1958–59 Toronto Maple Leafs season

1958–59 Toronto Maple Leafs
Division	4th NHL
1958–59 record	27–32–11
Goals for	189
Goals against	201
Team information
General manager	Punch Imlach
Coach	Billy Reay
Captain	George Armstrong
Arena	Maple Leaf Gardens
Team leaders
Goals	Dick Duff (29)
Assists	Bert Olmstead (31)
Points	Dick Duff (53)
Penalty minutes	Carl Brewer (125)
Wins	Johnny Bower (15)
Goals against average	Johnny Bower (2.72)

The 1958–59 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 42nd season in the NHL. The Maple Leafs finished 4th in the league and lost the 1959 Stanley Cup Finals to the Montreal Canadiens, 4 games to 1.

Regular Season

Carl Brewer breaks Bronco Horvath's jaw, October 18, 1958.

During the October 18, 1958 game in Toronto, in the first period, Doug Mohns took a Bob Pulford elbow to the face which broke his jaw. In the third period, Carl Brewer hit Bronco Horvath in the face with his shoulder and also broke his jaw. Both would return to play in December 1958, wearing protection for their still healing jaws. They'd wear special helmets for the remainder of the season and playoffs.

Don Keenan makes one of 37 saves, March 7, 1959.

Boston's Don Simmons was lost for the remainder of the season and playoffs in the February 28, 1959 game versus Chicago. Harry Lumley stepped in and played brilliantly, going 7-1-1, including a six game winning streak. Lumley suddenly took ill before the March 7, 1959 game in Toronto. With no backup, the Leafs house goalie, Don Keenan, goalie for St. Michael's College, played the only NHL game of his career in a 4-1 loss, though the Leafs did fire 41 shots at him.

Final Standings

National Hockey League

	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
Montreal Canadiens	70	39	18	13	91	258	158
Boston Bruins	70	32	29	9	73	205	215
Chicago Black Hawks	70	28	29	13	69	197	208
Toronto Maple Leafs	70	27	32	11	65	189	201
New York Rangers	70	26	32	12	64	201	217
Detroit Red Wings	70	25	37	8	58	167	218

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Teams that qualify for the playoffs are indicated in bold.

