1952–53 Montreal Canadiens season

1952–53 Montreal Canadiens
1952–53 Montreal Canadiens
Stanley Cup champions
League	2nd NHL
1952–53 record	28–23–19
Home record	18–12–5
Road record	10–11–14
Goals for	155
Goals against	148
Team information
General manager	Frank J. Selke
Coach	Dick Irvin
Captain	Emile Bouchard
Arena	Montreal Forum
Team leaders
Goals	Maurice Richard (28)
Assists	Maurice Richard (33)
Points	Maurice Richard (61)
Penalty minutes	Maurice Richard (112)
Wins	Gerry McNeil (25)
Goals against average	Gerry 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

Final standings

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		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

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
	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

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

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

Regular season

Scoring

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

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

Scoring

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

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 and records

Awards

Stanley Cup (NHL Playoff Champions)

All-Star teams

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

Transactions

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

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

References

[1] "The oldest living Canadiens Stanley Cup champion has passed away | Offside". dailyhive.com. Retrieved March 27, 2024.

[standings-div-2] "Standings: 1952–1953". National Hockey League. Retrieved February 28, 2020.

[3] "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

[Gamelog-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.

[:0-6] "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.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

Montreal Canadiens seasons
1900s	1909–10
1910s	1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

Montreal Canadiens
Founded in 1909 Based in Montreal, Quebec
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season
History	History Original Six Centennial Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) Molson family (Geoff Molson, chairman) General manager Kent Hughes Head coach Martin St. Louis Team captain Nick Suzuki Current roster
Arenas	Jubilee Arena Montreal Arena Mount Royal Arena Montreal Forum Bell Centre
Rivalries	Boston Bruins Quebec Nordiques Toronto Maple Leafs
Affiliates	AHL Laval Rocket ECHL Trois-Rivières Lions
Media	TV TSN2 (English) RDS (French) Radio TSN Radio 690 (English) 98,5 FM (French)
Culture and lore	Youppi! The Hockey Sweater Pour toujours, les Canadiens! Ginette Reno Tour des Canadiens The Punch Line Richard Riot 1938 European tour "Fix You" Good Friday Massacre 2003 Heritage Classic 2011 Heritage Classic 2016 Winter Classic 100 Classic Bell Sports Complex
Category Commons

1952–53 NHL season
Teams	Boston Chicago Detroit New York Toronto
See also	All-Star Game 1953 Stanley Cup Finals