1947–48 NHL season

1947–48 NHL season
League National Hockey League
Sport Ice hockey
Duration October 15, 1947 – April 14, 1948
Number of games 60
Number of teams 6
Regular season
Season champion Toronto Maple Leafs
Season MVP Bud O'Connor (New York Rangers)
Top scorer Elmer Lach (Montreal Canadiens)
Stanley Cup
Champions Toronto Maple Leafs
  Runners-up Detroit Red Wings

The 1947–48 NHL season was the 31st season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 60 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs were the Stanley Cup winners. They defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to none. This season saw the introduction of a new trophy – Art Ross Trophy – that would be handed out to the player who scored the most points during the regular season.

Regular season

The season saw the return of the National Hockey League All-Star Game, an idea that, although proposed in the previous season, came into fruition this year. The all-star game, however, saw a bad ankle injury to Chicago Black Hawks forward Bill Mosienko that nearly ended his career. Other stars would retire, ending both the Montreal Canadiens' Punch line and the Boston Bruins' Kraut Line. However, this season saw the creation of the Detroit Red Wings' Production Line. The policy of having players raise their hockey sticks to signify that a goal was scored was also initiated in this season, at the suggestion of Frank Patrick, with Habs forward Billy Reay being the first to do on November 13, 1947. The season also saw Boston's Don Gallinger suspended indefinitely pending an investigation of gambling activities and the New York Rangers' Billy "The Kid" Taylor being expelled for life for gambling.

Seven games into the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Black Hawks made, at that time, the biggest trade in NHL history. The Maple Leafs sent five players to the Black Hawks in trade for Max Bentley and rookie winger Cy Thomas. Thomas only played eight games that year but Bentley handed to the Leafs a much-needed offensive boost that helped propel the team to first overall and an eventual Stanley Cup.

The New York Rangers decided to make a trade to improve their fortunes and sent Hal Laycoe, Joe Bell, and George Robertson to Montreal in exchange for Buddy O'Connor and defenceman Frank Eddolls. Montreal missed O'Connor, as their goal-scoring plummeted. Ken Mosdell was out from the start of the season with a broken arm, Rocket Richard had trouble with a bad knee and Murph Chamberlain broke his leg. In an attempt to boost the goal-scoring, Montreal traded Jimmy Peters and Johnny Quilty to Boston in exchange for Joe Carveth, but the rot continued. However, the worst occurred on January 11, 1948, when the Canadiens played the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Habs lost more than a game when Bill Juzda checked captain Toe Blake into the boards, breaking Blake's ankle and ending his career. It was also the end of the famed "Punch Line". (Ironically, that same night, Johnny Quilty's career was ended with a compound fracture of the leg). The Canadiens missed the playoffs for the first time since 1940, and Bill Durnan, for the only time in his career, failed to win the Vezina Trophy. This season was also the last season in which a goaltender was allowed to be named captain of their team. Bill Durnan was the last goaltender in NHL history to be captain. Toronto's Turk Broda won the Vezina this season.

Final standings

National Hockey League[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Toronto Maple Leafs 60 32 15 13 182 143 +39 77
2 Detroit Red Wings 60 30 18 12 187 148 +39 72
3 Boston Bruins 60 23 24 13 167 168 −1 59
4 New York Rangers 60 21 26 13 176 201 −25 55
5 Montreal Canadiens 60 20 29 11 147 169 −22 51
6 Chicago Black Hawks 60 20 34 6 195 225 −30 46

Playoffs

All dates in 1948

The first round of the playoffs saw third place Boston Bruins matched up with first place Toronto Maple Leafs and fourth place New York Rangers against second place Detroit Red Wings.

Toronto vs. Boston

Toronto defeated Boston four games to one, although Boston kept it closer than the series tally would indicate. Three of the five games were decided by a single goal.

NY Rangers vs. Detroit

It looked initially to be a close series as, after the Blueshirts lost the first two games, the Rangers won the next two to tie the series. Detroit then took the next two to win the series in six games to qualify for the Final. It was Detroit's fourth time in six years.

Finals

Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
April 7Detroit 3Toronto 5
April 10Detroit 2Toronto 4
April 11Toronto 2Detroit 0
April 14Toronto 7Detroit 2

Toronto wins best-of-seven series four games to none.

Playoff bracket

Semi-finals Stanley Cup Final
      
1 Toronto Maple Leafs 4
3 Boston Bruins 1
1 Toronto Maple Leafs 4
2 Detroit Red Wings 0
2 Detroit Red Wings 4
4 New York Rangers 2

Awards

O'Brien Cup:
(Stanley Cup runner-up) 		Detroit Red Wings
Prince of Wales Trophy:
(Top regular season record) 		Toronto Maple Leafs
Art Ross Trophy:
(Top scorer) 		Elmer Lach, Montreal Canadiens
Calder Memorial Trophy:
(Top first-year player) 		Jim McFadden, Detroit Red Wings
Hart Trophy:
(Most valuable player) 		Bud O'Connor, New York Rangers
Lady Byng Trophy:
(Excellence and sportsmanship) 		Bud O'Connor, New York Rangers
Vezina Trophy:
(Goaltender of team with lowest GAA) 		Turk Broda, Toronto Maple Leafs

All-Star teams

First team   Position   Second team
Turk Broda, Toronto Maple Leafs G Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins
Bill Quackenbush, Detroit Red Wings D Ken Reardon, Montreal Canadiens
Jack Stewart, Detroit Red Wings D Neil Colville, New York Rangers
Elmer Lach, Montreal Canadiens C Buddy O'Connor, New York Rangers
Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens RW Bud Poile, Chicago Black Hawks
Ted Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings LW Gaye Stewart, Chicago Black Hawks

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player Team GP G A Pts
Elmer Lach Montreal Canadiens 60 30 31 61
Buddy O'Connor New York Rangers 60 24 36 60
Doug Bentley Chicago Black Hawks 60 20 37 57
Gaye Stewart Toronto Maple Leafs / Chicago Black Hawks 61 27 29 56
Max Bentley Black Hawks / Toronto Maple Leafs 59 26 28 54
Bud Poile Toronto Maple Leafs / Chicago Black Hawks 58 25 29 54
Maurice Richard Montreal Canadiens 53 28 25 53
Syl Apps Toronto Maple Leafs 55 26 27 53
Ted Lindsay Detroit Red Wings 60 33 19 52
Roy Conacher Chicago Black Hawks 52 22 27 49

Source: NHL[2]

Leading goaltenders

GP = Games Played, TOI = Time On Ice (minutes), GA = Goals Against, SO = Shutouts, GAA = Goals Against Average

Player Team GP TOI GA SO GAA
Turk Broda Toronto Maple Leafs 60 3600 143 5 2.38
Harry Lumley Detroit Red Wings 60 3592 147 7 2.46
Bill Durnan Montreal Canadiens 59 3505 162 5 2.77
Frank Brimsek Boston Bruins 60 3600 168 3 2.80
Jim Henry New York Rangers 48 2800 153 2 3.19
Emile Francis Chicago Black Hawks 54 3240 183 1 3.39

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1947–48 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1947–48 (listed with their last team):

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ "1947–1948 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  2. ↑ Dinger 2011, p. 148.

External links

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