We’ve talked a lot in past articles about players who are in the ‘honourable mention’ category for entry into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Ed Litzenberger definitely falls into that group. For a short period, he was gunning for the Art Ross Trophy and leading the Chicago Blackhawks.
Perhaps, if Bobby Hull hadn’t come to town and stole the show, Litzenberger would have kept up the pace. Ed is also the only pro hockey player in North America to win six consecutive championships and one of just seven players to win the Calder Trophy in the NHL and the Calder Cup in the AHL (see more on that here).
Junior and Minor Pro
Hockey Card Collection
NHL Career
Rookie Card
Career Stats
Ed Litzenberger – Junior/Minor Pro
Ed Litzenberger’s three years of junior hockey with the Regina Pats were nothing short of spectacular. In his first year, the Pats advanced to the Memorial Cup finals before falling in five games to the Montreal Junior Canadiens.
Ed Litzenberger Collection
In 1950-51, Ed tied for the goal scoring lead with Guyle Fielder of the Lethbridge Native Sons, both with 44. Litzenberger fell behind Fielder for the overall scoring lead. Regina fell short of the Memorial Cup finals, falling to the Winnipeg Monarchs in the Abbott Cup finals. The Abbott Cup was awarded to the top junior team in Western Canada, before the modern days of the four team Memorial Cup tournament.
In his final year with the Pats, Litzenberger was once again amongst the scoring leaders and Regina found their way again to the Memorial Cup finals. This time, they came up against the Guelph Biltmore Mad Hatters but were swept in four games.
Property of the Montreal Canadiens, Litzenberger played most of his first two years of pro hockey with the Montreal Royals. He appeared in just five NHL games with the Habs over those two years. In his first year with the Royals, 1952-53, Ed was awarded the William Northey Trophy as rookie of the year.
In 1953-54, Litzenberger broke out with the Royals, leading the team with 31 goals over 67 games. The goal total tied him for fifth in the QHL and his 70 points placed him eighth. Montreal finished first overall in the seven team league but were upset in the semi-finals by the Ottawa Senators.
Litzenberger then returned to the minors late in his career, playing for the Rochester Americans for parts of 1963-64 to 1965-66. The first year was split between the Amerks and Toronto Maple Leafs. He appeared in one game with the Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup playoffs which marked his final game in the NHL.
In 1964-65 with Rochester, Ed scored 25 goals and assisted on 61 for 86 points over 72 games. He was third in the AHL for assists and seventh in the race for the John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the league’s overall scoring leader. Litzenberger appeared in ten playoff games as the Americans captured the Calder Cup championship, taking out the Hershey Bears in five games.
The following year, 1965-66, Litzenberger’s last in pro hockey, Ed split his season between the Americans and the Victoria Maple Leafs of the WHL. He was with Rochester as the team again won the Calder Cup championship with a win over the Cleveland Barons in the finals.
Ed Litzenberger – NHL
Between 1952-53 and 1963-64, Ed Litzenberger played in 618 regular season NHL games, scoring 178 and assisting on 238 for 416 points. Over 40 Stanley Cup playoff games, Ed added another 18 points. His career started with sparse action as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. Most of his success came with the Blackhawks and Maple Leafs. Litzenberger also had a short half season with the Detroit Red Wings.
In 1954-55, the Blackhawks were struggling on and off the ice. The NHL, with just six teams, could barely afford to lose another franchise. On December 10, 1954, Litzenberger was donated to Chicago from Montreal. The official term is ‘traded for cash’ but this was simply the NHL and the Habs throwing the Hawks a lifeline.
Because of scheduling differences, Litzenberger played 73 regular season games in 1954-55 while each team competed in just 70 games each. In fact, he followed that up with four more years without missing a game. Despite playing on a terrible Chicago team, Ed was awarded the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie. As mentioned, he is one of just seven players to win both the Calder Trophy in the NHL and the Calder Cup in the AHL. Both awards are named for Frank Calder, first president of the NHL.
