1940–41 Boston Bruins season

1940–41 Boston Bruins
Stanley Cup champions
Division 1st NHL
1940–41 record 27–8–13
Home record 15–4–5
Road record 12–4–8
Goals for 168 (1st)
Goals against 102 (T-2nd)
Team information
General Manager Art Ross
Coach Cooney Weiland
Captain Dit Clapper
Arena Boston Garden
Team leaders
Goals Roy Conacher (24)
Assists Bill Cowley (45)
Points Bill Cowley (62)
Penalties in minutes Des Smith (61)
Wins Frank Brimsek (27)
Goals against average Frank Brimsek (2.01)

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

National Hockey League
GP W L T Pts GF GA
Boston Bruins 48 27 8 13 67 168 102
Toronto Maple Leafs 48 28 14 6 62 145 99
Detroit Red Wings 48 21 16 11 53 112 102
New York Rangers 48 21 19 8 50 143 125
Chicago Black Hawks 48 16 25 7 39 112 139
Montreal Canadiens 48 16 26 6 38 121 147
New York Americans 48 8 29 11 27 99 186

[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.

Schedule and results

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts
1 November 3 Boston Bruins 1–1 Montreal Canadiens 0–0–1 1
2 November 12 Chicago Black Hawks 6–5 Boston Bruins 0–1–1 1
3 November 17 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–1 Boston Bruins 0–2–1 1
4 November 19 Detroit Red Wings 4–4 Boston Bruins 0–2–2 2
5 November 21 Boston Bruins 2–0 Chicago Black Hawks 1–2–2 4
6 November 23 Boston Bruins 2–1 New York Rangers 2–2–2 6
7 November 24 Boston Bruins 1–1 Detroit Red Wings 2–2–3 7
8 November 26 Montreal Canadiens 3–2 Boston Bruins 2–3–3 7
9 December 1 Boston Bruins 10–3 New York Americans 3–3–3 9
10 December 3 New York Americans 2–6 Boston Bruins 4–3–3 11
11 December 7 Boston Bruins 2–3 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–4–3 11
12 December 8 Boston Bruins 2–3 Chicago Black Hawks 4–5–3 11
13 December 10 New York Rangers 2–6 Boston Bruins 5–5–3 13
14 December 17 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–5 Boston Bruins 6–5–3 15
15 December 19 Boston Bruins 3–5 New York Rangers 6–6–3 15
16 December 21 Boston Bruins 1–3 Montreal Canadiens 6–7–3 15
17 December 22 Boston Bruins 5–3 Detroit Red Wings 7–7–3 17
18 December 25 New York Americans 1–8 Boston Bruins 8–7–3 19
19 December 27 Boston Bruins 3–3 New York Americans 8–7–4 20
20 December 31 New York Rangers 2–2 Boston Bruins 8–7–5 21
21 January 5 Chicago Black Hawks 2–2 Boston Bruins 8–7–6 22
22 January 7 Detroit Red Wings 1–1 Boston Bruins 8–7–7 23
23 January 11 Boston Bruins 2–1 Montreal Canadiens 9–7–7 25
24 January 12 Montreal Canadiens 5–7 Boston Bruins 10–7–7 27
25 January 16 Boston Bruins 2–2 New York Rangers 10–7–8 28
26 January 18 Boston Bruins 1–0 Toronto Maple Leafs 11–7–8 30
27 January 19 Boston Bruins 4–4 Chicago Black Hawks 11–7–9 31
28 January 21 New York Rangers 3–4 Boston Bruins 12–7–9 33
29 January 26 Boston Bruins 6–1 New York Americans 13–7–9 35
30 January 28 Chicago Black Hawks 2–3 Boston Bruins 14–7–9 37
31 February 2 New York Americans 1–4 Boston Bruins 15–7–9 39
32 February 4 Montreal Canadiens 3–5 Boston Bruins 16–7–9 41
33 February 8 Boston Bruins 3–2 Toronto Maple Leafs 17–7–9 43
34 February 9 Boston Bruins 2–2 Detroit Red Wings 17–7–10 44
35 February 11 Detroit Red Wings 0–4 Boston Bruins 18–7–10 46
36 February 13 New York Rangers 3–5 Boston Bruins 19–7–10 48
37 February 15 Boston Bruins 5–0 Montreal Canadiens 20–7–10 50
38 February 18 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–2 Boston Bruins 20–7–11 51
39 February 23 New York Americans 1–3 Boston Bruins 21–7–11 53
40 February 25 New York Rangers 2–0 Boston Bruins 21–8–11 53
41 March 1 Boston Bruins 0–0 Toronto Maple Leafs 21–8–12 54
42 March 2 Boston Bruins 4–3 Chicago Black Hawks 22–8–12 56
43 March 4 Chicago Black Hawks 2–3 Boston Bruins 23–8–12 58
44 March 9 Montreal Canadiens 0–8 Boston Bruins 24–8–12 60
45 March 11 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–3 Boston Bruins 25–8–12 62
46 March 13 Boston Bruins 8–3 New York Americans 26–8–12 64
47 March 16 Boston Bruins 2–2 Detroit Red Wings 26–8–13 65
48 March 18 Detroit Red Wings 1–4 Boston Bruins 27–8–13 67

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

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 March 20 Toronto Maple Leafs 0–3 Boston Bruins 1–0
2 March 22 Toronto Maple Leafs 5–3 Boston Bruins 1–1
3 March 25 Boston Bruins 2–7 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–2
4 March 27 Boston Bruins 2–1 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–2
5 March 29 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–1 Boston Bruins 2–3
6 April 1 Boston Bruins 2–1 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–3
7 April 3 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–2 Boston Bruins 4–3

Boston Bruins 4, Detroit Red Wings 0

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 April 6 Detroit Red Wings 2–3 Boston Bruins 1–0
2 April 8 Detroit Red Wings 1–2 Boston Bruins 2–0
3 April 10 Boston Bruins 4–2 Detroit Red Wings 3–0
4 April 12 Boston Bruins 3–1 Detroit Red Wings 4–0

Player statistics

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

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

  1. ↑ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al., eds. THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  2. ↑ "1940-41 Boston Bruins Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  3. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-04-27. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-04-28. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
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