1940–41 Montreal Canadiens season

	1940–41 Montreal Canadiens
Division	6th NHL
1940–41 record	16-26-6
Goals for	121
Goals against	143
Team information
General manager	Tommy Gorman
Coach	Dick Irvin
Captain	Toe Blake
Arena	Montreal Forum
Team leaders
Goals	John Quilty (18)
Assists	Toe Blake (20)
Points	John Quilty (34)
Penalty minutes	Red Goupille (81)
Wins	Bert Gardiner (13)
Goals against average	Bert Gardiner (2.75)
	← 1939–40 1941–42 →

The 1940–41 Montreal Canadiens season was the 32nd season in club history. The Canadiens finished 6th in the league and lost in the Quarter-finals to the Chicago Black Hawks 2 games to 1.

Off-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.

Regular Season[]

1940-Oct3-Bruins-Habs — Roy Conacher in action, October 3, 1940.

Opening night was on November 3, 1940 against the Boston Bruins. The game was hard fought and after Toe Blake put the Habs up 1-0, Milt Schmidt rounded the Canadiens net and jammed a shot in off goalie Bert Gardiner's back to tie the score. Herb Cain hit the post in the last frame and the game ended 1-1. Habs coach Dick Irvin commented that he'd never seen a team in such good shape as the Bruins. ^[1]

Quilty and Benoit came through, as did Toe Blake, but the Habs had a long way to go, finishing sixth. Quilty won the Calder Memorial 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.

Final Standings[]

National Hockey League
	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA
Boston Bruins	48	27	8	13	67	168	102
Toronto Maple Leafs	48	28	14	6	62	145	99
Detroit Red Wings	48	21	16	11	53	112	102
New York Rangers	48	21	19	8	50	143	125
Chicago Black Hawks	48	16	25	7	39	112	139
Montreal Canadiens	48	16	26	6	38	121	147
New York Americans	48	8	29	11	27	99	186

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log[]

Regular Season Results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	T	November 3, 1940	1–1 OT	Boston Bruins (1940–41)	0–0–1
2	L	November 10, 1940	1–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41)	0–1–1
3	L	November 14, 1940	2–6	Toronto Maple Leafs (1940–41)	0–2–1
4	L	November 16, 1940	2–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1940–41)	0–3–1
5	T	November 17, 1940	4–4 OT	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41)	0–3–2
6	L	November 21, 1940	1–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1940–41)	0–4–2
7	W	November 23, 1940	3–1	New York Americans (1940–41)	1–4–2
8	L	November 24, 1940	1–2	@ New York Americans (1940–41)	1–5–2
9	W	November 26, 1940	3–2	@ Boston Bruins (1940–41)	2–5–2
10	L	November 30, 1940	1–6	@ New York Rangers (1940–41)	2–6–2
11	L	December 5, 1940	2–3	New York Rangers (1940–41)	2–7–2
12	W	December 7, 1940	3–2	Detroit Red Wings (1940–41)	3–7–2
13	L	December 12, 1940	3–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1940–41)	3–8–2
14	W	December 15, 1940	2–1 OT	@ Detroit Red Wings (1940–41)	4–8–2
15	L	December 19, 1940	0–2	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41)	4–9–2
16	W	December 21, 1940	3–1	Boston Bruins (1940–41)	5–9–2
17	W	December 26, 1940	7–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41)	6–9–2
18	W	December 28, 1940	3–0	New York Americans (1940–41)	7–9–2
19	L	December 31, 1940	2–4	@ New York Americans (1940–41)	7–10–2
20	W	January 1, 1941	2–1	@ New York Rangers (1940–41)	8–10–2
21	T	January 4, 1941	3–3 OT	New York Rangers (1940–41)	8–10–3
22	L	January 5, 1941	0–3	@ Detroit Red Wings (1940–41)	8–11–3
23	L	January 7, 1941	3–4 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1940–41)	8–12–3
24	L	January 9, 1941	1–3 OT	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41)	8–13–3
25	L	January 11, 1941	1–2	Boston Bruins (1940–41)	8–14–3
26	L	January 12, 1941	5–7	@ Boston Bruins (1940–41)	8–15–3
27	W	January 16, 1941	5–1	Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41)	9–15–3
28	W	January 18, 1941	2–1	Detroit Red Wings (1940–41)	10–15–3
29	L	January 23, 1941	2–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1940–41)	10–16–3
30	T	January 25, 1941	2–2 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1940–41)	10–16–4
31	L	February 2, 1941	1–2	@ New York Rangers (1940–41)	10–17–4
32	L	February 4, 1941	3–5 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1940–41)	10–18–4
33	T	February 6, 1941	4–4 OT	Detroit Red Wings (1940–41)	10–18–5
34	T	February 8, 1941	3–3 OT	New York Americans (1940–41)	10–18–6
35	L	February 9, 1941	3–6 OT	@ New York Americans (1940–41)	10–19–6
36	W	February 11, 1941	6–2	New York Rangers (1940–41)	11–19–6
37	W	February 13, 1941	6–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41)	12–19–6
38	L	February 15, 1941	0–5	Boston Bruins (1940–41)	12–20–6
39	L	February 16, 1941	1–2	@ Detroit Red Wings (1940–41)	12–21–6
40	L	February 20, 1941	1–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1940–41)	12–22–6
41	W	February 22, 1941	7–3	Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41)	13–22–6
42	L	February 27, 1941	2–5	@ New York Rangers (1940–41)	13–23–6
43	L	March 1, 1941	1–3	New York Rangers (1940–41)	13–24–6
44	W	March 2, 1941	3–2	@ New York Americans (1940–41)	14–24–6
45	W	March 6, 1941	4–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1940–41)	15–24–6
46	L	March 8, 1941	0–4	Detroit Red Wings (1940–41)	15–25–6
47	L	March 9, 1941	0–8	@ Boston Bruins (1940–41)	15–26–6
48	W	March 15, 1941	6–0	New York Americans (1940–41)	16–26–6

