This Day in Hockey History – April 19, 1962 – Apples Aplenty

It was all about apples on April 19, 1962. Facing each other in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, Stan Mikita had two assists and Tim Horton had three. Mikita’s gave him the most playoff assists (15) and the most playoff points (21) in NHL history while Horton’s gave him the most points (15) scored during playoffs by a defenseman.

The Final came down to the Chicago Black Hawks and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The former had won the Stanley Cup the previous spring. However, the Hawks had finished the regular season in third (with 75 points) while the Leafs finished in second (with 85 points). During the semi-finals, Toronto took care of the New York Rangers, and Chicago knocked out the first-place Montreal Canadiens (with 98 points). The 1961-62 playoff series all ended in 4-2 victories.

The matchup between the finalists was no different. Up until the final game, each team won all their home games and lost those on the road. With the series beginning at Toronto, the Leafs took an early 2-0 lead, but as soon as they moved to Chicago, the Hawks tied it up. The tie-breaker, Game 5, took place at Maple Leaf Gardens, which held its largest crowd of the series, 14,129.

It looked like another home-team victory was on the horizon when the first period started with two goals by Toronto’s Bob Pulford. He had scored just 17 seconds into the game and again in the period’s final three minutes. Just 20 seconds after that, Chicago managed to get on the board.

The second period featured all but one of the record-setting assists. First, the Hawks came swooping back in when Ab McDonald scored just before the first minute ended and again just after the third began. Mikita set up the first “after taking St. Laurent’s pass beyond the Hawk blue line, by tying up Tim Horton … at the left boards. Stan still had enough puck control to pass to McDonald as he steamed into Horton’s undefended area” for the 40-foot “drive that crossed diagonally in front of [Don] Simmons and landed high in the far corner of the net.” 

Having tied the two records, Mikita then broke them when Toronto’s Dick Duff was sitting a charging penalty. As the Tribune recapped, “Stan’s pass set up Hull for a shot at left center, but Bobby was tied up by Baun. Hull then passed to McDonald at short right center, and Ab drove the puck between Defenseman Carl Brewer’s legs and into the net.” With that, Mikita had topped Gordie Howe’s 20 points from 1954-55 and Fleming MacKell’s 14 assists from 1957-58.

At some point during the game, at least one member of the crowd began heckling Mikita and McDonald. Their equipment manager, Nick Garen, took exception and “threw a right.” He said afterwards, “It was all my fault. He was riding Mikita and some of the players and I asked him to quit. He kept it up so I hit him. I think we talked him out of pressing charges.” Coach Rudy Pilous could only say, “It was a game in which whatever we did was wrong and whatever they did was right.”

About five minutes after Mikita’s record assist, Horton kicked Toronto back into gear. His assistance to Billy Harris tied up the score at 8:31 when “Harris, standing just outside the crease at Hall’s right, turned Horton’s line drive shot from the right point into the net.” Nearly a minute and a half later, at 9:50, Horton took advantage of a power play while Ken Wharram sat for holding. Both Horton and his teaming Frank Mahovlich were shooting on Glenn Hall when the puck, “on Horton’s shot, skidded to Hall’s right and [Dave] Keon pushed it home.” Mahovlich finished up the period with Toronto leading 5-3.

In the third period, the Leafs added two more goals while the Hawks only managed one. For the final goal of the game, during a power play, Pulford completed his hat trick with Horton’s assistance. This gave Toronto an 8-4 victory and gave Horton a defenseman record with 15 points scored during playoffs.

The Maple Leafs upset the pattern and won Game 6 at Chicago on April 22. This was the first of three consecutive championships for Toronto. In that Cup-winning game, Horton added still another assist to establish the record at 16 points. During those playoffs, he had the most point on his team. Mikita, too, led his team in scoring during playoffs with his 21 points.

Their records would be toppled within the decade. First, Bobby Orr beat Horton by scoring 20 points in 1969-70 and then topped himself with 24 points in 1971-72. The current record of 37 points by a defenseman has been held by Paul Coffey since 1984-85. In overall assists, Jean Beliveau beat Mikita in 1970-71, and Orr beat that with 19 assists the following season. Wayne Gretzky holds the current record of 31 assists that he set back in 1987-88. Finally, for playoff points, Phil Esposito’s 27 took the record in 1969-70. Once again, Gretzky holds the record with 47 points scored during playoffs in 1984-85. 

Additional Sources:

• Ted Damata, “Hawks Routed;1 Game from Oblivion,” Chicago Tribune, 20 April 1962, section 4, pp. 1-2.
• “Not Much to Say – Pilous,” Chicago Tribune, 20 April 1962, section 4, p. 2.
• https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/chi-vs-tor/1962/04/19/1961030215#game=1961030215,game_state=final