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The 1945–46 NHL season was the 29th season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup, defeating the Boston Bruins for the team's sixth championship.
| 1945–46 NHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 24, 1945 – April 9, 1946 |
| Number of games | 50 |
| Number of teams | 6 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champion | Montreal Canadiens |
| Season MVP | Max Bentley (Black Hawks) |
| Top scorer | Max Bentley (Black Hawks) |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Champions | Montreal Canadiens |
| Runners-up | Boston Bruins |
Since World War II had ended, the NHL and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) reverted to the pre-war agreement not to sign any junior ice hockey players without permission. CAHA secretary George Dudley stated that tryout contracts must be honoured, and junior-aged players on NHL reserve lists must be reinstated as amateurs to return to the CAHA. The wartime practice of the NHL borrowing amateur players for three games or less was discontinued.[1] The NHL and the CAHA discussed updates to the financial terms of the agreement. The NHL offered a flat payment of $20,000 to signing amateurs, which Dudley felt was too low.[2] The CAHA ultimately accepted the lump sum payment, preferring not to break its alliance with the NHL.[3][4]
Synchronized red lights to signal goals were made obligatory for all NHL rinks.[5]
It was rumoured in the press that Lester Patrick planned to retire as general manager of the New York Rangers. On February 22, 1946, he announced his retirement from the general manager position, however he would stay on as vice president of Madison Square Garden.[6]
The NHL and the International Ice Hockey Association agreed to mutually enforce suspensions for players not fulfilling a tryout contract.[7]
Veterans came back to their teams this year, as World War II ended, but many found they could not regain their form. One who did regain his form was the man formerly known as "Mr. Zero"—Boston Bruins' goaltender Frank Brimsek. He was shelled in an 8–3 contest with Chicago, but got better game by game. The Bruins had first place at one point, then finished second. Brimsek made the Second All-Star Team as a result.
Max Bentley of Chicago led the league in scoring, and, because of the "Pony Line" that including him, his brother Doug and Bill Mosienko, the Black Hawks were in first place at one point. But misfortune hit the Hawks when Doug Bentley injured his knee in a January 23 game and the team sagged.
Frank Patrick, former Pacific Coast Hockey Association president and former managing director for the NHL, suffered a heart attack and was not released from the hospital for several weeks.
A bombshell exploded on January 30, 1946, when defenceman Babe Pratt was expelled from the NHL for betting on games. However, he only bet on his own team and appealed his expulsion. On his promise he would not bet on any more games, he was reinstated. Pratt missed 9 games during his suspension.
Maple Leaf Gaye Stewart led the league in goals with 37, but Toronto finished fifth and missed the playoffs for the first time since playing at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Bill Durnan equalled George Hainsworth's record of three consecutive Vezina Trophies and led the league in shutouts with 4.
Final standings
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 28 | 17 | 5 | 172 | 134 | +38 | 61 |
| 2 | Boston Bruins | 50 | 24 | 18 | 8 | 167 | 156 | +11 | 56 |
| 3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 50 | 23 | 20 | 7 | 200 | 178 | +22 | 53 |
| 4 | Detroit Red Wings | 50 | 20 | 20 | 10 | 146 | 159 | −13 | 50 |
| 5 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 50 | 19 | 24 | 7 | 174 | 185 | −11 | 45 |
| 6 | New York Rangers | 50 | 13 | 28 | 9 | 144 | 191 | −47 | 35 |
Playoff bracket
| Semifinals | Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||
| 1 | Montreal | 4 | |||||||
| 3 | Chicago | 0 | |||||||
| 1 | Montreal | 4 | |||||||
| 2 | Boston | 1 | |||||||
| 2 | Boston | 4 | |||||||
| 4 | Detroit | 1 | |||||||
Semifinals
(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (3) Chicago Black Hawks
The Montreal Canadiens finished first in the league with 61 points. The Chicago Blackhawks finished third with 53 points. This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams with the teams splitting the six previous series. They last met in the 1944 Stanley Cup Finals where Montreal won in four games. Montreal won this year's ten game regular season series earning eleven of twenty points.
