The 1965–66 NHL season was the 49th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Montreal Canadiens won their second consecutive Stanley Cup as they defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to two in the final series.
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League business
Two new trophies were introduced for this season. Jack Adams won the first Lester Patrick Trophy for his contribution to hockey in the United States. This was also the first season the Conn Smythe Trophy was awarded for the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The only significant rule change for this season was a requirement that the teams suit up two goaltenders for each game.
February saw the momentous announcement that six conditional franchises had been awarded to Los Angeles, San Francisco, St. Louis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, all to begin play in 1967. The St. Louis franchise was surprising, as no formal application from the city had been tendered. It was awarded to fulfill the wishes of James D. Norris and Arthur Wirtz, owners of the Chicago Black Hawks, who also owned the St. Louis Arena, which they wanted to sell.
On the debit side, a strong bid from Vancouver was rejected, much to the anger of many Canadians and the protest of their Prime Minister Lester Pearson. A rumor was widely spread - fuelled by a corroborating statement from Leafs' general manager Punch Imlach that the Toronto and Montreal owners had vetoed the bid out of a dislike for sharing the proceeds from television broadcasts of the games.
Regular season
Among notable players to debut during this season were Ed Giacomin for the Rangers, Bill Goldsworthy for the Bruins, Ken Hodge for Chicago and Mike Walton for Toronto. In the meantime, however, the career of future Hockey Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay was over, as his request for reinstatement as an active player was vetoed by the Toronto ownership.
Gordie Howe scored his 600th NHL goal in Montreal on November 27 in a 3–2 loss to the Canadiens to the cheers of the local fans. Among lesser milestones in the season were Frank Mahovlich's 250th goal and John Bucyk's and Claude Provost's 200th.
In an unusual incident, the Red Wings' jerseys were stolen from the visitors' dressing room in Montreal the night before a January game, and Detroit was compelled to play in the uniforms of their junior farm team in Hamilton, which were express shipped to Montreal in time for the match.
James D. Norris, owner of the Chicago Black Hawks, died of a heart attack in late February.
Bobby Hull set a new record for goals in a season with 54 and a new record for points in a season with 97, earning him the Art Ross Trophy and his second straight Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player. No left-winger would pace the NHL in points again until Alexander Ovechkin in 2007-08. Jacques Laperrière of Montreal won the Norris Trophy as best defenceman. In possibly the weakest Calder choice in history, Brit Selby won the Calder Memorial Trophy as best rookie.
Final standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 41 | 21 | 8 | 90 | 239 | 173 | 884 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 37 | 25 | 8 | 82 | 240 | 187 | 815 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 34 | 25 | 11 | 79 | 208 | 187 | 811 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 31 | 27 | 12 | 74 | 221 | 194 | 804 |
| Boston Bruins | 70 | 21 | 43 | 6 | 48 | 174 | 275 | 787 |
| New York Rangers | 70 | 18 | 41 | 11 | 47 | 195 | 261 | 894 |
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Hull | Chicago Black Hawks | 65 | 54 | 43 | 97 | 70 |
| Stan Mikita | Chicago Black Hawks | 68 | 30 | 48 | 78 | 58 |
| Bobby Rousseau | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 30 | 48 | 78 | 20 |
| Jean Beliveau | Montreal Canadiens | 67 | 29 | 48 | 77 | 50 |
| Gordie Howe | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 29 | 46 | 75 | 83 |
| Norm Ullman | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 31 | 41 | 72 | 35 |
| Alex Delvecchio | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 31 | 38 | 69 | 16 |
| Bob Nevin | New York Rangers | 69 | 29 | 33 | 62 | 10 |
| Henri Richard | Montreal Canadiens | 62 | 22 | 39 | 61 | 47 |
| Murray Oliver | Boston Bruins | 70 | 18 | 42 | 60 | 30 |
Leading goaltenders
Playoffs
The second game of the semi-final series between Detroit and Chicago on April 10, in which Detroit won by the score of 7–0, was nationally televised in the United States.
Finals
Behind the skilled goaltending of Roger Crozier, who had missed parts of the regular season with illness, the Red Wings won the first two games of the Finals. However, Crozier was injured in the fourth game and the Canadiens won the Cup four games to two. Roger Crozier won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the outstanding player of the playoffs.
Playoff bracket
| Semi-finals | Stanley Cup Final | |||||||
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | ||||||
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 0 | ||||||
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | ||||||
| 4 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 | ||||||
| 2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2 | ||||||
| 4 | Detroit Red Wings | 4 | ||||||
NHL awards
All-Star teams
Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1965–66 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
- J. P. Parise, Boston Bruins
- Derek Sanderson, Boston Bruins
- Bernie Parent, Boston Bruins
- Barry Ashbee, Boston Bruins
- Pete Mahovlich, Detroit Red Wings
- Danny Grant, Montreal Canadiens
- Ed Giacomin, New York Rangers
Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1965–66 (listed with their last team):
- Bill Gadsby, Detroit Red Wings
See also
- List of Stanley Cup champions
- 1965 NHL Amateur Draft
- National Hockey League All-Star Game
- 1965 in sports
- 1966 in sports
References
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This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (July 2009) |
- ^ National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.162, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5
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