1963 Stanley Cup Finals
The 1963 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1962–63 season, and the culmination of the 1963 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the defending champion Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings. The Maple Leafs won the best-of-seven series, four games to one, to win the Stanley Cup, their second straight NHL championship.
| 1963 Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Location(s) | Toronto: Maple Leaf Gardens (1, 2, 5) Detroit: Olympia (3, 4) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Coaches | Detroit: Sid Abel Toronto: Punch Imlach | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Captains | Detroit: Alex Delvecchio Toronto: George Armstrong | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | April 9 – April 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Series-winning goal | Eddie Shack (13:28, third, G6) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Paths to the Finals
Toronto defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4–1 to advance to the finals and Detroit defeated the Chicago Black Hawks 4–2
Game summaries
Johnny Bower limited the Wings to 10 goals in the five games, and five different Leafs had multiple-goal games: Duff, Nevin, Stewart, Kelly and Keon.
The Leafs had finished first in the regular season, and were installed as 13–5 favourites by oddsmakers.[1]
| April 9 | Detroit Red Wings | 2–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 00:49 - Dick Duff (3) 1:08 - Dick Duff (4) 14:42 - sh - Bob Nevin (1) | ||||||
| Larry Jeffrey (2) - 5:36 Larry Jeffrey (3) - pp - 8:05 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 5:08 - Bob Nevin (2) | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck | Goalie stats | Johnny Bower | ||||||
| April 11 | Detroit Red Wings | 2–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 5:31 - Ed Litzenberger (1) 18:42 - Ron Stewart (3) | ||||||
| Gordie Howe (5) - 1:32 | Second period | 00:49 - Bob Nevin (3) 8:55 - pp - Ron Stewart (4) | ||||||
| Gordie Howe (6) - 2:03 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck | Goalie stats | Johnny Bower | ||||||
| April 14 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2–3 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| Dave Keon (4) - 14:56 | First period | 00:33 - Vic Stasiuk (3) | ||||||
| Tim Horton (1) - 13:06 | Second period | 8:13 - Alex Faulkner (4) 13:39 - Alex Faulkner (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Johnny Bower | Goalie stats | Terry Sawchuck | ||||||
| April 16 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4–2 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 2:54 - Gordie Howe (7) | ||||||
| George Armstrong (3) - 1:17 Red Kelly (1) - 17:41 |
Second period | 2:38 - pp - Eddie Joyal (1) | ||||||
| Dave Keon (5) - 9:42 Red Kelly (2) - pp - 17:45 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Johnny Bower | Goalie stats | Terry Sawchuck | ||||||
| April 18 | Detroit Red Wings | 1–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 17:44 - sh - Dave Keon (6) | ||||||
| Alex Delvecchio (3) - 00:49 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 13:28 - Eddie Shack (2) 19:55 - sh - Dave Keon (7) | ||||||
| Terry Sawchuck | Goalie stats | Johnny Bower | ||||||
| Toronto won series 4–1 | |
Game one
In the first 68 seconds, Dick Duff scored twice on Detroit's Terry Sawchuk, the fastest two goals to start a game in Stanley Cup history. The Leafs would suffer a second-period letdown but would win 4–2 to take the lead in the series. Because of the second period letdown, Punch Imlach would put the team through a morning practice the next morning.[2]
| April 9 | Detroit Red Wings | 2–4 0 – 3, 2 – 0, 0 – 1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens Attendance: 13,848 |
| Game reference | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Terry Sawchuk | Goalies | Johnny Bower | Referee: Frank Udvari Linesmen: Matt Pavelich Ron Wicks | |||||||||||||||||
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| 23 | Shots | 30 | ||||||||||||||||||
Game two
The Leafs would again win 4–2 and would again have to have a morning after workout assigned by Imlach.[2]
Game three
The series now moved to Detroit. The team was sequestered out of town in a Toledo, Ohio hotel. The Red Wings, led by rookie centre Alex Faulkner's two goals, including the winner, captured the game three–2. It was his third game-winning goal and all had been scored on Sundays. Faulkner was a native of Newfoundland and Howie Meeker, exclaimed that there would be "dancing in the streets tonight".[2]
Game four
The Leafs felt that they had let game three slip away due to overconfidence and were determined to not repeat the mistake in game four. The game was close, and was tied 2–2 until with ten minutes to go Dave Keon scored. Red Kelly added another to make the score 4–2. On the way to the dressing room the Leafs' players were pelted with paper cups, programs and food containers.[3]
Game five
Back in Toronto, the Red Wings kept the score close. After Keon scored a short-handed goal, Marcel Pronovost scored for Detroit to tie the game. The game and series winner was scored by Eddie Shack with seven minutes to go on a deflection. Shack had scored the goal unintentionally as he later admitted. Keon then scored another short-handed goal to put the game out of reach for Detroit.[3]
The Leafs celebrated their second consecutive Stanley Cup by throwing Imlach, Harold Ballard and Stafford Smythe into the showers fully clothed. The team was given a victory parade along Bay Street with a reception at Toronto City Hall.[4]
As of 2019, this is the only one of the last seven big four championship series involving a Toronto team (all of which have been won by Toronto) which did not last exactly six games.
Stanley Cup engraving
The 1963 Stanley Cup was presented to Maple Leafs captain George Armstrong by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Maple Leafs 3–1 win over the Red Wings in game five.
The following Maple Leafs players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup
1963 Toronto Maple Leafs
Players
- 4 Leonard Red Kelly
- 14 Dave Keon
- 15 Billy Harris
- 8 John MacMillan
- 9 Dick Duff (A)
- 10 George Armstrong (Captain)
- 11 Bob Nevin
- 20 Bob Pulford
- 23 Eddie Shack
- 25 Ed Litzenberger
- 27 Frank Mahovlich
- 12 Ron Stewart
- 2 Carl Brewer
- 7 Miles Tim Horton
- 21 Bob Baun
- 16 Larry Hillman*
- 19 Kent Douglas
- 26 Allan Stanley (A)
Coaching and administrative staff
- Stafford Smythe (President/Owner), Harold Ballard (Exe. Vice President/Owner)
- John Bassett (Chairman/Owner)
- George Punch Imlach (Manager-Coach), Frank King Clancy (Asst. Manager-Coach)
- Bob Haggart (Trainer)
- Tom Nayler (Asst. Trainer), Hugh Holton (Stick Boy/Asst. Trainer)
Stanley Cup engraving
- *Larry Hillman played only 5 regular-season games, and spent most of the year in the minors. His name was still engraved on the Stanley Cup.
- Toronto Maple Leafs was engraved as the TORONTO MAPLE LEAES, with an "E" instead of an "F". This mistake was corrected on the Replica Cup.
- John MacMillan was engraved as C. MacMILLAN, but his first name starts with a "J". MacMillan name was not corrected on the Replica Cup created in 1992–93.
- Bob Davidson (Chief Scout), Dr. Karl Elieff (Physiotherapist), Dr. Jame Murphy, Dr. Hugh Smythe (Team Doctors) - left off
See also
Notes
- Jenish, p. 212
- Jenish, p.213
- Jenish, p.214
- Jenish, p.215
References
- Total Stanley Cup. NHL. 2000.
- Jenish, D'Arcy (1992). The Stanley Cup: A Hundred Years of Hockey at its best. Toronto, Ontario: McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-4406-2.
- Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 1-55168-261-3.
- "All-Time NHL Results".
| Preceded by Toronto Maple Leafs 1962 |
Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup Champions 1963 |
Succeeded by Toronto Maple Leafs 1964 |
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