1958-59 NHL Team Leaders

The Montreal Canadiens continued to steamroll the rest of the National Hockey League in 1958-59. The Habs took first place by 18 points and went on to win their fourth of five consecutive Stanley Cup championships.

Dickie Moore – Montreal Canadiens

Dickie Moore led Montreal with 96 points. He also led the league, earning his second consecutive Art Ross Trophy. The 96 points eclipsed Gordie Howe’s NHL record by one point for most in a single season. Teammate Jean Beliveau was right behind with 91 points on an offensive powerhouse that scored over 50 more goals than any other team in the league. The Canadiens took out Chicago in the opening round and the surprising Maple Leafs in the final to capture the Stanley Cup.

Andy Bathgate – New York Rangers

Andy Bathgate of the New York Rangers had a career season, leading the team and finishing third in the NHL with 88 points. The Rangers finished the regular season in fifth place and out of post season contention. However, Bathgate was awarded the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP. Andy figured in on nearly 44% of all New York’s goals in 1958-59.

Gordie Howe – Detroit Red Wings

Gordie Howe, as usual, led the Detroit Red Wings. His 78 points placed him fourth in the race for the Art Ross. However, the Red Wings were uncharacteristically disappointing, placing sixth and last in the league, six points behind the Rangers. Howe had a point on nearly 47% of all Detroit’s goals. Despite Hockey Hall of Fame goalie Terry Sawchuk playing in 67 of Detroit’s 70 games, the team had the most goals against in the league.

Ed Litzenberger – Chicago Black Hawks

Ed Litzenberger led the Chicago Blackhawks with 77 points and finished fifth in the NHL. For Litzenberger it was the end of an era. He had been the team’s offensive leader since winning the Calder Trophy in 1954-55. He played five more years in the NHL after 1958-59 but he never again achieved even half the point total of that season. Bobby Hull emerged as a superstar in 1959-60 and Ed became obsolete. The Black Hawks were on the move, after missing the post season the year before, the team finished third during the regular season. They were just two years away from a Stanley Cup championship.

Don McKenney – Boston Bruins

Don McKenney was at the peak of his NHL career, leading the Boston Bruins with 62 points and tying for eighth in the NHL. Boston finished second overall but fell in the opening round to the fourth place Maple Leafs in a series that went the full seven games. For Boston, they would not return to the post season until 1967-68.

Dick Duff – Toronto Maple Leafs

Dick Duff led the Toronto Maple Leafs with 53 points. The previous season, Toronto finished dead last in the league with just 53 points. The team had a 12 point improvement in 1958-59 and placed fourth. They then went on to upset the Bruins in the opening round before falling to Montreal in five in the final. The defining difference in Toronto was Johnny Bower, playing in his first season with the Maple Leafs and taking over the starting role from Ed Chadwick.

 

1966-67 Chicago Blackhawks: The One That Got Away

1966-67 is typically remembered by NHL fans as the last season of the ‘Original Six’ era, the first year of Bobby Orr and the last time the Toronto Maple Leafs would win the Stanley Cup. Chicago Blackhawks fans remember that year as a seemingly guaranteed Stanley Cup victory gone horribly wrong.

Chicago dominated the 1966-67 NHL regular season, winning 41 of 70 games and finishing seventeen points above the next competitor. The Black Hawks score 264 goals, 42 more than the Detroit Red Wings and allowed just 170, 18 less than the Montreal Canadiens.

Five of the top point-getters in the NHL that season wore a Chicago Black Hawks uniform. Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull went one-two with Mikita tying Hull’s single season record with 97 points. Ken Wharram finished fourth, Phil Esposito finished seventh and Doug Mohns came in ninth.

The well-rounded team also took the Vezina Trophy on the backs of the goaltending duo of Glenn Hall and Denis DeJordy. Three time Norris Trophy winner, Pierre Pilote, was runner-up to Harry Howell of the New York Rangers for the award for the top defenseman.

The Black Hawks took home the hardware in 1966-67. Of course, they won the Prince of Wales Trophy as the best team in the regular season. It was the first time in team history that the Hawks finished first in the NHL. Stan Mikita won the triple crown, taking home the Art Ross Trophy, Hart Memorial Trophy and Lady Byng Trophy.

