Welcome to our deep dive. Today's focus is the
1953 -54 NHL season, the birth of the Gordie
Howe hat trick, and original six brawls. Oh,
it's a good one. It really is. I mean, if you
are a fan of hockey history, the original six
era, or honestly just... incredible sports drama,
this is for you. Absolutely. I want you to just
close your eyes for a second and picture this.
You're stepping off the freezing winter streets
into a bustling, smoky arena in the early 1950s.
You can smell the freshly cut ice. And the cigarette
smoke. Yeah, exactly. The smoke. You hear the
roar of the crowd echoing off the rafters. You
look down at the ice. And there is not a single
helmet in sight. Not one. Just wool sweaters,
wooden sticks, and the pure, unadulterated grit
of the original. era right so we've got a comprehensive
historical overview of this specific season and
our mission today is to unpack this intense regular
season you know extract the most fascinating
chaotic and foundational moments from this 70
game campaign we want to show you why this specific
year shaped modern hockey so okay let's unpack
this well it really is a phenomenal season to
examine Because to truly understand this period,
we have to establish the stakes. Right. This
isn't just a list of game scores. This is a snapshot
of a league standing right at a crossroads. It's
a year defined by brutal physicality, sure, but
also bitter media feuds, business squabbles over
amateur players. And this is key, the rise of
television broadcasting. Yes. Hockey Night in
Canada. Exactly. It's entering its second season
on CBC television. You can actually watch selected
playoff games on TV now. Which is wild to think
about. They usually join the games in progress,
but that visual element was bringing the raw
emotion of the sport right into people's living
rooms for the very first time. And the emotion
was definitely raw. I mean, speaking of raw,
the Gordie Howe hat trick. Any hockey fan today
knows the phrase. Rate a goal and assist in a
fight. Right. But looking at the records, this
is the actual season that birthed it. And the
craziest part isn't just that he pulled it off
in one night. It's that he did it twice. Twice
in one season. Yeah. And both times it was against
the exact same team. The Toronto Maple Leafs.
Maple Leafs, yeah. The first time was early on,
October 11th. He scores. He assists on a goal
by Red Kelly. And then he drops the gloves with
Toronto's Fernie Flamin. Flamin was tough, too.
Very tough. Then, fast forward to March 21st.
He does it all again, scores the opener, sets
up two goals for Ted Lindsey, and then gets into
it with Ted Kennedy. Unbelievable. What's fascinating
here is how that achievement really synthesizes
the broader culture of the era. Gordie Howell
wasn't, you know, some fourth line enforcer sent
out there purely to throw punches. No, not at
all. He was the most dominant offensive force
in the sport. Yeah. He led the entire league
in scoring that season with... 81 points. 81
points in a 70 -game season. 33 goals, 48 assists,
and this is in an era where open ice was practically
non -existent. Yeah, you had to fight for every
inch. Exactly. Alongside that elite skill, he
racked up 109 penalty minutes. The physical play
wasn't some separate specialized role back then.
It was interwoven with the skill game. You physically
had to fight to protect your space just to have
the opportunity to score. Precisely. It was pure
survival of the fittest. But the battles weren't
just happening on the ice. The business side
of the game was just as fiercely contested. Oh,
absolutely. I was reading about this major dispute
between the NHL owners and the Canadian Amateur
Hockey Association, the CAA. What exactly was
the NHL trying to pull there? Well, they were
trying to completely overhaul the player pipeline.
The NHL owners gave notice that they wanted to
terminate their professional amateur agreement
with the CAA. Which is a massive deal. A huge
deal. Essentially, the NHL teams were pouring
money into amateur teams to develop talent and
they felt they weren't getting enough financial
return or, more importantly, control. Right.
