Ranking Every NHL Rookie of the Year (1950s)

Photo Credit: Vintage Detroit Collection

10. Jack Gelineau (1949-50)

Gelineau grabbed the Calder Trophy as the backstop for the Boston Bruins in 1949-50, winning 22 games while posting four shutouts and a goals against average of 3.28 in 67 games. Despite this feat, Gelineau would only play a total of two full-time seasons at the NHL level, getting 46 wins with a 3.13 GAA in 143 games.

9. Larry Regan (1956-57)

Regan earned the 1956-57 Calder Trophy for the Boston Bruins, thanks to his 14 goals and 19 assists. This would be the peak of Regan’s playing career, however, as he played in just 280 total regular season games with 41 goals and 95 assists before being out of the league after 1960-61. Regan is more known for his post-playing career as a coach/general manager, heading the Los Angeles Kings from their inaugural 1967-68 season until 1973-74.

8. Camille Henry (1953-54)

Henry captured the Calder as a member of the New York Rangers in 1953-54, nabbing 24 goals and 15 assists. Despite the strong rookie season, Henry was sent down to the minor leagues for most of the next couple seasons, before rejoining the Rangers proper in 1957-58. Catching a second wind, Henry significantly improved his output even compared to his Calder-winning season, becoming a consistent 50-60 point scorer for the next several years. His career-best season came in 1962-63, scoring 37 goals and 23 assists in 60 games played for exactly a point per game.

After leaving the Rangers, Henry reached the Stanley Cup Finals twice, doing so with the Chicago Black Hawks (now Chicago Blackhawks) in 1965 and the St. Louis Blues in 1969, but would come up short on both occasions. He retired from playing early on in the 1969-70 season, finishing his career with 279 goals and 249 assists for 528 points in 727 games played, mostly with New York.

7. Ed Litzenberger (1954-55)

Litzenberger has a unique claim to fame amongst Calder Trophy winners, as his 1954-55 Calder-winning campaign was split between two different teams. After starting the year with the Montreal Canadiens, Litzenberger was traded to the Chicago Black Hawks near the midway point of the season. Even with the abrupt change in scenery, he still posted an impressive 23 goals and 28 assists. Litzenberger remained with the Black Hawks for the majority of his career, getting a career-high 33 goals and 44 assists in 1958-59, though his only season with end-of-season All-Star consideration came two seasons earlier with an even 32 goals and 32 assists.

While his offensive production dropped off in the second half of his career, it would ironically feature by far the most postseason success. In 1961, Litzenberger helped put a definitive end to the malaise which had loomed over the Black Hawks throughout the previous decade, captaining the team to a Stanley Cup title by taking down the Detroit Red Wings in the Finals. However, with Litzenberger only scoring 10 goals during the regular season and a lone assist during the six-game Finals, he was traded away in 1961-62 to the very same Red Wings team (interesting trade partner choice), who in turn flipped him a couple months later to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

While Litzenberger’s stats never really improved again, his veteran leadership proved valuable as Toronto went on a run of three straight Stanley Cups from 1962 to 1964. In the first of these, he defeated his former team in the Black Hawks, before taking home the hardware against another former team in Detroit the other two years. Litzenberger exited the NHL after 1963-64 as a four-time champion, claiming 178 goals and 238 assists for 416 points in 619 games (mainly for Chicago) along the way.

6. Ralph Backstrom (1958-59)

An incredibly underrated talent of the Canadiens’ dynasty years, Backstrom collected the Calder Trophy for Montreal in 1958-59 on the strength of 18 goals and 22 assists. That same season, the Canadiens made it back to the Stanley Cup Finals, seeking their fourth consecutive championship. After being held to just one assist in the semifinals, Backstrom exploded against the Toronto Maple Leafs, especially in the series-deciding game five. After potting the opening goal of the contest, Backstrom went on to add three assists as Montreal took care of business for their 11th championship in franchise history. While Backstrom was now already a Stanley Cup winner at 21 years old, this would, of course, be far from his last title with the Canadiens.

The 1960 playoff run saw the Canadiens get sweeps over the Chicago Black Hawks in the semifinals and the Maple Leafs in the Finals itself, with Backstrom having a three-assist showing in game three against Chicago. With multiple Stanley Cup titles already under his belt, Backstrom had now established himself as a consistent force in the Habs’ lineup. In 1961-62, he had the best season of his NHL career offensively, setting career highs with 27 goals and 38 assists.

