The 1939–40 NHL season was the
23rd 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 axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
for the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
. Seven teams played 48 games each. The
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 (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...
were the best in the regular season, but the
Stanley Cup winners were the
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...
, who defeated 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. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...
in the best-of-seven final series 4–2 for their third
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup () 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, and the International Ic ...
in 14 seasons of existence. It would be another 54 years before their fourth.
League business
In June 1939, the
Canadian Amateur Hockey Association
The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; ) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction included senior ice hockey leagues and the Allan Cup, ...
notified the NHL of the request for development fees when signing amateur players to contracts, after the existing professional-amateur deal expired in 1940.
Regular season
Tragedy struck the Montreal Canadiens when
Babe Siebert, named coach of the struggling club, drowned along with his daughter in August. It put a big hole in the Habs defence and the team finished last under
Pit Lepine. An all-star benefit was held in Siebert's memory.
The New York Americans, in financial trouble, decided to trade their star left wing
Sweeney Schriner to Toronto for
Harvey "Busher" Jackson,
Buzz Boll,
Murray Armstrong, and minor-leaguer
Jimmy Fowler. Late in the season, they traded
Eddie Wiseman and $5000 to Boston for
Eddie Shore. The Americans then managed to make the playoffs by finishing a poor sixth. They also obtained Charlie Conacher and used him as a defenceman.
The first place
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 (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...
had a new coach in
Cooney Weiland, their one-time captain, and were once again led by their
Kraut Line,
Milt Schmidt,
Woody Dumart, and
Bobby Bauer as they finished 1–2–3 in overall league scoring. Unfortunately, the potent three were unable to help the Bruins get past the first round of the playoffs as the Bruins lost in six games to the Rangers.
The New York Rangers were coasting in first place and went 19 consecutive games without a loss.
They slumped in the second half, though, and Boston edged them out for first place.
The first NHL game broadcast on television was between the
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...
and
Montreal Canadiens on February 25, 1940. The game was seen by only 300 people in a small area in the United States. This, though, was not the first ice hockey game broadcast on television, as a broadcast had been made in England in 1938.
The CBC's first hockey broadcast was in 1952 between the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings.
Final standings
Playoffs
The Boston Bruins were expected to make the
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup () 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, and the International Ic ...
Finals after a first overall finish during the regular season riding the shoulders of the "Kraut Line", but the New York Rangers were too much for the Bruins who lost in six games, got out-scored 14 to 8, and got shut-out twice in the Semifinals. The third seed Toronto Maple Leafs swept the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks en route to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Rangers Cup win would begin the 54 Year Curse, and they would not win another Cup until 1994.
Playoff 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) Chicago Black Hawks
(5) Detroit Red Wings vs. (6) New York Americans
Semifinals
(1) Boston Bruins vs. (2) New York Rangers
(3) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (5) Detroit Red Wings
Stanley Cup Finals
Awards
All-Star teams
Player statistics
;Regular season
Scoring leaders
''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points''
Source: NHL
Leading goaltenders
''Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts''
;Playoffs
Playoff scoring leaders
''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes''
Playoff leading goaltenders
''Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts''
Coaches
*Boston Bruins:
Cooney Weiland
*Chicago Black Hawks:
Paul Thompson
*Detroit Red Wings:
Jack Adams
*Montreal Canadiens:
Babe Siebert and
Alfred Lepine
*New York Americans:
Red Dutton
*New York Rangers:
Frank Boucher
*Toronto Maple Leafs:
Dick Irvin
Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1939–40 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
*
Doug Bentley, Chicago Black Hawks
*
Johnny Mowers, Detroit Red Wings
*
Pat Egan, New York Americans
*
Kilby MacDonald, New York Rangers
Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1939–40 (listed with their last team):
*
Tiny Thompson, Detroit Red Wings
*
Cecil Dillon, Detroit Red Wings
*
Hec Kilrea, Detroit Red Wings
*
Cy Wentworth, Montreal Canadiens
*
Earl Robinson, Montreal Canadiens
*
Armand Mondou, Montreal Canadiens
*
Marty Barry, Montreal Canadiens
*
Doc Romnes, New York Americans
*
Art Chapman, New York Americans
*
Nels Stewart, New York Americans
*
Eddie Shore, New York Americans
*
Cliff Barton, New York Rangers, last active player form the
Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL) franchise.
*
Johnny Gagnon, New York Rangers
*
Red Horner, Toronto Maple Leafs
See also
*
1939–40 NHL transactions
*
List of Stanley Cup champions
*
1939 in sports
*
1940 in sports
References
*
*
*
*
*
;Notes
External links
Hockey DatabaseNHL.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:NHL, 1939-40
1939–40 in Canadian ice hockey by league
1939–40 in American ice hockey by league