1962–63 NHL season

1962–63 NHL season
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	October 10, 1962 - April 18, 1963
Number of games	70
Number of teams	6
Regular season
Season champion	Toronto Maple Leafs
Season MVP	Gordie Howe (Detroit Red Wings)
Top scorer	Gordie Howe (Detroit Red Wings)
Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup champions	Toronto Maple Leafs
Runners-up	Detroit Red Wings
NHL seasons
← 1961–62	1963–64 →

The 1962–63 NHL season was the 46th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 70 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs won their second Stanley Cup in a row as they defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to one.

Regular season

Some diversionary news hit the sports pages the day of the All-Star Game when it was reported that Toronto had sold Frank Mahovlich to Chicago for $1 million and James D. Norris produced a cheque for the amount. On the advice of Conn Smythe, Leafs general manager and head coach Punch Imlach declined the deal, saying that a million dollars does not score goals, and Mahovlich would remain a Maple Leaf.

A serious incident took place on October 23 between the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Black Hawks. A vicious stick-swinging duel took place between Gilles Tremblay and Reg Fleming that was said to be the worst since the Bernie Geoffrion-Ron Murphy fight in 1953. Both players received match penalties and $100 fines. Tremblay emerged with a bad cut on his head that required many stitches. Montreal coach Toe Blake had some caustic remarks for Fleming when he was leaving the ice, which almost resulted in another fight. The Canadiens and Black Hawks played to a 4–4 tie. President Clarence Campbell suspended both Tremblay and Fleming for three games.

Glenn Hall's consecutive game streak came to an end on November 8 when he suffered a pinched nerve in his back and he was relieved by Denis DeJordy in the first period of a game in which Hall's Black Hawks tied Boston 3–3. DeJordy played well in the next game as the Black Hawks beat the Canadiens 3–1.

Chicago was improving and moved into a first-place tie with Detroit when they blanked Boston 5–0 on November 29. Stan Mikita scored two goals and Bobby Hull had one. The same night, the Rangers shut out the Red Wings 5–0 as Gump Worsley played a fine game. Worsley was unlucky in his next game, however, as Chicago beat the Rangers 5–1. Worsley badly injured his shoulder and had to be replaced by Marcel Pelletier. Gump went to the hospital where he would have his shoulder in traction for ten days.

Andy Hebenton had the hat trick on December 16 as the Rangers beat Detroit 5–2 at Madison Square Garden. The game was spoiled by a brawl, the chief participants being Dave Balon, Bill Gadsby, Doug Barkley and Terry Sawchuk. All were fined.

Andy Bathgate got both goals when the Rangers tied Montreal 2–2 at the Montreal Forum on January 5. This was the tenth consecutive game in which he had scored. The streak was terminated when Jacques Plante blanked the Rangers 6–0 in New York.

Jean Beliveau scored his 300th NHL goal on January 26 when the Rangers beat the Canadiens 4–2 at the Forum. Goals had not come very fast this year, and he hinted that this might be his last season. The writers did not take him seriously, however. The next night, the Canadiens beat the Black Hawks 3–1 at Chicago Stadium and Beliveau scored a spectacular goal, giving a beautiful exhibition of stick-handling.

Bernie Geoffrion and Don Marshall were back on January 31, but the Canadiens lost 6–3 to Toronto at the Forum. Coach Toe Blake was not pleased with the officiating and was quoted in a French newspaper that referee Eddie Powers handled the game as if he had bet on the outcome. This attracted the attention of NHL president Clarence Campbell, who said the matter would be investigated. Later, Blake was fined $200 by Campbell. Powers considered the fine inadequate and submitted his resignation as a referee. He cited Red Storey when Campbell would not support decisions he made. Powers then sued Blake for libel.

Bobby Hull scored all three goals as Chicago beat Boston 3–1 on February 17. On the same night, Montreal beat Detroit 6–1 and Howie Young established a penalty record when he high-sticked a Canadiens player and then commenced a tantrum, which drew him a minor, a major, a misconduct and a game misconduct totalling 27 minutes. His season total was now 208 minutes in penalties. NHL president Campbell then tacked on a three-game suspension.

Detroit ousted the Rangers from the playoffs on March 3 with a 3–2 win.

Bernie Geoffrion was in trouble for an incident during a game on March 5 in which Montreal beat Detroit 4–3. Referee Vern Buffey had given Jacques Plante a penalty for slashing Howie Young and then a bench penalty when the Canadiens protested. Geoffrion threw his stick at Buffey and his gloves as well. Geoffrion was given a match penalty and President Campbell assessed Geoffrion a five-game suspension.

The career of the Canadiens' Lou Fontinato came to a tragic end on March 9 when he tried to check Vic Hadfield and instead was thrown headlong into the boards by the Ranger player. Fontinato lay motionless on the ice for some time before being carried off the ice on a stretcher and taken to Montreal General Hospital where the diagnosis was a fractured neck, a crushed cervical vertebra. He gradually recovered from his paralyzed condition, but would never play hockey again. Jacques Laperriere replaced Fontinato on the Canadiens defence.

