WEBVTT

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Welcome, everyone. We are so glad to have you

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with us for another deep dive. Really excited

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for this one. Yeah, me too. And I want you to

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imagine something for a second. Just picture

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playing professional sports at the absolute highest

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level. Okay. You go out there, you're all on

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the ice, but you just have a lousy game. Yeah.

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You know, the puck bounces the wrong way, you

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miss a defensive assignment, and your team loses.

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It happens. Right, it happens. Yeah. But instead

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of your coach just yelling at you or running

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you through drills at practice the next day,

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he walks into the locker room, demands you open

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your wallet, and finds you $100 out of your own

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pocket. Wow. Right then and there. Welcome to

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the 1958 -59 National Hockey League season. It

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is a completely different universe from the...

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highly polished union protected sports world

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we know today. Completely. To guide our journey

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today, we're pulling from a comprehensive encyclopedia

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entry covering the 42nd NHL season. And our mission

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for this deep dive is to explore how this single

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70 game, six team season perfectly captured a

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massive cultural transition. The original six

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eras crown jewel. Okay, exactly. We are looking

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at the exact moment. Where old school, unapologetic,

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bare knuckle sports grit collided with the slick,

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record breaking athletic excellence of the modern

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era. It's perfect for sports historians and curious

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learners alike. OK, let's unpack this because.

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To understand the on ice product, we have to

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start with the business side of things. Right.

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A major shift happens right as the 1958 -59 season

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kicks off. And it has to do with how these teams

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were actually finding and signing their players.

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Yeah, the business of hockey was undergoing a

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fundamental transformation here. For years leading

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up to this point, the NHL and the Canadian Amateur

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Hockey Association. The CA. Right, the CHA. They

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had been operating on what was essentially a

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gentleman's agreement. The formal deal between

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them had actually expired back in 1955. Oh, wow.

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Yeah. So heading into the 1958 -59 season, they

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finally negotiated and set a new professional

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amateur agreement in stone. And the CHA's secretary,

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George Dudley, actually came out and announced

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the hard numbers, which is fascinating. It really

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is. The NHL agreed to pay $40 ,000 Canadian dollars

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toward developing amateur players. But I want

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to pause on the rules they established alongside

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that money. They laid down strict regulations

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for things called negotiation lists and reserve

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lists. For someone listening who might only follow

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modern free agency rules, how did those lists

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actually function back then? Think of it as a

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system designed to give team owners absolute

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control. Okay. Before this formal agreement,

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the scouting system was a bit of a Wild West

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scenario, heavily based on regional territories.

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What's fascinating here is how creating structured

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negotiation and reserve lists meant teams could

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claim the exclusive rights to a young player.

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So they just owned your rights. Exactly. Once

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you were on a team's reserve list, you belonged

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to them. There was no free agency. You couldn't

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just decide to shop your talents to the highest

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bidder. Which ties directly back to the $100

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fines we talked about. Precisely. Management

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had total leverage. If a player complained, they

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couldn't leave for another team. They were simply

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benched, demoted, or financially punished. That

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paints such a clear picture of the power dynamic.

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And there was another crucial detail in this

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C -A -H -A agreement. They decided that amateurs

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age 17 and older would now play using the exact

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same rules as the professionals. With the only

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exception being how they handled overtime. Right.

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It formalized the player pipeline. If you are

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a franchise investing heavily into developing

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these teenagers. You want them playing the exact

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same style of game they will face when they hit

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the big leagues. Makes perfect sense. You're

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removing the learning curve. They were turning

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raw talent acquisition into a structured business

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model. So while this season was busy building

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the corporate future of the league, it seems

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like it was also quietly saying goodbye to its

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deep past. A lot of people refer to this as the

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Original Six era. Yeah, they do. Can we define

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what that actually means for the listener and

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maybe look at how this specific season closed

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the door on the history that came before it?

