1936–37 NHL season

The 1936–37 NHL season was the 20th season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Eight teams each played 48 games. The Detroit Red Wings were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the New York Rangers three games to two in the final series.
==League business==
Frank Calder had been naming the top rookies commencing with 1932–33. This year, he commenced buying a trophy for the top rookie and Syl Apps was this year's winner.
The Great Depression had been taking its toll on the NHL. At the beginning of the decade, there were ten teams. Since then, two teams folded and it looked like the New York Americans were to become the third team. The NHL, however, was not about to let that happen. So, instead of letting the team fold because of money and ownership problems, the league assumed control of the team for the 1936–37 season. It was then that owner Bill Dwyer sued. A settlement then allowed for Dwyer to own the team, run by the NHL, and that Dwyer would be given a chance to pay back his debts.
The Montreal Maroons, short of money, had to sell their star and team captain Hooley Smith to Boston. It was hoped that Carl Voss of the former Eagles would fill in adequately for him, but he came down with influenza and never was much help. But Bob Gracie started scoring and the Maroons almost nipped the Canadiens for first place in the Canadian Division.
==Regular season==
===Highlights===
The New York Americans had started in first place, but then their players came down with influenza and the team went downhill. But the worst blow was when Roy Worters suffered a hernia and had to retire. Alfie Moore and Lorne Chabot were not adequate replacements and the Amerks finished last in the Canadian Division.
On November 16, 1936, Hal Winkler made his NHL debut for the New York Rangers and gained a 1–0 shutout over the Montreal Maroons. He was the first goaltender to have a shutout in his NHL debut. The Montreal Canadiens had hit the bottom in 1935–36, and Babe Siebert was obtained to shore up the defence. But the most loved of all movements was buying Howie Morenz back from the Rangers. The Canadiens went from last to first in the Canadian Division. Morenz was just hitting his stride in January 1937, when tragedy struck. On one of his hurtling rushes, he was being checked by Earl Seibert of Chicago when his left skate got caught in the dasher of the end boards, and Morenz suffered a badly fractured leg. After suffering a nervous breakdown worrying about if he'd be able to come back, more bad luck occurred. On March 8, 1937, X-rays revealed that Howie had blood clots in his healing leg. An operation was scheduled for the next day, but when Howie ate a light supper and told the nurse he wanted to rest, in falling asleep his pallor suddenly changed and the nurse knew something was wrong. A blood clot had stopped his heart, and attempts to revive Howie failed. News of Morenz's death shocked the hockey world, and thousands filed past his bier, many in tears, to pay their last respects.
Beyond Morenz's tragic mishap, it was an injury-filled year for many stars. Already suffering from a bad back, Boston's Eddie Shore suffered a broken vertebra that cost him the remainder of the season. Charlie Conacher of the Maple Leafs repeatedly injured his wrist, costing him much of the season, and was never the same player thereafter. A series of minor injuries precipitated Lionel Conacher's decision to retire at year's end, while Sylvio Mantha and Roy Worters suffered career-ending injuries. Other stars who missed several weeks of time or had season-ending injuries included Red Wings captain Doug Young, Larry Aurie, Russ Blinco, Buzz Boll, Pit Lepine, Dave Trottier, Toe Blake and Art Chapman.
With five games left to play, Chicago owner Frederic McLaughlin, a partisan of American-born players, decided to field an all-American lineup, the first time in major senior hockey that this was done. With incumbent Mike Karakas in goal, the Black Hawks signed Ernest Klingbeil and Paul Schaefer on defense, with a line of Milt Brink centering Al Suomi and Bun Laprairie. The team went 1–3 with the sextet in the lineup.
Detroit, led by Vezina Trophy winning Normie Smith, finished first in the American Division.
===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
Canadian Division 	GP	W 	L 	T	Pts	GF 	GA 	PIM
Montreal Canadiens 	48	24	18	6	54 	115	111	298
Montreal Maroons 	48	22	17	9	53 	126	110	379
Toronto Maple Leafs	48	22	21	5	49 	119	115	371
New York Americans 	48	15	29	4	34 	122	161	481
American Division 	GP	W 	L 	T	Pts	GF 	GA 	PIM
Detroit Red Wings 	48	25	14	9	59 	128	102	244
Boston Bruins 	48	23	18	7	53 	120	110	303
New York Rangers 	48	19	20	9	47 	117	106	312
Chicago Black Hawks	48	14	27	7	35 	99 	131	291
==Playoffs==
=== First round ===
{| class="wikitable" 	Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens 	Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens 	Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens 	Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens 	Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens 	Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens 	Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens
Date 	Away Team 	Away Team 	Home Team 	Home Team 	Notes 	 	
March 23 	Mtl. Canadiens 	0 	4 	Detroit 	 	 	
March 25 	Mtl. Canadiens 	1 	5 	Detroit 	 	 	
March 27 	Detroit 	1 	3 	Mtl. Canadiens 	 	 	
March 30 	Detroit 	1 	3 	Mtl. Canadiens 	 	 	
April 1 	Detroit 	2 	1 	Mtl. Canadiens 	3OT 	 	
Detroit won the series 3-2 and advanced to the final.	Detroit won the series 3-2 and advanced to the final.	Detroit won the series 3-2 and advanced to the final.	Detroit won the series 3-2 and advanced to the final.	Detroit won the series 3-2 and advanced to the final.	Detroit won the series 3-2 and advanced to the final.	Detroit won the series 3-2 and advanced to the final.	