Game Log

Regular Season Results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 11, 1958	1–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1958–59)	0–1–0
2	L	October 12, 1958	2–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1958–59)	0–2–0
3	L	October 16, 1958	3–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1958–59)	0–3–0
4	W	October 18, 1958	3–2	Boston Bruins (1958–59)	1–3–0
5	L	October 19, 1958	1–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1958–59)	1–4–0
6	W	October 25, 1958	3–0	Detroit Red Wings (1958–59)	2–4–0
7	L	October 26, 1958	2–3	@ New York Rangers (1958–59)	2–5–0
8	L	October 29, 1958	0–5	Montreal Canadiens (1958–59)	2–6–0
9	W	November 1, 1958	4–3	New York Rangers (1958–59)	3–6–0
10	L	November 2, 1958	0–2	@ Boston Bruins (1958–59)	3–7–0
11	W	November 8, 1958	5–3	Boston Bruins (1958–59)	4–7–0
12	W	November 9, 1958	2–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1958–59)	5–7–0
13	L	November 12, 1958	1–4	Montreal Canadiens (1958–59)	5–8–0
14	L	November 15, 1958	1–4	Detroit Red Wings (1958–59)	5–9–0
15	T	November 16, 1958	4–4	@ Boston Bruins (1958–59)	5–9–1
16	L	November 19, 1958	4–7	@ New York Rangers (1958–59)	5–10–1
17	T	November 22, 1958	2–2	New York Rangers (1958–59)	5–10–2
18	T	November 23, 1958	3–3	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1958–59)	5–10–3
19	L	November 26, 1958	2–5	Detroit Red Wings (1958–59)	5–11–3
20	L	November 27, 1958	2–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1958–59)	5–12–3
21	L	November 29, 1958	1–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1958–59)	5–13–3
22	W	November 30, 1958	2–1	@ Boston Bruins (1958–59)	6–13–3
23	T	December 4, 1958	2–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (1958–59)	6–13–4
24	W	December 6, 1958	4–1	Boston Bruins (1958–59)	7–13–4
25	W	December 7, 1958	2–0	@ New York Rangers (1958–59)	8–13–4
26	T	December 10, 1958	2–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1958–59)	8–13–5
27	T	December 13, 1958	4–4	New York Rangers (1958–59)	8–13–6
28	L	December 14, 1958	3–6	@ Boston Bruins (1958–59)	8–14–6
29	L	December 18, 1958	1–4	@ Montreal Canadiens (1958–59)	8–15–6
30	T	December 20, 1958	2–2	Boston Bruins (1958–59)	8–15–7
31	L	December 21, 1958	1–5	@ New York Rangers (1958–59)	8–16–7
32	W	December 25, 1958	2–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1958–59)	9–16–7
33	T	December 27, 1958	2–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1958–59)	9–16–8
34	L	December 28, 1958	3–4	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1958–59)	9–17–8
35	W	December 31, 1958	2–0	Montreal Canadiens (1958–59)	10–17–8
36	L	January 3, 1959	1–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1958–59)	10–18–8
37	W	January 4, 1959	4–2	@ New York Rangers (1958–59)	11–18–8
38	W	January 7, 1959	3–1	Detroit Red Wings (1958–59)	12–18–8
39	L	January 8, 1959	0–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1958–59)	12–19–8
40	W	January 10, 1959	4–1	Boston Bruins (1958–59)	13–19–8
41	T	January 11, 1959	6–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1958–59)	13–19–9
42	L	January 14, 1959	2–3	New York Rangers (1958–59)	13–20–9
43	W	January 17, 1959	2–1	Detroit Red Wings (1958–59)	14–20–9
44	L	January 18, 1959	3–4	@ Boston Bruins (1958–59)	14–21–9
45	W	January 21, 1959	3–1	Montreal Canadiens (1958–59)	15–21–9
46	L	January 24, 1959	1–3	Boston Bruins (1958–59)	15–22–9
47	W	January 25, 1959	4–1	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1958–59)	16–22–9
48	L	January 31, 1959	2–5	New York Rangers (1958–59)	16–23–9
49	L	February 1, 1959	4–6	@ Boston Bruins (1958–59)	16–24–9
50	W	February 5, 1959	6–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1958–59)	17–24–9
51	W	February 7, 1959	4–1	Detroit Red Wings (1958–59)	18–24–9
52	L	February 8, 1959	2–7	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1958–59)	18–25–9
53	L	February 11, 1959	2–5	Montreal Canadiens (1958–59)	18–26–9
54	W	February 14, 1959	5–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1958–59)	19–26–9
55	L	February 15, 1959	2–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1958–59)	19–27–9
56	T	February 21, 1959	1–1	New York Rangers (1958–59)	19–27–10
57	L	February 22, 1959	1–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1958–59)	19–28–10
58	W	February 25, 1959	3–2	Montreal Canadiens (1958–59)	20–28–10
59	L	February 28, 1959	2–4	Detroit Red Wings (1958–59)	20–29–10
60	T	March 1, 1959	1–1	@ New York Rangers (1958–59)	20–29–11
61	W	March 4, 1959	5–2	Chicago Black Hawks (1958–59)	21–29–11
62	L	March 5, 1959	1–2	@ Montreal Canadiens (1958–59)	21–30–11
63	W	March 7, 1959	4–1	Boston Bruins (1958–59)	22–30–11
64	L	March 8, 1959	3–4	@ Boston Bruins (1958–59)	22–31–11
65	L	March 11, 1959	2–6	Montreal Canadiens (1958–59)	22–32–11
66	W	March 14, 1959	5–0	New York Rangers (1958–59)	23–32–11
67	W	March 15, 1959	6–5	@ New York Rangers (1958–59)	24–32–11
68	W	March 19, 1959	6–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (1958–59)	25–32–11
69	W	March 21, 1959	5–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1958–59)	26–32–11
70	W	March 22, 1959	6–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1958–59)	27–32–11

Playoffs

Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Boston Bruins 3

The teams last met eight years before in the 1951 Semi-finals which the Leafs won 4 games to 1. Harry Lumley and Johnny Bower played all seven games in net. Former Bruin Gerry Ehman was the series scoring leader with 9 points for the Leafs with linemates Frank Mahovlich and Billy Harris while the Bruins line of Don McKenney, Fleming Mackell and Jerry Toppazzini led Boston. The series was very close and the loss of star defenseman Doug Mohns to a knee injury in Game 3 (he returned in Game 7) tipped the scales. The Leafs won twice in overtime and scored a late goal in Game 7 to prevail.

