1940–41 Boston Bruins season
The 1940–41 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 17th season in the National Hockey League, and they were coming off of a successful season in 1939–40, leading the NHL in points for the third season in a row, as they finished with a 31–12–5 record, accumulating 67 points. However, the Bruins lost to the New York Rangers in the NHL semi-finals, ending their chances for a second-straight Stanley Cup. This year, the Bruins repeated as regular-season champs and returned to the Final, and defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to none to win the organization's third Stanley Cup.
Regular season
Boston would have a slow start to the season, going winless in their first 4 games (0–2–2), and sat with a 6–7–3 record 16 games into the season, fighting with the Chicago Black Hawks and New York Americans for 3rd place in the league. The Bruins would then go on a record breaking unbeaten streak, as they would have a 15–0–8 record in their next 23 games, and sit in 2nd place to the Toronto Maple Leafs. After a 2–0 loss to the New York Rangers, Boston would finish the season 6–0–2 to pass the Leafs, and finish with the most points in the NHL for the 4th straight year. Boston had an amazing 21–1–10 record to close out the season.
Bill Cowley would lead the NHL in scoring with 62 points, as he scored 17 goals and added 45 assists. Roy Conacher led the Bruins in goals with 24, and added 14 assists for a career high 38 points. Eddie Wiseman and Bobby Bauer had productive seasons, earning 40 and 39 points respectively, while Milt Schmidt finished with 38. Team captain Dit Clapper led the Boston blueline with 26 points, while Flash Hollett led the Bruins defense with 9 goals.
In goal, Frank Brimsek had another outstanding season, winning 27 games, while earning 6 shutouts and posting a 2.01 GAA.
Final standings
[1]
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
Game log
Playoffs
In the playoffs, Boston would have a first-round bye, advancing straight to the NHL semi-finals, where they would face the second place Toronto Maple Leafs in a best of seven series. The Bruins finished 5 points ahead of the Leafs during the regular season. The series opened at the Boston Garden, with each team winning a game, before moving to Maple Leaf Gardens for games three and four. The Leafs took a 2–1 series lead with a big 7–2 victory, however, Boston evened the series up at two games each with a solid 2–1 win in game four. Game 5 shifted back to Boston, but it was Toronto who took a 3–2 series lead, with a 2–1 overtime victory. The series moved back to Toronto for the 6th game, and with Boston facing elimination, the Bruins would hold off the Leafs for a 2–1 win to force a 7th and deciding game in Boston. The Bruins once again would fend off Toronto, hanging on for a 2–1 win, to take the series 4–3, and earn a spot in the Stanley Cup final.
The Bruins opponent was the Detroit Red Wings, who finished the regular season with 53 points, 14 less than Boston. Detroit had defeated the New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks to earn a spot in the final. The series opened in Boston, with the Bruins winning the first 2 games by close scores of 3–2 and 2–1 to take a 2–0 series lead. The series moved to the Detroit Olympia for the next 2 games, but Boston would complete the sweep, winning games 3 and 4 by scores of 4–2 and 3–1 to become the first team in NHL history to sweep a 4 game series, and win their 2nd Stanley Cup in 3 seasons, and their 3rd in franchise history.
