1941–42 NHL season
The 1941–42 NHL season was the 25th season of the National Hockey League. Seven teams played 48 games each. The Toronto Maple Leafs would win the Stanley Cup defeating the Detroit Red Wings winning four straight after losing the first three in a best-of-seven series, a feat only repeated to date three times in NHL history (1975, 2010, 2014) and once in Major League Baseball (2004). However the 41-42 Leafs were the only ones to achieve the feat in a championship final series.
| 1941–42 NHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | November 1, 1941 – April 18, 1942 |
| Number of games | 48 |
| Number of teams | 7 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champion | New York Rangers |
| Season MVP | Tommy Anderson (Americans) |
| Top scorer | Bryan Hextall (Rangers) |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Champions | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Runners-up | Detroit Red Wings |
League business
This season was the last season for the Brooklyn Americans who had changed their name from the New York Americans in an attempt to build a civic relationship with those from the Flatbush area of New York.
Due to World War II travel restrictions on adults, the NHL demanded more junior-aged players who were free of the travel restrictions.[1] NHL president Frank Calder reported there was a general agreement with the amateur leagues that a junior-aged player should be able to determine his own financial future due to the war.[2]
Regular season
The Americans started the season without Harvey "Busher" Jackson who refused to sign. He was then sold to Boston. But the Amerks had two positive notes: two defencemen, Tommy Anderson and Pat Egan, were now All-Star calibre. That did not prevent them from finishing last, though. On December 9, 1941, the Chicago Black Hawks-Boston Bruins game would be delayed for over a half-hour as United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared that the United States was at war.[3]
Frank Patrick suffered a heart attack and had to sell his interest in the Montreal Canadiens, and the Habs almost had to move to Cleveland. But Tommy Gorman kept the team alive. They added Emile "Butch" Bouchard to start his great career on defence and another very good player, Buddy O'Connor, at centre. Montreal had goaltending problems as Bert Gardiner slumped, and rookie Paul Bibeault replaced him. He showed flashes of brilliance, but his inexperience showed. Joe Benoit starred with 20 goals, the first Canadien to do that since 1938–39, when Toe Blake did it.
The New York Rangers had a new goaltender as Sugar Jim Henry replaced the retired Dave Kerr. Henry was one of the reasons the Rangers finished first, something they would not again do for the next 50 years.
Final standings
| GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Rangers | 48 | 29 | 17 | 2 | 60 | 177 | 143 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 27 | 18 | 3 | 57 | 158 | 136 |
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 25 | 17 | 6 | 56 | 160 | 118 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 22 | 23 | 3 | 47 | 145 | 155 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 19 | 25 | 4 | 42 | 140 | 147 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 18 | 27 | 3 | 39 | 134 | 173 |
| Brooklyn Americans | 48 | 16 | 29 | 3 | 35 | 133 | 175 |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
Record vs. opponents
| 1941–42 NHL Records [5] | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | BRK | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR | |||||
| Boston | — | 4–4 | 3–3–2 | 4–2–2 | 6–1–1 | 4–4 | 4–3–1 | |||||
| Brooklyn | 4–4 | — | 2–6 | 3–4–1 | 3–4–1 | 2–5–1 | 2–6 | |||||
| Chicago | 3–3–2 | 6–2 | — | 3–5 | 4–3–1 | 2–6 | 4–4 | |||||
| Detroit | 2–4–2 | 4–3–1 | 5–3 | — | 5–3 | 1–7 | 2–5–1 | |||||
| Montreal | 1–6–1 | 4–3–1 | 3–4–1 | 3–5 | — | 4–4 | 3–5 | |||||
| New York | 4–4 | 5–2–1 | 6–2 | 7–1 | 4–4 | — | 3–4–1 | |||||
| Toronto | 3–4–1 | 6–2 | 4–4 | 5–2–1 | 5–3 | 4–3–1 | — | |||||
Playoffs
Playoff bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Stanley Cup Finals | |||||||||||
