1954 Stanley Cup Finals

1954 Stanley Cup Finals
Teams 1 2 3 4 5* 6 7* Games Detroit Red Wings  3 1 5 2 0 1 2 4 Montreal Canadiens  1 3 2 0 1 4 1 3 * indicates periods of overtime.
Location: Detroit, Michigan (Detroit Olympia) (1,2,5,7) Montreal, QC (Montreal Forum) (3,4,6) Format: Best-of-seven Coaches: Detroit: Tommy Ivan Montreal: Dick Irvin Captains: Detroit: Ted Lindsay Montreal: Emile Bouchard Dates: April 4 to April 16, 1954 Series-winning goal: Tony Leswick (4:29, OT)
< 1953 Stanley Cup Finals 1955 >

The 1954 Stanley Cup Final NHL championship series was contested by the Detroit Red Wings and the defending champion Montreal Canadiens, in their fourth-straight Finals. It was the third Detroit–Montreal Final series of the 1950s. The Wings would win the series 4–3 to win their first Stanley Cup since 1952, and sixth overall.

Paths to the Final

Montreal defeated the Boston Bruins 4–0 to reach the final. Detroit defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–1 to reach the final.

The series

Tony Leswick scored the series-winning goal at 4:29 of overtime in the seventh game. In fact, Leswick's goal was one of the strangest Stanley Cup-winning goals in history, as Leswick's shot was deflected off the glove of Montreal's Doug Harvey and into the net. The Canadiens immediately skated off the ice without shaking hands with the Red Wings. This was the second time in NHL history that a Stanley Cup Final Game Seven was decided in overtime; the previous time it happened, in 1950, Detroit had beat the New York Rangers in the Finals. As of 2015, it is the most recent time that the Cup Final Game Seven has gone to overtime.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 4	Montreal	1	Detroit	3
April 6	Montreal	3	Detroit	1
April 8	Detroit	5	Montreal	2
April 10	Detroit	2	Montreal	0
April 11	Montreal	1	Detroit	0	OT
April 13	Detroit	1	Montreal	4
April 16	Montreal	1	Detroit	2	OT

Detroit wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 3

Detroit Red Wings 1954 Stanley Cup champions

Roster

  Centres

• 10 Metro Prystai
• 12 Glen Skov
• 14 Earl Reibel
• 17 Alex Delvecchio
• 19 Vic Stasiuk&

  Wingers

• 7 Ted Lindsay (C)
• 8 Tony Leswick
• 9 Gordie Howe
• 15 Marty Pavelich
• 16 John Wilson
• 17 Bill Dineen
• 20 Jimmy Peters
• 21 Gilles Dubé
• 21 Earl Johnson

  Defencemen

• 2 Bob Goldham (A)
• 3 Marcel Pronovost
• 4 Leonard Red Kelly (A)
• 5 Benny Woit
• 18 Al Arbour
• 19 Keith Allen
• 20 Jim Hay&

  Goaltenders

• 1 Terry Sawchuk
• 1 David Gatherum (Sub)
• 1 Ross Wilson (Playing-Asst. Trainer)

  Coaching and administrative staff

• Marguerite Norris (President/Owner), Bruce Norris (Vice President/Owner)
• Jack Adams (Manager), Tommy Ivan (Coach)
• John Mitchell (Chief Scout), Carl Mattson (Trainer)
• Fred Huber Jr. (Publicity Director), Wally Crossman (Asst. Trainer/Stick Boy)

Stanley Cup engraving

• Earl Johnson name was engraved on the Stanley Cup, even though he only played 1 Regular Season game. Johnson spent the rest of the year in the minors
• Vic Stasiuk played 43 games, but was sent to minors. His name was left off the cup, because he played in the minors, during the playoffs.
• Jim Hay had played 12 games for Detroit, but did not play in the playoffs. He was included on team picture. Gilles Dube was listed as Ed Dube by mistake on the team picture.
• Marguerite Norris was first woman to be engraved on the Stanley Cup in 1954.
• Tommy Ivan was misspelled as THOMAS NIVAN COACH instead of Thomas N. Ivan when cup was redone in 1957–58. His name was spelled THOMAS IVAN COACH on the Replica Cup created in 1992–93.
• Alex Delvecchio was misspelled ALEX BELVECCHIO with a "B" instead an "D". Mistake was corrected on the Replica Cup.
• Tony Leswick was misspelled TONY LESWICH with a "H" instead of a "K". Mistake was corrected on the Replica Cup.
• When cup was redone in 1957–58, the names of Earl Johnson†, and Ross Wilson† were removed from the new version of 1954 Detroit. Ross Wilson also played goal on October 10, 1953 for 16 minutes when Terry Sawchuk got injured.

&-Name was left off the Stanley Cup.

See also

• 1953–54 NHL season

References

• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont.: Fenn Pub. pp 12, 50. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7

Preceded by Montreal Canadiens 1953

Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup Champions 1954

Succeeded by Detroit Red Wings 1955