1946–47 NHL season

The 1946–47 NHL season was the 30th season of the National Hockey League. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens in the 1947 Stanley Cup Final to win their sixth Stanley Cup championship.
==League business==
Tommy Gorman, who had been associated with the National Hockey League since its inception in 1917, announced his retirement in July 1946 as general manager of the Montreal Canadiens. He left behind him seven Stanley Cup champions and a hall of fame career as a coach and general manager. Frank Selke, released from the Toronto Maple Leafs, took over as general manager and would build the greatest dynasty hockey ever knew in the late 1950s. The Canadiens were in financial trouble at this time, despite their winning team and Selke would turn things around by buying up talent and keeping the cream of the crop, selling some players to teams that needed talent.
Red Dutton finally got to resign as president of the NHL, as Clarence Campbell, whom Frank Calder had been grooming as his successor, had come home from Europe. Campbell's experience in law and in hockey made him an ideal choice as president. Campbell hired Ken McKenzie, who would become the league's first publicity director, in September 1946, as his first hiring. McKenzie would go on to found The Hockey News and other publications, including the annual NHL Guide.
Lorne Chabot, whose outstanding career as goalkeeper brought him two Stanley Cups, a Vezina Trophy and a first all-star selection, died October 10, five days after his 46th birthday. He had been suffering from kidney disease for some time and had been bedridden with severe arthritis.
===Changes===
The league extended the season to 60 games. Linesmen are to be hired for each game from neutral cities. The system of hand gestures to symbolize penalties, devised by Bill Chadwick, is adopted officially by the NHL. The NHL announces that winners of its trophies, and members of the All-Star team will each receive $1,000. Additionally, the league modified the captaincy rule so that captains wore the letter "C" and assistant captains wear the letter "A" on the front of their jerseys.
==Regular season==
Detroit lost Syd Howe through retirement, but another Howe started his great career as Gordie Howe was Detroit's new rookie. In one of his first fights, he took care of Montreal's Rocket Richard. Sid Abel then added a taunt that enraged Richard and he broke Abel's nose in three places.
Chicago decided to purchase goaltender Paul Bibeault from Montreal and regretted it. He played badly, one of his losses being an 11–0 whitewashing at the hands of Toronto. Finally, president and general manager Bill Tobin had enough and brought up 20-year-old Emile Francis to replace him. He made his debut on February 9, 1947, in a 6–4 win over Boston. During the season, Maple Leaf Gardens was the first arena in the NHL to have Plexiglas inserted in the end zones of the rink.
A donnybrook took place March 16, 1947, between the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens. Cal Gardner lifted Kenny Reardon's stick so that it clipped him in the mouth and a fight broke out between both teams and the fans. On that same night, Billy Taylor of Detroit set an NHL record with 7 assists in a 10–6 shootout win over the Chicago Black Hawks.
Bill Durnan broke George Hainsworth's record of consecutive Vezina Trophies as he won his fourth in a row, and Montreal again finished first. Max Bentley edged out Rocket Richard by one point and won the scoring championship. On February 12, 1947, Dit Clapper played his final game with the Boston Bruins. Before the start of the game, Clapper was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was the only active player to be inducted into the Hall. The New York Rangers were the first NHL team to have their home games televised.
===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 	60	34	16	10	78 	189	138	561
Toronto Maple Leafs 	60	31	19	10	72 	209	172	669
Boston Bruins 	60	26	23	11	63 	190	175	463
Detroit Red Wings 	60	22	27	11	55 	190	193	535
New York Rangers 	60	22	32	6 	50 	167	186	426
Chicago Black Hawks 	60	19	37	4 	42 	193	274	467
==Playoffs==
===Semifinals===
{| class="wikitable" 	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	Montreal Canadiens vs. Boston Bruins
Date 	Away Team 	Away Team 	Home Team 	Home Team 	Notes 	 	
March 25 	Boston 	1 	3 	Montreal 	 	 	
March 27 	Boston 	1 	2 	Montreal 	OT 	 	
March 29 	Montreal 	2 	4 	Boston 	 	 	
April 1 	Montreal 	5 	1 	Boston 	 	 	
April 3 	Boston 	3 	4 	Montreal 	2OT 	 	
Montreal won the series 4:1.	Montreal won the series 4:1. 	Montreal won the series 4:1. 	Montreal won the series 4:1. 	Montreal won the series 4:1. 	Montreal won the series 4:1. 	Montreal won the series 4:1. 	
=== Stanley Cup Final ===
Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs	Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs	Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs	Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs	Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs	Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Date 	Away Team 	Score 	Home Team 	 	
April 8 	Toronto 	0:6 	Montreal 	 	
April 10 	Toronto 	4:0 	Montreal 	 	
April 12 	Montreal 	2:4 	Toronto 	 	
April 15 	Montreal 	1:2 OT 	Toronto 	 	
April 17 	Toronto 	1:3 	Montreal 	 	
April 19 	Montreal 	1:2 	Toronto 	 	
==Awards==
 Award winners
O'Brien Cup:(Playoff runner-up) 	Montreal Canadiens
Prince of Wales Trophy:(Best regular season record)	Montreal Canadiens
Calder Memorial Trophy:(Best first-year player) 	Howie Meeker, Toronto Maple Leafs
Hart Trophy:(Most valuable player) 	Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens
Lady Byng Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) 	Bobby Bauer]], Boston Bruins
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	60	29	43	72 	12
Maurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens 	60	45	26	71 	69
Billy Taylor 	Detroit Red Wings 	60	17	46	63 	35
Milt Schmidt 	Boston Bruins 	59	27	35	62 	40
Ted Kennedy 	Toronto Maple Leafs	60	28	32	60 	27
Doug Bentley 	Chicago Black Hawks	52	21	34	55 	18
Bobby Bauer 	Boston Bruins 	58	30	24	54 	4
Roy Conacher 	Detroit Red Wings 	60	30	24	54 	6
Bill Mosienko 	Chicago Black Hawks	59	25	27	52 	2
Woody Dumart 	Boston Bruins 	60	24	28	52 	12
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	Mins	GA 	GAA 	W 	L 	T 	SO
Bill Durnan 	Montreal Canadiens 	60	3600	138	2.30	34	16	10	4
Turk Broda 	Toronto Maple Leafs	60	3600	172	2.87	31	19	10	4
Frank Brimsek	Boston Bruins 	60	3600	175	2.92	26	23	11	3
Chuck Rayner 	New York Rangers 	58	3480	177	3.05	22	30	6 	5
Harry Lumley 	Detroit Red Wings 	52	3120	159	3.06	22	20	10	3
Paul Bibeault	Chicago Black Hawks	41	2460	170	4.15	13	25	3 	1
Emile Francis	Chicago Black Hawks	19	1140	104	5.47	6 	12	1 	0
==Team Photos==
46-47BosBru.jpg|Boston Bruins
46-47ChiBH.jpg|Chicago Black Hawks
46-47DetRW.jpg|Detroit Red Wings
46-47MtlCdn.jpg|Montreal Canadiens
46-47NYR.jpg|New York Rangers
46-47TorML.jpg|Toronto Maple Leafs
== References ==
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;Notes
==External links==
* Hockey Database
* NHL.com
Category:1946 in ice hockey
Category:1947 in ice hockey