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Sure. The term Original Six is actually a bit

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of a historical misnomer. Yeah. It refers to

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the six teams that made up the NHL from 1942

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until the league expanded in 1967. That's the

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Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston

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Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings,

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and New York Rangers. Got it. They weren't the

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first six teams in hockey history, but they were

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the six that survived the Great Depression and

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World War II to form the stable core of the mid

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-century NHL. Which makes the trivia surrounding

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a player named Kenny Mosdell so poignant. This

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1958 -59 season, marked his final time skating

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in an NHL game. Kenny Mosdell is the perfect

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bridge between those two distinct eras of hockey.

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He suited up for just two postseason games for

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Montreal that year and then retired. And he matters

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because he was the very last active player in

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the NHL who had played for a team outside of

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that original six group. The Brooklyn Americans.

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Yes. When Mosdell hung up his skates after the

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1959 playoffs, the final remnant of the pre -original

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six era officially vanished from the ice. It

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sets a beautifully complex stage. You have the

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league formalizing the modern amateur draft pipeline

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on one hand and the last pioneer of the early

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days skating his final laps on the other. It's

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incredible contrast. But the story of the 1958

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-59 season is fundamentally anchored by the absolute

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kings of the ice that year, the Montreal Canadiens.

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Dynasty gets thrown around a lot in sports conversations

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today, but Montreal defined the word here. They

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absolutely did. They won the regular season standings

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by a mile, and they became the very first team

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in NHL history to win four consecutive Stanley

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Cups. The sheer dominance of their roster is

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difficult to comprehend. We often see parity

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in modern sports due to salary caps and drafts,

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but Montreal was operating on a completely different

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level. Just look at the All -Star team. Exactly.

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When the All -Star nominations came out for that

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season, Montreal players secured half of them.

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Six of the 12 possible first and second team

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All -Star slots went to Canadians. Insane. Let's

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talk about the man holding down the net for them,

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Jacques Plante. He won his fourth straight Vizina

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trophy for being the league's best goaltender.

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A true legend. To put his performance in perspective,

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he finished the season with a 2 .15 goals against

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average. For anyone unfamiliar, that means he

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was letting in just barely over two goals per

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entire game. And he recorded... Nine shutouts.

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Achieving nine shutouts in a 70 -game season

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means that in more than 10 % of the games Montreal

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played, the opposing team couldn't score a single

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goal. Wow. Plante was a tactical genius who was

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changing how the goaltender position was played.

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He famously roamed out of his crease the painted

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area around the net to play the puck, which was

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revolutionary at the time. The roster was so

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stacked that it actually created some funny anomalies.

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I'm looking at the James Norris Memorial Trophy,

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which goes to the league's... best defenseman.

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It was awarded to Montreal's Tom Johnson. Which

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perfectly highlights the internal competition

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within that locker room. By winning the Norris

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Trophy, Tom Johnson ended a four -year monopoly

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on that exact same award. And the player who

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held that four -year streak was his own teammate,

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Doug Harvey. Right. A team has to be operating

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in a different stratosphere when the only person

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capable of dethroning your star defenseman is

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your second star defenseman. It's unbelievable.

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And the scoring records reflect that same internal

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push for greatness. Dickie Moore won the Art

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Ross Trophy as the league's top scorer. And he

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didn't just win it. No. He set a brand new league

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record with 96 points, 41 goals, and 55 assists.

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The drama of that point total is fantastic. He

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broke the previous record by a single agonizing

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point. One point. And the man who held that previous

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record was none other than the legendary Gordie

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Howe of the Detroit Red Wings. 96 points in a

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70 -game season demonstrated that Montreal was

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fundamentally redefining what peak offensive

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performance looked like. Here's where it gets

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really interesting. Because underneath all the

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shiny trophies, the tactical innovations, and

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the record -breaking stats, the NHL in the late

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1950s was still an environment of sheer chaos.

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Let's revisit those financial penalties we talked

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about at the start. The financial penalties are

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staggering when viewed through the lens of a

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1950s salary. The average player was not making

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millions. A $100 fine was a serious blow to their

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livelihood. We see this with the Chicago Blackhawks

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coach, Rudy Palouse. His team suffers a brutal

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9 -1 loss to Montreal at the Forum in late October.

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Palouse was so disgusted with the lack of effort

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that he slapped his entire team with a $100 fine.

