1941–42 Toronto Maple Leafs season

The 1941–42 Toronto Maple Leafs season was Toronto's 25th season in the NHL. The Maple Leafs finished 2nd in the league and won the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals 4 games to 3 over the Detroit Red Wings after losing the first three games. It was their first Cup win since 1932.
==Off-season==
Before Smythe left to take up training with his 30th Battery, he signed up three rookies to the Maple Leafs: Bob Goldham, Ernie Dickens and John McCreedy. Lorne Carr's contract was purchased from the New York Americans. The final addition to the team was Pete Langelle, who made the team after playing part-time in previous seasons.Smythe, p. 144
==Regular Season==
Toronto got off to a quick start, winning 14 of their first 19 games, battling with the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers for top spot in the NHL. A 4–7–3 slump in their next 14 games saw Toronto fall behind the Bruins and Rangers, however, the Leafs followed up their slump by posting a 7–1–0 record in their next 8 games, before dropping 5 of final 7 games to end the season. Toronto finished the year with a record of 27–18–3, recording 57 points, and finishing in second place in the NHL, three points behind the first place New York Rangers.
The Leafs offense was led by Syl Apps, who despite missing 10 games to injuries, finished tied for the club lead in points with 41. Gordie Drillon also finished with 41 points, and he scored a team best 23 goals, while Billy Taylor had a club high 26 assists. Sweeney Schriner managed to join Drillon in the 20 goal club, as he managed to get 20 goals and earned 36 points. Bucko McDonald led the Leafs blueline, recording 21 points, while Rudolph Kampman provided the team toughness, getting 67 penalty minutes.
In goal, Turk Broda got all the action, winning 27 games and posting a 2.76 GAA, along with earning 6 shutouts.
===Final Standings===
===Game Log===
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record 	Pts
1 	November 1 	New York Rangers 	4–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	0–1–0 	0
2 	November 8 	Boston Bruins 	0–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–1–0 	2
3 	November 13	Montreal Canadiens 	2–4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–1–0 	4
4 	November 15	Detroit Red Wings 	1–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–1–0 	6
5 	November 18	Toronto Maple Leafs	8–6 	New York Rangers 	4–1–0 	8
6 	November 20	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–3 	Detroit Red Wings 	5–1–0 	10
7 	November 22	Chicago Black Hawks	0–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	6–1–0 	12
8 	November 23	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–3 	Chicago Black Hawks	6–2–0 	12
9 	November 29	Brooklyn Americans 	2–8 	Toronto Maple Leafs	7–2–0 	14
10	November 30	Toronto Maple Leafs	5–1 	Brooklyn Americans 	8–2–0 	16
11	December 2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–3 	Boston Bruins 	8–3–0 	16
12	December 6 	Montreal Canadiens 	1–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	9–3–0 	18
13	December 11	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–2 	Montreal Canadiens 	9–4–0 	18
14	December 13	New York Rangers 	1–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	10–4–0 	20
15	December 14	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–0 	Detroit Red Wings 	11–4–0 	22
16	December 20	Chicago Black Hawks	2–0 	Toronto Maple Leafs	11–5–0 	22
17	December 21	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–0 	Chicago Black Hawks	12–5–0 	24
18	December 25	Boston Bruins 	0–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	13–5–0 	26
19	December 27	Detroit Red Wings 	3–5 	Toronto Maple Leafs	14–5–0 	28
20	December 28	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–2 	Brooklyn Americans 	14–6–0 	28
21	December 30	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–4 	Boston Bruins 	14–7–0 	28
22	January 1 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–3 	New York Rangers 	14–7–1 	29
23	January 3 	Brooklyn Americans 	2–4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	15–7–1 	31
24	January 10 	Detroit Red Wings 	6–4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	15–8–1 	31
25	January 15 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–2 	Montreal Canadiens 	16–8–1 	33
