# 1940–41 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 1940–41 Toronto Maple Leafs season was the Toronto franchise's 24th season of play.

## Offseason

Conn Smythe was making preparations for his eventual tour of duty in Europe. He felt that Dick Irvin would not be strong enough to deal with player issues while he was gone and Smythe convinced the Montreal Canadiens to hire Irvin. Smythe hired Hap Day as coach.

## Regular season
### Final standings

National Hockey League :
| | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA |
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 27 | 8 | 13 | 67 | 168 | 102 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 28 | 14 | 6 | 62 | 145 | 99 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 21 | 16 | 11 | 53 | 112 | 102 |
| New York Rangers | 48 | 21 | 19 | 8 | 50 | 143 | 125 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 16 | 25 | 7 | 39 | 112 | 139 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 16 | 26 | 6 | 38 | 121 | 147 |
| New York Americans | 48 | 8 | 29 | 11 | 27 | 99 | 186 |
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

1940–41 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYA | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 4–2–2 | 3–0–5 | 5–2–1 | 7–0–1 | 4–2–2 | 4–2–2 |
| Chicago | 2–4–2 | — | 2–6 | 3–4–1 | 3–2–3 | 4–3–1 | 2–6 |
| Detroit | 0–3–5 | 6–2 | — | 4–3–1 | 5–1–2 | 3–2–3 | 3–5 |
| Montreal | 2–5–1 | 4–3–1 | 3–4–1 | — | 4–3–1 | 2–5–1 | 1–6–1 |
| N.Y. Americans | 0–7–1 | 2–3–3 | 1–5–2 | 3–4–1 | — | 1–6–1 | 1–4–3 |
| N.Y. Rangers | 2–4–2 | 3–4–1 | 2–3–2 | 5–2–1 | 6–1–1 | — | 3–5 |
| Toronto | 2–4–2 | 6–2 | 5–3 | 6–1–1 | 4–1–3 | 5–3 | — |

## Schedule and results

| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | November 2, 1940 | 1–4 | New York Rangers (1940–41) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | W | November 9, 1940 | 3–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1940–41) | 1–1–0 |
| 3 | W | November 14, 1940 | 6–2 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1940–41) | 2–1–0 |
| 4 | W | November 16, 1940 | 4–2 | Montreal Canadiens (1940–41) | 3–1–0 |
| 5 | W | November 17, 1940 | 4–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1940–41) | 4–1–0 |
| 6 | W | November 21, 1940 | 2–1 OT | @ New York Americans (1940–41) | 5–1–0 |
| 7 | L | November 23, 1940 | 0–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41) | 5–2–0 |
| 8 | W | November 24, 1940 | 4–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41) | 6–2–0 |
| 9 | W | November 26, 1940 | 4–2 | @ New York Rangers (1940–41) | 7–2–0 |
| 10 | W | November 30, 1940 | 6–1 | New York Americans (1940–41) | 8–2–0 |
| 11 | W | December 1, 1940 | 3–1 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1940–41) | 9–2–0 |
| 12 | W | December 7, 1940 | 3–2 | Boston Bruins (1940–41) | 10–2–0 |
| 13 | W | December 12, 1940 | 4–3 | Montreal Canadiens (1940–41) | 11–2–0 |
| 14 | W | December 14, 1940 | 2–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41) | 12–2–0 |
| 15 | W | December 15, 1940 | 4–1 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41) | 13–2–0 |
| 16 | L | December 17, 1940 | 2–5 | @ Boston Bruins (1940–41) | 13–3–0 |
| 17 | T | December 21, 1940 | 2–2 OT | New York Americans (1940–41) | 13–3–1 |
| 18 | L | December 22, 1940 | 1–2 | @ New York Americans (1940–41) | 13–4–1 |
| 19 | L | December 25, 1940 | 2–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1940–41) | 13–5–1 |
| 20 | W | December 28, 1940 | 3–2 | New York Rangers (1940–41) | 14–5–1 |
| 21 | L | December 29, 1940 | 2–3 | @ New York Rangers (1940–41) | 14–6–1 |
| 22 | L | January 4, 1941 | 1–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1940–41) | 14–7–1 |
| 23 | W | January 7, 1941 | 4–3 OT | @ Montreal Canadiens (1940–41) | 15–7–1 |
| 24 | W | January 9, 1941 | 3–2 OT | New York Rangers (1940–41) | 16–7–1 |
| 25 | W | January 11, 1941 | 9–0 | New York Americans (1940–41) | 17–7–1 |
| 26 | L | January 18, 1941 | 0–1 | Boston Bruins (1940–41) | 17–8–1 |
| 27 | T | January 19, 1941 | 3–3 OT | @ New York Americans (1940–41) | 17–8–2 |
| 28 | W | January 23, 1941 | 3–2 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1940–41) | 18–8–2 |
| 29 | T | January 25, 1941 | 2–2 OT | Montreal Canadiens (1940–41) | 18–8–3 |
| 30 | W | January 26, 1941 | 2–0 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1940–41) | 19–8–3 |
| 31 | W | January 30, 1941 | 2–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1940–41) | 20–8–3 |
| 32 | W | February 1, 1941 | 3–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41) | 21–8–3 |
| 33 | L | February 2, 1941 | 1–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41) | 21–9–3 |
| 34 | L | February 8, 1941 | 2–3 | Boston Bruins (1940–41) | 21–10–3 |
| 35 | W | February 15, 1941 | 4–3 | New York Rangers (1940–41) | 22–10–3 |
| 36 | W | February 16, 1941 | 4–1 | @ New York Rangers (1940–41) | 23–10–3 |
| 37 | T | February 18, 1941 | 2–2 OT | @ Boston Bruins (1940–41) | 23–10–4 |
| 38 | W | February 20, 1941 | 2–1 | Montreal Canadiens (1940–41) | 24–10–4 |
| 39 | W | February 22, 1941 | 6–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1940–41) | 25–10–4 |
| 40 | L | February 23, 1941 | 0–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1940–41) | 25–11–4 |
| 41 | T | February 25, 1941 | 4–4 OT | @ New York Americans (1940–41) | 25–11–5 |
| 42 | T | March 1, 1941 | 0–0 OT | Boston Bruins (1940–41) | 25–11–6 |
| 43 | L | March 6, 1941 | 3–4 | @ Montreal Canadiens (1940–41) | 25–12–6 |
| 44 | W | March 8, 1941 | 6–1 | New York Americans (1940–41) | 26–12–6 |
| 45 | L | March 9, 1941 | 5–8 | @ New York Rangers (1940–41) | 26–13–6 |
| 46 | L | March 11, 1941 | 2–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1940–41) | 26–14–6 |
| 47 | W | March 15, 1941 | 7–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41) | 27–14–6 |
| 48 | W | March 16, 1941 | 3–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1940–41) | 28–14–6 |

