1940–41 NHL season

The 1940–41 NHL season was the 24th season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Seven teams each played 48 games. The Boston Bruins were the Stanley Cup winners as they swept the Detroit Red Wings four games to none in the final series.
==Regular season==
The Montreal Canadiens had hit the bottom in 1939–40, and were in financial trouble. Frank Patrick decided to become an investor and governor for the team, and Tommy Gorman was hired as general manager. He hired recently released Toronto coach Dick Irvin to run the team. One of the first things Gorman and Irvin did was scout for players, and the Canadiens came up with Johnny Quilty, Joe Benoit, Elmer Lach and defenceman Ken Reardon. Bert Gardiner would be used in goal, replacing Claude Bourque and Wilf Cude. Murph Chamberlain was bought from Toronto to bolster the offence.
Quilty and Benoit came through, as did Toe Blake, but the Habs had a long way to go, finishing sixth. Quilty won the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie. In fact, before the season started, Coach Irvin handed a sealed envelope to a reporter of his guess who would win the Calder Trophy, and when the season ended, the reporter opened the envelope: Johnny Quilty was the choice Irvin made.
The Boston Bruins set a record 23 straight unbeaten games en route to a strong first place finish at the end of the schedule. The Rangers, stunningly, finished fourth after the previous year's Stanley Cup win and Dave Kerr wasn't up to his usual form in goal.
===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
Boston Bruins 	48	27	8 	13	67 	168	102	246
Toronto Maple Leafs 	48	28	14	6 	62 	145	99 	306
Detroit Red Wings 	48	21	16	11	53 	112	102	337
New York Rangers 	48	21	19	8 	50 	143	125	356
Chicago Black Hawks 	48	16	25	7 	39 	112	139	335
Montreal Canadiens 	48	16	26	6 	38 	121	147	435
New York Americans 	48	8 	29	11	27 	99 	186	231
==Playoffs==
=== First round ===
{| class="wikitable" 	Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 	Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 	Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 	Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 	Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 	Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 	Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Date 	Away Team 	Away Team 	Home Team 	Home Team 	Notes 	 	
March 20 	Toronto 	0 	3 	Boston 	 	 	
March 22 	Toronto 	5 	3 	Boston 	 	 	
March 25 	Boston 	2 	7 	Toronto 	 	 	
March 27 	Boston 	2 	1 	Toronto 	 	 	
March 29 	Toronto 	2 	1 	Boston 	OT 	 	
April 1 	Boston 	2 	1 	Toronto 	 	 	
April 3 	Toronto 	1 	2 	Boston 	 	 	
Boston won the series 4-3 and advanced to the final.	Boston won the series 4-3 and advanced to the final.	Boston won the series 4-3 and advanced to the final.	Boston won the series 4-3 and advanced to the final.	Boston won the series 4-3 and advanced to the final.	Boston won the series 4-3 and advanced to the final.	Boston won the series 4-3 and advanced to the final.	
{| class="wikitable" 	Detroit Red Wings vs. New York Rangers	Detroit Red Wings vs. New York Rangers	Detroit Red Wings vs. New York Rangers	Detroit Red Wings vs. New York Rangers	Detroit Red Wings vs. New York Rangers	Detroit Red Wings vs. New York Rangers	Detroit Red Wings vs. New York Rangers
Date 	Away Team 	Away Team 	Home Team 	Home Team 	Notes 	 	
March 20 	NY Rangers 	1 	2 	Detroit 	OT 	 	
March 22 	Detroit 	1 	3 	NY Rangers 	 	 	
March 24 	NY Rangers 	2 	3 	Detroit 	 	 	
Detroit won the series 2-1.	Detroit won the series 2-1. 	Detroit won the series 2-1. 	Detroit won the series 2-1. 	Detroit won the series 2-1. 	Detroit won the series 2-1. 	Detroit won the series 2-1. 	
