Now that I have caught up to my baseball dynasty and it is October of 1940 I will slow the pace and go into more detail on my recaps.
I will cross-post much of the material
here as the goal is to have my hockey, baseball and football fictional leagues run concurrently.
Before we begin the 1940-41 season here is a preview to help you get a little more familiar with the key players on each team.
OCTOBER 1940
NHL SEASON PREVIEW 1940-41
The National Hockey League is set to begin it's 24th season of operation in a few days and here is a look at each of the 8 teams. Most experts figure the Boston Bruins will return to the playoffs after a 1 year absence and the league's most successful team is pegged to battle with the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings for top spot in the league. Toronto is favoured to grab the fourth and final playoff spot leaving the Montreal Canadiens, Maroons, New York Americans and Chicago Blackhawks on the outside come the end of March.
BOSTON BRUINS: With 10 Stanley Cup banners and 22 playoff appearances in 24 years the Bruins are the NHL's model franchise. The Bruins seemed to make a seemless transfer from their stars of the 1920's - Keegan Small, Andy Krueckl and Boris Vrabel - to the modern day and a huge reason for that success was the goaltending of Andre Ravelli.
Ravelli did not break into the NHL until 1931-32 at the age of 28 and has played virtually every game for the Bruins since then. He is now 38 and showing signs of slowing down as his rising goals against average and dropping save percentage the last couple of seasons have indicated. He is still the only experienced goalie in the Bruins system and will be once again counted on to lead the team. Missing the playoffs last season and posting the worst numbers of his career has led many to speculate he may be at the end of the road but he may also use that adversity to motivate him to have one more great season.
The Bruins roster from last year remains almost unchanged with the lone newcomer likely to be 19 year old defenseman Derek Rydall. Rydall averaged over a point a game with the Flin Flon Bombers in junior but saw his season cut short last year thanks to a devasting knee injury. He is recovered and looked like he would fit in nicely as the point man on the Bruins powerplay. The big question is does he have the experience to take a regular shift five-on-five this year.
The offensive leader for Boston is 30 year old winger Neil Frank. His point production dipped to 68 last season but he is still the only Bruin who consistantly ranks among the league scoring leaders. Frank is joined on the top line by 23 year old Gabryel Roy, who is entering his 4th season with the Bruins and scored a career high 44 points last year, and 28 year old Matt Jambrosich. Jambrosich, who had a career high 57 points last year, is a former Toronto Maple Leaf and has won scoring titles in both the CJHL and AHL.
CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS: With 2 Stanley Cups and playoff berths each of the past 3 seasons the Blackhawks have enjoyed modest success through the years. The big news in the off-season was the decision to trade their second leading scorer from last year Etienne Chicoine (40-35-75) to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for 32 year old Jarryd Barczai and a prospect. Barczai had 65 points for Montreal last year and should make a good number two center behind Greg Rennie, the 28 year old who had a breakout season last year and led the league in scoring with 91 points.
The leader on the blueline is 27 year old Keith Hansen, who had 57 points last season and will play over 25 minutes a game. 25 year old Lenny Slotkowski was a 5th overall pick and finally got a chance to be a number one NHL goalie last season. The Hawks hope he will improve on his 3.46 GAA and .881 save percentage this time around.
DETROIT RED WINGS: The Wings were the league doormat for much of the 1920's but the club has been much better the past decade, making 7 straight playoff appearances and winning a pair of Stanley Cup titles. However, the retirement of Tom Nemec over the summer leaves a huge hole on their blueline. As a 40 year old last season Nemec still put up 72 points to cap a career that saw him scoring 1187 points in 1635 career NHL games while winning 3 Norris Trophy's and 4 League MVP awards.
Nemec's retirement gives 21 year old Ben Gerber a shot as a regular on the Detroit blueline. Gerber had 14 points in 41 games in the Motor City last year. The pressure will be on 24 year old Andrew Brown (8-29-37) who moves up to the top D-pair with veteran Joey Chapman (14-30-44) and will be counted on to quarterback the powerplay.
All of the key forwards return including the top line of 31 year old Anthony Manca(34-45-79) between 25 year old Cody McCann (31-38-69) and 28 year old Kingston Morrison (33-30-63). Captain Austin Shabaga (22-19-41) has seen his production dip in recent years but he will provide leadership. 23 year old Lenny Larson, who won a CJHL scoring title with Sudbury a few years back, may get a chance to show he is NHL ready.
In net the Wings have veteran Dylan Turnbull. Actually the 40 year old is well beyond veteran status. He has been the Wings goaltender since 1919-20 and leads all NHL goalies in games played and losses. His lifetime record is 610-705-235 but he is coming off of a 44 win season that saw him post a 2.80 GAA and a .905 save percentage. He has won the Vezina Trophy each of the past 7 seasons.
