1945–46 NHL season

League business

Since World War II had ended, the NHL and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) reverted to the pre-war agreement not to sign any junior ice hockey players without permission. CAHA secretary George Dudley stated that tryout contracts must be honoured, and junior-aged players on NHL reserve lists must be reinstated as amateurs to return to the CAHA. The wartime practice of the NHL borrowing amateur players for three games or less was discontinued. The NHL and the CAHA discussed updates to the financial terms of the agreement. The NHL offered a flat payment of $20,000 to signing amateurs, which Dudley felt was too low. The CAHA ultimately accepted the lump sum payment, preferring not to break its alliance with the NHL.

Synchronized red lights to signal goals were made obligatory for all NHL rinks.

It was rumoured in the press that Lester Patrick planned to retire as general manager of the New York Rangers. On February 22, 1946, he announced his retirement from the general manager position, however he would stay on as vice president of Madison Square Garden.

The NHL and the International Ice Hockey Association agreed to mutually enforce suspensions for players not fulfilling a tryout contract.

Regular season

Veterans came back to their teams this year, as World War II ended, but many found they could not regain their form. One who did regain his form was the man formerly known as "Mr. Zero"—Boston Bruins' goaltender Frank Brimsek. He was shelled in an 8–3 contest with Chicago, but got better game by game. The Bruins had first place at one point, then finished second. Brimsek made the Second All-Star Team as a result.

Max Bentley of Chicago led the league in scoring, and, because of the "Pony Line" that including him, his brother Doug and Bill Mosienko, the Black Hawks were in first place at one point. But misfortune hit the Hawks when Doug Bentley injured his knee in a January 23 game and the team sagged.

Frank Patrick, former Pacific Coast Hockey Association president and former managing director for the NHL, suffered a heart attack and was not released from the hospital for several weeks.

A bombshell exploded on January 30, 1946, when defenceman Babe Pratt was expelled from the NHL for betting on games. However, he only bet on his own team and appealed his expulsion. On his promise he would not bet on any more games, he was reinstated. Pratt missed 9 games during his suspension.

Maple Leaf Gaye Stewart led the league in goals with 37, but Toronto finished fifth and missed the playoffs for the first time since playing at Maple Leaf Gardens.

Bill Durnan equalled George Hainsworth's record of three consecutive Vezina Trophies and led the league in shutouts with 4.

Final standings

Playoffs

Playoff bracket

The top four teams in the league qualified for the playoffs. In the semifinals, the first-place team played the third-place team, while the second-place team faced the fourth-place team, with the winners advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals. In both rounds, teams competed in a best-of-seven series (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each best-of-seven series).

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

Semifinals

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (3) Chicago Black Hawks

The Montreal Canadiens finished first in the league with 61 points. The Chicago Blackhawks finished third with 53 points. This was the seventh playoff meeting between these two teams with the teams splitting the six previous series. They last met in the 1944 Stanley Cup Finals where Montreal won in four games. Montreal won this year's ten game regular season series earning eleven of twenty points.

|1-1-1 =George Gee (1) – pp – 17:25 |1-1-2 =08:33 – Dutch Hiller (1) |1-2-1 =No scoring |1-2-2 =08:32 – Elmer Lach (1) 16:29 – pp – Billy Reay (1) 16:48 – pp – Dutch Hiller (2) |1-3-1 =Bill Mosienko (1) – pp – 12:22 |1-3-2 =10:29 – Toe Blake (1) 14:40 – Maurice Richard (1) |goalie1-1 =Mike Karakas |goalie1-2 =Bill Durnan

|2-1-1 =Clint Smith (1) – 19:13 |2-1-2 =06:40 – Bob Fillion (1) 09:14 – Jimmy Peters (1) 09:45 – Maurice Richard (2) |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =10:02 – Ken Mosdell (1) |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =14:45 – Jimmy Peters (2) |goalie2-1 =Mike Karakas |goalie2-2 =Bill Durnan