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Which is wild. And it was a trend. Detroit Red

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Wings coach... Sid Abel, who actually used to

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be Gordie Howe's centerman, the player who takes

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the faceoffs and anchors the forward line, watched

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his team lose five duro to the New York Rangers.

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Right. Afterward, Abel went to the press and

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called it the worst game of hockey he'd seen

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in 20 years. He followed that up by finding 14

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of his own players $100 each. Management felt

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completely emboldened to use players' bank accounts

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as a motivational tool. But the New York Rangers

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coach, Phil Watson, took a different approach.

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He decided to skip the financial fines in favor

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of something much more visceral. Oh, this story.

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February 15th at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers

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are playing Montreal. Rangers goalie Lorne Worsley

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has the Canadians shut out with just 10 minutes

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left in the entire game. Looking good for them.

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Then, the wheels completely fall off. The Rangers

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blow the shutout and give up five goals in ten

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minutes to lose 5 -1. Phil Watson is so furious

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that he orders his entire team back out onto

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the ice after the game for a brutal, exhausting

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bag skate. He made everyone skate wind sprints

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until they dropped, with one notable exception.

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Worsley. Exactly. He spared the goalie, Worsley.

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Watson publicly started that Worsley hadn't actually

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played poorly, despite giving up the five goals,

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placing the blame entirely on the defensive breakdowns

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of the skaters in front of him. Unbelievable.

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The Rangers general manager, Muz Patrick, even

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had to clarify to the press later that this torture

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session was meant to take the place of monetary

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fines. I won't take your money, but I will take

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your legs. Peak old -time hockey. It really is.

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Yeah. And the violence wasn't just coming from

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the coaching staff. The fisticuffs on the ice.

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were genuinely dangerous. Gordie Howe might have

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lost his points record to Dickie Moore, but Howe

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was still enforcing his will physically. Definitely.

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Early in February, the Rangers beat the Red Wings.

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During the game, Gordie Howe struck a young Eddie

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Shaq with his stick. Lou Fontanato, who was a

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legendary enforcer for the Rangers. A guy whose

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primary job was to intimidate and fight. Right.

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Fontanato became incensed. He skated up and challenged

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Howe. If you study the history of Gordie Howe,

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you learn very quickly that you do not challenge

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him lightly. Never. Howe completely dismantled

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Fontanato. He broke his nose right there on the

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ice. It was a stark reminder of the physical

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toll of the sport. And the fighting wasn't limited

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to the enforcers or the forwards. The goalies

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were throwing punches too. Yeah, we can look

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at Jacques Plante again. In early January, during

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a game against the Rangers, Jimmy Bartlett skated

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hard and crashed right into Plante. Now, in today's

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game, a goalie might look to his defenseman to

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clear the crease and protect him. But Plante

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takes matters into his own hands and starts throwing

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punches at Bartlett. Yep. This immediately sparks

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a massive bench -clearing brawl. When the dust

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settled, the referee handed Bartlett double major

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penalties. For the casual fan, a standard minor

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penalty is two minutes in the penalty box. A

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major is five minutes for something severe, like

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fighting. Right. Bartlett got hit with two of

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those, back -to -back, one for charging the goalie

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and one for fighting Plante, plus the misconduct.

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The goalies had to be just as tough as the guys

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checking into the boards. But Plante's toughness

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couldn't protect him from everything. Which leads

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us to what might be the most bizarre and consequential

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story of the entire regular season. I promise

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you, you cannot make this story up. It is March

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19th, the regular season is winding down, and

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Montreal is set to play Toronto. Jacques Plante,

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this tough -as -nails, Vazina -winning goalie,

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physically cannot play. Why? Because he has a

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severe case of boils. It sounds almost medieval.

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It does. Boils are painful, deep skin infections.

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And trying to wear heavy, unventilated 1950s

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goaltending equipment over them would be excruciating.

00:12:34.059 --> 00:12:36.539
So Montreal's coach, Toe Blake, has to pivot.

00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:39.659
He puts in a substitute goaltender named Claude

00:12:39.659 --> 00:12:42.440
Pronovost. Pronovost gives up five goals to Toronto.

00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:44.799
By the third period, Toe Blake has seen enough.

