1956–57 NHL season

Regular season

On October 1, it was announced that Dick Irvin had resigned as coach of the Chicago Black Hawks 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. General manager 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.

Ted Lindsay, the star left winger of the Detroit Red Wings, 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 Black Hawks and New York Rangers 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 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. Dick Duff scored the tying goal, and Richard went berserk and commenced a heated argument with Udvari, banging his stick on the ice. He might have attacked Udvari if his teammates had not 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 Donnie Marshall for the winning goal with a mere six 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 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 was not 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 were able to in a two-minute power play with the penalized 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 is finished. The reason for this was because the Montreal Canadiens were so dominant on the power play, that 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

Playoffs

Playoff bracket

The top four teams in the league qualified for the playoffs. In the semifinals, the first-place team played the third-place team, while the second-place team faced the fourth-place team, with the winners advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals. In both rounds, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series).

| RD1-seed1=1 | RD1-team1=Detroit | RD1-score1=1 | RD1-seed2=3 | RD1-team2=Boston | RD1-score2=4 | RD1-seed3=2 | RD1-team3=Montreal | RD1-score3=4 | RD1-seed4=4 | RD1-team4=New York | RD1-score4=1 | RD2-seed1=3 | RD2-team1=Boston | RD2-score1=1 | RD2-seed2=2 | RD2-team2=Montreal | RD2-score2=4

Semifinals

(1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (3) Boston Bruins

|1-1-1 =Jack Caffery (1) – 18:42 |1-1-2 =00:50 – Ted Lindsay (1) |1-2-1 =Doug Mohns (1) – pp – 00:38 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =Real Chevrefils (1) – 00:49 |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Don Simmons 20 saves / 21 shots |goalie1-2 =Glenn Hall 26 saves / 29 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =06:57 – Red Kelly (1) 11:32 – Gordie Howe (1) 13:14 – sh – Metro Prystai (1) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =03:50 – pp – Alex Delvecchio (1) 10:27 – pp – Billy Dea (1) |2-3-1 =Fleming MacKell (1) – 01:59 Leo Boivin (1) – 17:52 |2-3-2 =00:33 – pp – Lorne Ferguson (1) 03:39 – Norm Ullman (1) |goalie2-1 =Don Simmons 25 saves / 32 shots |goalie2-2 =Glenn Hall 30 saves / 32 shots

|3-1-1 =08:11 – Vic Stasiuk (1) 12:00 – Leo Boivin (2) |3-1-2 =Alex Delvecchio (2) – pp – 15:16 |3-2-1 =18:26 – Leo Labine (1) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =13:28 – Cal Gardner (1) |3-3-2 =Gordie Howe (2) – 01:32 Billy Dea (2) – 03:11 |goalie3-1 =Don Simmons 24 saves / 27 shots |goalie3-2 =Glenn Hall 22 saves / 26 shots

|4-1-1 =06:00 – Real Chevrefils (2) |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =05:43 – Vic Stasiuk (2) |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Don Simmons 20 saves / 20 shots |goalie4-2 =Glenn Hall 25 saves / 27 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =09:52 – Alex Delvecchio (3) |5-2-1 =Buddy Boone (1) – 12:10 |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =Leo Labine (2) – 06:18 Doug Mohns (2) – 10:21 Cal Gardner (2) – 15:16 |5-3-2 =00:36 – Ted Lindsay (2) 17:59 – Metro Prystai (2) |goalie5-1 =Don Simmons 23 saves / 26 shots |goalie5-2 =Glenn Hall 11 saves / 15 shots

(2) Montreal Canadiens vs. (4) New York Rangers

|1-1-1 =17:01 – Camille Henry (1) |1-1-2 =Bernie Geoffrion (1) – 15:07 |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =Maurice Richard (1) – pp – 07:02 Bernie Geoffrion (2) – en – 19:21 Jean Beliveau (1) – 19:30 |goalie1-1 =Gump Worsley 24 saves / 27 shots |goalie1-2 =Jacques Plante 25 saves / 26 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =01:35 – pp – Camille Henry (2) 04:32 – Dave Creighton (1) |2-2-2 =Henri Richard (1) – 02:12 Maurice Richard (2) – 14:11 |2-3-1 =04:58 – pp – Bill Gadsby (1) |2-3-2 =Bernie Geoffrion (3) – pp – 14:58 |2-4-1 =13:38 – Andy Hebenton (1) |2-4-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Gump Worsley 44 saves / 47 shots |goalie2-2 =Jacques Plante 34 saves / 38 shots

|3-1-1 =Andy Bathgate (1) – 18:59 |3-1-2 =07:27 – pp – Maurice Richard (3) 14:56 – Jean Beliveau (2) |3-2-1 =Dave Creighton (2) – 10:51 Andy Bathgate (2) – 15:31 |3-2-2 =00:42 – Bernie Geoffrion (4) 14:23 – Bernie Geoffrion (5) 15:04 – Dickie Moore (1) |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =10:55 – Jean Beliveau (3) 14:20 – Bernie Geoffrion (6) 19:14 – Dickie Moore (2) |goalie3-1 =Gump Worsley 38 saves / 46 shots |goalie3-2 =Jacques Plante 19 saves / 22 shots

