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18Apr1942-Langelle winner

#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.

10Feb1942-Bauer carried by Habs

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[]

Regular Season[]

1941-Nov30-Robertson-Knott-Schriner

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.

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 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[]

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, 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):

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):

Gallery[]

See Also[]

References[]


NHL Seasons

1937-38 | 1938-39 | 1939-40 | 1940-41 | 1941-42 | 1942-43 | 1943-44 | 1944-45 | 1945-46

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