1944–45 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 1944–45 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 28th season in the NHL. The Maple Leafs finished 3rd in the league and won the 1945 Stanley Cup Finals over the Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 3.
==Regular Season==
Toronto was a very streaky club during the regular season, where they started off very hot, winning their first six games, and 10 of their first 14, before a mid-season slump, when they managed a 5–10–2 record in 17 games. The Leafs would continue to be a streaky club for the remainder of the year, which included a five game winning streak, and a seven game winless streak. Overall, the Maple Leafs managed to end the season with a 24–22–4 record, earning 52 points, and third place in the NHL standings.
The Leafs offense was led teenage superstar Ted Kennedy, who turned 19 during the season, and had a club high 29 goals and 54 points. Gus Bodnar, who was also 19 years old, led the club with 36 assists, while Lorne Carr put together another solid season, scoring 21 goals and adding 25 assists for 46 points. Sweeney Schriner, who only appeared in 26 games, managed to score 22 goals and 37 points. Babe Pratt led the Leafs defense, scoring 18 goals and 41 points, while fellow blueliner Reg Hamilton had 15 points, and a team high 41 penalty minutes.
In goal, rookie Frank McCool had all the action, winning 24 games and posting a 3.22 GAA, while earning 4 shutouts. McCool would win the Calder Trophy for his efforts.
===Final Standings===
===Game Log===
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record 	Pts
1 	October 28 	New York Rangers 	1–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–0–0 	2
2 	October 29 	Toronto Maple Leafs	11–5 	Chicago Black Hawks	2–0–0 	4
3 	November 2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–1 	Montreal Canadiens 	3–0–0 	6
4 	November 4 	Boston Bruins 	2–7 	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–0–0 	8
5 	November 9 	Toronto Maple Leafs	6–3 	New York Rangers 	5–0–0 	10
6 	November 11	Montreal Canadiens 	1–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	6–0–0 	12
7 	November 12	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–4 	Detroit Red Wings 	6–1–0 	12
8 	November 15	Detroit Red Wings 	8–4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	6–2–0 	12
9 	November 18	Chicago Black Hawks	4–5 	Toronto Maple Leafs	7–2–0 	14
10	November 19	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–3 	Chicago Black Hawks	8–2–0 	16
11	November 23	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–5 	Boston Bruins 	8–3–0 	16
12	November 25	Montreal Canadiens 	0–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	9–3–0 	18
13	November 26	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–4 	Montreal Canadiens 	9–4–0 	18
14	December 2 	New York Rangers 	2–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	10–4–0 	20
15	December 3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–5 	Boston Bruins 	10–5–0 	20
16	December 9 	Boston Bruins 	5–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	10–6–0 	20
17	December 14	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–2 	Montreal Canadiens 	10–6–1 	21
18	December 16	Detroit Red Wings 	1–1 	Toronto Maple Leafs	10–6–2 	22
19	December 23	Detroit Red Wings 	5–4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	10–7–2 	22
20	December 25	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–6 	Detroit Red Wings 	10–8–2 	22
21	December 27	Toronto Maple Leafs	8–2 	New York Rangers 	11–8–2 	24
22	December 30	Chicago Black Hawks	0–4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	12–8–2 	26
23	January 4 	Montreal Canadiens 	2–4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	13–8–2 	28
24	January 6 	Detroit Red Wings 	5–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	13–9–2 	28
25	January 9 	New York Rangers 	5–4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	13–10–2	28
26	January 11 	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–7 	Montreal Canadiens 	13–11–2	28
27	January 13 	Boston Bruins 	1–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	14–11–2	30
28	January 14 	Toronto Maple Leafs	0–3 	Detroit Red Wings 	14–12–2	30
29	January 16 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–5 	Boston Bruins 	14–13–2	30
30	January 20 	Chicago Black Hawks	4–8 	Toronto Maple Leafs	15–13–2	32
31	January 21 	Toronto Maple Leafs	0–4 	Chicago Black Hawks	15–14–2	32
32	January 27 	New York Rangers 	0–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	16–14–2	34
