1967 Stanley Cup Finals

The 1967 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1966–67 season, and the culmination of the 1967 Stanley Cup playoffs. A best-of-seven series, it was contested between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs. This was the fifth and final Cup Final Meeting in the history of the Canadiens-Maple Leafs rivalry. The Maple Leafs defeated the Canadiens in six games to win their thirteenth and most recent Stanley Cup championship.

To date, this is Toronto's last appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals and they have the longest-active championship drought in the NHL. The 1967 Stanley Cup Finals was also the last Stanley Cup Finals in the Original Six Era. This was also the last all-Canadian Finals series until 1986.

Paths to the Finals[edit]

This was the last Stanley Cup before the 1967 expansion which meant there were only two rounds and three series in total were played in the playoffs. Montreal defeated New York to advance to the finals and Toronto defeated Chicago.

Game summaries[edit]

The average age of the Leafs' players was 31, the oldest lineup to win the Cup.^[1] Johnny Bower was 42 and Allan Stanley was 41. Dave Keon won the Conn Smythe Trophy.

Montreal won the opener 6–2. For the second game, Terry Sawchuk was replaced with Bower and provided the Leafs with a shutout win, 3–0. Bower was in net for game three and won 3–2 on Bob Pulford's overtime goal. This game has been described as "one of the most exciting games ever played".^[2]

Bower was injured before game four and Sawchuk had to replace him. Al Smith was called up from the minors to serve as back-up for the fourth and fifth games. The Canadiens defeated the Leafs 6–2 again, this time in Toronto to even the series. Sawchuk would play well in the next two games, backstopping the Leafs to the Cup.

In the sixth game Bower returned to the line-up as back up. Jim Pappin scored his seventh goal of the playoffs and Sawchuk stopped 41 shots helping Toronto win the Cup. Pappin had four goals and four assists in the final series. Captain George Armstrong scored the 3–1 empty-net insurance goal to put game six out of reach.

April 20	Toronto Maple Leafs		2–6	Montreal Canadiens	Forum de Montréal	Recap
Larry Hillman (1) – 6:40		First period		6:25 – pp – Yvan Cournoyer (1) 11:19 – Henri Richard (1)
Jim Pappin (4) – pp – 12:59		Second period		5:03 – pp – Yvan Cournoyer (2) 6:36 – Jean Beliveau (3)
No scoring		Third period		4:53 – Henri Richard (2) 8:21 – Henri Richard (3)
Terry Sawchuck 30 saves / 35 shots Johnny Bower 8 saves / 9 shots		Goalie stats		Rogie Vachon 24 saves / 26 shots

April 22	Toronto Maple Leafs		3–0	Montreal Canadiens	Forum de Montréal	Recap
Pete Stemkowski (4) – pp – 12:14		First period		No scoring
Mike Walton (3) – pp – 9:12 Tim Horton (2) – 16:57		Second period		No scoring
No scoring		Third period		No scoring
Johnny Bower 31 saves / 31 shots		Goalie stats		Rogie Vachon 40 saves / 43 shots

April 25	Montreal Canadiens		2–3	2OT	Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
Jean Beliveau (4) – pp – 2:27		First period			8:39 – pp – Pete Stemkowski (5)
John Ferguson (4) – 19:10		Second period			10:34 – Jim Pappin (5)
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		Second overtime period			8:26 – Bob Pulford (1)
Rogie Vachon 51 saves / 54 shots		Goalie stats			Johnny Bower 61 saves / 63 shots

April 27	Montreal Canadiens		6–2	Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
Ralph Backstrom (4) – 12:25 Jean Beliveau (5) – pp – 13:08		First period		No scoring
Henri Richard (4) – 2:26 Jean Beliveau (6) – 13:41 Ralph Backstrom (5) – 15:58		Second period		2:09 – pp – Mike Walton (4) 12:16 – Tim Horton (3)
Jim Roberts (1) – 15:17		Third period		No scoring
Rogie Vachon 35 saves / 37 shots		Goalie stats		Terry Sawchuk 34 saves / 40 shots

April 29	Toronto Maple Leafs		4–1	Montreal Canadiens	Forum de Montréal	Recap
Jim Pappin (6) – pp – 15:06		First period		6:03 – Leon Rochefort (1)
Brian Conacher (3) – 3:07 Marcel Pronovost (1) – sh – 12:02 Dave Keon (3) – 19:27		Second period		No scoring
No scoring		Third period		No scoring
Terry Sawchuk 37 saves / 38 shots		Goalie stats		Rogie Vachon 15 saves / 19 shots Gump Worsley 10 saves / 10 shots

May 2	Montreal Canadiens		1–3	Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
No scoring		First period		No scoring
No scoring		Second period		6:25 – Ron Ellis (2) 19:24 – Jim Pappin (7)
Dick Duff (2) – 5:28		Third period		19:13 – en – George Armstrong (2)
Gump Worsley 33 saves / 35 shots		Goalie stats		Terry Sawchuk 40 saves / 41 shots

Toronto won series 4–2

Stanley Cup engraving[edit]

The 1967 Stanley Cup was presented to Maple Leafs captain George Armstrong by NHL President Clarence Campbell following the Maple Leafs 3–1 win over the Canadiens in game six.

The following Maple Leafs players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup.

Goaltenders - Terry Sawchuk, Johnny Bower, Al Smith

1966–67 Toronto Maple Leafs

Won all 4 Stanley Cups in 6 Years with Toronto 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967[edit]

George Armstrong, Bob Baun, Johnny Bower, Larry Hillman, Tim Horton, Red Kelly, Dave Keon, Frank Mahovlich, Bob Pulford, Eddie Shack, Allan Stanley (11 players), Stafford Smythe, Harold Ballard, John Bassett, Punch Imlach, King Clancy, Bob Haggert, Tom Nayler (7 non-players), Bob Davidson, Karl Elieff (were part of all 4 cups, but were not included on the cup each season.)

Notes[edit]

↑ Stanley Cup. p. 42. Search this book on
↑ McFarlane (1973), pg. 171

References[edit]

"All-Time NHL Results".
Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Stanley Cup. NHL. Search this book on
McFarlane, Brian (1973). The History of the National Hockey League. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 0-684-13424-1. Search this book on
Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books. ISBN 978-1-55168-261-7. Search this book on

[1] Stanley Cup. p. 42. Search this book on

[2] McFarlane (1973), pg. 171

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