The 1938–39

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

season was the Bruins'

15th 15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 (number), 14 and preceding 16 (number), 16. Mathematics 15 is: * A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and . * A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, and they were coming off of a very successful regular season in 1937–38, winning the American Division with a record of 30–11–7, however, they lost to the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

in the Stanley Cup semi-finals. This season, the Bruins would meet the Maple Leafs in a rematch, and win the series 4–1 to win the Stanley Cup for the second time, and the first time in 10 years.

Regular season

In the off-season, the NHL would lose a franchise, as the Montreal Maroons would fold, leaving the league with seven teams, and eliminating the American and Canadian Division format the league had been using since 1926. The Bruins would make a key acquisition, acquiring

Roy Conacher Roy Gordon Conacher (October 5, 1916 – December 29, 1984) was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 11 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks. He was the ...

from the Kirkland Lake Hargreaves of the NOHA. Boston would see goaltender

Tiny Thompson Cecil Ralph "Tiny" Thompson (May 31, 1903 – February 9, 1981) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), first for the Boston Bruins, and later for the Detroit Red Wings. A ...

get injured during an early season game, forcing the club to sign Frank Brimsek, who played for the

Providence Reds The Providence Reds were a ice hockey, hockey team that played in the Canadian-American Hockey League (CAHL) between 1926 and 1936 and the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1936 to 1977, the last season of which they played as the Rhode Island Re ...

of the

IAHL The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the lea ...

. Brimsek stepped in and played great hockey, and when Thompson came back from his injury, the Bruins decided to deal him to the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

for

Norm Smith Norman Walter Smith (21 November 1915 – 29 July 1973) was an Australian rules football player and coach in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After more than 200 games as a player with and , Smith began a twenty-year coaching career, inc ...

. Brimsek would help lead the Bruins to 1st place in the NHL standings, as they finished the season with a record of 36–10–2, earning 74 points, their highest point total since the 1929–30 season.

Bill Cowley William Mailes "Cowboy" Cowley (June 12, 1912 – December 31, 1993) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League for the St. Louis Eagles and Boston Bruins. Described as the Wayne Gretzky of hi ...

would lead the team with 42 points, despite missing 14 games due to injuries. His 34 assists were a league high. Rookie

scored an NHL high 26 goals, and added 11 assists to finish with 37 points.

Milt Schmidt Milt is the seminal fluid of fish, mollusks, and certain other water-dwelling animals which reproduce by spraying this fluid, which contains the sperm, onto roe (fish eggs). It can also refer to the sperm sacs or testes that contain the semen. ...

continued to show improvement, scoring a career high 32 points. Flash Hollett led the Bruins defense with 27 points, as he scored 10 goals and added 17 assists, while Dit Clapper scored 13 goals and 26 points from the blueline. In goal, rookie Frank Brimsek led the NHL with 33 wins and a 1.56 GAA, earning both the

Vezina Trophy The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's (NHL) goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". At the end of each season, the thirty-two NHL general managers vote to determine the winner. It is named in ...

and the

Calder Memorial Trophy The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving as ...

. He also recorded 10 shutouts, which was among the league leaders.

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

Playoffs

In the playoffs, Boston would have a 1st round bye, advancing straight to the NHL semi-finals, where they would face the 2nd place

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

in a best of 7 series. New York had 58 points during the regular season, which was 16 less than the Bruins. The series opened at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

in New York, and the Bruins would win a thrilling, triple overtime game by a score of 2–1. Game 2 moved to the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (late ...

, and Boston took a 2–0 series lead with a 3–2 overtime victory. The Bruins took a commanding 3–0 lead in the series with a 4–1 win, looking to close out the series in the 4th game, as the series shifted back to New York. The Rangers would hold off elimination, defeating Boston 2–1, and then in game 5 in Boston, the game would be decided in overtime, with New York once again winning by a 2–1 score to cut the series lead to 3–2. Game 6 was played back in New York, and the Rangers easily defeated the Bruins 3–1, to tie the series up at 3 games, forcing a 7th game to be played in Boston. The game would be tied 1–1 after regulation time, and would not be settled until the 3rd overtime period, when Boston finally snapped the tie, winning the game 2–1, and taking the series 4–3, to advance to the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

finals. The Bruins opponent was the

, who finished the season with a 19–20–9 record, earning 47 points, which was 27 points fewer than Boston. The Leafs defeated the

New York Americans The New York Americans, colloquially known as the Amerks, were a professional ice hockey team based in New York City from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL) and the second to play ...

and

to earn a spot in the best of seven finals. The series would begin with 2 games in Boston, and each team won a game, as the series moved to Maple Leaf Gardens for games three and four. Boston would take control in Toronto, winning game three by a 3–1 score, then shutting out the Leafs 2–0 in game four, to take a 3–1 series lead. Boston then returned home for game five, and defeated Toronto 3–1, to win their first

in 10 years, and second in team history.

Boston Bruins 4, New York Rangers 3

Boston Bruins 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 1

Player statistics

Regular season

;Scoring ;Goaltending

Playoffs

;Scoring ;Goaltending

References

*National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007

External links

SHRP SportsThe Internet Hockey Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:1938-39 Boston Bruins Season Stanley Cup championship seasons Boston Bruins seasons

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

1930s in Boston

Regular season

Final standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

Playoffs

Boston Bruins 4, New York Rangers 3

Boston Bruins 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 1

Player statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links