1941–42 Boston Bruins season



The 1941–42 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 18th season in the NHL. The Bruins had finished first in the NHL for the four straight years but missed it this year by 4 points, largely due to losing the Kraut Line of Milt Schmidt, Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart to war service. Also, Bill Cowley missed 20 games with a broken jaw and Dit Clapper missed 16 games and the entire playoffs with a ruptured Achilles tendon. The Bruins lost in the Semi-finals to the Detroit Red Wings 2 games to 0.

Pre-season
The Bruins played the following exhibition games:


 * Wednesday, November 5 - Bruins 5, Ottawa Senators, QSHL 0 @ Ottawa

Regular Season
Boston's home opener on November 16, 1941 saw the players presented with Stanley Cup medals by Boston mayor Maurice Tobin as part of the pre-game ceremonies. Boston wore their alternate jersey with "Bruins" written in script on the front and defeated the New York Rangers 2-1. The November 27 game versus the Brooklyn Americans saw the Bruins score 4 goals in overtime (as it wasn't sudden death) to win 6-2. On December 9, 1941, the game versus the Chicago Black Hawks was delayed for over a half hour as United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared that America was at war.

Goalie Frank Brimsek had his nose broken during the January 24, 1942 game versus the Montreal Canadiens. Nick Damore played his only NHL game filling in for Brimsek the next night, a 7-3 win over the Habs before Brimsek returned. Scoring champion Bill Cowley had his jaw broken during the 4-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on January 22, 1942 and missed 20 games, returning for the last game of the season on March 17, 1942. On January 31, Herb Cain had his cheek fractured when boarded by Bucko McDonald (missing 6 games) and Dit Clapper suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon when he collided with Rudolph Kampman (missing the rest of the season) in the 3-2 (OT) win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Busher Jackson was purchased from the Brooklyn Americans on January 4, 1942 and joined brother Art Jackson for the first of three seasons they'd play together for the Bruins.

On February 6, 1942 at the Boston Garden, the 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 oppose his brother Art and be reunited with his former linemates Joe Primeau and Charlie Conacher. Brothers also playing against each other included Roy Conacher and Charlie. Former Bruins Eddie Shore and goalie Tiny Thompson played for the Stars who were coached by the Bruins coach, Cooney Weiland while 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. Body checking 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 put the Stars 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.

The Kraut Line played their last game before leaving for war service on February 10, 1942. The line scored 11 points in a 8-1 victory over Montreal Canadiens. In a very classy gesture, the Habs carried them off the ice when the game was over.

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 after winning the first 3 games.

Regular Season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Playoffs
Official NHL game sheets indicate Cliff Thompson played 6 regular season games, not 3.
 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts

Awards and Records

 * Vezina Trophy: Frank Brimsek (2nd win)
 * Frank Brimsek, Goaltender, NHL First Team All-Star

Transactions

 * Mel Hill is sold to the Brooklyn Americans on June 27, 1941.
 * Due to service in Canada's wartime production industry, Terry Reardon could not leave Canada so he is traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Paul Gauthier on November 5, 1941.
 * Pat McReavy is traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Dutch Hiller on November 24, 1941.
 * Robert "Red" Hamill is sold to the Chicago Black Hawks on December 18, 1941.
 * Busher Jackson is purchased from the Brooklyn Americans on January 4, 1942.
 * Phil Hergesheimer is purchased from Chicago on January 26, 1942.

Trivia

 * Goalie Nick Damore subbed in for Frank Brimsek and played the only game of his NHL career on January 25, 1942 in the Bruins 7-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
 * Jack Shewchuk wore jersey #21 from February 3, 1942 on, the first time a Bruin wore this number and the highest number worn by a Bruin to that time.
 * The Bruins went 4-6-1 after the Kraut Line left for war service.
 * Bruins who recorded a Hat trick this season include:
 * Jack McGill during the 6-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings, Game 1 of the 1942 Semi-finals on March 29, 1942.