MONTREAL CANADIENS: Positives have been few and far between for the Canadiens. The team has never won a Stanley Cup and only made 4 playoff appearances in 24 years. The good news is that last year was one of the four.
They dealt their leading scorer from last year to Chicago in exchange for French-Canadian Etienne Chicoine and he should be Montreal's best player this year. The Habs are a young team and a return to the playoffs this year is unlikely unless 25 year old goaltender Max Holden carries them their. The former Sudbury Wolve already has 4 full seasons and 326 career NHL games under his belt. He had a 3.03 GAA and a .906 save percentage a year ago.
MONTREAL MAROONS: The Maroons have fallen on hard times, missing the playoffs each of the past two years but prior they challenged Boston for the top team of the past decade, winning 3 cups in a 4 year span and making 8 straight playoff appearances. Last year the Maroons finished last for just the second time in franchise history.
With an eye towards rebuilding the Maroons traded 39 year old winger Adam Babych to Toronto for a pair of minor leaguers. Babych was the face of the franchise for much of his career but he dropped to a career low 26 points last season. 35 year old Anton Kazanski (15-43-58) is still around and he led the team in scoring last year.
Goaltending is a big issue as 30 year old Dillon Benoit struggled last year, posting the lowest save percentage out of the league's starting goalies. A number of rookies both up front and on the blueline will be given a chance to show what they can do but the odds are greatly stacked against the Maroons making the playoffs this season.
NEW YORK AMERICANS: They challenged the Boston Bruins for the title of league's best team for the first 15 years of the NHL, winning 3 Cups, but the past decade has not been kind to the Americans as they have not played a playoff game since 1932-33.
The Americans are led by their 4 veterans but the on-ice impact of those 4 is quickly waning. Wingers Les Gerling and Jeff Brace are both 39 now and are no where near as productive as they were in their prime. Brace, who spent most of his career in Boston before moving to the Americans in 1933-34 has 1317 career points including 45 earned last year. Gerling, who is the only player with more career points than Brace (1343) and is the all-time career goal leader with 578, spent most of his career in Chicago before being dealt to the Americans in 1935-36. He posted a career worst 6 goals and 18 points last year.
Stronach is a 41 year old rearguard who was dealt to the Americans from Chicago at the same time as Gerling. He is the team captain but saw his ice time reduced last year as he was dropped from the top D pairing to the third line. Tyler Kennedy is the only one of the four who is expected to play a major role again this season. The goaltender played 78 games last year and is the all-time leader in wins and shutouts.
NEW YORK RANGERS: The Rangers recently had a string of 5 straight last place finishes but they broke that with 2 straight playoff appearances including their first Stanley Cup title last year. They have a young team with a load of talent and should be a factor for the next few years at the very least. If I was picking the next dynasty in the NHL it would definitely be the Rangers.
26 year old goaltender Bill Horvath is in his prime and coming off of 2 strong seasons as a starter. 23 year old defenseman Joey Johnson won a Norris Trophy at the age of 21 and seems to be getting better every year. The former Flin Flon Bomber had 38 points last season and plays regularly against the other teams top line.
Up front the Blueshirts are led by 32 year old Robert Dirk, the oldest player on the team. Dirk had 72 points a year ago and may improve on that total this year as his young linemates Nicolas Frenette and Dominick Berube gain experience. The 21 year old Berube had 62 points and was named NHL rookie of the year last season. Berube has also won rookie of the year honours in the AHL and the CJHL. Frenette, 24, is a former CJHL MVP and had 71 points for the Rangers last season.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS: An almost forgotten franchise, the Leafs have just meandered through the years. In the early days they made 6 playoff appearances in the first 7 years of the league but generally just snuck in as the 4th place team. Since then they have been stuck as an almost middle of the pack team...occasionally sneaking into the final playoff spot but generally finishing 5th or 6th. Not good enough to make the playoffs but not quite bad enough to get the top draft pick. (Sounds a lot like real life doesn't it).
The Leafs have a superstar in 29 year old Chris Maxwell. He is the greatest scorer in CJHL history and seems to alternate between great and average seasons in the NHL. Here are his point totals for the past 4 years: 110,68,95,69. If the pattern continues he will dominate the league this year and that may be enough to grab the final playoff spot. The Leafs also are hoping to get offense from another gifted young center in 23 year old Chris Bishop, who had 70 points two years ago but was limited to just 8 games last year because of a back injury.
Offense has rarely been an issue for Toronto in recent years. Keeping the puck out of their own net has been the problem. Goaltender Marc-Andre Baribeau has spent over a decade as the Leafs starting netminder but he has had some rough years, although he could sue his defense for non-support on many occasions.