1950–51 NHL season

The 1950–51 NHL season was the 34th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens four games to one for the Stanley Cup to win their fifth Cup in seven years.

Regular season

Final standings

National Hockey League	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Detroit Red Wings	70	44	13	13	101	236	139	566
Toronto Maple Leafs	70	41	16	13	95	212	138	823
Montreal Canadiens	70	25	30	15	65	173	184	835
Boston Bruins	70	22	30	18	62	178	197	656
New York Rangers	70	20	29	21	61	169	201	774
Chicago Black Hawks	70	13	47	10	36	171	280	615

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	70	43	43	86
Maurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens	65	42	24	66
Max Bentley	Toronto Maple Leafs	67	21	41	62
Sid Abel	Detroit Red Wings	69	23	38	61
Milt Schmidt	Boston Bruins	62	22	39	61
Ted Kennedy	Toronto Maple Leafs	63	18	43	61
Ted Lindsay	Detroit Red Wings	67	24	35	59

Leading Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shut outs; AVG = Goals against average

Player	Team	GP	MINS	GA	SO	AVG
Al Rollins	Toronto Maple Leafs	40	2373	70	5	1.77
Terry Sawchuck	Detroit Red Wings	70	4200	139	11	1.99

Stanley Cup Playoffs

All dates in 1951

The second ranked Toronto Maple Leafs eliminated the fourth ranked Boston Bruins in five games, and the third ranked Montreal Canadiens upset first overall Detroit Red Wings in six, setting up a Leafs – Canadiens Stanley Cup final series, won by the Leafs 4–1.

Playoff bracket

Semifinals			Finals

1	Detroit Red Wings	2

3	Montreal Canadiens	4
			3	Montreal Canadiens	1

			2	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
2	Toronto Maple Leafs	4

4	Boston Bruins	1

Semi-finals

Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 28	Boston Bruins	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	0
March 31	Boston Bruins	1	Toronto Maple Leafs	1	OT¹
April 1	Toronto Maple Leafs	3	Boston Bruins	0
April 3	Toronto Maple Leafs	3	Boston Bruins	1
April 7	Boston Bruins	1	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
April 8	Toronto Maple Leafs	6	Boston Bruins	0

¹ Note: March 31st game called after one overtime due to curfew

Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

Montreal Canadiens vs. Detroit Red Wings

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 27	Montreal Canadiens	3	Detroit Red Wings	2	4 OT
March 29	Montreal Canadiens	1	Detroit Red Wings	0	3 OT
March 31	Detroit Red Wings	2	Montreal Canadiens	0
April 3	Detroit Red Wings	4	Montreal Canadiens	1
April 5	Montreal Canadiens	5	Detroit Red Wings	2
April 7	Detroit Red Wings	2	Montreal Canadiens	3

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2

Finals

see 1951 Stanley Cup Finals

Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 11	Montreal Canadiens	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	3	OT-Smith
April 14	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	Montreal Canadiens	3	OT-M. Richard
April 17	Montreal Canadiens	1	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	OT-Kennedy
April 19	Montreal Canadiens	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	3	OT-Watson
April 21	Montreal Canadiens	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	3	OT-Barilko (2:53)

Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

Playoff scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Maurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens	11	9	4	13
Max Bentley	Toronto Maple Leafs	11	2	11	13
Sid Smith	Toronto Maple Leafs	11	7	3	10

NHL Awards

Prince of Wales Trophy:	Detroit Red Wings
Art Ross Memorial Trophy:	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings
Vezina Trophy:	Al Rollins, Toronto Maple Leafs

All-Star teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings	G	Chuck Rayner, New York Rangers
Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings	D	Jimmy Thomson, Toronto Maple Leafs
Bill Quackenbush, Boston Bruins	D	Leo Reise, Detroit Red Wings
Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins	C	Ted Kennedy, Toronto Maple Leafs Sid Abel, Detroit Red Wings (tied)
Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings	RW	Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Ted Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings	LW	Sid Smith, Toronto Maple Leafs

First games

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1950–51 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):

Alex Delvecchio, Detroit Red Wings
Bernie Geoffrion, Montreal Canadiens
Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens
Dollard St. Laurent, Montreal Canadiens
Danny Lewicki, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1950–51 (listed with their last team):

Joe Carveth, Detroit Red Wings
Glen Harmon, Montreal Canadiens
Wally Stanowski, New York Rangers
Pat Egan, New York Rangers
Buddy O'Connor, New York Rangers
Bill Barilko, Toronto Maple Leafs