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1952–53 Montreal Canadiens season

1952–53 Montreal Canadiens
Stanley Cup champions
League2nd NHL
1952–53 record28–23–19
Home record18–12–5
Road record10–11–14
Goals for155
Goals against148
Team information
General managerFrank J. Selke
CoachDick Irvin
CaptainEmile Bouchard
ArenaMontreal Forum
Team leaders
GoalsMaurice Richard (28)
AssistsMaurice Richard (33)
PointsMaurice Richard (61)
Penalty minutesMaurice Richard (112)
WinsGerry McNeil (25)
Goals against averageGerry McNeil (2.12)

The 1952–53 Montreal Canadiens season was the Canadiens' 44th season of play. The Canadiens placed second in the regular season, defeated the Chicago Black Hawks in the semi-final and the Boston Bruins in the final to win the club's seventh Stanley Cup championship. As of 2025, the last surviving member of the team is Reg Abbott, following the death of Paul Masnick on March 23, 2024.[1]

Regular season

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Final standings

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National Hockey League[2]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Detroit Red Wings 70 36 16 18 222 133 +89 90
2 Montreal Canadiens 70 28 23 19 155 148 +7 75
3 Boston Bruins 70 28 29 13 152 172 −20 69
4 Chicago Black Hawks 70 27 28 15 169 175 −6 69
5 Toronto Maple Leafs 70 27 30 13 156 167 −11 67
6 New York Rangers 70 17 37 16 152 211 −59 50

Record vs. opponents

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1952–53 NHL Records [3]
Team BOS CHI DET MTL NYR TOR
Boston — 4–5–5 2–10–2 9–2–3 5–7–2 8–5–1
Chicago 5–4–5 — 3–9–2 3–7–4 10–3–1 6–6–2
Detroit 10–2–2 9–3–2 — 4–4–6 7–3–4 7–4–3
Montreal 2–9–3 7–3–4 4–4–6 — 7–2–5 7–5–2
New York 7–5–2 3–10–1 3–7–4 2–7–5 — 2–8–4
Toronto 5–8–1 6–6–2 4–7–3 5–7–2 8–2–4 —