| 1 | New York | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Toronto | 4 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Toronto | 4 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Boston | 2 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Detroit | 3 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Chicago | 1 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Boston | 0 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Detroit | 2 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Detroit | 2 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Montreal | 1 | |||||||||||
(3) Boston Bruins vs. (4) Chicago Black Hawks
| March 22 | Boston Bruins | 2–1 | OT | Chicago Black Hawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | ||
| Roy Conacher (1) – 11:08 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 18:50 – Max Bentley (1) | ||||||
| Des Smith (1) – 06:51 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Frank Brimsek | Goalie stats | Sam LoPresti | ||||||
| March 24 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4–0 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bill Mosienko (1) – 03:57 Alex Kaleta (1) – 10:19 Bill Carse (1) – 10:30 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| George Allen (1) – 06:27 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Sam LoPresti | Goalie stats | Frank Brimsek | ||||||
| March 26 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–3 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 18:01 – Gordie Bruce (1) | ||||||
| Max Bentley (2) – 07:09 Bill Mosienko (2) – pp – 15:26 |
Second period | 00:48 – Gordie Bruce (2) 08:15 – Jack McGill (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Sam LoPresti | Goalie stats | Frank Brimsek | ||||||
| Boston won series 2–1 | |
(5) Detroit Red Wings vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens
| March 22 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–2 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 11:32 – Don Grosso (1) | ||||||
| Terry Reardon (1) – 09:57 | Second period | 02:35 – Don Grosso (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Paul Bibeault | Goalie stats | Johnny Mowers | ||||||
| March 24 | Detroit Red Wings | 0–5 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 12:03 – pp – Jim Haggarty (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 10:26 – Terry Reardon (2) 17:20 – Butch Bouchard (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 15:41 – Joe Benoit (1) 16:17 – Gerry Heffernan (1) | ||||||
| Johnny Mowers | Goalie stats | Paul Bibeault | ||||||
| March 26 | Montreal Canadiens | 2–6 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jim Haggarty (2) – 01:26 | Second period | 04:21 – Mud Bruneteau (1) 19:37 – Sid Abel (1) | ||||||
| Gerry Heffernan (2) – 19:49 | Third period | 07:30 – Joe Carveth (1) 11:40 – Mud Bruneteau (2) 13:02 – Carl Liscombe (1) 19:33 – Carl Liscombe (2) | ||||||
| Paul Bibeault | Goalie stats | Johnny Mowers | ||||||
| Detroit won series 2–1 | |
(1) New York Rangers vs. (2) Toronto Maple Leafs
| March 21 | New York Rangers | 1–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| Babe Pratt (1) – 02:26 | First period | 04:15 – Gordie Drillon (1) 05:33 – Nick Metz (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 14:14 – Syl Apps (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jim Henry | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| March 22 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4–2 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden III | Recap | |||
| John McCreedy (1) – 11:41 Gordie Drillon (2) – 19:32 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| John McCreedy (2) – 04:49 Billy Taylor (1) – 06:15 |
Third period | 01:31 – pp – Mac Colville (1) 02:22 – pp – Mac Colville (2) | ||||||
| Turk Broda | Goalie stats | Jim Henry | ||||||
| March 24 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 0–3 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden III | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 02:50 – pp – Alex Shibicky (1) 06:10 – Alan Kuntz (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 10:49 – Mac Colville (3) | ||||||
| Turk Broda | Goalie stats | Jim Henry | ||||||
| March 28 | New York Rangers | 1–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bryan Hextall (1) – 17:32 | Third period | 09:09 – Syl Apps (2) 13:08 – Sweeney Schriner (1) | ||||||
