# 1941–42 Boston Bruins season

The 1941–42 Boston Bruins season, was the team's 18th season. They placed third in the National Hockey League.

## Offseason

Milt Schmidt and Woody Dumart were identified as two players to be called to Canada for compulsory training in the armed forces, potentially breaking up the Bruins' top line. Canadian authorities threatened to disallow any single men between the ages of 21 and 25 from leaving Canada to play ice hockey. However, the two were not called to the forces and played another season for the Bruins.

## Regular season

On December 9, 1941, the Chicago Blackhawks-Boston Bruins game would be delayed for over a half hour as United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared that America was at war.

### 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.

### Record vs. opponents

1941–42 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | BRK | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 4–4 | 3–3–2 | 4–2–2 | 6–1–1 | 4–4 | 4–3–1 |
| Brooklyn | 4–4 | — | 2–6 | 3–4–1 | 3–4–1 | 2–5–1 | 2–6 |
| Chicago | 3–3–2 | 6–2 | — | 3–5 | 4–3–1 | 2–6 | 4–4 |
| Detroit | 2–4–2 | 4–3–1 | 5–3 | — | 5–3 | 1–7 | 2–5–1 |
| Montreal | 1–6–1 | 4–3–1 | 3–4–1 | 3–5 | — | 4–4 | 3–5 |
| New York | 4–4 | 5–2–1 | 6–2 | 7–1 | 4–4 | — | 3–4–1 |
| Toronto | 3–4–1 | 6–2 | 4–4 | 5–2–1 | 5–3 | 4–3–1 | — |

## Schedule and results

Regular season schedule :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | November 8, 1941 | 0–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | W | November 15, 1941 | 2–1 | @ New York Rangers (1941–42) | 1–1–0 |
| 3 | W | November 16, 1941 | 2–1 | New York Rangers (1941–42) | 2–1–0 |
| 4 | W | November 18, 1941 | 7–2 | Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) | 3–1–0 |
| 5 | L | November 20, 1941 | 2–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) | 3–2–0 |
| 6 | W | November 23, 1941 | 4–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) | 4–2–0 |
| 7 | W | November 25, 1941 | 7–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) | 5–2–0 |
| 8 | W | November 27, 1941 | 6–2 OT | @ Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) | 6–2–0 |
| 9 | W | November 29, 1941 | 3–1 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) | 7–2–0 |
| 10 | W | November 30, 1941 | 3–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) | 8–2–0 |
| 11 | W | December 2, 1941 | 3–1 OT | Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) | 9–2–0 |
| 12 | L | December 7, 1941 | 4–5 | @ New York Rangers (1941–42) | 9–3–0 |
| 13 | T | December 9, 1941 | 2–2 OT | Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) | 9–3–1 |
| 14 | T | December 14, 1941 | 3–3 OT | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) | 9–3–2 |
| 15 | W | December 16, 1941 | 4–0 | Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) | 10–3–2 |
| 16 | W | December 20, 1941 | 4–2 OT | @ Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) | 11–3–2 |
| 17 | T | December 21, 1941 | 2–2 OT | @ Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) | 11–3–3 |
| 18 | W | December 23, 1941 | 3–2 | New York Rangers (1941–42) | 12–3–3 |
| 19 | L | December 25, 1941 | 0–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) | 12–4–3 |
| 20 | W | December 30, 1941 | 4–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) | 13–4–3 |
| 21 | W | January 1, 1942 | 5–4 | Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) | 14–4–3 |
| 22 | L | January 4, 1942 | 2–3 | @ Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) | 14–5–3 |
| 23 | W | January 6, 1942 | 3–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) | 15–5–3 |
| 24 | W | January 13, 1942 | 2–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) | 16–5–3 |
| 25 | W | January 18, 1942 | 4–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) | 17–5–3 |
| 26 | L | January 20, 1942 | 2–4 | New York Rangers (1941–42) | 17–6–3 |
| 27 | L | January 22, 1942 | 3–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) | 17–7–3 |
| 28 | T | January 24, 1942 | 2–2 OT | @ Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) | 17–7–4 |
| 29 | W | January 25, 1942 | 7–3 | Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) | 18–7–4 |
| 30 | T | January 27, 1942 | 0–0 OT | Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) | 18–7–5 |
| 31 | L | January 29, 1942 | 4–5 | @ Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) | 18–8–5 |
| 32 | W | January 31, 1942 | 3–2 OT | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) | 19–8–5 |
| 33 | L | February 1, 1942 | 1–2 | Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) | 19–9–5 |
| 34 | L | February 3, 1942 | 3–5 OT | Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) | 19–10–5 |
| 35 | L | February 5, 1942 | 1–4 | @ New York Rangers (1941–42) | 19–11–5 |
| 36 | W | February 8, 1942 | 3–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) | 20–11–5 |
| 37 | W | February 10, 1942 | 8–1 | Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) | 21–11–5 |
| 38 | L | February 15, 1942 | 0–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) | 21–12–5 |
| 39 | L | February 19, 1942 | 4–6 | @ Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) | 21–13–5 |
| 40 | L | February 24, 1942 | 3–4 | New York Rangers (1941–42) | 21–14–5 |
| 41 | T | March 1, 1942 | 3–3 OT | Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) | 21–14–6 |
| 42 | W | March 3, 1942 | 5–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) | 22–14–6 |
| 43 | L | March 7, 1942 | 3–4 OT | @ Montreal Canadiens (1941–42) | 22–15–6 |
| 44 | L | March 8, 1942 | 1–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1941–42) | 22–16–6 |
| 45 | W | March 10, 1942 | 9–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1941–42) | 23–16–6 |
| 46 | W | March 12, 1942 | 2–1 | @ New York Rangers (1941–42) | 24–16–6 |
| 47 | L | March 14, 1942 | 4–6 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42) | 24–17–6 |
| 48 | W | March 17, 1942 | 8–3 | Brooklyn Americans (1941–42) | 25–17–6 |

