This Week in Canadiens History: April 4th – April 11th
By Joshua Rosa
April 10th
The Birth of a Dynasty
On this day, the year of our Lord 1956, the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final to win their 8th Stanley Cup. It was revenge for the previous year’s Final, where the Red Wings beat the Canadiens in 7 games. Canadiens legends Maurice Richard, Jean Beliveau and Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion all scored for Montreal.
That was Montreal’s 6th straight visit to the Final, and they weren’t done there. The next year, the Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins in 5 games to win their second straight Stanley Cup. In 1958, the Canadiens beat the Bruins in a rematch in 6 games to win their third straight Cup.
In 1959 the Toronto Maple Leafs made the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1951, and lost to the Canadiens in 5 games. In 1960, the Montreal Canadiens swept the Chicago Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs to go undefeated in the playoffs and win their 5th straight Stanley Cup in their 10th straight Stanley Cup Final appearance. Bernie Geoffrion appeared in every single Stanley Cup Final game between 1951 and 1960.
In 1961, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs in 6 games, en route to winning the Stanley Cup against the Detroit Red Wings. The Cup would then go to the Toronto Maple Leafs for three years before the Canadiens won it again in 1965.