1962-63: Howe's Last Dominant Year

The Three Stars:

Gordie Howe Wins Sixth Hart, Sixth Art Ross: 34 year old Gordie Howe wins his final Hart and Art Ross trophies as league MVP and scoring champion (38-48-86), respectively. It is the sixth time he has won each, and though he would play until he was 52 years old, it was his final win for each of the trophies he helped to make so famous.

Glenn Hall's Streak Snapped - Hockey's most unbreakable record was halted in November, 1962 when Chicago goalie Glenn Hall is unable to start a game due to a pinched nerve in his back. Hall had played every game since the start of the 1955-56 season - an unthinkable 502 consecutive games. He added another 49 in the playoffs. And all of those games were played without a mask! By the way, we're not sure if Hall hurt his back doing this:

Hawks Try To Buy Frank Mahovlich For $1,000,000 - In what may have been little more than a publicity stunt, Chicago owner James Norris offers the Leafs $1,000,000 in exchange for the Leafs Frank Mahovlich. The Leafs decide to hang on to "The Big M"  and are rewarded with the Stanley Cup, much to the fans approval.

Season Highlights:

• The first amateur draft is held as the NHL transitions out of it's C-Form days of sponsoring players. 21 players are drafted in a cloud of secrecy. Montreal took Garry Monahan first overall while Detroit grabbed Peter Mahovlich 2nd overall. Very few of the 21 players amount to anything in the NHL.
• Prior to the elimination of the C-Form sponsorship, Boston secures 14 year old Bobby Orr in their system.
• Jack Adams retires as Detroit's general manager after 35 years. He was a fixture in Detroit since 1927. Jolly Jack won 7 Stanley Cups in Detroit. He became the president of the newly formed Central Professional Hockey League.
• Pierre Pilote wins his first of three straight Norris Trophies.
• Howie Young sets a NHL record with 273 PIMs.
• Boom Boom Geoffrion is suspended for 5 games for throwing his gear at referee Vern Buffy.
• At the other end of the spectrum, Dave Keon scores 28 goals while taking just 2 minutes in penalties. The diminutive two-way star wins the Lady Byng trophy.
• Eddie Shack scored his biggest goal of his career on April 18th, 1963 in game 5 of the Stanley Cup final vs Detroit. Shack scored the Stanley Cup winning goal against Terry Sawchuk to give the Leafs their 11th Stanley Cup title and 2nd in a row.