Game 1 at the Boston Garden saw Lumley shine as the Leafs out shot the Bruins 32-24. After a first period goal by Jerry Toppazzini, Gerry Ehman tied it up in the second period but Leo Labine and Vic Stasiuk then scored a minute apart. With Boston's Bob Armstrong in the box for slashing, Larry Leach scored a Shorthanded goal at 18:45 for a 4-1 Boston lead going into the third period. Despite three more Power play opportunities, the Leafs couldn't score while Don McKenney added to the Bruins total in a 5-1 win.

Game 2 at Boston was a penalty-filled game as the Leafs tried to assert themselves. After the Leafs took three penalties, Fleming Mackell put the Bruins up at 10:00 of the first period. Carl Brewer then took a tripping penalty and Mackell scored on the power play. Dick Duff cut the lead to 2-1 going into the second period. A little over three minutes in, a wild melee developed with Bert Olmstead and Jean-Guy Gendron throwing haymakers at each other. Ron Stewart tied the game up five minutes later. In the third period, Boston killed off two straight penalties before Dick Duff was called for tripping Vic Stasiuk at 13:42. Stasiuk nearly scored on a solo rush during the power play. Seconds after Duff stepped back on the ice, Leo Labine dug the puck out from the right boards and backhanded a pass to Gendron to the left of the net. His one-timer beat Bower for a 3-2 lead. With a minute left, Tim Horton made a pass from behind his net to center ice. Bower vacated the net but the pass was intercepted by Bob Armstrong. He fired wide to the right side of the open net but it bounced off the boards and Labine tapped it in for a 4-2 Bruins win.

Game 3 at Maple Leaf Gardens saw early penalties which resulted in a 4 on 3 power play for Boston. Vic Stasiuk scored at 2:43 on the power play before Bob Pulford tied it up at 16:21. In the second period, Bower stopped Don McKenney on a breakaway and made a glove save on a 2 on 1 when Larry Leach fired for the top right corner. The Leafs pressed but Lumley made several incredible saves including a rebound by Gerry Ehman that the referee had to check with the goal judge to ensure it wasn't in. The Bruins killed off a hooking penalty to Leo Labine but lost Doug Mohns to a leg injury for the next three games. John Bucyk intercepted a clearing pass from Allan Stanley and a three-way passing play between him, Jim Morrison and Vic Stasiuk resulted in Stasiuk sliding the puck under Bower for a 2-1 Boston lead. The teams traded chances in the third period. With less than three minutes left, a Jerry Toppazzini give-away in the Bruins end resulted in Billy Harris passing to Tim Horton on the right boards. He passed to Ehman in the slot who spun and fired a low shot past Lumley to send the game into overtime. Bower stopped close in chances by Toppazzini and Bucyk with poke checks. In the Leafs zone, Vic Stasiuk passed to the right point but the puck was picked up by Bill Harris. Frank Mahovlich drove for the net, distracting Jim Morrison. Harris passed to Ehman on the right wing whose shot beat Lumley to the stick side for a 3-2 Leafs win.

Game 4 at Toronto was a wide-open, penalty-filled game in which 17 infractions were called. With Fern Flaman in the box for tripping, Gerry Ehman scored his fourth goal of the series on the power play at 6:58 of the first period. After a scoreless second period, Jerry Toppazzini tied it up at 2:02 of the third period only for Brian Cullen to score less than a minute later. Bronco Horvath potted his first of the series to send the game into overtime. With Jean-Guy Gendron in the box for cross-checking, Frank Mahovlich scored his first of the series at 11:21 for a 3-2 Leafs win to even the series 2-2.

Game 5 at Boston saw the Bruins outshoot the Leafs 32-22 but Bower's play made the difference. Goals by Bert Olmstead, Dick Duff, Frank Mahovlich and Bob Pulford staked Toronto to a 4-0 lead before Jerry Toppazzini scored a consolation goal at 11:25 of the third period. With a 4-1 win, the Leafs took a 3-2 lead in the series going back home.

Leo Boivin's rush leads to Bronco Horvath's game winner, Game 6 of the 1959 Semi-finals, April 4, 1959.

