1951–52 Montreal Canadiens season

1951–52 Montreal Canadiens
League2nd NHL
1951–52 record34–26–10
Goals for195
Goals against164
Team information
General managerFrank J. Selke
CoachDick Irvin
CaptainEmile Bouchard
ArenaMontreal Forum
Team leaders
GoalsBernie Geoffrion (30)
AssistsElmer Lach (50)
PointsElmer Lach (65)
Penalty minutesDoug Harvey (82)
WinsGerry McNeil (34)
Goals against averageGerry McNeil (2.34)

The 1951–52 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 43rd season of play. After qualifying for the playoffs in second place, the Canadiens defeated the Boston Bruins to advance to the final series. The Detroit Red Wings would sweep the Canadiens in the finals, four games to none.

Offseason

Regular season

Final standings

National Hockey League[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Detroit Red Wings 70 44 14 12 215 133 +82 100
2 Montreal Canadiens 70 34 26 10 195 164 +31 78
3 Toronto Maple Leafs 70 29 25 16 168 157 +11 74
4 Boston Bruins 70 25 29 16 162 176 −14 66
5 New York Rangers 70 23 34 13 192 219 −27 59
6 Chicago Black Hawks 70 17 44 9 158 241 −83 43

Record vs. opponents

1951–52 NHL Records [2]
Team BOS CHI DET MTL NYR TOR
Boston — 9–3–2 3–8–3 7–5–2 4–6–4 2–7–5
Chicago 3–9–2 — 2–12 1–10–3 5–7–2 6–6–2
Detroit 8–3–3 12–2 — 9–2–3 9–3–2 6–4–4
Montreal 5–7–2 10–1–3 2–9–3 — 9–4–1 8–5–1
New York 6–4–4 7–5–2 3–9–2 4–9–1 — 3–7–4
Toronto 7–2–5 6–6–2 4–6–4 5–8–1 7–3–4 —


Schedule and results

Regular season results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 11, 1951 4–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) 1–0–0
2 L October 13, 1951 1–2 Boston Bruins (1951–52) 1–1–0
3 W October 14, 1951 4–3 @ Boston Bruins (1951–52) 2–1–0
4 W October 18, 1951 3–2 New York Rangers (1951–52) 3–1–0
5 L October 20, 1951 0–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) 3–2–0
6 L October 22, 1951 1–3 Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) 3–3–0
7 T October 25, 1951 2–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) 3–3–1
8 L October 28, 1951 1–2 @ New York Rangers (1951–52) 3–4–1
9 W October 29, 1951 6–1 New York Rangers (1951–52) 4–4–1
10 L October 31, 1951 0–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) 4–5–1
11 L November 1, 1951 2–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) 4–6–1
12 L November 3, 1951 2–3 Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) 4–7–1
13 W November 8, 1951 4–2 Boston Bruins (1951–52) 5–7–1
14 W November 10, 1951 4–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) 6–7–1
15 T November 11, 1951 3–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) 6–7–2
16 W November 17, 1951 3–2 New York Rangers (1951–52) 7–7–2
17 T November 18, 1951 3–3 @ Boston Bruins (1951–52) 7–7–3
18 L November 22, 1951 1–5 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) 7–8–3
19 L November 24, 1951 2–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) 7–9–3
20 L November 25, 1951 1–2 @ New York Rangers (1951–52) 7–10–3
21 W November 29, 1951 5–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) 8–10–3
22 W December 1, 1951 4–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) 9–10–3
23 L December 2, 1951 1–4 @ Boston Bruins (1951–52) 9–11–3
24 L December 8, 1951 0–3 Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) 9–12–3
25 L December 9, 1951 2–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) 9–13–3
26 T December 13, 1951 1–1 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) 9–13–4
27 W December 15, 1951 3–1 Boston Bruins (1951–52) 10–13–4
28 W December 16, 1951 4–2 @ Boston Bruins (1951–52) 11–13–4
29 L December 19, 1951 2–4 @ New York Rangers (1951–52) 11–14–4
30 W December 20, 1951 4–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) 12–14–4
31 W December 22, 1951 5–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) 13–14–4
32 L December 23, 1951 0–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) 13–15–4
33 W December 26, 1951 3–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) 14–15–4
34 W December 29, 1951 7–2 New York Rangers (1951–52) 15–15–4
35 W December 31, 1951 5–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) 16–15–4
36 W January 1, 1952 3–0 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) 17–15–4
37 W January 3, 1952 3–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) 18–15–4
38 L January 5, 1952 2–3 Boston Bruins (1951–52) 18–16–4
39 W January 12, 1952 8–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) 19–16–4
40 T January 13, 1952 2–2 @ New York Rangers (1951–52) 19–16–5
41 T January 17, 1952 2–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) 19–16–6
42 L January 19, 1952 0–4 Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) 19–17–6
43 L January 20, 1952 1–2 @ Boston Bruins (1951–52) 19–18–6
44 W January 23, 1952 4–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) 20–18–6
45 W January 24, 1952 4–1 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) 21–18–6
46 W January 26, 1952 5–3 Boston Bruins (1951–52) 22–18–6
47 W January 27, 1952 5–3 @ New York Rangers (1951–52) 23–18–6
48 W January 31, 1952 1–0 New York Rangers (1951–52) 24–18–6
49 T February 2, 1952 2–2 Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) 24–18–7
50 L February 3, 1952 0–1 @ Boston Bruins (1951–52) 24–19–7
51 L February 7, 1952 3–5 @ Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) 24–20–7
52 L February 9, 1952 2–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) 24–21–7
53 W February 10, 1952 3–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) 25–21–7
54 W February 14, 1952 3–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) 26–21–7
55 W February 16, 1952 5–1 New York Rangers (1951–52) 27–21–7
56 L February 17, 1952 2–3 @ New York Rangers (1951–52) 27–22–7
57 T February 21, 1952 3–3 Boston Bruins (1951–52) 27–22–8
58 W February 23, 1952 7–0 Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) 28–22–8
59 W February 28, 1952 3–2 Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) 29–22–8
60 W March 1, 1952 3–1 New York Rangers (1951–52) 30–22–8
61 W March 2, 1952 6–4 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) 31–22–8
62 L March 5, 1952 2–6 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) 31–23–8
63 T March 8, 1952 4–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1951–52) 31–23–9
64 W March 9, 1952 2–0 @ New York Rangers (1951–52) 32–23–9
65 W March 13, 1952 3–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) 33–23–9
66 L March 15, 1952 0–2 Boston Bruins (1951–52) 33–24–9
67 L March 16, 1952 1–2 @ Boston Bruins (1951–52) 33–25–9
68 W March 19, 1952 3–0 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1951–52) 34–25–9
69 T March 22, 1952 3–3 Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) 34–25–10
70 L March 23, 1952 2–7 @ Detroit Red Wings (1951–52) 34–26–10

