# 1941–42 NHL season

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.
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

National Hockey League :
| | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA |
| New York Rangers | 48 | 29 | 17 | 2 | 60 | 177 | 143 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 27 | 18 | 3 | 57 | 158 | 136 |
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 25 | 17 | 6 | 56 | 160 | 118 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 22 | 23 | 3 | 47 | 145 | 155 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 19 | 25 | 4 | 42 | 140 | 147 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 18 | 27 | 3 | 39 | 134 | 173 |
| Brooklyn Americans | 48 | 16 | 29 | 3 | 35 | 133 | 175 |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

## Playoffs
### Playoff bracket

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Stanley Cup Finals | Stanley Cup Finals | Stanley Cup Finals |
| | | | 1 | New York | 2 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Toronto | 4 | | | |
| | | | | | | 2 | Toronto | 4 |
| 3 | Boston | 2 | | | | 2 | Toronto | 4 |
| 3 | Boston | 2 | | | | 5 | Detroit | 3 |
| 4 | Chicago | 1 | | | | 5 | Detroit | 3 |
| 4 | Chicago | 1 | 3 | Boston | 0 | | | |
| | | | 5 | Detroit | 2 | | | |
| 5 | Detroit | 2 | 5 | Detroit | 2 | | | |
| 6 | Montreal | 1 | | | | | | |

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

* Boston won series 2–1

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

* Detroit won series 2–1

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

* Toronto won series 4–2

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

* Detroit won series 2–0

### Stanley Cup Finals

* Toronto won series 4–3

## Awards

Award winners :
| Calder Trophy: (Best first-year player) | Grant Warwick, New York Rangers |
| Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player) | Tommy Anderson, Brooklyn Americans |
| Lady Byng Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship) | Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| O'Brien Cup: (Stanley Cup runner-up) | Detroit Red Wings |
| Prince of Wales Trophy: (Regular season champion) | New York Rangers |
| Vezina Trophy: (Fewest goals allowed) | Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins |
All-Star teams :
| First team | Position | Second team |
| Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins | G | Turk Broda, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Earl Seibert, Chicago Black Hawks | D | Pat Egan, Brooklyn Americans |
| Tommy Anderson, Brooklyn Americans | D | Bucko McDonald, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs | C | Phil Watson, New York Rangers |
| Bryan Hextall, New York Rangers | RW | Gordie Drillon, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Lynn Patrick, New York Rangers | LW | Sid Abel, Detroit Red Wings |
| Frank Boucher, New York Rangers | Coach | Paul 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 | SO |
| Frank Brimsek | Boston Bruins | 47 | 2930 | 115 | 2.35 | 24 | 17 | 6 | 3 |
| Turk Broda | Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 2960 | 136 | 2.76 | 27 | 18 | 3 | 6 |
| Jim Henry | New York Rangers | 48 | 2960 | 143 | 2.90 | 29 | 17 | 2 | 1 |
| Johnny Mowers | Detroit Red Wings | 47 | 2880 | 144 | 3.00 | 19 | 25 | 3 | 5 |
| Sam LoPresti | Chicago Black Hawks | 47 | 2860 | 152 | 3.19 | 21 | 23 | 3 | 3 |
| Paul Bibeault | Montreal Canadiens | 38 | 2380 | 131 | 3.30 | 17 | 19 | 2 | 1 |
| Chuck Rayner | Brooklyn Americans | 36 | 2380 | 129 | 3.47 | 13 | 21 | 2 | 1 |
| Earl Robertson | Brooklyn Americans | 12 | 750 | 46 | 3.68 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| Bert 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