They wanted to scrap the traditional Memorial
Cup format and create a totally new national
junior playoff format exclusively. for teams
sponsored by the NHL. Wait, but wouldn't that
completely upend the amateur leagues? They couldn't
have just accepted that. Not at all. The CAHA
president, W .B. George, fired back with serious
resistance. He publicly predicted the NHL wouldn't
last three years without them. Wow. Three years.
He threatened to end the entire system that allowed
amateur players to have a three -game tryout
with a pro team. Which is a massive threat. If
you cut off the tryouts, you cut off the oxygen
to the pro teams. Exactly. It's a classic struggle
for control over the player pipeline. In a six
-team league long before the modern draft existed,
controlling young talent was the only way to
build a dynasty. Every player was a vital asset.
They eventually reached a tentative agreement
by August of 1953, resuming transfers and adjusting
profit sharing. But that tension reveals so much.
The owners were fiercely protective of their
investments. And that desperation to protect
their assets makes total sense when you look
at what was actually happening on the ice. It
was a bloodbath. These guys were destroying each
other. OK, I have to ask you to walk us through
this December 9th game between Montreal and Toronto.
The penalty minute records are just staggering.
The December 9th game at Maple Leaf Gardens.
It is legendary. It set a record for the most
penalties in a single game, but it wasn't a sudden
explosion. It was a slow boil. It started in
the first period. Montreal's Eddie Mazur and
Toronto's George Armstrong get into a fight,
both tossed with game misconducts. But the real
catalyst happened early in the second period.
What happened? Montreal's Bud McPherson viciously
breaks his stick across the ribs of Toronto's
Ron Stewart. Ouch. But Stewart didn't retaliate
right away, did he? He didn't. He waited. And
that delayed reaction is what made the eventual
explosion so massive. He filed that broken stick
away until the third period. I'm biding his time.
At 18 minutes and 12 seconds, Stewart and McPherson
collide again. The gloves immediately come off
and they just start pummeling each other. And
from there, it just devolves into absolute pandemonium.
I was looking at the play -by -play. Montreal's
Tom Johnson rushes in. puts Stewart in a headlock,
but Stewart manages to clock Johnson on the jaw
while still tangled up. It's chaos. Then Stewart
breaks free and goes right back after McPherson,
who by this point is busy fighting Eric Nestorenko.
And it doesn't stop there. Yeah. The bench is
completely empty. Everyone is fighting, even
the goaltenders. Yes. Jerry McNeil for Montreal
and Harry Lumley for Toronto skate out and start
throwing punches at each other. My favorite detail
of this entire bench clearing brawl is what the
superstars were doing. Oh, Richard and Horton.
Yes. While goalies are swinging at each other,
Maurice Richard and Tim Horton apparently just
grabbed onto each other's sweaters and calmly
watched the madness unfold. Just two heavyweights
agreeing to take a front row seat. Just holding
on like, are you seeing this? It's a hilarious
mental image. Yeah. But the aftermath was serious.
Referee Frank Udvari handed out 36 penalties,
including 15 misconducts. Unbelievable. It totaled
a record -breaking 204 penalty minutes. By the
final two minutes, only eight players from each
team were even allowed on the ice. The almost
loss in all of that is the fact that Toronto
actually won the game 3 -0. A shutout amidst
the chaos. Here's where it gets really interesting,
because the violence didn't stay isolated to
that one night. NHL president Clarence Campbell
must have been working overtime this season.
He was incredibly busy handing out discipline.
The aggression was spilling over everywhere.
For example, Bernie, boom, boom. Jeffrey to Montreal
pushed referee Udvari into the boards in November.
You can't do that. No. That resulted in a $250
fine. Then right before Christmas. Jeffrey and
Chicago's Ron Murphy got into a terrifying stick
swinging duel. Right. That was bad. Murphy ended
up with a broken jaw and Campbell suspended both
players. And that specific suspension is what
kicks off this massive media war. Maurice Richard
was furious that his teammate was suspended.
So he goes to a newspaper called Semedi Dimanche
and ghost writes this scathing article. Oh, yeah.
