1961 Stanley Cup Finals

The 1961 Stanley Cup Final was played by the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks. Chicago had not been in the Final since 1944, and Detroit had last played in the Final in 1956. The Blackhawks won the best-of-seven series four games to two, winning their third Stanley Cup. This ended up being the last time Chicago won the Cup until 2010, a 49-year drought.

1961 Stanley Cup Finals
1 2 3 4 5 6 Total Chicago Blackhawks 3 1 3 1 6 5 4 Detroit Red Wings 2 3 1 2 2 1 2
Location(s)	Chicago, IL (Chicago Stadium) (1,3,5) Detroit, MI (Detroit Olympia) (2,4,6)
Coaches	Chicago: Rudy Pilous Detroit: Sid Abel
Captains	Chicago: Ed Litzenberger Detroit: Gordie Howe
Dates	April 6 to April 16, 1961
Series-winning goal	Ab McDonald (18:49, second, G6)
Stanley Cup Finals 1962 →

The series

Date	Visitors	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 6	Detroit	2	Chicago	3
April 8	Chicago	1	Detroit	3
April 10	Detroit	1	Chicago	3
April 12	Chicago	1	Detroit	2
April 14	Detroit	2	Chicago	6
April 16	Chicago	5	Detroit	1

Chicago Blackhawks 1961 Stanley Cup Champions

Roster

  Centers

• 11 Bill Hay
• 12 Ed Litzenberger (Captain)
• 17 Ken Wharram
• 21 Stan Mikita
• 9 Tod Sloan

  Wingers

• 6 Reg Fleming
• 8 Murray Balfour
• 8 Wayne Hicks
• 16 Bobby Hull
• 14 Alvin Ab McDonald
• 15 Eric Nesterenko
• 10 Ron Murphy (A. Capt.)
• 16 Ronald Chico Maki
• 20 Earl Balfour

  Defensemen

• 2 Al Arbour
• 3 Pierre Pilote (A. Capt.)
• 4 Elmer Vasko
• 5 Jack Evans
• 18 Wayne Hillman
• 19 Dollard St. Laurent

  Goaltenders

• 1 Glenn Hall
• 1 Denis DeJordy (spare/did not play)
• Allan Roy Edwards (spare/did not play)

  Non-players

• Arthur Wirtz Sr. (President/Owner), Arthur Wirtz Jr. (Vice President/Owner)
• James D. Norris Jr. (Chairman/Owner), Tommy Ivan (Manager)
• Rudy Pilous (Coach), Nick Garen (Trainer),
• Walter Humenick (Ass’t Trainer), Michael Wirtz (Vice President)†
• John Gottselig (Publicity Director)†

† Left off the cup, but included on the team picture.

Stanley Cup engraving

• Allan Roy Edwards was engraved as Allan R. Edwards. He never played for Chicago. Roy Edwards first NHL game was during the 1967–68 season with Detroit.
• Denis DeJordy first NHL game was during the 1962–63 season, when he replaced Glenn Hall. This ended Hall's record of 502 consecutive complete games.
• Ronald Robert Murphy was engraved as Robert Murphy.
• Tod Aloysius Martin Sloan was engraved as Martin A. Sloan. He was engraved on the cup was Tod Sloan in 1951 with Toronto.