# 1939–40 Detroit Red Wings season

The 1939–40 Detroit Red Wings season was the 14th season for the Detroit NHL franchise, eighth as the Red Wings.

## Regular season
### Final standings

National Hockey League :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PIM | Pts |
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 31 | 12 | 5 | 170 | 98 | 330 | 67 |
| New York Rangers | 48 | 27 | 11 | 10 | 136 | 77 | 520 | 64 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 25 | 17 | 6 | 134 | 110 | 485 | 56 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 23 | 19 | 6 | 112 | 120 | 351 | 52 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 16 | 26 | 6 | 91 | 126 | 250 | 38 |
| New York Americans | 48 | 15 | 29 | 4 | 106 | 140 | 236 | 34 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 10 | 33 | 5 | 90 | 167 | 338 | 25 |
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalty Minutes, Pts = Points Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

### Record vs. opponents

1939–40 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYA | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 6–1–1 | 5–3 | 6–1–1 | 7–1 | 2–4–2 | 5–2–1 |
| Chicago | 1–6–1 | — | 6–0–2 | 5–2–1 | 3–4–1 | 4–4 | 4–3–1 |
| Detroit | 3–5 | 0–6–2 | — | 5–3 | 5–3 | 2–3–2 | 1–6–1 |
| Montreal | 1–6–1 | 2–5–1 | 3–5 | — | 2–4–2 | 1–6–1 | 1–7 |
| N.Y. Americans | 1–7 | 4–3–1 | 3–5 | 4–2–2 | — | 1–6–1 | 2–6 |
| N.Y. Rangers | 4–2–2 | 4–4 | 3–2–2 | 6–1–1 | 6–1–1 | — | 4–1–3 |
| Toronto | 2–5–1 | 3–4–1 | 6–1–1 | 7–1 | 6–2 | 1–4–3 | — |

## Schedule and results

| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | November 2, 1939 | 2–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1939–40) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | T | November 5, 1939 | 1–1 OT | New York Rangers (1939–40) | 0–1–1 |
| 3 | W | November 12, 1939 | 2–1 | Boston Bruins (1939–40) | 1–1–1 |
| 4 | W | November 14, 1939 | 4–2 | @ New York Americans (1939–40) | 2–1–1 |
| 5 | L | November 18, 1939 | 0–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1939–40) | 2–2–1 |
| 6 | L | November 19, 1939 | 1–7 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1939–40) | 2–3–1 |
| 7 | W | November 23, 1939 | 3–2 | New York Americans (1939–40) | 3–3–1 |
| 8 | W | November 25, 1939 | 6–4 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1939–40) | 4–3–1 |
| 9 | L | November 26, 1939 | 2–4 OT | Chicago Black Hawks (1939–40) | 4–4–1 |
| 10 | L | November 28, 1939 | 1–4 | @ New York Rangers (1939–40) | 4–5–1 |
| 11 | L | December 3, 1939 | 1–3 | Montreal Canadiens (1939–40) | 4–6–1 |
| 12 | L | December 8, 1939 | 0–3 | Boston Bruins (1939–40) | 4–7–1 |
| 13 | L | December 10, 1939 | 2–3 | New York Americans (1939–40) | 4–8–1 |
| 14 | L | December 12, 1939 | 1–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1939–40) | 4–9–1 |
| 15 | T | December 14, 1939 | 2–2 OT | @ New York Rangers (1939–40) | 4–9–2 |
| 16 | T | December 17, 1939 | 0–0 OT | New York Rangers (1939–40) | 4–9–3 |
| 17 | L | December 21, 1939 | 0–3 | @ New York Americans (1939–40) | 4–10–3 |
| 18 | L | December 23, 1939 | 1–5 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1939–40) | 4–11–3 |
| 19 | W | December 25, 1939 | 3–1 | Montreal Canadiens (1939–40) | 5–11–3 |
| 20 | L | December 31, 1939 | 2–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1939–40) | 5–12–3 |
| 21 | L | January 1, 1940 | 0–1 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1939–40) | 5–13–3 |
| 22 | W | January 4, 1940 | 3–2 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1939–40) | 6–13–3 |
| 23 | L | January 7, 1940 | 0–3 | @ New York Rangers (1939–40) | 6–14–3 |
| 24 | L | January 9, 1940 | 1–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1939–40) | 6–15–3 |
| 25 | W | January 12, 1940 | 4–2 | New York Americans (1939–40) | 7–15–3 |
| 26 | L | January 14, 1940 | 0–1 | @ New York Americans (1939–40) | 7–16–3 |
| 27 | T | January 18, 1940 | 2–2 OT | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1939–40) | 7–16–4 |
| 28 | W | January 21, 1940 | 3–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1939–40) | 8–16–4 |
| 29 | T | January 26, 1940 | 1–1 OT | Chicago Black Hawks (1939–40) | 8–16–5 |
| 30 | W | January 28, 1940 | 4–2 | Boston Bruins (1939–40) | 9–16–5 |
| 31 | W | February 1, 1940 | 2–0 | New York Rangers (1939–40) | 10–16–5 |
| 32 | T | February 4, 1940 | 1–1 OT | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1939–40) | 10–16–6 |
| 33 | W | February 6, 1940 | 3–1 | @ New York Americans (1939–40) | 11–16–6 |
| 34 | W | February 8, 1940 | 2–1 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1939–40) | 12–16–6 |
| 35 | L | February 9, 1940 | 0–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1939–40) | 12–17–6 |
| 36 | L | February 11, 1940 | 2–3 OT | Montreal Canadiens (1939–40) | 12–18–6 |
| 37 | L | February 13, 1940 | 3–10 | @ Boston Bruins (1939–40) | 12–19–6 |
| 38 | L | February 15, 1940 | 1–3 | @ New York Rangers (1939–40) | 12–20–6 |
| 39 | W | February 18, 1940 | 2–0 | New York Rangers (1939–40) | 13–20–6 |
| 40 | L | February 22, 1940 | 1–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1939–40) | 13–21–6 |
| 41 | W | February 25, 1940 | 4–1 | New York Americans (1939–40) | 14–21–6 |
| 42 | L | February 29, 1940 | 1–3 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1939–40) | 14–22–6 |
| 43 | W | March 3, 1940 | 6–3 | Boston Bruins (1939–40) | 15–22–6 |
| 44 | L | March 5, 1940 | 2–7 | @ Boston Bruins (1939–40) | 15–23–6 |
| 45 | L | March 9, 1940 | 0–3 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1939–40) | 15–24–6 |
| 46 | W | March 10, 1940 | 5–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1939–40) | 16–24–6 |
| 47 | L | March 15, 1940 | 3–4 | Chicago Black Hawks (1939–40) | 16–25–6 |
| 48 | L | March 17, 1940 | 1–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1939–40) | 16–26–6 |

