1944-45 NHL season
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The 1944-45 NHL season was the 28th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 50 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in seven games versus the Detroit Red Wings.
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[edit] Regular season
NHL president Red Dutton offered to resign because of business concerns, but the league's board of governors dissuaded him. Conn Smythe, at one point, was offered the presidency, but turned it down. Dutton then stayed on.
It was the year of the "Punch Line" as Rocket Richard scored 50 goals in 50 games, breaking Joe Malone's record of 44 goals, and when Richard scored his 45th, Malone was on hand to present him with the record-breaking puck. Richard had a 5-goal, 3-assist night against Detroit at the Montreal Forum on December 28, 1944. His centreman, Elmer Lach, though, won the scoring race with 26 goals and 80 points. Toe Blake finished third with 29 goals, 38 assists, and for the second time, an entire line finished 1, 2, 3 in scoring. The previous time had been in 1939-40, when the Boston Bruins' Kraut Line had. Milt Schmidt, Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart, all now serving in World War II for Canada during this season, had. Schmidt finished with 52 points in 48 games that year, and Bauer and Dumart 43 apiece.
Montreal dared not loan Paul Bibeault to Toronto again with his fine year the previous season and loaned him instead to Boston. But the Maple Leafs came up with a fine rookie named Frank McCool who won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's top rookie. For the first time, a team produced three consecutive top rookies. McCool and Chicago netminder Mike Karakas tied for the league lead in shutouts with 4 each.
Bill Durnan won his second consecutive Vezina Trophy with Montreal.
A major trade that occurred this year was Chicago trading their great defenceman Earl Seibert to Detroit for Don Grosso, Cully Simon and Byron "Butch" McDonald. After team owner Frederic McLaughlin died, it was just a matter of time before Bill Tobin would trade Seibert, as the two did not get along.
[edit] 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 | 38 | 8 | 4 | 80 | 228 | 121 | 376 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 50 | 31 | 14 | 5 | 67 | 218 | 161 | 260 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 50 | 24 | 22 | 4 | 52 | 183 | 161 | 317 |
| Boston Bruins | 50 | 16 | 30 | 4 | 36 | 179 | 219 | 275 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 50 | 13 | 30 | 7 | 33 | 141 | 194 | 245 |
| New York Rangers | 50 | 11 | 29 | 10 | 32 | 154 | 247 | 305 |
[edit] Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| PLAYER | TEAM | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elmer Lach | Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 26 | 54 | 80 | 37 |
| Maurice Richard | Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 50 | 23 | 73 | 46 |
| Toe Blake | Montreal Canadiens | 49 | 29 | 38 | 67 | 25 |
| Bill Cowley | Boston Bruins | 49 | 25 | 40 | 65 | 12 |
| Ted Kennedy | Toronto Maple Leafs | 49 | 29 | 25 | 54 | 14 |
| Bill Mosienko | Chicago Black Hawks | 50 | 28 | 26 | 54 | 0 |
| Joe Carveth | Detroit Red Wings | 50 | 26 | 28 | 54 | 6 |
| Ab DeMarco | New York Rangers | 50 | 24 | 30 | 54 | 10 |
| Clint Smith | Chicago Black Hawks | 50 | 23 | 31 | 54 | 0 |
[edit] Stanley Cup playoffs
[edit] Playoff bracket
| Semifinals | Finals | |||||||
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 2 | ||||||
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4 | ||||||
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4 | ||||||
| 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 3 | ||||||
| 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 4 | ||||||
| 4 | Boston Bruins | 3 | ||||||
[edit] Semifinals
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 20 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 0 | |
| March 22 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 2 | |
| March 24 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1 | |
| March 27 | Montreal Canadiens | 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4 | OT |
| March 29 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 10 | |
| March 31 | Montreal Canadiens | 2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3 |
Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2
Detroit Red Wings vs. Boston Bruins
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 20 | Boston Bruins | 4 | Detroit Red Wings | 3 | |
| March 22 | Boston Bruins | 4 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 | |
| March 24 | Detroit Red Wings | 3 | Boston Bruins | 2 | |
| March 27 | Detroit Red Wings | 3 | Boston Bruins | 2 | |
| March 29 | Boston Bruins | 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 3 | OT |
| April 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 3 | Boston Bruins | 5 | |
| April 3 | Boston Bruins | 3 | Detroit Red Wings | 5 |
Detroit wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 3
[edit] Stanley Cup finals
For the first time, two rookie goalies met in a Stanley Cup last round. 18-year-old Harry Lumley was in net for the Wings and the Leafs had 26-year-old Frank McCool replacing Turk Broda, who was doing army service.
McCool, whose surname belied his jumpy demeanor, had been discharged from the army himself with stomach ulcers, but despite his medical condition, he won the Calder Trophy. And he didn't allow second-place Detroit, who'd gone 8-1-1 against third-place Toronto that season, a goal until just past the two-minute mark of the fourth game. His three-in-a-row zeroes were a postseason record that was not tied for 58 years, and TO sat on the brink of a four-game outbroom.
After Game Three, Motown veteran Mud Bruneteau said:
“The Leafs can’t be that good, we’ll have to win four straight.”
They almost did — despite a hat trick by 19-year-old Leaf face-off man Teeder Kennedy, Detroit won Game Four. In a bizarre near-reversal of 1942, the Wings also won the next two games, both on Lumley shutouts, to force a Game Seven at the Detroit Olympia. Toronto hadn't been able to take the Cup at Maple Leaf Gardens.
The Maple Leafs won the Cup in game seven against the Red Wings by a final score of 2-1, but after the gane, the Detroit crowd chanted, "We want Lumley!" and the dejected goalie was brought back to the ice from the dressing room while Toronto celebrated. Lumley would go on to a Hockey Hall of Fame career and McCool would play just 22 more games in the NHL, as January 1946 brought Broda back.
This was the first time in the history of game seven NHL Stanley Cup finals that the home team did not win. The home team didn't lose a game seven final again until Montreal beat Chicago in the 1971 Stanley Cup final. It has not happened since.
Hap Day almost had to eat his words of a few years back when he said of the Leafs' comeback of 1942: "There will never be another experience like this." Toronto won the first three games as McCool had three consecutive shutouts, but Detroit stormed back to win the next three and it looked as though Detroit would accomplish what Toronto did in 1942. But Babe Pratt scored the winning goal in a 2-1 victory that saved the Maple Leafs from being victim of a great comeback win by the Red Wings.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 6 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 0 | |
| April 8 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 0 | |
| April 12 | Detroit Red Wings | 0 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1 | |
| April 14 | Detroit Red Wings | 5 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3 | |
| April 19 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 0 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 | |
| April 21 | Detroit Red Wings | 1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 0 | OT |
| April 22 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 1 |
Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 3
[edit] NHL awards
[edit] See also
[edit] References
| NHL seasons |
|---|
|
1940-41 | 1941-42 | 1942-43 | 1943-44 | 1944-45 | 1945-46 | 1946-47 | 1947-48 | 1948-49 |
