# 1938–39 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1938–39 Montreal Canadiens season was the 30th season in club history. The team placed sixth in the regular season to qualify for the playoffs. The Canadiens lost in the first round to the Detroit Red Wings 2 games to 1.

## Regular season
### Final standings

National Hockey League :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 36 | 10 | 2 | 156 | 76 | 74 |
| New York Rangers | 48 | 26 | 16 | 6 | 149 | 105 | 58 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 19 | 20 | 9 | 114 | 107 | 47 |
| New York Americans | 48 | 17 | 21 | 10 | 119 | 157 | 44 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 18 | 24 | 6 | 107 | 128 | 42 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 15 | 24 | 9 | 115 | 146 | 39 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 12 | 28 | 8 | 91 | 132 | 32 |
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

1938–39 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYA | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 8–0 | 7–1 | 6–2 | 5–2–1 | 5–3 | 5–2–1 |
| Chicago | 0–8 | — | 1–5–2 | 4–4 | 2–4–2 | 3–4–1 | 2–3–3 |
| Detroit | 1–7 | 5–1–2 | — | 4–3–1 | 3–3–2 | 2–6 | 3–4–1 |
| Montreal | 2–6 | 4–4 | 3–4–1 | — | 3–2–3 | 1–4–3 | 2–4–2 |
| N.Y. Americans | 2–5–1 | 4–2–2 | 3–3–2 | 2–3–3 | — | 2–5–1 | 4–3–1 |
| N.Y. Rangers | 3–5 | 4–3–1 | 6–2 | 4–1–3 | 5–2–1 | — | 4–3–1 |
| Toronto | 2–5–1 | 3–2–2 | 4–3–1 | 4–2–2 | 3–4–1 | 3–4–1 | — |

## Schedule and results

Regular season results :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | L | November 6, 1938 | 2–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39) | 0–1–0 |
| 2 | L | November 10, 1938 | 0–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39) | 0–2–0 |
| 3 | L | November 12, 1938 | 1–4 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39) | 0–3–0 |
| 4 | L | November 13, 1938 | 3–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39) | 0–4–0 |
| 5 | L | November 17, 1938 | 1–7 | Detroit Red Wings (1938–39) | 0–5–0 |
| 6 | L | November 20, 1938 | 1–2 | @ New York Rangers (1938–39) | 0–6–0 |
| 7 | L | November 22, 1938 | 3–7 | @ New York Americans (1938–39) | 0–7–0 |
| 8 | T | November 24, 1938 | 2–2 OT | New York Americans (1938–39) | 0–7–1 |
| 9 | W | November 27, 1938 | 3–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1938–39) | 1–7–1 |
| 10 | W | December 1, 1938 | 2–0 | Boston Bruins (1938–39) | 2–7–1 |
| 11 | W | December 3, 1938 | 3–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39) | 3–7–1 |
| 12 | L | December 8, 1938 | 5–6 | New York Rangers (1938–39) | 3–8–1 |
| 13 | W | December 11, 1938 | 4–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1938–39) | 4–8–1 |
| 14 | L | December 13, 1938 | 2–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1938–39) | 4–9–1 |
| 15 | L | December 15, 1938 | 0–1 | Boston Bruins (1938–39) | 4–10–1 |
| 16 | L | December 18, 1938 | 2–5 | @ New York Americans (1938–39) | 4–11–1 |
| 17 | L | December 22, 1938 | 2–5 | New York Rangers (1938–39) | 4–12–1 |
| 18 | L | December 25, 1938 | 1–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1938–39) | 4–13–1 |
| 19 | L | December 27, 1938 | 1–4 | Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39) | 4–14–1 |
| 20 | W | January 1, 1939 | 4–3 OT | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39) | 5–14–1 |
| 21 | T | January 3, 1939 | 2–2 OT | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39) | 5–14–2 |
| 22 | T | January 5, 1939 | 2–2 OT | New York Rangers (1938–39) | 5–14–3 |
| 23 | T | January 8, 1939 | 1–1 OT | Detroit Red Wings (1938–39) | 5–14–4 |
| 24 | L | January 10, 1939 | 0–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1938–39) | 5–15–4 |
| 25 | L | January 12, 1939 | 4–9 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39) | 5–16–4 |
| 26 | T | January 14, 1939 | 1–1 OT | New York Americans (1938–39) | 5–16–5 |
| 27 | T | January 15, 1939 | 1–1 OT | @ New York Americans (1938–39) | 5–16–6 |
| 28 | W | January 19, 1939 | 1–0 | Boston Bruins (1938–39) | 6–16–6 |
| 29 | L | January 22, 1939 | 3–7 | @ New York Rangers (1938–39) | 6–17–6 |
| 30 | L | January 24, 1939 | 4–6 | @ Boston Bruins (1938–39) | 6–18–6 |
| 31 | W | January 29, 1939 | 1–0 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39) | 7–18–6 |
| 32 | L | February 2, 1939 | 2–4 | Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39) | 7–19–6 |
| 33 | W | February 9, 1939 | 5–2 | New York Americans (1938–39) | 8–19–6 |
| 34 | T | February 11, 1939 | 3–3 OT | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39) | 8–19–7 |
| 35 | L | February 12, 1939 | 3–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39) | 8–20–7 |
| 36 | L | February 16, 1939 | 1–5 | Boston Bruins (1938–39) | 8–21–7 |
| 37 | W | February 18, 1939 | 7–2 | New York Americans (1938–39) | 9–21–7 |
| 38 | W | February 19, 1939 | 5–4 | @ New York Americans (1938–39) | 10–21–7 |
| 39 | T | February 25, 1939 | 1–1 OT | New York Rangers (1938–39) | 10–21–8 |
| 40 | W | February 26, 1939 | 3–0 | @ New York Rangers (1938–39) | 11–21–8 |
| 41 | L | February 28, 1939 | 2–6 | @ Boston Bruins (1938–39) | 11–22–8 |
| 42 | W | March 2, 1939 | 3–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39) | 12–22–8 |
| 43 | W | March 5, 1939 | 2–1 OT | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39) | 13–22–8 |
| 44 | T | March 7, 1939 | 2–2 OT | @ New York Rangers (1938–39) | 13–22–9 |
| 45 | W | March 9, 1939 | 3–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1938–39) | 14–22–9 |
| 46 | L | March 12, 1939 | 1–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1938–39) | 14–23–9 |
| 47 | W | March 16, 1939 | 5–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39) | 15–23–9 |
| 48 | L | March 19, 1939 | 5–7 OT | @ Boston Bruins (1938–39) | 15–24–9 |

