1966 Stanley Cup Finals

1966 Stanley Cup Finals
Teams 1 2 3 4 5 6* Games Detroit Red Wings  3 5 2 1 1 2 2 Montreal Canadiens  2 2 4 2 5 3 4 * indicates periods of overtime.
Location: Montreal (Montreal Forum) (1,2,5) Detroit (Detroit Olympia) (3,4,6) Format: Best-of-seven Coaches: Montreal: Toe Blake Detroit: Sid Abel Captains: Montreal: Jean Beliveau Detroit: Alex Delvecchio Dates: April 24 – May 5, 1966 MVP: Roger Crozier Series-winning goal: Henri Richard (2:20, OT, G6)
< 1965 Stanley Cup Finals 1967 >

The 1966 Stanley Cup Final was contested by the Detroit Red Wings and the defending champion Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens would win the best-of-seven series four games to two to win the Stanley Cup for the seventh time in eleven years.

Paths to the final

Montreal defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0 to advance to the finals, and Detroit defeated the Chicago Black Hawks 4–2.

The series

With this series, Toe Blake had coached the Canadiens to seven Cups in eleven years. Henri Richard, a member of all seven championship teams, would score the series winner in game six in overtime. Two minutes into the extra period, Richard broke in on Red Wing goalie Roger Crozier, lost his footing on the newly resurfaced ice as he cut across the goalmouth, and sprawled into Crozier. The puck went in, and even though Crozier and the Wings protested that Richard had pushed the puck in with his hand, the goal stood. His brilliant play in goal, even in defeat, earned Crozier the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.

Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date	Visitors	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 24	Detroit	3	Montreal	2
April 26	Detroit	5	Montreal	2
April 28	Montreal	4	Detroit	2
May 1	Montreal	2	Detroit	1
May 3	Detroit	1	Montreal	5
May 5	Montreal	3	Detroit	2	OT

Montreal wins Stanley Cup, four games to two.

Roger Crozier wins Conn Smythe Trophy.

Montreal Canadiens 1966 Stanley Cup champions

Roster

  Centres

• 4 Jean Beliveau (Captain)
• 6 Ralph Backstrom
• 16 Henri Richard (A)

  Wingers

• 8 Dick Duff
• 12 Yvan Cournoyer
• 11 Claude Larose
• 14 Claude Provost
• 15 Bobby Rousseau
• 18 Leon Rochefort
• 20 David Balon
• 21 Gilles Tremblay
• 22 John Ferguson
• 26 Jim Roberts

  Defencemen

• 2 Jacques Laperriere
• 3 Jean-Claude J. C. Tremblay
• 10 Edward Ted Harris
• 17 Jean-Guy Talbot (A)
• 19 Terry Harper
• 23 Noel Price

  Goaltenders

• 30 Lorne Gump Worsley
• 1 Charlie Hodge

  Coaching and administrative staff

• Hartland Molson (Chairman/owner), J. David Molson (President)
• Sam Pollock (Vice President/Manager), Hector Toe Blake (Coach)
• Andy Galley (Trainer), Larry Albut (Asst. Trainer)

Stanley Cup engravings

• Montreal Canadiens names was misspelt MONTREAL CANADIENE. This mistake was later corrected on the Replica Cup created in 1992–93.

See also

• 1965–66 NHL season

References

Preceded by Montreal Canadiens 1965

Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup champions 1966

Succeeded by Toronto Maple Leafs 1967