00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:47.860
So he pulls Pronovost and puts in another substitute

00:12:47.860 --> 00:12:50.399
named Claude Cyr. The statistics around Claude

00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:52.379
Cyr are fascinating. He played the third period

00:12:52.379 --> 00:12:54.919
of that game, led in one goal, and the game ended.

00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:58.639
That single period was his first and only appearance

00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:01.000
ever in the National Hockey League. A one -game

00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:04.080
NHL career, all because Jacques Plante had boils.

00:13:04.600 --> 00:13:07.639
Toronto ends up winning the game 6 -3. But this

00:13:07.639 --> 00:13:09.659
isn't just a funny footnote in the encyclopedia.

00:13:09.899 --> 00:13:12.840
That specific win... sparked the Toronto Maple

00:13:12.840 --> 00:13:15.779
Leafs playoff run. It was the turning point for

00:13:15.779 --> 00:13:17.460
the Cinderella story of the year. We have to

00:13:17.460 --> 00:13:19.600
set the context for Toronto's narrative here.

00:13:19.700 --> 00:13:22.100
The previous season, the Maple Leafs had finished

00:13:22.100 --> 00:13:24.679
dead last. They were at the absolute bottom of

00:13:24.679 --> 00:13:27.899
the barrel. Heading into the 1958 -59 season,

00:13:28.200 --> 00:13:31.139
management made some key adjustments. They bolstered

00:13:31.139 --> 00:13:33.419
their defense by adding Carl Brewer and Alan

00:13:33.419 --> 00:13:36.000
Stanley, pairing them with the legendary Tim

00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:38.600
Horton and Bobby Brown. They also made a huge

00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:41.139
move in the net, bringing up Johnny Bauer to

00:13:41.139 --> 00:13:44.139
share goaltending duties with Ed Chadwick. But

00:13:44.139 --> 00:13:46.559
even with those changes, it was a massive grind.

00:13:46.919 --> 00:13:49.399
With five games left in the season, the New York

00:13:49.399 --> 00:13:51.840
Rangers had a comfortable seven -point lead over

00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:54.600
Toronto for the final playoff spot. But then

00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:57.399
the Rangers went into an absolute tailspin at

00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:00.870
the worst possible time. Meanwhile, the Leafs,

00:14:00.870 --> 00:14:03.230
fresh off that win against the Boyle -afflicted

00:14:03.230 --> 00:14:06.809
Montreal team, got red hot. It all came down

00:14:06.809 --> 00:14:08.830
to the final game of the regular season. Toronto

00:14:08.830 --> 00:14:12.149
had to win to oust the Rangers and secure that

00:14:12.149 --> 00:14:14.669
final spot. They played Detroit, battled it out,

00:14:14.730 --> 00:14:17.769
and won 6 -4. Their Cinderella run didn't stop

00:14:17.769 --> 00:14:20.210
there. In the semifinals, they faced the second

00:14:20.210 --> 00:14:23.129
-place Boston Bruins. Toronto upsets them, winning

00:14:23.129 --> 00:14:25.330
the series four games to three. And if you are

00:14:25.330 --> 00:14:27.870
a modern hockey fan, brace yourself for this

00:14:27.870 --> 00:14:32.519
next fact. As of the year 2026, this 1959 series

00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:35.120
is the last time the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated

00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:37.509
the Boston Bruins in a playoff series. It is

00:14:37.509 --> 00:14:39.710
a statistic that genuinely defies probability,

00:14:39.889 --> 00:14:42.070
given how often those two franchises have met

00:14:42.070 --> 00:14:45.149
since. It underscores just how special that 1959

00:14:45.149 --> 00:14:48.230
Toronto run was. They were defying the odds at

00:14:48.230 --> 00:14:51.210
every turn. But while Toronto was busy shocking

00:14:51.210 --> 00:14:54.309
Boston, the other semifinal matchup between Montreal

00:14:54.309 --> 00:14:56.830
and Chicago was generating a completely different

00:14:56.830 --> 00:14:59.129
kind of drama. This is where the off -ice politics

00:14:59.129 --> 00:15:02.480
crash right into the on -ice action. Montreal

00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:05.419
and Chicago are battling it out. Game six is

00:15:05.419 --> 00:15:08.019
an absolute powder keg. The encyclopedia describes

00:15:08.019 --> 00:15:10.379
it as a near riotous environment in the arena.

