1941–42 NHL season

The 1941–42 NHL season was the 25th season of the National Hockey League. Seven teams played 48 games each. The Toronto Maple Leafs would win the Stanley Cup defeating the Detroit Red Wings winning four straight after losing the first three in a best-of-seven series, a feat only repeated thrice in NHL history (1975, 2010, 2014).
==League business==
This season was the last season for the New York Americans who changed their name to the Brooklyn Americans in an attempt to build a civic relationship with those from Flatbush area of New York.
==Regular season==
The Americans started the season without Harvey "Busher" Jackson who refused to sign. He was then sold to Boston. But the Amerks had two positive notes: two defencemen, Tommy Anderson and Pat Egan, were now All-Star calibre. That didn't prevent them from finishing last, though. On December 9, 1941, the Chicago Blackhawks-Boston Bruins game would be delayed for over a half-hour as United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared that America was at war.
Frank Patrick suffered a heart attack and had to sell his interest in the Montreal Canadiens, and the Habs almost had to move to Cleveland. But Tommy Gorman kept the team alive. They added Emile "Butch" Bouchard to start his great career on defence and another very good player, Buddy O'Connor, at centre. Montreal had goaltending problems as Bert Gardiner slumped, and rookie Paul Bibeault replaced him. He showed flashes of brilliance, but his inexperience showed. Joe Benoit starred with 20 goals, the first Canadien to do that since 1938–39, when Toe Blake did it.
The New York Rangers had a new goaltender as Sugar Jim Henry replaced the retired Dave Kerr. Henry was one of the reasons the Rangers finished first, something they would not again do for the next 50 years.
===Final standings===
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold
National Hockey League	GP	W 	L 	T	Pts	GF 	GA 	PIM
New York Rangers 	48	29	17	2	60 	177	143	400
Toronto Maple Leafs 	48	27	18	3	57 	158	136	341
Boston Bruins 	48	25	17	6	56 	160	118	349
Chicago Black Hawks 	48	22	23	3	47 	145	155	365
Detroit Red Wings 	48	19	25	4	42 	140	147	440
Montreal Canadiens 	48	18	27	3	39 	134	173	504
Brooklyn Americans 	48	16	29	3	35 	133	175	425
==Playoffs==
Note: all dates in 1942
===Quarter-finals===
Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Black Hawks
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
March 22	Boston 	2 	Chicago	1 	OT
March 24	Chicago	4 	Boston 	0 	
March 26	Chicago	2 	Boston 	3 	
Boston wins best-of-three series 2–1
Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
March 22	Montreal	1 	Detroit 	2 	
March 24	Detroit 	0 	Montreal	5 	
March 26	Montreal	2 	Detroit 	6 	
Detroit wins best-of-three series 2–1
===Semi-finals===
New York Rangers vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
March 21	New York	1 	Toronto 	3 	
March 22	Toronto 	4 	New York	2 	
March 24	Toronto 	0 	New York	3 	
March 28	New York	1 	Toronto 	2 	
March 29	Toronto 	1 	New York	3 	
March 31	New York	2 	Toronto 	3 	
Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4–2
Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
March 29	Detroit	6 	Boston 	4 	
March 31	Boston 	1 	Detroit	3 	
Detroit wins best-of-three series 2–0
===Final===
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 4 	Detroit	3 	Toronto	2 	
April 7 	Detroit	4 	Toronto	2 	
April 9 	Toronto	2 	Detroit	5 	
April 12	Toronto	4 	Detroit	3 	
April 14	Detroit	3 	Toronto	9 	
April 16	Toronto	3 	Detroit	0 	
April 18	Detroit	1 	Toronto	3 	
Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4–3
==Awards==
Award winners
Calder Trophy:(Best first-year player) 	Grant Warwick, New York Rangers
Hart Trophy:(Most valuable player) 	Tommy Anderson, Brooklyn Americans
Lady Byng Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) 	Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs
O'Brien Cup:(Playoff runner-up) 	Detroit Red Wings
Prince of Wales Trophy:(Regular season champion)	New York Rangers
Vezina Trophy:(Fewest goals allowed) 	Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins
==Player statistics==
===Scoring leaders===
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
PLAYER 	TEAM 	GP	G 	A 	PTS	PIM
Bryan Hextall 	New York Rangers 	48	24	32	56 	30
Lynn Patrick 	New York Rangers 	47	32	22	54 	18
Don Grosso 	Detroit Red Wings 	45	23	30	53 	13
Phil Watson 	New York Rangers 	48	15	37	52 	58
Sid Abel 	Detroit Red Wings 	48	18	31	49 	45
Toe Blake 	Montreal Canadiens 	48	17	28	45 	29
Bill Thoms 	Chicago Black Hawks	47	15	30	45 	8
Gordie Drillon	Toronto Maple Leafs	48	23	18	41 	6
Syl Apps 	Toronto Maple Leafs	38	18	23	41 	0
Tommy Anderson	Brooklyn Americans 	48	12	29	41 	64
Source: NHL
===Leading goaltenders===
Note: GP = Games played; Mins – Minutes Played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts
Player 	Team 	GP	Min 	GA 	GAA 	W 	L 	T	SO
Frank Brimsek 	Boston Bruins 	47	2930	115	2.35	24	17	6	3
Turk Broda 	Toronto Maple Leafs	48	2960	136	2.76	27	18	3	6
Jim Henry 	New York Rangers 	48	2960	143	2.90	29	17	2	1
Johnny Mowers 	Detroit Red Wings 	47	2880	144	3.00	19	25	3	5
Sam LoPresti 	Chicago Black Hawks	47	2860	152	3.19	21	23	3	3
Paul Bibeault 	Montreal Canadiens 	38	2380	131	3.30	17	19	2	1
Chuck Rayner 	Brooklyn Americans 	36	2380	129	3.47	13	21	2	1
Earl Robertson	Brooklyn Americans 	12	750 	46 	3.68	3 	8 	1	0
Bert Gardiner 	Montreal Canadiens 	10	620 	42 	4.06	1 	8 	1	0
==Team Photos==
41-42BA.jpg|Brooklyn Americans
41-42BosBru.jpg|Boston Bruins
41-42ChiBH.jpg|Chicago Black Hawks
41-42DetRW.jpg|Detroit Red Wings
41-42MtlCdn.jpg|Montreal Canadiens
41-42NYR.jpg|New York Rangers
41-42TorML.jpg|Toronto Maple Leafs
== References ==
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;Notes
==External links==
* Hockey Database
* NHL.com
Category:1941 in ice hockey
Category:1942 in ice hockey