| Jim Henry | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| March 29 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1–3 | New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden III | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 02:01 – Alex Shibicky (2) 16:07 – Alex Shibicky (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Pete Langelle (1) – 18:05 | Third period | 15:56 – Lynn Patrick (1) | ||||||
| Turk Broda | Goalie stats | Jim Henry | ||||||
| March 31 | New York Rangers | 2–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 11:41 – John McCreedy (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 00:50 – Pete Langelle (2) | ||||||
| Phil Watson (1) – 10:31 Alf Pike (1) – pp – 12:18 |
Third period | 19:55 – Nick Metz (2) | ||||||
| Jim Henry | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| Toronto won series 4–2 | |
(3) Boston Bruins vs. (5) Detroit Red Wings
| March 29 | Detroit Red Wings | 6–4 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| Mud Bruneteau (3) – 00:19 Eddie Wares (1) – 03:25 Carl Liscombe (3) – 10:49 |
First period | 16:24 – Roy Conacher (2) | ||||||
| Don Grosso (3) – 01:00 Carl Liscombe (4) – 09:20 |
Second period | 05:39 – Jack McGill (2) | ||||||
| Sid Abel (2) – 09:00 | Third period | 09:15 – Jack McGill (3) 16:04 – Jack McGill (4) | ||||||
| Johnny Mowers | Goalie stats | Frank Brimsek | ||||||
| March 31 | Boston Bruins | 1–3 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| Herb Cain (1) – 08:32 | First period | 03:50 – Joe Carveth (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 09:46 – Joe Carveth (3) 19:54 – Don Grosso (4) | ||||||
| Frank Brimsek | Goalie stats | Johnny Mowers | ||||||
| Detroit won series 2–0 | |
Stanley Cup Finals
| April 4 | Detroit Red Wings | 3–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| Don Grosso (5) – 01:38 Sid Abel (3) – 12:30 |
First period | 06:36 – John McCreedy (4) 12:59 – Sweeney Schriner (2) | ||||||
| Don Grosso (6) – 14:11 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Johnny Mowers | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| April 7 | Detroit Red Wings | 4–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| Don Grosso (7) – 11:48 Mud Bruneteau (4) – 14:17 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 11:13 – Sweeney Schriner (3) | ||||||
| Don Grosso (8) – 04:15 Gerry Brown (1) – pp – 10:08 |
Third period | 13:40 – Wally Stanowski (1) | ||||||
| Johnny Mowers | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| April 9 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2–5 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| Lorne Carr (1) – 15:36 Lorne Carr (2) – 16:06 |
First period | 18:20 – Gerry Brown (2) 18:40 – Joe Carveth (4) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 13:12 – Pat McReavy (1) 15:11 – Syd Howe (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 07:11 – Eddie Bush (1) | ||||||
| Turk Broda | Goalie stats | Johnny Mowers | ||||||
| April 12 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4–3 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bob Davidson (1) – 13:54 Lorne Carr (3) – 15:20 |
Second period | 01:32 – Mud Bruneteau (5) 09:08 – Sid Abel (4) | ||||||
| Syl Apps (3) – 06:15 Nick Metz (3) – 12:45 |
Third period | 04:18 – Carl Liscombe (5) | ||||||
| Turk Broda | Goalie stats | Johnny Mowers | ||||||
| April 14 | Detroit Red Wings | 3–9 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 09:29 – pp – Nick Metz (4) 15:14 – pp – Wally Stanowski (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 01:59 – Bob Goldham (1) 04:11 – Sweeney Schriner (4) 14:11 – Don Metz (1) 14:28 – Syl Apps (4) 16:44 – sh – Don Metz (2) | ||||||
| Syd Howe (2) – 03:08 Alex Motter (1) – 14:03 Carl Liscombe (6) – pp – 15:45 |
Third period | 05:36 – Don Metz (3) 09:25 – Syl Apps (5) | ||||||
| Johnny Mowers | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| April 16 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3–0 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Don Metz (4) – 00:14 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bob Goldham (2) – 13:32 Billy Taylor (2) – 14:04 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Turk Broda | Goalie stats | Johnny Mowers | ||||||
| April 18 | Detroit Red Wings | 1–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Syd Howe (3) – 01:45 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 07:47 – Sweeney Schriner (5) 09:48 – Pete Langelle (3) 16:17 – Sweeney Schriner (6) | ||||||