26	January 17 	Chicago Black Hawks	4–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	16–9–1 	33
27	January 24 	Brooklyn Americans 	2–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	17–9–1 	35
28	January 25 	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–6 	Chicago Black Hawks	17–10–1	35
29	January 27 	Toronto Maple Leafs	0–0 	Boston Bruins 	17–10–2	36
30	January 29 	Montreal Canadiens 	3–7 	Toronto Maple Leafs	18–10–2	38
31	January 31 	Boston Bruins 	3–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	18–11–2	38
32	February 1 	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–7 	New York Rangers 	18–12–2	38
33	February 5 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–3 	Detroit Red Wings 	18–12–3	39
34	February 7 	New York Rangers 	4–6 	Toronto Maple Leafs	19–12–3	41
35	February 8 	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–3 	Brooklyn Americans 	20–12–3	43
36	February 12	Toronto Maple Leafs	6–4 	Montreal Canadiens 	21–12–3	45
37	February 14	Detroit Red Wings 	2–4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	22–12–3	47
38	February 21	Brooklyn Americans 	3–4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	23–12–3	49
39	February 22	Toronto Maple Leafs	0–3 	Detroit Red Wings 	23–13–3	49
40	February 28	Chicago Black Hawks	2–8 	Toronto Maple Leafs	24–13–3	51
41	March 1 	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–3 	Chicago Black Hawks	25–13–3	53
42	March 3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–5 	Boston Bruins 	25–14–3	53
43	March 5 	Montreal Canadiens 	5–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	25–15–3	53
44	March 7 	New York Rangers 	2–4 	Toronto Maple Leafs	26–15–3	55
45	March 8 	Toronto Maple Leafs	0–2 	New York Rangers 	26–16–3	55
46	March 14 	Boston Bruins 	4–6 	Toronto Maple Leafs	27–16–3	57
47	March 15 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–6 	Brooklyn Americans 	27–17–3	57
48	March 19 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–7 	Montreal Canadiens 	27–18–3	57
==Playoffs==
===Toronto Maple Leafs 4, New York Rangers 2===
The Maple Leafs would open the playoffs against the best team in the league, the New York Rangers in a best of seven semi-final series. The Leafs opened the series with a victory at Maple Leaf Gardens with a solid 3–1 win, then managed to go up two games by defeating the Rangers 4–2 at Madison Square Garden. New York managed to take the third game, shutting out Toronto 3–0, however, the Leafs would go up 3–1 in the series, winning the fourth game 2–1 at home. New York staved off elimination in the fifth game, holding off Toronto for a 3–1 win, however, the Leafs ended the series in the sixth game, hanging on for a 3–2 victory, and a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals.
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	March 21	New York Rangers 	1–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–0
2	March 22	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–2 	New York Rangers 	2–0
3	March 24	Toronto Maple Leafs	0–3 	New York Rangers 	2–1
4	March 28	New York Rangers 	1–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–1
5	March 29	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–3 	New York Rangers 	3–2
6	March 31	New York Rangers 	2–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–2
===Toronto Maple Leafs 4, Detroit Red Wings 3===
The 1942 Stanley Cup Finals involved a remarkable comeback. Toronto came back from a 3–0 deficit to win the best-of-seven series, the only such occurrence in a Stanley Cup Final series as of 2020. 
After losing the first 3 games, Toronto coach Hap Day replaced regulars Bucko McDonald and Gordie Drillon with Don Metz and Hank Goldup for Game 4. This was the turning point in the series as Don Metz (brother of Leafs Nick Metz) scored the winner as the Leafs took the game by 4-3. The game ended in total chaos as not happy with the officiating, Detroit took two misconduct penalties in the final minutes. As the game ended, Detroit coach Jack Adams physically assaulted referee Mel Harwood. Harwood and NHL President Frank Calder had to be escorted out of the building by police. Adams was suspended for the rest of the series.
Game 5 saw Detroit captain Ebbie Goodfellow take on the coaching duties. Don Metz had a Hat trick and 2 assists as the Maple Leafs routed the Red Wings 9-3.