33	January 28 	Toronto Maple Leafs	7–0 	New York Rangers 	17–14–2	36
34	February 3 	Boston Bruins 	4–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	17–15–2	36
35	February 4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–3 	Chicago Black Hawks	18–15–2	38
36	February 6 	Toronto Maple Leafs	5–1 	Boston Bruins 	19–15–2	40
37	February 10	Chicago Black Hawks	2–1 	Toronto Maple Leafs	19–16–2	40
38	February 11	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–2 	Chicago Black Hawks	19–17–2	40
39	February 17	Montreal Canadiens 	4–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	19–18–2	40
40	February 18	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–6 	Detroit Red Wings 	19–19–2	40
41	February 24	New York Rangers 	4–4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	19–19–3	41
42	February 25	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–5 	Montreal Canadiens 	19–20–3	41
43	February 27	Chicago Black Hawks	3–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	19–20–4	42
44	March 3 	Montreal Canadiens 	2–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	20–20–4	44
45	March 4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	6–3 	New York Rangers 	21–20–4	46
46	March 6 	Toronto Maple Leafs	5–2 	Boston Bruins 	22–20–4	48
47	March 10 	Boston Bruins 	2–9 	Toronto Maple Leafs	23–20–4	50
48	March 11 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–2 	Detroit Red Wings 	24–20–4	52
49	March 17 	Detroit Red Wings 	4–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	24–21–4	52
50	March 18 	Toronto Maple Leafs	5–6 	New York Rangers 	24–22–4	52
==Playoffs==
===Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Montreal Canadiens 2===
The Maple Leafs would open the playoffs against the heavily favoured and defending Stanley Cup champions, the Montreal Canadiens in a best of 7 series. The Canadiens dominated the league, as they had a record of 38–8–4, recording 80 points, which was 28 more than the Leafs. Toronto stunned the Canadiens in the series opener at the Montreal Forum, as Frank McCool shut out the Habs in a 1–0 Leafs victory. The Leafs then went up 2–0 in the series, winning a close game by a 3–2 score. The series shifted to Maple Leaf Gardens, however, the Canadiens roared back, easily defeating Toronto 4–1 to cut the Leafs series lead to 2–1. The fourth game was decided in overtime, and it was the Leafs who were victorious, winning 4–3, and taking a commanding 3–1 series lead. The series moved back to Montreal for the fifth game, and the Canadiens easily dismantled the Leafs, winning 10–3, and sending the series back to Toronto for the sixth game. The Maple Leafs would complete the upset, hanging on for a 4–3 win in the game, and win the series 4–2.
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	March 20	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–0 	Montreal Canadiens 	1–0
2	March 22	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–2 	Montreal Canadiens 	2–0
3	March 24	Montreal Canadiens 	4–1 	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–1
4	March 27	Montreal Canadiens 	3–4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–1
5	March 29	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–10 	Montreal Canadiens 	3–2
6	March 31	Montreal Canadiens 	2–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–2
===Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Detroit Red Wings 3===
Toronto's opponent in the 1945 Stanley Cup Finals was the Detroit Red Wings, who finished the regular season with a 31–14–5 record, earning 67 points, which was 15 higher than the Leafs. The Red Wings had defeated the Boston Bruins in seven games in the first round. Toronto, led by Frank McCool, would shutout the Red Wings in the first two games held at the Detroit Olympia for an early series lead. The Maple Leafs returned home for the third game, and took a 3–0 series lead as McCool would earn another shutout as Toronto won the game 1–0. The Red Wings managed to finally find the back of the net in the fourth game, winning 5–3 to avoid the sweep. Detroit goaltender Harry Lumley then shutout the Leafs in the fifth game by a score of 2–0, and he would once again earn a shutout in the sixth game, as Detroit won the game 1–0 in overtime to set up a seventh and deciding game. Toronto, led by goaltender Frank McCool and Babe Pratt, who scored the series winning goal, managed to hang on for a 2–1 victory in the seventh game to win the Stanley Cup for the fifth time in club history, and their first title in three years.
