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12Apr1941-Bauer scores cup winner

Bobby Bauer scores the Cup winner at 8:43 of the second period, Game 4 on April 12, 1941.

The 1941 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven series between the Boston Bruins and the Detroit Red Wings. Boston would win the series 4–0 to win their third Stanley Cup.

Paths to the Final[]

Boston defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in a best-of-seven 4–3 to advance to the finals. The Red Wings had to play two best-of three series; winning 2–1 against the New York Rangers, and 2–0 against the Chicago Black Hawks.

The Series[]

Boston Bruins 4, Detroit Red Wings 0[]

The Bruins opponent was the Detroit Red Wings, who finished the regular season with 53 points, 14 less than Boston. Detroit had defeated the New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks to earn a spot in the Final. Despite playing without league scoring leader Bill Cowley, the Bruins swept the Wings 4-0, becoming the first team in NHL history to sweep a 7 game series. Bobby Bauer scored the Cup winning goal, Milt Schmidt led the league in playoff scoring while Eddie Wiseman scored 6 goals in the playoffs, most in the league.

1941-Action Hill on Mowers

Mel Hill takes a shot on Johnny Mowers in Game 1 of the Finals.

Game 1 at the Boston Garden saw the rusty Wings play its first game in a week. The Bruins had played 3 days before and were sharper with a goal by Eddie Wiseman in the first and Milt Schmidt in the second. The Bruins Pat McReavy scored at 9:16 of the third after Schmidt deked Wings goalie Johnny Mowers to the ice and fed McReavy a pass which he tapped into the open net. The Wings woke up and Carl Liscombe potted his 3rd of the playoffs. Syd Howe cut the Bruins lead to 3-2 with his first of the playoffs with less than 3 minutes remaining but the Bruins held on for a 1-0 series lead.

Game 2 in Boston saw no goals in the first two periods. The Wings Mud Bruneteau broke the ice at 2:41 of the third. Mowers held the Bruins off until the 13:35 mark when Terry Reardon took a pass on the left boards from Herb Cain and tied the score. Right after the goal, Cain and Wings Harold Jackson got into a fight at center ice. Both received 5 minute majors and the teams played 4 on 4. This benefited the Bruins as Schmidt rushed into the Wings zone and drew several players to him. Roy Conacher was about to head for the bench but seeing an opening, headed into the Wings zone and was sent in alone on Mowers after receiving a pass from Schmidt. He beat Mowers for the game winner and the Bruins led the series 2-0.

Game 3 at the Detroit Olympia saw the teams trade goals twice in the first. The Wings Bill Jennings open the score only to have Wiseman counter less than a minute later. Sid Abel netted one at 7:45 but Schmidt countered with his 5th of the playoffs at 14:07. Less than a minute into the second period, Woody Dumart was behind the Wings net and sent a pass to Schmidt in the slot who scored. The Wings couldn't solve Brimsek and a late third period Power play goal by Art Jackson sealed a 4-2 Bruins win and sent the Wings to the brink of elimination.

Game 4 in Detroit saw the Wings go up 1-0 in the first period on a goal by Carl Liscombe, his 4th of the playoffs. The Wings held the Bruins off until Jimmy Orlando took a penalty in the second penalty. Hollett and Bauer both scored on the power play, Bauer's goal a rebound his slid under Mowers after he couldn't control a Schmidt shot. With a minute left in the second period, Wiseman raced down the left wing and fired a shot over Mower's shoulder to make the Bruins lead 3-1. Neither team scored in the third period and the Bruins took the Cup. Players from both teams milled around center ice, shaking hands until the presentation was made. This was the Bruins second Stanley Cup in three seasons and third in franchise history. Eddie Wiseman led the playoffs in goals with 6 while Milt Schmidt was the scoring leader with 14 points.

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 April 6 Detroit Red Wings 2–3 Boston Bruins 0-1
2 April 8 Detroit Red Wings 1–2 Boston Bruins 0-2
3 April 10 Boston Bruins 4–2 Detroit Red Wings 3–0
4 April 12 Boston Bruins 3–1 Detroit Red Wings 4–0

Boston Bruins 1941 Stanley Cup Champions[]

Roster

  Defensemen
  Goaltenders

1 Frank Brimsek


  • A Played 22 of 48 regular season games, but not dressed in the playoffs.
  • B Played 8 regular season games. Both Shewchuk and Bruce were originally left off the Cup. Shewchuk was added to the Cup when it redone during 1957-58, but not Bruce. Official NHL game sheets do not have Bruce playing any playoff games though some published sources do.


  Non-players
  • Weston Adams Sr. (President/Owner), Art Ross (Vice President/Manager)
  • Ralph Cooney Weiland (Coach), Ralph Burkard (Treasurer)
  • Win Green (Trainer), Frank Ryan (Publicity Director)*

Stanley Cup Engraving

  • Frank Ryan (Publicity Director) was included on the 1929 and 1941 Stanley Cup pictures, but his name is not engraved on the Stanley Cup.
  • Des Smith was engraved as WES SMITH with an "W" instead an "D". This mistake was corrected when the Stanley Cup was redone during the 1957–58 Season.
  • Pat McReavy was misspelled PAT McCREAVY with an extra "C" on new version of the Cup created during the 1957–58 season. Pat McReavy was often misspelled as Pat McCreavy on some team pictures with the Boston Bruins. When the Replica Cup was created in 1992–93, Pat McReavy name was misspelled as Pat McCeavy with "C" instead of a "R".


Gallery[]

Video[]

A minute worth of video of Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals which the Bruins won 3-1, sweeping Detroit and winning the Cup. This was the first sweep in a 7 game series in NHL history. The Cup winning goal by Bobby Bauer which put the Bruins ahead 2-1 at 8:43 of the second period and the Bruins third goal by Eddie Wiseman are shown. The game end with the players shaking hands concludes the video.

References[]

  • NHL (2000). Total Stanley Cup. Dan Diamond & Associates. 
  • Podnieks, Andrew; Hockey Hall of Fame (2004). Lord Stanley's Cup. Triumph Books, 12, 50. ISBN 1–55168–261–3.
Preceded by
New York Rangers
1940
Boston Bruins
Stanley Cup Champions

1941
Succeeded by
Toronto Maple Leafs
1942
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