| 1960–61 NHL season | |
| League: | National Hockey League |
| Sport: | Ice hockey |
| Duration: | October 5, 1960 – April 16, 1961 |
| Season: | Regular season |
| No Of Games: | 70 |
| No Of Teams: | 6 |
| Tv: | CBC, SRC (Canada) None (United States) |
| Season Champ Name: | Season champion |
| Season Champs: | Montreal Canadiens |
| Mvp: | Bernie Geoffrion (Canadiens) |
| Mvp Link: | Hart Memorial Trophy |
| Top Scorer: | Bernie Geoffrion (Canadiens) |
| Top Scorer Link: | Art Ross Trophy |
| Finals: | Stanley Cup |
| Finals Link: | 1961 Stanley Cup Finals |
| Finals Champ: | Chicago Black Hawks |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Detroit Red Wings |
| Nextseason Link: | 1961–62 NHL season |
| Prevseason Link: | 1959–60 NHL season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1961–62 |
| Prevseason Year: | 1959–60 |
| Seasonslistnames: | NHL |
The 1960–61 NHL season was the 44th season of the National Hockey League. The Chicago Black Hawks defeated the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals four games to two to win the Stanley Cup. It was the first series since with two American-based teams. It was Chicago's first Cup win since ; they would not win another until .
Red Wings' forward Gordie Howe became the first player in NHL history to score 1,000 regular-season points. It took seven more seasons before the Montreal Canadiens' Jean Beliveau would match the feat.
The original Hart Trophy was retired, as all its plaques were filled and its general condition had deteriorated. A new trophy was commissioned and the award was renamed the Hart Memorial Trophy.
On September 15, 1960, Maurice "Rocket" Richard announced his retirement from hockey. During his career, he had led all scorers with a record 544 goals plus an additional 82 goals in the playoffs. Despite the league expanding the number of games in a season to 70 games from 50 since Richard's famous 50 goals in 50 games, Richard remained the only player to score 50 goals in a season, until this season.
| 1960-61 National Hockey League | ||||
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity | |
| Boston Bruins | Boston, Massachusetts | Boston Garden | 13,909 | |
| Chicago Black Hawks | Chicago, Illinois | Chicago Stadium | 16,666 | |
| Detroit Red Wings | Detroit, Michigan | Detroit Olympia | 15,000 | |
| Montreal Canadiens | Montreal, Quebec | Montreal Forum | 15,551 | |
| New York Rangers | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | 15,925 | |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Toronto, Ontario | Maple Leaf Gardens | 13,718 | |
By this season, the Chicago Black Hawks were a strong team. They had an especially powerful defence, which had Pierre Pilote, Al Arbour, Jack Evans, and Elmer Vasko. Up front, youngsters Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita led the offense, and goaltender Glenn Hall was the Hawks' steady presence between the pipes.
It was reported that Eddie Shore, the great Boston Bruins defenceman and four-time league MVP from the 1930s, had been stricken with a heart attack, but was resting comfortably in a Springfield, Massachusetts hospital.
On October 13, the Canadiens routed the Rangers 8–4, with Bernie Geoffrion and Dickie Moore each scoring hat tricks.
Jack McCartan got his only NHL shutout for the New York Rangers by blanking the Black Hawks 2–0 on October 19. Chicago's Reg Fleming set a record with 37 penalty minutes in this game. They included three major penalties for battles with Dean Prentice, Eddie Shack, and John Hanna, a misconduct, and a game misconduct.
On December 1, the Canadiens, who had traded André Pronovost to Boston for Jean-Guy Gendron, defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6–3 at the Montreal Forum. Gendron had a goal, but the main feature was the 21 penalties referee Frank Udvari had to call, including several majors in the third period. Henri Richard took on Frank Mahovlich, Dickie Moore squared off with Bob Pulford, and Marcel Bonin scrapped with Bobby Baun. Toronto general manager and head coach George "Punch" Imlach was in a bad mood following the game and said to the press among other things that Udvari and linesmen Loring Doolittle and George Hayes should have been picked as the three stars for the help they gave to Montreal. Imlach's comments were brought to the attention of NHL president Clarence Campbell, who fined the Leafs bench boss $200.
In the new year, Stan Mikita helped to spark Chicago. He scored two goals in a 3–2 win over the Rangers on January 4 and scored the winner when the Black Hawks beat Boston 4–3 the following night.
Former Canadiens defenceman Leo Lamoureux died in Indianapolis on January 11 at age 45.
Chicago defeated the Rangers 4–3 on March 8. New York goalie Gump Worsley pulled a hamstring muscle and Joe Shaefer replaced him with the score 1–1. The next night, the Rangers were eliminated from the playoffs as Bernie Geoffrion potted a hat trick in a 6–1 pasting by the Canadiens.
