The 1947-48 NHL season was the 31st season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 60 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs were the Stanley Cup winners. They defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to none. This season the award of the Art Ross Trophy changed from the league's most outstanding player to the player who scored the most points during the regular season.
Regular Season
The season saw the 1st National Hockey League All-Star Game, an idea that, although proposed in the previous season, came into fruition this year. On October 13, 1947 at Maple Leaf Gardens, a team of all-stars played the Stanley Cup champion Toronto Maple Leafs. The game was very rough with fights, hard checking and a bad ankle injury to Chicago Black Hawks forward Bill Mosienko that nearly ended his career. The All Stars prevailed 4-3.
Other stars would retire, ending both the Montreal Canadiens' Punch Line and the Boston Bruins' Kraut Line. However, this season saw the creation of the Detroit Red Wings' Production Line. The policy of having players raise their hockey sticks to signify that a goal was scored was also initiated in this season, at the suggestion of Frank Patrick, with Habs forward Billy Reay being the first to do on November 13, 1947.
Seven games into the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks made, at that time, the biggest trade in NHL history. The Maple Leafs sent five players to the Black Hawks in trade for Max Bentley and rookie winger Cy Thomas. Thomas only played eight games that year but Bentley handed to the Leafs a much-needed offensive boost that helped propel the team to first overall and an eventual Stanley Cup.
The New York Rangers decided to make a trade to improve their fortunes and sent Hal Laycoe, Joe Bell, and George Robertson to Montreal in exchange for Buddy O'Connor and defenceman Frank Eddolls. Montreal missed O'Connor, as their goal-scoring plummeted. Ken Mosdell was out from the start of the season with a broken arm, Rocket Richard had trouble with a bad knee and Murph Chamberlain broke his leg. In an attempt to boost the goal-scoring, Montreal traded Jimmy Peters and Johnny Quilty to Boston in exchange for Joe Carveth, but the rot continued. However, the worst occurred on January 11, 1948 when the Canadiens played the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Habs lost more than a game when Bill Juzda checked captain Toe Blake into the boards, breaking Blake's ankle and ending his career. It was also the end of the famed "Punch Line". (Ironically, that same night, Johnny Quilty's career was ended with a compound fracture of the leg). The Canadiens missed the playoffs for the first time since 1940, and Bill Durnan, for the first and only time in his career, failed to win the Vezina Trophy. This season was also the last season in which a goaltender was allowed to be named captain of their team. Bill Durnan was the last goaltender in NHL history to be captain. Toronto's Turk Broda won the Vezina this season.
The Bruins traded Joe Carveth for Billy Taylor which would result in one of the darkest chapters in Bruins and NHL history. Coming from the Detroit Red Wings, Taylor had been betting against his own team through a felon, James Tamer, and providing inside information on the team. Don Gallinger had been betting for the Bruins since his rookie season in 1942-43 but Taylor, who lived in the same boarding house as Gallinger, convinced him to bet against them to make more money. Bruins management began to suspect Taylor's activities and he was traded to the New York Rangers on February 6, 1948.
Detroit police wire-tapped Tamer's phone and recorded a conversation providing information on an injury to Bruins star Milt Schmidt and that Jack Crawford's daughter had just died. The caller also mentioned he wouldn't be playing well and bet $500 against the Bruins. The game referred to was on February 18, 1948 against the Chicago Blackhawks which ironically, the Bruins won 4-2 (Gallinger had no points in the game). Illegally obtained, the police couldn't use it to prosecute but passed the tape to NHL president Clarence Campbell. Confronted in private by Art Ross, Gallinger denied the allegations, continuing to do so when the story broke in the press on March 3, 1948. The league launched an investigation and on March 7, 1948, Gallinger played his last game in the NHL and scored the third goal in a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. On March 8, 1948, Taylor was suspended for life from the NHL while Gallinger was suspended indefinitely. Only 23 years old and having led the Bruins in scoring two years before, Gallinger's career was over. He made several attempts to have the ban lifted which the league would finally grant in 1970.
Final Standings
GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold
National Hockey League | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Toronto Maple Leafs | 60 | 32 | 15 | 13 | 77 | 182 | 143 | 758 |
Detroit Red Wings | 60 | 30 | 18 | 12 | 72 | 187 | 148 | 593 |
Boston Bruins | 60 | 23 | 24 | 13 | 59 | 167 | 168 | 515 |
New York Rangers | 60 | 21 | 26 | 13 | 55 | 176 | 201 | 480 |
Montreal Canadiens | 60 | 20 | 29 | 11 | 51 | 147 | 169 | 724 |
Chicago Black Hawks | 60 | 20 | 34 | 6 | 46 | 195 | 225 | 572 |
Scoring Leaders
GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Elmer Lach | Montreal Canadiens | 60 | 30 | 31 | 61 | |
Buddy O'Connor | New York Rangers | 60 | 24 | 36 | 60 | |
Doug Bentley | Chicago Black Hawks | 60 | 20 | 37 | 57 | |
Gaye Stewart | Toronto Maple Leafs / Chicago Black Hawks | 61 | 27 | 29 | 56 | |
Max Bentley | Black Hawks / Toronto Maple Leafs | 59 | 26 | 28 | 54 | |
Bud Poile | Toronto Maple Leafs / Chicago Black Hawks | 58 | 25 | 29 | 54 | |
Maurice Richard | Montreal Canadiens | 53 | 28 | 25 | 53 | |
Syl Apps | Toronto Maple Leafs | 55 | 26 | 27 | 53 | |
Ted Lindsay | Detroit Red Wings | 60 | 33 | 19 | 52 | |
Roy Conacher | Chicago Black Hawks | 52 | 22 | 27 | 49 |
Leading Goaltenders
GP = Games Played, TOI = Time On Ice (minutes), GA = Goals Against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals Against Average
Player | Team | GP | TOI | GA | SO | GAA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Turk Broda | Toronto Maple Leafs | 60 | 3600 | 143 | 5 | 2.38 |
Harry Lumley | Detroit Red Wings | 60 | 3592 | 147 | 7 | 2.46 |
Bill Durnan | Montreal Canadiens | 59 | 3505 | 162 | 5 | 2.77 |
Frank Brimsek | Boston Bruins | 60 | 3600 | 168 | 3 | 2.80 |
Jim Henry | New York Rangers | 48 | 2800 | 153 | 2 | 3.19 |
Emile Francis | Chicago Black Hawks | 54 | 3240 | 183 | 1 | 3.39 |
Stanley Cup Playoffs
Playoff Bracket
Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4 | |||||||
3 | Boston Bruins | 1 | |||||||
1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4 | |||||||
2 | Detroit Red Wings | 0 | |||||||
2 | Detroit Red Wings | 4 | |||||||
4 | New York Rangers | 2 |
Semifinals
The first round of the playoffs saw third seed Boston Bruins matched up with first seed Toronto Maple Leafs and fourth seed New York Rangers against second seed Detroit Red Wings.
