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Date | October 9, 1951 | |||||||||||||||
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Arena | Maple Leaf Gardens | |||||||||||||||
City | Toronto | |||||||||||||||
Attendance | 11,469 | |||||||||||||||
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The 5th National Hockey League All-Star Game took place at Maple Leaf Gardens, home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, on October 9, 1951. Two teams of all-star players played to a 2–2 tie.
The format was different from the one before it, largely because due to the nomination of five Detroit Red Wings players to the First and Second Team All-Stars which led to a 7–1 loss the year before. The same critics of the previous format's 7–1 outcome equally lamented the two-all tie in this game, with many suggesting that overtime be implemented. [1]
The new format had the First Team All-Stars and the Second Team All-Stars be the cores of the two teams playing in the all-star game, with the reserves for the First Team consisting of players on American-based teams and the Second Team reserves consisting of Habs and Leafs. Because of the new format, the First Team All-Stars wore the red jerseys worn in previous All-Star Games, while the Second Team wore a white version featuring red and blue stripes and a blue NHL shield. [2]
The 1951 game was held in somewhat of a sombre mood, as Bill Barilko, who had scored the Cup-winning goal for the Leafs, had mysteriously disappeared in a plane accident two months before. Had he been around, he would have been made a member of the Second Team As the All-Star game was symbolic of the start of the season, many new rule changes also had their first looks in this game: the most notable being touch icing: that a defensive player (other than the goaltender) must touch the puck for icing calls (previously, only goaltenders were permitted to touch the puck on icing calls). [3]
Other notable firsts include the first time that the Vezina Trophy winner ( Al Rollins) would be absent from the game, as Second Team coach Dick Irvin chose his own player Gerry McNeil, who was in goal when Barilko scored the Cup-winning goal. [3]
First team All-Stars | Second team All-Stars | |
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Final score | 2 | 2 |
Scoring summary |
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Penalties |
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Win/Loss | Harry Lumley | Gerry McNeil |
Source: Podnieks(2000), p. 43.