The Hockey News is a really cool publication that we have at our PFTPAntiques shop. Our Hockey News listings go back to the late 1950’s and all the way up to around 2000. Each issue provides hockey news from the NHL as well as many of the junior leagues. This includes news about hockey events, trade information, standings and statistics.
This week I selected Vol 13. – No 8. from November 21, 1959 and picked out a couple articles to give you a taste of what The Hockey News has to offer.
The main cover article addresses Sid Abel’s Detroit Red Wings exceeding predictions and sitting far above the bottom of the NHL standings. However, the league only consisted of the original six teams: Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers. The Detroit Red Wings went on to finish 4th place for the season and were knocked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs in the semifinals by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Player of the week - Montreal Canadien's Jacques Plante
Articles like this are why I love going through these old publications. As it happens, this article discusses a historic event that changed the NHL forever. Jacques Plante wearing a mask for the first time and the success that followed paved the way for future NHL goalies. In the article below Max Kase boldly predicts that other goalies would start using these masks.
If Plante didn’t have the great success that he did after donning a mask, then I suspect that it could have taken much longer before their widespread use was adopted. In this season, the Montreal Canadiens went on to win the Stanley Cup and Jacques Plante won the Vezina trophy as goaltender of team with the best goals-against average.
Maurice "Rocket" Richard
Following the 1959-60 NHL season, Maurice Richard would retire as the league’s all-time goal scoring leader with 544 goals. Even though his goal scoring record has since been surpassed, Richard is seen as one of the greatest players of all time.
As one of the greatest hockey players at the time, the $15,000 salary stated in this article seems low even for the period. This salary held the equivalent spending power of about $163,000 in 2023. One interesting point to note is that current online sources list Maurice Richard’s 1959-60 salary as a more generous $25,000. This may be taking into consideration the full salary with the extra years of pay outlined in his unique contract. The game has grown a lot in the past 60 years, so I’m sure that growth combined with other league changes has allowed current NHL players to receive their better overall compensation.
As always, we would be happy to hear from any readers who have stories related to our content. I bet many of you were lucky enough to meet these hockey legends in the years following their playing careers. Please tell us about your interactions!
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