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1939–40 NHL season

The 1939–40 NHL season represented the 23rd season for the National Hockey League. Among the league’s seven teams, the Boston Bruins emerged as the top team in the 48-game regular season. However, it was the New York Rangers who clinched the Stanley Cup, securing their third title in 14 seasons by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs in the best-of-seven final series 4–2. It would be another 54 years before they claimed their fourth championship.

1939–40 NHL season
League National Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
Duration November 2, 1939 – April 13, 1940
Number of games 48
Number of teams 7
Regular season
Season champion Boston Bruins
Season MVP Ebbie Goodfellow (Red Wings)
Top scorer Milt Schmidt (Bruins)
Stanley Cup
Champions New York Rangers
  Runners-up Toronto Maple Leafs

Regular season

Tragedy struck the Montreal Canadiens when Babe Siebert, named coach of the struggling club, drowned along with his daughter in August. It put a big hole in the Habs defence and the team finished last under Pit Lepine. An all-star benefit was held in Siebert’s memory.

The New York Americans, in financial trouble, decided to trade their star left wing Sweeney Schriner to Toronto for Harvey “Busher” Jackson, Buzz Boll, Murray Armstrong, and minor-leaguer Jimmy Fowler. Late in the season, they traded Eddie Wiseman and $5000 to Boston for Eddie Shore. The Americans then managed to make the playoffs by finishing a poor sixth. They also obtained Charlie Conacher and used him as a defenceman.

The first place Boston Bruins had a new coach in Cooney Weiland, their one-time captain, and were once again led by their Kraut Line, Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart, and Bobby Bauer as they finished 1–2–3 in overall league scoring. Unfortunately, the potent three were unable to help the Bruins get past the first round of the playoffs as the Bruins lost in six games to the Rangers.

The New York Rangers were coasting in first place and went 19 consecutive games without a loss. They slumped in the second half, though, and Boston edged them out for first place.

The first NHL game broadcast on television was between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens on February 25, 1940. The game was seen by only 300 people in a small area in the United States. This, though, was not the first ice hockey game broadcast on television, as a broadcast had been made in England in 1938. The CBC’s first hockey broadcast was in 1952 between the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings.

Final standings

National Hockey League
GP W L T GF GA PIM Pts
Boston Bruins 48 31 12 5 170 98 330 67
New York Rangers 48 27 11 10 136 77 520 64
Toronto Maple Leafs 48 25 17 6 134 110 485 56
Chicago Black Hawks 48 23 19 6 112 120 351 52
Detroit Red Wings 48 16 26 6 90 126 250 38
New York Americans 48 15 29 4 106 140 236 34
Montreal Canadiens 48 10 33 5 90 167 338 25

[1]

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalty Minutes, Pts = Points       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Playoffs

The Boston Bruins, led by the formidable “Kraut Line”, were anticipated to reach the Stanley Cup Finals after securing the top seed in the regular season. However, they faced a formidable challenge from the New York Rangers, who ultimately proved too strong for the Bruins. Despite Boston’s efforts, they succumbed to the Rangers in six games during the Semifinals, being outscored 14 to 8 and shut out twice. Meanwhile, the third-seeded Toronto Maple Leafs swept both the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Black Hawks on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals. The victory for the Rangers marked the beginning of a 54-year drought, known as the “54 Year Curse”, during which they would not claim another Stanley Cup until 1994.

Playoff bracket

Quarterfinals Semifinals Stanley Cup Finals
1 Boston 2
2 NY Rangers 4
2 NY Rangers 4
3 Toronto 2
3 Toronto 2
4 Chicago 0
3 Toronto 2
5 Detroit 0
5 Detroit 2
6 NY Americans 1

Quarterfinals

(3) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (4) Chicago Black Hawks

Toronto won series 2–0

(5) Detroit Red Wings vs. (6) New York Americans

Detroit won series 2–1

Semifinals

(1) Boston Bruins vs. (2) New York Rangers

New York won series 4–2

(3) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (5) Detroit Red Wings

Toronto won series 2–0

Stanley Cup Finals

New York won series 4–2

Awards

Calder Trophy:
(Best first-year player)
Kilby MacDonald, New York Rangers
Hart Trophy:
(Most valuable player)
Ebbie Goodfellow, Detroit Red Wings
Lady Byng Trophy:
(Excellence and sportsmanship)
Bobby Bauer, Boston Bruins
O’Brien Cup:
(Stanley Cup runner-up)
Toronto Maple Leafs
Prince of Wales Trophy:
(Regular season champion)
Boston Bruins
Vezina Trophy:
(Fewest goals allowed)
Dave Kerr, New York Rangers

