Game Report: Dec.31, 1949 Detroit Red Wings v Toronto Maple Leafs

I starting looking at old programs last week, and what happened in the actual games in which they were issued. Today I look at a program from a game on New Years Eve, Dec. 31, 1949 when the Detroit Red Wings visited Maple Leaf Gardens. Pictured on the cover is Leaf centreman Cal Gardner. He was in the line up this evening just returning from a broken jaw suffered on November 10. Gardner would play a mere 31 games in 1949-50 yet still produced 26 points.

This Saturday night affair was the first of a home and home set between the Wings and Leafs. Detroit came into the game in first place with a record of 20-8-4. The Leafs meanwhile had one once and tied two in their last nine games. The Wings as somewhat expected beat Toronto 5-1 this evening then 5-0 the next night back home at The Olympia. They jumped out to a 2-0 before the game was seven minutes old before 12,985 at the Gardens. League point leader Ted Lindsay assisted on the first goal by Sid Abel and would add another helper on a Gordie Howe goal late in the third. Toronto points leader Max Bentley tallied their only goal with just over a minute left to break up the shutout of Harry Lumley.

When the dust settled after their weekend sweep, Detroit held a 13 point lead over second place Montreal and Toronto settled into fifth place. Ted Lindsay held a six point lead in the scoring race with 42 points, 6 more than teammate Abel.


By the end of the season Detroit had indeed held onto first place with 88 points , 11 more than Montreal and Toronto had climbed to third with a great second half record of 19-10-6. Lindsay retained his lead in the scoring race finishing with 78 points. Detroit and Toronto would meet in the first round and the series went the distance. The Wings bested the Leafs four games to three even though they were shutout three times by Turk Broda. In fact Broda would finish the seven games with a 1.33 GAA but the Leafs scored only 6 goals in the last 6 games after their 5-0 win in game one. Incidentally in this game, 21 year old Gordie Howe suffered a fractured skull in a collision with Ted Kennedy and would miss the rest of the playoffs.
The Wings went on to win the Cup over New York in game seven double overtime on a goal by Pete Babando. The Leafs would bounce back the next year to win their fourth Cup in five seasons.

Comments

horchy said…
I noticed after the Drew Stafford post there was an advert for Stafford chocolate syrup in the program pictured in the following post on the Leafs vs. Wings. Coincidence, or somehow connected?? Perhaps posts on Blake Sloan and Mark Eaton are to follow?? Hmmmmm....??
February 20, 2011 at 11:59 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ron Hextall and the stolen Conn Smythe Trophy

Image
Ron Hextall did not deserve the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1987....there, I said it. I recently caught game seven of the '87 finals on ESPN Classic, where the Oilers beat the Flyers 3-1. Hextall was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy to the disdain and boos of the Northlands Coliseum. Hextall was (and remains) the fourth player to win the trophy in a losing cause. Even as a teenager following these playoffs as they happened, I thought this was an injustice. Upon further inspection, I believe he only won because he was a rookie, and was the "sexy" pick as opposed to the proper pick. When looking at his numbers, it's hard to figure why he won. Hextall finished with 15 wins, 11 losses and a GAA of 2.77. Oilers, Grant Fuhr went 14 and 5 with an average of 2.46. I realize that stats cannot tell the whole story, but even if we dig further the award doesn't seem justified. His .908 Save Pct was the same as Fuhr's and tied for third behind Ken Wregget and Kelly Hrudey. Also,
Read more

WHA Ottawa Civics, The Two Week Franchise

Image
Tom Earl, Daryl Maggs, Mark Lomenda, Gary MacGregor, Garry Swain "Please let the fans make up their own minds," Henry Feller told a press gathering. "Let them decide if they want pro hockey here. We have to average 7,000 or 8,000 in the remaining 19 home games for a break-even point." Feller was a director of the Founders Club who had interest in buying the WHA's Denver Spurs club. Ivan Mullinex, owner of the Spurs had brought his team to Ottawa in an attempt to drum up interest and save his investment. The date was January 2, 1976 and Mullinex was in debt to a Denver bank to the tune of $1 million dollars. This same day, the newly christened Civics lost their first game under the new moniker by a score of 2-1 at Cincinnati. Star of the team, Ralph Backstrom said after the game, "Our first official notice of the move hit us when we entered the Cincinnati rink and the names on the big scoreboard read: Stingers and Civics. Until that moment we were un
Read more

Team Canada 1972, What Might have Been

Image
Guy Lafleur, if he had played in the 72 Summit Series "No way. Can you imagine what our fans would say if we allowed Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito to play for Canada in that series and either...suffered an injury that might prevent them from playing with us for a year or more?" This was the concern of Weston Adams Jr, president of the Boston Bruins as quoted on April 20, 1972. After being speculated and discussed since February 1972 at the Olympics in Sapporo Japan, the series was set to go. Early on however, controversy stirred as to who exactly would be representing Canada. Bruins GM, Milt Schmidt agreed with his boss saying, "My only interest would be to see the Russians play the Bruins for the world championship...or whatever team wins the Stanley Cup." In the Vancouver Sun a few days later, the legendary Jim Coleman responds to the American naysayers suggesting that Team Canada should be made up strictly of players from Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal
Read more