1937–38 NHL season

League business

Bill Dwyer could not come up with the capital required to retain his team and the NHL took full control of the New York Americans.

The Howie Morenz Memorial Game, the NHL's second all-star game, was played November 2, 1937, and raised over $11,447, which, added to other contributions, established a fund of over $20,000 for the Morenz family. Prior to the start of the game, Howie Morenz's uniform and playing kit was auctioned and Joseph Cattarinich put down the winning bid of $500. The uniform was presented to Howie Morenz Jr. The NHL All-stars defeated a combined team of Canadiens and Maroons players 6–5.

In February 1938, NHL president Frank Calder terminated the professional-amateur agreement with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) which limited signing contracts with junior ice hockey players. After a player suspended by the NHL was registered by a CAHA team, he met with CAHA vice-president W. G. Hardy without resolution, then told NHL teams that they could approach any junior player with a contract offer.

Rule changes

In September 1937, the NHL passed the 'icing' rule whereby teams could no longer shoot the puck the length of the ice to delay the game. Teams were allowed to continue to 'ice' the puck during penalties. The penalty shot was amended to remove the dots where the shot was to take place. Two new lines 30 feet from the goal were added instead. A player taking a penalty shot would start from the line closest to his own goal, skate with the puck and shoot before he crossed the penalty line nearest the opposition goal. After a puck was shot out-of-bounds, the location of the following faceoff was now to occur at the point where the shot was made, instead of where it exited the rink as was done until that time.{{cite news |work=Montreal Gazette

Regular season

Charlie Conacher was named captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and he had a big weekend at the expense of Chicago November 13 with a hat trick in a 7–3 win. He then scored 2 goals in a 3–3 tie. However, The Big Bomber ran into misfortune once more on November 18 in Montreal against the Canadiens when he dislocated his shoulder. The cycle of injuries had a cumulative effect on Conacher's nervous and physical condition and his doctor told him to retire from hockey. He did retire for the rest of the season, but would play again the next season, but was forever gone from the Leafs.

The New York Rangers lost their star center Neil Colville for a few games as the result of some horseplay that must have infuriated Lester Patrick. Defenceman Joe Cooper was pursuing a fad of slicing off neckties from teammates using a penknife. Colville threw up his hand only to receive a gash that required 11 stitches to close.

The New York Americans, with Ching Johnson and Hap Day to relieve Joe Jerwa and Al Murray on defence, were doing much better than usual. Earl Robertson, their new goaltender, was leading the Canadian Division in goaltending and ended up doing so at season's end. The Amerks also had Sweeney Schriner and Nels Stewart contributing in a nice way to the offence.

The Montreal Maroons, coached at first by King Clancy, settled into last place and president and general manager Tommy Gorman decided he would take over as coach. He did even worse and the fans stayed away. Although the team did badly, one highlight was an 11–7 win over their rivals, the Canadiens, and Baldy Northcott had a hat trick in the game. There seemed to be nothing Gorman could do to revitalize the team and at one stretch the team lost 8 straight games. On March 17, 1938, the Maroons played their last game against their rivals, the Canadiens.

Detroit was the shockingly bad team of the American Division. After winning the Stanley Cup in 1937, they were reclining in the cellar of the Division. They had one bright moment when Carl Liscombe set a record for the fastest hat trick to this time (since broken by Bill Mosienko). Liscombe scored three goals in 1 minute and 52 seconds in a 5–1 win over Chicago.

On March 17, 1938, Nels Stewart scored his 300th National Hockey League goal in a 5–3 loss to the Rangers.

Final standings

Playoffs

The Cinderella story of the century was the Chicago Black Hawks who would barely make the playoffs but proceeded to defeat the Canadiens, the Americans and the Maple Leafs to win the Cup with the lowest regular-season winning percentage of any champions in the big-four major professional sports leagues of North America.

Playoff bracket

The top three teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. The two division winners met in a best-of-five Stanley Cup semifinal series. The divisional second-place teams and third-place teams played off in a best-of-three series to determine the participants for the other best-of-three semifinal series. The semifinal winners then played in a best-of-five Stanley Cup Finals (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series).

| RD1-seed1=C2 | RD1-team1=NY Americans | RD1-score1=2 | RD1-seed2=A2 | RD1-team2=NY Rangers | RD1-score2=1 | RD1-seed3=C3 | RD1-team3=Mtl Canadiens | RD1-score3=1 | RD1-seed4=A3 | RD1-team4=Chicago | RD1-score4=2 | RD2-seed1=C1 | RD2-team1=Toronto | RD2-score1=3 | RD2-seed2=A1 | RD2-team2=Boston | RD2-score2=0 | RD2-seed3=C2 | RD2-team3=NY Americans | RD2-score3=1 | RD2-seed4=A3 | RD2-team4=Chicago | RD2-score4=2 | RD3-seed1=C1 | RD3-team1=Toronto | RD3-score1=1 | RD3-seed2=A3 | RD3-team2=Chicago | RD3-score2=3

