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1941-42BosBru
1941–42 Boston Bruins
Division 3rd NHL
1941–42 record 25–17–6
Goals for 160 (2nd)
Goals against 118 (1st)
Team information
General manager Art Ross
Coach Art Ross
Captain Dit Clapper
Arena Boston Garden
Team leaders
Goals Roy Conacher (24)
Assists Bill Cowley (23)
Points Roy Conacher (37)
Penalty minutes Des Smith (70)
Wins Frank Brimsek (24)
Goals against average Frank Brimsek (2.35)

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:

Regular Season[]

Brimsek alt jersey-16Nov1941

Frank Brimsek in Boston's home opener, November 16, 1941.

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. [1]

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.

6Feb1942-Army Relief-game

Back row, left to right: Boston Olympics trainer Red Linskey, Marty Barry, Frank Boucher, Bill Cook, Tiny Thompson, Bun Cook, Ching Johnson, Major-General Thomas Terry, George Owen, Cy Wentworth, Red Horner. Front: Harvey Jackson, Charlie Conacher, Hooley Smith, Herbie Lewis, Larry Aurie, Joe Primeau, Eddie Shore.

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.

10Feb1942-Bauer carried by Habs

Woody Dumart lauded by the Habs.


Final Standings[]

National Hockey League
GP W L T Pts GF GA
New York Rangers 48 29 17 2 60 177 143
Toronto Maple Leafs 48 27 18 3 57 158 136
Boston Bruins 48 25 17 6 56 160 118
Chicago Black Hawks 48 22 23 3 47 145 155
Detroit Red Wings 48 19 25 4 42 140 147
Montreal Canadiens 48 18 27 3 39 134 173
Brooklyn Americans 48 16 29 3 35 133 175

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[]

1934 Logo Regular Season Results 1940-44 Bruins logo
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 L November 8, 1941 0–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) 0–1–0
2 W November 15, 1941 2–1 @ New York Rangers (1941–42) 1–1–0
3 W November 16, 1941 2–1 New York Rangers (1941–42) 2–1–0
4 W November 18, 1941 7–2 Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) 3–1–0
5 L November 20, 1941 2–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) 3–2–0
6 W November 23, 1941 4–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) 4–2–0
7 W November 25, 1941 7–1 Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) 5–2–0
8 W November 27, 1941 6–2 OT @ Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) 6–2–0
9 W November 29, 1941 3–1 @ Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) 7–2–0
10 W November 30, 1941 3–2 Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) 8–2–0
11 W December 2, 1941 3–1 OT Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) 9–2–0
12 L December 7, 1941 4–5 @ New York Rangers (1941–42) 9–3–0
13 T December 9, 1941 2–2 OT Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) 9–3–1
14 T December 14, 1941 3–3 OT @ Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) 9–3–2
15 W December 16, 1941 4–0 Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) 10–3–2
16 W December 20, 1941 4–2 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) 11–3–2
17 T December 21, 1941 2–2 OT @ Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) 11–3–3
18 W December 23, 1941 3–2 New York Rangers (1941–42) 12–3–3
19 L December 25, 1941 0–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) 12–4–3
20 W December 30, 1941 4–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) 13–4–3
21 W January 1, 1942 5–4 Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) 14–4–3
22 L January 4, 1942 2–3 @ Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) 14–5–3
23 W January 6, 1942 3–2 Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) 15–5–3
24 W January 13, 1942 2–1 Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) 16–5–3
25 W January 18, 1942 4–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) 17–5–3
26 L January 20, 1942 2–4 New York Rangers (1941–42) 17–6–3
27 L January 22, 1942 3–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) 17–7–3
28 T January 24, 1942 2–2 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) 17–7–4
29 W January 25, 1942 7–3 Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) 18–7–4
30 T January 27, 1942 0–0 OT Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) 18–7–5
31 L January 29, 1942 4–5 @ Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) 18–8–5
32 W January 31, 1942 3–2 OT @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) 19–8–5
33 L February 1, 1942 1–2 Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) 19–9–5
34 L February 3, 1942 3–5 OT Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) 19–10–5
35 L February 5, 1942 1–4 @ New York Rangers (1941–42) 19–11–5
36 W February 8, 1942 3–0 Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) 20–11–5
37 W February 10, 1942 8–1 Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) 21–11–5
38 L February 15, 1942 0–2 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) 21–12–5
39 L February 19, 1942 4–6 @ Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) 21–13–5
40 L February 24, 1942 3–4 New York Rangers (1941–42) 21–14–5
41 T March 1, 1942 3–3 OT Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) 21–14–6
42 W March 3, 1942 5–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) 22–14–6
43 L March 7, 1942 3–4 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) 22–15–6
44 L March 8, 1942 1–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) 22–16–6
45 W March 10, 1942 9–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) 23–16–6
46 W March 12, 1942 2–1 @ New York Rangers (1941–42) 24–16–6
47 L March 14, 1942 4–6 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) 24–17–6
48 W March 17, 1942 8–3 Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) 25–17–6

Playoffs[]

Boston Bruins 2, Chicago Black Hawks 1[]

1942March-Brimsek Carse-21Shewchuk-4Cain

Frank Brimsek stops Bill Carse in this 1942 playoff game. #21 Jack Shewchuk slides by while #4 Herb Cain looks on.

