The deep dive. 1955 -56 NHL season. The first
zebra referees, Montreal's dominance, and a rule
that changed hockey. Welcome back to another
deep dive. Today we're transporting you to the
ice of the 1955 -56 NHL season, a turning point
in sports history. Discover how the unstoppable
Montreal Canadiens forced the league to rewrite
the power play rules, why referees finally ditched
orange for the iconic black and white zebra stripes,
and how the rise of television began reshaping
the game. Featuring legendary performances by
Jean Bolivo, Maurice Richard's bloody brawls,
and Glenn Hall's rookie goaltending magic. Whether
you are a diehard hockey 1955 -56 NHL season.
Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, hockey
history, NHL rule changes, Jean Beliveau, Maurice
Richard, Stanley Cup playoffs, hockey referee
uniforms. Imagine turning this heavy dial on
a brand new television set in your living room.
Right, one of those massive wooden console TVs.
Exactly. And you're waiting for the picture tubes
to warm up so you can catch professional sports
broadcast. But when the screen finally flickers
to life, the game has already been going on for
an hour. Yeah, you were dropped right into the
middle of the action. You're just squinting at
this, you know, really low - resolution screen
and you notice something strange. The referees
skating around the ice are wearing bright orange
uniforms. Which just seems so wrong to us now.
But that was the reality for sports fans tuning
in during the mid 1950s. The entire broadcast
landscape was different and the actual visual
presentation of the game was causing huge problems,
not just for the players on the ice, but for
those fans at home. Welcome to this deep dive.
I'm your host, and sitting across from me is
our resident history expert. Today, we're jumping
into your requested sources to explore the Wikipedia
article on the 1955 -56 NHL season. Glad to be
here. And this isn't just a list of old stats.
No, not at all. Our mission today is to look
at a season of monumental shifts. This is the
moment where the emerging medium of television,
combined with the just sheer athletic dominance,
literally rewrote the rules and completely changed
the look of the game you know today. Yeah, when
you examine the 1955 -56 season, you're looking
at this incredible intersection of technology,
culture, and sports legislation. It's really
the exact moment. the modern era of the sport
takes shape. Okay, let's unpack this, because
setting the scene for you is important. The structural
reality of the NHL back then created this massive
pressure cooker environment. Oh, absolutely.
We're talking about an era of just six teams,
Montreal, Detroit, New York, Toronto, Boston,
and Chicago, and they are battling it out over
a grueling 70 -game regular season schedule.
That's right, and mathematically, 70 games spread
across only six teams means you're playing the
exact same opponents up to 14 times a year. 14
times. The claustrophobia of that schedule is
hard to overstate. Players develop these deep,
personal animosities because the bruises from
a previous game wouldn't even have time to heal
before you were lining up for a face -off against
the exact same guy who gave them to you. That
deep familiarity definitely fueled the on -ice
product. But the way fans actually consumed that
product was going through a massive transition.
In Canada, this was only the fourth season of
Hockey Night in Canada on CBC television. And
that broadcast quirk you mentioned earlier was
standard practice. Right. Regular season games
and even the Stanley Cup playoffs were not broadcast
in their entirety. They just weren't. Audiences
were routinely joined in progress. If you wanted
the complete narrative of the game from the opening
puck drop, you had to huddle around the radio
to listen to the first period, and then you'd
switch the television on later. It's wild to
think about. But television was still finding
its footing, and its growing influence was already
causing a literal crisis on the ice. The visual
presentation became a primary issue at a league
governor's meeting in December of that season
because at the time, the referees were wearing
orange and black. Orange and black. Yeah. And
the governors argued that these outfits were
confusing the players and the fans because when
teams wearing red uniforms like Detroit or Montreal
were on the ice, that orange completely clashed.
It just blended in with the red in fast motion.
Well, what's fascinating here is how the limitations
of television technology directly forced the
NHL to adapt its aesthetic. Right, because of
the monochrome screens. Exactly. In the mid -1950s,
all these broadcasts were in black and white.
The cathode ray tubes struggled with contrast.
So on a black and white TV, those bright orange
and black uniforms showed up as solid black.
Oh, wow. Yeah. You had players in dark jerseys
skating around with referees who also looked
like they were wearing solid dark jerseys. It
was a visual mess. It made the broadcast incredibly
difficult to follow. So the league unanimously
agreed that the officials uniforms needed a complete
overhaul. They needed a design that would stand
out distinctly against both light and dark team
jerseys in person. And crucially, something that
would pop with high contrast on a monochrome
television set. The solution was the black and
white vertical stripes. The classic look. The
first time officials ever debuted those black
and white zebra outfits was on December 29th,
1955. It was a game between the Canadians and
the Maple Leafs. So the striped referee uniform
we see in almost every sport today was essentially
born out of the necessity of low -resolution
1950s television screens. Exactly. But the look
of the referees wasn't the only fundamental element
of the sport to change that year. The mechanics
of the game itself were put to the test by one
of the most dominant rosters ever assembled.