## Playoffs
### (5) Detroit Red Wings vs. (6) New York Americans

New York Americans vs Detroit Red Wings :
| Date | Visitors | Score | Home | Score |
| Mar 19 | New York A. | 1 | Detroit | 2 (OT) |
| Mar 22 | Detroit | 4 | New York A. | 5 |
| Mar 24 | New York A. | 1 | Detroit | 3 |
Detroit wins best-of-three series 2–1.

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

Detroit Red Wings vs Toronto Maple Leafs :
| Date | Visitors | Score | Home | Score |
| Mar 26 | Detroit | 1 | Toronto | 2 |
| Mar 28 | Toronto | 3 | Detroit | 1 |
Toronto wins best-of-three series 2–0.

## Player statistics
### Regular season
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Syd Howe | C/LW | 46 | 14 | 23 | 37 | 17 |
| Ebbie Goodfellow | C/D | 43 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 31 |
| Mud Bruneteau | RW | 48 | 10 | 14 | 24 | 10 |
| Alex Motter | C | 37 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 28 |
| Ken Kilrea | LW | 40 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 4 |
| Cecil Dillon | RW | 44 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 12 |
| Connie Brown | C | 36 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 2 |
| Gus Giesebrecht | C | 30 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 2 |
| Carl Liscombe | LW | 25 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 4 |
| Eddie Wares | D/RW | 33 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 19 |
| Butch McDonald | LW/C | 37 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 2 |
| Don Deacon | LW | 18 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| Joe Fisher | RW | 34 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| Sid Abel | C/LW | 24 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| Don Grosso | LW/C | 29 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| Jimmy Orlando | D | 48 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 54 |
| Jack Keating | LW | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Ralph Bowman | D | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Jack Stewart | D | 48 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 40 |
| Claude Bourque | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ron Hudson | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Buck Jones | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hec Kilrea | LW | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alfie Moore | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bert Peer | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tiny Thompson | G | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Tiny Thompson | 2830 | 46 | 16 | 24 | 6 | 120 | 2.54 | 3 |
| Claude Bourque | 60 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3.00 | 0 |
| Alfie Moore | 60 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3.00 | 0 |
| Team: | 2950 | 48 | 16 | 26 | 6 | 126 | 2.56 | 3 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Mud Bruneteau | RW | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Syd Howe | C/LW | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Connie Brown | C | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Sid Abel | C/LW | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 21 |
| Joe Fisher | RW | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Ken Kilrea | LW | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Alex Motter | C | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| Ebbie Goodfellow | C/D | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Butch McDonald | LW/C | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| Cecil Dillon | RW | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Don Grosso | LW/C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jimmy Orlando | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
| Jack Stewart | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Tiny Thompson | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eddie Wares | D/RW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Tiny Thompson | 300 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 2.40 | 0 |
| Team: | 300 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 2.40 | 0 |
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus-minus PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals;  MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

## Awards and records

| Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player) | Ebbie Goodfellow |

### All-Star teams

| First Team | Position |
| Ebbie Goodfellow | D |

## Transactions

| May 17, 1939 | To Detroit Red Wingsrights to Cecil Dillon | To New York Rangerscash |
| November 7, 1939 | To New York Americanscash | To Detroit Red WingsAlfie Moore |