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Johnny Bower's play has inspired Toronto's Leals, PRIL means the Stanley Cup and the Stanley Cup, in the words of Hector (Toe) Blake, the brooding brain of the world cham- pion Montreal Canadiens, means a hot goal- tender, Barring earthquake, famine or pestilence, the Canadiens will be straight Stanley Cup this month, an incredible record and Blake says the key to that un- precedented kingdom rests with his goalkeeper, "Great as we've been in some of the finals in the last five years, Jacques Plante has always been a major factor," says Blake, ' "He's never had a cold series in the playoffs." And not just Plante over the years, Blake points to the late 'forties when the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup four times in five years, : "Turk Broda always spelled the differ- ence," Blake notes, "He'd have his bad games during the season but it's often been said that 'he was the best pressure goaltender of modern times, Similarly Sawchuk and Lumley were at their very best when Detroit was dominating this game," HE onus for a team's success in the spring falls upon the goalkeeper because of the tense taut nature of playoff games, There is a differ- ent atmosphere in the arenas, a charged-up seltzer-bottle of fans who reflect the fortunes of their favorites in high-pitched explosive waves of sound, In this emotional cauldron, a goalkeeper's single mistake sets his whole team at a dis advantage, Or, as Blake phrases it; "During the season a goaler can blow a soft one or two and the other team is ap! to relax, His own team, then, can often con on to tle up the game or even win it, But the playoffs, there's ne danger of a lea. ONTARIO TODAY SATURDAY AFEiL 1, 1961 CUPS ARE WON IN THE NETS seeking their sixth » _ Vk 2 a ou Turk Broda was noted for playoff toughness, team relaxing In fact, a gift of a goal is apt to give it even more inspiration," Great teams have been eliminated by great goaltending In the spring of 1951 the Detroit Red Wings, who had run away with the schedule in piling up 101 points, met the Canadiens in the first round of the play- offs, 8 Montreal team that earned just 65 points during the season, Yet, with little Gerry McNeil impregnable in goal, and with Maurice (Rocket) Richard popping overtime goals in game after game, the Canadiens sidelined one of the finest teams Jack Adams ever assembled at Detroit, 1 ig goalers whose names have faded in the mists of time have been equally formid- able, Who remembers Frank McCool, a hag- gard man with ulcers, scoring shutouts in the first three games of the 1945 Stanley Cup final between his Maple Leafs and the Red Wings? McCool has rarely been rated one of the game's great backstops but in this series he fought off the Red Wings and his nagging nerves as the Leafs finally won the seventh game and the championship, Perhaps the most bizarre of all finishes marked the 1938 final when Toronto met a bedraggled team of Chicago Black Hawks, The Hawks, with a measly 37 points on the season, had the fifth worst record in the then eight- sam league, The Leafs, on the other hand, ad won the Canadian Division and were heavily favored, When Mike Karakas, the regular Hawk aler, was injured the Hawks searched des- rately for a replacement, The legend is that y toured the pubs to come up with Alfie ore, who played sensationally, barred his' :@ to the great Kid Line of Conacher, Jackson ! Primeau, and led Chicago to the most un- BY TRENT FRAYNE Jacques Plante earned praise of Toe Blake, expected of all Stanley Cup triumphs, The Hawks, in fact, haven't won the trophy since, NDEED, that era marked the decline of Chicago, Boston and New York as serious Stanley Cup threats, Through the next three seasons the Bruins and Rangers dominated the game, but the advent of World War II took something away from them they've never quite recovered, It's significant that when they were flying high, though, the Rangers were backed by the great Davie Kerr and the Bruins by Mr, Zero, Frankie Brimsek, As Toe Blake says, "There's no mystery to a Stanley Cup victory, and there's nothing vague about a defeat, You simply can't win the Stanley Cup unless you have a hot goalkeeper,"