00:15:10.600 --> 00:15:12.879
Tensions were incredibly high. The crowd was

00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:15.779
furious. The players were on edge and the officiating

00:15:15.779 --> 00:15:18.480
was under a microscope. After the game, things

00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:21.159
escalated directly to the league office. The

00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:23.259
NHL president at the time, Clarence Campbell,

00:15:23.519 --> 00:15:25.840
made a public accusation against the referee

00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:29.639
of that game, a man named Red Story. Campbell

00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:32.000
accused Story of freezing in the final minutes

00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:34.600
of the game. He was essentially implying to the

00:15:34.600 --> 00:15:37.179
press that the referee was too intimidated by

00:15:37.179 --> 00:15:39.279
the raucous crowd or the weight of the moment

00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:42.080
to make the necessary penalty calls. Can you

00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:45.139
imagine the commissioner of a major sports league

00:15:45.139 --> 00:15:48.860
today publicly throwing one of their top referees

00:15:48.860 --> 00:15:51.679
under the bus like that? Never. The fallout was

00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:55.600
immediate. Red Story. feeling entirely undermined

00:15:55.600 --> 00:15:58.299
by his own boss, resigned as a referee right

00:15:58.299 --> 00:16:00.700
then and there. And the situation gets even messier.

00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:03.240
A journalist named Bill Westwick was the one

00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:05.259
who initially reported Campbell's quote about

00:16:05.259 --> 00:16:08.220
story freezing. Once the public backlash hit

00:16:08.220 --> 00:16:10.700
and story resigned, Clarence Campbell realized

00:16:10.700 --> 00:16:13.019
he had created a massive public relations disaster.

00:16:13.220 --> 00:16:15.980
So he backpedals. Big time. Campbell accused

00:16:15.980 --> 00:16:18.120
Westwick of taking his words out of context and

00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:19.620
claimed the journalist had broken confidence

00:16:19.620 --> 00:16:21.799
by publishing what were supposed to be private

00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:24.480
remarks. Total damage control by the lead president.

00:16:24.700 --> 00:16:27.580
But the press corps wasn't having it. Westwick's

00:16:27.580 --> 00:16:30.259
fellow newsmen rallied around him. They publicly

00:16:30.259 --> 00:16:32.679
defended his integrity and refused to question

00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:34.820
the veracity of his reporting. Which is great

00:16:34.820 --> 00:16:37.399
to see. It was a massive black eye for Clarence

00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:39.500
Campbell, happening right in the middle of the

00:16:39.500 --> 00:16:41.720
most important part of the season. It perfectly

00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:45.179
encapsulates the friction of the era. The league

00:16:45.179 --> 00:16:47.679
executives were trying to present a polished

00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:49.820
professional product to expand their audience.

00:16:50.730 --> 00:16:53.970
But the raw emotional human element kept breaking

00:16:53.970 --> 00:16:57.070
through the surface. Whether it was coaches finding

00:16:57.070 --> 00:16:59.169
players out of pocket, referees resigning in

00:16:59.169 --> 00:17:01.830
protest of the president, or executives openly

00:17:01.830 --> 00:17:04.650
fighting with the press, the NHL was still a

00:17:04.650 --> 00:17:07.609
wildly untamed entity. Montreal survives the

00:17:07.609 --> 00:17:10.390
Chicago series amidst all that chaos, and they

00:17:10.390 --> 00:17:12.569
meet the Cinderella Toronto Maple Leafs in the

00:17:12.569 --> 00:17:15.210
Stanley Cup Finals. Toronto had all the momentum,

00:17:15.269 --> 00:17:17.920
all the magic. But Montreal was just inevitable.

