiens | 2–3 | OT | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | ||
| Marcel Bonin (9) - pp - 17:31 | First period | 16:29 - Billy Harris (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 17:11 - Bert Olmstead (3) | ||||||
| Dickie Moore (5) - 1:30 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 10:06 - Dick Duff (4) | ||||||
| Jacques Plante 32 saves / 35 shots | Goalie stats | Johnny Bower 29 saves / 31 shots | ||||||
| April 16 | Montreal Canadiens | 3–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ab McDonald (1) - 9:54 Ralph Backstrom (2) - 13:01 Bernie Geoffrion (3) - 15:56 |
Third period | 3:45 - Billy Harris (3) 18:36 - Frank Mahovlich (5) | ||||||
| Jacques Plante 26 saves / 28 shots | Goalie stats | Johnny Bower 26 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| April 18 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3–5 | Montreal Canadiens | Forum de Montréal | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 4:13 - pp - Ralph Backstrom (3) 13:42 - Bernie Geoffrion (4) 16:26 - Tom Johnson (2) | ||||||
| Bob Pulford (4) - pp - 4:27 | Second period | 9:55 - Marcel Bonin (10) 19:25 - pp - Bernie Geoffrion (5) | ||||||
| Frank Mahovlich (6) - 12:07 Bert Olmstead (4) - 16:19 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Johnny Bower 32 saves / 37 shots | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante 30 saves / 33 shots | ||||||
| Montreal won series 4–1 | |
Stanley Cup engraving
editThe 1959 Stanley Cup was presented to Canadiens captain Maurice Richard by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Canadiens 5–3 win over the Maple Leafs in game five.
The following Canadiens players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup
1958–59 Montreal Canadiens
Players
- 5 Bernie Geoffrion (A)
- 9 Maurice Richard (Captain)
- 12 Dickie Moore
- 14 Claude Provost
- 15 Ab McDonald
- 18 Marcel Bonin
- 22 Don Marshall
- 23 Andre Pronovost
- 2 Doug Harvey (A)
- 8 Bill Hicke
- 10 Tom Johnson (A)
- 11 Bob Turner
- 17 Jean-Guy Talbot
- 19 Albert Langlois
- 21 Ian Cushenan
- 1 Jacques Plante
- 1 Charlie Hodge (Sub)
Coaching and administrative staff
- Hartland Molson (President/Owner)
- Frank Selke Sr. (Manager), Ken Reardon (Vice President)
- Sam Pollock (Personnel Director), Toe Blake (Coach)
- Hector Dubois (Trainer, Larry Aubut (Asst. Trainer)
- Camile DesRoches^, Frank Selke Jr.^ (Publicity Directors)
- ^- on the team picture, but missing from the Stanley Cup.
Stanley Cup engravings
edit- Ken Reardon name was spelt KEN READON VICE PRES missing an "R". Mistake was corrected on the replica cup created in 1992–93.
See also
editNotes
editReferences
edit- "All-Time NHL Results".
- Diamond, Dan (2000). Total Stanley Cup. Toronto: Total Sports Canada. ISBN 978-1-892129-07-9.
- Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont.: Fenn Pub. pp 12, 50. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7