The Montreal Canadiens. Yes. Going into this
season, the Detroit Red Wings had this massive
seven -year dynasty at the top of the regular
season standings. But this year, Montreal just
obliterated the competition. They set a new league
record with 45 wins under their brand new coach,
Hector Toblake. A former all -star left winger.
He commanded massive respect in that locker room.
And Montreal wasn't just beating teams, they
were punishing them, specifically on the power
play. Because unlike today's game, where a power
play ends the moment a goal is scored, in 1955,
a two -minute minor penalty meant a full two
minutes of a man advantage. Regardless of how
many times you put the puck in the net. Right.
Montreal had such an unstoppable force of offensive
talent that they were frequently racking up two
or sometimes even three goals on a single power
play. It's insane. Taking a single tripping or
hooking penalty against Montreal could essentially
end the competitive nature of the game in the
span of 120 seconds. And the psychological toll
that took on the rest of the league was immense.
Opposing defensemen were terrified to play physically
against Montreal for fear of taking a penalty.
which just gave the Canadiens forwards even more
open ice during 5 -on -5 play. So the league
president, Clarence Campbell, eventually steps
in. He proposes a rule change stating that a
penalized player would return to the ice the
moment a power play goal was scored on a minor
penalty, which is the rule we know today. Yes.
It's a fascinating administrative move, though.
How did the league justify penalizing a team
just for being too good at the existing rules?
If we connect this to the bigger picture, you
actually see this happen in professional sports
periodically. A team will find a strategy or
assemble a roster so potent that it literally
breaks the intended mechanics of the game. Like
they solved the puzzle. Exactly. When one team
achieves that level of mastery, the governing
body often has to legislate parity back into
the sport to keep it competitive and entertaining
for the paying audience. An insurmountable advantage
damages the overall product. And the voting for
this new legislation went exactly as you'd expect.
Out of the six teams, the Montreal Canadiens
were the lone club to vote against the rule change.
They knew they had a strategic advantage. They
had no interest in giving it up. But the rule
passed anyway, fundamentally balancing the risk
and reward of minor penalties forever. But even
with that rule change limiting the damage they
could inflict, Montreal continued to provide
plenty of fireworks on the ice. Oh, absolutely.
Here's where it gets really interesting. Because
the day -to -day action of the 70 -game season
was just filled with brawls, unbelievable displays
of skill, and incredibly high drama. Yeah, let's
talk about the pure speed and offensive talent
for a second. Jean Bilibo's performance on November
5th really stands out. Against the Boston Bruins,
Bilibo scored three goals in just 44 seconds.
Achieving a hat -trick in under a minute is a
staggering display of talent. I should mention,
it didn't break the ultimate record. Bill Mosienko
still held that with his unbelievable three goals
in 21 seconds. Which is just mathematically incomprehensible.
It is. But 44 seconds by Bilivo is the kind of
performance that leaves a packed arena completely
speechless. It really highlights the sheer firepower
Montreal possessed. But it wasn't just skill.
That era of hockey was notoriously brutal. You
get a real sense of the violence during a game
on January 11th at Madison Square Garden. Oh,
the MSG game. Yeah. A crowd of over 15 ,000 fans
watched their New York Rangers decisively beat
the mighty Canadians 6 -1. But the actual score
was completely overshadowed by the physical altercations.
The sources describe a quote -unquote gala fight
between the Rangers' Lou Fontenot and Montreal's
legendary Maurice Richard. And Fontenot knocked
out Richard with a punch that required several
stitches above Richard's eye. Maurice Richard
was the heart and soul of the Canadians. He was
this incredibly intense, emotional leader. Knocking
him out on the ice in front of a New York crowd
was guaranteed to have severe repercussions.
And the revenge match took place on February
18th. Montreal played the Rangers again, and
the Canadians showed... Absolutely no mercy.
They won 9 -4. Blivo secured a hat -trick, and
Richards scored two goals of his own. But Richards'
emotional temperature was still running incredibly
high. So high. During that game, referee Louis
Moschio gave Richards' brother, Henri, a misconduct
penalty. And Maurice Richard became so enraged
at the official that his own teammates had to
physically restrain him to prevent him from attacking
the referee. His intensity was unmatched. But
his fearless style of play also led to moments
of genuine danger. Like on March 15th, Richard
suffered a terrifying injury. He tripped over
Chicago defenseman Pierre Pilot's skate and went
headlong into the goal frame. Requiring more
stitches and a trip to the hospital for x -rays.
Right. But proving his resilience, he made his
return to the lineup just two days later on St.
Patrick's Day. And of course, he scored a hat
trick as Montreal beat the Rangers yet again,
7 -2. You can't script that kind of drama. You
really can't. And the drama wasn't just on the
ice. There was a fascinating and honestly somewhat
tragic coaching carousel happening behind the
scenes. Yeah. Involving the Chicago Blackhawks.