| March 19 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–6 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| George Gee (1) – pp – 17:25 | First period | 08:33 – Dutch Hiller (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 08:32 – Elmer Lach (1) 16:29 – pp – Billy Reay (1) 16:48 – pp – Dutch Hiller (2) | ||||||
| Bill Mosienko (1) – pp – 12:22 | Third period | 10:29 – Toe Blake (1) 14:40 – Maurice Richard (1) | ||||||
| Mike Karakas | Goalie stats | Bill Durnan | ||||||
| March 21 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–5 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Clint Smith (1) – 19:13 | First period | 06:40 – Bob Fillion (1) 09:14 – Jimmy Peters (1) 09:45 – Maurice Richard (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 10:02 – Ken Mosdell (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 14:45 – Jimmy Peters (2) | ||||||
| Mike Karakas | Goalie stats | Bill Durnan | ||||||
| March 24 | Montreal Canadiens | 8–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| Toe Blake (2) – 12:42 Buddy O'Connor (1) – pp – 14:07 |
First period | 15:06 – Max Bentley (1) 18:17 – pp – Clint Smith (2) | ||||||
| Buddy O'Connor (2) – 04:09 Ken Mosdell (2) – 09:31 Murph Chamberlain (1) – 15:36 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Toe Blake (3) – 09:40 Maurice Richard (3) – 10:36 Bob Fillion (2) – 14:34 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bill Durnan | Goalie stats | Mike Karakas | ||||||
| March 26 | Montreal Canadiens | 7–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | Chicago Stadium | Recap | |||
| Toe Blake (4) – pp – 06:04 Maurice Richard (4) – pp – 12:01 |
First period | 11:26 – Bill Mosienko (2) | ||||||
| Toe Blake (5) – 10:54 Murph Chamberlain (2) – sh – 18:05 |
Second period | 10:27 – Red Hamill (1) | ||||||
| Elmer Lach (2) – 09:55 Toe Blake (6) – pp – 17:33 Ken Reardon (1) – 18:42 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bill Durnan | Goalie stats | Mike Karakas | ||||||
| Montreal wins 4–0 | |
(2) Boston Bruins vs. (4) Detroit Red Wings
The Boston Bruins finished second in the league with 56 points. The Detroit Red Wings finished fourth with 50 points. This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams with Detroit winning the three of the four previous series. They last met in the previous year's Stanley Cup Semifinals where the Red Wings won in seven games. Boston won this year's ten game regular season series earning eleven of twenty points.
| March 19 | Detroit Red Wings | 1–3 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 03:11 – sh – Pat Egan (1) 19:05 – Bill Shill (1) | ||||||
| Harry Watson (1) – 07:51 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 11:43 – Bep Guidolin (1) | ||||||
| Harry Lumley | Goalie stats | Frank Brimsek | ||||||
| March 21 | Detroit Red Wings | 3–0 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| Pat Lundy (1) – 07:32 Jim Conacher (1) – 12:58 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Harry Watson (2) – 19:22 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Harry Lumley | Goalie stats | Frank Brimsek | ||||||
| March 24 | Boston Bruins | 5–2 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| Milt Schmidt (1) – 02:50 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Woody Dumart (1) – 04:51 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Pat Egan (2) – 00:25 Milt Schmidt (2) – 01:51 Woody Dumart (2) – 11:10 |
Third period | 12:42 – Fern Gauthier (1) 13:25 – Carl Liscombe (1) | ||||||
| Frank Brimsek | Goalie stats | Harry Lumley | ||||||
| March 26 | Boston Bruins | 4–1 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| Bobby Bauer (1) – 02:08 Woody Dumart (3) – 14:54 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bep Guidolin (2) – 04:08 Terry Reardon (1) – 11:30 |
Third period | 11:00 – Fern Gauthier (2) | ||||||
| Frank Brimsek | Goalie stats | Harry Lumley | ||||||
| March 28 | Detroit Red Wings | 3–4 | OT | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 07:04 – Bep Guidolin (3) 14:03 – pp – Bobby Bauer (2) | ||||||
| Fern Gauthier (3) – 11:00 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Adam Brown (1) – 12:55 Eddie Bruneteau (1) – 19:13 |
Third period | 04:24 – Terry Reardon (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 09:51 – Don Gallinger (1) | ||||||
| Harry Lumley | Goalie stats | Frank Brimsek | ||||||
| Boston won series 4–1 | |
Stanley Cup Finals
This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams with the teams splitting the four previous series. They last met in the 1943 Stanley Cup Semifinals where Boston won in five games. Montreal won this year's ten game regular season series earning eleven of twenty points.