^[2]

Playoffs[]

Chicago Black Hawks 2, Montreal Canadiens 1[]

Best of 3

March 20 Chicago Black Hawks 2 Montreal 1 @ Chicago
March 22 Montreal 4 Chicago 3 @ Montreal
March 25 Chicago 3 Montreal 2 @ Chicago

Player Stats[]

Regular Season[]

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Quilty, JohnJohn Quilty	C	48	18	16	34	31
Benoit, JoeJoe Benoit	RW	45	16	16	32	32
Blake, ToeToe Blake	LW	48	12	20	32	49
Getliffe, RayRay Getliffe	C/LW	39	15	10	25	25
Chamberlain, MurphMurph Chamberlain	LW	45	10	15	25	75
Demers, TonyTony Demers	RW	46	13	10	23	17
Lach, ElmerElmer Lach	C	43	7	14	21	16
Adams, JackJack Adams	LW	42	6	12	18	11
Sands, CharlieCharlie Sands	C/RW	43	5	13	18	4
Drouin, PollyPolly Drouin	LW	21	4	7	11	0
Reardon, KenKen Reardon	D	34	2	8	10	41
Goupille, RedRed Goupille	D	48	3	6	9	81
Portland, JackJack Portland	D	42	2	7	9	34
Graboski, TonyTony Graboski	LW/D	34	4	3	7	12
Trudel, LouLou Trudel	LW	16	2	3	5	2
Singbush, AlexAlex Singbush	D	32	0	5	5	15
Smith, StuStu Smith	LW	3	2	1	3	2
O'Neil, JimJim O'Neil	C/RW	12	0	3	3	0
Mantha, GeorgesGeorges Mantha	D/LW	6	0	1	1	0
Young, DougDoug Young	D	3	0	0	0	4
Haynes, PaulPaul Haynes	C	7	0	0	0	12
Cude, WilfWilf Cude	G	3	0	0	0	0
Bibeault, PaulPaul Bibeault	G	4	0	0	0	0
Gardiner, BertBert Gardiner	G	42	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Gardiner, BertBert Gardiner	2600	42	13	23	6	119	2.75	1
Cude, WilfWilf Cude	180	3	2	1	0	13	4.33	0
Bibeault, PaulPaul Bibeault	210	4	1	2	0	15	4.29	0
Team:	2990	48	16	26	6	147	2.95	1

Playoffs[]

