1945–46 NHL season

The 1945–46 NHL season was the 29th season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup, defeating the Boston Bruins for the team's sixth championship.
==League business==
Synchronized red lights to signal goals were made obligatory for all NHL rinks.
It was rumoured in the press that Lester Patrick planned to retire as general manager of the New York Rangers. On February 22, 1946, he announced his retirement from the general manager position, however he would stay on as vice president of Madison Square Garden.
==Regular season==
Veterans came back to their teams this year, as World War II ended, but many found they could not regain their form. One who did regain his form was the man formerly known as "Mr. Zero"—Boston Bruins' goaltender Frank Brimsek. He was shelled in an 8–3 contest with Chicago, but got better game by game. The Bruins had first place at one point, then finished second. Brimsek made the Second All-Star Team as a result.
Max Bentley of Chicago led the league in scoring, and, because of the "Pony Line" including him, his brother Doug and Bill Mosienko, the Black Hawks were in first place at one point. But misfortune hit the Hawks when Doug Bentley injured his knee in a January 23 game and the team sagged.
Frank Patrick, former Pacific Coast Hockey Association president and former managing director for the NHL, suffered a heart attack and was not released from the hospital for several weeks.
A bombshell exploded on January 30, 1946, when defenceman Babe Pratt was expelled from the NHL for betting on games. However, he only bet on his own team and appealed his expulsion. On his promise he would not bet on any more games, he was reinstated. Pratt missed 9 games during his suspension.
Maple Leaf Gaye Stewart led the league in goals with 37, but Toronto finished fifth and missed the playoffs for the first time since playing at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Bill Durnan equalled George Hainsworth's record of three consecutive Vezina Trophies and led the league in shutouts with 4.
===Final standings===
GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold
National Hockey League	GP	W 	L 	T 	Pts	GF 	GA 	PIM
Montreal Canadiens 	50	28	17	5 	61 	172	134	337
Boston Bruins 	50	24	18	8 	56 	167	156	273
Chicago Black Hawks 	50	23	20	7 	53 	200	178	339
Detroit Red Wings 	50	20	20	10	50 	146	159	298
Toronto Maple Leafs 	50	19	24	7 	45 	174	185	247
New York Rangers 	50	13	28	9 	35 	144	191	285
==Playoffs==
=== Semifinals ===
{| class="wikitable" 	Montreal Canadiens vs. Chicago Blackhawks	Montreal Canadiens vs. Chicago Blackhawks	Montreal Canadiens vs. Chicago Blackhawks	Montreal Canadiens vs. Chicago Blackhawks	Montreal Canadiens vs. Chicago Blackhawks	Montreal Canadiens vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Date 	Away Team 	Away Team 	Home Team 	Home Team 	 	
March 19 	Chicago 	2 	6 	Montreal 	 	
March 21 	Chicago 	1 	5 	Montreal 	 	
March 24 	Montreal 	8 	2 	Chicago 	 	
March 26 	Montreal 	7 	2 	Chicago 	 	
Montreal won the series 4:0.	Montreal won the series 4:0. 	Montreal won the series 4:0. 	Montreal won the series 4:0. 	Montreal won the series 4:0. 	Montreal won the series 4:0. 	
=== Stanley-Cup-Finale ===
Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins 	Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins 	Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins 	Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins 	Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins 	Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins
Date 	Away Team 	Away Team 	Home Team 	Home Team 	Notes
March 30 	Boston 	3 	4 	Montreal 	OT
April 2 	Boston 	2 	3 	Montreal 	OT
April 4 	Montreal 	4 	2 	Boston 	
April 7 	Montreal 	2 	3 	Boston 	OT
April 9 	Boston 	3 	6 	Montreal 	
Montreal won the series 4:1 and the Stanley Cup.	Montreal won the series 4:1 and the Stanley Cup.	Montreal won the series 4:1 and the Stanley Cup.	Montreal won the series 4:1 and the Stanley Cup.	Montreal won the series 4:1 and the Stanley Cup.	Montreal won the series 4:1 and the Stanley Cup.
==Awards==
The NHL changed the criteria for the Vezina Trophy to award it to the goaltender who plays the most games for the team which gives up the least goals in the season.
 Award winners
O'Brien Cup:(Playoff runner-up) 	Boston Bruins
Prince of Wales Trophy:(Regular season champion) 	Montreal Canadiens
Calder Memorial Trophy:(Best first-year player) 	Edgar Laprade, New York Rangers
Hart Trophy:(Most valuable player) 	Max Bentley, Chicago Black Hawks
Lady Byng Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) 	Toe Blake, Montreal Canadiens
Vezina Trophy:(Goaltender of team with lowest GAA)	Bill Durnan, Montreal Canadiens
==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
Max Bentley 	Chicago Black Hawks	47	31	30	61 	6
Gaye Stewart 	Toronto Maple Leafs	50	37	15	52 	8
Toe Blake 	Montreal Canadiens 	50	29	21	50 	2
Clint Smith 	Chicago Black Hawks	50	26	24	50 	2
Bill Mosienko 	Chicago Black Hawks	40	18	30	48 	12
Maurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens 	50	27	21	48 	50
Ab DeMarco 	New York Rangers 	50	20	27	47 	20
Elmer Lach 	Montreal Canadiens 	50	13	34	47 	34
Alex Kaleta 	Chicago Black Hawks	49	19	27	46 	17
Billy Taylor 	Toronto Maple Leafs	48	23	18	41 	14
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
Bill Durnan 	Montreal Canadiens 	40	2400	104	2.60	24	11	5 	4
Harry Lumley 	Detroit Red Wings 	50	3000	159	3.18	20	20	10	2
Frank Brimsek	Boston Bruins 	34	2040	111	3.26	16	14	4 	2
Mike Karakas 	Chicago Black Hawks	48	2880	166	3.46	22	19	7 	1
Turk Broda 	Toronto Maple Leafs	15	900 	53 	3.53	6 	6 	3 	0
Frank McCool 	Toronto Maple Leafs	22	1320	81 	3.68	10	9 	3 	0
Chuck Rayner 	New York Rangers 	40	2377	149	3.76	12	21	7 	1
Jim Henry 	New York Rangers 	11	623 	42 	4.04	1 	7 	2 	1
==Team Photos==
45-46BosBru.jpg|Boston Bruins
45-46ChiBH.jpg|Chicago Black Hawks
45-46DetRW.jpg|Detroit Red Wings
45-46MtlCdn.jpg|Montreal Canadiens
45-46NYR.jpg|New York Rangers
== References ==
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;Notes
==External links==
* Hockey Database
* NHL.com
Category:1945 in ice hockey
Category:1946 in ice hockey