In 1965, Montreal reached the Finals once again, where they would hold off the Black Hawks in seven games for Backstrom’s third career Cup, capping off a season in which he crossed the 50-point mark for a second time. The team ran it back the next year, sweeping Toronto in the semifinals as Backstrom registered a goal and two assists in the four-game set. He and Montreal took care of business against the Red Wings, winning the Finals in six games to etch his name on the Stanley Cup for a fourth time.

While the Maple Leafs would get their revenge against the Canadiens in the 1967 Stanley Cup battle, they bounced back big time in 1968. Facing the Boston Bruins in the opening round, Backstrom grabbed two goals and two assists for a four-game sweep. Against the expansion St. Louis Blues in the Finals, he scored a goal and an assist to help complete the sweep and give himself a whole hand’s worth of Stanley Cup rings. With no reason to stop there, the Canadiens easily made their way back to the Finals in 1969, defeating the New York Rangers in the first round in a sweep as Backstrom notched a goal and two assists. The series turned out to be a rematch with the Blues, and predictably had similar results as the Canadiens again won it in four games. Backstrom assisted on the game-winning goal in game four, along with getting the opening goal of game two for his sixth career Stanley Cup.

After a shocking postseason miss in 1970, the Canadiens traded Backstrom to the Los Angeles Kings midway through 1970-71. Although the Kings were nowhere near Montreal’s caliber, Backstrom would put up his strongest offensive numbers in years, scoring 23 goals and 29 assists in 1971-72 before netting 26 goals and 32 assists in 1972-73. However, the latter season wasn’t entirely spent in Los Angeles, as he was moved to the Black Hawks at the trade deadline. Although he clearly had plenty left in the tank, Backstrom’s NHL career came to an end after the 1972-73 campaign, with him jumping ship to the newly formed World Hockey Association. Backstrom would play in the WHA through the 1976-77 season, wrapping up his NHL time with 278 goals and 361 assists for 639 points in 1,032 games played. This was in addition to his six Stanley Cup championships, all of which with the Canadiens.

5. Frank Mahovlich (1957-58)

Mahovlich secured the 1957-58 Calder as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, getting 20 goals and 16 assists on the year. While the Maple Leafs had a rare playoff miss that year, they made it to the Finals in each of the next two seasons, but Mahovlich and company were unable to solve the Montreal Canadiens either time. After three seasons of solid play at the NHL level, Mahovlich had his breakthrough campaign in 1960-61. There, he more than doubled his previous career goal total with 48, adding 36 assists as well to take a first-team All-Star nomination.

Now that Mahovlich had officially arrived, he put together another impressive season in 1961-62 with 33 goals and 38 helpers to collect a second-team All-Star nod. Mahovlich also had a major impact on Toronto in that year’s Finals, scoring four goals and three assists against the Chicago Black Hawks, including getting two goals and two assists in game five. The third time would indeed prove to be the charm for Mahovlich, as the Maple Leafs won the series in six games for his first of many Stanley Cups.

Mahovlich posted similar stats the following season, nabbing 36 goals and 37 assists to claim his second first-team All-Star selection. The Leafs qualified for the postseason with the best record in the league and although Mahovlich was held to just two assists during the 1963 playoff run, Toronto still handled the Detroit Red Wings in the Final with a five-game triumph. The now two-time champ kept the momentum going in 1963-64, contributing 26 goals and 29 assists for another second-team All-Star. Still, Mahovlich saved his best for the playoffs, leading the entire postseason field with 11 assists. After surviving the Canadiens in the semifinals, the Red Wings proved even more daunting this time around. Mahovlich scored a pair of two-assist games, including the decisive game seven. The Maple Leafs ultimately came out on top against the Red Wings, giving Mahovlich his third Stanley Cup ring.

In both 1964-65 and 1965-66, Mahovlich was a second-team All-Star again, securing 23 goals and 28 assists in the former and 32 goals with 24 assists in the latter. In 1966-67, however, his regular season scoring took a bit of a dip, scoring less than 50 points for the first time in seven seasons, but the Maple Leafs qualified for the playoffs again nonetheless. The opening round against the Black Hawks saw him have an impressive three-assist performance in game four, on the way to another Finals date with the Canadiens. Mahovlich was limited to two assists in the Finals, but the Maple Leafs came out on top, defeating their arch-rival in six games. Of course, 1967 remains the most recent championship for the Maple Leafs, and it would also be Mahovlich’s last full season with the franchise.

