# 1938–39 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 1938–39 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 22nd season of operation in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Maple Leafs again advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, losing to the Boston Bruins.

## 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

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

## Playoffs

The Maple Leafs finished in third place in the regular season, which matched them up against the New York Americans in the first round, best of three series. After sweeping the Americans in 2 games, the Leafs played the Detroit Red Wings in the next round in another best of three series, which they won 2–1. In the finals, they played the Boston Bruins, who defeated them 4–1.

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Syl Apps | C | 44 | 15 | 25 | 40 | 4 |
| Gordie Drillon | RW | 40 | 18 | 16 | 34 | 15 |
| Busher Jackson | LW | 41 | 10 | 17 | 27 | 12 |
| Murph Chamberlain | LW | 48 | 10 | 16 | 26 | 32 |
| Doc Romnes | LW/C | 36 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 0 |
| Pep Kelly | RW | 48 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 12 |
| Nick Metz | LW | 47 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 15 |
| Gus Marker | RW | 29 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 11 |
| George Parsons | LW | 43 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 14 |
| Bob Davidson | LW | 47 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 29 |
| Red Horner | D | 48 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 85 |
| Bingo Kampman | D | 41 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 52 |
| Jimmy Fowler | D | 39 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
| Reg Hamilton | D | 48 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 54 |
| Bucko McDonald | D | 33 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 20 |
| Bill Thoms | C | 12 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Jack Church | D | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Pete Langelle | C | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Murray Armstrong | C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Buzz Boll | LW | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turk Broda | G | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Heron | C | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Norman Mann | RW/C | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Turk Broda | 2990 | 48 | 19 | 20 | 9 | 107 | 2.15 | 8 |
| Team: | 2990 | 48 | 19 | 20 | 9 | 107 | 2.15 | 8 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Gordie Drillon | RW | 10 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 4 |
| Syl Apps | C | 10 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 |
| Murph Chamberlain | LW | 10 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| Nick Metz | LW | 10 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| Doc Romnes | LW/C | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| Gus Marker | RW | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Red Horner | D | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 26 |
| Pete Langelle | C | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Bob Davidson | LW | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Bingo Kampman | D | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 |
| Reg Hamilton | D | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Pep Kelly | RW | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jimmy Fowler | D | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Busher Jackson | LW | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Turk Broda | G | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Church | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Heron | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Bucko McDonald | D | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Don Metz | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Turk Broda | 617 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 1.94 | 2 |
| Team: | 617 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 1.94 | 2 |
    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

* October 12, 1938: Traded Charlie Conacher to the Detroit Red Wings for $16,000
* November 3, 1938: Acquired Gus Marker from the Montreal Maroons for $4,000
* November 15, 1938: Acquired Norman Mann from the New York Rangers for $4,000
* December 8, 1938: Acquired Doc Romnes from the Chicago Black Hawks for Bill Thoms
* December 19, 1938: Acquired Bucko McDonald from the Detroit Red Wings for Bill Thomson and $10,000

## Farm teams

* Syracuse Stars