| Johnny Mowers | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| Toronto won series 4–3 | |
Awards
| Calder Trophy: (Best first-year player) | Grant Warwick, New York Rangers |
| Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player) | Tommy Anderson, Brooklyn Americans |
| Lady Byng Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship) | Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| O'Brien Cup: (Stanley Cup runner-up) | Detroit Red Wings |
| Prince of Wales Trophy: (Regular season champion) | New York Rangers |
| Vezina Trophy: (Fewest goals allowed) | Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins |
Player statistics
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| PLAYER | TEAM | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bryan Hextall | New York Rangers | 48 | 24 | 32 | 56 | 30 |
| Lynn Patrick | New York Rangers | 47 | 32 | 22 | 54 | 18 |
| Don Grosso | Detroit Red Wings | 45 | 23 | 30 | 53 | 13 |
| Phil Watson | New York Rangers | 48 | 15 | 37 | 52 | 58 |
| Sid Abel | Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 18 | 31 | 49 | 45 |
| Toe Blake | Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 17 | 28 | 45 | 29 |
| Bill Thoms | Chicago Black Hawks | 47 | 15 | 30 | 45 | 8 |
| Gordie Drillon | Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 23 | 18 | 41 | 6 |
| Syl Apps | Toronto Maple Leafs | 38 | 18 | 23 | 41 | 0 |
| Tommy Anderson | Brooklyn Americans | 48 | 12 | 29 | 41 | 64 |
Source: NHL[6]
Leading goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; Mins – Minutes Played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts
| Player | Team | GP | Min | GA | GAA | W | L | T | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Brimsek | Boston Bruins | 47 | 2930 | 115 | 2.35 | 24 | 17 | 6 | 3 |
| Turk Broda | Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 2960 | 136 | 2.76 | 27 | 18 | 3 | 6 |
| Jim Henry | New York Rangers | 48 | 2960 | 143 | 2.90 | 29 | 17 | 2 | 1 |
| Johnny Mowers | Detroit Red Wings | 47 | 2880 | 144 | 3.00 | 19 | 25 | 3 | 5 |
| Sam LoPresti | Chicago Black Hawks | 47 | 2860 | 152 | 3.19 | 21 | 23 | 3 | 3 |
| Paul Bibeault | Montreal Canadiens | 38 | 2380 | 131 | 3.30 | 17 | 19 | 2 | 1 |
| Chuck Rayner | Brooklyn Americans | 36 | 2380 | 129 | 3.47 | 13 | 21 | 2 | 1 |
| Earl Robertson | Brooklyn Americans | 12 | 750 | 46 | 3.68 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| Bert Gardiner | Montreal Canadiens | 10 | 620 | 42 | 4.06 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
Coaches
- Boston Bruins: Art Ross
- Brooklyn Americans: Red Dutton
- Chicago Black Hawks: Paul Thompson
- Detroit Red Wings: Jack Adams
- Montreal Canadiens: Dick Irvin
- New York Rangers: Frank Boucher
- Toronto Maple Leafs: Hap Day
Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1941–42 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
- Kenny Mosdell, Brooklyn Americans
- Harry Watson, Brooklyn Americans
- Bill Mosienko, Chicago Black Hawks
- Adam Brown, Detroit Red Wings
- Buddy O'Connor, Montreal Canadiens
- James Haggarty, Montreal Canadiens
- Emile "Butch" Bouchard, Montreal Canadiens
- Grant Warwick, New York Rangers
- Jim Henry, New York Rangers
- Bob Goldham, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Gaye Stewart*, Toronto Maple Leafs
Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1941–42 (listed with their last team):
- Eddie Wiseman, Boston Bruins
- Tommy Anderson, Brooklyn Americans
- Art Coulter, New York Rangers
- Pete Langelle, Toronto Maple Leafs
References
- Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
- Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
- Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
- Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Publications International Inc. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.
- McFarlane, Brian (1973). The Story of the National Hockey League. New York, NY: Pagurian Press. ISBN 0-684-13424-1.
- Notes
- "Amateurs Receive $17,000". Winnipeg Tribune. Winnipeg, Manitoba. April 20, 1942. p. 15.
- "Young Players For N.H.L. Clubs?". Winnipeg Tribune. Winnipeg, Manitoba. August 22, 1942. p. 19.
- Hockey's Book of Firsts, p.71, James Duplacey, JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9
- Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
- "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- Dinger 2011, p. 148.