1938–39 Detroit Red Wings season

The 1938–39 Detroit Red Wings season was the Red Wings' 13th season. The Red Wings finished 5th in the league and lost in the Semi-finals to the Toronto Maple Leafs 2 games to 1.
==Off-season==
==Regular Season==
Bill Cowley's torrid pace continued on November 6, 1938 against the Red Wings. His backhand opened the scoring in the first period, then he set up Charlie Sands for a goal in the second. Mud Bruneteau narrowed it to 2-1 and then during a Detroit power play, Frank Brimsek threw the puck into the crowd. A penalty shot was awarded but Brimsek stopped Charlie Conacher, Roy's brother. A few minutes later, Ray Getliffe poked in a rebound off a Cowley shot. In the third, Woody Dumart snapped a shot between Normie Smith's legs as the Bruins won 4-1 for Brimsek's second win.
Having finished a contract hold-out, Eddie Shore wasted no time making his presence felt in his first game back on November 20 against Detroit. The Red Wings had an emergency goaltender, Harvey Teno, playing his second NHL game and in the third period, he'd held the fort with Detroit leading 1-0. After Cooney Weiland tied it up, Shore made one of his patented rushes and set up Bobby Bauer for the winner. Milt Schmidt and Woody Dumart piled on as the "B's" won 4-1.
During the December 8, 1938 game against the New York Americans, Eddie Wares ruptured a kidney crashing into the boards and missed 20 games.Boston Globe, p.22, December 9, 1938. On December 18, 1938, the Bruins played Detroit in the first head-to-head match between Tiny Thompson and Frank Brimsek since Tiny's trade. The Red Wings were tied for last in the league and had a weaker defense than the "B's." Thompson stood on his head for more than 50 minutes as both teams were held scoreless. Ironically, his best friend Dit Clapper broke the ice at 11:16 of the third period. Milt Schmidt added an empty net goal in the last minute as Boston won 2-0.
The New Year began with Tiny Thompson's return to Boston, a sellout, for the January 1, 1939 match. The ever popular Thompson was given a standing ovation on his return to the Bruins ice and put on a great show. The Bruins widely outplayed the Red Wings and led 1-0 going into the second period. Frank Brimsek had only one shot to handle in the second frame while Thompson stopped several excellent Boston scoring chances. Doug Young tied the game up at 11:04 of the third but the dam burst as goals by Mel Hill, Flash Hollett (playing center for Cowley) and Charlie Sands saw the Bruins win 4-1.
Boston moved on to Detroit on January 22, 1939 for their third meeting against Tiny Thompson and the teams were held scoreless after two periods. Boston scored two quick goals in the last frame by Milt Schmidt and Charlie Sands, then played defense for ten minutes which the Red Wings couldn't penetrate. Sands then converted a Bill Cowley pass on a two man breakaway before Roy Conacher was tripped by his brother Charlie. Woody Dumart scored on the ensuing penalty shot, the first Bruins success following the modern format. Roy scored a last minute goal for a 5-0 win for Brimsek's 7th shutout.
===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 	1–4 	Boston Bruins (1938–39) 	0–1–0
2 	L 	November 10, 1938 	1–2 	New York Americans (1938–39) 	0–2–0
3 	L 	November 13, 1938 	3–4 	New York Rangers (1938–39) 	0–3–0
4 	L 	November 15, 1938 	0–2 	@ New York Rangers (1938–39) 	0–4–0
5 	W 	November 17, 1938 	7–1 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1938–39) 	1–4–0
6 	L 	November 20, 1938 	1–4 	@ Boston Bruins (1938–39) 	1–5–0
7 	W 	November 24, 1938 	4–2 	Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39) 	2–5–0
8 	L 	November 26, 1938 	0–5 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39)	2–6–0
9 	L 	November 27, 1938 	2–3 	Montreal Canadiens (1938–39) 	2–7–0
10 	W 	December 1, 1938 	4–1 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39)	3–7–0
11 	W 	December 4, 1938 	1–0 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39) 	4–7–0
12 	T 	December 8, 1938 	1–1 OT 	New York Americans (1938–39) 	4–7–1
13 	L 	December 11, 1938 	2–4 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1938–39) 	4–8–1
14 	L 	December 13, 1938 	1–5 	@ New York Americans (1938–39) 	4–9–1
15 	L 	December 18, 1938 	0–2 	Boston Bruins (1938–39) 	4–10–1
16 	L 	December 20, 1938 	2–6 	@ New York Rangers (1938–39) 	4–11–1
17 	T 	December 22, 1938 	3–3 OT 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39)	4–11–2
18 	L 	December 24, 1938 	0–2 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39)	4–12–2
19 	W 	December 25, 1938 	4–1 	Montreal Canadiens (1938–39) 	5–12–2
