The 1950 Stanley Cup Final was contested by the New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings. It was the Rangers' first appearance in the Finals since their Stanley Cup victory in 1940. This was a rematch of the 1937 Stanley Cup Finals, which the Red Wings won in five games. The Red Wings once again defeated the Rangers, this time in seven games, to mark their franchise's fourth Cup win, and first since 1943.

This was the last Stanley Cup Finals to feature a team that did not host any games and also the last to feature neutral site games until 2020. The neutral site games were held in Toronto on account of scheduling conflicts at Madison Square Garden.

Paths to the Finals

New York defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4–1 to reach the Finals. Detroit defeated the three-time defending champion Toronto Maple Leafs (who had swept the Red Wings in the Finals two years running) 4–3 to reach the Finals.

Game summaries

Two games were played in Toronto as the circus had taken over Madison Square Garden in New York. New York's Don Raleigh scored two overtime winners and Pete Babando scored the Cup-winning goal in double overtime of Game 7, the first time ever in which the Stanley Cup was won in extra frames in Game 7. Detroit won the Cup without Gordie Howe, injured in the first game of the playoffs.

As Stanley Cup runner-up, the Rangers were awarded the O'Brien Cup, and they became the last team to win this trophy, which was retired after the season. Originally, the O'Brien Cup was the championship trophy of the National Hockey Association, the NHL's precursor, and later awarded to the NHL champion before the league took over control of the Stanley Cup in 1927.

Series

April 11New York Rangers1–4Detroit Red WingsOlympia Stadium
Buddy O'Connor (2) – 05:58First periodNo scoring
No scoringSecond period04:43 – pp – Joe Carveth (2) 09:32 – George Gee (2) 10:06 – Jim McFadden (1) 13:56 – pp – Gerry Couture (2)
No scoringThird periodNo scoring
Chuck RaynerGoalie statsHarry Lumley
April 13Detroit Red Wings1–3New York RangersMaple Leaf Gardens
No scoringFirst periodNo scoring
Gerry Couture (3) – 03:05Second period10:39 – Pat Egan (3)
No scoringThird period03:04 – Edgar Laprade (1) 11:20 – Edgar Laprade (2)
Harry LumleyGoalie statsChuck Rayner
April 15Detroit Red Wings4–0New York RangersMaple Leaf Gardens
Gerry Couture (4) – pp – 14:14 George Gee (3) – pp – 19:08First periodNo scoring
Sid Abel (2) – 19:16Second periodNo scoring
Marty Pavelich (3) – 16:55Third periodNo scoring
Harry LumleyGoalie statsChuck Rayner
April 18New York Rangers4–3OTDetroit Red WingsOlympia Stadium
No scoringFirst period06:31 – Ted Lindsay (1) 16:48 – Sid Abel (3)
Buddy O'Connor (3) – 19:59Second periodNo scoring
Edgar Laprade (3) – 08:09 Gus Kyle (1) – 16:26Third period03:32 – Marty Pavelich (4)
Don Raleigh (3) – 08:34First overtime periodNo scoring
Chuck RaynerGoalie statsHarry Lumley
April 20New York Rangers2–1OTDetroit Red WingsOlympia Stadium
No scoringFirst periodNo scoring
Dunc Fisher (2) – 07:44Second periodNo scoring
No scoringThird period18:10 – Ted Lindsay (2)
Don Raleigh (4) – 01:38First overtime periodNo scoring
Chuck RaynerGoalie statsHarry Lumley
April 22New York Rangers4–5Detroit Red WingsOlympia Stadium
Allan Stanley (1) – 03:45 Dunc Fisher (3) – 07:35First period19:18 – Ted Lindsay (3)
Pentti Lund (6) – pp – 03:18Second period05:38 – Sid Abel (4) 16:07 – Gerry Couture (5)
Tony Leswick (1) – 01:54Third period04:13 – Ted Lindsay (4) 10:34 – Sid Abel (5)
Chuck RaynerGoalie statsHarry Lumley
April 23New York Rangers3–42OTDetroit Red WingsOlympia Stadium
Allan Stanley (2) – pp – 11:14 Tony Leswick (2) – pp – 12:18First periodNo scoring
Buddy O'Connor (4) – 11:42Second period05:09 – pp – Pete Babando (1) 05:30 – pp – Sid Abel (6) 15:57 – Jim McFadden (2)
No scoringThird periodNo scoring
No scoringSecond overtime period08:31 – Pete Babando (2)
Chuck RaynerGoalie statsHarry Lumley
Detroit won series 4–3

Stanley Cup engraving

The 1950 Stanley Cup was presented to Red Wings captain Sid Abel by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Red Wings 4–3 double overtime win over the Rangers in game seven.

The following Red Wings players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup

1949–50 Detroit Red Wings

Players

Centres

Wingers

Defencemen

Goaltenders

* Name was later removed when the Stanley Cup was redone in the 1957–58 season.

Coaching and administrative staff

Stanley Cup engraving

  • * #1 Terry Sawchuk (G) – played in seven NHL games in 1950, because Harry Lumley was injured. Sawchuk was not available for the playoffs because he was helping the AHL Indianapolis Capitals win the Calder Cup. Instead, Harry MacQueston was called up as the spare goalie for the playoffs. MacQueston's name was engraved on the Stanley Cup, but he never played in the NHL. MacQueston was removed from the Stanley Cup when it was re-done during the 1957–58 season.
  • Al Dewsbury, Gord Haidy, and Doug Mackay also won the Calder Cup with the Indianapolis Capitals and the Stanley Cup with Detroit in 1950. Fred Glover, Enio Sclisizzi, and Benny Woit also won the Calder Cup in 1950 and then won the Stanley Cup in 1952.
  • Detroit did not engrave the names of #20 Gordon Haidy (RW) and #27 Doug McKay (LW) on the Stanley Cup, even though they each played one playoff game and qualified to be on the cup. McKay played his only NHL game in the Finals, while Haidy played his only NHL game in the semifinals.

See also

Notes

  • Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Stanley Cup. NHL.
  • Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN978-1-55168-261-7.
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PrecededbyToronto Maple Leafs 1949Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup champions 1950SucceededbyToronto Maple Leafs 1951