The 1938–39 NHL season was the 22nd season of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Montreal Maroons suspended operations prior to the season. With seven teams left played 48 games each, the league reverted to a one division format. 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. This was the last time a team that had previously won a Stanley Cup either folded or relocated to another market. With only seven teams left, the NHL decided to go back to the one division format.

The Stanley Cup Final was expanded to a best-of-seven format.

NHL president Frank Calder reached a new professional-amateur agreement with Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) and its president W. G. Hardy in August 1938. The CAHA agreed not to allow international transfers for players on NHL reserve lists, and the NHL agreed not to sign any junior players without permission. It limited the number of amateur players which could be signed to contracts, and stipulated that both organizations use the same playing rules and recognize each other's suspensions.

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, who 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 Memorial 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 was not 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

Playoffs

Playoff bracket With the league reduced to seven teams, a new playoff format was adopted, still using a structure similar to a double-elimination tournament with a "winners' bracket", and a "losers' or repechage 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-five series, and the fifth-place team faced the sixth-place team in another best-of-five series, to determine the participants for the other best-of-five semifinal series. The semifinal winners then met in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series).

Quarterfinals

(3) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (4) New York Americans

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

Semifinals

(1) Boston Bruins vs. (2) New York Rangers

This series was the first to need seven games in NHL history; additionally, the Rangers were the first team in NHL history to force a Game seven after losing the first three games of a series. Mel Hill, a right winger for the Bruins, scored a record three overtime goals in a single series.

(3) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (5) Detroit Red Wings

Stanley Cup Finals

Awards + Award winnersCalder Trophy:(Best first-year player) Frank Brimsek, Boston BruinsHart Trophy:(Most valuable player) Toe Blake, Montreal CanadiensLady Byng Memorial Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) Clint Smith, New York RangersO'Brien Cup:(Stanley Cup runner-up) Toronto Maple LeafsPrince of Wales Trophy:(regular-season champion) Boston BruinsVezina Trophy:(fewest goals allowed) Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins

+ All-Star teams First team   Position   Second teamFrank Brimsek, Boston Bruins GEarl Robertson, New York AmericansEddie Shore, Boston Bruins DEarl Seibert, Chicago Black HawksDit Clapper, Boston Bruins DArt Coulter, New York RangersSyl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs CNeil Colville, New York RangersGordie Drillon, Toronto Maple Leafs RWBobby Bauer, Boston BruinsToe Blake, Montreal Canadiens LWJohnny Gottselig, Chicago Black HawksArt Ross, Boston Bruins CoachRed Dutton, New York Americans

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 48 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

Leading goaltenders

Coaches Boston Bruins: Art Ross Chicago Black Hawks: Bill Stewart and Paul Thompson Detroit Red Wings: Jack Adams Montreal Canadiens: Cecil Hart New York Americans: Red Dutton New York Rangers: Lester Patrick Toronto Maple Leafs: Dick Irvin

Debuts The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1938–39 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): Roy Conacher, Boston Bruins Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins Ab DeMarco, Chicago Black Hawks Don Grosso, Detroit Red Wings Sid Abel, Detroit Red Wings Jack Stewart, Detroit Red Wings

Last games The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1938–39 (listed with their last team): Russ Blinco, Chicago Black Hawks Paul Thompson, Chicago Black Hawks Baldy Northcott, Chicago Black Hawks Alex Levinsky, Chicago Black Hawks Bob Gracie, Chicago Black Hawks Larry Aurie, Detroit Red Wings Herbie Lewis, Detroit Red Wings Dave Trottier, Detroit Red Wings Babe Siebert, Montreal Canadiens Jimmy Ward, Montreal Canadiens

See also 1938–39 NHL transactions List of Stanley Cup champions 1938 in sports 1939 in sports

References

Notes

External links Hockey Database NHL.com