The NHL Saturday miniseries for the Original Six era returns today to take on yet another season where the Montréal Canadiens took home the championship hardware. At least the Habs didn’t make the playoffs this year, right? We are always down with our North of the Border brethren winning the Cup, and we will return with our current Stanley Cup predictions tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy this throwback effort!

1958 Hart: Gordie Howe, RW, Detroit (original, confirmed)

Four forwards finished in the NHL Top 10 for Point Shares, led by Canadiens left wing Dickie Moore (9.7). He was followed by New York Rangers right wing Andy Bathgate (8.8); Detroit Red Wings RW Gordie Howe (8.8); and Montréal center Henri Richard (8.6). The Habs finished first in the standings by a whopping 19 points, meaning Moore and Richard had little individual “value” in terms of their overall team.

The Rangers finished second, seven points ahead of the Red Wings, and Detroit actually finished with a negative goal differential. Neither team was really in danger of missing the postseason, and since both Bathgate and Howe—the vote winner—finished with the same PS mark, we’re inclined to confirm the vote since the Detroit roster was much worse, sabermetrically. Bathgate won this in 1959; this is Howe’s second.

1958 Norris: Doug Harvey, Montréal (original); Bill Gadsby, New York (revised)

The PS Top 10 included two defenseman: Canadiens veteran Doug Harvey (9.0) and Rangers stalwart Bill Gadsby (8.8). The standings sort of give this away: Harvey won the vote as the top five skaters in Defensive Point Shares were all Montréal players. While the next three were all New York skaters, it’s clear to see again the roster imbalances. Therefore, we give this nod to Gadsby, simply because it makes more sense.

1958 Vezina: Jacques Plante (original); Terry Sawchuk, Detroit (revised)

Only three goaltenders topped 10.0 PS on the year: Montréal’s Jacques Plante (13.2), the winner here; Chicago’s Glenn Hall (11.0); and Detroit’s Terry Sawchuk (10.4). They’re all legends, of course, so who really brought the most value in this specific regular season? The Blackhawks missed the postseason, and we have the same situation here with a loaded Canadiens roster versus a decrepit Red Wings lineup. Hmm.

Sawchuk started all 70 games, while Plante got to take 13 games off due to his team’s superiority. The Detroit netminder posted 29 wins and an NHL-high 12 ties, which a lesser goalie could have lost. The Red Wings still would have made the postseason if Sawchuk had dropped half of those ties, but a superhuman effort on a crappy team needs to be acknowledged. Plante was great, but Sawchuk’s value is hard to ignore.

1958 Calder: Frank Mahovlich, LW, Toronto (original); Marcel Paille, G, New York (revised)

The vote winner was Toronto Maple Leafs LW Frank Mahovlich (3.3 PS), our chosen guy for the 1961 Hart and the 1971 Conn Smythe. His rookie class was strong, as his PS mark was just fourth best—and for a team finished dead last in the standings. The best overall rookie happened to play for the Rangers: G Marcel Paille (4.4). He wasn’t great, but again, there’s value there in the team’s reliance on him for a playoff spot.

1958 Conn Smythe: Plante

Montréal went 8-2 to defeat the Red Wings and the Boston Bruins on the way to holding up the silver chalice of choice. Plante started all the games while posting a 1.94 GAA and a .936 S% with one shutout. That’s a great effort, but it’s not as dominant as it could have been considering Detroit was the third-place team and Boston was the fourth-place squad. Meanwhile, there was only one offensive standout to consider.

RW Maurice Richard scored 11 goals in the postseason without topping all skaters in points, because he only had four assists in the playoffs. That’s just not good enough for us, so we give the nod to Plante. This is the third time we’ve given him this hardware, as well (1960, 1969).