Near the end of the 1967-68 campaign, Mahovlich was involved in a massive eight-player trade which sent him to the Red Wings. Interestingly, the deal did not pay immediate dividends for either side, with both Toronto and Detroit missing the playoffs that season. However, Mahovlich quickly embraced the change of scenery, as 1968-69 saw him score a career-high 49 goals to go along with 29 assists for another second-team All-Star nod. He would repeat as a second-team All-Star in 1969-70, adding 38 goals and 32 assists for the red and white.

For 1970-71, Mahovlich was off to another strong start, but found himself on the move once again. This time, he was traded to the Canadiens midway through the year, and immediately showed that Montreal had made the right choice. With the Canadiens looking to bounce back from their playoff miss a year earlier with a strong run in 1971, Mahovlich dominated the postseason, leading in both goals and points on the way to another Finals appearance. In a seven-game bout with Chicago, Mahovlich put up two goals in game three with a goal and two assists coming in game six, earning his fifth Stanley Cup title and the 17^th in the history of the Canadiens.

Now playing alongside younger brother Pete, Mahovlich found himself right at home in Montreal. He crossed the 50-assist mark for the first time in his NHL career in 1971-72, before claiming first-team All-Star honors for the first time in over a decade in 1972-73 with 38 goals and a career-high 55 assists. The Habs posted the best record in the league to easily reach the playoffs, with Mahovlich just as much of a scoring threat there as he was in the regular season. The Canadiens eventually made it all the way to the Finals for a rematch against the Black Hawks. Mahovlich was remarkably consistent throughout the series, scoring at least a goal and an assist in all but one game of the six-game series. Naturally, Montreal emerged victorious, allowing Mahovlich to add his name to the Stanley Cup for a sixth time. He had another successful season with the team in 1973-74, but would leave the NHL behind to join the WHA, playing in the upstart league until 1977-78. Mahovlich retired as one of a few players at the time to reach 500 goals, getting 533 in total along with 570 assists for 1,103 points in 1,181 games.

4. Gump Worsley (1952-53)

Worsley captured the Calder Trophy for 1952-53 with the New York Rangers, grabbing 13 wins with a 3.02 goals against average in 50 games played. Even with this impressive introduction to the league, Worsley was sent down to the minors for the next season before re-emerging in 1954-55. His second year in the NHL was a significant sophomore slump, but Worsley would flip a switch in 1955-56. Playing in all 70 games that season, he nabbed an impressive .923 save percentage to become a finalist for the Hart Trophy, losing in a tight three-way battle between himself, Toronto Maple Leafs veteran Tod Sloan and Montreal Canadiens great Jean Beliveau.

After a somewhat underwhelming 1956-57 campaign, Worsley returned to form in 1957-58- sort of. While he led the NHL with a .927 SV%, this was obtained in just 37 games as he missed a massive chunk of the regular season due to injury. Three goalies in the then six-team league started all 70 contests that season, though their final save percentages were all significantly lower than Worsley’s. He got the net back full-time for the Rangers going forward, but his next couple seasons were nothing to write home about. Starting in the 1960-61 season, however, Worsley truly began to come into his own.

That season, Worsley posted an impressive .913 save percentage with 20 wins in 59 games, followed up in 1961-62 as he claimed 22 wins and a .912 SV% in 60 games played. Both save percentages were on par with that of Chicago Black Hawks netminder Glenn Hall and Toronto goalie Johnny Bower, both future Hall of Famers, though New York was unable to convert Worsley’s strong play into postseason success. 1962-63 was more of the same in this regard, as the Rangers missed the playoffs despite Worsley getting a .914 SV% and 22 wins in a league-leading 67 games played. This wound up being Worsley’s final season in the Big Apple, as he was abruptly traded due to his involvement in what would become the NHL Players’ Association. However, in a twist of fate, this would be the catalyst to Worsley making the transition from really good goalie to future Hall of Famer, as the trade landed him with the Montreal Canadiens.