He completely unloads on Clarence Campbell, outright
calling him a dictator. And looking purely at
the historical record, the Lee's retaliation
was remarkably swift. Campbell forced Richard
to post a $1 ,000 bond. In 1954, $1 ,000 was
a massive sum of money. It was huge. And on top
of that financial penalty, Richard had to promise
to stop writing articles altogether. Just completely
silencing your biggest star. It perfectly illustrates
the intense, highly personal power dynamics.
The players, the media, the league executives,
they were all living in each other's pockets
in this tiny six team ecosystem. So incestuous.
When a superstar calls the president a dictator
in the press and the president retaliates by
effectively gagging him with a financial bond,
it shows you how concentrated the power was.
Every suspension was a battle in a larger war.
Exactly. It was a powder keg. Let's look at how
all this tension actually translated to the standings,
because you have this incredible tale of two
entire. Entirely different realities. At the
top of the mountain, you had the Detroit Red
Wings. An absolute juggernaut. They finished
first overall for the sixth consecutive season
with 88 points. But then at the very bottom,
you have the Chicago Blackhawks. I need you to
explain just how abysmal Chicago was this year
because the numbers are shocking. They were historically
bad. Chicago finished with a record of 12 wins,
51 losses, and 7 ties. 12 wins. 31 points total.
The franchise was struggling so heavily on the
ice and at the box office that there were persistent
rumors the team was actually going to fold. Fold
completely. Yes. It got so bad that Arthur M.
Wurtz and Clarence Campbell had to issue public
statements categorically denying that the Blackhawks
were shutting down. Okay, so keeping that 12
-win record in mind, how on earth does their
goaltender, Al Rollins, end up winning the Hart
Trophy for the league's most valuable player?
It's a great question. It sounds completely contradictory
to how we view sports awards today, the MVP from
the worst team in the league. Well, if we connect
this to the bigger picture, looking at Rollins'
season really prompts you to rethink what valuable
actually means. Okay. Rollins played 66 games
that season. He faced a monumental amount of
rubber behind a defense that was completely overmatched
every single night. His goals against average
was 3 .23. Which just doesn't sound great. Right.
If you compare that to Montreal's Jacques Plant,
who had a 1 .59, it doesn't look elite. It looks
average at best. But you have to consider the
context of the team in front of him. Rollins
kept a terrible team from being a complete historic
disaster. Ah, I see. The voters recognize that
pure value to a team doesn't always equate to
leading them to a championship. Sometimes value
is just keeping the ship from sinking to the
bottom of the ocean when there's a giant hole
in the hull. He was the only thing standing between
Chicago and total humiliation. Precisely. That
is a really great perspective. And speaking of
major awards, we also saw a massive historical
milestone this year with the debut of the James
Norris Memorial Trophy. Awarded to the league's
best defenseman. Right. Named in honor of the
former Detroit Red Wings owner, James E. Norris,
who had passed away. away two years prior and
the inaugural winner was detroit's own red kelly
he had an unbelievable year he didn't just win
the norris either he also took home the lady
being memorial trophy for sportsmanship cementing
his legacy. And those individual accolades for
Detroit were really just a preview of their ultimate
team success. They were a powerhouse. As we move
into the playoffs, the disparity between the
top teams and the bottom teams becomes glaringly
obvious. Montreal faced Boston in the semifinals,
and it wasn't exactly a nail -biter. It was a
demolition. Montreal swept the Bruins four games
to zero. Wow. Boston only managed to score four
goals in the entire series. Their offense just
completely vanished against Montreal's defense.
Which actually marks a massive turning point
in hockey history, right? Because immediately
after that sweep, Boston's legendary general
manager, Art Ross, announces his retirement.
Exactly. Art Ross had managed the Bruins since
the very day they entered the NHL. That's incredible.
He was a foundational pillar of the franchise
and the league itself. So for his career to end
on a quiet four -game sweep was a somber moment.
