# data[].attributes.body
This gives you information on the NHL in the 1950's.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
During the 1950s, Ice hockey didn't change that much. There was few television contracts to air the games. The National Hockey League, or otherwise known as NHL, remained invisible. The National Hockey League was started in 1917 and still exist today.

There was only 4 franchises in the U.S. They were Boston , New York, Chicago, and Detroit. Then in Canada there was Toronto and Montreal. Today the Hockey League is divided up into conferences, that had divisions in them with teams. There is the Western Conference, which has the Central division, the Northwest division, and Pacific division. There is the Eastern Conference, which has the Atlantic division, the Northeast division, and the Southeast division. Each division has five teams in them.

The first U.S team made was the Detroit Red Wings. They dominated hockey from the late 1940s through the middle of the 1950s. The Red Wings offensive star, Gordie Howe was the league's preeminent player, who was from Canada. Not too many Americans were playing hockey, there was maybe only a few, one of them was Tommy Williams from Minnesota, who joined the Boston Bruins. A lot of hockey players who played on American teams came from Canada or other countries who did not have a hockey team or who just didn't have a good enough hockey team.

During the late decade of the 1950s, Montreal Canadians led by Maurice Richards began a run of five straight Stanley Cups. A Stanley Cup is
a trophy awarded given annually to the ice hockey team that wins the championship in the National Hockey League. Maurice Richards scored his 400th goal, becoming a sports hero almost like Babe Ruth.

Sources:
"Ice Hockey." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 6: 1950-1959. Detroit: Gale, 2001. 462-463. U.S. History In Context. Web. 3 Apr. 2013.

HFBoards. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr. 2013. <http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showthread.php?p=60429397>.

NHL. National Hockey League, n.d. Web. 4 Apr. 2013. <http://www.nhl.com/ice/teams.htm?nav-tms-main>.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
During the 1950s, Ice hockey didn't change that much. There was few television contracts to air the games. The National Hockey League, or otherwise known as NHL, remained invisible. The National Hockey League was started in 1917 and still exist today. There was only 4 franchises in the U.S.

# data[].attributes.body
In this article you learn about who won the Stanley cup in these years and how many teams there were in the NHL.

# data[].attributes.body
In my essay I would include what the four franchises, Boston , New York, Chicago and Detroit and two in Canada Toronto and Montreal. Also that the NHL was created in 1917 and is still growing today.

# data[].attributes.body
This source gives some information on what Gordie Howe acomplished in the 1950's.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Gordie Howe, known as Mr. Hockey, played professionally over five decades and 32 seasons. Credit Preston Stroup/Associated Press

The professional hockey career of Gordie Howe, who died Friday at 88, stretched over five decades, from his first game with the Detroit Red Wings in 1946 to his last, with the Hartford Whalers in 1980. (In 1997, at age 69, he even played a shift for the International Hockey League's Detroit Vipers and could claim to be hockey's only six-decade professional.) Here are some highlights from each decade of Howe's career.

Howe signed with the Detroit Red Wings in 1944 at age 16, then played for junior teams in Galt, Ontario, and Omaha. Howe made his N.H.L. debut with the Red Wings on Oct. 16, 1946, against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored a goal in the game, the first of 786 he would have for Detroit. That remains the franchise record.

He played in his first N.H.L. All-Star Game in 1948 and would go on to be named to 22 more All-Star rosters.

The Wings finished fourth in the six-team N.H.L. in Howe's first season, but they lost in the Cup finals in the next two, setting the stage for their dynasty of the 1950s.

Howe became a star playing right wing on a unit with Ted Lindsay and Sid Abel known as the Production Line, and the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup in 1950, '52, '54 and '55.

Howe missed most of the 1950 playoffs after sustaining a life-threatening head injury in Detroit's postseason opener against Toronto. He crashed into the boards headfirst when he tried to check the Maple Leafs' captain, Ted Kennedy. Just shy of his 22nd birthday, Howe was hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage and a fractured skull, nose and cheekbone.

