The 1955–56 NHL season was the 39th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams played 70 games each. The Montreal Canadiens were the Stanley Cup champions as they beat the Detroit Red Wings four games to one in the best-of-seven final series.

League business

At a governors' meeting in December, a discussion took place concerning the uniforms worn by officials. It was contended that the present orange and black uniforms were confusing to players and fans, particularly when red uniforms were worn by either of the participating teams. Furthermore, it was pointed out that the existing uniforms showed up black on television. It was unanimously agreed that officials' uniforms should be changed to black and white vertical stripes. The black and white uniforms were first worn on December 29, 1955.

With Montreal frequently racking up two or three goals on any one power play, NHL President Clarence Campbell said he'd like the penalty rule revised to a penalized player returning to the ice when a power play goal is scored on a minor penalty. The Canadiens was the lone club to vote against the new legislation.

Regular season

The streak of seven straight seasons at the top of the NHL held by the Detroit Red Wings' dynasty came to an end as the Montreal Canadiens were tops. The Canadiens set a new record for wins in a season with 45. The Canadiens had a new coach, their one-time great former All-Star left-winger, Hector "Toe" Blake.

Also in 1955, John Utendale became the first Black player to sign a contract directly with an NHL team, the Red Wings. Utendale practiced with the Red Wings but never played in an NHL game; instead, he played with the Edmonton Flyers, as they were the Red Wings' minor league affiliate. In 2006, Utendale's brother claimed that Red Wings coach Jack Adams had refused to give Utendale any playing time on the Red Wings because Adams objected to his relationship with a white woman whom Utendale later married.

Dick Irvin, formerly the coach in Montreal, whom Habs' GM Frank Selke Sr. found a little truculent, took over as coach in Chicago, but could not get them out of the cellar, though they did improve. It was sort of a homecoming for Irvin as he started his coaching career with Chicago in 1930.

Highlights When the Hawks went to the Montreal Forum on October 22, Irvin was presented with a set of silver flatware by William Northey, representing the Canadian Arena Company. In the game itself, rookie Henri Richard scored two goals as Montreal shut out Chicago 6–0.

On November 5, Jean Beliveau scored three goals in 44 seconds as Montreal beat Boston 4–3. The record for the fastest hat trick still was held by Bill Mosienko with three goals in 21 seconds.

On December 29, officials debuted the new "zebra" outfits in a game between the Canadiens and Maple Leafs.

On January 11, a crowd of 15,570 delighted fans at Madison Square Garden watched the Rangers trounce the Canadiens 6–1. Pete Conacher was a star for the Rangers with two goals. Lou Fontinato and Maurice Richard had a gala fight and Fontinato knocked out Richard with a punch that required several stitches above Richard's eye.

Montreal routed the Rangers 9–4 on February 18 as Beliveau had the hat trick and Richard two. The Rocket was incensed when referee Louis Maschio gave his brother a misconduct penalty and his teammates had to cool him off.

Beliveau set a record for goals by a center when he scored his 45th goal on March 15. Maurice Richard was hurt in this game when he fell over Hawk defenceman Pierre Pilote's skate and went headlong into the goal. He required stitches and was taken to hospital for X-rays. The Rocket was back in the lineup on St. Patrick's Day as the Canadiens trounced the Rangers 7–2 and Richard had the hat trick.

Rookie Glenn Hall had 12 shutouts and a 2.11 goals-against average for the Detroit Red Wings. He received the Calder Memorial Trophy over Henri "Pocket Rocket" Richard.

Final standings

Playoffs

Playoff bracket The top four teams in the league qualified for the playoffs. In the semifinals, the first-place team played the third-place team, while the second-place team faced the fourth-place team, with the winners advancing to the Stanley Cup Final. In both rounds, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series).

Semifinals

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (3) New York Rangers

(2) Detroit Red Wings vs. (4) Toronto Maple Leafs

Stanley Cup Final

Awards + Award winnersPrince of Wales Trophy:(Regular season champion) Montreal CanadiensArt Ross Trophy:(Top scorer) Jean Beliveau, Montreal CanadiensCalder Memorial Trophy:(Best first-year player) Glenn Hall, Detroit Red WingsHart Trophy:(Most valuable player) Jean Beliveau, Montreal CanadiensJames Norris Memorial Trophy:(Best defenceman) Doug Harvey, Montreal CanadiensLady Byng Memorial Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) Earl Reibel, Detroit Red WingsVezina Trophy:(Goaltender of team with the best goals-against average) Jacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens

All-Star teams First team   Position   Second teamJacques Plante, Montreal Canadiens GGlenn Hall, Detroit Red WingsDoug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens DRed Kelly, Detroit Red WingsBill Gadsby, New York Rangers DTom Johnson, Montreal CanadiensJean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens CTod Sloan, Toronto Maple LeafsMaurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens RWGordie Howe, Detroit Red WingsTed Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings LWBert Olmstead, Montreal Canadiens

Player statistics

Scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes Player Team GP G A PTS PIM Jean Beliveau Montreal Canadiens 70 47 41 88 143 Gordie Howe Detroit Red Wings 70 38 41 79 100 Maurice Richard Montreal Canadiens 70 38 33 71 89 Bert Olmstead Montreal Canadiens 70 14 56 70 94 Tod Sloan Toronto Maple Leafs 70 37 29 66 100 Andy Bathgate New York Rangers 70 19 47 66 59 Bernie Geoffrion Montreal Canadiens 59 29 33 62 66 Earl Reibel Detroit Red Wings 68 17 39 56 10 Alex Delvecchio Detroit Red Wings 70 25 26 51 24 Dave Creighton New York Rangers 70 20 31 51 43 Source: NHL

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts Player Team GP MIN GA GAA W L T SOJacques Plante Montreal Canadiens 64 3840 119 1.86 42 12 10 7Glenn Hall Detroit Red Wings 70 4200 147 2.10 30 24 16 12Terry Sawchuk Boston Bruins 68 4080 177 2.60 22 33 13 9Harry Lumley Toronto Maple Leafs 59 3527 159 2.70 21 28 10 3Lorne Worsley New York Rangers 70 4200 199 2.84 32 28 10 4Al Rollins Chicago Black Hawks 58 3480 172 2.97 17 30 11 3

Coaches Boston Bruins: Milt Schmidt Chicago Black Hawks: Dick Irvin Detroit Red Wings: Jimmy Skinner Montreal Canadiens: Toe Blake New York Rangers: Phil Watson Toronto Maple Leafs: King Clancy

Debuts The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1955–56 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks Norm Ullman, Detroit Red Wings Henri Richard, Montreal Canadiens Claude Provost, Montreal Canadiens Bob Turner, Montreal Canadiens Bronco Horvath, New York Rangers Andy Hebenton, New York Rangers Jean-Guy Gendron, New York Rangers Billy Harris, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1955–56 (listed with their last team): Bill Quackenbush, Boston Bruins Ed Sandford, Chicago Black Hawks Bob Goldham, Detroit Red Wings Emile "Butch" Bouchard, Montreal Canadiens Don Raleigh, New York Rangers Joe Klukay, Toronto Maple Leafs

Broadcasting This was the fourth season of Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television. Coverage included selected Stanley Cup playoff games. Both regular season and playoff games were not broadcast in their entirety until the 1968–69 season, and were typically joined in progress, while the radio version of HNIC aired games in their entirety.

See also 1955–56 NHL transactions List of Stanley Cup champions 9th National Hockey League All-Star Game National Hockey League All-Star Game Ice hockey at the 1956 Winter Olympics 1955 in sports 1956 in sports

References

Notes

External links Hockey Database NHL.com