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The 1955 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1954–55 season, and the culmination of the 1955 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Montreal Canadiens, appearing in their fifth of ten straight Finals, and the defending champion Detroit Red Wings, in the third Detroit-Montreal Finals series of the 1950s and the second consecutively. The Red Wings once again defeated the Canadiens in seven games for their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship, fourth in six seasons, and seventh overall. The Red Wings would not win the Stanley Cup again until 1997.
| 1955 Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Location(s) | Detroit: Olympia Stadium (1, 2, 5, 7) Montreal: Montreal Forum (3, 4, 6) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | Detroit: Jimmy Skinner Montreal: Dick Irvin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Captains | Detroit: Ted Lindsay Montreal: Emile Bouchard | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | April 3–14, 1955 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Gordie Howe (19:49, second) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers | Red Wings: 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) Dickie Moore (1974) Bert Olmstead (1985) Jacques Plante (1978) Maurice Richard (1961; did not play) Coaches: Dick Irvin (1958, player) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Montreal defeated the Boston Bruins in five games to reach the Finals. Detroit defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in four games to reach the Finals.
Prior to the playoffs, Montreal's Maurice Richard was suspended and would be missed by the Canadiens.[1]
In the second game, Ted Lindsay scored four goals to set an NHL record for most goals in one game in a Finals series.[2]
Gordie Howe set two NHL records, amassing 12 points in this round, and surpassing former Canadiens player (and soon-to-be-coach) Toe Blake's point mark for the playoffs with 20 points in 11 games.[3]
This was also the first Finals in which the home team won all seven games of the series, a feat that would be repeated only twice in the next 50 years, in 1965 (Montreal defeated the Chicago Black Hawks) and 2003 (the New Jersey Devils beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim).[4]
| April 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 2–4 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Floyd Curry (4) - 5:09 | Second period | 14:00 - pp - Alex Delvecchio (2) | ||||||
| Floyd Curry (5) - 8:57 | Third period | 13:05 - Vic Stasiuk (3) 17:07 - sh - Marty Pavelich (1) 19:42 - Ted Lindsay (3) | ||||||
| Jacques Plante | Goalie stats | Terry Sawchuck | ||||||
| April 5 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–7 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 2:15 - sh - Marcel Pronovost (1) 9:57 - Ted Lindsay (4) 16:00 - Alex Delvecchio (3) 17:11 - Gordie Howe (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 8:10 - Ted Lindsay (5) 15:48 - pp - Ted Lindsay (6) 19:37 - Ted Lindsay (7) | ||||||
| Ken Mosdell (2) - 12:32 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jacques Plante, Charlie Hodge | Goalie stats | Terry Sawchuck | ||||||
| April 7 | Detroit Red Wings | 2–4 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Red Kelly (1) - pp - 18:13 | First period | 8:30 - pp - Bernie Geoffrion (3) 8:42 - pp - Bernie Geoffrion (4) | ||||||
| Vic Stasiuk (4) - 16:16 | Second period | 14:23 - Bernie Geoffrion (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 7:50 - Jack LeClair (4) | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante | ||||||
| April 9 | Detroit Red Wings | 3–5 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Dutch Reibel (4) - 12:38 | First period | 00:40 - Calum MacKay (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 3:41 - Bernie Geoffrion (6) 8:25 - Jean Beliveau (4) 9:07 - Tom Johnson (2) | ||||||
| Dutch Reibel (5) - 3:40 Jim Hay (1) - 12:000 |
Third period | 2:33 - Floyd Curry (6) | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante | ||||||
| April 10 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–5 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| Jean Beliveau (5) - pp - 8:01 | First period | 12:59 - Glen Skov (2) 18:59 - Gordie Howe (6) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 12:29 - pp - Gordie Howe (7) 16:20 - pp - Gordie Howe (8) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 2:09 - Vic Stasiuk (5) | ||||||
| Jacques Plante | Goalie stats | Terry Sawchuck | ||||||
| April 12 | Detroit Red Wings | 3–6 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Alex Delvecchio (4) - 13:36 | First period | 7:30 - Jean Beliveau (6) | ||||||
| Alex Delvecchio (5) - pp - 15:54 | Second period | 3:45 - pp - Jack LeClair (5) 5:21 - pp - Bernie Geoffrion (7) 18:18 - Bernie Geoffrion (8) | ||||||
| Red Kelly (2) - 16:23 | Third period | 00:19 - Floyd Curry (7) 18:55 - Calum MacKay (3) | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck | Goalie stats | Jacques Plante | ||||||
| April 14 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–3 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 7:12 - Alex Delvecchio (6) 19:49 - Gordie Howe (9) | ||||||
| Floyd Curry (8) - pp - 14:35 | Third period | 2:59 - Alex Delvecchio (7) | ||||||
| Jacques Plante | Goalie stats | Terry Sawchuck | ||||||
| Detroit won series 4–3 | |
The 1955 Stanley Cup was presented to Red Wings captain Ted Lindsay by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Red Wings' 3–1 win over the Canadiens in game seven.
The following Red Wings players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup:
1954–55 Detroit Red Wings
Players
- 12 Glen Skov
- 14 Earl Reibel
- 10 Alex Delvecchio
- 19 Vic Stasiuk
- 7 Ted Lindsay (Captain)
- 8 Tony Leswick
- 9 Gordie Howe
- 11 Marty Pavelich
- 16 John Wilson
- 17 Bill Dineen
- 20 Marcel Bonin
- 2 Bob Goldham (A)
- 3 Marcel Pronovost
- 4 Leonard Red Kelly (A)
- 5 Benny Woit
- 15 Larry Hillman
- 18 Jim Hay
Coaching and administrative staff
- Marguerite Norris (President/Owner), Bruce Norris (Vice President/Owner)
- Jack Adams (Manager), Jimmy Skinner (Coach)
- John Mitchell (Chief Scout), Carl Mattson (Trainer)
- Fred Huber Jr. (Publicity Director), Ross "Lefty" Wilson (Asst. Trainer)
Stanley Cup engraving
- Larry Hillman became the youngest player to be engraved on the Stanley Cup at 18 years, 2 months, 9 days. Gaye Stewart held the previous record in 1942 at 18 years, 9 months, and 21 days.
- Wally Crossman (Asst. Trainer/Stick Boy) was left off the Stanley Cup, and team picture.
- Marguerite Norris was first women to win back to back Stanley Cups in 1953–54, 1954–55.
- Jimmy Skinner was the 8th NHL rookie coach to win the Stanley Cup.
Members of Detroit Red Wings Dynasty 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955
Gordie Howe, Red Kelly, Ted Lindsay, Marty Pavelich, Marcel Pronovost, John Wilson (6 Players), Jack Adams, Carl Mattson, Fred Hubert Jr. (3 Non-players).
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