1938–39 NHL season

1938–39 NHL season
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	November 3, 1938 – April 16, 1939
Number of games	48
Number of teams	7
Regular season
Season champions	Boston Bruins
Season MVP	Toe Blake (Montreal Canadiens)
Top scorer	Toe Blake (Montreal Canadiens)
Stanley Cup
Finals champions	Boston Bruins
Runners-up	Toronto Maple Leafs
NHL seasons
← 1937–38 1939–40 →

The 1938–39 NHL season was the 22nd season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Seven teams each played 48 games. The Boston Bruins were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs four games to one in the final series.

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. With only seven teams left, the NHL decided to go back to the one division format.

Regular 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, 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 and Calder Trophy in the same season.

Joseph Cattarinich died on December 7 of a heart attack following an eye operation. Cattarinich was the original goaltender of the Montreal Canadiens when they were formed in 1909 and later a part-owner of the team. He was 57.

The Montreal Canadiens eroded to the point where Jules Dugal replaced Cecil Hart as manager and coach. Dugal wasn't much better and the Canadiens finished sixth. One bright note was that Toe Blake won the scoring title, however, despite the poor showing of the team.

Chicago, after its Stanley Cup win the previous season, began floundering at mid-season and owner Frederic McLaughlin was displeased. Accordingly, he fired coach Bill Stewart and hired left wing Paul Thompson in his place. But the Black Hawks continued to lose and finished last.

The New York Americans, up in third place at mid-season, proceeded to fall into a big slump in the second half and though they finished fourth, they were below .500 and had the worst defence in the league. Part of the problem was the retirements of Ching Johnson and Hap Day on defence. Al Murray was also out of action for quite a time. Still, goaltender Earl Robertson found himself on the second all-star team.

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
Boston Bruins	48	36	10	2	74	156	76	251
New York Rangers	48	26	16	6	58	149	105	393
Toronto Maple Leafs	48	19	20	9	47	114	107	370
New York Americans	48	17	21	10	44	119	157	276
Detroit Red Wings	48	18	24	6	42	107	128	240
Montreal Canadiens	48	15	24	9	39	115	146	294
Chicago Black Hawks	48	12	28	8	32	91	132	367

Playoffs

Quarterfinals

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. New York Americans Date Away Team Home Team March 21 NY Americans 0 4 Toronto March 23 Toronto 2 0 NY Americans Toronto won the series 2-0.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Detroit Red Wings Date Away Team Home Team Notes March 21 Detroit 0 2 Montreal March 23 Montreal 3 7 Detroit March 26 Montréal 0 1 Detroit OT Detroit won the series 2-1.

Semifinals

Boston Bruins vs. New York Rangers
The Rangers became the first team in NHL history to force a Game seven after losing the first three games of a series. Mel Hill, a right wing for the Bruins, scored a record three overtime goals in a single series.

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 21	Boston Bruins	2	New York Rangers	1	3OT
March 23	New York Rangers	2	Boston Bruins	3	OT
March 26	New York Rangers	1	Boston Bruins	4
March 28	Boston Bruins	1	New York Rangers	2
March 30	New York Rangers	2	Boston Bruins	1	OT
April 1	Boston Bruins	1	New York Rangers	3
April 2	New York Rangers	1	Boston Bruins	2	3OT

Boston wins best-of-seven series 4–3

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings Date Away Team Home Team Notes March 28 Detroit 1 4 Toronto March 30 Toronto 1 3 Detroit April 1 Detroit 4 5 Toronto OT Toronto won the series 2-1.

Final

Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Date	Away Team		Home Team		Notes
April 6	Toronto	1	2	Boston
April 9	Toronto	3	2	Boston	OT
April 11	Boston	3	1	Toronto
April 13	Boston	2	0	Toronto
April 16	Toronto	1	3	Boston
Boston won the series 4-1 and the Stanley Cup.

The 1939 Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins.

Awards

Award winners

Calder Trophy: (Best first-year player)	Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins
Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player)	Toe Blake, Montreal Canadiens
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship)	Clint Smith, New York Rangers
O'Brien Cup: (Canadian Division champion)	Toronto Maple Leafs
Prince of Wales Trophy: (American Division champion)	Boston Bruins
Vezina Trophy: (Fewest goals allowed)	Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

Player	Team	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Toe Blake	Montreal Canadiens	48	24	23	47	10
Sweeney Schriner	New York Americans	48	13	31	44	20
Bill Cowley	Boston Bruins	34	8	34	42	2
Clint Smith	New York Rangers	48	21	20	41	2
Marty Barry	Detroit Red Wings	48	13	28	41	4
Syl Apps	Toronto Maple Leafs	44	15	25	40	4
Tommy Anderson	New York Americans	47	13	27	40	14
Johnny Gottselig	Chicago Black Hawks	48	16	23	39	15
Paul Haynes	Montreal Canadiens	47	5	33	38	27
Roy Conacher	Boston Bruins	47	26	11	37	12

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

Team Photos

• 

  Boston Bruins

• 

  Chicago Black Hawks

• 

  Detroit Red Wings

• 

  Montreal Canadiens

• 

  New York Americans

• 

  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

1917–18 - 1918–19 - 1919–20 - 1920–21 - 1921–22 - 1922–23 - 1923–24 - 1924–25 - 1925–26 - 1926–27 - 1927–28 - 1928–29 - 1929–30 - 1930–31 - 1931–32 - 1932–33 - 1933–34 - 1934–35 - 1935–36 - 1936–37 - 1937–38 - 1938–39 - 1939–40 - 1940–41 - 1941–42 - 1942–43 - 1943–44 - 1944–45 - 1945–46 - 1946–47 - 1947–48 - 1948–49 - 1949–50 - 1950–51 - 1951–52 - 1952–53 - 1953–54 - 1954–55 - 1955–56 - 1956–57 - 1957–58 - 1958–59 - 1959–60 - 1960–61 - 1961–62 - 1962–63 - 1963–64 - 1964–65 - 1965–66 - 1966–67 - 1967–68 - 1968–69 - 1969–70 - 1970–71 - 1971–72 - 1972–73 - 1973–74 - 1974–75 - 1975–76 - 1976–77 - 1977–78 - 1978–79 - 1979–80 - 1980–81 - 1981–82 - 1982–83 - 1983–84 - 1984–85 - 1985–86 - 1986–87 - 1987–88 - 1988–89 - 1989–90 - 1990–91 - 1991–92 - 1992–93 - 1993–94 - 1994–95 - 1995–96 - 1996–97 - 1997–98 - 1998–99 - 1999–00 - 2000–01 - 2001–02 - 2002–03 - 2003–04 - 2004–05 - 2005–06 - 2006–07 - 2007–08 - 2008–09 - 2009–10 - 2010–11 - 2011–12 - 2012–13 - 2013–14 - 2014–15 - 2015–16 - 2016–17 - 2017–18 - 2018–19 - 2019–20 - 2020–21 - 2021–22 - 2022–23 - 2023–24

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