|3-1-1 =15:06 – Max Bentley (1) 18:17 – pp – Clint Smith (2) |3-1-2 =Toe Blake (2) – 12:42 Buddy O'Connor (1) – pp – 14:07 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Buddy O'Connor (2) – 04:09 Ken Mosdell (2) – 09:31 Murph Chamberlain (1) – 15:36 |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Toe Blake (3) – 09:40 Maurice Richard (3) – 10:36 Bob Fillion (2) – 14:34 |goalie3-1 =Mike Karakas |goalie3-2 =Bill Durnan

|4-1-1 =11:26 – Bill Mosienko (2) |4-1-2 =Toe Blake (4) – pp – 06:04 Maurice Richard (4) – pp – 12:01 |4-2-1 =10:27 – Red Hamill (1) |4-2-2 =Toe Blake (5) – 10:54 Murph Chamberlain (2) – sh – 18:05 |4-3-1 =No scoring |4-3-2 =Elmer Lach (2) – 09:55 Toe Blake (6) – pp – 17:33 Ken Reardon (1) – 18:42 |goalie4-1 =Mike Karakas |goalie4-2 =Bill Durnan

(2) Boston Bruins vs. (4) Detroit Red Wings

The Boston Bruins finished second in the league with 56 points. The Detroit Red Wings finished fourth with 50 points. This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams with Detroit winning the three of the four previous series. They last met in the previous year's Stanley Cup Semifinals where the Red Wings won in seven games. Boston won this year's ten game regular season series earning eleven of twenty points.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =03:11 – sh – Pat Egan (1) 19:05 – Bill Shill (1) |1-2-1 =Harry Watson (1) – 07:51 |1-2-2 =No scoring |1-3-1 =No scoring |1-3-2 =11:43 – Bep Guidolin (1) |goalie1-1 =Harry Lumley |goalie1-2 =Frank Brimsek

|2-1-1 =Pat Lundy (1) – 07:32 Jim Conacher (1) – 12:58 |2-1-2 =No scoring |2-2-1 =No scoring |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =Harry Watson (2) – 19:22 |2-3-2 =No scoring |goalie2-1 =Harry Lumley |goalie2-2 =Frank Brimsek

|3-1-1 =No scoring |3-1-2 =Milt Schmidt (1) – 02:50 |3-2-1 =No scoring |3-2-2 =Woody Dumart (1) – 04:51 |3-3-1 =12:42 – Fern Gauthier (1) 13:25 – Carl Liscombe (1) |3-3-2 =Pat Egan (2) – 00:25 Milt Schmidt (2) – 01:51 Woody Dumart (2) – 11:10 |goalie3-1 =Harry Lumley |goalie3-2 =Frank Brimsek

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =Bobby Bauer (1) – 02:08 Woody Dumart (3) – 14:54 |4-2-1 =No scoring |4-2-2 =No scoring |4-3-1 =11:00 – Fern Gauthier (2) |4-3-2 =Bep Guidolin (2) – 04:08 Terry Reardon (1) – 11:30 |goalie4-1 =Harry Lumley |goalie4-2 =Frank Brimsek

|5-1-1 =No scoring |5-1-2 =07:04 – Bep Guidolin (3) 14:03 – pp – Bobby Bauer (2) |5-2-1 =Fern Gauthier (3) – 11:00 |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =Adam Brown (1) – 12:55 Eddie Bruneteau (1) – 19:13 |5-3-2 =04:24 – Terry Reardon (2) |5-4-1 =No scoring |5-4-2 =09:51 – Don Gallinger (1) |goalie5-1 =Harry Lumley |goalie5-2 =Frank Brimsek

Stanley Cup Finals

Main article: 1946 Stanley Cup Finals

This was the fifth playoff meeting between these two teams with the teams splitting the four previous series. They last met in the 1943 Stanley Cup Semifinals where Boston won in five games. Montreal won this year's ten game regular season series earning eleven of twenty points.