Game 6 at Toronto was a clean game with the fewest penalties in the series. After Jerry Toppazzini scored on the power play with Bert Olmstead in the box, Don McKenney made it 2-0 Boston a few minutes later. Olmstead then scored on a 5 on 3 power play with Stasiuk and Mackell in the box for a 2-1 Boston lead at the end of the first period. Frank Mahovlich tied it up 3:50 into the second period before John Bucyk scored twice for a 4-2 Bruins lead at the end of the second period. After several icing calls against Boston early in the third period, a Frank Mahovlich rush was broken up in the Bruins zone. Billy Harris retrieved the puck and passed it to Tim Horton, who narrowly kept it in the zone. His backhand into the slot was picked up by Gerry Ehman whose backhand shot beat Lumley low to the stick side, cutting the Bruins lead to 4-3. Lumley then stopped Bill Harris on a breakaway before the teams played four aside with Mahovlich and Mackell in the box. Carl Brewer then took a high sticking penalty giving Boston a 4 on 3 power play. Bower stopped a shot by Jim Morrison and the Bruins had difficulty getting the puck. Stasiuk finally retrieved it and rushed into the Leafs zone. Mahovlich stepped out of the box, stripped Stasiuk of the puck and rushed down the right side. Lumley stopped his shot but he rounded the net and shot the rebound in to tie the game 4-4. With a little over seven minutes left in the game, Leo Boivin rushed up the ice, deked past two Leafs and his cross ice pass found Stasiuk in the slot. His slap shot was deflected in by Bronco Horvath to make it 5-4 Boston. The Bruins forechecked very well for the remainder of the game allowing few Leafs entries into their zone. Bower tried to leave the net with a minute left but was forced to play the puck at the blue line and it was nearly stolen by McKenney. Bower then stopped Mackell on a breakaway and couldn't leave the net for an extra attacker until there was 30 seconds left in the game which ended with no further score and the series tied 3-3.

Game 7 at Boston saw Doug Mohns return to action after missing three games. The teams traded power plays goals by Vic Stasiuk and Larry Regan in a penalty-filled first period (11 were called, with a fight between Stasiuk and Bobby Baun). Several minutes into the second period, Harry Lumley was hit in the face by a Dick Duff shot. Play went on until Lumley froze the puck. The game was delayed for over 30 minutes while Lumley received medical treatment. He returned to play with 7 stitches to his upper lip and 2 teeth knocked out. No penalties were called in the period and both teams had spates of prolonged pressure. A face-off in the Bruins zone saw the puck cleared just past the blueline. Leo Boivin beat two Leafs to the puck, rushed into the Leafs zone, shifted left and beat Bower to the short side to make it 2-1 Boston. In the third period, after several Bruins chances, Bob Pulford dumped the puck in on Lumley. He saved it but missed clearing the rebound and Pulford smacked it past Lumley. As the Bruins pressed, McKenney missed a pass from Mackell in the Leafs. Brewer headmanned the puck to Mahovlich who drew both Bruins defensemen to him. He passed to Ehman on the right wing who fired it home low to Lumley's stick side at 17:27. Larry Regan was called for tripping 14 seconds later. On the power play, Stasiuk had a great chance to the right side of the net but Bower smothered his shot. Lumley was pulled for the extra attacker with 30 seconds left and a face-off in the Leafs zone. Pulford won the face-off and fired the puck into the Bruins zone. The Bruins managed to get the puck back into the Leafs zone but a great play by Allan Stanley saw him clear it again and time ran out. The Leafs won 3-2 and took the series.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	March 24	Toronto Maple Leafs	1-5	Boston Bruins	0-1
2	March 26	Toronto Maple Leafs	2-4	Boston Bruins	0-2
3	March 28	Boston Bruins	2-3 (OT)	Toronto Maple Leafs	2-1
4	March 31	Boston Bruins	2-3 (OT)	Toronto Maple Leafs	2-2
5	April 2	Toronto Maple Leafs	4-1	Boston Bruins	3-2
6	April 4	Boston Bruins	5-4	Toronto Maple Leafs	3-3
7	April 7	Toronto Maple Leafs	3-2	Boston Bruins	4-3

