| 1940–41Boston Bruins | |
|---|---|
Stanley Cup champions | |
Prince of Wales Trophy winners | |
| League | 1stNHL |
| 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) |
| Penalty minutes | Des Smith (61) |
| Wins | Frank Brimsek (27) |
| Goals against average | Frank Brimsek (2.01) |
The1940–41Boston Bruins season was the Bruins'17th season in theNational 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 theNew York Rangers in the NHL semifinals, ending their chances for a second-straightStanley Cup. This year, the Bruins repeated as regular season champions and returned to theStanley Cup Finals, defeating theDetroit Red Wings four games to none to win the organization's third Stanley Cup.
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 theChicago Black Hawks andNew 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 theToronto Maple Leafs. After a 2–0 loss to theNew 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 andBobby Bauer had productive seasons, earning 40 and 39 points respectively, whileMilt Schmidt finished with 38. Team captainDit Clapper led the Boston blueline with 26 points, whileFlash 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.
| 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 |
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.
| 1940–41 NHL Records[2] | ||||||||||||
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| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYA | NYR | TOR | |||||
| Boston | — | 4–2–2 | 3–0–5 | 5–2–1 | 7–0–1 | 4–2–2 | 4–2–2 | |||||
| Chicago | 2–4–2 | — | 2–6 | 3–4–1 | 3–2–3 | 4–3–1 | 2–6 | |||||
| Detroit | 0–3–5 | 6–2 | — | 4–3–1 | 5–1–2 | 3–2–3 | 3–5 | |||||
| Montreal | 2–5–1 | 4–3–1 | 3–4–1 | — | 4–3–1 | 2–5–1 | 1–6–1 | |||||
| N.Y. Americans | 0–7–1 | 2–3–3 | 1–5–2 | 3–4–1 | — | 1–6–1 | 1–4–3 | |||||
| N.Y. Rangers | 2–4–2 | 3–4–1 | 2–3–2 | 5–2–1 | 6–1–1 | — | 3–5 | |||||
| Toronto | 2–4–2 | 6–2 | 5–3 | 6–1–1 | 4–1–3 | 5–3 | — | |||||
| 1940–41 regular season[3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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November
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December
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January
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February
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March
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Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point) |
In the playoffs, Boston would have a first-round bye, advancing straight to the NHL semi-finals, where they would face the second placeToronto 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 theBoston Garden, with each team winning a game, before moving toMaple 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 theStanley Cup Finals.
The Bruins opponent was theDetroit Red Wings, who finished the regular season with 53 points, 14 less than Boston. Detroit had defeated theNew York Rangers andChicago 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 theDetroit 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. It was also the last time the Bruins would win the Stanley Cup until1970.
| 1941 Stanley Cup playoffs[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Semifinals vs. (2) Toronto Maple Leafs – Bruins win 4–3
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Stanley Cup Finals vs. (3) Detroit Red Wings – Bruins win 4–0
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Legend: Win Loss |
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Cowley | C | 46 | 17 | 45 | 62 | 16 |
| Eddie Wiseman | RW | 48 | 16 | 24 | 40 | 10 |
| Bobby Bauer | RW | 48 | 17 | 22 | 39 | 2 |
| Roy Conacher | LW | 41 | 24 | 14 | 38 | 7 |
| Milt Schmidt | C/D | 45 | 13 | 25 | 38 | 23 |
| Woody Dumart | LW | 40 | 18 | 15 | 33 | 2 |
| Art Jackson | C | 48 | 17 | 15 | 32 | 10 |
| Dit Clapper | RW/D | 48 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 24 |
| Flash Hollett | D | 41 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 23 |
| Herb Cain | LW | 41 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 6 |
| Des Smith | D | 48 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 61 |
| Terry Reardon | C/RW | 34 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 19 |
| Jack Crawford | D | 45 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 27 |
| Mel Hill | RW | 41 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 4 |
| Jack Shewchuk | D | 20 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Gordie Bruce | LW | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Red Hamill | LW | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Pat McReavy | C | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Frank Brimsek | G | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Brimsek | 3040 | 48 | 27 | 8 | 13 | 102 | 2.01 | 6 |
| Team: | 3040 | 48 | 27 | 8 | 13 | 102 | 2.01 | 6 |
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milt Schmidt | C/D | 11 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 9 |
| Eddie Wiseman | RW | 11 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| Flash Hollett | D | 11 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 8 |
| Terry Reardon | C/RW | 11 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Roy Conacher | LW | 11 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| Herb Cain | LW | 11 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Dit Clapper | RW/D | 11 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Bobby Bauer | RW | 11 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Pat McReavy | C | 11 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Woody Dumart | LW | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
| Art Jackson | C | 11 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 16 |
| Mel Hill | RW | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Jack Crawford | D | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| Des Smith | D | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| Frank Brimsek | G | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gordie Bruce | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Cowley | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Brimsek | 678 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 23 | 2.04 | 1 |
| Team: | 678 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 23 | 2.04 | 1 |