|4-1-1 =Andy Hebenton (2) – 06:42 |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =09:22 – Bernie Geoffrion (7) 11:28 – Henri Richard (2) 13:08 – Phil Goyette (1) |goalie4-1 =Gump Worsley 37 saves / 40 shots |goalie4-2 =Jacques Plante 30 saves / 31 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =No scoring |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =16:41 – pp – Jean Beliveau (4) 17:53 – sh – Floyd Curry (1) 19:40 – Jean Beliveau |5-3-1 =Parker MacDonald (1) – 05:28 Red Sullivan (1) – 12:21 Harry Howell (1) |5-3-2 =No scoring |5-4-1 =No scoring |5-4-2 =01:11 – Maurice Richard (4) |goalie5-1 =Gump Worsley 32 saves / 36 shots |goalie5-2 =Jacques Plante 18 saves / 21 shots

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 1957 Stanley Cup Finals

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =Fleming MacKell (2) – pp – 07:27 |1-2-2 =10:39 – Maurice Richard (5) 13:29 – pp – Maurice Richard (6) 15:35 – pp – Bernie Geoffrion (8) 17:00 – Maurice Richard (7) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =18:17 – Maurice Richard (8) |goalie1-1 =Don Simmons 34 saves / 39 shots |goalie1-2 =Jacques Plante 22 saves / 23 shots

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =02:27 – Jean Beliveau (6) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Don Simmons 22 saves / 23 shots |goalie2-2 =Jacques Plante 24 saves / 24 shots

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Bernie Geoffrion (9) – 01:30 Floyd Curry (2) – 14:39 Bernie Geoffrion (10) – pp – 19:54 |3-2-1 =06:16 – Don McKenney (1) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =19:16 – Fleming MacKell (3) |3-3-2 =Phil Goyette (2) – 07:31 |goalie3-1 =Don Simmons 21 saves / 25 shots |goalie3-2 =Jacques Plante 25 saves / 27 shots

|4-1-1 =02:56 – pp – Fleming MacKell (4) |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =19:40 – en – Fleming MacKell (5) |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Don Simmons 21 saves / 21 shots |goalie4-2 =Jacques Plante 27 saves / 28 shots

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =18:11 – Andre Pronovost (1) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =00:14 – pp – Dickie Moore (3) 15:12 – Bernie Geoffrion (11) |5-3-1 =Leo Labine (3) – 13:43 |5-3-2 =17:39 – Donnie Marshall (1) 18:31 – Floyd Curry (3) |goalie5-1 =Don Simmons 29 saves / 34 shots |goalie5-2 =Jacques Plante 26 saves / 27 shots

Awards

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Coaches

• Boston Bruins: Milt Schmidt
• Chicago Black Hawks: Tommy Ivan
• Detroit Red Wings: Jimmy Skinner
• Montreal Canadiens: Toe Blake
• New York Rangers: Phil Watson
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Howie Meeker

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1956–57 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Larry Regan, Boston Bruins
• Moose Vasko, Chicago Black Hawks
• Ralph Backstrom, Montreal Canadiens
• Phil Goyette, Montreal Canadiens
• Frank Mahovlich, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Bob Pulford, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Bob Baun, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1956–57 (listed with their last team):

• Cal Gardner, Boston Bruins
• Harry Watson, Chicago Black Hawks
• Marty Pavelich, Detroit Red Wings
• Gerry McNeil, Montreal Canadiens
• Ted Kennedy, Toronto Maple Leafs

Broadcasting

Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and selected Stanley Cup playoff games. Games were not broadcast in their entirety until the 1968–69 season, and were typically joined in progress, while the radio version of HNIC aired games in their entirety.

In the U.S., CBS signed a four-year deal to televise Saturday afternoon games from January to March.

References

• {{Citation|last=Coleman|first=Charles L.|year=1976
• {{cite book |title=Years of glory, 1942–1967: the National Hockey League's official book of the six-team era
• {{cite book|title=Total Hockey |editor=Diamond, Dan |publisher=Total Sports |year=2000 |isbn=1-892129-85-X
• {{cite book |editor-last=Dryden |editor-first=Steve |title=Century of hockey |publisher=McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
• {{Citation|last1=Duplacey |first1=James|year=2008
• {{cite book |last1=Fischler |first1=Stan |last2=Fischler |first2=Shirley
• {{Citation|last=McFarlane|first=Brian|year=1969|title=50 Years Of Hockey

;Notes

References

1. Stubbs, Dave. (2020-06-06). "Canadiens felt 1956 rule change doused their potent power play {{!}} NHL.com".
2. Anderson, Dave. (2007-06-04). "Canadiens of the 1950s Are Still the Kings of the Cup". The New York Times.