pretty serious business and a very vicious charge." It was also argued that since Kennedy was a right-handed shot, the butt-end of his stick was towards the boards and away from Howe. Sportswriter Ted Reeve of the Toronto Telegram quipped, "How would a right-handed stickhandler going down the left boards give anyone a butt end? Unless he wanted to lift the snappers out of someone in the rail seats." Howe was lost from the playoffs, but the incident influenced the momentum of the series. Detroit won the second game of the series 3–1, a violent and fight-filled affair which included a stick-swinging incident between the Leafs' Jimmy Thomson and Detroit's Leo Reise and a fight between Kennedy and Ted Lindsay. After the game, Campbell threatened the players with fines if the violent play continued, and both teams continued to play hockey for the remainder of the series. However, Detroit was now determined to "win the series for Gordie" and defeated the Leafs in seven strongly-contested games to eliminate them from the playoffs, going on to win the Stanley Cup. In recovery from his hospital bed, Howe said, "Ted is too good a player to deliberately injure another player." Then, years later, while still believing that he had been hit by Kennedy's stick, Howe reiterated that there was no intent to injure on Kennedy's part and considered his injuries self-inflicted. However, the incident still continues at times to be described as a deliberate act by Kennedy. In 2001, The Sporting News ran an article on the 30 toughest players in the NHL. In referring to Howe's injury, the incident was described "he was knocked heavily into the boards by Toronto's Teeder Kennedy". The Final Cup Except for being left with a lifelong facial tick, Howe made a full recovery and for the 1950–51 season as he finished the season leading the league in points. The Maple Leafs finished in second place behind Detroit. Kennedy finished second on the team in points behind Bentley and tied with Howe for the league lead in assists with 43. In the first round of the playoffs Montreal upset Detroit and Toronto defeated Boston. The Stanley Cup final between Montreal and Toronto went five games, but is remarkable as each game required overtime to be decided. In the third game, with the series tied at one game a piece, Kennedy both saved the game for the