April 16, 1954: The Tony Leswick Goal

Tony Leswick

April 16, 1954: Only twice in the history of the Stanley Cup Finals has a Game 7 gone to overtime. They happened within 4 years of each other, and both were won by the Detroit Red Wings.

The Wings had won the Cup in 1950, when Pete Babando scored in double overtime of Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. They won it again in 1952, becoming the 1st team ever to sweep the 2 rounds of the Playoffs in 8 straight. They still had enough talent to start a future Hall-of-Famer at every position: The Production Line of right wing Gordie Howe and left wing Ted Lindsay had a new center, with Alex Delvecchio replacing the retired Sid Abel; Jack Stewart had retired, but Red Kelly and Marcel Pronovost were on defense; and Terry Sawchuk had succeeded Harry Lumley in goal.

In the Finals, they would face the Montreal Canadiens. Les Habitantes (or the Habs, for short) had lost the Finals to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1951 and the Wings in '52, but had won the Cup in '53, so they went in as the defending Champions.

Like the Wings, the Canadiens could start a Hall-of-Famer at every position. Right wing Maurice "the Rocket" Richard and center Elmer Lach were left over from the Punch Line of the 1940s, with the now-retired Hector "Toe" Blake on the left. There was also right wing Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion, left wing Bert Olmstead, and 3 future HOF defensemen: Émile "Butch" Bouchard, Doug Harvey and Tom Johnson. And, finishing their 1st full seasons in Montreal, center Jean Béliveau and goaltender Jacques Plante. However, it was Gerry McNeil, last season's Cup-winning goalie, who would be in the net for Montreal. Both of these teams were loaded.

The 1st 2 games, at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit, were split: The Red Wings won Game 1, 3-1; and the Canadiens won Game 2, by the same score. The action moved to the Montreal Forum, and the Wings won, 5-2 and 2-0. All they had to do was win Game 5 at home, but Ken Mosdell scored at 5:45 of overtime, and the Canadiens stayed alive, 1-0. Back in Montreal, the Habs held home ice, winning 4-1.

Game 7 was set for the Olympia on April 16. Hockey writers tend not to use the expression "Game of the Century" -- though they would do so for a later game at the Montreal Forum, the December 31, 1975 3-3 exhibition-game tie with the Soviet Union's Central Red Army team -- but, given the talent on the ice, and what happened in the game, had it been used for this one, it would have been justified.

Floyd Curry opened the scoring at 9:17 of the 1st period, giving the Canadiens the lead. At 1:17 of the 2nd, Kelly tied it. There was no scoring in the 3rd period, and the game went to overtime.

Boston Bruin fans won't like reading this, but Doug Harvey was doing the kind of things that Bobby Orr would do a generation later, becoming the 1st truly offensive defenseman. The difference was, Harvey was doing it in Canada, and on radio; while Orr did it in America, and on American television, and that's the main reason Orr is considered a contender for the title of the greatest player ever, along with Howe and Wayne Gretzky, and Harvey is not.

Orr won 8 Norris Trophies as the NHL's top defensemen, and 2 Stanley Cups. The Norris wasn't given out for the 1st time until 1954, and Kelly won it, but Harvey won 7 of the next 8, with Johnson winning the other; and won 6 Stanley Cups. Red Storey, an NHL referee at the height of Harvey's career, called him the smartest player in the game: "If he'd been a general, he'd have won every war." (Harvey was not related to the umpire of the same name who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.)

So it was with some irony that Harvey "scored" the most famous "own goal" in hockey history: At 4:29 of the 1st overtime, Tony Leswick launched a slap shot, and it deflected off Harvey, and past McNeil. There was nothing that either Harvey or McNeil could do, and the Wings were 2-1 winners, and Stanley Cup Champions.

Leswick, 31, was 1 of 3 brothers to play in the NHL, and an uncle of later baseball star Lenny Dykstra. He was just 5-foot-6, but was so tough, he was known as "Tough Tony" and "Mighty Mouse." He played in 6 All-Star Games, was with the Wings when they won the 1952 Cup, and would be with them in 1955, when they won the Cup again. He later coached in the minor leagues, and lived until 2001.

In 1998, The Hockey News ranked Harvey 6th on their list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players. Sadly, he had died in 1989. McNeil wasn't exactly blamed for letting the winning goal in, but Plante, who would rank 13th on The Hockey News' list, was ready, and, with stars like him, Richard, Harvey, Béliveau and Geoffrion, the Canadiens would win 5 straight Stanley Cups from 1956 to 1960. McNeil lived until 2004.

The Red Wings do not yet have a team Hall of Fame, but they do retire numbers. From their 1954 and 1955 Stanley Cups: 1, goaltender Terry Sawchuk; 4, defenseman Leonard "Red" Kelly; 7, left wing Ted Lindsay; 9, right wing Gordie Howe; and 10, center Alex Delvecchio.

