1954 Stanley Cup Final

Paths to the Finals

Montreal defeated the Boston Bruins 4–0 to reach the Finals. Detroit defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–1 to reach the Finals.

Game summaries

Tony Leswick scored the series-winning goal at 4:29 of overtime in Game 7. In fact, Leswick's goal was one of the strangest Stanley Cup-winning goals in history, as Leswick's shot was deflected off the glove of Montreal's Doug Harvey and into the net. The Canadiens immediately skated off the ice without shaking hands with the Red Wings. This was the second time in NHL history that Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final was decided in overtime; the previous time it happened, in , Detroit beat the New York Rangers in the Finals. As of 2025, this is the last Stanley Cup Final to have an overtime Game 7.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =13:44 - pp - Ted Lindsay (3) |1-2-1 =Bernie Geoffrion (5) - pp - 12:16 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =1:52 - pp - Dutch Reibel (1) 7:13 - sh - Red Kelly (3) |goalie1-1 =Jacques Plante 25 saves / 28 shots |goalie1-2 =Terry Sawchuck 18 saves / 19 shots

|2-1-1 =Dickie Moore (5) - pp - 15:03 Maurice Richard (1) - pp - 15:28 Maurice Richard (2) - pp - 15:59 |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =6:37 - pp - Alex Delvecchio (1) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Jacques Plante 25 saves / 26 shots |goalie2-2 =Terry Sawchuck 25 saves / 28 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Alex Delvecchio (2) - 00:42 Ted Lindsay (4) - 17:06 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Johnny Wilson (2) - 4:57 |3-3-1 =7:19 - sh - Tom Johnson (1) 15:02 - Dollard St. Laurent (1) |3-3-2 =Metro Prystai (1) - pp - 7:59 Gordie Howe (4) - 11:32 |goalie3-1 =Jacques Plante 32 saves / 37 shots |goalie3-2 =Terry Sawchuck 23 saves / 25 shots

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Johnny Wilson (3) - 2:09 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Red Kelly (4) - en - 19:53 |goalie4-1 =Jacques Plante 27 saves / 28 shots |goalie4-2 =Terry Sawchuck 28 saves / 28 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =No scoring |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =No scoring |5-4-1 =Ken Mosdell (1) - 5:45 |5-4-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =Gerry McNeil 22 saves / 22 shots |goalie5-2 =Terry Sawchuck 21 saves / 22 shots

|6-1-1 =No scoring |6-1-2 =No scoring |6-2-1 =12:07 - Bernie Geoffrion (6) 13:07 - Floyd Curry (2) 14:25 - Floyd Curry (3) |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =10:06 - Maurice Richard (3) |6-3-2 =Metro Prystai (2) - 5:11 |goalie6-1 =Gerry McNeil 33 saves / 34 shots |goalie6-2 =Terry Sawchuck 26 saves / 30 shots

|7-1-1 =Floyd Curry (4) - 9:17 |7-1-2 =No scoring |7-2-1 =No scoring |7-2-2 =1:17 - pp - Red Kelly (5) |7-3-1 =No scoring |7-3-2 =No scoring |7-4-1 =No scoring |7-4-2 =4:29 - Tony Leswick (3) |goalie7-1 =Gerry McNeil 31 saves / 33 shots |goalie7-2 =Terry Sawchuck 22 saves / 23 shots

Broadcasting

CBC's coverage of games 3–5 were joined in progress at 9:30 p.m. (approximately one hour after start time). Meanwhile, CBC joined game six in at 10 p.m. (again, one hour after start time). Game seven was carried nationwide from the opening face-off at 9 p.m. Since game seven was played on Good Friday night, there were no commercials (Imperial Oil was the sponsor).

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1954 Stanley Cup was presented to Red Wings captain Ted Lindsay by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Red Wings 2–1 overtime win over the Canadiens in game seven.

The following Red Wings players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

1953–54 Detroit Red Wings

• 1 David Gatherum*
• 1Ross Wilson (Playing-Asst. Trainer)*
• 3 Marcel Pronovost
• 4 Leonard Red Kelly (A)
• 5 Benny Woit
• 18 Al Arbour
• 19 Keith Allen
• 12 Glen Skov
• 14 Earl Reibel
• 15 Alex Delvecchio
• 19 Vic Stasiuk
• 8 Tony Leswick
• 9 Gordie Howe
• 11 Marty Pavelich
• 16 John Wilson
• 17 Bill Dineen
• 20 Jimmy Peters
• 26-25 Gilles Dube
• 21 Earl Johnson* |non-players=
• Marguerite Norris (President/Owner), Bruce Norris (Vice President/Owner)
• Jack Adams (Manager), Tommy Ivan (Coach)
• John Mitchell (Chief Scout), Carl Mattson (Trainer)
• Fred Huber Jr. (Publicity Director), Wally Crossman (Asst. Trainer/Stick Boy) |engraving-notes=
• • #21 Earl Johnson's name was engraved on the Stanley Cup, even though he only played 1 regular season game. Johnson spent the rest of hockey career in the minors.
• • Dave Gatherum played Oct 11, 16, 17 for injured Terry Sawchuk. He recorded 1 win, 1 tie and 1 loss. Gatherum went on to set an NHL for the longest shutout sequence by a goaltender to start a career 100.21 min Oct 11-16, 1953. The record stood until 2011. Gatherum was recalled for the playoffs as a spare goalie. Gatherum never played in the NHL again after losing his first NHL game. Detroit still honour him by including Dave Gatherum name on the Stanley Cup in 1954.
• #19 Vic Stasiuk played 43 games, but was sent to minors. His name was left off the cup, because he played in the minors, during the playoffs.
• #21 Jim Hay played 12 games for Detroit, but did not play in the playoffs. He was included on team picture. Gilles Dube was listed as Ed Dube by mistake on the team picture.
• Marguerite Norris was first woman to be engraved on the Stanley Cup in 1954.
• Tommy Ivan was misspelled as THOMAS NIVAN COACH instead of Thomas N. Ivan when cup was redone in 1957–58. His name was spelled THOMAS IVAN COACH on the Replica Cup created in 1992–93.
• Alex Delvecchio was misspelled ALEX BELVECCHIO with a "B" instead of a "D". Mistake was corrected on the Replica Cup.
• Tony Leswick was misspelled TONY LESWICH with a "H" instead of a "K". Mistake was corrected on the Replica Cup.
• When cup was redone in 1957–58, the names of Earl Johnson, and Ross Wilson were removed from the new version of 1954 Detroit. Ross Wilson also played goal on October 10, 1953, for 16 minutes when Terry Sawchuk got injured.}}

Notes

References

• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont.: Fenn Pub. pp 12, 50.

before = Montreal Canadiens 1953 | after = Detroit Red Wings 1955 | title = Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup champions | years = 1954|

References

1. "Top 10 Game 7 Stanley Cup Final matches".
2. Weekes, Don & Banks, Kerry, ''The Unofficial Guide to Even More of Hockey's Most Unusual Records'', Greystone Books, 2004