Montreal swept the Chicago Black Hawks in four games to reach the Final. In the other semi-final, Toronto defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to two.
Game summaries
Montreal swept the Maple Leafs, outscoring them 15–5, en route to being the first team since the 1952Detroit Red Wings to go perfect in the playoffs, with Jean Beliveau scoring the game-winning goal in three of the matches. The Red Wings beat both the Leafs and Habs in the 1952 playoffs to set the record.
Maurice "Rocket" Richard retired after the series in style, finishing with his 34th final-series goal, his 82nd and final goal, and his last-ever goal (626th) in the third game.
As of 2022, this is the last time a team from Toronto has lost a championship series in any of the "big four" major professional sports leagues. The Leafs would go on to appear in and win four Stanley Cup Finals in the 1960s, these being 1962, 1963, 1964, and their most recent Finals appearance and win in 1967. Since then, the Toronto Blue Jays (who joined Major League Baseball in 1977) have appeared in and won the World Series in 1992 and 1993, while the Toronto Raptors (who joined the National Basketball Association in 1995) appeared in and won the NBA Finals in 2019.
The 1960 Stanley Cup was presented to Canadiens captain Maurice Richard by NHL PresidentClarence Campbell following the Canadiens 4–0 win over the Maple Leafs in game four.
The following Canadiens players and staff had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup
Camile DesRoches^, Frank Selke Jr.^ (Publicity Directors)
^- on the team picture, but missing from the Stanley Cup.
Stanley Cup engraving
Camile DesRoches, Frank Selke Jr. (Publicity Directors) are part of all six team winning pictures 1953, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960. However, their names do not appear on the Stanley Cup.
Dickie Moore won six Stanley Cups. His name was spelled differently 5 times. 1953, 1957 as Dickie MOORE, 1956 D MOORE, 1958 R MOORE, 1959 RICHARD MOORE, 1960 RICH MOORE. On the Replica Cup, Moore's name appears as DICKIE MOORE in 1953, 1957, 1959, 1960, D. MOORE in 1956, and R. Moore in 1958.
Jacques Plante won six Stanley Cups. His name was spelled differently 4 times. 1953, 1957, 1960 Jacques Plante, 1956 J Plante, 1958 Jac Plante, 1959 Jacq Plante. On the Replica Cup Plante's name appears as JACQUES PLANTE in 1953, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, and J. PLANTE in 1956.
In 1959, the Montreal Canadiens engraved 29 names on the Stanley Cup; only 27 names were engraved on the Cup in 1960. Every person engraved on the Cup in 1960 was included on the Cup with Montreal in 1959. The only changes in the lineup where with Ian Cushnan and Ken Mosdell were no longer with the team, but were playing in the minors. The only other time in Stanley Cup history that no member engraved on the Cup was a first-time winner was in 1972.
Members of Montreal Canadiens Five Straight Dynasty 1956 to 1960
Jean Beliveau, Bernie Geoffrion*, Doug Harvey*, Tom Johnson*, Don Marshall, Dickie Moore*, Jacques Plante*, Claude Provost, Henri Richard, Maurice Richard*, Jean-Guy Talbot, Bob Turner (twelve players), Frank Selke Sr*, Ken Reardon, Toe Blake, Hector Dubois* (four non-players).
*-Also won the Stanley Cup in 1953. Bernie Geoffrion is the only player who appeared in every game of the Stanley Cup Finals from 1951 to 1960.
