By this season, the Chicago Black Hawks were a strong team. They had an especially powerful defence, which had
Pierre Pilote,
Al Arbour,
Jack Evans, and
Elmer Vasko. Up front, youngsters
Bobby Hull and
Stan Mikita led the offense, and goaltender
Glenn Hall was the Hawks' steady presence between the pipes. It was reported that
Eddie Shore, the great Boston Bruins defenceman and four-time league MVP from the 1930s, had been stricken with a
heart attack, but was resting comfortably in a
Springfield, Massachusetts hospital. On October 13, the Canadiens routed the Rangers 8–4, with
Bernie Geoffrion and
Dickie Moore each scoring hat tricks.
Jack McCartan got his only NHL shutout for the
New York Rangers by blanking the Black Hawks 2–0 on October 19. Chicago's
Reg Fleming set a record with 37 penalty minutes in this game. They included three major penalties for battles with
Dean Prentice,
Eddie Shack, and
John Hanna, a misconduct, and a game misconduct. On December 1, the Canadiens, who had traded
André Pronovost to Boston for
Jean-Guy Gendron, defeated the
Toronto Maple Leafs 6–3 at the
Montreal Forum. Gendron had a goal, but the main feature was the 21 penalties referee
Frank Udvari had to call, including several majors in the third period.
Henri Richard took on
Frank Mahovlich, Dickie Moore squared off with
Bob Pulford, and Marcel Bonin scrapped with
Bobby Baun. Toronto general manager and head coach
George "Punch" Imlach was in a bad mood following the game and said to the press among other things that Udvari and linesmen Loring Doolittle and George Hayes should have been picked as the three stars for the help they gave to Montreal. Imlach's comments were brought to the attention of NHL president
Clarence Campbell, who fined the Leafs bench boss $200. In the new year, Stan Mikita helped to spark Chicago. He scored two goals in a 3–2 win over the Rangers on January 4 and scored the winner when the Black Hawks beat Boston 4–3 the following night. Former Canadiens defenceman
Leo Lamoureux died in
Indianapolis on January 11 at age 45. Chicago defeated the Rangers 4–3 on March 8. New York goalie
Gump Worsley pulled a hamstring muscle and Joe Shaefer replaced him with the score 1–1. The next night, the Rangers were eliminated from the playoffs as Bernie Geoffrion potted a hat trick in a 6–1 pasting by the Canadiens. Toronto's
Johnny Bower, who appeared on his way to winning the
Vezina Trophy, strained a leg muscle and would have to take a rest.
Cesare Maniago played in goal for the Leafs on March 16 and lost 5–2. It looked like two players, Toronto's
Frank Mahovlich and Montreal's
Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion, were going to hit 50 goals, but Mahovlich ended up slumping near the end of the season and missed 50 by two goals. Geoffrion scored his 50th goal that night and got a wild ovation. He also added 45 assists and led the league in scoring. Toronto played a 2–2 tie with the Rangers in their final game of the season and
Bobby Baun was a victim of his own hard-hitting.
Camille Henry of the Rangers ran into Baun and Henry's skate cut Baun in the neck. Baun returned for the third period, but after the game, while boarding the team bus, he began to gasp desperately. He groped for attention and waved his arms, and his teammates finally realized he was in trouble and rushed him to the hospital where an emergency operation was performed to permit breathing. Baun missed some action in the playoffs as the result of the injury.
Final standings ==Playoffs==