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5th NHL All-Star Game
51NHLASProg
123OT Total
Second Team All-Stars 011- 2
First Team All-Stars 110- 2
Date October 9, 1951
Arena Maple Leaf Gardens
City Toronto, Canada
MVP None
Attendance 11,469
← 1950 1952 →

The Fifth National Hockey League All-Star Game took place at Maple Leaf Gardens, home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, on October 9, 1951. Two teams of All-star players played to a 2–2 tie.

Change in Format[]

The format was different from the previous four games, largely due to the nomination of five Detroit Red Wings players to the First and Second Team All-Stars which led to a 7–1 loss the year before. The same critics of the previous format's 7–1 outcome equally lamented the two-all tie in this game, with many suggesting that overtime be implemented.

The new format had the First Team All-Stars and the Second Team All-Stars be the cores of the two teams playing in the all-star game, with the reserves for the First Team consisting of players on American-based teams and the Second Team reserves consisting of Habs and Leafs. Because of the new format, the First Team All-Stars wore red jerseys while the Second Team wore white ones. Jersey design was the same as in the past four All-Star games with a small "1951" in the NHL crest.

The 1951 game was held in somewhat of a sombre mood, as Bill Barilko, who had scored the Cup-winning goal for the Leafs, had mysteriously disappeared in a plane accident two months before. Had he been around, he would have been made a member of the Second Team. As the All-Star game was symbolic of the start of the season, many new rule changes also had their first looks in this game: the most notable being touch icing: that a defensive player (other than the goaltender) must touch the puck for icing calls (previously, only goaltenders were permitted to touch the puck on icing calls).

Other notable firsts include the first time that the Vezina Trophy winner (Al Rollins) would be absent from the game, as Second Team coach Dick Irvin chose his own player Gerry McNeil, who was in goal when Barilko scored the Cup-winning goal.

Boxscore[]

First Team All-Stars Second Team All-Stars
Final Score 2 2
Head Coach Joe Primeau (Toronto Maple Leafs) Dick Irvin (Montreal Canadiens)
Lineup First Team All-Stars:


Reserves:

Second Team All-Stars:


Reserves:

Scoring Summary
  • Howe (Lindsay, Schmidt) 1:59 first (power play)
  • Peirson (Stewart, Raleigh) 16:49 second
  • Sloan (Watson, Bentley) 2:26 second (power play)
  • Mosdell (Sloan, Mortson) 9:25 third
Penalties
  • Eddols 10:41 first
  • Raleigh 1:46 second
  • Lindsay 1:25 third
  • Howe 5:53 third
  • Curry 6:38 first
  • Sloan 15:58 first
Win/Loss Harry Lumley Gerry McNeil

Source: Podnieks(2000), p. 43.

Gallery[]

Video[]

A very detailed video showing the program page by page, player introductions in the dressing room and 12 minutes of game action with commentary.

References[]

  • Podnieks, Andrew (2000). The NHL All-Star Game: 50 years of the great tradition. Toronto: HarperCollins. ISBN 000200058X. 
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