1961 Stanley Cup Final

The 1961 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1960–61 season, and the culmination of the 1961 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Black Hawks. Chicago was making its first Finals appearance since , and Detroit its first appearance since ; both had lost to the Montreal Canadiens in those previous appearances. The Black Hawks won the best-of-seven series, four games to two, to win their third Stanley Cup, their first since . This was the last time Chicago won the Cup until , a 49-year drought.

This was the only title not won by the Canadiens, Red Wings or Toronto Maple Leafs during the Original Six era, and the only title won by a U.S. team between and .

Paths to the Finals Detroit defeated Toronto in five games and Chicago upset Montreal, the record five-time defending champion, in six, setting up the first all-American-team Finals since , when the Wings beat the New York Rangers in a seven-game series.

Game summaries This was the only Stanley Cup championship in the 1960s not to be won by either the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Montreal Canadiens or feature either team.

Game one

Bobby Hull scored two goals in game one, giving the Black Hawks a 3–2 victory and a 1–0 lead in the series. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st CHI Bobby Hull (3) – pp Stan Mikita (2) and Murray Balfour (3) 09:39 1–0 CHI CHI Kenny Wharram (2) Ab McDonald (2) and Stan Mikita (3) 10:10 2–0 CHI CHI Bobby Hull (4) Pierre Pilote (7) and Murray Balfour (4) 13:15 3–0 CHI 2nd DET Len Lunde (2) – pp Gordie Howe (5) 16:14 3–1 CHI 3rd DET Al Johnson (2) Gordie Howe (6) and Norm Ullman (3) 19:18 3–2 CHI Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st DET Howie Young Holding 07:54 2:00 2nd DET Howie Young Cross-checking 03:13 2:00 CHI Jack Evans Tripping 09:27 2:00 CHI Reg Fleming Boarding 09:55 2:00 DET Warren Godfrey Interference 13:28 2:00 CHI Bill Hay Holding 15:42 2:00 DET Vic Stasiuk High-sticking 17:29 2:00 3rd CHI Pierre Pilote Tripping 01:14 2:00 DET Warren Godfrey Holding 11:53 2:00 DET Pete Goegan Misconduct 14:03 10:00 CHI Bill Hay Holding 16:08 2:00 DET Howie Young Slashing 16:08 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 8 14 14 36 10 13 8 31

Game two

With Terry Sawchuk being pulled in the first period of game one, Hank Bassen started the second game and provided the Red Wings with a win, making 26 saves in the victory. Alex Delvecchio also recorded two goals and an assist, and the Red Wings tied the series. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st DET Howie Young (2) Vic Stasiuk (4) and Alex Delvecchio (3) 08:10 1–0 DET DET Alex Delvecchio (2) – pp Gordie Howe (7) and Al Johnson (1) 17:39 2–0 DET 2nd CHI Pierre Pilote (2) Unassisted 00:41 2–1 DET 3rd DET Alex Delvecchio (3) – en Vic Stasiuk (5) and Gordie Howe (8) 19:22 3–1 DET Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st DET Gerry Odrowski Tripping 00:33 2:00 CHI Kenny Wharram Hooking 00:45 2:00 DET Vic Stasiuk Holding 03:13 2:00 DET Howie Young Elbowing 08:27 2:00 CHI Kenny Wharram Tripping 12:15 2:00 DET Warren Godfrey Kneeing 15:16 2:00 CHI Dollard St. Laurent Kneeing 17:27 2:00 2nd CHI Jack Evans Hooking 02:42 2:00 CHI Jack Evans Tripping 10:50 2:00 DET Howie Young Slashing 15:31 2:00 CHI Jack Evans Charging 20:00 2:00 3rd CHI Bill Hay Roughing 04:55 2:00 DET Howie Young Roughing 04:55 2:00 DET Gordie Howe Holding 13:19 2:00 CHI Tod Sloan Tripping 19:33 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 9 12 17 38 2 13 12 27

Game three

Glenn Hall was solid in game three for Chicago, making 35 saves in a 3–1 victory to take a 2–1 lead in the series. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st None 2nd CHI Stan Mikita (4) Bobby Hull (6) and Pierre Pilote (8) 11:54 1–0 CHI CHI Ron Murphy (1) Ed Litzenberger (3) and Pierre Pilote (9) 14:19 2–0 CHI CHI Murray Balfour (3) Bobby Hull (7) and Bill Hay (3) 18:16 3–0 CHI 3rd CHI Gordie Howe (4) Alex Delvecchio (4) and Howie Young (2) 09:28 3–1 CHI Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st DET Warren Godfrey Tripping 05:29 2:00 CHI Kenny Wharram Charging 11:12 2:00 CHI Stan Mikita High-sticking 19:09 2:00 2nd None 3rd CHI Murray Balfour Roughing 00:08 2:00 DET Gordie Howe Roughing 00:08 2:00 CHI Kenny Wharram Hooking 02:02 2:00 DET Warren Godfrey Hooking 02:02 2:00 DET Howie Young Tripping 05:33 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 14 14 8 36 11 14 11 36

