The 1941–42 NHL season was the 25th season of the National Hockey League. Seven teams played 48 games each. The New York Americans rebranded as the Brooklyn Americans. The Toronto Maple Leafs won 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 to date three times in NHL history (1975, 2010, 2014) and once in Major League Baseball (2004). However the '41–42 Leafs were the only ones to achieve the feat in a championship final series.

League business This was the last season for the Brooklyn Americans who had changed their name from the New York Americans in an attempt to build a civic relationship with those from the Flatbush area of New York. However, the team continued to play at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan since there was no suitable arena in Brooklyn.

Due to World War II travel restrictions on adults, the NHL demanded more junior-aged players who were free of the travel restrictions. NHL president Frank Calder reported there was a general agreement with the amateur leagues that a junior-aged player should be able to determine his own financial future due to the war.

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 did not prevent them from finishing last, though. On December 9, 1941, the Chicago Black Hawks-Boston Bruins game would be delayed for over a half-hour as United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared that the United States was at war.Hockey's Book of Firsts, p.71, James Duplacey, JG Press,

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 did not do again for the next 50 years.

Final standings

Playoffs

Playoff bracket The top six teams in the league qualified for the playoffs. The top two teams played in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup semifinal series. The third-place team then met the fourth-place team in one best-of-three series, and the fifth-place team faced the sixth-place team in another best-of-three series, to determine the participants for the other best-of-three semifinal series. The semifinal winners then met in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series).

Quarterfinals

(3) Boston Bruins vs. (4) Chicago Black Hawks

(5) Detroit Red Wings vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens

Semifinals

(1) New York Rangers vs. (2) Toronto Maple Leafs

(3) Boston Bruins vs. (5) Detroit Red Wings

Stanley Cup Finals

Awards +Award winnersCalder Trophy:(Best first-year player) Grant Warwick, New York RangersHart Trophy:(Most valuable player) Tommy Anderson, Brooklyn AmericansLady Byng Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs O'Brien Cup:(Stanley Cup runner-up) Detroit Red WingsPrince of Wales Trophy:(Regular season champion) New York RangersVezina Trophy:(Fewest goals allowed) Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins

+ All-Star teams First team   Position   Second teamFrank Brimsek, Boston Bruins GTurk Broda, Toronto Maple LeafsEarl Seibert, Chicago Black Hawks DPat Egan, Brooklyn AmericansTommy Anderson, Brooklyn Americans DBucko McDonald, Toronto Maple LeafsSyl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs CPhil Watson, New York RangersBryan Hextall, New York Rangers RWGordie Drillon, Toronto Maple LeafsLynn Patrick, New York Rangers LWSid Abel, Detroit Red WingsFrank Boucher, New York Rangers CoachPaul Thompson, Chicago Black Hawks

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

Coaches Boston Bruins: Art Ross Brooklyn Americans: Red Dutton Chicago Black Hawks: Paul Thompson Detroit Red Wings: Jack Adams Montreal Canadiens: Dick Irvin New York Rangers: Frank Boucher Toronto Maple Leafs: Hap Day

Debuts The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1941–42 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): Kenny Mosdell, Brooklyn Americans Harry Watson, Brooklyn Americans Bill Mosienko, Chicago Black Hawks Adam Brown, Detroit Red Wings Buddy O'Connor, Montreal Canadiens James Haggarty, Montreal Canadiens Emile "Butch" Bouchard, Montreal Canadiens Grant Warwick, New York Rangers Jim Henry, New York Rangers Bob Goldham, Toronto Maple Leafs Gaye Stewart*, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1941–42 (listed with their last team): Eddie Wiseman, Boston Bruins Tommy Anderson, Brooklyn Americans Art Coulter, New York Rangers Pete Langelle, Toronto Maple Leafs

See also 1941–42 NHL transactions List of Stanley Cup champions 1941 in sports 1942 in sports

References

Notes

External links Hockey Database NHL.com