# 1936–37 NHL season

The 1936–37 NHL season was the 20th season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Eight teams each played 48 games. The Detroit Red Wings were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the New York Rangers three games to two in the final series.

## League business

Frank Calder had been naming the top rookies commencing with 1932–33. This year, he commenced buying a trophy for the top rookie and Syl Apps was this year's winner.
The Great Depression continued to take its toll on the NHL. At the beginning of the decade there were ten teams and in the years since two teams had folded. It appeared like the New York Americans were to become the third team but the NHL took steps to prevent that from happening. Instead of letting the team cease operating because of money and ownership problems the league assumed control of the team for the 1936–37 season. It was then that team owner Bill Dwyer sued. A settlement then allowed for Dwyer to own the team, run by the NHL, and that Dwyer would be given a chance to pay back his debts.
The Montreal Maroons, short of money, had to sell their star and team captain Hooley Smith to Boston. It was hoped that Carl Voss of the former Eagles would fill in adequately for him, but he came down with influenza and was not much help. However, Bob Gracie started scoring and the Maroons almost nipped the Canadiens for first place in the Canadian Division.

## Regular season
### Highlights

The New York Americans had started in first place, but then their players came down with influenza and the team went downhill. But the worst blow was when Roy Worters suffered a hernia and had to retire. Alfie Moore and Lorne Chabot were not adequate replacements and the Amerks finished last in the Canadian Division.
On November 16, 1936, Hal Winkler made his NHL debut for the New York Rangers and gained a 1–0 shutout over the Montreal Maroons. He was the first goaltender to have a shutout in his NHL debut. The Montreal Canadiens had hit the bottom in 1935–36, and Babe Siebert was obtained to shore up the defence. But the most loved of all movements was buying Howie Morenz back from the Rangers. The Canadiens went from last to first in the Canadian Division. Morenz was just hitting his stride in January 1937, when tragedy struck. On one of his hurtling rushes, he was being checked by Earl Seibert of Chicago when his left skate got caught in the dasher of the end boards, and Morenz suffered a badly fractured leg. After suffering a nervous breakdown worrying about if he would be able to come back, more bad luck occurred. On March 8, 1937, X-rays revealed that Howie had blood clots in his healing leg. An operation was scheduled for the next day, but when Howie ate a light supper and told the nurse he wanted to rest, in falling asleep his pallor suddenly changed and the nurse knew something was wrong. A blood clot had stopped his heart, and attempts to revive Howie failed. News of Morenz's death shocked the hockey world, and thousands filed past his bier, many in tears, to pay their last respects.
Beyond Morenz's tragic mishap, it was an injury-filled year for many stars. Already suffering from a bad back, Boston's Eddie Shore suffered a broken vertebra that cost him the remainder of the season. Charlie Conacher of the Maple Leafs repeatedly injured his wrist, costing him much of the season, and was never the same player thereafter. A series of minor injuries precipitated Lionel Conacher's decision to retire at year's end, while Sylvio Mantha and Roy Worters suffered career-ending injuries. Other stars who missed several weeks of time or had season-ending injuries included Red Wings captain Doug Young, Larry Aurie, Russ Blinco, Buzz Boll, Pit Lepine, Dave Trottier, Toe Blake and Art Chapman.
With five games left to play, Chicago owner Frederic McLaughlin, a partisan of American-born players, decided to field an all-American lineup, the first time in major senior hockey that this was done. With incumbent Mike Karakas in goal, the Black Hawks signed Ernest Klingbeil and Paul Schaefer on defence, with a line of Milt Brink centering Al Suomi and Bun Laprairie. The team went 1–3 with the sextet in the lineup.
Detroit, led by Vezina Trophy winning Normie Smith, finished first in the American Division.

### Final standings

American Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |
| Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 25 | 14 | 9 | 128 | 102 | 59 |
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 23 | 18 | 7 | 120 | 110 | 53 |
| New York Rangers | 48 | 19 | 20 | 9 | 117 | 106 | 47 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 14 | 27 | 7 | 99 | 131 | 35 |
Canadian Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |
| Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 24 | 18 | 6 | 115 | 111 | 54 |
| Montreal Maroons | 48 | 22 | 17 | 9 | 126 | 110 | 53 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 22 | 21 | 5 | 119 | 115 | 49 |
| New York Americans | 48 | 15 | 29 | 4 | 122 | 161 | 34 |
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
 Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

