1944–45 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 1944–45 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the club's 28th season in the NHL. Toronto finished in third place in the regular season, with a 24–22–4 record, earning 52 points. The Leafs eliminated their archrivals Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs, and then defeated the Detroit Red Wings in seven games in the 1945 Stanley Cup Finals.

1944–45 Toronto Maple Leafs
Stanley Cup champions
Division3rd
1944–45 record24–22–4
Home record13–9–3
Road record11–13–1
Goals for183
Goals against161
Team information
General managerConn Smythe
CoachHap Day
CaptainBob Davidson
ArenaMaple Leaf Gardens
Team leaders
GoalsTed Kennedy (29)
AssistsGus Bodnar (36)
PointsTed Kennedy (54)
Penalty minutesReg Hamilton (41)
WinsFrank McCool (24)
Goals against averageFrank McCool (3.22)

Regular season

Toronto was a very streaky club during the regular season, where they started off very hot, winning their first six games, and 10 of their first 14, before a mid-season slump, when they managed a 5–10–2 record in 17 games. The Leafs would continue to be a streaky club for the remainder of the year, which included a five-game winning streak, and a seven-game winless streak. Overall, the Maple Leafs managed to end the season with a 24–22–4 record, earning 52 points, and third place in the NHL standings.

The Leafs offense was led teenage superstar Ted Kennedy, who turned 19 during the season, and had a club high 29 goals and 54 points. Gus Bodnar, who was also 19 years old, led the club with 36 assists, while Lorne Carr put together another solid season, scoring 21 goals and adding 25 assists for 46 points. Sweeney Schriner, who only appeared in 26 games, managed to score 22 goals and 37 points. Babe Pratt led the Leafs defense, scoring 18 goals and 41 points, while fellow blueliner Reg Hamilton had 15 points, and a team high 41 penalty minutes.

In goal, rookie Frank McCool had all the action, winning 24 games and posting a 3.22 GAA, while earning four shutouts. McCool would win the Calder Memorial Trophy for his efforts.

The Maple Leafs would open the playoffs against the heavily favoured and defending Stanley Cup champions, the Montreal Canadiens in a best of 7 series. The Canadiens dominated the league, as they had a record of 38–8–4, recording 80 points, which was 28 more than the Leafs. Toronto stunned the Canadiens in the series opener at the Montreal Forum, as Frank McCool shut out the Habs in a 1–0 Leafs victory. The Leafs then went up 2–0 in the series, winning a close game by a 3–2 score. The series shifted to Maple Leaf Gardens, however, the Canadiens roared back, easily defeating Toronto 4–1 to cut the Leafs series lead to 2–1. The fourth game was decided in overtime, and it was the Leafs who were victorious, winning 4–3, and taking a commanding 3–1 series lead. The series moved back to Montreal for the fifth game, and the Canadiens easily dismantled the Leafs, winning 10–3, and sending the series back to Toronto for the sixth game. The Maple Leafs would complete the upset, hanging on for a 4–3 win in the game, and win the series 4–2.

Toronto's opponent in the 1945 Stanley Cup Finals was the Detroit Red Wings, who finished the regular season with a 31–14–5 record, earning 67 points, which was 15 higher than the Leafs. The Red Wings had defeated the Boston Bruins in seven games in the first round. Toronto, led by Frank McCool, would shutout the Red Wings in the first two games held at the Detroit Olympia for an early series lead. The Maple Leafs returned home for the third game, and took a 3–0 series lead as McCool would earn another shutout as Toronto won the game 1–0. The Red Wings managed to finally find the back of the net in the fourth game, winning 5–3 to avoid the sweep. Detroit goaltender Harry Lumley then shutout the Leafs in the fifth game by a score of 2–0, and he would once again earn a shutout in the sixth game, as Detroit won the game 1–0 in overtime to set up a seventh and deciding game. Toronto, led by goaltender Frank McCool and Babe Pratt, who scored the series winning goal, managed to hang on for a 2–1 victory in the seventh game to win the Stanley Cup for the fifth time in club history, and their first title in three years.

Final standings
National Hockey League[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1Montreal Canadiens503884228121+10780
2Detroit Red Wings5031145218161+5767
3Toronto Maple Leafs5024224183161+2252
4Boston Bruins5016304179219−4036
5Chicago Black Hawks5013307141194−5333
6New York Rangers50112910154247−9332

Record vs. opponents
1944–45 NHL Records [2]
Team BOS CHI DET MTL NYR TOR
Boston —7–30–9–10–104–3–35–5
Chicago 5–5—5–50–8–27–1–25–4–1
Detroit 9–0–17–3—1–8–16–2–28–1–1
Montreal 10–07–1–28–1–1—9–14–5–1
New York 3–4–33–3–42–6–21–9—2–7–1
Toronto 5–56–3–11–8–15–4–17–2–1—