It was quite a race for playoff positions, as five points separated fourth and first. Gordie Howe led the Red Wings and the NHL as he won his sixth and last Art Ross Trophy and Hart Trophy.

Final standings

National Hockey League

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PIM	Pts
Toronto Maple Leafs	70	35	23	12	221	180	816	82
Chicago Black Hawks	70	32	21	17	194	178	906	81
Montreal Canadiens	70	28	19	23	225	183	751	79
Detroit Red Wings	70	32	25	13	200	194	964	77
New York Rangers	70	22	36	12	211	233	657	56
Boston Bruins	70	14	39	17	198	281	636	45

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Teams that qualified for playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Playoffs

see 1963 Stanley Cup Finals

Playoff bracket

	Semi-finals					Stanley Cup Final
	1	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
	3	Montreal Canadiens	1
						1	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
						4	Detroit Red Wings	1
	2	Chicago Black Hawks	2
	4	Detroit Red Wings	4

NHL awards

1962–63 NHL awards
Prince of Wales Trophy:	Toronto Maple Leafs
Art Ross Trophy:	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Kent Douglas, Toronto Maple Leafs
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings
James Norris Memorial Trophy:	Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Dave Keon, Toronto Maple Leafs
Vezina Trophy:	Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks

All-Star teams

First team	Position	Second team
Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks	G	Terry Sawchuk, Detroit Red Wings
Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks	D	Tim Horton, Toronto Maple Leafs
Carl Brewer, Toronto Maple Leafs	D	Moose Vasko, Chicago Black Hawks
Stan Mikita, Chicago Black Hawks	C	Henri Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings	RW	Andy Bathgate, New York Rangers
Frank Mahovlich, Toronto Maple Leafs	LW	Bobby Hull, Chicago Black Hawks

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
Gordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	70	38	48	86	100
Andy Bathgate	New York Rangers	70	35	46	81	54
Stan Mikita	Chicago Black Hawks	65	31	45	76	69
Frank Mahovlich	Toronto Maple Leafs	67	36	37	73	56
Henri Richard	Montreal Canadiens	67	23	50	73	57
Jean Beliveau	Montreal Canadiens	69	18	49	67	68
John Bucyk	Boston Bruins	69	27	39	66	36
Alex Delvecchio	Detroit Red Wings	69	20	44	64	8
Bobby Hull	Chicago Black Hawks	65	31	31	62	27
Murray Oliver	Boston Bruins	65	22	40	62	38

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	SO
Jacques Plante	Montreal Canadiens	56	3320	138	2.49	22	14	19	5
Don Simmons	Toronto Maple Leafs	28	1680	70	2.50	15	8	5	1
Glenn Hall	Chicago Black Hawks	66	3910	166	2.52	30	20	15	5
Terry Sawchuk	Detroit Red Wings	48	2781	117	2.52	21	17	7	3
Johnny Bower	Toronto Maple Leafs	42	2520	109	2.60	20	15	7	1
Hank Bassen	Detroit Red Wings	16	960	52	3.25	6	5	5	0
Lorne Worsley	New York Rangers	67	3980	217	3.27	22	34	10	2
Bob Perreault	Boston Bruins	22	1320	82	3.73	3	12	7	1
Eddie Johnston	Boston Bruins	50	2880	193	4.02	11	27	10	1

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1962–63 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Eddie Johnston, Boston Bruins
• Paul Henderson, Detroit Red Wings
• Claude Larose, Montreal Canadiens
• Jacques Laperriere, Montreal Canadiens
• Terry Harper, Montreal Canadiens
• Jim Neilson, New York Rangers
• Kent Douglas, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games

The following is a list of players of note who played their last game in the NHL in 1962–63 (listed with their last team):

• Bob Turner, Chicago Black Hawks
• Jack Evans, Chicago Black Hawks
• Vic Stasiuk, Detroit Red Wings
• Lou Fontinato, Montreal Canadiens

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• National Hockey League All-Star Game
• 1962 in sports
• 1963 in sports

References

• Coleman, Charles L. (1976), Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol III, Sherbrooke, QC: Progressive Publications 
• Diamond, Dan, ed. (1994). Years of glory, 1942-1967: the National Hockey League's official book of the six-team era. Toronto, ON: McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-2817-2. 
• Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Kingston, NY: Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X. 
• Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 9781894801225. 
• Dowbiggin, Bruce (2008), The Meaning Of Puck: How Hockey Explains Modern Canada, Toronto: Key Porter Books, ISBN 978-1-55470-041-7 
• Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.. ISBN 0771041799. 
• Duplacey, James (2008), Hockey’s Book of Firsts, North Dighton, MA: JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9 
• Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International Inc.. ISBN 0785396241. 
• McFarlane, Brian (1969), 50 Years Of Hockey, Winnipeg, MAN: Greywood Publishing, ISBN B000GW45S0 
• McFarlane, Brian (1973). The Story of the National Hockey League. New York, NY: Pagurian Press. ISBN 0684-13424-1. 

Notes

External links

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com