Toronto vs. Boston
Toronto beat Boston 4 games to 1. Still, the Bears kept the series pretty darn close — even the powerful Leafs couldn't deny it. Three of the five games were decided by one goal.
Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 24 | Boston Bruins | 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 5 | (OT) |
March 27 | Boston Bruins | 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 5 | |
March 30 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 5 | Boston Bruins | 1 | |
April 1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2 | Boston Bruins | 3 | |
April 3 | Boston Bruins | 2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3 |
Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1
NY Rangers vs. Detroit
Motown got their team pursuing Lord Stanley's Mug for the fourth time in six years.
New York Rangers vs. Detroit Red Wings
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 24 | New York Rangers | 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 | |
March 26 | New York Rangers | 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 5 | |
March 28 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 | New York Rangers | 3 | |
March 30 | Detroit Red Wings | 1 | New York Rangers | 3 | |
April 1 | New York Rangers | 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 3 | |
April 4 | Detroit Red Wings | 4 | New York Rangers | 2 |
Detroit wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2
Finals
- Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 7 | Detroit | 3 | Toronto | 5 | |
April 10 | Detroit | 2 | Toronto | 4 | |
April 11 | Toronto | 2 | Detroit | 0 | |
April 14 | Toronto | 7 | Detroit | 2 |
Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0
Playoff Scoring Leaders
GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ted Kennedy | Toronto Maple Leafs | 9 | 8 | 6 | 14 |
NHL Awards
All-Star Teams
Regular Season Attendance
- Chicago: 491,345
- New York: 467,054
- Toronto: 418,856
- Boston: 412,943
- Detroit: 394,199
- Montreal: 333,645
Total: 2,518,042
Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1947-48 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
- Ed Sandford, Boston Bruins
- Paul Ronty, Boston Bruins
- Metro Prystai, Chicago Black Hawks
- Marty Pavelich, Detroit Red Wings
- Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings
- Floyd Curry, Detroit Red Wings
- Tom Johnson, Montreal Canadiens
- Gerry McNeil, Montreal Canadiens
- Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens
- Fleming MacKell, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Tod Sloan, Toronto Maple Leafs
Last Games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1947-48 (listed with their last team):
- John Quilty, Boston Bruins
- John Mariucci, Chicago Black Hawks
- Toe Blake, Montreal Canadiens
- Bryan Hextall, New York Rangers
- Phil Watson, New York Rangers
- Billy Taylor, New York Rangers
- Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Nick Metz, Toronto Maple Leafs
Gallery
Video
Highlights of the October 13, 1947 All-Star game which including a fight, Bill Mosienko's injury and goals by Max Bentley and the winner for the All-Stars by Doug Bentley.
Highlights of the February 28, 1948 game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks at Maple Leaf Gardens. Goals by Gus Bodnar on Turk Broda as well as Max Bentley and Joe Klukay on Emile Francis are shown in the Leafs 4-3 victory.
See Also
- List of Stanley Cup champions
- 1st National Hockey League All-Star Game
- National Hockey League All-Star Game
- Ice hockey at the 1948 Winter Olympics
References
NHL Seasons |
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1943-44 | 1944-45 | 1945-46 | 1946-47 | 1947-48 | 1948-49 | 1949-50 | 1950-51 | 1951-52 |
National Hockey League | |||||||||
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|
Structure | Playoffs (Streaks • Droughts • All-time playoff series) • Conference Finals • Finals |
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Annual events | Seasons • Stanley Cup (Champions • Winning players • Traditions and anecdotes) • Presidents' Trophy • All-Star Game • Draft • Awards • All-Star Teams |
Players | List of players • Association • Retired jersey numbers • Captains |
History | Lore • Organizational changes :: • Defunct teams • NHA • Original Six • 1967 Expansion • WHA Merger • Lockouts |
Others | Outdoor games (Winter Classic • Heritage Classic • Stadium Series) • Potential expansion • Hall of Fame (Members) • Rivalries • Arenas • Rules • Fighting • Violence : International games • Kraft Hockeyville • Collective bargaining agreement • Television and radio coverage |
Category • 2020–21 Season • 2021–22 Season • 2022–23 Season |
1947–48 NHL season by team | |
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Teams | Boston • Chicago • Detroit • Montreal • New York • Toronto |
See also | All-Star Game • 1948 Stanley Cup Finals |