As you’ve probably guessed by now, the Canadiens were the team to beat in the late 1960s, though Worsley would have to wait his turn as Charlie Hodge was holding down the net for Montreal at the time of the trade. In 1964-65, Worsley remained the backup as Hodge led the team to the playoffs, but would be thrust into action shortly into the playoff run when Hodge sustained a groin injury. He led the way past the Maple Leafs in the first round, before getting the first two wins in the Finals against Chicago. Hodge returned to the lineup in time to get the third victory, but went down again prior to the decisive game seven. Despite being thrown into the fire for a second time, Worsley proved that the moment wasn’t too big for him, collecting a 20-save shutout for his first Stanley Cup title.

Worsley got the bulk of the starts for Montreal in 1965-66, earning 28 victories in 51 games with a .917 SV%. The team qualified for the playoffs as the #1 seed, knocking off the Maple Leafs in a series sweep in the opening round. Worsley started all four contests, including a shutout in game two. In the Finals versus the Detroit Red Wings, Worsley recovered from an early stumble to win it in six games, going back-to-back for the Canadiens’ 14^th championship in franchise history. The Cup came in addition to multiple personal accolades for Worsley, who also claimed a second-team All-Star nomination and his first Vezina Trophy. I must note that the Vezina Trophy winner(s) at this time was determined by fewest goals allowed (similar to the current Jennings Trophy) rather than the voting-based award it is today.

In 1967-68, Worsley missed a significant amount of time with injuries, playing in just 40 games, but performed well in the games he did play as he collected 21 wins and a .922 SV% along with a career-high six shutouts. This gave Worsley his first and only first-team All-Star selection, along with another Vezina which was shared with teammate Rogie Vachon. When the playoffs rolled around, however, Worsley was the full-time starter once again and immediately captured the opening series sweep against the Boston Bruins. The Finals set the Canadiens up against the expansion St. Louis Blues, where Worsley picked up a crucial shutout in a 1-0 win in game two on the path to another series sweep and his third career championship.

Worsley dealt with the injury bug again in 1968-69, appearing in just 30 games during the regular season, but returned in time to lead Montreal into the playoffs. In the first round against his former club in the Rangers, Worsley scored the win in three of the four matchups as the Canadiens advanced in a sweep. After playing the first three games of the semifinals against the Bruins, however, he sustained a hand injury which caused him to miss the rest of the playoffs. Vachon took over in his absence and led the team to back-to-back Cups once again. Although Worsley didn’t play in the Finals itself, he was nonetheless credited with his fourth Stanley Cup title. The injury and subsequent strong play by Vachon spelled the end for Worsley’s time in Montreal, as he was traded away during the ill-fated 1969-70 season. He finished out his career as a backup for the Minnesota North Stars and retired after the 1973-74 campaign, claiming a total of 333 wins, 43 shutouts and a 2.87 goals against average in 860 games played.

3. Glenn Hall (1955-56)

Hall entered the fray for the Detroit Red Wings in 1955-56 and immediately showed that he would be something special, earning the Calder and second-team All-Star honors with 30 victories, a .925 save percentage and league-leading 12 shutouts while playing in all 70 games with the team. Although they came up short in the Stanley Cup Finals that year, Hall played just as well, if not better, in 1956-57. He improved his already stellar save percentage to .928 while leading the NHL with 38 wins. He again played in all 70 games, a feat he would accomplish in every season through 1961-62. However, Hall wouldn’t be in the Motor City for long, as the Red Wings made one of the all-time boneheaded trades, shipping him and fellow future Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay out of town due to the pair’s interest in forming a players’ union. The Red Wings would come to regret the trade in a quite direct manner just a few years down the road.

With Hall now finding himself on the struggling Chicago Black Hawks, he didn’t have the same stat totals he had been used to with 24 victories and a .906 SV%, but was still named a first-team All-Star for 1957-58. After a turbulent 1958-59, Hall bounced back with an outstanding 1959-60 campaign to put an exclamatory end to Chicago’s miserable 1950s decade. Hall posted an NHL-best six shutouts with 28 wins and a .918 SV%, winning first-team All-Star for the third time and finishing as a finalist for the Hart Trophy along with teammate and forward Bobby Hull.

Hall dominated throughout the 1960-61 season, collecting 29 wins, a .920 SV% and six shutouts to lead the league in that category once again (in fact, he would end up leading the NHL in shutouts for four consecutive seasons). Despite being the #3-seed in the playoffs, they upset the Montreal Canadiens in the first round to thwart their attempt at a sixth straight championship, before facing none other than the Red Wings in the Finals. Hall started every game during the series and, while he was unable to lock down a shutout, never allowed more than three goals in any of the six games as the Black Hawks claimed their first Stanley Cup in 23 years. Hall had the last laugh against his former team, taking a Stanley Cup ring in his second attempt at the Finals.