Howe returned the next season to lead the league in goals (43) and points (86). With his rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens superstar Maurice Richard at its peak, Howe led the N.H.L. in goals four times and won the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player four times during the decade.

During his first Hart Trophy season, 1951-52, Howe again led the league in goals (47) and points (86), and Detroit went undefeated in the playoffs to win the Cup.

The next year, Howe became the first N.H.L. player to score 90 points in points in a season, finishing with 95 in 70 games, including a career-high 49 goals.

Richard retired in September 1960 at 39 as the N.H.L's career leader in goals, with 544. Howe broke Richard's record on Nov. 10, 1963. By then, he was also the N.H.L.'s career leader in points.

In the '60s, Howe won two more Hart Trophies and one more scoring title, but the Red Wings failed to win a championship, losing in the Cup finals four times.

In 1968-69, with the N.H.L. expanded to 12 teams and the schedule having grown to 76 games, Howe had his first 100-point season, finishing with 103 the day before his 41st birthday.

Howe, 43, retired in September 1971, after his 25th N.H.L. season, to take a front-office post with the Red Wings and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame the next year.

But by 1973 he was playing again, joining the Houston Aeros of the World Hockey Association, an N.H.L. rival, in order to play with his teenage sons, Mark and Marty. Howe, who was 45 when the season began, had 31 goals and 69 assists that season, leading the Aeros to the championship. He was named the W.H.A. most valuable player, an award that was later named after him.

The Aeros, and the Howes, won again the next season. Howe scored 174 goals in the W.H.A., playing with his sons through four seasons with Houston and two with the New England Whalers.

In 1978-79, a player named Wayne Gretzky, who idolized Howe as a child, entered the W.H.A. He would one day break many of Howe's records.

In 1979-80, Howe returned to the N.H.L. when the New England team, having been renamed the Hartford Whalers, joined the league after the dissolution of the W.H.A. He played 83 games over the regular season and playoffs and had 16 goals and 27 assists in his last N.H.L. season.

Howe's last N.H.L. game was, appropriately, against the Montreal Canadiens, against whom his Red Wings had great battles decades before. On April 11, 1980, the Canadiens eliminated the Whalers from the playoffs with a 4-3 overtime victory. Howe was held without a point.

On June 4, 1980, Howe, then 52, retired for good.

"It's not an easy task to retire," he said. "No one teaches you how. I found that out when I tried it the first time. I'm not a quitter. But I will now quit the game of hockey."

At the time, he held the N.H.L. records for regular-season goals (801), assists (1,049), points (1,850) and games played (1,767).

Howe, not surprising for a man who played his last game at 52, has maintained his position in games played. He is now second in goals, ninth in assists and fourth in points.

Correction:

An earlier version of this article misstated the date Gordie Howe retired for good. It was June 4, 1980, not June 5.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The professional hockey career of Gordie Howe, who died Friday at 88, stretched over five decades, from his first game with the Detroit Red Wings in 1946 to his last, with the Hartford Whalers in 1980. (In 1997, at age 69, he even played a shift for the International Hockey League's Detroit Vipers and could claim to be hockey's only six-decade professional.)

# data[].attributes.body
In the Article you learn about what happened to Gordie Howe and his injuries and biggest accomplishments in the 1950's

# data[].attributes.body
In my essay I would include that Gordie Howe was on the Detroit red wings was a right winger, won the Hart trophy as the NHL's most valuable player 4 times in this decade. Howe also led the league in goals in years 1951-1952.

# data[].attributes.body
This source shows the advancement of goalie equipment over time.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Please enter your email address associated with the account so we can help reset your password.

Remove or add teams to and from your list of favorites

Teams In Your Area

Add more favorite teams from the list below based on your geolocation

Remove or add writers to and from your list of favorites

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Graphic: NHL goalie equipment through the years

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Please enter your email address associated with the account so we can help reset your password.

# data[].attributes.body
This article explains what goalie had to do to protect themselves from the puck in the net.

# data[].attributes.body
In the 1950 the sticks started to have more curve and players could lift the puck higher and because dangerous and goalies would wear fiberglass or leather masks which was much different from before.