1946–47 NHL season

1946–47 NHL season
League	National Hockey League
Sport	Ice hockey
Duration	October 16, 1946 – April 19, 1947
Number of games	60
Number of teams	6
Regular season
Season champion	Montreal Canadiens
Season MVP	Maurice Richard (Montreal Canadiens)
Top scorer	Max Bentley (Chicago Black Hawks)
Stanley Cup
Finals champions	Toronto Maple Leafs
Runners-up	Montreal Canadiens
NHL seasons
← 1945–46 1947–48 →

The 1946–47 NHL season was the 30th season of the National Hockey League. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens in the 1947 Stanley Cup Final to win their sixth Stanley Cup championship.

League business

Tommy Gorman, who had been associated with the National Hockey League since its inception in 1917, announced his retirement in July 1946 as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens. He left behind him seven Stanley Cup champions and a hall of fame career as a coach and general manager. Frank Selke, released from the Toronto Maple Leafs, took over as general manager and would build the greatest dynasty hockey ever knew in the late 1950s. The Canadiens were in financial trouble at this time, despite their winning team and Selke would turn things around by buying up talent and keeping the cream of the crop, selling some players to teams that needed talent.

Red Dutton finally got to resign as president of the NHL, as Clarence Campbell, whom Frank Calder had been grooming as his successor, had come home from Europe. Campbell's experience in law and in hockey made him an ideal choice as president. Campbell hired Ken McKenzie, who would become the league's first publicity director, in September 1946, as his first hiring. McKenzie would go on to found The Hockey News and other publications, including the annual NHL Guide.

Lorne Chabot, whose outstanding career as goalkeeper brought him two Stanley Cups, a Vezina Trophy and a first all-star selection, died October 10, five days after his 46th birthday. He had been suffering from kidney disease for some time and had been bedridden with severe arthritis.

Changes

The league extended the season to 60 games. Linesmen are to be hired for each game from neutral cities. The system of hand gestures to symbolize penalties, devised by Bill Chadwick, is adopted officially by the NHL. The NHL announces that winners of its trophies, and members of the All-Star team will each receive $1,000. Additionally, the league modified the captaincy rule so that captains wore the letter "C" and assistant captains wear the letter "A" on the front of their jerseys.

Regular season

Detroit lost Syd Howe through retirement, but another Howe started his great career as Gordie Howe was Detroit's new rookie. In one of his first fights, he took care of Montreal's Rocket Richard. Sid Abel then added a taunt that enraged Richard and he broke Abel's nose in three places.

Chicago decided to purchase goaltender Paul Bibeault from Montreal and regretted it. He played badly, one of his losses being an 11–0 whitewashing at the hands of Toronto. Finally, president and general manager Bill Tobin had enough and brought up 20-year-old Emile Francis to replace him. He made his debut on February 9, 1947, in a 6–4 win over Boston. During the season, Maple Leaf Gardens was the first arena in the NHL to have Plexiglas inserted in the end zones of the rink.

A donnybrook took place March 16, 1947, between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens. Cal Gardner lifted Kenny Reardon's stick so that it clipped him in the mouth and a fight broke out between both teams and the fans. On that same night, Billy Taylor of Detroit set an NHL record with 7 assists in a 10–6 shootout win over the Chicago Black Hawks.

Bill Durnan broke George Hainsworth's record of consecutive Vezina Trophies as he won his fourth in a row, and Montreal again finished first. Max Bentley edged out Rocket Richard by one point and won the scoring championship. On February 12, 1947, Dit Clapper played his final game with the Boston Bruins. Before the start of the game, Clapper was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was the only active player to be inducted into the Hall. The New York Rangers were the first NHL team to have their home games televised.

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
Montreal Canadiens	60	34	16	10	78	189	138	561
Toronto Maple Leafs	60	31	19	10	72	209	172	669
Boston Bruins	60	26	23	11	63	190	175	463
Detroit Red Wings	60	22	27	11	55	190	193	535
New York Rangers	60	22	32	6	50	167	186	426
Chicago Black Hawks	60	19	37	4	42	193	274	467

Playoffs

Semifinals

Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins Date Away Team Home Team Notes March 25 Boston 1 3 Montreal March 27 Boston 1 2 Montreal OT March 29 Montreal 2 4 Boston April 1 Montreal 5 1 Boston April 3 Boston 3 4 Montreal 2OT Montreal won the series 4:1.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings Date Away Team Home Team Notes March 26 Detroit 2 3 Toronto OT March 29 Detroit 9 1 Toronto April 1 Toronto 4 1 Detroit April 3 Toronto 4 1 Detroit April 5 Detroit 1 6 Toronto Toronto won the series 4:1.

Stanley Cup Final

Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Date	Away Team	Score	Home Team
April 8	Toronto	0:6	Montreal
April 10	Toronto	4:0	Montreal
April 12	Montreal	2:4	Toronto
April 15	Montreal	1:2 OT	Toronto
April 17	Toronto	1:3	Montreal
April 19	Montreal	1:2	Toronto

Awards

Award winners

O'Brien Cup: (Playoff runner-up)	Montreal Canadiens
Prince of Wales Trophy: (Best regular season record)	Montreal Canadiens
Calder Memorial Trophy: (Best first-year player)	Howie Meeker, Toronto Maple Leafs
Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player)	Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Lady Byng Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship)	Bobby Bauer]], Boston Bruins
Vezina Trophy: (Goaltender of team with lowest GAA)	Bill Durnan, Montreal Canadiens

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
Max Bentley	Chicago Black Hawks	60	29	43	72	12
Maurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens	60	45	26	71	69
Billy Taylor	Detroit Red Wings	60	17	46	63	35
Milt Schmidt	Boston Bruins	59	27	35	62	40
Ted Kennedy	Toronto Maple Leafs	60	28	32	60	27
Doug Bentley	Chicago Black Hawks	52	21	34	55	18
Bobby Bauer	Boston Bruins	58	30	24	54	4
Roy Conacher	Detroit Red Wings	60	30	24	54	6
Bill Mosienko	Chicago Black Hawks	59	25	27	52	2
Woody Dumart	Boston Bruins	60	24	28	52	12

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	Mins	GA	GAA	W	L	T	SO
Bill Durnan	Montreal Canadiens	60	3600	138	2.30	34	16	10	4
Turk Broda	Toronto Maple Leafs	60	3600	172	2.87	31	19	10	4
Frank Brimsek	Boston Bruins	60	3600	175	2.92	26	23	11	3
Chuck Rayner	New York Rangers	58	3480	177	3.05	22	30	6	5
Harry Lumley	Detroit Red Wings	52	3120	159	3.06	22	20	10	3
Paul Bibeault	Chicago Black Hawks	41	2460	170	4.15	13	25	3	1
Emile Francis	Chicago Black Hawks	19	1140	104	5.47	6	12	1	0

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. 
• Duplacey, James (1996). The annotated rules of hockey. Lyons & Burford. ISBN 1-55821-466-6. 
• (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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