# 1944–45 NHL season

The 1944–45 NHL season was the 28th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 50 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in seven games versus the Detroit Red Wings.

## League business

In October 1944, Lester Patrick sponsored W. G. Hardy to become NHL president, replacing Red Dutton who wanted to step down. Patrick credited Hardy for being largely responsible for the current professional-amateur agreement between the NHL and the amateur associations in the International Ice Hockey Association, and said he was "temperamentally suited and has an excellent record as an executive of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association".

## Regular season

It was the year of the "Punch Line" as Rocket Richard scored 50 goals in 50 games, breaking Joe Malone's record of 44 goals, and when Richard scored his 45th, Malone was on hand to present him with the record-breaking puck. Richard had a five-goal, three-assist night against Detroit at the Montreal Forum on December 28, 1944. His centreman, Elmer Lach, though, won the scoring race with 26 goals and 80 points. Toe Blake finished third with 29 goals, 38 assists, and for the second time, an entire line finished first, second, third scoring. The previous time had been in 1939–40, when the Boston Bruins' Kraut Line of Milt Schmidt, Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart accomplished the feat. Schmidt finished with 52 points in 48 games that year, and Bauer and Dumart 43 apiece.
Montreal dared not loan Paul Bibeault to Toronto again with his fine year the previous season and loaned him instead to Boston. But the Maple Leafs came up with a fine rookie named Frank McCool who won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's top rookie. For the first time, a team produced three consecutive top rookies. McCool and Chicago netminder Mike Karakas tied for the league lead in shutouts with four each.
Bill Durnan won his second consecutive Vezina Trophy with Montreal. Flash Hollett became the first defenceman to score twenty goals in one season. The record would stand until Bobby Orr broke it several decades later.
A major trade that occurred this year was Chicago trading their great defenceman Earl Seibert to Detroit for Don Grosso, Cully Simon and Byron "Butch" McDonald. After team owner Frederic McLaughlin died, it was just a matter of time before Bill Tobin would trade Seibert, as the two did not get along.

### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 38 | 8 | 4 | 228 | 121 | +107 | 80 |
| 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 50 | 31 | 14 | 5 | 218 | 161 | +57 | 67 |
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 50 | 24 | 22 | 4 | 183 | 161 | +22 | 52 |
| 4 | Boston Bruins | 50 | 16 | 30 | 4 | 179 | 219 | −40 | 36 |
| 5 | Chicago Black Hawks | 50 | 13 | 30 | 7 | 141 | 194 | −53 | 33 |
| 6 | New York Rangers | 50 | 11 | 29 | 10 | 154 | 247 | −93 | 32 |

## Playoffs
### Playoff bracket

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Stanley Cup Finals | Stanley Cup Finals | Stanley Cup Finals |
| 1 | Montreal | 2 | | | |
| 3 | Toronto | 4 | | | |
| 3 | Toronto | 4 | 3 | Toronto | 4 |
| | | | 2 | Detroit | 3 |
| 2 | Detroit | 4 | 2 | Detroit | 3 |
| 4 | Boston | 3 | | | |

### Semifinals
#### (1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (3) Toronto Maple Leafs

The Montreal Canadiens finished first in the league with 80 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs finished third with 52 points. This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams with Montreal winning the two of the three previous series. They last met in previous year's Stanley Cup Semifinals where the Canadiens won in five games. Toronto won this season's ten-game regular-season series earning eleven of twenty points.
* Toronto won series 4–2

#### (2) Detroit Red Wings vs. (4) Boston Bruins

The Detroit Red Wings finished second in the league with 67 points. The Boston Bruins finished fourth with 36 points. This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams with Detroit winning the two of the three previous series. They last met in the 1943 Stanley Cup Finals where the Red Wings won in four games. Detroit won this season's ten-game regular-season series earning nineteen of twenty points.
* Detroit won series 4–3

