1939–40 NHL season

The 1939–40 NHL season was the 23rd season for the National Hockey League. Of the league's seven teams, the Boston Bruins were the best in the 48-game regular season, but the Stanley Cup winners were the New York Rangers, who defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the best-of-seven final series 4–2 for their third Stanley Cup in 14 seasons of existence. It would be another 54 years before their fourth.
==Regular season==
Tragedy struck the Montreal Canadiens when Babe Siebert, named coach of the struggling club, drowned along with his daughter in August. It put a big hole in the Habs defence and the team finished last under Pit Lepine. An all-star benefit was held in Siebert's memory.
The New York Americans, in financial trouble, decided to trade their star left wing Sweeney Schriner to Toronto for Harvey "Busher" Jackson, Buzz Boll, Murray Armstrong, and minor-leaguer Jimmy Fowler. Late in the season, they traded Eddie Wiseman and $5000 to Boston for Eddie Shore. The Americans then managed to make the playoffs by finishing a poor sixth. They also obtained Charlie Conacher and used him as a defenceman.
The first place Boston Bruins had a new coach in Cooney Weiland, their one-time captain, and were once again led by their Kraut Line, Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart, and Bobby Bauer as they finished 1–2–3 in overall league scoring. Unfortunately, the potent three were unable to help the Bruins get past the first round of the playoffs as the Bruins lost in six games to the Rangers.
The New York Rangers were coasting in first place and went 19 consecutive games without a loss. They slumped in the second half, though, and Boston edged them out for first place.
The first NHL game broadcast on television was between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens on February 25, 1940. The game was seen by only 300 people in a small area in the United States. This, though, was not the first ice hockey game broadcast on television, as a broadcast had been made in England in 1938. The CBC's first hockey broadcast was in 1952 between the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings.
===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 highligted in bold
National Hockey League	GP	W 	L 	T 	Pts	GF 	GA 	PIM
Boston Bruins 	48	31	12	5 	67 	170	98 	330
New York Rangers 	48	27	11	10	64 	136	77 	520
Toronto Maple Leafs 	48	25	17	6 	56 	134	110	485
Chicago Black Hawks 	48	23	19	6 	52 	112	120	351
Detroit Red Wings 	48	16	26	6 	38 	90 	126	250
New York Americans 	48	15	29	4 	34 	106	140	236
Montreal Canadiens 	48	10	33	5 	25 	90 	167	338
==Playoffs==
The Boston Bruins were expected to make the Stanley Cup finals after a first overall finish during the regular season riding the shoulders of the "Kraut Line". But the New York Rangers were too much for the Bruins who lost in six games, out-scored 14 to 8 and shut-out twice, in the first round. The third seed Toronto Maple Leafs swept the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks en route to the Stanley Cup finals.
Note: All dates in 1940
===Quarter-finals and Semi-finals===
Series A: Boston Bruins vs. New York Rangers
Date 	Home 	Score	Away 	Score	Notes
March 19	New York Rangers	4 	Boston Bruins 	0 	
March 21	Boston Bruins 	4 	New York Rangers	3 	
March 24	Boston Bruins 	4 	New York Rangers	2 	
March 26	New York Rangers	1 	Boston Bruins 	0 	
March 28	Boston Bruins 	0 	New York Rangers	1 	
March 30	New York Rangers	4 	Boston Bruins 	1 	
Rangers win best of seven series 4 games to 2
Series B: Chicago Black Hawks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
March 19	Chicago Black Hawks	2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3 	6:35 of OT
March 21	Toronto Maple Leafs	2 	Chicago Black Hawks	1 	
Toronto wins best of three series 2 games to 0
Series C: New York Americans vs. Detroit Red Wings
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
March 19	New York Americans	1 	Detroit Red Wings 	2 	0:25 of OT
March 22	Detroit Red Wings 	4 	New York Americans	5 	
March 24	New York Americans	1 	Detroit Red Wings 	3 	
Detroit wins best of three series 2 games to 1
Series D: Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
March 26	Detroit Red Wings 	1 	Toronto Maple Leafs	2 	
March 28	Toronto Maple Leafs	2 	Detroit Red Wings 	1 	
Toronto wins best of three series 2 games to 0
===Stanley Cup Final===
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. New York Rangers
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	1 	New York Rangers 	2 	15:30 of OT
April 3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	2 	New York Rangers 	6 	
April 6 	New York Rangers 	1 	Toronto Maple Leafs	2 	
April 9 	New York Rangers 	0 	Toronto Maple Leafs	3 	
April 11	New York Rangers 	2 	Toronto Maple Leafs	1 	11:43 of OT
April 13	New York Rangers 	3 	Toronto Maple Leafs	2 	2:07 of OT
New York wins best of seven series 4 games to 2
==Awards==
Calder Trophy:(Best first-year player) 	Kilby MacDonald, New York Rangers
Hart Trophy:(Most valuable player) 	Ebbie Goodfellow, Detroit Red Wings
Lady Byng Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) 	Bobby Bauer, Boston Bruins
O'Brien Cup:(Playoff runner-up) 	Toronto Maple Leafs
Prince of Wales Trophy:(Regular season champion)	Boston Bruins
Vezina Trophy:(Fewest goals allowed) 	Dave Kerr, New York Rangers
==Player statistics==
;Regular season
===Scoring leaders===
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
Player 	Team 	GP	G 	A 	Pts
Milt Schmidt 	Boston Bruins 	48	22	30	52
Woody Dumart 	Boston Bruins 	48	22	21	43
Bobby Bauer 	Boston Bruins 	48	17	26	43
Gordie Drillon 	Toronto Maple Leafs	43	21	19	40
Bill Cowley 	Boston Bruins 	48	13	27	40
Bryan Hextall 	New York Rangers 	48	24	15	39
Neil Colville 	New York Rangers 	48	19	19	38
Syd Howe 	Detroit Red Wings 	48	14	23	37
Hector Blake 	Montreal Canadiens 	48	17	19	36
Murray Armstrong	New York Americans 	48	16	20	36
Source: NHL
===Leading goaltenders===
Note: GP = Games played; Min – 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
Dave Kerr 	New York Rangers 	48	3000	77 	1.54	27	11	10	8
Paul Goodman 	Chicago Black Hawks	31	1920	62 	1.94	16	10	5 	4
Frank Brimsek 	Boston Bruins 	48	2950	98 	1.99	31	12	5 	6
Turk Broda 	Toronto Maple Leafs	47	2900	108	2.23	25	17	5 	4
Cecil "Tiny" Thompson	Detroit Red Wings 	46	2830	120	2.54	16	24	6 	3
Earl Robertson 	N.Y. Americans 	48	2960	140	2.84	15	29	4 	6
Claude Bourque 	Montreal Canadiens 	36	2210	121	3.29	9 	24	3 	2
Mike Karakas 	Chicago Black Hawks	17	1050	58 	3.31	7 	9 	1 	0
==Team Photos==
39-40BosBru.jpg|Boston Bruins
39-40ChiBH.jpg|Chicago Black Hawks
39-40DetRW.jpg|Detroit Red Wings
39-40MtlCdn.jpg|Montreal Canadiens
39-40NYA.jpg|New York Americans
39-40NYR.jpg|New York Rangers
39-40TorML.jpg|Toronto Maple Leafs
==References==
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;Notes
==External links==
*Hockey Database
*1939–40 NHL Playoff Season Stats – quanthockey.com
*1939–40 NHL Playoff Season Goaltender Stats
*NHL.com
Category:1939 in ice hockey
Category:1940 in ice hockey