Quarterfinals

The New York Americans stunned the New York Rangers as Lorne Carr scored the winner in overtime in the third and deciding game.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =01:30 – Cecil Dillon (1) |1-2-1 =Red Beattie (1) – 09:26 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =No scoring |1-4-1 =John Sorrell (1) – 01:25 |1-4-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Earl Robertson |goalie1-2 =Dave Kerr

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =Bryan Hextall (1) – 11:28 |2-2-1 =12:23 – pp – Tommy Anderson (1) |2-2-2 =Clint Smith (1) – 04:05 Alex Shibicky (1) – 08:37 |2-3-1 =07:13 – John Sorrell (2) 17:58 – John Sorrell (3) |2-3-2 =Clint Smith (2) – 15:00 |goalie2-1 =Earl Robertson |goalie2-2 =Dave Kerr

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =06:27 – Alex Shibicky (2) 07:31 – Bryan Hextall (2) |3-3-1 =Lorne Carr (1) – 04:36 Nels Stewart (1) – 10:38 |3-3-2 =No scoring |3-4-1 =Lorne Carr (2) – 00:40 |3-4-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Earl Robertson |goalie3-2 =Dave Kerr

The Canadiens beat the Hawks in game one of the quarterfinal, as Toe Blake had the hat trick. But Mike Karakas shut out the Canadiens in the second game and even though Georges Mantha appeared to win the game with a freak goal in game three, Earl Seibert kept the Hawks from losing with a goal late in the game, and then the Hawks won the series in overtime.

|1-1-1 =Paul Thompson (1) – 01:31 |1-1-2 =10:58 – Babe Siebert (1) |1-2-1 =Mush March (1) – 12:23 |1-2-2 =13:38 – pp – Toe Blake (1) 18:45 – Red Goupille (1) |1-3-1 =Johnny Gottselig (1) – 09:30 Cully Dahlstrom (1) – 11:51 |1-3-2 =11:32 – Toe Blake (2) 17:32 – Toe Blake (3) 18:40 – Red Goupille (2) |goalie1-1 =Mike Karakas |goalie1-2 =Wilf Cude

|2-1-1 =17:58 – Earl Seibert (1) |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =10:06 – Earl Seibert (2) 13:34 – Johnny Gottselig (2) 19:59 – Paul Thompson (2) |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Mike Karakas |goalie2-2 =Wilf Cude

|3-1-1 =Johnny Gottselig (3) – 18:24 |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =08:52 – Johnny Gagnon (1) |3-3-1 =Earl Seibert (3) – 18:34 |3-3-2 =12:46 – pp – Georges Mantha (1) |3-4-1 =Paul Thompson (3) – 11:49 |3-4-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Mike Karakas |goalie3-2 =Wilf Cude

Semifinals

In an upset, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Boston in the Series A semifinal.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =No scoring |1-4-1 =01:31 – George Parsons (1) |1-4-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Turk Broda |goalie1-2 =Tiny Thompson

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =14:30 – Pep Kelly (1) |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =08:57 – Gordie Drillon (1) |2-3-2 =Charlie Sands (1) – 07:37 |goalie2-1 =Tiny Thompson |goalie2-2 =Turk Broda

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =No scoring |3-2-1 =Gordie Drillon (2) – 01:16 |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =Pep Kelly (2) – 05:02 |3-3-2 =03:24 – Bill Cowley (1) 16:49 – Bill Cowley (2) |3-4-1 =Gordie Drillon (3) – 10:04 |3-4-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Tiny Thompson |goalie3-2 =Turk Broda

In the Series B semifinal, it was Chicago and the New York Americans, who beat Chicago in game one 3–1. Game two was a great goaltenders battle between Mike Karakas and Earl Robertson. It appeared that the Americans were headed to their first Stanley Cup Finals when Nels Stewart scored with seconds left in the game, but referee Clarence Campbell disallowed the goal, saying Eddie Wiseman was in the goal crease. Cully Dahlstrom scored the goal that saved the Black Hawks. In New York, the deciding game saw Alex Levinsky of Chicago score the go-ahead goal, but the red light did not go on. Investigation revealed that fans were holding the goal judge's hand so he could not signal the goal. Although the Amerks came close, they were unable to tie the score and the Black Hawks were in the finals.

