1941–42 NHL season

1941–42 NHL season
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	November 1, 1941 – April 18, 1942
Number of games	48
Number of teams	7
Regular season
Season champion	New York Rangers
Season MVP	Tommy Anderson (Brooklyn Americans)
Top scorer	Bryan Hextall (New York Rangers)
Stanley Cup
Finals champions	Toronto Maple Leafs
Runners-up	Detroit Red Wings
NHL seasons
← 1940–41 1942–43 →

The 1941–42 NHL season was the 25th season of the National Hockey League. Seven teams played 48 games each. The Toronto Maple Leafs would win the Stanley Cup defeating the Detroit Red Wings winning four straight after losing the first three in a best-of-seven series, a feat only repeated thrice in NHL history (1975, 2010, 2014).

League business

This season was the last season for the New York Americans who changed their name to the Brooklyn Americans in an attempt to build a civic relationship with those from Flatbush area of New York.

Regular season

The Americans started the season without Harvey "Busher" Jackson who refused to sign. He was then sold to Boston. But the Amerks had two positive notes: two defencemen, Tommy Anderson and Pat Egan, were now All-Star calibre. That didn't prevent them from finishing last, though. On December 9, 1941, the Chicago Blackhawks-Boston Bruins game would be delayed for over a half-hour as United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared that America was at war.

Frank Patrick suffered a heart attack and had to sell his interest in the Montreal Canadiens, and the Habs almost had to move to Cleveland. But Tommy Gorman kept the team alive. They added Emile "Butch" Bouchard to start his great career on defence and another very good player, Buddy O'Connor, at centre. Montreal had goaltending problems as Bert Gardiner slumped, and rookie Paul Bibeault replaced him. He showed flashes of brilliance, but his inexperience showed. Joe Benoit starred with 20 goals, the first Canadien to do that since 1938–39, when Toe Blake did it.

The New York Rangers had a new goaltender as Sugar Jim Henry replaced the retired Dave Kerr. Henry was one of the reasons the Rangers finished first, something they would not again do for the next 50 years.

Final standings

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

National Hockey League	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
New York Rangers	48	29	17	2	60	177	143	400
Toronto Maple Leafs	48	27	18	3	57	158	136	341
Boston Bruins	48	25	17	6	56	160	118	349
Chicago Black Hawks	48	22	23	3	47	145	155	365
Detroit Red Wings	48	19	25	4	42	140	147	440
Montreal Canadiens	48	18	27	3	39	134	173	504
Brooklyn Americans	48	16	29	3	35	133	175	425

Playoffs

Note: all dates in 1942

Quarter-finals

Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Black Hawks

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 22	Boston	2	Chicago	1	OT
March 24	Chicago	4	Boston	0
March 26	Chicago	2	Boston	3

Boston wins best-of-three series 2–1

Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 22	Montreal	1	Detroit	2
March 24	Detroit	0	Montreal	5
March 26	Montreal	2	Detroit	6

Detroit wins best-of-three series 2–1

Semi-finals

New York Rangers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 21	New York	1	Toronto	3
March 22	Toronto	4	New York	2
March 24	Toronto	0	New York	3
March 28	New York	1	Toronto	2
March 29	Toronto	1	New York	3
March 31	New York	2	Toronto	3

Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4–2

Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 29	Detroit	6	Boston	4
March 31	Boston	1	Detroit	3

Detroit wins best-of-three series 2–0

Final

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 4	Detroit	3	Toronto	2
April 7	Detroit	4	Toronto	2
April 9	Toronto	2	Detroit	5
April 12	Toronto	4	Detroit	3
April 14	Detroit	3	Toronto	9
April 16	Toronto	3	Detroit	0
April 18	Detroit	1	Toronto	3

Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4–3

Awards

Award winners

Calder Trophy: (Best first-year player)	Grant Warwick, New York Rangers
Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player)	Tommy Anderson, Brooklyn Americans
Lady Byng Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship)	Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs
O'Brien Cup: (Playoff runner-up)	Detroit Red Wings
Prince of Wales Trophy: (Regular season champion)	New York Rangers
Vezina Trophy: (Fewest goals allowed)	Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

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

PLAYER	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Bryan Hextall	New York Rangers	48	24	32	56	30
Lynn Patrick	New York Rangers	47	32	22	54	18
Don Grosso	Detroit Red Wings	45	23	30	53	13
Phil Watson	New York Rangers	48	15	37	52	58
Sid Abel	Detroit Red Wings	48	18	31	49	45
Toe Blake	Montreal Canadiens	48	17	28	45	29
Bill Thoms	Chicago Black Hawks	47	15	30	45	8
Gordie Drillon	Toronto Maple Leafs	48	23	18	41	6
Syl Apps	Toronto Maple Leafs	38	18	23	41	0
Tommy Anderson	Brooklyn Americans	48	12	29	41	64

Source: NHL

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Mins – Minutes Played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Player	Team	GP	Min	GA	GAA	W	L	T	SO
Frank Brimsek	Boston Bruins	47	2930	115	2.35	24	17	6	3
Turk Broda	Toronto Maple Leafs	48	2960	136	2.76	27	18	3	6
Jim Henry	New York Rangers	48	2960	143	2.90	29	17	2	1
Johnny Mowers	Detroit Red Wings	47	2880	144	3.00	19	25	3	5
Sam LoPresti	Chicago Black Hawks	47	2860	152	3.19	21	23	3	3
Paul Bibeault	Montreal Canadiens	38	2380	131	3.30	17	19	2	1
Chuck Rayner	Brooklyn Americans	36	2380	129	3.47	13	21	2	1
Earl Robertson	Brooklyn Americans	12	750	46	3.68	3	8	1	0
Bert Gardiner	Montreal Canadiens	10	620	42	4.06	1	8	1	0

Team Photos

• 

  Brooklyn Americans

• 

  Boston Bruins

• 

  Chicago Black Hawks

• 

  Detroit Red Wings

• 

  Montreal Canadiens

• 

  New York Rangers

• 

  Toronto Maple Leafs

References

• (2000) in Diamond, Dan: Total Hockey. Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X. 
• (2011) The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5. 
• (2000) Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9. 
• (2003) The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Publications International Inc.. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1. 
• McFarlane, Brian (1973). The Story of the National Hockey League. New York, NY: Pagurian Press. ISBN 0-684-13424-1. 

Notes

External links

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com

National Hockey League seasons

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