## Playoffs

The NHL revised its playoff format and six of seven teams qualified for the playoffs. In the first round, the Canadiens would meet Detroit, which had finished in fifth place. They lost in a best of three series in 3 games, or 1–2.

### Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens

| Date | Visitor | Home | Score | Record |
| March 21 | Detroit Red Wings | Montreal Canadiens | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| March 23 | Montreal Canadiens | Detroit Red Wings | 3–7 | 1–1 |
| March 24 | Montreal Canadiens | Detroit Red Wings | 0–1 | 1–2 |

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Toe Blake | LW | 48 | 24 | 23 | 47 | 10 |
| Paul Haynes | C | 47 | 5 | 33 | 38 | 27 |
| Johnny Gagnon | RW | 45 | 12 | 22 | 34 | 23 |
| Herb Cain | LW | 45 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 26 |
| Lou Trudel | LW | 31 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 2 |
| Rod Lorrain | RW | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 0 |
| Polly Drouin | LW | 28 | 7 | 11 | 18 | 2 |
| Babe Siebert | LW/D | 44 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 36 |
| Bill Summerhill | RW | 43 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 28 |
| Georges Mantha | D/LW | 25 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 6 |
| Walt Buswell | D | 46 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 10 |
| Armand Mondou | LW | 34 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 2 |
| George Brown | C | 18 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Stewart Evans | D | 43 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 58 |
| Jimmy Ward | RW | 36 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Des Smith | D | 16 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| Cy Wentworth | D | 45 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| Red Goupille | D | 18 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 24 |
| Paul Raymond | RW | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Marcel Tremblay | RW | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Bob Gracie | C/LW | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Claude Bourque | G | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wilf Cude | G | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gus Mancuso | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Willson | C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Wilf Cude | 1440 | 23 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 77 | 3.21 | 2 |
| Claude Bourque | 1560 | 25 | 7 | 13 | 5 | 69 | 2.65 | 2 |
| Team: | 3000 | 48 | 15 | 24 | 9 | 146 | 2.92 | 4 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Rod Lorrain | RW | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Walt Buswell | D | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Toe Blake | LW | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Johnny Gagnon | RW | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| Armand Mondou | LW | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Lou Trudel | LW | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Polly Drouin | LW | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Claude Bourque | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Herb Cain | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Stewart Evans | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Paul Haynes | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Georges Mantha | D/LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Raymond | RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Babe Siebert | LW/D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Des Smith | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Bill Summerhill | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Jimmy Ward | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cy Wentworth | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Claude Bourque | 188 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 2.55 | 1 |
| Team: | 188 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 2.55 | 1 |
    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;