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.

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 March 22 Boston Bruins 2-1 (OT) Chicago Black Hawks 1-0
2 March 24 Chicago Black Hawks 4-0 Boston Bruins 1-1
3 March 26 Chicago Black Hawks 2-3 Boston Bruins 1-2

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.

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 March 29 Detroit Red Wings 6-4 Boston Bruins 1-0
2 March 31 Boston Bruins 1-3 Detroit Red Wings 0-2

Player Stats[]

Regular Season[]

Scoring
# Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
9 Conacher, RoyRoy Conacher LW 43 24 13 37 12
15 Schmidt, MiltMilt Schmidt C/D 36 14 21 35 34
17 Bauer, BobbyBobby Bauer RW 36 13 22 35 11
7 Wiseman, EddieEddie Wiseman RW 45 12 22 34 8
2 Hollett, FlashFlash Hollett D 48 19 14 33 21
14 Dumart, WoodyWoody Dumart LW 35 14 15 29 8
10 Cowley, BillBill Cowley C 28 4 23 27 6
16 Jackson, ArtArt Jackson C 47 6 18 24 25
11 McGill, JackJack McGill C 13 8 11 19 2
4 Cain, HerbHerb Cain LW 34 8 10 18 2
12 Hiller, DutchDutch Hiller LW 43 7 10 17 19
5 Clapper, DitDit Clapper D 32 3 12 15 31
3, 8 Smith, DesDes Smith D 48 7 7 14 70
18 Jackson, BusherBusher Jackson LW 26 5 7 12 18
20 Bruce, GordieGordie Bruce LW 15 4 8 12 11
6 Crawford, JackJack Crawford D 43 2 9 11 37
4, 18 Hamill, RedRed Hamill LW 9 6 3 9 2
17 Gronsdahl, LloydLloyd Gronsdahl RW 10 1 2 3 0
18, 21 Shewchuk, JackJack Shewchuk D 22 2 0 2 14
10, 11 Mario, FrankFrank Mario C 9 1 1 2 0
12 McReavy, PatPat McReavy C 6 0 1 1 0
14 Martin, ClareClare Martin D 13 0 1 1 4
19 Hergesheimer, PhilPhil Hergesheimer RW 3 0 0 0 2
18 Thompson, CliffCliff Thompson D 6 0 0 0 2
19 Damore, NickNick Damore G 1 0 0 0 0
1 Brimsek, FrankFrank Brimsek G 47 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Brimsek, FrankFrank Brimsek 2930 47 24 17 6 115 2.35 3
Damore, NickNick Damore 60 1 1 0 0 3 3.00 0
Team: 2990 48 25 17 6 118 2.37 3

Playoffs[]

Scoring
# Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
11 McGill, JackJack McGill C 5 4 1 5 6
20 Bruce, GordieGordie Bruce LW 5 2 3 5 4
9 Conacher, RoyRoy Conacher LW 5 2 1 3 0
8 Smith, DesDes Smith D 5 1 2 3 2
10 Cowley, BillBill Cowley C 5 0 3 3 5
4 Cain, HerbHerb Cain LW 5 1 0 1 0
6 Crawford, JackJack Crawford D 5 0 1 1 4
12 Hiller, DutchDutch Hiller LW 5 0 1 1 0
2 Hollett, FlashFlash Hollett D 5 0 1 1 2
16 Jackson, ArtArt Jackson C 5 0 1 1 0
18 Jackson, BusherBusher Jackson LW 5 0 1 1 0
21 Shewchuk, JackJack Shewchuk D 5 0 1 1 7
7 Wiseman, EddieEddie Wiseman RW 5 0 1 1 0
14 Martin, ClareClare Martin D 5 0 0 0 0
1 Brimsek, FrankFrank Brimsek G 5 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Brimsek, FrankFrank Brimsek 307 5 2 3 16 3.13 0
Team: 307 5 2 3 16 3.13 0

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

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[]

Transactions[]

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:

Gallery[]

See Also[]

References[]

  1. Hockey’s Book of Firsts, p.71, James Duplacey, JG Press, ISBN 978-1-57215-037-9
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