20 	W 	December 29, 1938 	4–1 	Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39) 	6–12–2
21 	L 	January 1, 1939 	1–4 	@ Boston Bruins (1938–39) 	6–13–2
22 	L 	January 2, 1939 	0–3 	@ New York Rangers (1938–39) 	6–14–2
23 	T 	January 5, 1939 	6–6 OT 	@ New York Americans (1938–39) 	6–14–3
24 	T 	January 8, 1939 	1–1 OT 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1938–39) 	6–14–4
25 	W 	January 10, 1939 	3–0 	Montreal Canadiens (1938–39) 	7–14–4
26 	W 	January 15, 1939 	1–0 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39) 	8–14–4
27 	W 	January 19, 1939 	4–3 	New York Rangers (1938–39) 	9–14–4
28 	L 	January 22, 1939 	0–5 	Boston Bruins (1938–39) 	9–15–4
29 	W 	January 26, 1939 	1–0 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39)	10–15–4
30 	L 	January 28, 1939 	0–6 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39)	10–16–4
31 	T 	January 29, 1939 	2–2 OT 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39) 	10–16–5
32 	W 	February 5, 1939 	7–3 	New York Americans (1938–39) 	11–16–5
33 	L 	February 9, 1939 	2–4 	Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39) 	11–17–5
34 	L 	February 12, 1939 	0–1 	@ New York Americans (1938–39) 	11–18–5
35 	L 	February 14, 1939 	1–2 	@ Boston Bruins (1938–39) 	11–19–5
36 	T 	February 16, 1939 	1–1 OT 	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39)	11–19–6
37 	W 	February 19, 1939 	4–1 	Boston Bruins (1938–39) 	12–19–6
38 	L 	February 21, 1939 	3–7 	@ New York Rangers (1938–39) 	12–20–6
39 	L 	February 23, 1939 	2–4 	New York Rangers (1938–39) 	12–21–6
40 	W 	February 26, 1939 	5–1 	Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39) 	13–21–6
41 	W 	March 2, 1939 	7–3 	New York Americans (1938–39) 	14–21–6
42 	W 	March 5, 1939 	4–2 	@ New York Americans (1938–39) 	15–21–6
43 	L 	March 7, 1939 	0–3 	@ Boston Bruins (1938–39) 	15–22–6
44 	L 	March 9, 1939 	2–3 	@ Montreal Canadiens (1938–39) 	15–23–6
45 	L 	March 11, 1939 	1–5 	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1938–39)	15–24–6
46 	W 	March 12, 1939 	2–1 	Montreal Canadiens (1938–39) 	16–24–6
47 	W 	March 14, 1939 	3–2 	New York Rangers (1938–39) 	17–24–6
48 	W 	March 19, 1939 	3–2 	Chicago Black Hawks (1938–39) 	18–24–6
==Playoffs==
===Detroit Red Wings 2, Montreal Canadiens 1===
===Toronto Maple Leafs 2, Detroit Red Wings 1===
Gordie Drillon scored the series winning goal in overtime in Game 3.
==Player Stats==
===Regular Season===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM
 	C 	48	13	28	41 	4
 	C/LW	48	16	20	36 	11
 	LW 	41	8 	18	26 	13
 	RW 	40	8 	15	23 	39
 	C 	28	10	10	20 	2
 	LW 	48	8 	9 	17 	8
 	C/D 	48	8 	8 	16 	36
 	D/RW	28	8 	8 	16 	10
 	LW 	42	6 	10	16 	8
 	C 	44	5 	11	16 	17
 	RW 	32	4 	9 	13 	4
 	RW 	20	3 	7 	10 	0
 	D 	42	1 	5 	6 	16
 	D 	43	2 	3 	5 	26
 	LW 	8 	1 	3 	4 	2
 	C/LW	15	1 	1 	2 	0
 	LW/C	1 	1 	1 	2 	0
 	LW 	11	1 	1 	2 	16
 	RW 	1 	1 	0 	1 	0
 	C 	2 	1 	0 	1 	0
 	LW 	1 	1 	0 	1 	2
 	RW 	5 	0 	1 	1 	2
 	D 	11	0 	1 	1 	6
 	RW 	6 	0 	1 	1 	0
 	D 	32	0 	1 	1 	18
 	LW 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	3 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C/RW	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	8 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	14	0 	0 	0 	2
 	G 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	5 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	39	0 	0 	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN 	GP	W 	L 	T	GA 	GAA 	SO
 	2397	39	16	17	6	101	2.53	4
 	300 	5 	2 	3 	0	15 	3.00	0
 	3 	1 	0 	0 	0	0 	0.00	0
 	240 	4 	0 	4 	0	12 	3.00	0
Team: 	2940	48	18	24	6	128	2.61	4
===Playoffs===
;Scoring
Player	Pos 	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
 	RW 	5 	2	5	7 	2
 	C 	6 	3	1	4 	0
 	C/LW	6 	3	1	4 	4
 	LW 	2 	2	1	3 	0
 	LW/C	3 	1	2	3 	7
 	LW 	6 	1	2	3 	0
 	LW 	6 	1	2	3 	0
 	C/LW	6 	1	1	2 	2
 	LW 	3 	1	1	2 	4
 	C 	6 	0	2	2 	0
 	D 	6 	0	2	2 	4
 	D/RW	6 	1	0	1 	8
 	D 	6 	0	1	1 	10
 	C 	4 	0	1	1 	0
 	LW 	3 	0	0	0 	0
 	RW 	4 	0	0	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0	0	0 	0
 	RW 	6 	0	0	0 	0
 	C/D 	6 	0	0	0 	8
 	LW 	6 	0	0	0 	2
 	G 	6 	0	0	0 	0
;Goaltending
Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA 	SO
 	374	6 	3	3	15	2.41	1
Team: 	374	6 	3	3	15	2.41	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==
*The Red Wings did not receive any awards this season.
==Gallery==
1939-Jan1-Thompson fans.jpg|Tiny Thompson's return to Boston, January 1, 1939.
1939-Mar28-Tor-Det-Game1.jpg|Action around Tiny Thompson, Game 1 of the 1939 Semi-finals, March 28, 1939.
==See Also==
*1938–39 NHL season
==References==
Category:Detroit Red Wings seasons
Category:1938 in hockey
Category:1939 in hockey