Toronto's Johnny Bower, who appeared on his way to winning the Vezina Trophy, strained a leg muscle and would have to take a rest. Cesare Maniago played in goal for the Leafs on March 16 and lost 5–2. It looked like two players, Toronto's Frank Mahovlich and Montreal's Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, were going to hit 50 goals, but Mahovlich ended up slumping near the end of the season and missed 50 by two goals. Geoffrion scored his 50th goal that night and got a wild ovation. He also added 45 assists and led the league in scoring.
Toronto played a 2–2 tie with the Rangers in their final game of the season and Bobby Baun was a victim of his own hard-hitting. Camille Henry of the Rangers ran into Baun and Henry's skate cut Baun in the neck. Baun returned for the third period, but after the game, while boarding the team bus, he began to gasp desperately. He groped for attention and waved his arms, and his teammates finally realized he was in trouble and rushed him to the hospital where an emergency operation was performed to permit breathing. Baun missed some action in the playoffs as the result of the injury.
For the Montreal Canadiens, their defeat to eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago Black Hawks in the first round ended two streaks (ten consecutive Finals appearances and five consecutive Stanley Cup wins). The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the other semifinal to set up an all-American final between Chicago and Detroit.
See main article: 1961 Stanley Cup Finals. Chicago defeated the Red Wings in six games to win their first Cup since 1938, and their last until 2010.
| 1960–61 NHL awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Prince of Wales Trophy
| Montreal Canadiens | |
| Art Ross Trophy
| Bernie Geoffrion, Montreal Canadiens | |
| Calder Memorial Trophy
| Dave Keon, Toronto Maple Leafs | |
| Hart Memorial Trophy
| Bernie Geoffrion, Montreal Canadiens | |
| James Norris Memorial Trophy
| Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens | |
| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy
| Red Kelly, Toronto Maple Leafs | |
| Vezina Trophy
| Johnny Bower, Toronto Maple Leafs | |
| First team | Position | Second team | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Bower, Toronto Maple Leafs | align=center | G | Glenn Hall, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens | align=center | D | Allan Stanley, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Marcel Pronovost, Detroit Red Wings | align=center | D | Pierre Pilote, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens | align=center | C | Henri Richard, Montreal Canadiens |
| Bernie Geoffrion, Montreal Canadiens | align=center | RW | Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings |
| Frank Mahovlich, Toronto Maple Leafs | align=center | LW | Dickie Moore, Montreal Canadiens |
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | 64 | 50 | 45 | 95 | 29 | ||
| Montreal Canadiens | 69 | 32 | 58 | 90 | 57 | ||
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 48 | 36 | 84 | 131 | ||
| New York Rangers | 70 | 29 | 48 | 77 | 22 | ||
| Detroit Red Wings | 64 | 23 | 49 | 72 | 30 | ||
| Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 28 | 42 | 70 | 34 | ||
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 64 | 20 | 50 | 70 | 12 | ||
| Montreal Canadiens | 57 | 35 | 34 | 69 | 62 | ||
| Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 24 | 44 | 68 | 91 | ||
| Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 27 | 35 | 62 | 26 |
Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts
| Player | Team | GP | MIN | GA | GAA | W | L | T | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | 30 | 1800 | 74 | 2.47 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 4 | |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 58 | 3480 | 145 | 2.50 | 33 | 15 | 10 | 2 | |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 4200 | 176 | 2.51 | 29 | 24 | 17 | 6 | |
| Detroit Red Wings | 34 | 2120 | 98 | 2.77 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 0 | |
| Montreal Canadiens | 40 | 2400 | 112 | 2.80 | 23 | 11 | 6 | 2 | |
| Detroit Red Wings | 38 | 2080 | 112 | 3.23 | 12 | 17 | 7 | 2 | |
| Boston Bruins | 18 | 1080 | 58 | 3.23 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 1 | |
| New York Rangers | 59 | 3473 | 191 | 3.30 | 20 | 29 | 8 | 1 | |
| Boston Bruins | 52 | 3120 | 193 | 3.71 | 12 | 33 | 7 | 0 | |
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1960–61 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1960–61 (listed with their last team):
Hockey Night in Canada on CBC Television televised Saturday night regular season games and Stanley Cup playoff games. Games were not broadcast in their entirety until the 1968–69 season, and were typically joined in progress, while the radio version of HNIC aired games in their entirety.
In the U.S., CBS decided not the renew its agreement to continue airing Saturday afternoon regular season games in 1960–61, and the NHL would not be able to attract another American national network until the 1965–66 season.