Playoffs

Main article: 1952 Stanley Cup Finals

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Elmer Lach C 70 15 50 65 36
Bernie Geoffrion RW 67 30 24 54 66
Maurice Richard RW 48 27 17 44 44
Paul Meger LW 69 24 18 42 44
Billy Reay C 68 7 34 41 20
Dick Gamble LW 64 23 17 40 8
Floyd Curry RW 64 20 18 38 10
Bert Olmstead LW 69 7 28 35 49
Dickie Moore LW 33 18 15 33 44
Doug Harvey D 68 6 23 29 82
Ken Mosdell C 44 5 11 16 19
Dollard St. Laurent D 40 3 10 13 30
Emile Bouchard D 60 3 9 12 45
John McCormack C 54 2 10 12 4
Tom Johnson D 67 0 7 7 76
Ross Lowe D/LW 31 1 5 6 42
Bud MacPherson D 54 2 1 3 24
Paul Masnick C 15 1 2 3 2
Lorne Davis RW 3 1 1 2 2
Gerry Couture RW 10 0 1 1 4
Calum MacKay LW 12 0 1 1 8
Gene Achtymichuk C 1 0 0 0 0
Garry Edmundson LW 1 0 0 0 2
Bob Fryday RW 3 0 0 0 0
Cliff Malone RW 3 0 0 0 0
Don Marshall LW 1 0 0 0 0
Gerry McNeil G 70 0 0 0 0

Goaltending

Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Gerry McNeil 4200 70 34 26 10 164 2.34 5
Team: 4200 70 34 26 10 164 2.34 5

Playoffs

Scoring

Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Floyd Curry RW 11 4 3 7 6
Maurice Richard RW 11 4 2 6 6
Bernie Geoffrion RW 11 3 1 4 6
Billy Reay C 10 2 2 4 7
Elmer Lach C 11 1 2 3 4
Doug Harvey D 11 0 3 3 8
Paul Meger LW 11 0 3 3 2
Dollard St. Laurent D 9 0 3 3 6
Eddie Mazur D/LW 5 2 0 2 4
Dickie Moore LW 11 1 1 2 12
Emile Bouchard D 11 0 2 2 14
Dick Gamble LW 7 0 2 2 0
Tom Johnson D 11 1 0 1 2
Paul Masnick C 6 1 0 1 12
Ken Mosdell C 2 1 0 1 0
Bert Olmstead LW 11 0 1 1 4
Garry Edmundson LW 2 0 0 0 4
Stan Long D 3 0 0 0 0
Bud MacPherson D 11 0 0 0 0
Gerry McNeil G 11 0 0 0 0

Goaltending

Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Gerry McNeil 688 11 4 7 23 2.01 1
Team: 688 11 4 7 23 2.01 1

[3]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Transactions

See also

Citations

  1. ^ "1951–1952 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "1951-52 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.

References