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Benoit, JoeJoe Benoit	RW	3	4	0	4	2
Blake, ToeToe Blake	LW	3	0	3	3	5
Getliffe, RayRay Getliffe	C/LW	3	1	1	2	0
Chamberlain, MurphMurph Chamberlain	LW	3	0	2	2	11
Quilty, JohnJohn Quilty	C	3	0	2	2	0
Lach, ElmerElmer Lach	C	3	1	0	1	0
Sands, CharlieCharlie Sands	C/RW	2	1	0	1	0
Portland, JackJack Portland	D	3	0	1	1	2
Drouin, PollyPolly Drouin	LW	1	0	0	0	0
Smith, StuStu Smith	LW	1	0	0	0	0
Demers, TonyTony Demers	RW	2	0	0	0	0
Goupille, RedRed Goupille	D	2	0	0	0	0
Graboski, TonyTony Graboski	LW/D	3	0	0	0	6
Adams, JackJack Adams	LW	3	0	0	0	0
O'Neil, JimJim O'Neil	C/RW	3	0	0	0	0
Reardon, KenKen Reardon	D	3	0	0	0	4
Singbush, AlexAlex Singbush	D	3	0	0	0	4
Gardiner, BertBert Gardiner	G	3	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Gardiner, BertBert Gardiner	214	3	1	2	8	2.24	0
Team:	214	3	1	2	8	2.24	0

^[3]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; 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[]

Calder Memorial Trophy: Johnny Quilty

Gallery[]

References[]

↑ Montreal Gazette, p.18, October 4, 1940.
↑ 1940–41 Montreal Canadiens Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-04.
↑ 1940-41 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com. hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-28.

[1] Montreal Gazette, p.18, October 4, 1940.

[2] 1940–41 Montreal Canadiens Games. Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-06-04.

[3] 1940-41 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com. hockey-reference.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-28.

[1]

[2]

[3]

Montreal Canadiens Seasons
1900s	1909–10
1910s	1910–11 • 1911–12 • 1912–13 • 1913–14 • 1914–15 • 1915–16 • 1916–17 • 1917–18 • 1918–19 • 1919–20
1920s	1920–21 • 1921–22 • 1922–23 • 1923–24 • 1924–25 • 1925–26 • 1926–27 • 1927–28 • 1928–29 • 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 • 1931–32 • 1932–33 • 1933–34 • 1934–35 • 1935–36 • 1936–37 • 1937–38 • 1938–39 • 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 • 1941–42 • 1942–43 • 1943–44 • 1944–45 • 1945–46 • 1946–47 • 1947–48 • 1948–49 • 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 • 1951–52 • 1952–53 • 1953–54 • 1954–55 • 1955–56 • 1956–57 • 1957–58 • 1958–59 • 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 • 1961–62 • 1962–63 • 1963–64 • 1964–65 • 1965–66 • 1966–67 • 1967–68 • 1968–69 • 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 • 1971–72 • 1972–73 • 1973–74 • 1974–75 • 1975–76 • 1976–77 • 1977–78 • 1978–79 • 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 • 1981–82 • 1982–83 • 1983–84 • 1984–85 • 1985–86 • 1986–87 • 1987–88 • 1988–89 • 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 • 1991–92 • 1992–93 • 1993–94 • 1994–95 • 1995–96 • 1996–97 • 1997–98 • 1998–99 • 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 • 2001–02 • 2002–03 • 2003–04 • 2004–05 • 2005–06 • 2006–07 • 2007–08 • 2008–09 • 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 • 2011–12 • 2012–13 • 2013–14 • 2014–15 • 2015–16 • 2016–17 • 2017–18 • 2018–19 • 2019–20
Bold indicates Stanley Cup Championship

Montreal Canadiens
Franchise	Franchise • Original Six • Players • Coaches • General Managers • Seasons • Records • Draft Picks • Award Winners
Arenas	Jubilee Arena • Montreal Arena • Mount Royal Arena • Montreal Forum • Bell Centre
Affiliates	Laval Rocket (AHL)

1940–41 NHL season by team
Teams	Boston • Chicago • Detroit • Montreal Canadiens • NY Americans • NY Rangers • Toronto
See also	1941 Stanley Cup Finals

1940–41 Montreal Canadiens season

Contents

Off-season[]

Regular Season[]

Final Standings[]

Game Log[]

Playoffs[]

Chicago Black Hawks 2, Montreal Canadiens 1[]

Player Stats[]

Regular Season[]

Playoffs[]

Awards and Records[]

Gallery[]

See Also[]

References[]