1938–39 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1938–39 Montreal Canadiens season was the 30th season in club history. The Canadiens finished 6th in the league and lost in the first round to the Detroit Red Wings 2 games to 1.
==Regular Season==
A tight-checking game in Montreal against the Boston Bruins on December 15, 1938 saw the "B's" without Bill Cowley and Jack Shewchuk, who'd been sent back to the minors. Scoreless until the third period, when Cooney Weiland deked out Walter Buswell and then flipped the puck over Claude Bourque, the Habs then turned it on. After firing a shot at Frank Brimsek, Babe Siebert bowled him over, clearing the net but Eddie Shore stopped the rebound. Canadiens coach Cecil Hart played four forwards for the last six minutes of the game. Rod Lorrain had the best scoring chance as he fired a shot from in close that Brimsek was screened on but managed to kick out. The Bruins held on for a 1-0 win, Brimsek's fourth shutout in five games and fifth consecutive victory.
The Habs came to the Hub on January 24 with Cooney Weiland still out and acting as coach. Canadiens GM/coach Cecil Hart professed that he had the formula to defeat the Bruins, by coming out hard for the first 10 minutes of the game.Boston Globe, p.9, January 24, 1939. The Bruins took Hart's advice, dominated the game early and built a 3-1 lead going into the third period. However, Montreal tied it up and as momentum shifted to their favour, Roy Conacher took a penalty. Weiland sent Milt Schmidt and Flash Hollett out to kill it off. They did so and then some as Schmidt scored shorthanded, followed by Hollett 29 seconds later. The teams then traded goals as the Bruins won 6-4. Hart was fired following the game and replaced with Jules Dugal.Montreal Gazette, p.16, January 28, 1939.
Before the Bruins headed to Montreal for a game on February 16, 1939, Jack Shewchuk was sent to the minors. After Bobby Bauer put Boston up early in the first, the game turned rough, resulting in a slew of injuries. Habs Jimmy Ward dislocated his shoulder and was lost for the season while Walter Buswell suffered a concussion and Babe Siebert a hip injury, knocking all three players out of the game. By 10:35 of the third period, Rod Lorrain cut the "B's" lead to 2-1, but then referee Norm Lamport gave two Habs misconducts. Down five men, several fans went so enraged they jumped onto the ice after Lamport and had to be stopped by the players of both teams. Roy Conacher, Jack Portland and Dit Clapper scored in the last five minutes, resulting in a 5-1 Bruins win. After the game, it was discovered that Eddie Shore had played with a broken toe.Boston Globe, p.18, February 17, 1939.
===Final Standings===
===Game Log===
Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season Results	Regular Season 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==
===Detroit Red Wings 2, Montreal Canadiens 1===
The NHL revised its playoff format and six of seven teams qualified for the playoffs. In the first round, the Canadiens met the Detroit Red Wings, who had finished in fifth place.
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 Stats==
===Regular Season===
;Scoring
# 	Player	Pos 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
6 	 	LW 	48	24	23	47 	10
10 	 	C 	47	5 	33	38 	27
14 	 	RW 	45	12	22	34 	23
9 	 	LW 	45	13	14	27 	26
12 	 	LW 	31	8 	13	21 	2
5 	 	RW 	38	10	9 	19 	0
4 	 	LW 	28	7 	11	18 	2
1 	 	LW/D	44	9 	7 	16 	36
11 	 	RW 	43	6 	10	16 	28
12 	 	D/LW	25	5 	5 	10 	6
3 	 	D 	46	3 	7 	10 	10
17 	 	LW 	34	3 	7 	10 	2
15 	 	C 	18	1 	9 	10 	10
8 	 	D 	43	2 	7 	9 	58
18 	 	RW 	36	4 	3 	7 	0
15 	 	D 	16	3 	3 	6 	8
2 	 	D 	45	0 	3 	3 	12
5 	 	RW 	10	0 	2 	2 	0
 	 	RW 	11	0 	2 	2 	4
16 	 	D 	18	0 	2 	2 	24
11 	 	C/LW	7 	0 	1 	1 	4
16 	 	RW 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
16 	 	C 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
4, 17, 24	 	G 	23	0 	0 	0 	0
19 	 	G 	25	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T	GA 	GAA 	SO
 	1440	23	8 	11	4	77 	3.21	2
 	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
 	RW 	3 	0	3	3 	0
 	D 	3 	2	0	2 	2
 	LW 	3 	1	1	2 	2
 	RW 	3 	0	2	2 	10
 	LW 	3 	1	0	1 	2
 	LW 	3 	1	0	1 	0
 	LW 	3 	0	1	1 	5
 	RW 	1 	0	0	0 	0
 	RW 	2 	0	0	0 	2
 	LW 	3 	0	0	0 	2
 	D 	3 	0	0	0 	2
 	C 	3 	0	0	0 	4
 	D/LW	3 	0	0	0 	0
 	RW 	3 	0	0	0 	2
 	LW/D	3 	0	0	0 	0
 	D 	3 	0	0	0 	4
 	D 	3 	0	0	0 	4
 	G 	3 	0	0	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA 	SO
 	188	3 	1	2	8 	2.55	1
Team: 	188	3 	1	2	8 	2.55	1
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; 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==
*Hart Memorial Trophy: Toe Blake
*NHL Scoring Leader: Toe Blake
*Toe Blake, Left Wing, NHL First Team All-Star
==Farm Team==
New Haven Eagles, International-American Hockey League
==Game Ads==
1939-Jan15-Robertson-Ward.jpg|Earl Robertson stops Jimmy Ward, January 15, 1939.
1939-Feb16-Lorrain goal.jpg|Rod Lorrain scores Montreal's only goal, February 16, 1939.
38-39MonCanPSShawiniganGameAd.jpg|Pre-season @ Shawinigan
38-39MonCanPSQuebecGameAd.jpg|Pre-season @ Quebec City
38-39MonCanPSMontrealGameAd.jpg|Pre-season @ Montreal
38-39MonCanPSValleyfieldGameAd.jpg|Pre-season @ Valleyfield
38-39NHLMontrealGameAd.jpg|Opening Game
38-39NHLMontrealGameAd3.jpg|Mid-season
38-39NHLPOMontrealGameAd.jpg|Playoff Game
==See Also==
* 1938–39 NHL season
==References==
*Canadiens on Hockey Database
*Canadiens on NHL Reference
Category:Montreal Canadiens seasons
Category:1938 in hockey
Category:1939 in hockey