1940–41 NHL season

League business

In September 1940, International Ice Hockey Association president W. G. Hardy announced a new one-year agreement was reached with the NHL, who agreed to pay $250 for signing an amateur and another $250 if the amateur played in the NHL. NHL president Frank Calder signed the new professional-amateur agreement in October 1940. The agreement also included allowing the NHL to sign a limited number of junior age players.

Regular season

The Montreal Canadiens had hit the bottom in 1939–40, and were in financial trouble. Frank Patrick decided to become an investor and governor for the team, and Tommy Gorman was hired as general manager. He hired recently released Toronto coach Dick Irvin to run the team. One of the first things Gorman and Irvin did was scout for players, and the Canadiens came up with Johnny Quilty, Joe Benoit, Elmer Lach and defenceman Ken Reardon. Bert Gardiner would be used in goal, replacing Claude Bourque and Wilf Cude. Murph Chamberlain was bought from Toronto to bolster the offence.

Quilty and Benoit came through, as did Toe Blake, but the Habs had a long way to go, finishing sixth. Quilty won the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie. In fact, before the season started, Coach Irvin handed a sealed envelope to a reporter of his guess who would win the Calder Trophy, and when the season ended, the reporter opened the envelope: Johnny Quilty was the choice Irvin made.

The Boston Bruins set a record 23 straight unbeaten games en route to a strong first-place finish at the end of the schedule. The Rangers, finished fourth after the previous year's Stanley Cup win and Dave Kerr was not up to his usual form in goal.

Final standings

Playoffs

Playoff bracket

The top six teams in the league qualified for the playoffs. The top two teams played in a best-of-seven Stanley Cup semifinal series. The third-place team then met the fourth-place team in one best-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).

| RD1-seed1=3 | RD1-team1=Detroit | RD1-score1=2 | RD1-seed2=4 | RD1-team2=NY Rangers | RD1-score2=1 | RD1-seed3=5 | RD1-team3=Chicago | RD1-score3=2 | RD1-seed4=6 | RD1-team4=Montreal | RD1-score4=1 | RD2-seed1=1 | RD2-team1=Boston | RD2-score1=4 | RD2-seed2=2 | RD2-team2=Toronto | RD2-score2=3 | RD2-seed3=3 | RD2-team3=Detroit | RD2-score3=2 | RD2-seed4=5 | RD2-team4=Chicago | RD2-score4=0 | RD3-seed1=1 | RD3-team1=Boston | RD3-score1=4 | RD3-seed2=3 | RD3-team2=Detroit | RD3-score2=0

Quarterfinals

(3) Detroit Red Wings vs. (4) New York Rangers

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =14:39 – Carl Liscombe (1) |1-3-1 =Lynn Patrick (1) – pp – 04:33 |1-3-2 =No scoring |1-4-1 =No scoring |1-4-2 =12:01 – Gus Giesebrecht (1) |goalie1-1 =Dave Kerr |goalie1-2 =Johnny Mowers

|2-1-1 =18:38 – pp – Babe Pratt (1) |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =11:30 – Alex Shibicky (1) |2-2-2 =Don Grosso (1) – 03:02 |2-3-1 =19:31 – Mac Colville (1) |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Dave Kerr |goalie2-2 =Johnny Mowers

|3-1-1 =Kilby MacDonald (1) – 15:25 |3-1-2 =11:38 – Bill Jennings (1) 19:48 – Jack Stewart (1) |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =Neil Colville (1) – 19:51 |3-3-2 =09:39 – pp – Mud Bruneteau (1) |goalie3-1 =Dave Kerr |goalie3-2 =Johnny Mowers

(5) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens

|1-1-1 =Elmer Lach (1) – 08:14 |1-1-2 =16:21 – George Allen (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =07:57 – Max Bentley (1) |goalie1-1 =Bert Gardiner |goalie1-2 =Sam LoPresti

|2-1-1 =08:01 – Joe Benoit (1) 14:02 – pp – Joe Benoit (2) |2-1-2 =Cully Dahlstrom (1) – pp – 02:33 |2-2-1 =10:51 – Joe Benoit (3) |2-2-2 =Joe Cooper (1) – 03:13 |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =Mush March (1) – 10:13 |2-4-1 =14:03 – Charlie Sands (1) |2-4-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Bert Gardiner |goalie2-2 =Sam LoPresti

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =14:56 – George Allen (2) |3-2-1 =Joe Benoit (4) – 18:37 Ray Getliffe (1) – 18:58 |3-2-2 =12:11 – Cully Dahlstrom (2) |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =03:31 – Cully Dahlstrom (3) |goalie3-1 =Bert Gardiner |goalie3-2 =Sam LoPresti

Semifinals

(1) Boston Bruins vs. (2) Toronto Maple Leafs

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =15:33 – Flash Hollett (1) |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =18:21 – Terry Reardon (1) 19:24 – Eddie Wiseman (1) |goalie1-1 =Turk Broda |goalie1-2 =Frank Brimsek

