1940–41 NHL season

The 1940–41 NHL season was the 24th season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Seven teams played 48 games each. The Boston Bruins were the Stanley Cup winners as they swept the Detroit Red Wings four games to none in the final series.

League business

In September 1940, International Ice Hockey Association president W. G. Hardy announced a new one-year agreement was reached with the NHL, who agreed to pay $250 for signing an amateur and another $250 if the amateur played in the NHL. NHL president Frank Calder signed the new professional-amateur agreement in October 1940. The agreement also included allowing the NHL to sign a limited number of junior age players.

Regular season

The Montreal Canadiens had hit the bottom in 1939–40, and were in financial trouble. Frank Patrick decided to become an investor and governor for the team, and Tommy Gorman was hired as general manager. He hired recently released Toronto coach Dick Irvin to run the team. One of the first things Gorman and Irvin did was scout for players, and the Canadiens came up with Johnny Quilty, Joe Benoit, Elmer Lach and defenceman Ken Reardon. Bert Gardiner would be used in goal, replacing Claude Bourque and Wilf Cude. Murph Chamberlain was bought from Toronto to bolster the offence.

Quilty and Benoit came through, as did Toe Blake, but the Habs had a long way to go, finishing sixth. Quilty won the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie. In fact, before the season started, Coach Irvin handed a sealed envelope to a reporter of his guess who would win the Calder Trophy, and when the season ended, the reporter opened the envelope: Johnny Quilty was the choice Irvin made.

The Boston Bruins set a record 23 straight unbeaten games en route to a strong first-place finish at the end of the schedule. The Rangers, finished fourth after the previous year's Stanley Cup win and Dave Kerr was not up to his usual form in goal.

Playoffs

Playoff bracket

The top six teams in the league qualified for the playoffs. The top two teams played in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup semifinal series. The third-place team then met the fourth-place team in one best-of-five series, and the fifth-place team faced the sixth-place team in another best-of-five series, to determine the participants for the other best-of-five semifinal series. The semifinal winners then met in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series).

Awards

Calder Trophy: (Best first-year player)	Johnny Quilty, Montreal Canadiens
Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player)	Bill Cowley, Boston Bruins
Lady Byng Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship)	Bobby Bauer, Boston Bruins
O'Brien Cup: (Stanley Cup runners-up)	Detroit Red Wings
Prince of Wales Trophy: (Top regular season record)	Boston Bruins
Vezina Trophy: (Fewest goals allowed)	Turk Broda, Toronto Maple Leafs

All-Star teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Turk Broda, Toronto Maple Leafs	G	Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins
Dit Clapper, Boston Bruins	D	Earl Seibert, Chicago Black Hawks
Wally Stanowski, Toronto Maple Leafs	D	Ott Heller, New York Rangers
Bill Cowley, Boston Bruins	C	Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs
Bryan Hextall, New York Rangers	RW	Bobby Bauer, Boston Bruins
Sweeney Schriner, Toronto Maple Leafs	LW	Woody Dumart, Boston Bruins
Cooney Weiland, Boston Bruins	Coach	Dick Irvin, Montreal Canadiens

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
Bill Cowley	Boston Bruins	46	17	45	62	16
Bryan Hextall	New York Rangers	48	26	18	44	16
Gordie Drillon	Toronto Maple Leafs	42	23	21	44	2
Syl Apps	Toronto Maple Leafs	41	20	24	44	6
Syd Howe	Detroit Red Wings	48	20	24	44	8
Lynn Patrick	New York Rangers	48	20	24	44	12
Neil Colville	New York Rangers	48	14	28	42	28
Eddie Wiseman	Boston Bruins	47	16	24	40	10
Bobby Bauer	Boston Bruins	48	17	22	39	2
Roy Conacher	Boston Bruins	41	24	14	38	7

Source: NHLTemplate:Sfn

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
Turk Broda	Toronto Maple Leafs	48	2970	99	2.00	28	14	6	5
Frank Brimsek	Boston Bruins	48	3040	102	2.01	27	8	13	6
Johnny Mowers	Detroit Red Wings	48	3040	102	2.01	21	16	11	4
Dave Kerr	New York Rangers	48	3010	125	2.49	21	19	8	2
Paul Goodman	Chicago Black Hawks	21	1320	55	2.50	7	10	4	2
Bert Gardiner	Montreal Canadiens	42	2600	119	2.75	13	23	6	2
Sam LoPresti	Chicago Black Hawks	27	1670	84	3.02	9	15	3	1
Chuck Rayner	N.Y. Americans	12	773	44	3.42	2	7	3	0
Earl Robertson	N.Y. Americans	36	2260	142	3.77	6	22	8	1

Coaches

• Boston Bruins: Cooney Weiland
• Chicago Black Hawks: Paul Thompson
• Detroit Red Wings: Jack Adams
• Montreal Canadiens: Dick Irvin
• New York Americans: Red Dutton
• 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 1940–41 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Max Bentley, Chicago Black Hawks
• John Mariucci, Chicago Black Hawks
• Joe Carveth, Detroit Red Wings
• Elmer Lach, Montreal Canadiens
• Ken Reardon, Montreal Canadiens
• John Quilty, Montreal Canadiens
• Chuck Rayner, New York Americans
• Bill Juzda, New York Rangers

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1940–41 (listed with their last team):

• Paul Haynes, Montreal Canadiens
• Georges Mantha, Montreal Canadiens
• Hooley Smith, New York Americans
• Charlie Conacher, New York Americans
• Dave Kerr, New York Rangers

See also

• 1940–41 NHL transactions
• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1940 in sports
• 1941 in sports

References

Notes

External links

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com