The1938–39 NHL season was the22ndseason of theNational Hockey League (NHL). TheMontreal Maroons suspended operations prior to the season. With seven teams left played 48 games each, the league reverted back to a one division format. TheBoston Bruins were theStanley Cup winners as they beat theToronto Maple Leafs four games to one in the final series.

Just prior to the start of the 1938–39 season, the league held a meeting to decide the fate of theMontreal Maroons. The team had requested a shift to St. Louis, but this was rejected after considerable discussion, resulting in the Maroons suspending operations for the season. They sold most of their players to the Canadiens, and it was evident that the Maroons were through for good. This was the last time a team that had previously won a Stanley Cup either folded or relocated to another market. With only seven teams left, the NHL decided to go back to the one division format.

TheStanley Cup Finals were expanded to a best-of-seven format.

NHL presidentFrank Calder reached a new professional-amateur agreement withCanadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) and its presidentW. G. Hardy in August 1938. The CAHA agreed not to allow international transfers for players on NHL reserve lists, and the NHL agreed not to sign any junior players without permission. It limited the number of amateur players which could be signed to contracts, and stipulated that both organizations use the same playing rules and recognize each other's suspensions.^[1]

Prior to the start of the season, the Boston Bruins sold their stargoaltender,Tiny Thompson, who had just won a record fourthVezina Trophy, to theDetroit Red Wings. The fans thoughtArt Ross was crazy, but soon they were applauding rookieFrank Brimsek, who would go on to back-stop the Bruins to a first overall finish and a Stanley Cup victory. He wiped out Thompson's shutout sequence record with three consecutive shutouts. He nearly equalled his new record with three more. He ended the season with 10 shutouts, and earned the nickname "Mr. Zero". He also became the first goaltender to win both the Vezina Trophy andCalder Memorial Trophy in the same season.

Joseph Cattarinich died on December 7 of a heart attack following an eye operation. Cattarinich was the original goaltender of the Montreal Canadiens when they were formed in 1909 and later a part-owner of the team. He was 57.

The Montreal Canadiens eroded to the point whereJules Dugal replaced Cecil Hart as manager and coach. Dugal was not much better and the Canadiens finished sixth. One bright note was thatToe Blake won the scoring title, however, despite the poor showing of the team.

Chicago, after its Stanley Cup win the previous season, began floundering at mid-season and ownerFrederic McLaughlin was displeased. Accordingly, he fired coach Bill Stewart and hired left wingPaul Thompson in his place. But the Black Hawks continued to lose and finished last.

TheNew York Americans, up in third place at mid-season, proceeded to fall into a big slump in the second half and though they finished fourth, they were below .500 and had the worst defence in the league. Part of the problem was the retirements ofChing Johnson andHap Day on defence.Al Murray was also out of action for quite a time. Still, goaltenderEarl Robertson found himself on the second all-star team.

^[2]

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.

With the league reduced to seven teams, a new playoff format was adopted, still using a structure similar to adouble-elimination tournament with a "winners' bracket", and a "losers' orrepechage bracket". The top six teams in the league qualified for the playoffs. The top two teams played in abest-of-seven Stanley Cup semifinal series. The third-place team then met the fourth-place team in onebest-of-five series, and the fifth-place team faced the sixth-place team in another best-of-five series, to determine the participants for the other best-of-five semifinal series. The semifinal winners then met in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series).

This series was the first to need seven games in NHL history; additionally, the Rangers were the first team in NHL history to force aGame seven after losing the first three games of a series.Mel Hill, a right winger for the Bruins, scored a record three overtime goals in a single series.^[3]

^[2]

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

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• Boston Bruins:Art Ross
• Chicago Black Hawks:Bill Stewart andPaul Thompson
• Detroit Red Wings:Jack Adams
• Montreal Canadiens:Cecil Hart
• New York Americans:Red Dutton
• New York Rangers:Lester Patrick
• Toronto Maple Leafs:Dick Irvin

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1938–39 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Roy Conacher, Boston Bruins
• Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins
• Ab DeMarco, Chicago Black Hawks
• Don Grosso, Detroit Red Wings
• Sid Abel, Detroit Red Wings
• Jack Stewart, Detroit Red Wings

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1938–39 (listed with their last team):

• Russ Blinco, Chicago Black Hawks
• Paul Thompson, Chicago Black Hawks
• Baldy Northcott, Chicago Black Hawks
• Alex Levinsky, Chicago Black Hawks
• Bob Gracie, Chicago Black Hawks
• Larry Aurie, Detroit Red Wings
• Herbie Lewis, Detroit Red Wings
• Dave Trottier, Detroit Red Wings
• Babe Siebert, Montreal Canadiens
• Jimmy Ward, Montreal Canadiens

• 1938–39 NHL transactions
• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1938 in sports
• 1939 in sports

• Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000).Total Hockey. Total Sports.ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
• Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011).The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates.ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
• Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000).Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
• Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003).The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Publications International Inc.ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.
• McFarlane, Brian (1973).The Story of the National Hockey League. New York: Pagurian Press.ISBN 0-684-13424-1.

Notes

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com

• 1938–39 NHL season
• 1938–39 in Canadian ice hockey by league
• 1938–39 in American ice hockey by league

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