League business
Just prior to the start of the 1938–39 season, the league held a meeting to decide the fate of the Montreal Maroons. The team had requested a shift to St. Louis, but this was rejected after considerable discussion, resulting in the Maroons suspending operations for the season. They sold most of their players to the Canadiens, and it was evident that the Maroons were through for good. This was the last time a team that had previously won a Stanley Cup either folded or relocated to another market. With only seven teams left, the NHL decided to go back to the one division format. The Stanley Cup Finals were expanded to a best-of-seven format. NHL president Frank Calder reached a new professional-amateur agreement withRegular season
Prior to the start of the season, the Boston Bruins sold their star goaltender, Tiny Thompson, who had just won a record fourth Vezina Trophy, to the Detroit Red Wings. The fans thought Art Ross was crazy, but soon they were applauding rookie Frank Brimsek, who would go on to back-stop the Bruins to a first overall finish and a Stanley Cup victory. He wiped out Thompson's shutout sequence record with three consecutive shutouts. He nearly equalled his new record with three more. He ended the season with 10 shutouts, and earned the nickname "Mr. Zero". He also became the first goaltender to win both the Vezina Trophy andFinal standings
Playoffs
Playoff bracket
With the league reduced to seven teams, a new playoff format was adopted, still using a structure similar to a double-elimination tournament with a "winners' bracket", and a "losers' or repechage bracket". The top six teams in the league qualified for the playoffs. The top two teams played in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup semifinal series. The third-place team then met the fourth-place team in one best-of-five series, and the fifth-place team faced the sixth-place team in another best-of-five series, to determine the participants for the other best-of-five semifinal series. The semifinal winners then met in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series).Quarterfinals
(3) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (4) New York Americans
(5) Detroit Red Wings vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens
Semifinals
(1) Boston Bruins vs. (2) New York Rangers
This series was the first to need seven games in NHL history; additionally, the Rangers were the first team in NHL history to force a Game seven after losing the first three games of a series. Mel Hill, a right winger for the Bruins, scored a record three overtime goals in a single series.(3) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (5) Detroit Red Wings
Stanley Cup Finals
Awards
Player statistics
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutesLeading goaltenders
Coaches
*Boston Bruins: Art Ross *Chicago Black Hawks: Bill Stewart and Paul Thompson *Detroit Red Wings: Jack Adams *Montreal Canadiens: Cecil Hart *New York Americans: Red Dutton *New York Rangers: Lester Patrick *Toronto Maple Leafs: Dick IrvinDebuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1938–39 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): * Roy Conacher, Boston Bruins * Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins * Ab DeMarco, Chicago Black Hawks * Don Grosso, Detroit Red Wings * Sid Abel, Detroit Red Wings * Jack Stewart, Detroit Red WingsLast games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1938–39 (listed with their last team): * Russ Blinco, Chicago Black Hawks * Paul Thompson, Chicago Black Hawks * Baldy Northcott, Chicago Black Hawks * Alex Levinsky, Chicago Black Hawks * Bob Gracie, Chicago Black Hawks * Larry Aurie, Detroit Red Wings * Herbie Lewis, Detroit Red Wings * Dave Trottier, Detroit Red Wings * Babe Siebert, Montreal Canadiens * Jimmy Ward, Montreal CanadiensSee also
* 1938–39 NHL transactions * List of Stanley Cup champions * 1938 in sports * 1939 in sportsReferences
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