1941-42 NHL season



The 1941-42 NHL season was the 25th season of the National Hockey League. Seven teams played 48 games each. This season was the last season for the storied franchise of the Quebec Bulldogs/Hamilton Tigers/New York Americans/Brooklyn Americans whose roots began in 1888 in the Amateur Hockey Association (AHA). The Bulldogs won two Stanley Cups while playing in the National Hockey Association (NHA) in 1912 and 1913. This season also marks the last season of the pre-modern NHL. The next season, 1942-43, is the first season of the Original six and the start of the modern era of NHL hockey.

Iconic Moment
One of the most remembered moments was when after a February 10, 1942 game when the Kraut Line of the Boston Bruins were carried off the ice by members of both the Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens in recognition of the line playing their last game before joining the Royal Canadian Air Force. The line would return to play with the Bruins in the 1945-46 NHL season.



Pre-Season Training Camps

 * Boston Bruins - Hershey, Pennsylvania
 * Brooklyn Americans - Port Arthur, Ontario
 * Chicago Black Hawks - Hibbing, Minnesota
 * Detroit Red Wings - Detroit, Michigan
 * Montreal Canadiens - St. Hyacinthe, Quebec
 * New York Rangers - Winnipeg, Manitoba
 * Toronto Maple Leafs - St. Catharines, Ontario

Regular Season
The New York Americans changed their name to the Brooklyn Americans in an attempt to build a civic relationship with those from Flatbush, but they finished last again. Harvey "Busher" Jackson became one of the longest holdouts on record when he refused to sign. He was then sold to the Boston Bruins. But the Amerks had two positive notes: two defencemen, Tommy Anderson and Pat Egan, were now All-Star calibre. That didn't prevent them from finishing last, though.

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.

On February 6, 1942 at the Boston Garden, the Boston Bruins hosted a game versus a team of mostly retired NHL All-stars in support of the U.S. Army Relief Society and raised over $14,000 for military widows and orphans. The Bruins Busher Jackson played for the Stars so he could be reunited with his former linemates Joe Primeau and Charlie Conacher. Former Bruins Eddie Shore and goalie Tiny Thompson played for the Stars who were coached by the Bruins coach, Cooney Weiland while the Bruins Bill Cowley, out with a broken jaw, coached the Bruins.

The Stars warmed up wearing jerseys of the NHL teams they'd played for before changing into "V for Victory" jerseys for the game, which consisted of two 15 minute periods with a break in between in which the Bruins farm team, the Boston Olympics played the first period of their game versus the Johnstown Jets. Bodychecking was kept to a minimum and two goals by Bobby Bauer and one by Gordie Bruce put the Bruins up 3-0.

The second period saw the Stars go on a run with two goals by Bill Cook and goals by George Owen and Jackson putting the Star up 4-3. Fifteen minutes had past but the gong didn't sound, allowing Bruce to tie the game up. Then all players from both teams got on the ice and played for a few minutes with no score until the game ended. Shore was deemed the star of the game.

Scoring Leaders
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Leading Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; Mins – Minutes Played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Stanley Cup Playoffs
Note: all dates in 1942

Boston Bruins 2, Chicago Black Hawks 1
The Black Hawks were the first team the Bruins ever met in the playoffs, in 1927. The Bruins defeated the Hawks then and repeated it in 1942, two games to one. The Bruins played the entire playoffs without Dit Clapper, out with a severe ankle laceration.

Game 1 was a close affair with Roy Conacher scoring for the Bruins in the first period and Max Bentley tying the game with less than two minutes left. Des Smith won the game for the Bruins, 6:51 into overtime.

Game 2 was dominated by the Hawks who scored goals in the second period by Bill Mosienko, Alex Kaleta and Bill Carse before George Allen added another in the third period for a 4-0 win. Pete LoPresti earned the shutout.

Game 3 saw the Bruins stake a 2-0 lead on a pair of goals by Gordie Bruce. Max Bentley cut the lead in half until Jack McGill scored. Bill Mosienko made the game close but the Bruins prevailed 3-2 to win the series.

Detroit Red Wings 2, Boston Bruins 0
After defeating the Red Wings in the 1941 Stanley Cup Finals, the Wings got their revenge on the Bruins, eliminating them in the Semi-finals 2 games to 0.

Game 1 saw the Wings take commanding 3-0 and 4-1 leads and despite a Hat trick from the Bruins Jack McGill, they'd take game 1 by a 6-4 score.

Game 2 resulted in a 3-1 win for the Wings led by a pair of goals from Joe Carveth, eliminating the Bruins. The Wings would lose the Finals to the Toronto Maple Leafs and be the first team in NHL history to lose a seven game series when winning the first 3 games.

Finals
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings

Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4-3

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
 * 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