## Playoffs

The Boston Bruins defeated the Chicago Black Hawks in the quarter-finals 2–1 but lost the semi-final to Detroit 2–0.

### Boston Bruins 2, Chicago Black Hawks 1

| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record |
| 1 | March 22 | Boston Bruins | 2–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–0 |
| 2 | March 24 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4–0 | Boston Bruins | 1–1 |
| 3 | March 26 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–3 | Boston Bruins | 2–1 |

### Boston Bruins 0, Detroit Red Wings 2

| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record |
| 1 | March 29 | Detroit Red Wings | 6–4 | Boston Bruins | 0–1 |
| 2 | March 31 | Boston Bruins | 1–3 | Detroit Red Wings | 0–2 |

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Roy Conacher | LW | 43 | 24 | 13 | 37 | 12 |
| Milt Schmidt | C/D | 36 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 34 |
| Bobby Bauer | RW | 36 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 11 |
| Eddie Wiseman | RW | 45 | 12 | 22 | 34 | 8 |
| Flash Hollett | D | 48 | 19 | 14 | 33 | 21 |
| Woody Dumart | LW | 35 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 8 |
| Bill Cowley | C | 28 | 4 | 23 | 27 | 6 |
| Art Jackson | C | 47 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 25 |
| Jack McGill | C | 13 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 2 |
| Herb Cain | LW | 34 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 2 |
| Dutch Hiller | LW | 43 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 19 |
| Dit Clapper | RW/D | 32 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 31 |
| Des Smith | D | 48 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 70 |
| Busher Jackson | LW | 26 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 18 |
| Gordie Bruce | LW | 15 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 11 |
| Jack Crawford | D | 43 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 37 |
| Red Hamill | LW | 9 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 2 |
| Lloyd Gronsdahl | RW | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Jack Shewchuk | D | 22 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| Frank Mario | C | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Clare Martin | D | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Pat McReavy | C | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Frank Brimsek | G | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Damore | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Phil Hergesheimer | RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Cliff Thompson | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Frank Brimsek | 2930 | 47 | 24 | 17 | 6 | 115 | 2.35 | 3 |
| Nick Damore | 60 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3.00 | 0 |
| Team: | 2990 | 48 | 25 | 17 | 6 | 118 | 2.37 | 3 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Jack McGill | C | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Gordie Bruce | LW | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 |
| Roy Conacher | LW | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Des Smith | D | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Bill Cowley | C | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| Herb Cain | LW | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jack Crawford | D | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Dutch Hiller | LW | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Flash Hollett | D | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Art Jackson | C | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Busher Jackson | LW | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jack Shewchuk | D | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Eddie Wiseman | RW | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Frank Brimsek | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Clare Martin | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Frank Brimsek | 307 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 3.13 | 0 |
| Team: | 307 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 3.13 | 0 |
    Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
    Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;