Boston Bruins 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 3
Boston Bruins 4, Detroit Red Wings 0
Player stats
Regular season
- Scoring
Player |
Pos |
GP |
G |
A |
Pts |
PIM |
Cowley, BillBill Cowley |
C |
46 |
17 |
45 |
62 |
16 |
Wiseman, EddieEddie Wiseman |
RW |
48 |
16 |
24 |
40 |
10 |
Bauer, BobbyBobby Bauer |
RW |
48 |
17 |
22 |
39 |
2 |
Conacher, RoyRoy Conacher |
LW |
41 |
24 |
14 |
38 |
7 |
Schmidt, MiltMilt Schmidt |
C/D |
45 |
13 |
25 |
38 |
23 |
Dumart, WoodyWoody Dumart |
LW |
40 |
18 |
15 |
33 |
2 |
Jackson, ArtArt Jackson |
C |
48 |
17 |
15 |
32 |
10 |
Clapper, DitDit Clapper |
RW/D |
48 |
8 |
18 |
26 |
24 |
Hollett, FlashFlash Hollett |
D |
41 |
9 |
15 |
24 |
23 |
Cain, HerbHerb Cain |
LW |
41 |
8 |
10 |
18 |
6 |
Smith, DesDes Smith |
D |
48 |
6 |
8 |
14 |
61 |
Reardon, TerryTerry Reardon |
C/RW |
34 |
6 |
5 |
11 |
19 |
Crawford, JackJack Crawford |
D |
45 |
2 |
8 |
10 |
27 |
Hill, MelMel Hill |
RW |
41 |
5 |
4 |
9 |
4 |
Shewchuk, JackJack Shewchuk |
D |
20 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
8 |
Bruce, GordieGordie Bruce |
LW |
8 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
Hamill, RedRed Hamill |
LW |
8 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
McReavy, PatPat McReavy |
C |
7 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
Brimsek, FrankFrank Brimsek |
G |
48 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- Goaltending
Player |
MIN |
GP |
W |
L |
T |
GA |
GAA |
SO |
Brimsek, FrankFrank Brimsek |
3040 |
48 |
27 |
8 |
13 |
102 |
2.01 |
6 |
Team: |
3040 |
48 |
27 |
8 |
13 |
102 |
2.01 |
6 |
Playoffs
- Scoring
Player |
Pos |
GP |
G |
A |
Pts |
PIM |
Schmidt, MiltMilt Schmidt |
C/D |
11 |
5 |
6 |
11 |
9 |
Wiseman, EddieEddie Wiseman |
RW |
11 |
6 |
2 |
8 |
0 |
Hollett, FlashFlash Hollett |
D |
11 |
3 |
4 |
7 |
8 |
Reardon, TerryTerry Reardon |
C/RW |
11 |
2 |
4 |
6 |
6 |
Conacher, RoyRoy Conacher |
LW |
11 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
0 |
Cain, HerbHerb Cain |
LW |
11 |
3 |
2 |
5 |
5 |
Clapper, DitDit Clapper |
RW/D |
11 |
0 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
Bauer, BobbyBobby Bauer |
RW |
11 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
McReavy, PatPat McReavy |
C |
11 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
5 |
Dumart, WoodyWoody Dumart |
LW |
11 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
9 |
Jackson, ArtArt Jackson |
C |
11 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
16 |
Hill, MelMel Hill |
RW |
8 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
Crawford, JackJack Crawford |
D |
11 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
7 |
Smith, DesDes Smith |
D |
11 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
12 |
Brimsek, FrankFrank Brimsek |
G |
11 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Bruce, GordieGordie Bruce |
LW |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Cowley, BillBill Cowley |
C |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- Goaltending
Player |
MIN |
GP |
W |
L |
GA |
GAA |
SO |
Brimsek, FrankFrank Brimsek |
678 |
11 |
8 |
3 |
23 |
2.04 |
1 |
Team: |
678 |
11 |
8 |
3 |
23 |
2.04 |
1 |
[2]
Note:
- Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
- Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;
Awards and records
- Prince of Wales Trophy: Boston Bruins
- Hart Memorial Trophy: Bill Cowley[3]
- Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: Bobby Bauer[4]
- Frank Brimsek, Goaltender, NHL Second Team All-Star
- Bobby Bauer, Right Wing, NHL Second Team All-Star
- Woody Dumart, Left Wing, NHL Second Team All-Star
- Dit Clapper, Defence, NHL First Team All-Star
- Bill Cowley, Centre, NHL First Team All-Star
- Cooney Weiland, Coach, NHL First Team All-Star
Transactions
1941 Boston Bruins Stanley Cup Champions
Bill Cowley, Des Smith, Dit Clapper, Frank Brimsek, Flash Hollett, John Crawford, Bobby Bauer, Pat McReavy, Herb Cain, Mel Hill, Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart, Roy Conacher, Terry Reardon, Art Jackson, Eddie Wiseman, Art Ross(manager), Cooney Weiland(coach), Win Green(trainer)
References
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