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =08:13 – Eddie Wiseman (2) 09:47 – Milt Schmidt (1) |2-2-1 =Gordie Drillon (1) – 02:33 Reg Hamilton (1) – pp – 07:30 Nick Metz (1) – 15:00 Nick Metz (2) – 15:47 |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =Don Metz (1) – 01:44 |2-3-2 =04:00 – Eddie Wiseman (3) |goalie2-1 =Turk Broda |goalie2-2 =Frank Brimsek

|3-1-1 =18:03 – Sweeney Schriner (1) |3-1-2 =Milt Schmidt (2) – pp – 13:35 |3-2-1 =06:59 – Syl Apps (1) 12:46 – pp – Bucko McDonald (1) 17:36 – pp – Syl Apps (2) |3-2-2 =Herb Cain (1) – 05:07 |3-3-1 =05:26 – Sweeney Schriner (2) 16:43 – Syl Apps (3) 17:05 – Nick Metz (3) |3-3-2 =No scoring |goalie3-1 =Turk Broda |goalie3-2 =Frank Brimsek

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =10:30 – Gordie Drillon (2) |4-2-2 =Woody Dumart (1) – 07:15 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Herb Cain (2) – 08:13 |goalie4-1 =Turk Broda |goalie4-2 =Frank Brimsek

|5-1-1 =Lex Chisholm (1) – 04:58 |5-1-2 =14:16 – Pat McReavy (1) |5-2-1 =No scoring |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =No scoring |5-4-1 =Pete Langelle (1) – 17:37 |5-4-2 =No scoring |goalie5-1 =Turk Broda |goalie5-2 =Frank Brimsek

|6-1-1 =No scoring |6-1-2 =No scoring |6-2-1 =No scoring |6-2-2 =No scoring |6-3-1 =09:48 – Gordie Drillon (3) |6-3-2 =Bobby Bauer (1) – 10:39 Herb Cain (3) – 12:00 |goalie6-1 =Turk Broda |goalie6-2 =Frank Brimsek

|7-1-1 =Bucko McDonald (2) – 13:28 |7-1-2 =14:32 – Flash Hollett (2) |7-2-1 =No scoring |7-2-2 =No scoring |7-3-1 =No scoring |7-3-2 =14:17 – Mel Hill (1) |goalie7-1 =Turk Broda |goalie7-2 =Frank Brimsek

(3) Detroit Red Wings vs. (5) Chicago Black Hawks

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =19:59 – pp – Sid Abel (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =10:15 – Carl Liscombe (2) |1-3-1 =Mush March (2) – 05:15 |1-3-2 =15:28 – Joe Fisher (1) |goalie1-1 =Sam LoPresti |goalie1-2 =Johnny Mowers

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =04:02 – pp – Doug Bentley (1) |2-2-2 =Alex Motter (1) – pp – 01:25 |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =No scoring |2-4-1 =No scoring |2-4-2 =Gus Giesebrecht (2) – 09:52 |goalie2-1 =Sam LoPresti |goalie2-2 =Johnny Mowers

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 1941 Stanley Cup Finals

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =13:26 – Eddie Wiseman (4) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =14:45 – Milt Schmidt (3) |1-3-1 =Carl Liscombe (3) – 10:55 Syd Howe (1) – 17:45 |1-3-2 =09:16 – Pat McReavy (2) |goalie1-1 =Johnny Mowers |goalie1-2 =Frank Brimsek

|2-1-1 =No scoring |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =Mud Bruneteau (2) – 02:41 |2-3-2 =13:35 – Terry Reardon (2) 17:35 – Roy Conacher (1) |goalie2-1 =Johnny Mowers |goalie2-2 =Frank Brimsek

|3-1-1 =03:15 – Bill Jennings (2) 07:45 – Sid Abel (2) |3-1-2 =Eddie Wiseman (5) – 03:57 Milt Schmidt (4) – 14:07 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Milt Schmidt (5) – 00:59 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Art Jackson (1) – pp – 17:20 |goalie3-1 =Johnny Mowers |goalie3-2 =Frank Brimsek

|4-1-1 =10:14 – pp – Carl Liscombe (4) |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =Flash Hollett (3) – pp – 07:42 Bobby Bauer – pp – 08:43 Eddie Wiseman (6) – 19:32 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Johnny Mowers |goalie4-2 =Frank Brimsek

Awards

All-Star teams

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

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

Source: NHL

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

Coaches

• Boston Bruins: Cooney Weiland
• Chicago Black Hawks: Paul Thompson
• Detroit Red Wings: Jack Adams
• Montreal Canadiens: Dick Irvin
• New York Americans: Red Dutton
• New York Rangers: Frank Boucher
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Hap Day

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1940–41 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Max Bentley, Chicago Black Hawks
• John Mariucci, Chicago Black Hawks
• Joe Carveth, Detroit Red Wings
• Elmer Lach, Montreal Canadiens
• Ken Reardon, Montreal Canadiens
• John Quilty, Montreal Canadiens
• Chuck Rayner, New York Americans
• Bill Juzda, New York Rangers

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1940–41 (listed with their last team):

• Paul Haynes, Montreal Canadiens
• Georges Mantha, Montreal Canadiens
• Hooley Smith, New York Americans
• Charlie Conacher, New York Americans
• Dave Kerr, New York Rangers

References

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

;Notes

References

1. (September 13, 1940). "N.H.L. Will Pay I.H.A. $500 Cash For Signing Up Amateur Players". Lethbridge Herald.
2. (October 18, 1940). "Clubs Will Share Reimbursement Under This Plan". Winnipeg Free Press.
3. (January 2, 1941). "Close Co-Operation Exists Between Hockey Organizations". Winnipeg Tribune.