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The 1951 Stanley Cup Finals was contested by the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. The Maple Leafs won the series 4–1, with all five games going into overtime. It was the Toronto franchise's ninth Stanley Cup win and the last in a series of six wins starting in 1942. It was the first appearance in a string of ten consecutive appearances by the Canadiens.
| 1951 Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| * – Denotes overtime period(s) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location(s) | Toronto: Maple Leaf Gardens (1, 2, 5) Montreal: Montreal Forum (3, 4) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | Toronto: Joe Primeau Montreal: Dick Irvin | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Captains | Toronto: Ted Kennedy Montreal: Emile Bouchard | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | April 11–21, 1951 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Bill Barilko (2:53, OT) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Maple Leafs: Max Bentley (1966) Turk Broda (1967) Fernie Flaman (1990) Ted Kennedy (1966) Harry Watson (1994) Canadiens: Emile Bouchard (1966) Bernie Geoffrion (1972) Doug Harvey (1973) Tom Johnson (1970) Elmer Lach (1966) Bert Olmstead (1985) Maurice Richard (1961) Coaches: Dick Irvin (1958, player) Joe Primeau (1963, player) | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Toronto defeated the Boston Bruins 4–1 to reach the Finals. Montreal defeated the defending champion Detroit Red Wings 4–2 to reach the Finals.
Every game went into overtime in this series. Bill Barilko scored the Cup-winning overtime goal, his last goal in the NHL as he would die in a plane crash during the summer.[1]
| April 11 | Montreal Canadiens | 2–3 | OT | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | ||
| Maurice Richard (5) - 15:27 | First period | 00:15 - Sid Smith (3) 15:42 - Tod Sloan (2) | ||||||
| Paul Masnick (1) - 4:02 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 5:51 - Sid Smith (4) | ||||||
| Gerry McNeil | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| April 14 | Montreal Canadiens | 3–2 | OT | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | ||
| Paul Masnick (2) - 3:44 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Billy Reay (3) - 9:24 | Second period | 16:31 - pp - Sid Smith (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 8:16 - pp - Ted Kennedy (3) | ||||||
| Maurice Richard (6) - 2:55 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gerry McNeil | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| April 17 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2–1 | OT | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 2:18 - pp - Maurice Richard (7) | ||||||
| Sid Smith (6) - pp - 5:58 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Ted Kennedy (4) - 4:47 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Turk Broda | Goalie stats | Gerry McNeil | ||||||
| April 19 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3–2 | OT | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | ||
| Sid Smith (7) - 00:38 | First period | 14:41 - Maurice Richard (8) | ||||||
| Howie Meeker (1) - 1:27 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 13:49 - Elmer Lach (2) | ||||||
| Harry Watson (1) - 5:15 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Turk Broda | Goalie stats | Gerry McNeil | ||||||
| April 21 | Montreal Canadiens | 2–3 | OT | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Maurice Richard (9) - 8:56 | Second period | 12:00 - Tod Sloan (3) | ||||||
| Paul Meger (1) - 4:47 | Third period | 19:28 - Tod Sloan (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 2:53 - Bill Barilko (3) | ||||||
| Gerry McNeil | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| Toronto won series 4–1 | |
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The 1951 Stanley Cup was presented to Maple Leafs captain Ted Kennedy by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Maple Leafs 3–2 overtime win over the Canadiens in game five.
The following Maple Leafs players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup
1950–51 Toronto Maple Leafs
Players
- 7 Max Bentley (A)
- 9 Ted Kennedy (Captain)
- 14 Cal Gardner
- 16 Fleming Mackell
- 20 John McCormack**
- 25 Bob HassardA
- 4 Harry Watson (A)
- 8 Joe Klukay
- 11 Howie Meeker
- 15 Tod Sloan
- 21 Danny Lewicki
- 22 Ray Timgren
- 24 Sid Smith
- 2 Jimmy Thomson
- 3 Gus Mortson
- 5 Bill Barilko
- 12 Fern Flaman
- 18 Bill Juzda
- 19 Hugh BoltonB
Coaching and administrative staff
- Conn Smythe (President/Manager/Owner), Clarence Hap Day (Asst. Manager)
- George McGillach (Vice President), John Murdoch (Vice President)
- Ed Bickle (Director/Owner), Jack Bickell (Director/Owner)
- Tim Daly (Trainer), Ed Fitkin (Publicity Director)
- Archie Campbell (Asst. Trainer), Tom Nayler (Asst. Trainer), George Walker (Chief Scout)
- Joe Primeau (Coach), William MacBrien (Chairman/Owner)
- Norman Delarue†, Robert Galloway†, Horance MacIntyre† (Team Doctors)
Stanley Cup engraving
- † Included on the original ring in 1951. There was no room left for the 3 team doctors the way that the Toronto Maple Leafs 1951 members were engraved on the new ring during the 1957–58 season.
- A played only 13 games, but the name is on the cup. B played only 12 games, but the name is on the cup. Both Hugh Bolton, and Bob Hassard did not play in the playoff and did not qualify to be on the cup.
- Joe Primeau was the 7th NHL rookie coach to win the Stanley Cup.
- ** John McCormack played 46 regular season games, he was sent to the minors to play in the playoffs. McCormack was still included on the Stanley Cup.
- Joe Primeau (Coach), William MacBrien (Chairman/Owner) were listed last on the Stanley Cup. Tradition has them listed before the players.
Engraving mistakes
Several mistakes happened in the engraving of the names:
- Gus Mortson's last name was misspelled WORTSON with a "W" instead a "M".
- Danny Lewicki's last name was misspelled LEWESKI, with a "S" instead of a "C".
- Ted Kennedy's name was misspelled KENNEDYY with an extra "Y". His position as Captain was also left off the Stanley Cup.
- William A. H. MacBrien's last name was misspelled as McBrien, missing an "A"
- Elwin "Al" Rollins' first name was misspelled ELVIN with a "V" instead of a "W". The Rollins mistake was not corrected on the Replica Cup created in 1992–93. The other 4 mistakes were corrected on the Replica Cup.
Members of Toronto Maple Leafs that won 4 cups in 5 years 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951 dynasty
Bill Barilko, Turk Broda, Ted Kennedy†, Joe Klukay, Howie Meeker, Gus Mortson, Jimmy Thomson, Harry Watson (8 players),
Ed Bickle†, John Bickell†, Conn Smythe†, John Mordoch†, William MacBrien†, Hap Day†, Tim Daly†, George Walker, Ed Finkin, Horance McIntre (10 non-players).
† also won the Stanley Cup in 1945.
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