In 1956-57, Litzenberger scored 32 and assisted on 32 for 64 points over 70 games. he placed fourth in the NHL for goals behind Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau and Maurice Richard. Ed also placed fifth for assists and points.
The following year, he scored 32 again while assisting on 30 for 62 points. He tied for third for goals with Camille Henry of the Rangers, just four behind league leader Dickie Moore and just one goal behind Gordie Howe. Litzenberger was sixth in the race for the Art Ross Trophy.
1958-59 was Litzenberger’s best offensive season in the NHL and the start of a sharp decline in numbers. He finished the year with 33 goals and 44 assists for 77 points over 70 games. he tied Andy Hebenton of the Rangers for fourth in goal scoring. He tied Bernie Geoffrion of the Canadiens in the assists department. In the race for the Art Ross Trophy, Ed finished in fifth, one point behind Gordie Howe.
That year was also Ed’s first of three years as team captain of the Blackhawks, taking over from Gus Mortson. He would later be replaced by defenseman Pierre Pilote.
In what would be his final year in Chicago, 1960-61, Litzenberger won his first Stanley Cup championship. In an underdog battle between the third seed Blackhawks and fourth seed Red Wings, Chicago came out on top – a big deal for a team that was a basement dweller just a few short years before.
The following year, by way of Detroit, Litzenberger landed in Toronto in time to be part of a three consecutive Stanley Cup championship run by the Maple Leafs. As mentioned, in the final year, 1963-64, he played in just one playoff game but it was enough to make it official. That meant four straight Stanley Cup wins for Ed, followed by two straight Calder Cup wins with the Rochester Americans for six straight championships.
Ed Litzenberger – Rookie Card
Despite winning the Calder in 1954-55, Ed Litzenberger did not appear on a hockey card until 1957-58. In 1955-56, Parkhurst was still the only producer and chose to only feature players from the Maple Leafs and Canadiens. There was no set from either Parkhurst or Topps in 1956-57.
The Ed Litzenberger rookie card appears as number 26 in the 1957-58 Topps set. It was the first year Topps entered the hockey card market and Litzenberger’s RC is valued at around 50% more than a common card. He is, of course, shown as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks.
It should be noted that Litzenberger’s rookie card has a bit of an error. It states on the back that he won the Calder Cup and not the Calder Trophy…
Ed Litzenberger Career Stats
| Season | Team | Lge | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| 1949-50 | Regina Pats | WCJHL | 40 | 25 | 19 | 44 | 16 |
| 1950-51 | Regina Pats | WCJHL | 40 | 44 | 35 | 79 | 23 |
| 1951-52 | Regina Pats | WCJHL | 41 | 42 | 29 | 71 | 75 |
| 1952-53 | Montreal Royals | QSHL | 59 | 26 | 24 | 50 | 42 |
| 1952-53 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 1953-54 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1953-54 | Montreal Royals | QHL | 67 | 31 | 39 | 70 | 44 |
| 1954-55 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 29 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 12 |
| 1954-55 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 44 | 16 | 24 | 40 | 28 |
| 1955-56 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 70 | 10 | 29 | 39 | 36 |
| 1956-57 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 70 | 32 | 32 | 64 | 48 |
| 1957-58 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 70 | 32 | 30 | 62 | 63 |
| 1958-59 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 70 | 33 | 44 | 77 | 37 |
| 1959-60 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 52 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 15 |
| 1960-61 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 62 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 14 |
| 1961-62 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 31 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 0 |
| 1961-62 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 38 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 14 |
| 1962-63 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 58 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 10 |
| 1963-64 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 33 | 15 | 14 | 29 | 26 |
| 1963-64 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 19 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 1964-65 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 72 | 25 | 61 | 86 | 34 |
| 1965-66 | Rochester Americans | AHL | 47 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 10 |
| 1965-66 | Victoria Maple Leafs | WHL | 23 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 26 |
| NHL Totals | 618 | 178 | 238 | 416 | 279 |