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.

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.

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.

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.

1966–67 Toronto Maple Leafs

• The first "K" in Peter Stemkowski's name was engraved backwards.
• Stafford Smythe's name was misspelled C. ST FFORD SMYTHE PRESIDENT missing an "A". Both mistakes were corrected on the Replica Cup created in 1992–93.
• The job title for John Anderson was misspelled BUISS MANN (sic)
• Leonard "Red" Kelly won 8 Stanley Cups. He was engraved as Leonard Kelly in 1954, 1955, 1962, 1963, 1964. Kelly was engraved as Red Kelly in 1950, 1952, 1967.
• ††† Milan Marcetta, played 3 games in the finals and Aut Erickson played 1 game in the finals qualifying to be on the cup. Neither player played a game for Toronto in regular season.
• ††Johnny Bower was 42 years old when he won his fourth and final Stanley Cup. Bower missed 2 games in the finals with an injury. Al Smith was dressed in his place. Smith's name was left off the Cup, because he only played 1 regular season game, and did not play in the playoffs. Al Smith qualified to be on the Cup, because he was dressed in the finals.
• † #19 Kent Douglas (defense), and #24 John Brenneman (winger) were sent to the minors before the trading deadline. They played half regular season games, qualified to win the Cup, but name was left off for playing in minors during the playoffs.
• Dr. Hugh Symthe (Team Physician) – Also left (His name is on cup 1942 with Toronto as mascot).

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.)

• 1966–67 NHL season

External videos
1967 Stanley Cup Final, Game 6: Maple Leafs vs. Canadiens on YouTube

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