Schedule and results
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPts
1October 28New York Rangers1–2Toronto Maple Leafs1–0–02
2October 29Toronto Maple Leafs11–5Chicago Black Hawks2–0–04
3November 2Toronto Maple Leafs4–1Montreal Canadiens3–0–06
4November 4Boston Bruins2–7Toronto Maple Leafs4–0–08
5November 9Toronto Maple Leafs6–3New York Rangers5–0–010
6November 11Montreal Canadiens1–3Toronto Maple Leafs6–0–012
7November 12Toronto Maple Leafs2–4Detroit Red Wings6–1–012
8November 15Detroit Red Wings8–4Toronto Maple Leafs6–2–012
9November 18Chicago Black Hawks4–5Toronto Maple Leafs7–2–014
10November 19Toronto Maple Leafs4–3Chicago Black Hawks8–2–016
11November 23Toronto Maple Leafs1–5Boston Bruins8–3–016
12November 25Montreal Canadiens0–2Toronto Maple Leafs9–3–018
13November 26Toronto Maple Leafs1–4Montreal Canadiens9–4–018
14December 2New York Rangers2–3Toronto Maple Leafs10–4–020
15December 3Toronto Maple Leafs4–5Boston Bruins10–5–020
16December 9Boston Bruins5–3Toronto Maple Leafs10–6–020
17December 14Toronto Maple Leafs2–2Montreal Canadiens10–6–121
18December 16Detroit Red Wings1–1Toronto Maple Leafs10–6–222
19December 23Detroit Red Wings5–4Toronto Maple Leafs10–7–222
20December 25Toronto Maple Leafs4–6Detroit Red Wings10–8–222
21December 27Toronto Maple Leafs8–2New York Rangers11–8–224
22December 30Chicago Black Hawks0–4Toronto Maple Leafs12–8–226
23January 4Montreal Canadiens2–4Toronto Maple Leafs13–8–228
24January 6Detroit Red Wings5–2Toronto Maple Leafs13–9–228
25January 9New York Rangers5–4Toronto Maple Leafs13–10–228
26January 11Toronto Maple Leafs4–7Montreal Canadiens13–11–228
27January 13Boston Bruins1–2Toronto Maple Leafs14–11–230
28January 14Toronto Maple Leafs0–3Detroit Red Wings14–12–230
29January 16Toronto Maple Leafs3–5Boston Bruins14–13–230
30January 20Chicago Black Hawks4–8Toronto Maple Leafs15–13–232
31January 21Toronto Maple Leafs0–4Chicago Black Hawks15–14–232
32January 27New York Rangers0–3Toronto Maple Leafs16–14–234
33January 28Toronto Maple Leafs7–0New York Rangers17–14–236
34February 3Boston Bruins4–2Toronto Maple Leafs17–15–236
35February 4Toronto Maple Leafs4–3Chicago Black Hawks18–15–238
36February 6Toronto Maple Leafs5–1Boston Bruins19–15–240
37February 10Chicago Black Hawks2–1Toronto Maple Leafs19–16–240
38February 11Toronto Maple Leafs1–2Chicago Black Hawks19–17–240
39February 17Montreal Canadiens4–3Toronto Maple Leafs19–18–240
40February 18Toronto Maple Leafs1–6Detroit Red Wings19–19–240
41February 24New York Rangers4–4Toronto Maple Leafs19–19–341
42February 25Toronto Maple Leafs2–5Montreal Canadiens19–20–341
43February 27Chicago Black Hawks3–3Toronto Maple Leafs19–20–442
44March 3Montreal Canadiens2–3Toronto Maple Leafs20–20–444
45March 4Toronto Maple Leafs6–3New York Rangers21–20–446
46March 6Toronto Maple Leafs5–2Boston Bruins22–20–448
47March 10Boston Bruins2–9Toronto Maple Leafs23–20–450
48March 11Toronto Maple Leafs3–2Detroit Red Wings24–20–452
49March 17Detroit Red Wings4–3Toronto Maple Leafs24–21–452
50March 18Toronto Maple Leafs5–6New York Rangers24–22–452

Playoffs

Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Montreal Canadiens 2
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1March 20Toronto Maple Leafs1–0Montreal Canadiens1–0
2March 22Toronto Maple Leafs3–2Montreal Canadiens2–0
3March 24Montreal Canadiens4–1Toronto Maple Leafs2–1
4March 27Montreal Canadiens3–4Toronto Maple Leafs3–1
5March 29Toronto Maple Leafs3–10Montreal Canadiens3–2
6March 31Montreal Canadiens2–3Toronto Maple Leafs4–2

Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Detroit Red Wings 3
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 6Toronto Maple Leafs1–0Detroit Red Wings1–0
2April 8Toronto Maple Leafs2–0Detroit Red Wings2–0
3April 12Detroit Red Wings0–1Toronto Maple Leafs3–0
4April 14Detroit Red Wings5–3Toronto Maple Leafs3–1
5April 19Toronto Maple Leafs0–2Detroit Red Wings3–2
6April 21Detroit Red Wings1–0Toronto Maple Leafs3–3
7April 22Toronto Maple Leafs2–1Detroit Red Wings4–3

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Ted Kennedy4929255414
Lorne Carr472125467
Gus Bodnar498364418
Babe Pratt5018234139
Sweeney Schriner2622153710
Nick Metz5022133526
Mel Hill4518173514
Bob Davidson5017183549
Art Jackson31913226
Reg Hamilton503121541
Wally Stanowski34291116
Pete Backor364596
Ross Johnstone243478
Tom O'Neill3325724
John McCreedy1724611
Bill Ezinicki814517
Jack McLean821313
Moe Morris2902218
Frank McCool500000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SA SV SV% SO
Frank McCool300050242241613.224
Team:300050242241613.224

Playoffs
Scoring
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Ted Kennedy137292
Babe Pratt132468
Mel Hill132356
Gus Bodnar133144
Sweeney Schriner133144
Lorne Carr132245
Moe Morris1330314
Bob Davidson131232
Nick Metz71122
Don Metz110114
Wally Stanowski130115
Reg Hamilton130006
Art Jackson80000
Frank McCool130000
John McCreedy800010
Jack McLean40000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SA SV SV% SO
Frank McCool8071385302.234
Team:8071385302.234

[3]

Awards and records

Transactions

See also

References
  1. "1944–1945 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  2. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. "1944-45 Toronto Maple Leafs Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 27, 2009.
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