Now nicknamed “Mr. Goalie”, Hall picked up a second straight second-team All-Star nod in 1961-62 with 31 victories, a .914 SV% and nine shutouts. He led the Black Hawks to another Finals appearance, but the chance at the repeat was stopped by the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 1962-63, Hall led in wins for the first time since joining Chicago, winning 30 games while posting an NHL-leading .918 SV% in 66 games and five shutouts. This effort gave him the first of three career Vezina trophies, going along with first-team All-Star honors.

The good times continued to roll in 1963-64, as Hall again led in wins with 34 with a career-best .930 SV% in 65 games for his fifth career first-team All-Star award. While an injury forced him to miss about half of the regular season in 1964-65, he still claimed a .923 SV% and returned in time for the playoffs. In the first round, Hall again helped to eliminate Detroit, but the Black Hawks were unable to seal the deal as the Canadiens took the Finals in an exciting seven-game series. Undaunted, Hall secured another 34-win campaign in 1965-66, leading in wins for the fourth time in his career, with a .916 SV% to again receive a first-team All-Star nod. Injuries began to catch up to Hall in 1966-67, as he was limited to 32 games, yet he was still good enough to earn second-team All-Star with a .923 SV%. He also took the Vezina Trophy, sharing it with teammate Denis DeJordy. However, this would be Hall’s final chapter with the Black Hawks, as he was selected in the 1967 expansion draft by the St. Louis Blues.

In his first year in St. Louis, Hall shared the net with rookie Seth Martin and scored 18 wins with a .912 save percentage in 49 games. Once the playoffs got underway, though, the much more experienced Hall was the Blues’ go-to throughout the postseason. He led the team to seven-game series victories over the Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota North Stars to reach the Finals, but the Blues ran out of steam against Montreal. Even so, Hall was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP as he maintained a .916 SV% in the 18 games.

Hall stayed with the Blues in 1968-69, as the team opted for a tandem with him and fellow goaltending legend Jacques Plante. Even with playing in just 41 games, Hall amazingly led the league in shutouts for a sixth time with eight, collecting 19 victories and a .928 SV%. This gave him his seventh career first-team All-Star, along with a third career Vezina Trophy. However, the team gave Plante the majority of starts throughout the 1969 playoff run, and though they swept Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Kings on the way to another Finals appearance, the run would again end in a sweep at the hands of the Canadiens. Hall retired after the 1970-71 season, claiming an impressive 407 wins, 84 shutouts and a save percentage of .918. Hall also had a record streak of 502 consecutive starts from 1955 to 1963, which stands to this day and is largely considered unbreakable.

2. Bernie Geoffrion (1951-52)

After joining the Montreal Canadiens for their Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 1951, Geoffrion made a name for himself in his official rookie season of 1951-52, scoring 30 goals and 24 assists to guide the Canadiens back to the Finals again. During the postseason, Geoffrion nabbed a hat trick in the first round versus the Boston Bruins, but Montreal’s championship run came to an end in the Finals as they were swept by the vaunted Detroit Red Wings squad. Determined as ever, the Canadiens returned to the playoffs in 1953, but Geoffrion found an extra gear while facing the Chicago Black Hawks in the first round. In the seven-game series, he contributed five goals and five assists as Montreal recovered from a three-game losing skid to reach the Finals again. Geoffrion added a lone goal in the Finals, but he and the Canadiens needed just five games to beat the Bruins for his first Stanley Cup title.

After losing a hard-fought battle to the Red Wings in the 1954 Finals, Geoffrion appeared to have a chip on his shoulder in 1954-55. He led the NHL in goals that season with 38, getting 37 assists to also lead the league in points at 75. This, of course, gave him the Art Ross Trophy, as well as second-team All-Star as the Canadiens rolled into the playoffs. After disposing of Boston in the first round, they were set to face Detroit for the Cup yet again. Geoffrion had an exceptional series, which included a hat trick in game three and a pair of goals in game six, but the Red Wings ultimately came out on top in seven games, just as they had the year prior.