It handed the reins over to Lynn Patrick and
truly signaled the end of an era in Boston. Meanwhile,
over in the other summer final, Detroit had to
grind it out against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
That was a much tighter series. Yeah. Detroit
wins the first two, but Toronto fights back to
take game three. Detroit responds in game four,
and then they finally put the series away in
game five. But it took double overtime, with
Ted Lindsey scoring the series winner. Which
sets up the exact clash of the titans everyone
was waiting for. First place Detroit Red Wings
versus second place Montreal Canadiens in the
Stanley Cup Finals. I want to spend some time
on this final series because it is everything
you could possibly hope for in a championship
matchup. Yeah, everything. It's a brutal back
-and -forth affair. Detroit comes out strong
and takes a commanding three games to one lead.
They push Montreal right to the brink of elimination.
But you can never count out the Canadians. Never.
Facing elimination in Game 5, Montreal fights
back with a desperate performance. The game goes
into overtime, and Ken Mosdell scores the winner
to keep Montreal alive, shutting out Detroit
1 -0. And then Montreal carries that momentum
right into Game 6, winning decisively 4 -1. Which
means this grueling, violent, chaotic season
all comes down to a game seven. April 16th, 1954
at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. Paint the
picture of that final game for us. The tension
in that building was suffocating. Montreal strikes
first in the opening period with a goal by Floyd
Curry. The crowd must have been stunned. Completely
silent. But Detroit regroups and early in the
second period, Red Kelly, your newly crowned
Norris Trophy winner. scores a power play goal
to tie the game. Stepping up when it matters
most. Exactly. And then nobody can score in the
third period. The goaltenders just lock it down.
They absolutely shut the door. So Game 7 of the
Stanley Cup Finals goes to sudden death overtime.
Just imagine the exhaustion of these players.
They've been beating each other up since October.
They were running on pure adrenaline. Just over
four minutes into the extra frame, Detroit's
Tony Leswick throws a puck toward the net. Yeah.
It deflects off Montreal defenseman Doug Harvey
and finds its way into the back of the net. Oh,
man. What a way to end it. Detroit wins the game
2 -1, securing the Red Wings' sixth championship
in franchise history. What an unbelievable climax.
So what does this all mean? Why should you, listening
to this today, care about a hockey season from
over 70 years ago? It's a fair question. Well,
because it wasn't just a random series of games.
This specific season was the crucible that forged
the modern identity of the sport. Every time
you debate who should win the Norris Trophy today,
you are participating in a tradition that started
right here. Every time a player gets a goal,
an assist, and a fight, and you hear the announcer
scream out that they've recorded a Gordie Howe
hat trick, the echoes of this season are ringing
out. It's woven into the DNA of the game. Exactly.
From the intense labor disputes that shape the
modern draft, to the beginnings of television
broadcasts bringing the sport into our living
rooms, the echoes of 1953 are still felt every
time you watch a game today? You know, this raises
an important question. What's that? Looking back
at the 1950s, the raw, violent emotion of the
game was incredibly transparent. The bench -clearing
brawls where goalies are swinging at each other,
the delayed retaliation with broken sticks, players
literally calling the league president a dictator
in a newspaper. It was all out in the open. It
was. Today, modern sports leagues spend billions
of dollars sanitizing their image, controlling
the narrative, and presenting a flawless, highly
produced product. Very true. As a fan, when you
look back at the sheer, unbridled chaos of the
1953 -54 season, you have to ask yourself. In
our modern quest for a perfectly polished sports
experience, have we lost the raw, unscripted
human drama that made us fall in love with the
game in the first place? That is a fascinating
thought. It's certainly something for you to
chew on the next time you tune into a heavily
commercialized broadcast. Beautifully said. The
drama back then was as real as it gets. Thank
you for taking this journey back in time with
us, right into the heart of the original Six
Era. Until next time, keep diving deep.