00:17:18.220 --> 00:17:20.539
They really were. Montreal handles them, winning

00:17:20.539 --> 00:17:23.720
the finals four games to one to secure that historic

00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:26.980
fourth consecutive Stanley Cup. Toronto put up

00:17:26.980 --> 00:17:29.019
a valiant fight, especially considering they

00:17:29.019 --> 00:17:32.420
were a last place team a year prior. But Montreal's

00:17:32.420 --> 00:17:35.599
depth, led by players like Jean Beliveau, Bernie

00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:38.099
Jefferyan, Dickie Moore and Jacques Plant, was

00:17:38.099 --> 00:17:40.740
simply too much to overcome. They were a machine

00:17:40.740 --> 00:17:44.000
operating at peak efficiency. When we look back

00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:47.799
at the 1958 -59 NHL season, it is almost hard

00:17:47.799 --> 00:17:50.700
to believe how much action, drama, and pure history

00:17:50.700 --> 00:17:53.359
was packed into a schedule of just 70 games.

00:17:53.819 --> 00:17:55.900
It's dense. You have a season that perfectly

00:17:55.900 --> 00:17:58.420
bridged the gap. On one hand, you have the wild,

00:17:58.500 --> 00:18:01.099
punishing days of old -time hockey where noses

00:18:01.099 --> 00:18:03.200
are broken, goalies are throwing punches in the

00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:05.480
crease, and coaches are making players do wind

00:18:05.480 --> 00:18:07.640
sprints in lieu of financial penalties. Right.

00:18:07.740 --> 00:18:10.099
On the other hand, you have the slick, record

00:18:10.099 --> 00:18:13.079
-breaking skill of Dickie Moore, the tactical

00:18:13.079 --> 00:18:15.720
genius of Jacques Lant, and the strategic, dynasty

00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:18.210
-building roster of Montreal. If we connect this

00:18:18.210 --> 00:18:20.349
to the bigger picture, the business agreements

00:18:20.349 --> 00:18:22.390
we discussed at the very beginning really tie

00:18:22.390 --> 00:18:24.849
it all together. The amateur development pipelines

00:18:24.849 --> 00:18:27.589
and professional contracts established by the

00:18:27.589 --> 00:18:31.369
CAH and the NHL in 1958 laid the foundational

00:18:31.369 --> 00:18:34.049
groundwork for the highly structured professional

00:18:34.049 --> 00:18:37.009
sports ecosystems we see today. They really did.

00:18:37.109 --> 00:18:39.190
They were literally building the modern corporate

00:18:39.190 --> 00:18:42.569
NHL while simultaneously playing out the last

00:18:42.569 --> 00:18:45.750
violent chords of its territorial past. It is

00:18:45.750 --> 00:18:48.190
the end of the Kenny Mosdell era and the beginning

00:18:48.190 --> 00:18:51.190
of the corporatized sports machine. All of this

00:18:51.190 --> 00:18:53.470
history is happening while guys are out there

00:18:53.470 --> 00:18:55.930
playing through boils and broken noses. True

00:18:55.930 --> 00:18:58.450
hockey history. It is truly the original six

00:18:58.450 --> 00:19:00.950
eras crown jewel. As we wrap up our analysis

00:19:00.950 --> 00:19:03.569
of this incredible year, this raises an important

00:19:03.569 --> 00:19:05.829
question I'd like to leave you with. Okay, let's

00:19:05.829 --> 00:19:07.960
hear it. Think about the Montreal Canadiens and

00:19:07.960 --> 00:19:10.859
their unprecedented four straight cups. When

00:19:10.859 --> 00:19:13.559
an entire era of a sport is utterly dominated

00:19:13.559 --> 00:19:17.140
by one seemingly invincible team, Does it stifle

00:19:17.140 --> 00:19:18.960
the sport's growth because the outcome feels

00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:21.640
predetermined? Or does it actually force every

00:19:21.640 --> 00:19:23.680
other team in the league to evolve, ultimately

00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:25.819
revolutionizing the game just so they can catch

00:19:25.819 --> 00:19:28.799
up? Does dominance create stagnation or does

00:19:28.799 --> 00:19:32.079
it demand evolution? Such a great question. Thank

00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:34.079
you so much for joining us on this deep dive

00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:36.980
into the grit and glory of 1959. Keep exploring,

00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:39.140
keep questioning, and we will see you next time.