Game 6 saw Turk Broda shutout the Red Wings and Don Metz scored the winner as the Leafs tied the series with a 3-0 victory.
Game 7 in Toronto was the first time a crowd of over 16,000 attended a hockey game in Canada. Detroit survived being two men down in the scoreless first period, then struck early in the second period on a goal by Syd Howe. Sweeney Schriner scored on a scramble in front of the net to tie the score. Two minutes later, Pete Langelle scored the winner. The Maple Leafs dominated the rest of the game with Schriner scoring again at 16:11 of the third period to secure the win and the Cup.
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	Record
1	April 4 	Detroit Red Wings 	3–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–0
2	April 7 	Detroit Red Wings 	4–2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–0
3	April 9 	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–5 	Detroit Red Wings 	0–3
4	April 12	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–3 	Detroit Red Wings 	1–3
5	April 14	Detroit Red Wings 	3–9 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–2
6	April 16	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–0 	Detroit Red Wings 	3–3
7	April 18	Detroit Red Wings 	1–3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–4
==Player Stats==
===Regular Season===
;Scoring
Player	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
 	RW 	48	23	18	41 	6
 	C 	38	18	23	41 	0
 	C 	48	12	26	38 	20
 	LW 	47	20	16	36 	21
 	RW 	47	16	17	33 	4
 	C 	48	10	22	32 	9
 	LW 	44	12	18	30 	13
 	LW 	37	6 	20	26 	39
 	RW 	47	15	8 	23 	14
 	D 	48	2 	19	21 	24
 	LW 	30	11	9 	20 	20
 	D 	19	4 	7 	11 	25
 	D 	38	4 	7 	11 	67
 	D 	24	1 	7 	8 	10
 	RW 	25	2 	3 	5 	8
 	D 	10	2 	2 	4 	6
 	D 	22	0 	4 	4 	27
 	D 	27	0 	3 	3 	30
 	G 	48	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T	GA 	GAA 	SO
 	2960	48	27	18	3	136	2.76	6
Team: 	2960	48	27	18	3	136	2.76	6
===Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
 	C 	13	5	9	14 	2
 	D 	13	2	8	10 	2
 	C 	13	2	8	10 	4
 	LW 	13	6	3	9 	10
 	LW 	13	4	4	8 	12
 	RW 	13	4	3	7 	6
 	RW 	4 	4	3	7 	0
 	C 	13	3	3	6 	2
 	RW 	13	3	2	5 	6
 	RW 	9 	2	3	5 	2
 	D 	13	2	2	4 	31
 	LW 	13	1	2	3 	20
 	D 	13	0	2	2 	12
 	D 	9 	0	1	1 	2
 	G 	13	0	0	0 	0
 	D 	13	0	0	0 	4
 	LW 	9 	0	0	0 	2
 	LW 	1 	0	0	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA 	SO
 	780	13	8	5	31	2.38	1
Team: 	780	13	8	5	31	2.38	1
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals 
MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts 
==Awards and Records==
* Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Syl Apps
* Syl Apps, Centre, NHL First Team All-Star
* Turk Broda, Goaltender, NHL Second Team All-Star
* Gordie Drillon, Right Wing, NHL Second Team All-Star
* Bucko McDonald, Defence, NHL Second Team All-Star
==Toronto Maple Leafs 1942 Stanley Cup Champions==
==Gallery==
41-42NHLTorontoGameAd.jpg|Regular Season
41-42NHLTorontoRadioAd.jpg|Radio Ad
41-42NHLSFTorontoGameAd.jpg|Semi Final
41-42SCupTorontoGameAd.jpg|Final
18Apr1942-Langelle_winner.jpg|#8 Pete Langelle scores the winning goal in Game 7 of the Finals, April 18, 1942.
==See Also==
* 1941–42 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
Category:1941 in hockey
Category:1942 in hockey