1951-52 NHL season
| 1951–52 NHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 11, 1951 – April 15, 1952 |
| Number of games | 70 |
| Number of teams | 6 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champion | Detroit Red Wings |
| Season MVP | Gordie Howe (Red Wings) |
| Top scorer | Gordie Howe (Red Wings) |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Champions | Detroit Red Wings |
| Runners-up | Montreal Canadiens |
The 1951–52 NHL season was the 35th season of the National Hockey League. The Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup by sweeping the Montreal Canadiens four games to none.
A long standing feud between Boston president Weston Adams and general manager Art Ross ended on October 12, 1951, when Adams sold his stock in Boston Garden to Walter Brown.
The Chicago Black Hawks, who had made the mammoth nine player deal the previous season, now decided to make the largest cash deal for players to this time by paying $75,000 for Jim McFadden, George Gee, Jimmy Peters, Clare Martin, Clare Raglan and Max McNab.
The league mandated that road teams would now wear a basic white uniform, while home teams will wear coloured uniforms.
The goal crease is enlarged from 3 × 7 feet to 4 × 8 feet. The faceoff circles are expanded from a 10-foot radius to a 15-foot radius.
Conn Smythe offered $10,000 for anyone who found Bill Barilko, missing since August 26. Barilko and Dr. Henry Hudson had left Rupert House on James Bay in the doctor's light plane for Timmins, Ontario, after a weekend fishing trip and had not been found.
For the fourth straight season, the Detroit Red Wings finished first overall in the National Hockey League.
On November 25 in Chicago, Chicago goalie Harry Lumley hurt a knee. At age 46, trainer Moe Roberts, who played his first game in the NHL for Boston in 1925–26, played the third period in goal for Chicago and didn't yield a goal. Roberts would stand as the oldest person to ever play an NHL game until Gordie Howe returned to the NHL at age 51 in 1979.
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