The 1945-46 IHL season was the inaugural season of the International Hockey League.
First Games[]
Ad for the first games.
The league was unofficially known as the Michigan-Ontario League (M-O League) because of the league of the same name that played before the war.
The first games were played on Friday, December 21, 1945 in a doubleheader at Windsor. The Detroit Auto Club beat Detroit Bright's Goodyears 12-9 while the two Windsor teams tied 4-4.
Jim Baudino of the Auto Club scored the first goal of the league.
Final standing[]
| Regular Season | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detroit Bright's Goodyears | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 90 | 70 | 21 |
| Windsor Gotfredsons | 15 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 90 | 72 | 19 |
| Detroit Auto Club | 15 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 82 | 81 | 16 |
| Windsor Spitfires | 15 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 50 | 89 | 4 |
Note: Windsor Spitfires joined the Ontario Junior B Playoffs.
Playoffs[]
Semi Final[]
2 games total goals
| Date | Winner | Loser | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 20 | Detroit 4 | Windsor 3 | Detroit |
| February 22 | Detroit 5 | Windsor 5 | Windsor |
Detroit Auto Club defeated Windsor Gotfredsons 9 goals to 8.
Final[]
Best of 3
| Date | Winner | Loser | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 23 | Auto Club 6 | Bright's 5 | Detroit |
| March 25 | Bright's 9 | Auto Club 1 | Windsor |
| March 27 | Auto Club 7 | Bright's 4 | Windsor |
Detroit Auto Club defeated Detroit Bright's Goodyears 2 wins to 1.
League leaders[]
Top ten scorers[]
Name Team GP G A PTS PIM Lyle Dowell Bright's 15 20 15 35 8 Bob McDonald Gotfredsons 15 10 25 35 10 Al Chadwick Bright's 15 17 16 33 22 Joe Levine Auto Club 15 19 13 32 6 Jim Baudino Auto Club 14 15 17 32 21 Keith Crossman Gotfredsons 15 17 14 31 2 Len Loree Gotfredsons 13 15 13 28 2 George Adams WGT/DAC 14 13 8 21 2 Paul Sironen Bright's 15 9 12 21 4 Herb Jones Auto Club 14 9 11 20 20
Best goaltenders[]
Name Team GP W L T GA SO AVG. Bob Coulson Bright's 14 62 0 4.42 Lloyd Storie Auto Club 13 59 0 4.54 Ken Freebairn Gotfredsons 15 72 0 4.80 Monty Reynolds Spitfires 14 80 0 5.71
Game Ads[]
