POINT OF FACT
? What team has won the most Stanley Cup playoffs?
•Montreal has been the Stanley Cup champion 11 times since 1918, the first year the NHL put up the cup as the symbol of the world hockey championship. Toronto has won the cup nine times, and Detroit seven. New York, Chicago and Boston have three wins apiece.
? When the Chicago Black Hawks won the Stanley Cup last year they broke a string of five straight championships by the Montreal Canadiens (1956-60). Has any other NHL team won that many cups in a row?
•No. The next best streak is three, by the Toronto Maple Leafs (1947-49). The only other repeat winners were the Ottawa Senators (1920 and 1921), the Canadiens (1930 and 1931) and the Detroit Red Wings (1936 and 1937, 1954 and 1955).
? When was the last time the New York-Rangers and the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup?
•The Rangers last won the cup in 1940, and the Bruins in 1941. The Rangers have reached the Stanley Cup finals only once since 1940 (lost to Detroit in 1950, four games to three). The Bruins have appeared five times in the cup finals since their last championship (1943, 1946, 1953, 1957 and 1958).
? Has any team ever won the Stanley Cup playoffs without losing a game?
•Yes. In 1952 the Red Wings won four straight from Toronto in the semifinals (Goalie Terry Sawchuk shut out the Maple Leafs in the first two games) and four straight from the Canadiens in the finals (Sawchuk shut out Montreal in the last two games, and overall allowed only five goals in the playoffs). Montreal also swept the Stanley Cup playoffs with eight straight wins over Chicago and Toronto in 1960.
? Has any goalie besides Terry Sawchuk registered four shutouts in a Stanley Cup playoff?
•Yes. Clint Benedict of the Montreal Maroons (1928) and Dave Kerr of the Rangers (1937) had four shutouts in nine games. In 1945 Frank McCool of Toronto had four shutouts in 13 games. Three of them were in succession against the Red Wings in the finals. Overall, Turk Broda of Toronto leads all goalies with 12 shutouts in 13 Stanley Cup series.
? What player scored the most points in a Stanley Cup playoff?
•In 1955 Gordie Howe of Detroit scored 20 points (9 goals, 11 assists) in 11 games. Three players have scored 19 points: Ted Lindsay of Detroit in 1955 (7 goals, 12 assists), Jean Beliveau of Montreal in 1956 (a record 12 goals, 7 assists in 10 games) and Fleming Mackell of Boston in 1958 (5 goals, a record 14 assists in 12 games).
? Maurice Richard of the Canadiens holds more Stanley Cup playoff records than any other NHL player. What are some of his records?
•Richard scored 126 points (a record 82 goals, 44 assists) in 133 playoff games (15 Stanley Cup series). He is tied with Jean Beliveau for most goals in a single playoff series (12 goals in nine games in 1944); he scored three goals or more in one game seven times; he scored 18 winning goals (6 in overtime games). In a semifinal game against Toronto in 1944 Richard scored all of the Canadiens' goals to beat the Maple Leafs 5-1.
? What was the highest scoring line in a Stanley Cup playoff?
•In 1955 Detroit's first line of Center Earl Reibel, Right Wing Gordie Howe and Left Wing Ted Lindsay scored 51 points in 11 games against the Maple Leafs and the Canadiens.
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