1947–48 NHL season

1947–48 NHL season
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	October 15, 1947 – April 14, 1948
Number of games	60
Number of teams	6
Regular season
Season champion	Toronto Maple Leafs
Season MVP	Bud O'Connor (New York Rangers)
Top scorer	Elmer Lach (Montreal Canadiens)
Stanley Cup
Finals champions	Toronto Maple Leafs
Runners-up	Detroit Red Wings
NHL seasons
← 1946–47 1948–49 →

The 1947–48 NHL season was the 31st season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 60 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs were the Stanley Cup winners. They defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to none. This season saw the introduction of a new trophy – Art Ross Trophy – that would be handed out to the player who scored the most points during the regular season.

Regular season

The season saw the return of the National Hockey League All-Star Game, an idea that, although proposed in the previous season, came into fruition this year. The all-star game, however, saw a bad ankle injury to Chicago Black Hawks forward Bill Mosienko that nearly ended his career. Other stars would retire, ending both the Montreal Canadiens' Punch line and the Boston Bruins' Kraut Line. However, this season saw the creation of the Detroit Red Wings' Production Line. The policy of having players raise their hockey sticks to signify that a goal was scored was also initiated in this season, at the suggestion of Frank Patrick, with Habs forward Billy Reay being the first to do on November 13, 1947. The season also saw Boston's Don Gallinger suspended indefinitely pending an investigation of gambling activities and the New York Rangers' Billy "The Kid" Taylor being expelled for life for gambling.

Seven games into the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks made, at that time, the biggest trade in NHL history. The Maple Leafs sent five players to the Black Hawks in trade for Max Bentley and rookie winger Cy Thomas. Thomas only played eight games that year but Bentley handed to the Leafs a much-needed offensive boost that helped propel the team to first overall and an eventual Stanley Cup.

The New York Rangers decided to make a trade to improve their fortunes and sent Hal Laycoe, Joe Bell, and George Robertson to Montreal in exchange for Buddy O'Connor and defenceman Frank Eddolls. Montreal missed O'Connor, as their goal-scoring plummeted. Ken Mosdell was out from the start of the season with a broken arm, Rocket Richard had trouble with a bad knee and Murph Chamberlain broke his leg. In an attempt to boost the goal-scoring, Montreal traded Jimmy Peters and Johnny Quilty to Boston in exchange for Joe Carveth, but the rot continued. However, the worst occurred on January 11, 1948, when the Canadiens played the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Habs lost more than a game when Bill Juzda checked captain Toe Blake into the boards, breaking Blake's ankle and ending his career. It was also the end of the famed "Punch Line". (Ironically, that same night, Johnny Quilty's career was ended with a compound fracture of the leg). The Canadiens missed the playoffs for the first time since 1940, and Bill Durnan, for the only time in his career, failed to win the Vezina Trophy. This season was also the last season in which a goaltender was allowed to be named captain of their team. Bill Durnan was the last goaltender in NHL history to be captain. Toronto's Turk Broda won the Vezina this season.

Final standings

GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

National Hockey League	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Toronto Maple Leafs	60	32	15	13	77	182	143	758
Detroit Red Wings	60	30	18	12	72	187	148	593
Boston Bruins	60	23	24	13	59	167	168	515
New York Rangers	60	21	26	13	55	176	201	480
Montreal Canadiens	60	20	29	11	51	147	169	724
Chicago Black Hawks	60	20	34	6	46	195	225	572

Playoffs

All dates in 1948

The first round of the playoffs saw third place Boston Bruins matched up with first place Toronto Maple Leafs and fourth place New York Rangers against second place Detroit Red Wings.

Toronto vs. Boston

Toronto defeated Boston four games to one, although Boston kept it closer than the series tally would indicate. Three of the five games were decided by a single goal.

Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 24	Boston Bruins	4	Toronto Maple Leafs	5	(OT)
March 27	Boston Bruins	3	Toronto Maple Leafs	5
March 30	Toronto Maple Leafs	5	Boston Bruins	1
April 1	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	Boston Bruins	3
April 3	Boston Bruins	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	3

Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1

NY Rangers vs. Detroit

It looked initially to be a close series as, after the Blueshirts lost the first two games, the Rangers won the next two to tie the series. Detroit then took the next two to win the series in six games to qualify for the Final. It was Detroit's fourth time in six years. New York Rangers vs. Detroit Red Wings

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 24	New York Rangers	1	Detroit Red Wings	2
March 26	New York Rangers	2	Detroit Red Wings	5
March 28	Detroit Red Wings	2	New York Rangers	3
March 30	Detroit Red Wings	1	New York Rangers	3
April 1	New York Rangers	1	Detroit Red Wings	3
April 4	Detroit Red Wings	4	New York Rangers	2

Detroit wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2

Finals

Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 7	Detroit	3	Toronto	5
April 10	Detroit	2	Toronto	4
April 11	Toronto	2	Detroit	0
April 14	Toronto	7	Detroit	2

Toronto wins best-of-seven series four games to none.

Awards

O'Brien Cup: (Stanley Cup runner-up)	Detroit Red Wings
Prince of Wales Trophy: (Top regular season record)	Toronto Maple Leafs
Art Ross Trophy: (Top scorer)	Elmer Lach, Montreal Canadiens
Calder Memorial Trophy: (Top first-year player)	Jim McFadden, Detroit Red Wings
Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player)	Bud O'Connor, New York Rangers
Lady Byng Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship)	Bud O'Connor, New York Rangers
Vezina Trophy: (Goaltender of team with lowest GAA)	Turk Broda, Toronto Maple Leafs

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Elmer Lach	Montreal Canadiens	60	30	31	61
Buddy O'Connor	New York Rangers	60	24	36	60
Doug Bentley	Chicago Black Hawks	60	20	37	57
Gaye Stewart	Toronto Maple Leafs / Chicago Black Hawks	61	27	29	56
Max Bentley	Black Hawks / Toronto Maple Leafs	59	26	28	54
Bud Poile	Toronto Maple Leafs / Chicago Black Hawks	58	25	29	54
Maurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens	53	28	25	53
Syl Apps	Toronto Maple Leafs	55	26	27	53
Ted Lindsay	Detroit Red Wings	60	33	19	52
Roy Conacher	Chicago Black Hawks	52	22	27	49

Source: NHL

Leading goaltenders

GP = Games Played, TOI = Time On Ice (minutes), GA = Goals Against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals Against Average

Player	Team	GP	TOI	GA	SO	GAA
Turk Broda	Toronto Maple Leafs	60	3600	143	5	2.38
Harry Lumley	Detroit Red Wings	60	3592	147	7	2.46
Bill Durnan	Montreal Canadiens	59	3505	162	5	2.77
Frank Brimsek	Boston Bruins	60	3600	168	3	2.80
Jim Henry	New York Rangers	48	2800	153	2	3.19
Emile Francis	Chicago Black Hawks	54	3240	183	1	3.39

Team Photos

• 

  Boston Bruins

• 

  Chicago Black Hawks

• 

  Detroit Red Wings

• 

  Montreal Canadiens

• 

  New York Rangers

• 

  Toronto Maple Leafs

References

• (1994) in Diamond, Dan: Years of glory, 1942–1967: the National Hockey League's official book of the six-team era. Toronto, ON: McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-2817-2. 
• (2000) in Diamond, Dan: Total Hockey. Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X. 
• (2011) The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Toronto, ON: 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. Lincolnwood, IL: 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

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