1939–40 Boston Bruins season



The 1939–40 Boston Bruins season was the Boston Bruins' sixteenth season of operation in the National Hockey League. The Bruins finished first overall, winning their third straight (and 9th overall) Prince of Wales Trophy. Injuries hampered the Bruins in the playoffs and they could not repeat as Stanley Cup champions, losing in the Semi-finals to the New York Rangers 4 games to 2.

Pre-season
The Bruins held their training camp in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The tragic death of Babe Siebert in a drowning accident led to a memorial game at the Montreal Forum on October 29, 1939. The game raised over $15,000 to benefit Siebert's wife, who was paralyzed after giving birth to their second daughter. The Bruins Frank Brimsek, Eddie Shore, Dit Clapper and Bobby Bauer played for the All-Stars who beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-2.

Regular Season
The Bruins continued with the uniforms adopted during the 1938-39 season with gold added to the black on the shoulder yokes, stripes added to the pants and the socks pattern that would last nearly three decades. Black numbers remained on the jersey front and back with a black block "B" on the arms.

After purchasing the Springfield Indians, All-Star Eddie Shore agreed to play for the Bruins for $200 per game. He played his last game for the Bruins on December 5, 1939 against the New York Americans, the team he'd be traded to. The Bruins won 2-1 with Shore scoring the tying goal before Roy Conacher won it.

Before the December 19, 1939 game at Boston versus the Toronto Maple Leafs, Conn Smythe put an ad in the Boston Globe which stated "Attention Hockey Fans! If you're tired of seeing the kind of hockey the Boston Bruins are playing, come to the Garden tonight and see a real hockey club, the Toronto Maple Leafs." The Bruins won 3-2 in overtime.

The Bruins edged the Rangers for first place by beating and tying them in the last three games of the season. Bruins Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart, Bobby Bauer and Bill Cowley finished 1-2-3-4 in league scoring for the first time in NHL history. This has only happened two other times, in the 1970–71 Boston Bruins season by Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr, John Bucyk and Ken Hodge and in the 1973–74 Boston Bruins season by Esposito, Orr, Hodge and Wayne Cashman.

New York Rangers 4, Boston Bruins 2
The league's two best teams met in the second round of the playoffs, both teams having received byes in the first round. The Bruins lost 4 players to injury during the series. The Rangers held league leading scorer Milt Schmidt off the score sheet for the series and won 4-2, with goalie Dave Kerr posting three shutouts. The Rangers would go on to the beat the Leafs in the Finals.

Game 1 at Madison Square Garden was dominated by the Rangers. After Phil Watson put the Rangers up 1-0 in the second period, the "Bread Line" of Alex Shibicky, Neil Colville and Mac Colville took over. Combining for 7 points on a goal by Shibicky and two by Mac, the Rangers blanked the Bruins 4-0 with Dave Kerr earning the shutout.

Game 2 in Boston was special teams battle. A huge brawl in the first period saw seven players in the penalty box after which Mac Colville scored a Shorthanded goal. The Bruins special teams took over in the second period. Power play goals by Flash Hollett and Woody Dumart and a shorthanded goal by Herb Cain spotted them a 3-1 lead. The Rangers Dutch Hiller made it close at 9:56 of the third but Art Jackson sealed the Bruins 4-2 victory with a late goal. The Bruins Mel Hill broke his ankle and was lost for the remainder of the series.

Game 3 in Boston was a close affair with the team trading goals throughout the game. A pair by Eddie Wiseman, who opened the scoring at 7:21 of the first and netted the winner at 7:49 of the third period was the difference as the Bruins took game 3 by a 4-3 score and led in the series 2-1.

Game 4 in New York was a goaltending duel between Frank Brimsek and Kerr with the Rangers prevailing 1-0 on a 40 foot shot by Muzz Patrick at 10:40 of the third period to tie the series 2-2. The Bruins lost defenseman Des Smith to injury for the remainder of the series.

Game 5 in Boston was a repeat of Game 4 but with Babe Pratt scoring the game's only goal at 4:27 of the third period on a two on one with Alex Shibicky. The Bruins Art Jackson broke his ankle in the first period. With 20 seconds left, the Bruins pulled Brimsek for an extra attacker but to no avail. Dit Clapper hurt his ankle at the end of the game and wouldn't play in Game 6.

Game 6 in New York saw the Bruins go ahead 1-0 on a late first period goal by Roy Conacher assisted by Art Jackson's replacement Terry Reardon. But the shorthanded Bruins, playing without Jackson, Des Smith, Mel Hill and Clapper couldn't hold off the Rangers and Alf Pike tied it up in the second period. In the third, Alex Shibicky scored to make it 2-1 and in the process Robert "Red" Hamill took a major penalty for high-sticking and broke Shibicky's nose. The Rangers capitalized on the power play with goals by Clint Smith and Phil Watson to win the series with a 4-1 victory in front of their home town faithful.

Regular Season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Playoffs

 * 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

 * Prince of Wales Trophy: Boston Bruins (9th win)
 * NHL Scoring Leader: Milt Schmidt
 * Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Bobby Bauer (1st win)
 * Milt Schmidt, Centre, NHL First Team All-Star
 * Dit Clapper, Defence, NHL First Team All-Star
 * Bobby Bauer, Right Wing, NHL Second Team All-Star
 * Woody Dumart, Left Wing, NHL Second Team All-Star
 * Frank Brimsek, Goaltender, NHL Second Team All-Star

Transactions

 * Trade Ray Getliffe and Charlie Sands to the Montreal Canadiens for Herb Cain on October 10, 1939.
 * Purchase George Brown from Montreal for cash on November 29, 1939.
 * Trade Eddie Shore to the New York Americans for Eddie Wiseman and cash on January 25, 1940.
 * Trade Jack Portland to the Chicago Black Hawks for Des Smith on January 27, 1940.

Farm Teams

 * Hershey Bears, International American Hockey League

Trivia

 * No Bruins recorded a hat trick this season.

Video
A minute of highlights of the March 19, 1940 Semi-finals Game 1 which the Rangers won 4-0 on their way to winning the Stanley Cup. Second period goals by Phil Watson and Alex Shibicky are shown.