Schedule and results

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1952–53 regular season[4]
October
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
1 L October 9, 1952 2–3 Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) 0–1–0
2 W October 11, 1952 2–1 Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) 1–1–0
3 T October 12, 1952 1–1 @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) 1–1–1
4 W October 16, 1952 3–1 New York Rangers (1952–53) 2–1–1
5 W October 18, 1952 2–1 Boston Bruins (1952–53) 3–1–1
6 L October 19, 1952 1–6 @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) 3–2–1
7 T October 23, 1952 2–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) 3–2–2
8 W October 25, 1952 9–0 Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) 4–2–2
9 L October 29, 1952 5–7 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) 4–3–2
November
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
10 W November 1, 1952 4–1 New York Rangers (1952–53) 5–3–2
11 T November 2, 1952 2–2 @ New York Rangers (1952–53) 5–3–3
12 W November 6, 1952 3–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) 6–3–3
13 W November 8, 1952 6–4 Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) 7–3–3
14 L November 13, 1952 1–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) 7–4–3
15 W November 15, 1952 2–0 Boston Bruins (1952–53) 8–4–3
16 L November 16, 1952 1–4 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) 8–5–3
17 T November 22, 1952 2–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) 8–5–4
18 T November 23, 1952 2–2 @ New York Rangers (1952–53) 8–5–5
19 T November 27, 1952 2–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) 8–5–6
20 T November 29, 1952 1–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) 8–5–7
21 L November 30, 1952 1–3 @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) 8–6–7
December
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
22 L December 4, 1952 1–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) 8–7–7
23 L December 6, 1952 1–2 Boston Bruins (1952–53) 8–8–7
24 T December 7, 1952 2–2 @ New York Rangers (1952–53) 8–8–8
25 W December 10, 1952 2–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) 9–8–8
26 W December 11, 1952 3–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) 10–8–8
27 W December 13, 1952 3–0 Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) 11–8–8
28 T December 14, 1952 0–0 @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) 11–8–9
29 W December 18, 1952 6–2 New York Rangers (1952–53) 12–8–9
30 L December 20, 1952 3–6 Boston Bruins (1952–53) 12–9–9
31 W December 21, 1952 4–3 @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) 13–9–9
32 L December 24, 1952 0–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) 13–10–9
33 T December 27, 1952 2–2 Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) 13–10–10
34 W December 31, 1952 2–0 @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) 14–10–10
January
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
35 T January 1, 1953 2–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) 14–10–11
36 L January 3, 1953 0–1 Boston Bruins (1952–53) 14–11–11
37 T January 8, 1953 4–4 New York Rangers (1952–53) 14–11–12
38 W January 10, 1953 5–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) 15–11–12
39 L January 11, 1953 0–7 @ New York Rangers (1952–53) 15–12–12
40 W January 15, 1953 2–0 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) 16–12–12
41 T January 17, 1953 1–1 Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) 16–12–13
42 W January 18, 1953 3–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) 17–12–13
43 W January 21, 1953 1–0 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) 18–12–13
44 W January 22, 1953 4–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) 19–12–13
45 L January 24, 1953 1–5 Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) 19–13–13
46 T January 25, 1953 3–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) 19–13–14
47 W January 28, 1953 2–1 @ New York Rangers (1952–53) 20–13–14
48 W January 29, 1953 5–2 New York Rangers (1952–53) 21–13–14
49 T January 31, 1953 0–0 Boston Bruins (1952–53) 21–13–15
February
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
50 L February 1, 1953 3–4 @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) 21–14–15
51 W February 5, 1953 2–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) 22–14–15
52 L February 7, 1953 1–3 Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) 22–15–15
53 T February 8, 1953 1–1 @ New York Rangers (1952–53) 22–15–16
54 W February 12, 1953 3–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) 23–15–16
55 T February 14, 1953 2–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) 23–15–17
56 L February 15, 1953 0–1 @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) 23–16–17
57 L February 19, 1953 1–4 Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) 23–17–17
58 W February 21, 1953 4–1 New York Rangers (1952–53) 24–17–17
59 W February 25, 1953 2–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) 25–17–17
60 W February 26, 1953 4–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) 26–17–17
61 L February 28, 1953 3–4 Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) 26–18–17
March
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
62 L March 5, 1953 0–5 @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) 26–19–17
63 W March 7, 1953 1–0 Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) 27–19–17
64 L March 8, 1953 3–4 @ New York Rangers (1952–53) 27–20–17
65 T March 12, 1953 2–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1952–53) 27–20–18
66 W March 14, 1953 3–2 New York Rangers (1952–53) 28–20–18
67 L March 15, 1953 1–2 @ Boston Bruins (1952–53) 28–21–18
68 L March 19, 1953 1–4 Toronto Maple Leafs (1952–53) 28–22–18
69 L March 21, 1953 1–2 Boston Bruins (1952–53) 28–23–18
70 T March 22, 1953 1–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1952–53) 28–23–19

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

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Stanley Cup Finals

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Further information: 1953 Stanley Cup Finals
Date Away Score Home Score Notes
April 9 Boston 2 Montreal 4
April 11 Boston 4 Montreal 1
April 12 Montreal 3 Boston 0
April 14 Montreal 7 Boston 3
April 16 Boston 0 Montreal 1 OT

Montreal won the best-of-seven series 4 games to 1.