Game four

Terry Sawchuk started game four for Detroit and made 26 saves, while Bruce MacGregor scored the game-winning goal in the third period to help Detroit tie the series. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st None 2nd CHI Bill Hay (2) Bobby Hull (8) and Murray Balfour (5) 07:34 1–0 CHI DET Alex Delvecchio (4) – pp Bruce MacGregor (1) and Gordie Howe (9) 08:48 1–1 3rd DET Bruce MacGregor (1) Val Fonteyne (2) and Warren Godfrey (2) 13:10 2–1 DET Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st CHI Murray Balfour Holding 07:12 2:00 DET Bruce MacGregor Tripping 12:22 2:00 CHI Eric Nesterenko Cross-checking 15:39 2:00 2nd CHI Bobby Hull High-sticking 08:12 2:00 DET Norm Ullman Holding 17:17 2:00 3rd None Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 6 11 10 27 14 10 6 30

Game five

In a back and forth game five, Murray Balfour and Stan Mikita each scored twice for Chicago to give them a 6–3 victory and a 3–2 series lead. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st DET Leo Labine (3) Al Johnson (2) and Norm Ullman (4) 02:14 1–0 DET CHI Murray Balfour (3) Bobby Hull (7) and Bill Hay (3) 09:36 1–1 CHI Ron Murphy (2) Dollard St. Laurent (2) and Eric Nesterenko (3) 10:14 2–1 CHI DET Howie Glover (1) – pp Bruce MacGregor (2) and Val Fonteyne (3) 15:35 2–2 2nd CHI Murray Balfour (5) Pierre Pilote (10) and Bill Hay (5) 16:25 3–2 CHI DET Vic Stasiuk (2) Gordie Howe (10) and Marcel Pronovost (3) 18:49 3–3 3rd CHI Stan Mikita (5) – pp Pierre Pilote (11) and Elmer Vasko (1) 02:51 4–3 CHI CHI Pierre Pilote (3) Kenny Wharram (5) and Stan Mikita (4) 07:02 5–3 CHI CHI Stan Mikita (6) Ron Murphy (1) 13:27 6–3 CHI Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st CHI Elmer Vasko Tripping 13:44 2:00 2nd DET Howie Young Boarding 06:20 2:00 CHI Kenny Wharram Tripping 12:29 2:00 CHI Bill Hay Roughing 19:13 2:00 DET Pete Goegan Roughing 19:13 2:00 3rd DET Howie Young Tripping 02:22 2:00 CHI Elmer Vasko Tripping 04:17 2:00 DET Gerry Odrowski Tripping 08:15 2:00 CHI Elmer Vasko Boarding 16:27 2:00 DET Gordie Howe Holding 18:18 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 14 11 11 36 8 12 24 44

Game six

In game six, the Black Hawks defeated the Red Wings by a score of 5–1 to win their first Stanley Cup in 23 years. Scoring summary Period Team Goal Assist(s) Time Score 1st DET Parker MacDonald (1) – pp Gordie Howe (11) and Alex Delvecchio (5) 15:24 1–0 DET 2nd CHI Reg Fleming (1) – sh Unassisted 06:45 1–1 CHI Ab McDonald (2) Bobby Hull (10) and Stan Mikita (5) 18:49 2–1 CHI 3rd CHI Eric Nesterenko (2) Tod Sloan (1) and Pierre Pilote (12) 00:57 3–1 CHI CHI Jack Evans (1) Unassisted 06:27 4–1 CHI CHI Kenny Wharram (3) Unassisted 18:00 5–1 CHI Penalty summary Period Team Player Penalty Time PIM 1st DET Gordie Howe Tripping 07:17 2:00 CHI Jack Evans Interference 11:16 2:00 CHI Al Arbour Interference 13:34 2:00 2nd DET Pete Goegan Interference 01:24 2:00 CHI Wayne Hicks Hooking 06:05 2:00 CHI Tod Sloan Hooking 14:17 2:00 3rd DET Bruce MacGregor Tripping 03:28 2:00 DET Bruce MacGregor Tripping 10:55 2:00 CHI Tod Sloan Tripping 18:23 2:00 Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total 4 10 11 25 8 8 6 22

Stanley Cup engraving The 1961 Stanley Cup was presented to Black Hawks captain Ed Litzenberger by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Black Hawks 5–1 win over the Red Wings in game six.

The following Black Hawks players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup:

1960–61 Chicago Black Hawks

1961 Stanley Cup Final

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