Sid Smith and the Quickest Goal to Start a Stanley Cup Final


Nikolai Ehlers opened the scoring in the 2026 Stanley Cup finals a mere 25 seconds into Game One. Quite the way to start a series, but it was still ten seconds later than the all-time record for a Cup opening goal. On April 11, 1951, Sid Smith of the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Montreal's Gerry McNeil a mere 15 seconds into the game. In addition to this, Smith also netted the overtime winner to secure a 3-2 victory for Toronto. 

Al Nickleson of the Toronto Globe and Mail reported on the affair;

"They'll be talking for a long time of how Sid Smith, a super. sundae sauce salesman when the ice is out of Maple Leaf Gardens, stole Rocket Richard's overtime heroics last night. Smitty not only popped the goal that won the Stanley Cup opener, 3-2, for the Leafs after nearly six minutes of extra time, but he had shot the initial score just 15 seconds after the game started-an NHL playoff record for the quickest goal after the opening gong."

The Globe's, Jim Vipond eloquently described Smith's heroics as such;

"Sid Smith, Toronto-born hockey player with an un-rehearsed flair for the dramatic, pulled all the Hollywood stops as he poked home the payoff goal for his Maple Leafs against Montreal Canadiens last night. The Groucho Marx of the Leals' dressing room scored after five minutes and 51 seconds of sweltering, sudden-death overtime to give Leafs a 3-2 victory in the first of a best-of-seven Stanley Cup final series at the Gardens. Second game will be played here Saturday. Smitty, crew-cut citizen of West Toronto with a fine sense of humor showed a fine sense of timing as he opened and closed the scoring in as fast and exciting a hockey game as has been seen here this season."

This series would of course go on to feature four more overtime games, culminating in the Leafs winning the Cup on Bill Barilko's famous winner.








 

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