1959–60 NHL season

Regular season

This regular season, like the two preceding it and the two following it, belonged to the Montreal Canadiens, who were in the midst of five straight first overall finishes and at the tail end of five straight Stanley Cup victories. The Detroit Red Wings, who were dead last and missed the playoffs the previous season, squeaked into the playoffs by riding a Hart Memorial Trophy performance by their ageless star right-winger, Gordie Howe.

The season was marked by important changes in the NHL, as Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante, like Clint Benedict before him, began to wear a mask in hockey games. Plante, who had asthma-related problems throughout his career, first began wearing a mask in practice shortly after a sinus operation in 1957. On November 1, 1959, Plante's nose was broken by a shot from New York Rangers right-winger Andy Bathgate. After being stitched up, Plante insisted on wearing a mask for the remainder of the game. Montreal coach Toe Blake was bitterly opposed to the idea, but did not have a backup goaltender and relented after Plante said he would not return to the ice without a mask. Although many in the NHL disapproved of Plante's decision due to NHL tradition at the time, many followed suit after Plante went undefeated in ten games with the mask on.

Phil Watson suffered an ulcer and was quietly dismissed as Ranger coach and replaced by Alf Pike. Gump Worsley was demoted to the Springfield Indians of the AHL and Worsley screamed he was finished with hockey, but reported to Springfield anyway. Indians owner Eddie Shore, known for his criticism of his players, gave Worsley a surprise vote of confidence. Gump played well for the Indians.

There was trouble brewing for Rangers right-winger Andy Bathgate, who had ripped open Plante's nose on the night of the goalie mask's official NHL debut. In a January 1960 True Magazine article ghosted by Dave Anderson, the defending league MVP listed the names of players whom he considered guilty of the dangerous act of spearing. This was brought to the attention of NHL President Clarence Campbell, who fined Bathgate $500 and Ranger general manager Muzz Patrick $100 on the grounds the article was prejudicial to and against the welfare of the league.

After being demoted to Springfield, Gump Worsley was brought back up as Marcel Paille was even worse in goal for New York. Gump and the Rangers beat the Canadiens 8–3 in his first game back on January 3, but on January 21, Montreal bombed Worsley 11-2. Later against the Chicago Black Hawks, Worsley suffered an injury that finished him for the season; Hawks' winger Bobby Hull skated over his catching glove and severed two tendons in his fingers. Al Rollins was called up to replace him. Later, Olympic hero Jack McCartan played a few games for the Rangers, acquitting himself very well.

The Boston Bruins narrowly missed the playoffs despite a flurry of offense, sparked by the "Uke Line" of Johnny Bucyk, Vic Stasiuk, and Bronco Horvath. Horvath finished a close second to Chicago's Bobby Hull in the scoring race and was named to the Second All-Star Team. Slick centre Don McKenney led the NHL in assists while winning the Lady Byng Trophy and versatile Doug Mohns also contributed. 1959–60 saw two veteran Bruins, centre Fleming MacKell and goaltender Harry Lumley, play their last campaigns before retirement.

This season marked the first season of the Original Six era during which every active player had played for Original Six teams only. Ken Mosdell, the last player to play for another team, retired the previous season.

Final standings

Stanley Cup playoffs

Montreal played the minimum number of games, 8, to win the Stanley Cup and in the process, became the last Cup winners in NHL history to go undefeated in the playoffs to date. After winning the Stanley Cup, Maurice Richard retired from the NHL as a champion.

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=Montreal | RD1-score1=4 | RD1-seed2=3 | RD1-team2=Chicago | RD1-score2=0 | RD1-seed3=2 | RD1-team3=Toronto | RD1-score3=4 | RD1-seed4=4 | RD1-team4=Detroit | RD1-score4=2 | RD2-seed1=1 | RD2-team1=Montreal | RD2-score1=4 | RD2-seed2=2 | RD2-team2=Toronto | RD2-score2=0

Semifinals

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (3) Chicago Black Hawks

|1-1-1 =Murray Balfour (1) – 16:15 |1-1-2 =11:05 – Jean Beliveau (1) 15:04 – Andre Pronovost (1) |1-2-1 =Ted Lindsay (1) – 16:18 |1-2-2 =08:45 – pp – Dickie Moore (1) |1-3-1 =Ron Murphy (1) – 18:17 |1-3-2 =10:32 – Bernie Geoffrion (1) |goalie1-1 =Glenn Hall |goalie1-2 =Jacques Plante

|2-1-1 =Kenny Wharram (1) – 13:13 |2-1-2 =11:38 – Dickie Moore (2) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =17:55 – Marcel Bonin (1) |2-3-1 =Bobby Hull (1) – 02:34 Bill Hay (1) – 18:58 |2-3-2 =08:35 – pp – Dickie Moore (3) |2-4-1 =No scoring |2-4-2 =08:38 – Doug Harvey (1) |goalie2-1 =Glenn Hall |goalie2-2 =Jacques Plante

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Bill Hicke (1) – 10:15 Jean-Guy Talbot (1) |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Donnie Marshall (1) – 09:39 Bernie Geoffrion (2) – 18:04 |goalie3-1 =Glenn Hall |goalie3-2 =Jacques Plante

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Claude Provost (1) – 04:47 Dickie Moore (4) – 13:09 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Glenn Hall |goalie4-2 =Jacques Plante