| March 30 | Boston Bruins | 3–4 | OT | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bep Guidolin (4) – 05:09 Woody Dumart (4) – 08:02 |
Second period | 00:21 – pp – Butch Bouchard (1) 03:19 – Bob Fillion (3) | ||||||
| Jack Crawford (1) – 14:04 | Third period | 16:23 – Murph Chamberlain (3) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 09:08 – Maurice Richard (5) | ||||||
| Frank Brimsek | Goalie stats | Bill Durnan | ||||||
| April 2 | Boston Bruins | 2–3 | OT | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | ||
| Pat Egan (3) – 10:55 | First period | 01:06 – Elmer Lach (3) | ||||||
| Bobby Bauer (3) – 03:04 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 10:10 – Butch Bouchard (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 16:55 – Jimmy Peters (3) | ||||||
| Frank Brimsek | Goalie stats | Bill Durnan | ||||||
| April 4 | Montreal Canadiens | 4–2 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| Elmer Lach (4) – 10:14 Glen Harmon (1) – pp – 14:13 |
First period | 11:01 – Bep Guidolin (5) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 18:41 – Terry Reardon (3) | ||||||
| Ken Mosdell (3) – 02:45 Dutch Hiller (3) – 05:18 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bill Durnan | Goalie stats | Frank Brimsek | ||||||
| April 7 | Montreal Canadiens | 2–3 | OT | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Maurice Richard (6) – 13:46 | Second period | 08:05 – Murray Henderson (1) | ||||||
| Maurice Richard (7) – 04:04 | Third period | 03:01 – Don Gallinger (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 15:13 – Terry Reardon (4) | ||||||
| Bill Durnan | Goalie stats | Frank Brimsek | ||||||
| April 9 | Boston Bruins | 3–6 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Bill Cowley (1) – p – 05:42 Bobby Bauer (4) – 14:01 |
First period | 09:55 – Bob Fillion (4) 15:51 – Elmer Lach (5) 18:28 – Ken Mosdell (4) | ||||||
| Milt Schmidt (3) – 07:15 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 11:06 – Toe Blake (7) 14:05 – Murph Chamberlain (4) 17:13 – Dutch Hiller (4) | ||||||
| Frank Brimsek | Goalie stats | Bill Durnan | ||||||
| Montreal won series 4–1 | |
The NHL changed the criteria for the Vezina Trophy to award it to the goaltender who plays the most games for the team which gives up the fewest goals in the season.
| O'Brien Cup: (Stanley Cup runner-up) | Boston Bruins |
| Prince of Wales Trophy: (Regular season champion) | Montreal Canadiens |
| Calder Memorial Trophy: (Best first-year player) | Edgar Laprade, New York Rangers |
| Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player) | Max Bentley, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Lady Byng Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship) | Toe Blake, Montreal Canadiens |
| Vezina Trophy: (Goaltender of team with lowest GAA) | Bill Durnan, Montreal Canadiens |
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 | 47 | 31 | 30 | 61 | 6 |
| Gaye Stewart | Toronto Maple Leafs | 50 | 37 | 15 | 52 | 8 |
| Toe Blake | Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 29 | 21 | 50 | 2 |
| Clint Smith | Chicago Black Hawks | 50 | 26 | 24 | 50 | 2 |
| Maurice Richard | Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 27 | 22 | 49 | 50 |
| Bill Mosienko | Chicago Black Hawks | 40 | 18 | 30 | 48 | 12 |
| Ab DeMarco | New York Rangers | 50 | 20 | 27 | 47 | 20 |
| Elmer Lach | Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 13 | 34 | 47 | 34 |
| Alex Kaleta | Chicago Black Hawks | 49 | 19 | 27 | 46 | 17 |
| Billy Taylor | Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 23 | 18 | 41 | 14 |
Source: NHL[9]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Durnan | Montreal Canadiens | 40 | 2400 | 104 | 2.60 | 24 | 11 | 5 | 4 |
| Harry Lumley | Detroit Red Wings | 50 | 3000 | 159 | 3.18 | 20 | 20 | 10 | 2 |
| Frank Brimsek | Boston Bruins | 34 | 2040 | 111 | 3.26 | 16 | 14 | 4 | 2 |
| Mike Karakas | Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 2880 | 166 | 3.46 | 22 | 19 | 7 | 1 |
| Turk Broda | Toronto Maple Leafs | 15 | 900 | 53 | 3.53 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| Frank McCool | Toronto Maple Leafs | 22 | 1320 | 81 | 3.68 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 0 |
| Chuck Rayner | New York Rangers | 40 | 2377 | 149 | 3.76 | 12 | 21 | 7 | 1 |
| Jim Henry | New York Rangers | 11 | 623 | 42 | 4.04 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 |
- Boston Bruins: Dit Clapper
- Chicago Black Hawks: Johnny Gottselig
- Detroit Red Wings: Jack Adams
- Montreal Canadiens: Dick Irvin
- New York Rangers: Frank Boucher
- Toronto Maple Leafs: Hap Day
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1945–46 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
- Leo Reise Jr., Chicago Black Hawks
- George Gee, Chicago Black Hawks
- Jimmy Peters, Montreal Canadiens
- Cal Gardner, New York Rangers
- Edgar Laprade, New York Rangers
- Tony Leswick, New York Rangers
- Jimmy Thomson, Toronto Maple Leafs
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1945–46 (listed with their last team):
- Herb Cain, Boston Bruins (Last active Montreal Maroons player)
- Mike Karakas, Chicago Black Hawks
- Carl Liscombe, Detroit Red Wings
- Earl Seibert, Detroit Red Wings
- Flash Hollett, Detroit Red Wings (Last active Ottawa Senators player)
- Mud Bruneteau, Detroit Red Wings
- Syd Howe, Detroit Red Wings (last active Philadelphia Quakers player)
- Ott Heller, New York Rangers
- Lynn Patrick, New York Rangers
- Frank McCool, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Bob Davidson, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Sweeney Schriner, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Lorne Carr, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Mel Hill, Toronto Maple Leafs
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