1938-39
The New York Rangers went from last the year before to second place thanks to the decision to give the number one goaltending job to Bill Horvath. The 24 year old had never played more than 19 games a season for the Blueshirts but this year he appeared in 68 games and posted a league best 2.87 goals against average. The Rangers had limited offensive talent but a big chunk of it started with the puck on the stick of 21 year old rearguard Joey Johnson. The former first overall pick out of Flin Flon had a breakout season in his second year in the NHL, tallying 16 goals and 32 assists.
Offense was over-rated this year, at least from the league's highest scoring team as the Toronto Maple Leafs, despite a return to form from Chris Maxwell and having 6 of the league's top 10 scorers, missed the playoffs.
Boston, a fixture in the postseason, qualified yet again by leading the league in points but the Bruins had an epic playoff collapse, blowing a 3-games to none lead and falling in 7 in the semi-finals to Chicago. The other semi-final also went 7 games as Detroit beat the Rangers. The finals were much closer than the 4 games to one Detroit victory might indicate - four of the 5 games were decided by just one goal and 3 of them in overtime.
It was Detroit's second Cup in 3 seasons. We have not had a repeat winner, which used to be commonplace, since the Maroons in 1932 and 33.
Code:
1938-39 STANDINGS W L T PTS
Boston 39 23 16 94
NY Rangers 37 28 13 87
Detroit 34 26 18 86
Chicago 35 29 14 84
Mon Maroons 32 33 13 77
Toronto 33 36 9 75
NY Americans 28 36 14 70
Mon Canadiens 21 48 9 51
SCORING LEADERS TM G A PTS
Chris Maxwell TOR 33 62 95
Andy Krueckl BOS 35 50 85
Neil Frank BOS 36 47 83
Anton Kazanski MM 36 40 76
Joey Dufour TOR 28 44 72
Darren Vaness TOR 21 50 71
Finlay Akervall TOR 39 31 70
Chris Bishop TOR 33 37 70
Boris Vrabel TOR 14 56 70
Sherman Ayers MM 11 59 70
AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Just like the parent Boston Bruins, the Rochester Americans are building a dynasty in the AHL. The Amerks won the Calder Cup for a record 6th time including their third in a row. Rochester finished third in the regular season but beat second place Cleveland in a 7 game semi-final before disposing of fourth place Springfield, which had upset Pittsburgh in the other semi, in 6 games.
CANADIAN JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
The Montreal Jr Canadiens won the Memorial Cup for the 6th time, 3 more than any other franchise. The Jr Habs have been the marquee squad of the CJHL, missing the playoffs only twice in their history. The Jr Canadiens knocked off defending champion London in the finals. Only the Soo Greyhounds, with 101, and Quebec, with 96, had more points the the 94 amassed during the regular season by Montreal.
The playoff hero was Montreal's Carl Gagnon. A 20 year old winger who began his junior career with Quebec before being dealt to the Canadiens last season, Gagnon had 18 goals and 42 points in 24 playoff games to be named the post-season MVP. He was a 4th round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks 2 years ago.
Sault Ste Marie 17 year old winger Hugh Guy had a second straight 100-plus point season and led the league in scoring with 105. Guy was selected 5th overall in the NHL draft after the season by the Chicago Blackhawks. The top pick was Josh Cassidy, a leftwinger who had 36 goals and 78 points for the Toronto Marlboros this season. He was taken by the Montreal Canadiens.
1939-40
Long-time followers of the league would think the standings were posted upside down as powerhouse Boston finally missed the playoffs for the first time since 1918 and for the first time in league history neither the Bruins, Americans or Maroons - three teams that combined for 18 of the 22 Stanley Cups awarded - will be in the playoffs. Instead three teams that have suffered through some very lean seasons made the playoffs. The Red Wings were the worst team of the 1920's but have won a couple of Cups recently and finished with the league's best record. The Rangers made it two playoff years in a row after a number of seasons in the league basement and the Montreal Canadiens made the playoffs for just the fourth time in team history and the first since 1931.
Some new names started to appear on the scoring leaderboard as most of the games stars from the first decade of the league are now long retired. Chicago's Greg Rennie led the league in scoring as the 27 year old broke his previous career best by 22 points. Rennie played 4 seasons in Regina of the CJHL before being drafted by the Leafs 13th overall in the 1930 rookie draft. He bounced between Cleveland of the AHL and Toronto for 5 seasons before finding new life after a trade to Chicago.
One old name that is still going strong at the age of 40 is Detroit defenseman Tom Nemec. The 4 time league MVP has been a fixture on the Wings blueline since 1918-19 and had an amazing season considering his age - finishing 5th in league scoring.
In the playoffs the Red Wings outlasted Chicago in seven hard fought back and forth games while the Rangers dispatched the Canadiens in 5 games. 5 would be the magic number for New York as the Rangers won their first Stanley Cup in 5 games over the Wings. Makes you wondering if years from now we will be listening to rival fans chanting 1940! 1940! at the Rangers. 25 year old winger Keenan Kord, who had 37 points in the regular season, was the playoff hero for the Rangers with 2 goals in a 4-3 victory in the deciding game and 13 points in 10 playoff games.
Code:
1939-40 STANDINGS W L T PTS
Detroit 44 20 14 102
NY Rangers 38 25 15 91
Mon Canadiens 35 34 9 79
Chicago 28 32 18 74
Toronto 29 35 14 72
Boston 31 38 9 71
NY Americans 28 36 14 70
Mon Maroons 27 40 11 65
SCORING LEADERS TM G A PTS
Greg Rennie CHI 33 58 91
Anthony Manca DET 34 45 79
Etienne Chicoine CHI 40 35 75
Ryan Dirk NYR 38 34 72
Tom Nemec DET 12 60 72
Nicolas Frenette NYR 21 50 71
Cody McCann DET 31 38 69
Chris Maxwell TOR 29 40 69
Neil Frank BOS 31 37 68
AMERICAN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Rochester led the AHL in regular season points but the Americans fell short of winning their fourth straight Calder Cup as second place Providence knocked the Amerks off in a 6 game final. Jordan Bickell, who was traded by the New York Rangers to the Montreal Maroons organization in exchange for NHL playoff hero Keenan Kord, had a huge year for the Pittsburgh Hornets, leading the league in scoring with 91 points - becoming just the third AHL player to top the 90 point mark in a season.
CANADIAN JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
Another dominant season by the Montreal Jr Canadiens as they finished with a league best 117 points (56-7-5) and then went 16-1 in the playoffs culminating with a 4 game sweep of the Western Conference champion Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
The story of the league was the breakout year by 19 year old Jr Canadiens center Frank Padish. After scoring 42 points last season and being drafted in the the third round by the NHL's Canadiens, Padish went on a tear, scoring 121 points including 59 goals in 68 games. His point total is the third highest single season mark in league history. He won the scoring title by 14 points over Peterborough's Kyle Barnes with the Greyhounds Hugh Guy third.
The NHL draft focused on the blueline as 5 of the top 8 picks including the first 3 were defenseman. The Maroons picked first and took Edmonton Oil Kings rearguard Patrick Mathers (6-27-33) number one followed by the Marlboros Ryan Wall (14-38-52) to the New York Americans and Boston took Flin Flon's Derek Rydall (7-35-42) third despite the fact Rydall missed half the season with a knee injury.