 NHL President Clarence Campbell was at the game and was seated near where the incident occurred . After receiving a report from the game 's officials , Campbell called a news conference and said the injury was not Kennedy 's fault . Campbell also publicly rebuked Ivan for his accusation , saying , " That is a 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 would have been 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 . 