|1-1-1 =Carl Voss (1) – 05:19 |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =16:47 – Nels Stewart (2) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =15:52 – John Sorrell (4) 19:08 – pp – Sweeney Schriner (1) |goalie1-1 =Mike Karakas |goalie1-2 =Earl Robertson

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |2-4-1 =13:01 – Cully Dahlstrom (2) |2-4-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Mike Karakas |goalie2-2 =Earl Robertson

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =19:40 – pp – Lorne Carr (3) |3-2-1 =Earl Seibert (4) – 14:52 Alex Levinsky (1) – 17:43 |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =Doc Romnes (1) – 15:53 |3-3-2 =16:29 – Red Beattie (2) |goalie3-1 =Mike Karakas |goalie3-2 =Earl Robertson

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 1938 Stanley Cup Finals

|1-1-1 =Johnny Gottselig (4) – pp – 19:08 |1-1-2 =01:54 – Gordie Drillon (4) |1-2-1 =Paul Thompson (4) – 01:51 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =Johnny Gottselig (5) – 12:08 |1-3-2 =No scoring |goalie1-1 =Alfie Moore |goalie1-2 =Turk Broda

|2-1-1 =Earl Seibert (5) – pp – 08:31 |2-1-2 =01:42 – Gordie Drillon (5) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =06:10 – Busher Jackson (1) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =09:44 – Gordie Drillon (6) 11:29 – George Parsons (2) 12:08 – George Parsons (3) |goalie2-1 =Alfie Moore |goalie2-2 =Turk Broda

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Syl Apps (1) – pp – 01:35 |3-2-1 =16:02 – Carl Voss (2) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =15:55 – Doc Romnes (2) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Alfie Moore |goalie3-2 =Turk Broda

|4-1-1 =05:52 – Cully Dahlstrom (3) |4-1-2 =Gordie Drillon (7) – 08:26 |4-2-1 =16:45 – Carl Voss (3) 17:58 – Jack Shill (1) |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =16:24 – Mush March (2) |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Alfie Moore |goalie4-2 =Turk Broda

European tour

Main article: 1938 Detroit Red Wings – Montreal Canadiens European tour

After the Stanley Cup Finals finished, the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Canadiens played a nine-game exhibition series in Europe, becoming the first NHL teams to play outside North America. Six games were played in the United Kingdom, three in France. The Canadiens won the series with a record of 5–3–1.

Awards

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

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

Source: NHL

Leading goaltenders

• Cecil Tiny Thompson 1:80 Gaa Bos
• Dave Kerr New York R 1:95 Gaa
• Earl Robertson New York Americans 2:22
• Wilf Cude Montreal Canadiens 2:53
• Turk Broda Toronto Maple Leafs 2:56
• Norm Smith Detroit 2:66
• Mike Karakas Chicago 2:80
• Bill Beveridge Montreal Maroons 3:00

Coaches

American Division

• Boston Bruins: Art Ross
• Chicago Black Hawks: Bill Stewart
• Detroit Red Wings: Jack Adams
• New York Rangers: Lester Patrick

Canadian Division

• Montreal Canadiens: Cecil Hart
• Montreal Maroons: King Clancy and Tommy Gorman
• New York Americans: Red Dutton
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Dick Irvin

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1937–38 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Red Hamill, Boston Bruins
• Mel Hill, Boston Bruins
• Jack Crawford, Boston Bruins
• Cully Dahlstrom, Chicago Black Hawks
• Carl Liscombe, Detroit Red Wings
• Dutch Hiller, New York Rangers
• Murph Chamberlain, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1937–38 (listed with their last team):

• Carl Voss, Chicago Black Hawks
• Joe Lamb, Detroit Red Wings
• Pit Lepine, Montreal Canadiens
• Aurel Joliat, Montreal Canadiens
• Marty Burke, Montreal Canadiens
• Tom Cook, Montreal Maroons
• Al Shields, Montreal Maroons
• Hap Day, New York Americans
• Hap Emms, New York Americans
• Ching Johnson, New York Americans
• Butch Keeling, New York Rangers

References

• {{cite book |last1=Fischler |first1=Stan |last2=Fischler |first2=Shirley

;Notes

References

1. (February 24, 1938). "C.A.H.A. Boss Insists Pros Must Not Approach Amateurs". Winnipeg Free Press.
2. (April 14, 1938). "Will Air Amateur And Pro Hockey Battle: Is Important Item On Agenda Of C.A.H.A. Meet". Lethbridge Herald.