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	April 6 	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–0 	Detroit Red Wings 	1–0
2	April 8 	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–0 	Detroit Red Wings 	2–0
3	April 12	Detroit Red Wings 	0–1 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–0
4	April 14	Detroit Red Wings 	5–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–1
5	April 19	Toronto Maple Leafs	0–2 	Detroit Red Wings 	3–2
6	April 21	Detroit Red Wings 	1–0 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–3
7	April 22	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–1 	Detroit Red Wings 	4–3
==Player Stats==
===Regular Season===
;Scoring
Player	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
 	49	29	25	54 	14
 	47	21	25	46 	7
 	49	8 	36	44 	18
 	50	18	23	41 	39
 	26	22	15	37 	10
 	50	22	13	35 	26
 	45	18	17	35 	14
 	50	17	18	35 	49
 	31	9 	13	22 	6
 	50	3 	12	15 	41
 	34	2 	9 	11 	16
 	36	4 	5 	9 	6
 	24	3 	4 	7 	8
 	33	2 	5 	7 	24
 	17	2 	4 	6 	11
 	8 	1 	4 	5 	17
 	8 	2 	1 	3 	13
 	29	0 	2 	2 	18
 	50	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T	GA 	GAA 	SA	SV	SV%	SO
 	3000	50	24	22	4	161	3.22	 	 	 	4
Team: 	3000	50	24	22	4	161	3.22	 	 	 	4
===Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
 	13	7	2	9 	2
 	13	2	4	6 	8
 	13	2	3	5 	6
 	13	3	1	4 	4
 	13	3	1	4 	4
 	13	2	2	4 	5
 	13	3	0	3 	14
 	13	1	2	3 	2
 	7 	1	1	2 	2
 	11	0	1	1 	4
 	13	0	1	1 	5
 	4 	0	0	0 	0
 	8 	0	0	0 	0
 	8 	0	0	0 	10
 	13	0	0	0 	6
 	13	0	0	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA 	SA	SV	SV%	SO
 	807	13	8	5	 	30	2.23	 	 	 	4
Team: 	807	13	8	5	 	30	2.23	 	 	 	4
==Awards and Records==
*Calder Memorial Trophy: Frank McCool
*Babe Pratt, Defense, NHL Second Team All-Star
==Transactions==
===1945 Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup Champions===
Don Metz, Frank McCool, Wally Stanowski, Reg Hamilton, Moe Morris, John McCreedy, Tom O'Neill, Ted Kennedy, Babe Pratt, Gus Bodnar, Art Jackson, Jack McLean, Mel Hill, Nick Metz, Bob Davidson (captain), Sweeney Schriner, Lorne Carr, Conn Smythe (manager), Hap Day (coach), Frank Selke (business manager), Tim Daly (trainer)
==Gallery==
44-45NHLTorontoGameAd.jpg|Regular Season
44-45NHLSFTorontoGameAd.jpg|Semi Final
45SCupTorontoGameAd.jpg|Final
27March1945-Lach_scores.jpg|#16 Lach scores on McCool putting the Habs up 1-0, March 27, 1945.
27March1945-Penalty_box_Fillion,_Stanowski,_Schriner,_Chamberlain.jpg|Fillion, Stanowski watch Schriner and Chamberlain get into the box at 1:03 of the 3rd period, March 27, 1945.
27March1945-Hill_scores-Lamoureux_-Kennedy.jpg|Mel Hill scores on Bill Durnan to cut the Habs lead to 2-1. #4 Lamoureux and #10 Kennedy look on, March 27, 1945.
==See Also==
*1944–45 NHL season
==References==
*SHRP Sports
*The Internet Hockey Database
*Goalies Archive
*National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007
Category:Stanley Cup championship seasons
Category:Toronto Maple Leafs seasons
Toronto Maple Leafs season, 1944–45
Toronto Maple Leafs season, 1944–45