Geoffrion had a solid season in 1955-56, but saved his best for the playoffs, kicking off the first round against the New York Rangers with two goals and two assists. The Canadiens advanced past New York for a third straight Finals matchup with Detroit. This time, however, Geoffrion would not be denied, getting on the scoresheet in all four of Montreal’s victories as they finally solved the Red Wings in five games. Geoffrion’s second Stanley Cup would be far from his last.

In 1956-57, Geoffrion missed a significant amount of time with injury, but recovered in plenty of time for another postseason run. In the opening round against the Rangers, “Boom-Boom” went off for seven goals and five assists, including a game three hat trick as Montreal went on the Finals after a five-game victory. Taking on the Bruins for the Cup, Geoffrion was again a significant contributor, posting a multi-goal game three as the Canadiens went back-to-back in five games. Now with three Stanley Cup rings, Geoffrion was keen to continue carrying the torch for Montreal’s run of dominance, but he would soon be met with the largest adversity of his career.

During the 1957-58 campaign, Geoffrion suffered severe internal bleeding after an on-ice collision with a teammate, which doctors feared could be life-threatening. He missed the final two months of the regular season, but was miraculously able to rejoin the lineup for the playoffs. Geoffrion didn’t skip a beat, scoring a goal and an assist in the first game of the opening round against the Red Wings. The team took down Detroit in a four-game sweep on the way to another Final against Boston. With the series tied up at two games apiece, Geoffrion again put the team on his shoulders and added a goal and assist in game five, before claiming two goals and an assist in the series-clinching game six for the fourth Stanley Cup of his career.

Geoffrion had a largely healthy season in 1958-59, getting 22 goals and 44 helpers as Montreal took the #1-seed into the playoffs. The Canadiens made their way into the Finals versus the Toronto Maple Leafs and although Geoffrion failed to score a goal in the first three games, he came in clutch in game four. There, he was a part of all three Canadiens goals, adding a goal and two assists in the 3-2 victory. Needing just one more win to take the series, Geoffrion fired in two goals and an assist for Stanley Cup #5. As the 1950s came to an end, Geoffrion was still at the top of his game, finishing 1959-60 with 30 goals and 41 assists for another second-team All-Star nod. Needless to say at this point, Montreal made it to the playoffs, but in 1960 they were even more dominant than usual. In an opening round sweep of the Black Hawks, Geoffrion posted a total of two goals and four assists, including the eventual game winner in game one. The Canadiens took on rival Toronto in the Finals, where Geoffrion surprisingly could not find the back of the net. However, he made up for it in assists, getting six of them as the team took care of business with another four-game sweep. Even after receiving his sixth Cup ring, Geoffrion still had another historic feat left to go.

In the 1960-61 season, Geoffrion jumped out as the best player in the league, becoming the first player since now-retired teammate Maurice Richard (who was the first to do so 16 years earlier) to score 50 goals in a single season. In fact, with his 45 assists on top of the half-century mark, Geoffrion nearly became the first player in NHL history to score 100 points in a season. Not only did he take home his second career Art Ross title, but he also earned a Hart Trophy along with first-team All-Star honors. While Geoffrion didn’t reach quite those heights again, he remained a productive fixture before retiring after the 1967-68 season. With that, Geoffrion finished with 393 career goals and 422 assists for 822 total points in 883 games played.

1. Terry Sawchuk (1950-51)

Sawchuk grabbed the Calder Trophy with the Detroit Red Wings in 1950-51, immediately setting a new NHL record at the time for most wins in a season with 44. If that wasn’t enough for you, Sawchuk also led all goalies with 11 shutouts and had an outstanding 1.97 goals against average in 70 games. This also allowed him to take home a first-team All-Star award to cap off arguably the greatest rookie season by a goaltender in NHL history.

Sawchuk again played all 70 contests in 1951-52, earning another 44 victories with a league-leading 12 shutouts and 1.90 GAA. He claimed the first-team All-Star spot yet again, while adding a Vezina Trophy to his growing trophy case. However, one trophy he did not yet have was the Stanley Cup, though this matter would be resolved in the 1952 playoffs. The Red Wings took a first round sweep over the Toronto Maple Leafs, before doing the same to the Montreal Canadiens in the Finals. Sawchuk won all eight games along the way and was next to unstoppable, posting shutouts in the first two games of the Maple Leafs series and the last two games against the Canadiens for a 0.620 GAA. This likely would have given him the Conn Smythe Trophy as well, had the award existed at the time.