Player statistics

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Regular season

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Scoring

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Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Maurice Richard RW 70 28 33 61 112
Bert Olmstead LW 69 17 28 45 83
Elmer Lach C 53 16 25 41 56
Bernie Geoffrion RW 65 22 17 39 37
Doug Harvey D 69 4 30 34 67
Paul Meger LW 69 9 17 26 38
Dick Gamble LW 69 11 13 24 26
Floyd Curry RW 68 16 6 22 10
Ken Mosdell C 63 5 14 19 27
Billy Reay C 56 4 15 19 26
Paul Masnick C 53 5 7 12 44
Tom Johnson D 70 3 8 11 63
Emile Bouchard D 58 2 8 10 55
John McCormack C 59 1 9 10 9
Dickie Moore LW 18 2 6 8 19
Dollard St. Laurent D 54 2 6 8 34
Jean Beliveau C 3 5 0 5 0
Bud MacPherson D 59 2 3 5 67
Gaye Stewart LW 5 0 2 2 0
Ed Litzenberger C/RW 2 1 0 1 2
Gerry Desaulniers C 2 0 1 1 2
Ivan Irwin D 4 0 1 1 0
Reg Abbott C 3 0 0 0 0
Gerry McNeil G 66 0 0 0 0
Hal Murphy G 1 0 0 0 0
Jacques Plante G 3 0 0 0 0
Rollie Rousseau D 2 0 0 0 0

Goaltending

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Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Gerry McNeil 3960 66 25 23 18 140 2.12 10
Jacques Plante 180 3 2 0 1 4 1.33 0
Hal Murphy 60 1 1 0 0 4 4.00 0
Team: 4200 70 28 23 19 148 2.11 10

Playoffs

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Scoring

[edit]
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Bernie Geoffrion RW 12 6 4 10 12
Maurice Richard RW 12 7 1 8 2
Elmer Lach C 12 1 6 7 6
Dickie Moore LW 12 3 2 5 13
Ken Mosdell C 7 3 2 5 4
Tom Johnson D 12 2 3 5 8
Doug Harvey D 12 0 5 5 8
Eddie Mazur D/LW 7 2 2 4 11
Bert Olmstead LW 12 2 2 4 4
Calum MacKay LW 7 1 3 4 10
Floyd Curry RW 12 2 1 3 2
Paul Meger LW 5 1 2 3 4
Dollard St. Laurent D 12 0 3 3 4
Emile Bouchard D 12 1 1 2 6
Lorne Davis RW 7 1 1 2 2
Billy Reay C 11 0 2 2 4
Dick Gamble LW 5 1 0 1 2
Paul Masnick C 6 1 0 1 7
Bud MacPherson D 4 0 1 1 9
Doug Anderson C 2 0 0 0 0
John McCormack C 9 0 0 0 0
Gerry McNeil G 8 0 0 0 0
Jacques Plante G 4 0 0 0 0

Goaltending

[edit]
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Gerry McNeil 486 8 5 3 16 1.98 2
Jacques Plante 240 4 3 1 7 1.75 1
Team: 726 12 8 4 23 1.90 3

[5]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards

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Stanley Cup (NHL Playoff Champions)

All-Star teams

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First team   Position  
Doug Harvey D
Second team   Position  
Gerry McNeil G
Maurice Richard RW
Bert Olmstead LW

Transactions

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The following is a list of all transactions that have occurred for the Montreal Canadiens during the 1952–53 NHL season. It lists which team each player has been traded to and for which player(s) or other consideration(s), if applicable.

September 22, 1952 To Montreal Canadiens
cash 		To Chicago Black Hawks
Gerry Couture 		[6][7]
October 8, 1952 To Montreal Canadiens
rights to Frank Eddolls 		To New York Rangers
cash 		[6][8]

Citations

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  1. ^ "The oldest living Canadiens Stanley Cup champion has passed away | Offside". dailyhive.com. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  2. ^ "Standings: 1952–1953". National Hockey League. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  3. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  4. ^ "1952-53 Montreal Canadiens Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 7, 2025.
  5. ^ "1952-53 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
  6. ^ a b "NHL trades for 1952-1953". NHL Trade Tracker. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  7. ^ Diamond, Dan, ed. (2003). Total NHL. Chicago: Triumph Books. p. 521. ISBN 978-1-57243-604-6.
  8. ^ Diamond, Dan, ed. (2003). Total NHL. Chicago: Triumph Books. p. 548. ISBN 978-1-57243-604-6.

References

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