Player Stats

Regular Season

Scoring

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Dick Duff	69	29	24	53	73
Billy Harris	70	22	30	52	29
Frank Mahovlich	63	22	27	49	94
Bert Olmstead	70	10	31	41	74
Bob Pulford	70	23	14	37	53
George Armstrong	59	20	16	36	37
Ron Stewart	70	21	13	34	23
Tim Horton	70	5	21	26	76
Gerry Ehman	38	12	13	25	12
Larry Regan	32	4	21	25	2
Carl Brewer	69	3	21	24	125
Allan Stanley	70	1	22	23	47
Brian Cullen	59	4	14	18	10
Barry Cullen	40	6	8	14	17
Dave Creighton	34	3	9	12	4
Bob Baun	51	1	8	9	87
Marc Reaume	51	1	5	6	67
Gary Aldcorn	5	0	3	3	2
Rudy Migay	19	1	1	2	4
Stephen Kraftcheck	8	1	0	1	0
Willie Marshall	9	0	1	1	2
Bob Nevin	2	0	0	0	2
Noel Price	28	0	0	0	4
Ed Chadwick	31	0	0	0	0
Johnny Bower	39	0	0	0	2

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
Johnny Bower	2340	39	15	17	7	106	2.72				3
Ed Chadwick	1860	31	12	15	4	92	2.97				3
Team:	4200	70	27	32	11	198	2.83				6

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Gerry Ehman	12	6	7	13	8
Frank Mahovlich	12	6	5	11	18
Bob Pulford	12	4	4	8	8
Dick Duff	12	4	3	7	8
Billy Harris	12	3	4	7	16
Bert Olmstead	12	4	2	6	13
Ron Stewart	12	3	3	6	6
Carl Brewer	12	0	6	6	40
George Armstrong	12	0	4	4	10
Tim Horton	12	0	3	3	16
Allan Stanley	12	0	3	3	2
Larry Regan	8	1	1	2	2
Brian Cullen	10	1	0	1	0
Dave Creighton	5	0	1	1	0
Gary Collins	2	0	0	0	0
Barry Cullen	2	0	0	0	0
Rudy Migay	2	0	0	0	0
Noel Price	5	0	0	0	2
Marc Reaume	10	0	0	0	0
Bob Baun	12	0	0	0	24
Johnny Bower	12	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
Johnny Bower	746	12	5	7		38	3.06				0
Team:	746	12	5	7		38	3.06				0

Awards and Records

• Calder Memorial Trophy: Carl Brewer, Runner-up

Gallery

Fleming Mackell, Real Chevrefils and Johnny Bower, October 18, 1958.

Don Simmons, Larry Regan, Bob Pulford and Larry Hillman on November 16, 1958.

Johnny Bower, Carl Brewer and Bronco Horvath (wearing his jaw protector), January 10, 1959.

Bronco Horvath scores on Johnny Bower, January 10, 1959.

Vic Stasiuk, Bronco Horvath (wearing his jaw protector) and goalie Ed Chadwick, January 24, 1959.

Don Keenan in his only NHL game, March 7, 1959.

Bob Pulford shoots on Harry Lumley during the 1958-59 season.

John Bucyk, Johnny Bower, Game 6 of the 1959 Semi-finals, April 4, 1959.

Pre-season @ Quebec City

Video

Two minutes of video from the October 18, 1958 Toronto-Boston game showing Leo Boivin hitting the post and then a scrap between Bronco Horvath and Bert Olmstead who later sit in the penalty box together.

NHL Oct. 18, 1958 Bert Olmstead,TOR v Bronco Horvath,BOS (almost) Toronto Maple Leafs Boston Bruins

Over two hours of footage of Game 7 of the 1959 Bruins-Leafs Semi-finals starting in the second period. Several minutes into the second period, Harry Lumley is hit in the face by a Dick Duff shot. Play goes on until Lumley freezes the puck. The game is stopped for over 30 minutes while Lumley is repaired and to fill the time, interviews are held with Gordie Howe, Tom Foley (broadcaster), Ed Chadwick, Johnny Gagnon, Spencer Evans (Leafs publicity director) and Roger Barry (Boston hockey writer). Lumley returned to play with 7 stitches to his upper lip and 2 teeth knocked out.

1959 Stanley Cup Semi Final Toronto Maple Leafs vs Boston Bruins Game 7

See Also

• 1958–59 NHL season

References

• 1958–59 Toronto Maple Leafs Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-06.