{| class="wikitable" 	Montreal Maroons vs. Boston Bruins	Montreal Maroons vs. Boston Bruins	Montreal Maroons vs. Boston Bruins	Montreal Maroons vs. Boston Bruins	Montreal Maroons vs. Boston Bruins	Montreal Maroons vs. Boston Bruins
Date 	Away Team 	Away Team 	Home Team 	Home Team 	 	
March 23 	Boston 	1 	4 	Mtl. Maroons 	 	
March 25 	Mtl. Maroons 	0 	4 	Boston 	 	
March 28 	Mtl. Maroons 	4 	1 	Boston 	 	
Mtl. Maroons won the series 2-1.	Mtl. Maroons won the series 2-1. 	Mtl. Maroons won the series 2-1. 	Mtl. Maroons won the series 2-1. 	Mtl. Maroons won the series 2-1. 	Mtl. Maroons won the series 2-1. 	
=== Second round ===
{| class="wikitable" 	New York Rangers vs. Montreal Maroons	New York Rangers vs. Montreal Maroons	New York Rangers vs. Montreal Maroons	New York Rangers vs. Montreal Maroons	New York Rangers vs. Montreal Maroons	New York Rangers vs. Montreal Maroons
Date 	Away Team 	Away Team 	Home Team 	Home Team 	 	
April 1 	Mtl. Maroons 	0 	1 	NY Rangers 	 	
April 3 	NY Rangers 	4 	0 	Mtl. Maroons 	 	
NY Rangers won the series 2-0.	NY Rangers won the series 2-0. 	NY Rangers won the series 2-0. 	NY Rangers won the series 2-0. 	NY Rangers won the series 2-0. 	NY Rangers won the series 2-0. 	
===Finals===
New York could not use Madison Square Garden after game one because of the annual circus visit.
Earl Robertson, goaltender for the Wings, became the first rookie goaltender to post two shutouts in the finals. He would not play again for the Wings.
The Wings became the first U.S. based team to win the Cup two years in a row.
Detroit Red Wings vs. New York Rangers
Date 	Away 	Score	Home 	Score	Notes
April 6 	Detroit Red Wings	1 	New York Rangers 	5 	
April 8 	New York Rangers 	2 	Detroit Red Wings	4 	
April 11	New York Rangers 	1 	Detroit Red Wings	0 	
April 13	New York Rangers 	0 	Detroit Red Wings	1 	
April 15	New York Rangers 	0 	Detroit Red Wings	3 	
Detroit wins best-of-five series 3–2.
==Awards==
The "Rookie of the Year" award now had a trophy, the Calder Trophy, for the first time.
Calder Trophy:(Best first-year player) 	Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs
Hart Trophy:(Most valuable player) 	Babe Siebert, Montreal Canadiens
Lady Byng Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) 	Marty Barry, Detroit Red Wings
O'Brien Cup:(Canadian Division champion) 	Montreal Canadiens
Prince of Wales Trophy:(American Division champion)	Detroit Red Wings
Vezina Trophy:(Fewest goals allowed) 	Normie Smith, Detroit Red Wings
==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
Sweeney Schriner	New York Americans 	48	21	25	46 	17
Syl Apps 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	48	16	29	45 	10
Marty Barry 	Detroit Red Wings 	48	17	27	44 	6
Larry Aurie 	Detroit Red Wings 	45	23	20	43 	20
Busher Jackson 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	46	21	19	40 	12
Johnny Gagnon 	Montreal Canadiens 	48	20	16	36 	38
Bob Gracie 	Montreal Maroons 	47	11	25	36 	18
Nels Stewart 	Boston Bruins/New York Americans	43	23	12	35 	37
Paul Thompson 	Chicago Black Hawks 	47	17	18	35 	28
Bill Cowley 	Boston Bruins 	46	13	22	35 	4
Source: NHL.
==Team Photos==
36-37BosBru.jpg|Boston Bruins
36-37ChiBH.jpg|Chicago Black Hawks
36-37DetRW.jpg|Detroit Red Wings
36-37MtlCdn.jpg|Montreal Canadiens
36-37MtlMar.jpg|Montreal Maroons
36-37NYA.jpg|New York Americans
36-37NYR.jpg|New York Rangers
36-37TorML.png|Toronto Maple Leafs
==References==
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;Notes
==External links==
*Hockey Database
*NHL.com
Category:1936 in ice hockey
Category:1937 in ice hockey