1943-44 NHL season
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The 1943-44 NHL season was the 27th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams played 50 games each.
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[edit] Regular season
In memory of Frank Calder, the former NHL President who died in 1943, the league's Board of Governors donated the Calder Memorial Trophy to be awarded to the NHL's top rookie.
The Montreal Canadiens had turned the corner and now Tommy Gorman and Dick Irvin had a team to make the fans happy. Bill Durnan solved the goaltending woes, but not before Gorman had all kinds of problems signing him. Durnan knew his worth, and wanted a handsome sum. Just before the first game, Gorman agreed to his contract demands. He was worth every penny, as he ran away with the Vezina Trophy and the Canadiens lost only five games all year, finishing first by a wide margin. The new and more familiar "Punch Line" of Elmer Lach, Toe Blake, and Maurice Richard dominated the offence and Richard had 32 goals. He replaced Joe Benoit, who did his duty to his country by joining the armed forces. Richard, in fact, was dubbed by teammate Ray Getliffe the nickname that would be his legend "The Rocket".
When Paul Bibeault came back from the Army, he found his job lost to the best goaltender in the NHL, Bill Durnan. Montreal agreed to loan him to Toronto, where he played very well, leading the Leafs to third place and leading the NHL with five shutouts. Gus Bodnar, a crack centre, was the top rookie, and for the first time, a team produced Calder Trophy winners in consecutive years. In fact, Bodnar scored the fastest goal by a rookie in his very first game. It took him only 15 seconds to score on Ken McAuley, Ranger goaltender, in a 5-2 win over the war-weakened Rangers.
The Rangers had plunged to last place the previous year and Lester Patrick was so discouraged that he wanted to suspend operations for the year. This year the Rangers lost Clint Smith, Lynn Patrick, Phil Watson, and Alf Pike. The most unbelievably inept team iced for the Rangers this year. Things were so desperate that coach Frank Boucher had to come out of retirement to play some. But the Rangers set a modern day record of 6.20 goals against, giving up 310 goals in 50 games. One night when Lester Patrick went behind the bench to coach the team with Frank Boucher attending a brother's funeral, the Rangers were demolished 15-0 by Detroit as the Red Wings set a modern day record of most goals by a team in a single game. It was a horrifying experience for Patrick. Only a week later Syd Howe set a modern day record of 6 goals in a game in a 12-2 conquest of the hapless Rangers. The Rangers won only 6 games all year and finished a distant last, 23 points behind fifth-place Boston.
Chicago started with sub-par goaltending, but then president and general manager Bill Tobin decided to bring back Mike Karakas, who had been demoted to the minors in 1939-40 for his lackluster play. Karakas was just what the Black Hawks needed, as he played well and recorded three shutouts and got the team into the playoffs.
In Boston, the Bruins lost star forward Bill Cowley to injury after the first 36 games. At that point in the season Cowley was on pace to set a new standard in scoring for the NHL. After the first 36 games he had scored 30 goals - 41 assists - 71 points before going down to injury. However, the scoring title would still eventually end up in Boston as linemate Herb Cain picked up the slack, scoring 82 points over the course of the 50-game schedule and setting a new record for points in the regular season.
[edit] Final standings
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold
| National Hockey League | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 38 | 5 | 7 | 83 | 234 | 109 | 557 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 50 | 26 | 18 | 6 | 58 | 214 | 177 | 374 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 50 | 23 | 23 | 4 | 50 | 214 | 174 | 303 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 50 | 22 | 23 | 5 | 49 | 178 | 187 | 240 |
| Boston Bruins | 50 | 19 | 26 | 5 | 43 | 223 | 268 | 207 |
| New York Rangers | 50 | 6 | 39 | 5 | 17 | 162 | 310 | 253 |
[edit] Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herb Cain | Boston Bruins | 48 | 36 | 46 | 82 | 4 |
| Doug Bentley | Chicago Black Hawks | 50 | 38 | 39 | 77 | 22 |
| Lorne Carr | Toronto Maple Leafs | 50 | 36 | 38 | 74 | 9 |
| Carl Liscombe | Detroit Red Wings | 50 | 36 | 37 | 73 | 17 |
| Elmer Lach | Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 24 | 48 | 72 | 23 |
[edit] Stanley Cup playoffs
[edit] Playoff bracket
| Semifinals | Finals | |||||||
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | ||||||
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1 | ||||||
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | ||||||
| 2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0 | ||||||
| 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 1 | ||||||
| 4 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4 | ||||||
[edit] Semifinals
Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 21 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 1 | |
| March 23 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 5 | Maurice "Rocket" Richard named First, Second and Third Star of the game |
| March 25 | Montreal Canadiens | 2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1 | |
| March 28 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1 | |
| March 30 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 0 | Montreal Canadiens | 11 |
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1
Chicago Blackhawks vs. Detroit Red Wings
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 21 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 1 | |
| March 23 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 4 | |
| March 26 | Detroit Red Wings | 0 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2 | |
| March 28 | Detroit Red Wings | 1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 7 | |
| March 30 | Chicago Black Hawks | 5 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 |
Chicago wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1
[edit] Stanley Cup finals
Montreal Canadiens vs. Chicago Black Hawks
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 4 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 5 | |
| April 6 | Montreal Canadiens | 3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1 | |
| April 9 | Montreal Canadiens | 3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2 | |
| April 13 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4 | Montreal Canadiens | 5 | OT |
Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0
[edit] NHL awards
[edit] See also
[edit] References
| NHL seasons |
|---|
|
1939-40 | 1940-41 | 1941-42 | 1942-43 | 1943-44 | 1944-45 | 1945-46 | 1946-47 | 1947-48 |
