The 1940–41 NHL season was the 24th

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 ...

of 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 ...

(NHL). 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 Stanley Cup winners as they swept 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 ...

four games to none in the final series.

League business

In September 1940, International Ice Hockey Association president W. G. Hardy announced a new one-year agreement was reached with the NHL, who agreed to pay $250 for signing an amateur and another $250 if the amateur played in the NHL. NHL president Frank Calder signed the new professional-amateur agreement in October 1940. The agreement also included allowing the NHL to sign a limited number of junior age players.

Regular season

The Montreal Canadiens had hit the bottom in 1939–40, and were in financial trouble. Frank Patrick decided to become an investor and governor for the team, and

Tommy Gorman Thomas Patrick Gorman (June 9, 1886 – May 15, 1961), known as "T.P." or "Tommy", was a Canadian ice hockey executive, sports entrepreneur and athlete. Gorman was a founder of the National Hockey League (NHL), won the Stanley Cup seven times a ...

was hired as general manager. He hired recently released Toronto coach Dick Irvin to run the team. One of the first things Gorman and Irvin did was scout for players, and the Canadiens came up with Johnny Quilty, Joe Benoit,

Elmer Lach Elmer James Lach ( , January 22, 1918 – April 4, 2015) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 14 seasons for the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League (NHL). A Centre (ice hockey), centre, he was a member of the Pun ...

and defenceman

Ken Reardon Kenneth Joseph Reardon (April 1, 1921 – March 15, 2008) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966. Ken is the youn ...

. Bert Gardiner would be used in goal, replacing Claude Bourque and Wilf Cude. Murph Chamberlain was bought from Toronto to bolster the offence. Quilty and Benoit came through, as did

Toe Blake Joseph Hector "Toe" Blake (August 21, 1912 – May 17, 1995) was a Canadian ice hockey Player (game), player and Coach (ice hockey), coach in the National Hockey League (NHL). Blake played in the NHL from 1935 to 1948 with the Montreal Maroons a ...

, but the Habs had a long way to go, finishing sixth. Quilty won the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie. In fact, before the season started, Coach Irvin handed a sealed envelope to a reporter of his guess who would win the Calder Trophy, and when the season ended, the reporter opened the envelope: Johnny Quilty was the choice Irvin made. The Boston Bruins set a record 23 straight unbeaten games en route to a strong first-place finish at the end of the schedule. The Rangers, finished fourth after the previous year's Stanley Cup win and Dave Kerr was not up to his usual form in goal.

Final standings

Playoffs

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) Detroit Red Wings vs. (4) New York Rangers

(5) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens

Semifinals

(1) Boston Bruins vs. (2) Toronto Maple Leafs

(3) Detroit Red Wings vs. (5) Chicago Black Hawks

Stanley Cup Finals

Awards

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

''Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes'' 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''

Coaches

*Boston Bruins: Cooney Weiland *Chicago Black Hawks:

Paul Thompson Paul Thompson may refer to: Education *Paul Thompson (professor) (born 1951), British management professor at the University of Strathclyde *Paul B. Thompson (philosopher) (born 1951), American philosopher at Michigan State University *Paul H. Tho ...

*Detroit Red Wings: Jack Adams *Montreal Canadiens: Dick Irvin *New York Americans:

Red Dutton Norman Alexander Dutton (July 23, 1897 – March 15, 1987) was a Canadian ice hockey player, coach and executive. Commonly known as Red Dutton, and earlier by the nickname "Mervyn", he played for the Calgary Tigers of the Western Canada Hock ...

*New York Rangers: Frank Boucher *Toronto Maple Leafs:

Hap Day Clarence Henry "Happy" Day (June 14, 1901 – February 17, 1990), later known as Hap Day, was a Canadian professional hockey player who played 14 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Americans. Day enjo ...

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1940–41 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): *

Max Bentley Maxwell Herbert Lloyd Bentley (March 1, 1920 – January 18, 1984) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Chicago Black Hawks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Rangers in the National Hockey League (NHL) as part of a pr ...

, Chicago Black Hawks * John Mariucci, Chicago Black Hawks * Joe Carveth, Detroit Red Wings *

, Montreal Canadiens *

, Montreal Canadiens * John Quilty, Montreal Canadiens *

Chuck Rayner Claude Earl "Chuck" Rayner (August 11, 1920 – October 6, 2002), nicknamed "Bonnie Prince Charlie", was a Canadian professional hockey goaltender who played nine seasons in the National Hockey League for the New York Americans and New York Ran ...

, New York Americans *

Bill Juzda William Juzda (October 29, 1920 – February 17, 2008) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He played with the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1940 and 1952 ...

, New York Rangers

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1940–41 (listed with their last team): * Paul Haynes, Montreal Canadiens * Georges Mantha, Montreal Canadiens * Hooley Smith, New York Americans *

Charlie Conacher Charles William "the Big Bomber" Conacher Sr. (December 20, 1909 – December 30, 1967) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings and New York Americans in the National Hockey League ...

, New York Americans * Dave Kerr, New York Rangers

References

* * * * * ;Notes

External links

Hockey Database

NHL.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:NHL, 1940-41 1940–41 in Canadian ice hockey by league 1940–41 in American ice hockey by league