1955 Stanley Cup Final

The 1955 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1954–55 season, and the culmination of the 1955 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Montreal Canadiens, appearing in their fifth of ten straight Finals, and the defending champion Detroit Red Wings, in the third Detroit-Montreal Finals series of the 1950s and the second consecutively. The Red Wings once again defeated the Canadiens in seven games for their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship, fourth in six seasons, and seventh overall. The Red Wings would not win the Stanley Cup again until 1997.

Montreal defeated the Boston Bruins in five games to reach the Finals. Detroit defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in four games to reach the Finals.

Prior to the playoffs, Montreal's Maurice Richard was suspended and would be missed by the Canadiens.^[1]

In the second game, Ted Lindsay scored four goals to set an NHL record for most goals in one game in a Finals series.^[2]

Gordie Howe set two NHL records, amassing 12 points in this round, and surpassing former Canadiens player (and soon-to-be-coach) Toe Blake's point mark for the playoffs with 20 points in 11 games.^[3]

This was also the first Finals in which the home team won all seven games of the series, a feat that would be repeated only twice in the next 50 years, in 1965 (Montreal defeated the Chicago Black Hawks) and 2003 (the New Jersey Devils beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim).^[4]

The 1955 Stanley Cup was presented to Red Wings captain Ted Lindsay by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Red Wings' 3–1 win over the Canadiens in game seven.

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

1954–55 Detroit Red Wings

• Larry Hillman became the youngest player to be engraved on the Stanley Cup at 18 years, 2 months, 9 days. Gaye Stewart held the previous record in 1942 at 18 years, 9 months, and 21 days.
• Wally Crossman (Asst. Trainer/Stick Boy) was left off the Stanley Cup, and team picture.
• Marguerite Norris was the first woman to win back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1953–54, 1954–55.
• Jimmy Skinner was the 8th NHL rookie coach to win the Stanley Cup.
• Glenn Hall played 2 games for Detroit during the season. He was spare goalie for the finals. Hall spent most regular-season and playoffs playing for the Edmonton Flyers(WHL). So, his name was left off the Stanley Cup.

Gordie Howe, Red Kelly, Ted Lindsay, Marty Pavelich, Marcel Pronovost, John Wilson (6 Players), Jack Adams, Carl Mattson, Fred Hubert Jr. (3 Non-players).

The next year, the Red Wings again met the Canadiens in the Finals in the hopes of a three-peat, but Montreal would get revenge on Detroit, winning the Cup in five games. The Canadiens then started a dynasty, winning the Stanley Cup the next four years, in 1957, 1958, 1959, and 1960.

The loss marked the end of the Red Wings’ dynasty. The Red Wings would return to the Finals in 1961, 1963, 1964, and 1966, but they would lose each one. They then entered a near 20 year slump known as the "Dead Wings" era, in which they would only make the playoffs twice between 1967 and 1983. The Red Wings would not win the Stanley Cup again until 1997, in which the swept the Philadelphia Flyers, starting another dynasty.

• 1954–55 NHL season

• Diamond, Dan (2000). Total Stanley Cup. Toronto: Total Sports Canada. ISBN 978-1-892129-07-9.
• Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Bolton, Ont.: Fenn Pub. pp 12, 50. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7
• "All-Time NHL Results".