They were being coached by Dick Irvin. Now, Irvin
was formerly the head coach of Montreal. But
Montreal's general manager, Frank Seltzke Sr.,
decided that Irvin was too, quote unquote, truculent
and fired him. Truculent. What a word to use
for a hockey coach. Right. So Urban moved to
Chicago, which was a homecoming of sorts since
he started his coaching career there in 1930.
But the tension when those two teams met was
palpable. On October 22nd, the Blackhawks traveled
to the Montreal Forum. Before the game, there
was this display of sportsmanship. Irvin was
presented with a set of silver flatware by the
Canadian Arena Company. Silver flatware? Yeah.
But once the puck dropped, the pleasantries completely
vanished. Montreal's rookie, Henri Richard, scored
two goals, and the Canadians shut out Irvin's
Blackhawks 6 -0. Ouch. It was a brutal reminder
of the powerhouse Irvin had been forced to leave
behind. And despite his efforts to improve the
Chicago roster, they ultimately finished the
season in the cellar of the standings with only
50 points. While Montreal finished first in the
league with 100 points, exactly double Chicago's
total. And that dominance carried seamlessly
into the postseason. The playoff structure back
then was very straightforward. The top four teams
qualified. First place played third place, and
second place played fourth place in Best of Seven's
semifinal series. So the bracket saw the number
one seed, Montreal, facing off against the number
three seed, the New York Rangers. And on the
other side, the number two seed, the Detroit
Red Wings, faced the number four seed, the Toronto
Maple Leafs. Montreal handled the Rangers with
a decisive 4 -1 series victory. Detroit mirrored
that performance, eliminating Toronto 4 -1. which
set up the ultimate clash for the Stanley Cup
finals. The rising powerhouse of Montreal against
the defending dynasty of Detroit. It was the
heavyweight matchup the league wanted. But Montreal
was simply playing at a different level. They
defeated Detroit four games to one to capture
the Stanley Cup. It was a definitive passing
of the torch. It officially ended the Red Wings'
seven -year reign over the regular season and
cemented Montreal's legacy as the new kings of
the NHL. So what does this all mean? When you
look back at the postseason awards for that year,
the individual dominance of the Montreal roster
becomes crystal clear. It wasn't just a team
victory. It was an absolute sweep of the major
individual hardware. The statistics are just
staggering. Jean Beliveau won the Art Ross Trophy
as the league's top scorer. He put up 47 goals
and 41 assists for 88 points. That set a new
record at the time for the most goals scored
by a center. And winning the scoring title by
that margin naturally earned him the Hart Trophy
as the league's most valuable player. Plus, Montreal's
goaltender, Jacques Plante, won the Vizina Trophy.
He boasted an incredible 1 .86 goals against
average and logged seven shutouts in an era where
offensive talent was rapidly evolving. And then
on the blue line, Montreal's Doug Harvey won
the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the league's
best defenseman. Holding the trophies for the
most valuable player, the top scorer, the best
goaltender and the best defenseman simultaneously.
It represents an unprecedented level of systemic
perfection for a single franchise. It really
does. But, you know, while Montreal was monopolizing
the awards, we do need to highlight the foundational
strength that remained in Detroit because their
rookie goaltender, Glenn Hall, delivered an unbelievable
debut season. Oh, Glenn Hall was incredible.
Taking over the net for a defending dynasty is
hard enough. But Hall played all 4 ,200 minutes
of the season. Every single minute. He never
came out of the game. He recorded 12 shutouts
and maintained a 2 .10 -0 goals against average.
And that performance earned him the Calder Memorial
Trophy as the best first -year player, beating
out Montreal's highly touted rookie, Henri Pocket
Rocket Richard. Hall really proved that even
though Detroit lost the Cup, they still possessed
incredible, resilient talent. To sum it up, the
1955 -56 season leaves a massive legacy. You
see the definitive end of Detroit's streak and
the dawn of a new, terrifyingly efficient dynasty
in Montreal. You witness the birth of the iconic
zebra stripes for referees, driven entirely by
the technological limits of black and white television.
And you see a Montreal power play unit so potent
that they forced the NHL to rewrite the rulebook
to give everyone else a fighting chance. This
raises an important question, though, especially
when we look back at those broadcasting quirks
we discussed earlier. Fans in the 1950s routinely
had to join games in progress on television.
They missed the entire beginning of the narrative
and had to rely on radio to piece together the
full story. Think about your own modern sports
fandom. It's completely different today. We live
in an era of wall -to -wall coverage, 247 access,
and the ability to stream every single second
of a game from multiple camera angles. How would
your relationship with your favorite sports team
change if you were only ever allowed to watch
the second half of their games on television?
That would drive people crazy today. Right. Does
having every single minute of action available
to us today make us more analytical and educated
fans? Or does that unfettered access just make
us more entitled? It's something to think about
the next time you tune into a broadcast right
at the opening face -off, taking for granted
that you get to see the whole story unfold. Thank
you for joining us on this deep dive into the
1955 -56 NHL Super. It's been a privilege exploring
these sources with you, and we hope you keep
learning, keep asking questions, and keep exploring
the history behind the things you love. See you
next time.