April 14, 1960: The Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. This completes a 4-game sweep of the Stanley Cup Finals, and gives Les Habitantes their 5th straight Stanley Cup.
The previous year's achievement of 4 straight was the 1st in history. Three straight had been done by the 1908-10 Montreal Wanderers and the 1947-49 Maple Leafs. Four straight would be done again by the 1976-79 Canadiens, followed immediately by the 1980-83 New York Islanders. But 5 straight has been done only this once.
The Captain for all 5 Cup wins was Maurice "the Rocket" Richard, then the NHL's all-time leader with 544 goals. In Game 3, he had scored his 82nd and last Playoff goal. He retired in the ensuing off-season
These 5 Cups, giving him 8 for his career, were also the 1st 5 seasons for his brother, Henri Richard, 15 years younger. Because he was so short (5-foot-7), he was known as "the Pocket Rocket," but was a very skillful player on both offense and defense, and would eventually play on 11 Stanley Cup winners. This is a record in North American sports, matched only by Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics.
There were 12 players on the Canadiens for all 5 Cup wins: The Richard brothers, Jean Béliveau, Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion, Doug Harvey, Tom Johnson, Don Marshall, Dickie Moore, Jacques Plante, Claude Provost, Jean-Guy Talbot and Bob Turner.
Both Richards, Béliveau, Geoffrion, Harvey, Johnson, Moore and Plante were all elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. So was head coach Hector "Toe" Blake, who would eventually coach 8 Cup winners, a record until surpassed by Scotty Bowman, with 10.
The Canadiens had swept the Chicago Black Hawks in the Semifinals. This made them the 2nd team to sweep all 8 games in the Playoffs in the "Original Six" era, following the 1952 Detroit Red Wings. There would not be a 3rd.
The Leafs would regroup, and would win the Stanley Cup in 1962, '63 and '64. The Canadiens would win in '65 and '66. They faced each other in '67, and the Leafs won.
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April 14, 1960 was a Thursday. There were 4 baseball games played that day:
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Milwaukee Braves, 5-4 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Joe Koppe singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Hank Aaron went 4-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 13-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente went 3-for-3 with 5 RBIs. Frank Robinson went 0-for-4.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Cardinals scored in the top of the 9th, but the Dodgers tied it on a triple by Gil Hodges, and won it on a wild pitch by Cardinal reliever Bob Duliba. Duke Snider hit a home run for the Dodgers. Stan Musial went 2-for-4 for the Cards.
* And the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-5 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Ernie Banks hit a grand slam. Willie Mays went 1-for-4. Frank Thomas won the game for the Cubs with a double in the top of the 9th.
Football was out of season. The NBA season ended 5 nights earlier, when the Boston Celtics beat the St. Louis Hawks, 122-103 at the Boston Garden, in Game 7 of the Finals.
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