1941-42 NHL season

#8 Pete Langelle scores the winning goal in Game 7 of the Finals, April 18, 1942.

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.

Woody Dumart being carried of the ice by members of the Montreal Canadiens after playing his last game with the Bruins prior to joining the RCAF.

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

Earl Robertson, Nick Knott, Sweeney Schriner, November 30, 1941.

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.

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 A. Terry, George Owen, Cy Wentworth, Red Horner. Front: Busher Jackson, Charlie Conacher, Hooley Smith, Herbie Lewis, Larry Aurie, Joe Primeau, Eddie Shore.

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.

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.

Scoring Leaders

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

PLAYER	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Bryan Hextall	New York Rangers	48	24	32	56	30
Lynn Patrick	New York Rangers	47	32	22	54	18
Don Grosso	Detroit Red Wings	45	23	30	53	13
Phil Watson	New York Rangers	48	15	37	52	58
Sid Abel	Detroit Red Wings	48	18	31	49	45

Leading Goaltenders

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

Player	Team	GP	Min	GA	GAA	W	L	T	SO
Frank Brimsek	Boston Bruins	47	2930	115	2.35	24	17	6	3
Turk Broda	Toronto Maple Leafs	48	2960	136	2.76	27	18	3	6
Jim Henry	New York Rangers	48	2960	143	2.90	29	17	2	1
Johnny Mowers	Detroit Red Wings	47	2880	144	3.00	19	25	3	5
Sam LoPresti	Chicago Black Hawks	47	2860	152	3.19	21	23	3	3
Paul Bibeault	Montreal Canadiens	38	2380	131	3.30	17	19	2	1
Chuck Rayner	Brooklyn Americans	36	2380	129	3.47	13	21	2	1
Earl Robertson	Brooklyn Americans	12	750	46	3.68	3	8	1	0
Bert Gardiner	Montreal Canadiens	10	620	42	4.06	1	8	1	0

Stanley Cup Playoffs

Note: all dates in 1942

Playoff Bracket

	Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Finals
						1	New York Rangers	2
						2	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
											2	Toronto Maple Leafs	4
											5	Detroit Red Wings	3
	3	Boston Bruins	2
	4	Chicago Black Hawks	1
						3	Boston Bruins	0
						5	Detroit Red Wings	2
	5	Detroit Red Wings	2
	6	Montreal Canadiens	1

Quarter-finals

Boston Bruins 2, Chicago Black Hawks 1

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, Montreal Canadiens 1

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 22	Montreal	1	Detroit	2
March 24	Detroit	0	Montreal	5
March 26	Montreal	2	Detroit	6

Semi-finals

Toronto Maple Leafs 4, New York Rangers 2

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 21	New York	1	Toronto	3
March 22	Toronto	4	New York	2
March 24	Toronto	0	New York	3
March 28	New York	1	Toronto	2
March 29	Toronto	1	New York	3
March 31	New York	2	Toronto	3

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.

#	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

Finals

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 4	Detroit	3	Toronto	2
April 7	Detroit	4	Toronto	2
April 9	Toronto	2	Detroit	5
April 12	Toronto	4	Detroit	3
April 14	Detroit	3	Toronto	9
April 16	Toronto	3	Detroit	0
April 18	Detroit	1	Toronto	3

Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4-3

NHL Awards

O'Brien Trophy:	Detroit Red Wings
Prince of Wales Trophy:	New York Rangers
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Grant Warwick, New York Rangers
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Tommy Anderson, Brooklyn Americans
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs
Vezina Trophy:	Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins

All-Star Teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins	G	Turk Broda, Toronto Maple Leafs
Earl Seibert, Chicago Black Hawks	D	Pat Egan, Brooklyn Americans
Tommy Anderson, Brooklyn Americans	D	Bucko McDonald, Toronto Maple Leafs
Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs	C	Phil Watson, New York Rangers
Bryan Hextall, New York Rangers	RW	Gordie Drillon, Toronto Maple Leafs
Lynn Patrick, New York Rangers	LW	Sid Abel, Detroit Red Wings
Frank Boucher, New York Rangers	Coach	Paul Thompson, Chicago Black Hawks

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

Gallery

Bruins Frank Brimsek makes a save in a 2-1 win against the Rangers while #4 Herb Cain looks, November 15, 1941.

The Kraut Line and #18 Jack Shewchuk in action against the Rangers, November 15, 1941.

Jim Henry stops Woody Dumart, November 15, 1941.

Milt Schmidt is stopped by Jim Henry, November 15, 1941.

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

Jim Henry stops Pat McReavy as Babe Pratt defends, November 29, 1941.

Flash Hollett doesn't score on his attempt on Bert Gardiner in this November 30, 1941 game won 3-2 by the Bruins. Habs #8 Tony Graboski defends.

Action between the Brooklyn Americans and the Montreal Canadiens during the 1941-42 season.

A rare action photo of the Bruins alternate 1940's jersey. Bruins Roy Conacher hunts for a rebound on Chuck Rayner and Tommy Anderson of the Brooklyn Americans during the 1941-42 season.

Frank Brimsek, Bryan Hextall, Lynn Patrick, Jack Crawford, Neil Colville, Art Jackson in the 1941-42 season.

See Also

• List of Stanley Cup champions

References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com