1954 Stanley Cup Final

1954 Stanley Cup Final
1234567Total
Detroit Red Wings 31520*12*4
Montreal Canadiens 13201*41*3
* – Denotes overtime period(s)
Location(s)Detroit: Olympia Stadium (1, 2, 5, 7)
Montreal: Montreal Forum (3, 4, 6)
CoachesDetroit: Tommy Ivan
Montreal: Dick Irvin
CaptainsDetroit: Ted Lindsay
Montreal: Emile Bouchard
DatesApril 4–16, 1954
Series-winning goalTony Leswick (4:29, OT)
Hall of FamersRed Wings:
Keith Allen (1992, builder)
Al Arbour (1996, builder;
did not play)
Alex Delvecchio (1977)
Gordie Howe (1972)
Red Kelly (1969)
Ted Lindsay (1966)
Marcel Pronovost (1978)
Terry Sawchuk (1971)
Canadiens:
Jean Beliveau (1972)
Emile Bouchard (1966)
Bernie Geoffrion (1972)
Doug Harvey (1973)
Tom Johnson (1970)
Elmer Lach (1966)
Dickie Moore (1974)
Bert Olmstead (1985)
Jacques Plante (1978)
Maurice Richard (1961)
Coaches:
Dick Irvin (1958, player)
Tommy Ivan (1974)
Officials:
Bill Chadwick (1964)
George Hayes (1988)
Red Storey (1967)

The 1954 Stanley Cup Final was contested by the Detroit Red Wings and the defending champion Montreal Canadiens, in their fourth straight Finals. It was the second Detroit–Montreal Finals series of the 1950s. Despite blowing a 3–1 series lead, the Red Wings defeated the Canadiens in seven games to win their second Stanley Cup in four years and sixth overall.

As of today, this remains the last Stanley Cup Final where Game 7 was decided in overtime.

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.[1] The Canadiens immediately skated off the ice without shaking hands with the Red Wings.[2] 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 1950, 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.

Game one

April 4 Montreal Canadiens 1–3 Detroit Red Wings Olympia Stadium Recap
Scoring summary
Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score
1st DET Ted Lindsay (3) – pp Earl Reibel (3) and Alex Delvecchio (4) 13:44 1–0 DET
2nd MTL Bernie Geoffrion (5) – pp Doug Harvey (3) and Paul Masnick (2) 12:16 1–1
3rd DET Earl Reibel (1) – pp Ted Lindsay (3) and Gordie Howe (4) 01:52 2–1 DET
DET Red Kelly (3) – sh Marty Pavelich (3) and Tony Leswick (1) 07:13 3–1 DET
Penalty summary
Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM
1st MTL Dollard St. Laurent Interference 00:52 2:00
MTL Bert Olmstead Tripping 05:53 2:00
DET Glen Skov Tripping 08:24 2:00
MTL Dickie Moore Hooking 11:54 2:00
DET Marcel Pronovost Tripping 14:52 2:00
DET Ted Lindsay High-sticking 17:39 2:00
DET Ted Lindsay Misconduct 17:39 10:00
MTL Maurice Richard Cross-checking 19:04 2:00
2nd MTL Maurice Richard High-sticking 01:49 2:00
MTL Maurice Richard Misconduct 01:49 10:00
DET Marty Pavelich High-sticking 05:38 2:00
MTL Tom Johnson Holding 07:28 2:00
DET Glen Skov Tripping 12:04 2:00
3rd MTL Dollard St. Laurent Boarding 00:59 2:00
DET Marcel Pronovost Tripping 05:46 2:00

Game two

April 6 Montreal Canadiens 3–1 Detroit Red Wings Olympia Stadium Recap
Scoring summary
Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score
1st MTL Dickie Moore (5) – pp Bernie Geoffrion (5) and Jean Beliveau (7) 15:03 1–0 MTL
MTL Maurice Richard (1) – pp Dickie Moore (7) 15:28 2–0 MTL
MTL Maurice Richard (2) – pp Dickie Moore (8) 15:59 3–0 MTL
2nd MTL Alex Delvecchio (1) – pp Unassisted 06:37 3–1 MTL
3rd None
Penalty summary
Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM
1st DET Tony Leswick High-sticking 01:11 2:00
MTL Emile Bouchard High-sticking 01:11 2:00
MTL Bernie Geoffrion Tripping 06:19 2:00
DET Gordie Howe Holding 11:12 2:00
MTL Doug Harvey Hooking 11:24 2:00
DET Gordie Howe High-sticking 13:42 2:00
DET Tony Leswick Slashing 14:01 10:00
MTL Ken Mosdell Tripping 16:36 2:00
2nd MTL Bud MacPherson Interference 06:12 2:00
MTL Emile Bouchard Hooking 13:31 2:00
3rd None

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

Players

  Goaltenders

Coaching and administrative staff

Stanley Cup engraving

  • #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 his hockey career in the minors.
  • Oct 10 1953, Terry Sawchuk was injured during a game. Ass't Trainer Ross Wilson played goal for the last 16 minutes. Dave Gatherum was called up from the minors. He played goal on Oct 11, 16, 17 for injured Terry Sawchuk. He recorded 1 win, 1 tie, and 1 loss. Gatherum went on to set an NHL record 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 honoured Dave Gatherum's by having his name included on the Stanley Cup in 1954.
  • Earl "Ching" Johnson and Ross "Left" Wilson's names were not included with 1954 Detroit when the cup was redone in 1958 and 1993, replica ring.
  • #19 Vic Stasiuk^ played 43 games, but was sent to the 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 the team picture. Gilles Dube was listed as Ed Dube by mistake on the team picture.
  • Marguerite Norris was the 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 the cup was redone in 1957–58. His name was spelled THOMAS IVAN COACH on the Replica Cup created in 1992–93.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Top 10 Game 7 Stanley Cup Final matches". YouTube. Archived from the original on May 3, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2009.
  2. ↑ Weekes, Don & Banks, Kerry, The Unofficial Guide to Even More of Hockey's Most Unusual Records, Greystone Books, 2004

References

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