=== Second round ===
{| class="wikitable" 	Detroit Red Wings vs. Chicago Blackhawks	Detroit Red Wings vs. Chicago Blackhawks	Detroit Red Wings vs. Chicago Blackhawks	Detroit Red Wings vs. Chicago Blackhawks	Detroit Red Wings vs. Chicago Blackhawks	Detroit Red Wings vs. Chicago Blackhawks	Detroit Red Wings vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Date 	Away Team 	Away Team 	Home Team 	Home Team 	Notes 	 	
March 27 	Chicago 	1 	3 	Detroit 	 	 	
March 30 	Detroit 	2 	1 	Chicago 	OT 	 	
Detroit won the series 2-0.	Detroit won the series 2-0. 	Detroit won the series 2-0. 	Detroit won the series 2-0. 	Detroit won the series 2-0. 	Detroit won the series 2-0. 	Detroit won the series 2-0. 	
=== Final ===
Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings 	Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings 	Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings 	Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings 	Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings 	Boston Bruins vs. Detroit Red Wings
Date 	Away Team 	Away Team 	Home Team 	Home Team 	
April 6 	Detroit 	2 	3 	Boston 	
April 8 	Detroit 	1 	2 	Boston 	
April 10 	Boston 	4 	2 	Detroit 	
April 12 	Boston 	3 	1 	Detroit 	
Boston won the series 4-0 and earned the Stanley Cup.	Boston won the series 4-0 and earned the Stanley Cup.	Boston won the series 4-0 and earned the Stanley Cup.	Boston won the series 4-0 and earned the Stanley Cup.	Boston won the series 4-0 and earned the Stanley Cup.	Boston won the series 4-0 and earned the Stanley Cup.
==Awards==
Calder Trophy:(Best first-year player) 	Johnny Quilty, Montreal Canadiens
Hart Trophy:(Most valuable player) 	Bill Cowley, Boston Bruins
Lady Byng Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) 	Bobby Bauer, Boston Bruins
O'Brien Cup:(Playoff runners-up) 	Detroit Red Wings
Prince of Wales Trophy:(Top regular season record)	Boston Bruins
Vezina Trophy:(Fewest goals allowed) 	Turk Broda, Toronto Maple Leafs
==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
Bill Cowley 	Boston Bruins 	46	17	45	62 	16
Bryan Hextall 	New York Rangers 	48	26	18	44 	16
Gordie Drillon	Toronto Maple Leafs	42	23	21	44 	2
Syl Apps 	Toronto Maple Leafs	41	20	24	44 	6
Syd Howe 	Detroit Red Wings 	48	20	24	44 	8
Lynn Patrick 	New York Rangers 	48	20	24	44 	12
Neil Colville 	New York Rangers 	48	14	28	42 	28
Eddie Wiseman 	Boston Bruins 	47	16	24	40 	10
Bobby Bauer 	Boston Bruins 	48	17	22	39 	2
Roy Conacher 	Boston Bruins 	41	24	14	38 	7
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
Turk Broda 	Toronto Maple Leafs	48	2970	99 	2.00	28	14	6 	5
Frank Brimsek 	Boston Bruins 	48	3040	102	2.01	27	8 	13	6
Johnny Mowers 	Detroit Red Wings 	48	3040	102	2.01	21	16	11	4
Dave Kerr 	New York Rangers 	48	3010	125	2.49	21	19	8 	2
Paul Goodman 	Chicago Black Hawks	21	1320	55 	2.50	7 	10	4 	2
Bert Gardiner 	Montreal Canadiens 	42	2600	119	2.75	13	23	6 	2
Sam LoPresti 	Chicago Black Hawks	27	1670	84 	3.02	9 	15	3 	1
Chuck Rayner 	N.Y. Americans 	12	773 	44 	3.42	2 	7 	3 	0
Earl Robertson	N.Y. Americans 	36	2260	142	3.77	6 	22	8 	1
==Team Photos==
40-41BosBru.jpg|Boston Bruins
40-41ChiBH.jpg|Chicago Black Hawks
40-41DetRW.jpg|Detroit Red Wings
40-41MtlCdn.jpg|Montreal Canadiens
40-41NYA.jpg|New York Americans
40-41NYR.jpg|New York Rangers
40-41TorML.jpg|Toronto Maple Leafs
== References ==
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;Notes
==External links==
* Hockey Database
* NHL.com
Category:1940 in ice hockey
Category:1941 in ice hockey