1936-37
OFFSEASON
It might be the end of the road for 36 year old John Ross Roach. The goaltender won a Vezina Trophy just two years ago with the New York Rangers but lost his job to youngster Derek Garbutt and was dealt to the cross-town Americans last October. He spent all of last season in the minors and has now been released by the Americans organization. Roach is the alltime leader among goaltenders with 540 NHL games to his credit and also is number one in wins with 269. He made his NHL debut in 1921 and spent 7 years with Toronto before moving to the Rangers in 1928.
The Rangers also lost a pair of key stars to retirement as both Frank Boucher and Ching Johnson decided to hang up the skates. The loss of Boucher especially hurts as the 34 year old led the league in scoring last year. In 471 career NHL games, all but 24 of them with the Rangers, Boucher scored 166 goals and added 288 assists. The 37 year old Johnson spent his entire 352 game NHL career with Rangers. He won the Norris Trophy as the league's best defensman in 1932-33 and finishes with 51 goals and 100 assists.
Other notable retirements include Toronto defenseman Hap Day, a 477 game NHL veteran who played a key role in each of the Leafs 5 straight Stanley Cups to start the sim, longtime Bruin rearguard Lional Hitchman and Montreal Maroons winger Dave Trotter, who scored 101 goals in 361 career games including 12 last season.
Rookies joining the league this season include Boston Bruins center Milt Schmidt and 21 year old Syl Apps, who is looking to crack the Leafs lineup.
The only trade of note this off-season saw the New York Americans acquire 33 year old center Nels Stewart from the Montreal Maroons in exchange for minor league goaltender Alex Wood. Stewart has spent 11 seasons with the Maroons and has 216 goals in 434 career NHL games. Last season he suited up for 34 contests with the Maroons and finished with 6 goals and 15 points.
REGULAR SEASON
Howie Morenz became the first player to reach the 300 career goal mark as he scored his milestone marker on February 11 in a 4-0 Montreal Canadiens victory over Lorne Chabot and the Detroit Red Wings. The 34 year old would finish the season with 17 goals giving him 305 for his career. Morenz is also the all-time leader in points with 561. Teammate Aurel Joliat is second in both categories with 271 goals and 473 points.
Longtime Toronto defenseman King Clancy also set a record by playing in his 600th career NHL game. Clancy ended the season with 632 career games under his belt. Aurel Joliat is second in games played with 608.
Despite a serious injury to Joe Primeau, who nearly lost an eye after being clipped with a high stick just 8 games into the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs did not miss a beat. Rookie Syl Apps took over for Primeau on the top line between Charlie Conacher and Busher Jackson and went on to have a spectacular season finishing second to Conacher in the scoring race with 67 points.
The Montreal Maroons beat out the Canadiens for the second playoff spot in the Canadian Division while Boston and the Rangers were once again the top teams in the American Division. The Rangers slipped closer to the pack as they struggled to replace the scoring of the now retired Frank Boucher. Boston, on the other hand, looks to be a team on the rise as veteran leaders Eddie Shore, Marty Barry and Dit Clapper are starting to take a supporting role behind young stars such as Herb Cain, Bobby Bauer, Milt Schmidt, Woody Dumart and Jimmy Orlando, who was aquired early in the season from Detroit.
Code:
AMERICAN DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Boston Bruins 48 29 17 2 60
NY Rangers 48 23 23 2 48
Detroit Red Wings 48 20 26 2 42
Chicago Black Hawks 48 20 27 1 41
CANADIAN DIVISION GP W L T PTS
Toronto Maple Leafs 48 39 8 1 79
Montreal Maroons 48 26 22 0 52
Montreal Canadiens 48 17 29 2 36
NY Americans 48 12 34 2 26
SCORING LEADERS TEAM GP G A PTS
Charlie Conacher TOR 45 29 41 70
Syl Apps TOR 48 24 43 67
Paul Haynes MM 48 22 39 61
Babe Siebert MM 48 12 37 49
Marty Barry BOS 48 19 28 47
Neil Colville NYR 48 19 27 46
Dit Clapper BOS 42 17 29 46
Busher Jackson TOR 46 21 24 45
Bobby Bauer BOS 45 18 26 44
Red Horner TOR 44 11 32 43
PLAYOFFS
The Montreal Maroons would come as close as one could to winning a series only to see it slip away. The Maroons lead the New York Rangers 3 games to one and had a 4-1 lead with 10 minutes remaining in Game 5 only to see the Rangers roar back and tie the game before Gord Pettinger ended it 5-4 in New York's favour with an overtime marker. Two nights later the Rangers evened the series at 3 with a 2-1 home ice victory. New York scored twice in the third period to secure the win. Game seven would also end 2-1 as Montreal again carried a 1-0 lead into the third period only to see the Rangers get goals from Pettinger and Ray Getliffe to win the series and advance to the finals.
In the other semi-final the Leafs top line of Syl Apps (3-9-12), Charlie Conacher (8-4-12) and Busher Jackson (5-6-11) was unstoppable as Toronto topped Boston in 6 games.
The finals would be a rematch of last season as the Toronto Maple Leafs chased their 6th straight Stanley Cup. Toronto would be forced to use backup goaltender Benny Grant, who played just 2 games this season, after Alec Connell was injured in the Boston series. The Leafs made it easy for their young goaltender in Game One by scoring 5 times and outshooting New York 55-28 in a 5-0 victory. King Clancy had 3 assists and Bob Davidson scored twice to pace the Leafs offense.
Game Two was more of the same as Grant faced just 13 Rangers shots and stopped them all in a 3-0 Leafs win. Clancy would score once and add an assist in the win.
Gordie Drillon had a hat trick and added an assist as the Leafs opened a 3 games to none lead with a 5-2 victory over the Rangers in New York and two nights later the Leafs would win their 6th straight Cup with a 4-3 win that needed an overtime goal from Lynn Patrick to decide the contest.
Rookie Syl Apps led all playoff performers with 16 points while linemate Charlie Conacher had 9 goals to lead in that category. The Conn Smythe Award went to a defenseman as King Clancy (4-8-12) was named the top performer of the playoffs.
Apps became the first player to be named League MVP in the same year he was awarded the Rookie of the Year award:
CALDER: Syl Apps Toronto
HART: Syl Apps Toronto
NORRIS: Red Horner Toronto (44 GP 11-32-43)
VEZINA: Tiny Thompson Boston (48 GP 20-16-3, 2.37)
ART ROSS: Charlie Conacher Toronto (45 GP 29-41-70)
The game does not select the all-star team but I will start naming first and second team all-stars
Code:
POS FIRST TEAM SECOND TEAM
G Tiny Thompson Boston Alec Connell Toronto
D Babe Siebert Mon Maroons King Clancy Toronto
D Red Horner Toronto Eddie Shore Boston
C Syl Apps Toronto Paul Haynes Mon Maroons
LW Busher Jackson Toronto Neil Colville NY Rangers
RW Charlie Conacher Toronto Dit Clapper Boston