(2) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (4) Detroit Red Wings

|1-1-1 =Gordie Howe (1) – 02:38 Len Haley (1) – 14:24 |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =16:04 – Carl Brewer (1) |goalie1-1 =Terry Sawchuck |goalie1-2 =Johnny Bower

|2-1-1 =Pete Goegan (1) – 16:12 |2-1-2 =13:37 – George Armstrong (1) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =17:04 – Larry Regan (1) |2-3-1 =Alex Delvecchio (1) – 05:50 |2-3-2 =04:02 – Frank Mahovlich (1) 19:13 – en – Bob Pulford (1) |goalie2-1 =Terry Sawchuck |goalie2-2 =Johnny Bower

|3-1-1 =16:57 – pp – Norm Ullman (1) 17:18 – Marcel Pronovost (1) |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =16:58 – pp – Len Lunde (1) |3-2-2 =Red Kelly (1) – 03:35 Dick Duff (1) – 07:00 Bob Pulford (2) – 08:05 Red Kelly (2) – pp – 19:24 |3-3-1 =12:40 – Gerry Melnyk (1) |3-3-2 =No scoring |3-4-1 =No scoring |3-4-2 =Frank Mahovlich (2) – 03:00 |goalie3-1 =Terry Sawchuck |goalie3-2 =Johnny Bower

|4-1-1 =13:15 – Gary Aldcorn (1) |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Carl Brewer (2) – 10:29 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =No scoring |4-4-1 =01:54 – pp – Gerry Melnyk (2) |4-4-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Terry Sawchuck |goalie4-2 =Johnny Bower

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =05:14 – pp – Allan Stanley (1) 09:05 – pp – Bert Olmstead (1) |5-2-1 =Warren Godfrey (1) – 10:32 Gerry Melnyk (3) – 11:56 |5-2-2 =12:45 – Allan Stanley (2) |5-3-1 =Jack McIntyre (1) – 08:36 Alex Delvecchio (2) – 19:19 |5-3-2 =04:32 – Red Kelly (3) 12:10 – Larry Regan (2) |goalie5-1 =Terry Sawchuck |goalie5-2 =Johnny Bower

|6-1-1 =05:26 – Murray Oliver (1) |6-1-2 =Bob Pulford (3) – 19:19 |6-2-1 =00:57 – pp – Norm Ullman (2) |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =No scoring |6-3-2 =Bob Pulford (4) – 00:37 Frank Mahovlich (3) – 02:40 Dick Duff (2) – 17:06 |goalie6-1 =Terry Sawchuck |goalie6-2 =Johnny Bower

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 1960 Stanley Cup Finals

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =02:27 – pp – Dickie Moore (5) 08:55 – Doug Harvey (2) 11:56 – Jean Beliveau (2) |1-2-1 =Bob Baun (1) – 05:23 Bert Olmstead (2) – 17:35 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =01:30 – Henri Richard (1) |goalie1-1 =Johnny Bower |goalie1-2 =Jacques Plante

|2-1-1 =Larry Regan (3) – 19:32 |2-1-2 =01:26 – Dickie Moore (6) 05:56 – Jean Beliveau (3) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Johnny Bower |goalie2-2 =Jacques Plante

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Donnie Marshall (2) – 13:54 |3-2-1 =16:19 – Johnny Wilson (1) |3-2-2 =Phil Goyette (1) – 00:21 Henri Richard (2) – 15:27 |3-3-1 =19:47 – pp – Bert Olmstead (3) |3-3-2 =Phil Goyette (2) – 08:57 Maurice Richard (1) – 10:07 |goalie3-1 =Johnny Bower |goalie3-2 =Jacques Plante

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Jean Beliveau (4) – 08:16 Doug Harvey (3) – 08:45 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Henri Richard (3) – 16:40 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Jean Beliveau (5) – 01:21 |goalie4-1 =Johnny Bower |goalie4-2 =Jacques Plante

Awards

Gordie Howe won the Hart Trophy to become the first five-time winner of the Hart. In voting, he received 118 votes of a possible 180, twice as many as runner-up Bobby Hull. Howe was the last winner of the original Hart Trophy. The trophy was retired to the Hockey Hall of Fame and the NHL began presenting a new trophy, which was dubbed the Hart Memorial Trophy in its place. Hull won the Art Ross Trophy for the scoring championship, his first. Doug Harvey won the Norris Trophy for the fifth time, and the fifth time in the seven times it had been awarded. The Canadiens had the lowest goals against average, for the fifth consecutive time, and Jacques Plante was awarded his fifth Vezina Trophy. The Black Hawks' Glenn Hall was named to the First All-Star team as goaltender.

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shut outs; AVG = Goals against average

Coaches

• Boston Bruins: Milt Schmidt
• Chicago Black Hawks: Rudy Pilous
• Detroit Red Wings: Sid Abel
• Montreal Canadiens: Toe Blake
• New York Rangers: Phil Watson and Alfred Pike
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Punch Imlach

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1959–60 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Dallas Smith, Boston Bruins
• Bill Hay, Chicago Black Hawks
• J. C. Tremblay, Montreal Canadiens
• Dave Balon, New York Rangers
• Ken Schinkel, New York Rangers

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1959–60 (listed with their last team):

• Fleming MacKell, Boston Bruins
• Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens
• Al Rollins, New York Rangers
• Harry Lumley, Boston Bruins
• Dave Creighton, Toronto Maple Leafs

Broadcasting

Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and 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., this was final season of a four-year deal with CBS to televise Saturday afternoon regular season games. This season, CBS aired games from January to March. CBS decided not the renew its agreement, and the NHL would not be able to attract another American national network until the 1965–66 season.

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
• {{cite book |editor1-last=Hollander |editor1-first=Zander |editor2-first=Hal |editor2-last=Bock
• {{Citation|last=McFarlane|first=Brian|year=1969|title=50 Years Of Hockey

;Notes

References

1. (May 7, 1960). "Fifth Hart Trophy for Gordie Howe". Montreal Gazette.