## Playoffs

The Maple Leafs took on the first-place Boston Bruins in the semi-finals. Boston would win the series four games to three. The Bruins would go on to win the Stanley Cup versus Detroit in four games.
| Date | Home team | Score | Visiting Team | Score | Notes |
| March 20 | Boston Bruins | 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 0 | |
| March 22 | Boston Bruins | 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 5 | |
| March 25 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 7 | Boston Bruins | 2 | |
| March 27 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1 | Boston Bruins | 2 | |
| March 29 | Boston Bruins | 1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2 | (OT) |
| April 1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1 | Boston Bruins | 2 | |
| April 3 | Boston Bruins | 2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1 | |

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Gordie Drillon | RW | 42 | 23 | 21 | 44 | 2 |
| Syl Apps | C | 41 | 20 | 24 | 44 | 6 |
| Sweeney Schriner | LW | 48 | 24 | 14 | 38 | 6 |
| Nick Metz | LW | 47 | 14 | 21 | 35 | 10 |
| Billy Taylor | C | 47 | 9 | 26 | 35 | 15 |
| Wally Stanowski | D | 47 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 35 |
| Pete Langelle | C | 47 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 0 |
| Bucko McDonald | D | 31 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 12 |
| Hank Goldup | LW | 26 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 9 |
| Reg Hamilton | D | 45 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 59 |
| Red Heron | C | 35 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 12 |
| Don Metz | RW | 31 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 6 |
| Gus Marker | RW | 27 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 10 |
| Bob Davidson | LW | 37 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 39 |
| Bingo Kampman | D | 39 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 53 |
| Lex Chisholm | C/RW | 26 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 8 |
| Norman Mann | RW/C | 15 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Jack Church | D | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| Turk Broda | G | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Turk Broda | 2970 | 48 | 28 | 14 | 6 | 99 | 2.00 | 5 |
| Team: | 2970 | 48 | 28 | 14 | 6 | 99 | 2.00 | 5 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Nick Metz | LW | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| Syl Apps | C | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Gordie Drillon | RW | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Sweeney Schriner | LW | 7 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Reg Hamilton | D | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 13 |
| Wally Stanowski | D | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Billy Taylor | C | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| Bucko McDonald | D | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Pete Langelle | C | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Don Metz | RW | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Bob Davidson | LW | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Red Heron | C | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Lex Chisholm | C/RW | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Turk Broda | G | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Church | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Hank Goldup | LW | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bingo Kampman | D | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Norman Mann | RW/C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gus Marker | RW | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Turk Broda | 438 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 2.05 | 0 |
| Team: | 438 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 2.05 | 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;

## Transactions

* May 10, 1940: Traded Murph Chamberlain to the Montreal Canadiens for $7,500
* May 10, 1940: Traded Pep Kelly to the Chicago Black Hawks for cash
* June 7, 1940: Acquired Frank Eddolls from the Montreal Canadiens for Joe Benoit
* July 1, 1940: Acquired Chuck Shannon from the New York Americans for cash
* October 20, 1940: Traded Chuck Shannon to the Buffalo Bisons of the AHL for cash
* October 22, 1940: Traded Phil Stein to the New Haven Eagles of the AHL for cash
* October 31, 1940: Signed Free Agent Nick Knott
* January 17, 1941: Acquired Jack Howard and Loan of Peanuts O'Flaherty from the New York Americans for Clarence Drouillard