Detroit defeated Toronto in five games and Chicago upset Montreal, the record five-time defending champion, in six, setting up the first all-American-team Finals since 1950, when the Wings beat the New York Rangers in a seven-game series.
Two future Hockey Hall of Fame members, Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, made their first Stanley Cup appearances.
The CBC had to conceive a way to carry the Finals between the Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Red Wings or face public revolt.
According to lore, the CBC found a way to link their Windsor viewers as having a vested interest in the Finals with the across the river Red Wings.
Thus, CBC was able to carry the series after inking special contracts with the Red Wings and Black Hawks as a service to the Windsor market.