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 Final meeting in the history of the Canadiens–Maple Leafs rivalry. Montreal was making its ninth consecutive appearance in the Final 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: Montreal Forum (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
Montreal 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
Maurice Richard, hampered by injuries, had no points during the playoffs.
| April 9 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3–5 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | 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 | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante | ||||||
| April 11 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1–3 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | 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 | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante | ||||||
| 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 | Goalie stats | Johnny Bower | ||||||
| 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 | Goalie stats | Johnny Bower | ||||||
| April 18 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3–5 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | 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 | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante | ||||||
| Montreal won series 4–1 | |
Stanley Cup engraving
The 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
- 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
Notes
References
- "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