For 1952-53, Sawchuk appeared in 63 games, nabbing a career-best 1.89 GAA with nine shutouts while continuing to hold down the lead in wins with 32. He was named first-team All-Star for a third time, as well as claiming his second Vezina Trophy. Of course, Sawchuk wasn’t done there, as he nailed down 35 more wins in 1953-54 while holding a 1.93 GAA in 67 games. This granted him a second-team All-Star selection, but he still had plenty left in the tank for the playoffs. While not as dominant as they had been in 1952, Detroit still got through Toronto in the first round to face the Canadiens for the Cup. In a back-and-forth series which required a game seven overtime finish, the Red Wings came out on top with Sawchuk earning all eight wins on the road to his second Stanley Cup title.

Sawchuk reached the 40-win mark once again in 1954-55, picking up a GAA of 1.96 in 68 games and an NHL-best 12 shutouts. With his third Vezina Trophy and another second-team All-Star nod, Sawchuk led the Red Wings into another incredible playoff run. Detroit promptly swept the Maple Leafs in the first round, with Sawchuk getting a shutout in game four, to challenge Montreal in the Final. It would be another arduous seven-game series, but the Red Wings would hold on to win their seventh Stanley Cup in franchise history. This made Sawchuk a three-time champ at just 25 years old, but the upcoming offseason would bring in a major shakeup.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but the Red Wings actually made a really stupid trade. In this case, it involved Sawchuk being sent to the Boston Bruins in a nine-player deal. While Sawchuk didn’t necessarily play badly in his two seasons with the Bruins, it wasn’t a great fit for either side and the Red Wings traded to get him back for the 1957-58 season. However, in order to do so, the Red Wings were forced to give up future Hall of Fame forward Johnny Bucyk, who ended up being one of the greatest players in Bruins franchise history and who the Red Wings still would’ve kept if they hadn’t traded Sawchuk in the first place.

Nonetheless, Sawchuk was back in Detroit and while the second stint wasn’t as successful as the first, though it did have its share of highlights. In 1958-59, he was able to grab second-team All-Star with 23 wins and five shutouts in 67 games, before helping the team to a Finals appearance in 1961 as he shared the goal with Western Hockey League standout Hank Bassen, though this run came up short. Sawchuk was back as the Red Wings’ primary option in 1962-63, where he collected 21 wins and a .912 save percentage in his 48 appearances. This got him second-team All-Star yet again, as well as a selection as a Hart Trophy finalist for the first and only time of his career. Sawchuk got Detroit back to the Finals against the Maple Leafs, but this time Toronto would have the upper hand as the Red Wings were eliminated in five games.

Sawchuk was even better in 1963-64, winning 25 games in 53 contests for a .916 SV%, backstopping the Red Wings to back-to-back Finals appearances. The team had an opportunity at revenge with the Maple Leafs also making their way back to the Cup, but Toronto was able to increase their string of consecutive championships to three with a seven-game series triumph. With the Red Wings opting to go in a different direction for 1964-65, Sawchuk was available and, oddly enough, found himself with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the upcoming season.

The Maple Leafs went with a tandem of veteran goaltenders for the 1964-65 season, as Sawchuk was paired with a fellow three-time champ in Johnny Bower. Despite the change in scenery, Sawchuk performed well in his 36 games, taking 16 wins with a .915 SV%. With Bower also doing his part, the goaltending duo took home the Vezina Trophy for Bower’s second and Sawchuk’s fourth such award.

By 1966-67, the tandem had evolved into a three-headed monster in net with Sawchuk, Bower and Bruce Gamble each having more than 20 appearances on the season. Sawchuk remained solid regardless, grabbing a .917 SV% and 16 wins in 28 games played as Toronto marched into the postseason. He got all four wins in the team’s opening round defeat of the Chicago Black Hawks before facing the Canadiens in the Finals. Although Bower started games two and three, Toronto went with Sawchuk the rest of the way. This proved to be the right decision, as he allowed just one goal in each of the final two games to guide the Maple Leafs to their most recent championship in franchise history. After four Stanley Cups, Sawchuk retired shortly after in 1969-70, holding the NHL record at the time for most wins at 445, shutouts at 103 and a career goals against average of 2.50. Sawchuk’s single-season wins record was not surpassed until 1974, and is still often brought up in the best NHL goalie of all time conversation.