The 1960-61 Topps set consists of 66 hockey cards, 27 of which are ‘All-Time Greats’. The ATG cards feature greats of the game that played in the National Hockey League during the first half of century. For several who played when the hockey card market did not exist, the 1960-61 ATG cards are considered their rookie cards.
The highlight of the 1960-61 Topps set is the rookie card of Stan Mikita, superstar with the Chicago Blackhawks and member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The book value of the card is $400. Equally as valuable is the regular hockey card of Bobby Hull, Mikita’s teammate with the Blackhawks. The two cards are far and away more valuable that any other card in the set.
As for the All-time Greats cards, the most valuable belongs to Lester Patrick. Generally, most of the ATG cards are worth several times more than a common card.
1960-61 Topps NHL Checklist
| Number | Player |
| 1 | Lester Patrick [All-time Greats] |
| 2 | Paddy Moran [All-time Greats] |
| 3 | Joe Malone [All-time Greats] |
| 4 | Ernie “Moose” Johnson [All-time Greats] |
| 5 | Nels Stewart [All-time Greats] |
| 6 | Bill Hay RC |
| 7 | Eddie Shack |
| 8 | Cy Denneny RC [All-time Greats] |
| 9 | Jim Morrison |
| 10 | Bill Cook [All-time Greats] |
| 11 | Johnny Bucyk |
| 12 | Murray Balfour |
| 13 | Leo Labine |
| 14 | Stan Mikita RC |
| 15 | George Hay RC [All-time Greats] |
| 16 | Mervyn “Red” Dutton [All-time Greats] |
| 17 | Dickie Boon RC [All-time Greats] |
| 18 | George “Red” Sullivan |
| 19 | Georges Vezina [All-time Greats] |
| 20 | Eddie Shore [All-time Greats] |
| 21 | Ed Litzenberger |
| 22 | Bill Gadsby |
| 23 | Elmer Vasko |
| 24 | Charlie Burns |
| 25 | Glenn Hall |
| 26 | Aubrey “Dit” Clapper [All-time Greats] |
| 27 | Art Ross [All-time Greats] |
| 28 | Jerry Toppazzini |
| 29 | Frank Boucher [All-time Greats] |
| 30 | Jack Evans |
| 31 | Jean-Guy Gendron |
| 32 | Chuck Gardiner RC [All-time Greats] |
| 33 | Ab McDonald |
| 34 | Frank Frederickson RC [All-time Greats] |
| 35 | Frank Nighbor RC [All-time Greats] |
| 36 | Lorne “Gump” Worsley |
| 37 | Dean Prentice |
| 38 | Hugh Lehman RC [All-time Greats] |
| 39 | Jack McCartan RC |
| 40 | Don McKenney |
| 41 | Ron Murphy |
| 42 | Andy Hebenton |
| 43 | Don Simmons |
| 44 | Herb Gardiner RC [All-time Greats] |
| 45 | Andy Bathgate |
| 46 | Fred “Cyclone” Taylor [All-time Greats] |
| 47 | Francis “King” Clancy [All-time Greats] |
| 48 | Edward “Newsy” Lalonde [All-time Greats] |
| 49 | Harry Howell |
| 50 | Ken Schinkel RC |
| 51 | Tod Sloan |
| 52 | Doug Mohns |
| 53 | Camille Henry |
| 54 | Bronco Horvath |
| 55 | Cecil “Tiny” Thompson [All-time Greats] |
| 56 | Bob Armstrong |
| 57 | Fern Flaman |
| 58 | Bobby Hull |
| 59 | Howie Morenz [All-time Greats] |
| 60 | Dick Irvin RC [All-time Greats] |
| 61 | Lou Fontinato |
| 62 | Leo Boivin |
| 63 | Moose Goheen RC [All-time Greats] |
| 64 | Al Arbour |
| 65 | Pierre Pilote |
| 66 | Vic Stasiuk |
1960-61 Topps NHL: Complete Hockey Card Set [Video]
1960-61 NHL Season
An interesting year 1960-61, the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs dominated the regular season but it was the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup final. Montreal led the league with 92 points, two more than second place Toronto and 17 more than third place Chicago. The Red Wings rounded out the top four with 66 points while the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins were left out of the post season.
All individual awards went to players from either Toronto or Montreal. The First All-Star team was dominated by the two clubs, with the exception of Marcel Pronovost of the Red Wings. Eight of the 12 players selected to the all-star teams were from the two Canadian teams.
Leading the scoring race was Bernie Geoffrion of the Canadiens with 50 goals and 95 points. Bernie became just the second NHL player after Rocket Richard to reach the 50 goal plateau. Frank Mahovlich of the Maple Leafs came close with 48.
A trio of Hall of Famers made their NHL debuts in 1960-61: Dave Keon, Rod Gilbert and Jean Ratelle. Keon would take home the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. Greats Willie O’Ree, Fern Flaman, Tod Sloan, Red Sullivan and Larry Regan saw their final NHL action.
In the playoffs, the third seed Blackhawks upset the Canadiens in seven games in their semi-final series. Game 3 went to the third overtime before Chicago got the win. Glenn Hall had back to back shutouts in games 6 and 7. The other semi-final featured the Detroit Red Wings upsetting the Maple Leafs in just five games.
It took six games for the Blackhawks to oust Detroit in the final to capture their first Stanley Cup championship in 23 years. They would not win again until 2010. The Conn Smythe Trophy didn’t exist at the time but if it did, the award would most likely have gone to goalie Glenn Hall. Over 12 games, Mr. Goalie had a .937 save percentage with two shutouts. In the triple overtime win over the Habs, Hall stopped all but one of 54 shots.
1960-61 NHL Standings
| Team | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA |
| Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 41 | 19 | 10 | 92 | 254 | 188 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 39 | 19 | 12 | 90 | 234 | 176 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 70 | 29 | 24 | 17 | 75 | 198 | 180 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 25 | 29 | 16 | 66 | 195 | 215 |
| New York Rangers | 70 | 22 | 38 | 10 | 54 | 204 | 248 |
| Boston Bruins | 70 | 15 | 42 | 13 | 43 | 176 | 254 |
1960-61 Scoring Leaders
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
| Bernie Geoffrion | Montreal Canadiens | 64 | 50 | 45 | 95 |
| Jean Beliveau | Montreal Canadiens | 69 | 32 | 58 | 90 |
| Frank Mahovlich | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 48 | 36 | 84 |
| Andy Bathgate | New York Rangers | 70 | 29 | 48 | 77 |
| Gordie Howe | Detroit Red Wings | 64 | 23 | 49 | 72 |
| Norm Ullman | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 28 | 42 | 70 |
| Red Kelly | Toronto Maple Leafs | 64 | 20 | 50 | 70 |
| Dickie Moore | Montreal Canadiens | 57 | 35 | 34 | 69 |
| Henri Richard | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 24 | 44 | 68 |
| Alex Delvecchio | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 27 | 35 | 62 |