## Playoffs
### Playoff bracket

| First round | First round | First round | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | C1 | Mtl Canadiens | 2 | | | |
| | | | A1 | Detroit | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | | A1 | Detroit | 3 |
| C2 | Mtl Maroons | 2 | | | | A1 | Detroit | 3 |
| C2 | Mtl Maroons | 2 | | | | A3 | NY Rangers | 2 |
| A2 | Boston | 1 | | | | A3 | NY Rangers | 2 |
| A2 | Boston | 1 | C2 | Mtl Maroons | 0 | | | |
| | | | A3 | NY Rangers | 2 | | | |
| C3 | Toronto | 0 | A3 | NY Rangers | 2 | | | |
| A3 | NY Rangers | 2 | | | | | | |

### Quarterfinals
#### (A2) Boston Bruins vs. (C2) Montreal Maroons

* Montreal won series 2–1

#### (C3) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (A3) New York Rangers

* New York won series 2–0

### Semifinals
#### (A1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (C1) Montreal Canadiens

* Detroit won series 3–2

#### (C2) Montreal Maroons vs. (A3) New York Rangers

* New York won series 2–0

### Stanley Cup Finals

* Detroit won series 3–2

## Awards

The "Rookie of the Year" award now had a trophy, the Calder Trophy, for the first time.
| Calder Trophy: (Best first-year player) | Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player) | Babe Siebert, Montreal Canadiens |
| Lady Byng Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship) | Marty Barry, Detroit Red Wings |
| O'Brien Cup: (Canadian Division champion) | Montreal Canadiens |
| Prince of Wales Trophy: (American Division champion) | Detroit Red Wings |
| Vezina Trophy: (Fewest goals allowed) | Normie Smith, Detroit Red Wings |

### All-Star teams

| First Team | Position | Second Team |
| Normie Smith, Detroit Red Wings | G | Wilf Cude, Montreal Canadiens |
| Babe Siebert, Montreal Canadiens | D | Earl Seibert, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Ebbie Goodfellow, Detroit Red Wings | D | Lionel Conacher, Montreal Maroons |
| Marty Barry, Detroit Red Wings | C | Art Chapman, New York Americans |
| Larry Aurie, Detroit Red Wings | RW | Cecil Dillon, New York Rangers |
| Busher Jackson, Toronto Maple Leafs | LW | Sweeney Schriner, New York Americans |
| Jack Adams, Detroit Red Wings | Coach | Cecil Hart, 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 |
| Sweeney Schriner | New York Americans | 48 | 21 | 25 | 46 | 17 |
| Syl Apps | Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 16 | 29 | 45 | 10 |
| Marty Barry | Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 17 | 27 | 44 | 6 |
| Larry Aurie | Detroit Red Wings | 45 | 23 | 19 | 42 | 20 |
| Busher Jackson | Toronto Maple Leafs | 46 | 21 | 19 | 40 | 12 |
| Johnny Gagnon | Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 20 | 16 | 36 | 38 |
| Bob Gracie | Montreal Maroons | 48 | 11 | 25 | 36 | 18 |
| Nels Stewart | Boston Bruins/New York Americans | 43 | 23 | 12 | 35 | 37 |
| Paul Thompson | Chicago Black Hawks | 47 | 17 | 18 | 35 | 28 |
| Lorne Carr | New York Americans | 48 | 18 | 16 | 34 | 22 |
| Earl Robinson | Montreal Maroons | 48 | 16 | 18 | 34 | 19 |
| Bill Cowley | Boston Bruins | 46 | 13 | 21 | 34 | 4 |
Source: NHL

## Coaches
### American Division

* Boston Bruins: Art Ross
* Chicago Black Hawks: Clem Loughlin
* Detroit Red Wings: Jack Adams
* New York Rangers: Lester Patrick

### Canadian Division

* Montreal Canadiens: Cecil Hart
* Montreal Maroons: Tommy Gorman
* New York Americans: Red Dutton
* Toronto Maple Leafs: Dick Irvin

## Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1936–37 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
* Bobby Bauer, Boston Bruins
* Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins
* Clint Smith, New York Rangers
* Bryan Hextall, New York Rangers
* Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs
* Gordie Drillon, Toronto Maple Leafs
* Turk Broda, Toronto Maple Leafs

## Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1936–37 (listed with their last team):
* Bun Cook, Boston Bruins
* Sylvio Mantha, Boston Bruins
* Andy Blair, Chicago Black Hawks
* Wildor Larochelle, Chicago Black Hawks
* Howie Morenz, Montreal Canadiens
* George Hainsworth, Montreal Canadiens
* Lionel Conacher, Montreal Maroons
* Alex Connell, Montreal Maroons
* Baldy Cotton, New York Americans
* Harry Oliver, New York Americans
* Lorne Chabot, New York Americans
* Roy Worters, New York Americans
* Bill Cook, New York Rangers
* Murray Murdoch, New York Rangers
* King Clancy, Toronto Maple Leafs
* Frank Finnigan, Toronto Maple Leafs