Four of the six players on the First All-Star Team were from Chicago. Pierre Pilote was on defense, Stan Mikita was at centre, Ken Wharram was on right wing and Bobby Hull was on the left side. Glenn Hall was the Second Team All-Star goaltender.

Yet, in spite of all this success, the Black Hawks bowed out in the opening round of the playoffs to the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games. What should have been Chicago’s fourth Stanley Cup victory, and first since 1961, instead became a Cup celebration for the third seed Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup finals in six games after Montreal took out the New York Rangers in four games in the opening round.

Chicago would make it to the Stanley Cup finals three more times, only to lose. It wasn’t until 2010 before the Blackhawks won their next Cup, their first since 1961. The Maple Leafs, after stealing the Cup from Chicago in 1967, have yet to make another appearance in the finals.

5 Vancouver Canucks With 100 Point Seasons

The Vancouver Canucks entered the National Hockey League for the 1970-71 season, along with the Buffalo Sabres. In their first NHL amateur draft, the Sabres went for offense, selecting Gilbert Perreault and the Canucks went the defensive route picking Dale Tallon. Since 1970, the Canucks have continued with a low key offense. Just five different players have crossed the 100 point line in a season with one player doing it twice. The team’s single season individual record for points is a paltry 112.

Pavel Bure

Pavel Bure was the first of the Vancouver Canucks to finish a regular season with more than 100 points. He is also the only Vancouver player, to date, to do it twice. In 1992-93, just his second year in the league, Bure scored 60 and assisted on 50 for 110 points in 83 games. The following season, he scored 60 again and assisted on 47 for 107 points in 76 games.

Vancouver’s sixth round pick at the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, Bure didn’t finish in the top 10 for points in 1992-93 but placed fifth in 1993-94. His 60 goals in 1993-94 led the league. Pavel played with Vancouver from 1991-92 to 1997-98, earning the Calder Trophy in his first year as NHL rookie of the year. He played in the NHL until 2002-03 with the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers. Twice with Florida, he led the league in goals, earning the Rocket Richard Trophy.

Alexander Mogilny

Alexander Mogilny reached 107 points in 1995-96 on 55 goals and 52 assists in 79 games. The point total tied him for ninth and the 55 goals placed him third. This was a far cry from the 76 goals and 127 points he accumulated with the Buffalo Sabres in 1992-93.

Mogilny played for the Canucks from 1995-96 to 1999-00. He was originally a fifth round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 1988. Alex played in the NHL from 1989-90 to 2005-06 with the Sabres, Canucks, New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Markus Naslund

Markus Naslund totalled 104 points in 2002-03 on 48 goals and 56 assists in 82 games. A sign of the lack of offensive during the early part of the decade, Naslund finished just two points behind Peter Forsberg of the Colorado Avalanche in the race for the Art Ross Trophy. His 48 goals were two behind the league leader, Milan Hejduk, also of the Avalanche.

Markus was originally a draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, taken 16^th overall in 1991. He played for Vancouver from 1995-96 to 2007-08 and in the NHL from 1993-94 to 2008-09, also appearing for the Penguins and New York Rangers.

Henrik Sedin

Henrik Sedin led the NHL in 2009-10 with 112 points, earning the Art Ross Trophy. The 112 points also topped Pavel Bure’s team record of 110 set in 1992-93. Henrik scored 29 goals and assisted on 83 in 82 regular season games for the Canucks. He finished three points ahead of both Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Henrik was the third overall pick at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, going to Vancouver. He has played in the NHL since 2000-01 and is still currently active. His entire career to date has been spent with the Canucks.

Daniel Sedin

Daniel Sedin followed up his brother in 2010-11 with an Art Ross Trophy victory of his own. Sedin finished the year with 104 points on 41 goals and 63 assists in 82 games. Daniel was the only player in the NHL in 2010-11 to surpass the 100 point plateau. Sedin was taken second overall by the Canucks in 1999, one position ahead of his brother. He has been with the Canucks since 2000-01.