All-Star teams

First Team   Position   Second Team
Dave Kerr, New York Rangers G Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins
Dit Clapper, Boston Bruins D Art Coulter, New York Rangers
Ebbie Goodfellow, Detroit Red Wings D Earl Seibert, Chicago Black Hawks
Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins C Neil Colville, New York Rangers
Bryan Hextall, New York Rangers RW Bobby Bauer, Boston Bruins
Toe Blake, Montreal Canadiens LW Woody Dumart, Boston Bruins
Paul Thompson, Chicago Black Hawks Coach Frank Boucher, New York Rangers

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player Team GP G A Pts
Milt Schmidt Boston Bruins 48 22 30 52
Woody Dumart Boston Bruins 48 22 21 43
Bobby Bauer Boston Bruins 48 17 26 43
Gordie Drillon Toronto Maple Leafs 43 21 19 40
Bill Cowley Boston Bruins 48 13 27 40
Bryan Hextall New York Rangers 48 24 15 39
Neil Colville New York Rangers 48 19 19 38
Syd Howe Detroit Red Wings 46 14 23 37
Toe Blake Montreal Canadiens 48 17 19 36
Murray Armstrong New York Americans 48 16 20 36

Source:NHL[2]

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min – 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
Dave Kerr New York Rangers 48 3000 77 1.54 27 11 10 8
Paul Goodman Chicago Black Hawks 31 1920 62 1.94 16 10 5 4
Frank Brimsek Boston Bruins 48 2950 98 1.99 31 12 5 6
Turk Broda Toronto Maple Leafs 47 2900 108 2.23 25 17 5 4
Cecil “Tiny” Thompson Detroit Red Wings 46 2830 120 2.54 16 24 6 3
Earl Robertson N.Y. Americans 48 2960 140 2.84 15 29 4 6
Claude Bourque Montreal Canadiens 36 2210 121 3.29 9 24 3 2
Mike Karakas Chicago Black Hawks 17 1050 58 3.31 7 9 1 0
Playoffs

Playoff scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty Minutes

Player Team GP G A Pts PIM
Phil Watson New York Rangers 12 3 6 9 16
Neil Colville New York Rangers 12 2 7 9 18
Syl Apps Toronto Maple Leafs 10 5 2 7 2
Bryan Hextall New York Rangers 12 4 3 7 11
Alex Shibicky New York Rangers 11 2 5 7 4
Hank Goldup Toronto Maple Leafs 10 5 1 6 4
Wilbert Hiller New York Rangers 12 2 4 6 2
Mac Colville New York Rangers 12 3 2 5 6
Mud Bruneteau Detroit Red Wings 5 3 2 5 0
Alf Pike New York Rangers 12 3 1 4 6

Playoff leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes Played; GAA = Goals Against Average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Player Team GP Min W L T SO GAA
Dave Kerr New York Rangers 12 770 8 4 0 3 1.56
Turk Broda Toronto Maple Leafs 10 657 6 4 0 1 1.74
Frank Brimsek Boston Bruins 6 360 2 4 0 0 2.50
Tiny Thompson Detroit Red Wings 5 300 2 3 0 0 2.40
Earl Robertson New York Americans 3 180 1 2 0 0 3.00
Paul Goodman Chicago Black Hawks 2 127 0 2 0 0 2.36

Coaches

  • Boston Bruins: Cooney Weiland

  • Chicago Black Hawks: Paul Thompson

  • Detroit Red Wings: Jack Adams

  • Montreal Canadiens: Babe Siebert and Alfred Lepine

  • New York Americans: Red Dutton

  • New York Rangers: Frank Boucher

  • Toronto Maple Leafs: Dick Irvin

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1939–40 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

  • Doug Bentley, Chicago Black Hawks

  • Johnny Mowers, Detroit Red Wings

  • Pat Egan, New York Americans

  • Kilby MacDonald, New York Rangers

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1939–40 (listed with their last team):

  • Tiny Thompson, Detroit Red Wings

  • Cecil Dillon, Detroit Red Wings

  • Hec Kilrea, Detroit Red Wings

  • Cy Wentworth, Montreal Canadiens

  • Earl Robinson, Montreal Canadiens

  • Armand Mondou, Montreal Canadiens

  • Marty Barry, Montreal Canadiens

  • Doc Romnes, New York Americans

  • Art Chapman, New York Americans

  • Nels Stewart, New York Americans

  • Eddie Shore, New York Americans

  • Johnny Gagnon, New York Rangers

  • Red Horner, Toronto Maple Leafs

See also

  • List of Stanley Cup champions

  • 1939 in sports

  • 1940 in sports

References

[1]

Citation Linkopenlibrary.orgStandings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.).THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.

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[2]

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Citation Linken.wikipedia.orgThe original version of this page is from Wikipedia, you can edit the page right here on Everipedia.Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Additional terms may apply.See everipedia.org/everipedia-termsfor further details.Images/media credited individually (click the icon for details).

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