1939–40 NHL season

1939–40 NHL season
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	November 2, 1939 – April 13, 1940
Number of games	48
Number of teams	7
Regular season
Season champion	Boston Bruins
Season MVP	Ebbie Goodfellow (Detroit Red Wings)
Top scorer	Milt Schmidt (Boston Bruins)
Stanley Cup
Finals champions	New York Rangers
Runners-up	Toronto Maple Leafs
NHL seasons
← 1938–39 1940–41 →

The 1939–40 NHL season was the 23rd season for the National Hockey League. Of the league's seven teams, the Boston Bruins were the best in the 48-game regular season, but the Stanley Cup winners were the New York Rangers, who defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the best-of-seven final series 4–2 for their third Stanley Cup in 14 seasons of existence. It would be another 54 years before their fourth.

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 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 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

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 highligted in bold

National Hockey League	GP	W	L	T	Pts	GF	GA	PIM
Boston Bruins	48	31	12	5	67	170	98	330
New York Rangers	48	27	11	10	64	136	77	520
Toronto Maple Leafs	48	25	17	6	56	134	110	485
Chicago Black Hawks	48	23	19	6	52	112	120	351
Detroit Red Wings	48	16	26	6	38	90	126	250
New York Americans	48	15	29	4	34	106	140	236
Montreal Canadiens	48	10	33	5	25	90	167	338

Playoffs

The Boston Bruins were expected to make the Stanley Cup 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, out-scored 14 to 8 and shut-out twice, in the first round. The third seed Toronto Maple Leafs swept the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks en route to the Stanley Cup finals.

Note: All dates in 1940

Quarter-finals and Semi-finals

Series A: Boston Bruins vs. New York Rangers

Date	Home	Score	Away	Score	Notes
March 19	New York Rangers	4	Boston Bruins	0
March 21	Boston Bruins	4	New York Rangers	3
March 24	Boston Bruins	4	New York Rangers	2
March 26	New York Rangers	1	Boston Bruins	0
March 28	Boston Bruins	0	New York Rangers	1
March 30	New York Rangers	4	Boston Bruins	1

Rangers win best of seven series 4 games to 2

Series B: Chicago Black Hawks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 19	Chicago Black Hawks	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	3	6:35 of OT
March 21	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	Chicago Black Hawks	1

Toronto wins best of three series 2 games to 0

Series C: New York Americans vs. Detroit Red Wings

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 19	New York Americans	1	Detroit Red Wings	2	0:25 of OT
March 22	Detroit Red Wings	4	New York Americans	5
March 24	New York Americans	1	Detroit Red Wings	3

Detroit wins best of three series 2 games to 1

Series D: Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
March 26	Detroit Red Wings	1	Toronto Maple Leafs	2
March 28	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	Detroit Red Wings	1

Toronto wins best of three series 2 games to 0

Stanley Cup Final

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. New York Rangers

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 2	Toronto Maple Leafs	1	New York Rangers	2	15:30 of OT
April 3	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	New York Rangers	6
April 6	New York Rangers	1	Toronto Maple Leafs	2
April 9	New York Rangers	0	Toronto Maple Leafs	3
April 11	New York Rangers	2	Toronto Maple Leafs	1	11:43 of OT
April 13	New York Rangers	3	Toronto Maple Leafs	2	2:07 of OT

New York wins best of seven series 4 games to 2

Awards

Calder Trophy: (Best first-year player)	Kilby MacDonald, New York Rangers
Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player)	Ebbie Goodfellow, Detroit Red Wings
Lady Byng Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship)	Bobby Bauer, Boston Bruins
O'Brien Cup: (Playoff runner-up)	Toronto Maple Leafs
Prince of Wales Trophy: (Regular season champion)	Boston Bruins
Vezina Trophy: (Fewest goals allowed)	Dave Kerr, New York Rangers

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Player	Team	GP	G	A	Pts
Milt Schmidt	Boston Bruins	48	22	30	52
Woody Dumart	Boston Bruins	48	22	21	43
Bobby Bauer	Boston Bruins	48	17	26	43
Gordie Drillon	Toronto Maple Leafs	43	21	19	40
Bill Cowley	Boston Bruins	48	13	27	40
Bryan Hextall	New York Rangers	48	24	15	39
Neil Colville	New York Rangers	48	19	19	38
Syd Howe	Detroit Red Wings	48	14	23	37
Hector Blake	Montreal Canadiens	48	17	19	36
Murray Armstrong	New York Americans	48	16	20	36

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

Player	Team	GP	MIN	GA	GAA	W	L	T	SO
Dave Kerr	New York Rangers	48	3000	77	1.54	27	11	10	8
Paul Goodman	Chicago Black Hawks	31	1920	62	1.94	16	10	5	4
Frank Brimsek	Boston Bruins	48	2950	98	1.99	31	12	5	6
Turk Broda	Toronto Maple Leafs	47	2900	108	2.23	25	17	5	4
Cecil "Tiny" Thompson	Detroit Red Wings	46	2830	120	2.54	16	24	6	3
Earl Robertson	N.Y. Americans	48	2960	140	2.84	15	29	4	6
Claude Bourque	Montreal Canadiens	36	2210	121	3.29	9	24	3	2
Mike Karakas	Chicago Black Hawks	17	1050	58	3.31	7	9	1	0

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
• 1939–40 NHL Playoff Season Stats – quanthockey.com
• 1939–40 NHL Playoff Season Goaltender Stats
• NHL.com

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