### Stanley Cup Finals

This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams with Toronto winning four of the seven previous series. They last met in the 1943 Stanley Cup Semifinals where Detroit won in six games. Detroit won this season's ten-game regular-season series earning seventeen of twenty points.
* Toronto won series 4–3

## Awards

Award winners :
| O'Brien Cup: (Stanley Cup runner-up) | Detroit Red Wings |
| Prince of Wales Trophy: (Regular season champion) | Montreal Canadiens |
| Calder Memorial Trophy: (Best first-year player) | Frank McCool, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player) | Elmer Lach, Montreal Canadiens |
| Lady Byng Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship) | Bill Mosienko, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Vezina Trophy: (Fewest goals allowed) | Bill Durnan, Montreal Canadiens |
All-Star teams :
| First team | Position | Second team |
| Bill Durnan, Montreal Canadiens | G | Mike Karakas, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Émile Bouchard, Montreal Canadiens | D | Glen Harmon, Montreal Canadiens |
| Flash Hollett, Detroit Red Wings | D | Babe Pratt, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Elmer Lach, Montreal Canadiens | C | Bill Cowley, Boston Bruins |
| Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens | RW | Bill Mosienko, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Toe Blake, Montreal Canadiens | LW | Syd Howe, Detroit Red Wings |
| Dick Irvin, Montreal Canadiens | Coach | Jack Adams, Detroit Red Wings |

## 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 |
| Elmer Lach | Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 26 | 54 | 80 | 37 |
| Maurice Richard | Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 50 | 23 | 73 | 46 |
| Toe Blake | Montreal Canadiens | 49 | 29 | 38 | 67 | 35 |
| Bill Cowley | Boston Bruins | 49 | 25 | 40 | 65 | 12 |
| Ted Kennedy | Toronto Maple Leafs | 49 | 29 | 25 | 54 | 14 |
| Bill Mosienko | Chicago Black Hawks | 50 | 28 | 26 | 54 | 0 |
| Joe Carveth | Detroit Red Wings | 50 | 26 | 28 | 54 | 6 |
| Ab DeMarco | New York Rangers | 50 | 24 | 30 | 54 | 10 |
| Clint Smith | Chicago Black Hawks | 50 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 0 |
| Syd Howe | Detroit Red Wings | 46 | 17 | 36 | 53 | 6 |
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 |
| Bill Durnan | Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 3000 | 121 | 2.42 | 38 | 8 | 4 | 1 |
| Frank McCool | Toronto Maple Leafs | 50 | 3000 | 161 | 3.22 | 24 | 22 | 4 | 4 |
| Harry Lumley | Detroit Red Wings | 37 | 2220 | 119 | 3.22 | 24 | 10 | 3 | 1 |
| Connie Dion | Detroit Red Wings | 12 | 720 | 39 | 3.25 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Mike Karakas | Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 2880 | 187 | 3.90 | 12 | 29 | 7 | 4 |
| Harvey Bennett | Boston Bruins | 24 | 1470 | 103 | 4.20 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| Paul Bibeault | Boston Bruins | 26 | 1530 | 116 | 4.55 | 6 | 18 | 2 | 0 |
| Ken McAuley | New York Rangers | 46 | 2760 | 227 | 4.93 | 11 | 25 | 10 | 1 |

## Coaches

* Boston Bruins: Art Ross
* Chicago Black Hawks: Johnny Gottselig
* 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 1944–45 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
* Fern Flaman, Boston Bruins
* Murray Henderson, Boston Bruins
* Pete Horeck, Chicago Black Hawks
* Ted Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings
* Bill Ezinicki, Toronto Maple Leafs
* Frank McCool, Toronto Maple Leafs

## Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1944–45 (listed with their last team):
* Bill Thoms, Boston Bruins
* Cully Dahlstrom, Chicago Black Hawks
* Mush March, Chicago Black Hawks
* Johnny Gottselig, Chicago Black Hawks
* Kilby MacDonald, New York Rangers
* Bucko McDonald, New York Rangers
* Jack McLean, Toronto Maple Leafs
* John McCreedy, Toronto Maple Leafs