First hockey game on TV! Oct. 11, 1952

In an era when most hockey enthusiasts follow the on-ice exploits of their heroes on the radio, Montreal Canadiens fans become the first to see their team play a game on television. On Oct. 11, 1952, popular Quebec media personality René Lecavalier is behind the mike for Canada's first televised National Hockey League contest.

In this retrospective clip, the inaugural edition of La Soirée du Hockey (the French-language equivalent of Hockey Night In Canada) features the Habs taking on the visiting Detroit Red Wings at the Montreal Forum.

• This season opener was a particularly contentious match, as the Red Wings swept the Canadiens in four straight games during the previous season's finals to capture the Stanley Cup. The game also pitted the NHL's two biggest names against each other: Montreal's Maurice Richard and Detroit's Gordie Howe.

• Television sets were prohibitively expensive for most Canadians in 1952 (only 10 per cent of households had one), so most of those watching at home were well-heeled enough to have attended Canadiens games in person.

• The Canadiens went on to win the game 2-1, bolstering many fans' positive impressions of the groundbreaking experiment.

• English Canada got its first glimpse of televised NHL hockey three weeks later. Foster Hewitt ascended the Maple Leaf Gardens catwalk in Toronto to provide play-by-play for the final two periods of a match between the Leafs and the Boston Bruins.

Category:

Sports

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• montreal
• canadiens
• hockey
• television
• first
• game
• on
• tv

[wiseoldowlsayhoo]

Hockey is truley truley the best sport in the history of sports!

GO CANADA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MrUnibaker]

@adamski895RS Tennis wow your too quick for me you also invented toilet paper and the gas mask , I could use both for the crap coming out of your text message oh I forgot you invented that too... he shoots he scores

[varmy6]

@wildgoalie01 When we look at the red wings line-up we see that there are 8 Canadians out of 24 players

America has - 5 players

Sweden - 6 and other countries (Russia and Finland mostly) make up the rest of the team, so next time you say the red wings are better than Canadians a majority of the team is in fact Canadian.

[xxaimpiratexx]

ZOOM THE CAMERA OUT NOOB!! X-D

[wildgoalie01]

Canda has some good players but the wings are the best team out tere

[jocolope]

@adamski895RS, actually the Brits can thank the Natives and the French from being better navigators and paddlers. Hockey like Yankee are Native words spelled in english but sound the same.

[cywyhot]

Terrific as history. Thank you. In 1952 there was a massive upsurge in tv buying in the US for the election. That's when my family bought their first set. I don't know if they weren't as expensive in the US or if people had more money or felt it was worth the price. Perhaps someone with that information could add it here.

[adamski895RS]

@MrUnibaker OH, we also invented the Internet.................GAME SET AND MATCH.

[adamski895RS]

@MrUnibaker dental mirror disintegrating plastic ear piercer Those things are so useful! we have invented such things as: Vacuum cleaner Jet Engines Electric generator Fire extinguisher Machine gun WE WIN

[MrUnibaker]

@adamski895RS Your comment appears beneath your intelligentsia , what up eh! google what canadians have invented you may be surprised , by the way ask your prince William and princess Kate what they thought of Canadians after there visit !