|1-1-1 =No scoring |1-1-2 =No scoring |1-2-1 =Bep Guidolin (4) – 05:09 Woody Dumart (4) – 08:02 |1-2-2 =00:21 – pp – Butch Bouchard (1) 03:19 – Bob Fillion (3) |1-3-1 =Jack Crawford (1) – 14:04 |1-3-2 =16:23 – Murph Chamberlain (3) |1-4-1 =No scoring |1-4-2 =09:08 – Maurice Richard (5) |goalie1-1 =Frank Brimsek |goalie1-2 =Bill Durnan

|2-1-1 =Pat Egan (3) – 10:55 |2-1-2 =01:06 – Elmer Lach (3) |2-2-1 =Bobby Bauer (3) – 03:04 |2-2-2 =No scoring |2-3-1 =No scoring |2-3-2 =10:10 – Butch Bouchard (2) |2-4-1 =No scoring |2-4-2 =16:55 – Jimmy Peters (3) |goalie2-1 =Frank Brimsek |goalie2-2 =Bill Durnan

|3-1-1 =11:01 – Bep Guidolin (5) |3-1-2 =Elmer Lach (4) – 10:14 Glen Harmon (1) – pp – 14:13 |3-2-1 =18:41 – Terry Reardon (3) |3-2-2 =No scoring |3-3-1 =No scoring |3-3-2 =Ken Mosdell (3) – 02:45 Dutch Hiller (3) – 05:18 |goalie3-1 =Frank Brimsek |goalie3-2 =Bill Durnan

|4-1-1 =No scoring |4-1-2 =No scoring |4-2-1 =08:05 – Murray Henderson (1) |4-2-2 =Maurice Richard (6) – 13:46 |4-3-1 =03:01 – Don Gallinger (2) |4-3-2 =Maurice Richard (7) – 04:04 |4-4-1 =15:13 – Terry Reardon (4) |4-4-2 =No scoring |goalie4-1 =Frank Brimsek |goalie4-2 =Bill Durnan

|5-1-1 =Bill Cowley (1) – p – 05:42 Bobby Bauer (4) – 14:01 |5-1-2 =09:55 – Bob Fillion (4) 15:51 – Elmer Lach (5) 18:28 – Ken Mosdell (4) |5-2-1 =Milt Schmidt (3) – 07:15 |5-2-2 =No scoring |5-3-1 =No scoring |5-3-2 =11:06 – Toe Blake (7) 14:05 – Murph Chamberlain (4) 17:13 – Dutch Hiller (4) |goalie5-1 =Frank Brimsek |goalie5-2 =Bill Durnan

Awards

The NHL changed the criteria for the Vezina Trophy to award it to the goaltender who plays the most games for the team which gives up the fewest goals in the season.

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: Dit Clapper
• Chicago Black Hawks: Johnny Gottselig
• Detroit Red Wings: Jack Adams
• Montreal Canadiens: Dick Irvin
• 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 1945–46 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Leo Reise Jr., Chicago Black Hawks
• George Gee, Chicago Black Hawks
• Jimmy Peters, Montreal Canadiens
• Cal Gardner, New York Rangers
• Edgar Laprade, New York Rangers
• Tony Leswick, New York Rangers
• Jimmy Thomson, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1945–46 (listed with their last team):

• Herb Cain, Boston Bruins (Last active Montreal Maroons player)
• Mike Karakas, Chicago Black Hawks
• Carl Liscombe, Detroit Red Wings
• Earl Seibert, Detroit Red Wings
• Flash Hollett, Detroit Red Wings (Last active Ottawa Senators player)
• Mud Bruneteau, Detroit Red Wings
• Syd Howe, Detroit Red Wings (last active Philadelphia Quakers player)
• Ott Heller, New York Rangers
• Lynn Patrick, New York Rangers
• Frank McCool, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Bob Davidson, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Sweeney Schriner, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Lorne Carr, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Mel Hill, Toronto Maple Leafs

References

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

;Notes

References

1. (September 19, 1945). "Pros Agree Not To Sign Juniors". Medicine Hat Daily News.
2. (May 17, 1946). "C.A.H.A. Wants Best Deal Possible". Lethbridge Herald.
3. (June 20, 1946). "C.A.H.A. and N.H.L. Reach Hockey Player Agreement". Winnipeg Free Press.
4. (December 30, 1946). "C.A.H.A. Not Satisfied". Winnipeg Tribune.
5. "Historical Rule Changes". NHL Enterprises, L. P..
6. {{harvnb. Boucher. Frayne. 1973
7. (January 2, 1946). "Allan Cup Finals Awarded To West". Winnipeg Tribune.