This Day in Hockey History – July 15, 1932 – Litzenberger the Consecutive Cup Collector

Jul 15, 2019

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Born in Neudorf, Saskatchewan on July 15, 1932, forward Eddie Litzenberger would grow up to win four consecutive Stanley Cup championships followed immediately by two Calder Cup championships.

The tall “gentle giant” first drew attention playing for the Regina Pats of the Western Canada Junior Hockey League between 1949 and 1952. He served as captain and made the All-Star team for those final two seasons. In 1950-51, he had the second-highest score in the league with 44 goals.

Litzenberger debuted in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens, who, on December 10, 1954, “donated” him to the struggling Chicago Black Hawks. Despite the mid-season trade, he tallied 51 points (23G, 28A) to earn the Calder Memorial Trophy as best rookie.

After a couple more seasons of leading by example and changing the defeatist attitude there, Chicago made Litzenberger their captain in 1957. After years at the bottom of the NHL, under his leadership, the Black Hawks began climbing. Finally, in 1961, for the first time since 1938, Chicago won the Stanley Cup, which Captain Litzenberger accepted on the team’s behalf.

Surprisingly, Chicago then offloaded its Cup-winning captain. That June, they traded Litzenberger to Detroit, their opponents in the Final. At the very end of the year, on December 29, the Toronto Maple Leafs claimed him on waivers. That turned out to be quite all right for Litzenberger, who promptly helped Toronto win three consecutive championships between 1962 and 1964. No one else had won four consecutive championships with two different teams.

Having seen little action in 1963-64, Litzenberger’s NHL career ended there. Instead, he kept playing hockey in Toronto’s affiliate in the American Hockey League, the Rochester Americans. In his two seasons with the Americans, they won the Calder Cup back to back. After the first, Jack Riley, president of the AHL, joked with Litzenberger, “Four Stanley Cups and a Calder Cup. Not bad.” Litzenberger replied, “You know what, Jack? It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.” He is the only one to win six straight professional hockey championships, especially with three different teams.

Litzenberger was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame exactly one month before his 70th birthday.