Sawchuk, Kelly, Lindsay, Howe, Delvecchio, defenseman Marcel Pronovost, general manager Jack Adams, and broadcaster Budd Lynch have been elected to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

But after the 1955 Cup, changes that were already underway began to affect the Wings. Team owner James E. Norris died in 1952, and his son, Bruce Norris, turned out to be one of the most incompetent owners in NHL history. Head coach Tommy Ivan, who had led the Wings to their 1950, '52 and '54 Cups, left for the Chicago Black Hawks, who were then owned by another wing of the Norris family. Jimmy Skinner became head coach, and led the to the '55 Cup and the '56 Finals.

But Adams retired as GM, and former star center Sid Abel, having succeeded Skinner in 1958 and Adams in 1962, was only able to get them so far, to the Finals in 1961, '63, '64 and '66. From this period, other than those previously mentioned who hung on, or who were traded and later reacquired, the only Michigan Sports Hall of Fame inductees were center Norm Ullman, defenseman Bill Gadsby, and broadcaster Bruce Martyn, who later broadcast with Abel after Lynch became the team's public address announcer.

Things would get worse in the 1970s, as Bruce Norris' stupidity and cheapness led to the team being nicknamed the "Dead Things." Although he did get the Joe Louis Arena built in 1979, moving the Wings from the Northwest Side, which had become a ghetto, to downtown, the best thing he could have done was sell the team, which he finally did, in 1982, to Mike Ilitch.

The only Michigan Sports Hall of Fame inductee from this period was right wing Mickey Redmond, who actually managed to do what Howe, Lindsay, Abel, Delvecchio and Ullman were unable to do: Become the 1st Red Wing to score 50 goals in a season. He later became a renowned broadcaster for them. 

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April 16, 1954 was a Friday. Actress Ellen Barkin was born on this day.

The baseball season had begun, but no games were scheduled for this date. Football was out of season. The NBA Championship was won 4 days earlier, when the Minneapolis Lakers won Game 7 of the Finals, beating the Syracuse Nationals, 87-80 at the Minneapolis Auditorium. It was the last game of their dynasty of 6 league titles in 7 seasons (5 in 6 as members of the NBA). It was also the last game before the institution of the 24-second shot clock. That is not a coincidence.

April 10, 1962: Dodger Stadium Opens

April 10, 1962: Dodger Stadium opens in Los Angeles. The Cincinnati Reds spoil the party, winning 6-3. Wally Post hits the 1st home run, off 1955 World Series hero Johnny Podres. Frank Robinson goes 1-for-4 for the Reds. Maury Wills goes 0-for-3 for the Dodgers. No one knew yet, but he would steal a new record of 104 bases this season.

This was Doug Harvey's 1st game as a major league umpire. In a career that lasted until 1993, he was so admired for his accuracy and fairness that the players nicknamed him "God." He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Walter O'Malley, owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, wanted out of Ebbets Field, which had only 31,497 seats and 750 parking spaces. He tried to get baseball's 1st domed stadium built in Downtown Brooklyn, across from the Atlantic Avenue Terminal of the Long Island Rail Road, which would have cut down on his need for parking, as so many Dodger fans had taken advantage of the post-World War II economy and veterans' benefits to move out to Long Island.

But Robert Moses, who controlled construction in New York City, refused to condemn the land necessary to build the stadium. So he looked for options elsewhere. Los Angeles offered him the best deal. In order to cut down on travel costs, he talked Horace Stoneham, owner of the New York Giants, who was already considering moving, to move to San Francisco. This took the National League's best rivalry to the West Coast.

For 4 years, including the 1959 season in which the Dodgers won the World Series, they played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a football stadium that resulted in a way-too-close left-field fence, while Dodger Stadium was built in Chavez Ravine, north of downtown.

It was a beautiful stadium, with lots of parking all around it, and a view of the San Gabriel Mountains in front of it -- when not obscured by the infamous L.A. smog, that is. And the common saying was that, "You could eat off the floors." Why would you want to?

From 1962 to 2021, the Dodgers have won 11 National League Pennants and 5 World Series while playing home games at Dodger Stadium. It's been home to many legendary pitchers: Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Don Sutton, Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser and Clayton Kershaw. It's also seen legendary home runs, including by Dodger stars Steve Garvey, Kirk Gibson, Max Muncy and Mookie Betts. But it's also seen notable home runs by opponents, such as Reggie Jackson, Jack Clark, Charlie Culberson, George Springer and Steve Pearce.

The stadium has hosted other sports. Never American football, but soccer: On August 3, 2013, in a doubleheader called the International Champions Cup, the Los Angeles Galaxy beat Juventus of Turin, Italy, 3-1; and Real Madrid of Spain beat Everton of Liverpool, England, 2-1. On January 25, 2014, the NHL Stadium Series came to Chavez Ravine, and the 2 L.A.-area teams played each other. The Anaheim Ducks beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-0.

But only one boxing card has ever been held there, and it ended in tragedy: On March 21, 1963, Davey Moore, Heavyweight Champion of the World, fought Cuban fighter Ultiminio "Sugar" Ramos, and was knocked out in the 10 round, dying 2 days later from a head injury. This led Bob Dylan to write a song, "Who Killed Davey Moore?" (UPDATE: In 2023, the climactic fight in the movie Creed III was filmed there.)

Concerts there have been sporadic. In the stadium's 1st 22 years, only 2 stands were held there: The Beatles on their final tour, on August 28, 1966; and Elton John on October 25 and 26, 1975. Michael Jackson and his brothers held 6 concerts on their Victory Tour there between November 30 and December 9, 1984. The Three Tenors -- José Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti -- sang there on July 16, 1994, in celebration of the next day's World Cup Final at the nearby Rose Bowl.

It's hard to believe, but Dodger Stadium has not only lasted longer than Ebbets Field did, but it is now the 3rd-oldest park in MLB, behind Fenway Park and Wrigley Field.

But Dodger fans, so quick to call it the best ballpark, and to come over 3 million strong every year, usually leading MLB in attendance, don't seem to like being there that much. The joke is that they arrive in the 3rd inning, and leave at the 7th-inning stretch. In 1982, just a year after a Dodger World Series win, Johnny Carson, in his monologue on The Tonight Show, said, "The only reason people go to Dodger games is to see if they can beat the traffic home."

UPDATE: On June 3, 2023, the Yankees began an Interleague series there, losing to the Dodgers, 8-4. And many of the home fans did leave early. Thinking of Los Angeles, I played The Doors' "Riders On the Storm" on YouTube. Just as Jim Morrison got to the line, "There's a killer on the road, his brain is squirming like a toad" -- and don't tell me he ever wrote a better line -- the YES Network's camera switched to the L.A. fans driving out, hitting the road.

You can't make this stuff up.

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April 10, 1962 was a Tuesday. There were 7 other MLB games played on this day:

* For the 1st time, a regular-season Major League Baseball game is played in the Southern United States -- or, to put it another way, in a city that had once been a part of the Confederate States of America. I have a separate entry for this event.

The expansion Houston Colt .45s make their debut at Colt Stadium in Houston, and beat the Chicago Cubs, 11-2. Román Mejías hit Houston's home run, and hit a 2nd homer later in the game. Hal Smith also hit one out for the Colt .45s (often listed as simply the Colts), while Ernie Banks homered for the Cubs. Former Philadelphia Athletics MVP Bobby Shantz went the distance for the Colts to be the winning pitcher.

Colt Stadium, which seated 32,000, was basically an oversized high school football stadium, and was never going to be more than a stopgap facility for a real stadium. It was completely exposed to the elements: Not just the heat, but mosquitoes. As Sandy Koufax said, "Some of those mosquitoes were twin-engine jobs."

Three years later, the Astrodome opened, and the home team was renamed the Houston Astros. Colt Stadium remained as a practice facility for a few years, and NRG Stadium, current home of the NFL's Houston Texans, was built on the site.

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-6 at Yankee Stadium. Johnny Temple hit a home run off Whitey Ford, but Bill "Moose" Skowron and Roger Maris both hit them off Billy Hoeft, and, in the 8th inning, Mickey Mantle won the game with a home run off Hal Brown, to make Ralph Terry the winning pitcher, for the 1st of 23 times that season.

Mantle finished 1-for-3 with that homer and RBI, Maris 1-for-4 with a homer and 3 RBIs. Yogi Berra did not play. Brooks Robinson went 2-for-4 for the Birds.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Dick Donovan pitched a 5-hit shutout, with Carl Yastrzemski getting 2 of the hits.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Bob Friend pitched a 5-hit shutout. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-3, and his hit was a grand slam home run.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 2-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Milwaukee Braves, 6-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Juan Marichal pitched a 3-hit shutout, striking out 10, while Warren Spahn was knocked out of the box in the 4th inning. Willie Mays went 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI, while Hank Aaron went 0-for-4.

Four MLB teams opened their seasons the day before. The Phillies beat the Reds, 12-4. And the Washington Senators beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-1 in the 1st MLB game at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. President John F. Kennedy threw out the ceremonial first ball at the stadium that would later be named for his brother, Robert F. Kennedy.

Two MLB teams started their season the next day: The St. Louis Cardinals and the other expansion team, the New York Mets.

April 10 was also the day the 1962 Stanley Cup Finals got underway. The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the defending Champion Chicago Black Hawks, 4-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The Leafs would win the Cup in 6 games.

And Game 3 of the NBA Finals was played at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Boston Celtics, 117-115. Elgin Baylor had 39 points and 23 rebounds for the Lakers, Bill Russell 26 points and 32 rebounds for the Celtics. The Lakers led 2 games to 1, but the Celtics would win the title in Game 7.