The 1947–48 NHL season was the 31st season of the National Hockey League. Six teams played 60 games each. 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

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).

Semifinals

(1) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (3) Boston Bruins 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.

(2) Detroit Red Wings vs. (4) New York Rangers

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 Finals.

Stanley Cup Finals

Awards

O'Brien Cup:(Stanley Cup runner-up) Detroit Red WingsPrince of Wales Trophy:(Top regular season record) Toronto Maple LeafsArt Ross Trophy:(Top scorer) Elmer Lach, Montreal CanadiensCalder Memorial Trophy:(Top first-year player) Jim McFadden, Detroit Red WingsHart Trophy:(Most valuable player) Bud O'Connor, New York RangersLady Byng Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) Bud O'Connor, New York RangersVezina Trophy:(Goaltender of team with lowest GAA) Turk Broda, Toronto Maple Leafs

All-Star teams First team   Position   Second teamTurk Broda, Toronto Maple Leafs GFrank Brimsek, Boston BruinsBill Quackenbush, Detroit Red Wings DKen Reardon, Montreal CanadiensJack Stewart, Detroit Red Wings DNeil Colville, New York RangersElmer Lach, Montreal Canadiens CBuddy O'Connor, New York RangersMaurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens RWBud Poile, Chicago Black HawksTed Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings LWGaye 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

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

Coaches Boston Bruins: Dit Clapper Chicago Black Hawks: Johnny Gottselig Detroit Red Wings: Tommy Ivan 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 1947–48 (listed with their first team): Ed Sandford, Boston Bruins Paul Ronty, Boston Bruins Metro Prystai, Chicago Black Hawks Marty Pavelich, Detroit Red Wings Red Kelly, Detroit Red Wings Floyd Curry, Montreal Canadiens Tom Johnson, Montreal Canadiens Gerry McNeil, Montreal Canadiens Doug Harvey, Montreal Canadiens Ed Kullman, New York Rangers Fleming MacKell, Toronto Maple Leafs Tod Sloan, Toronto Maple Leafs

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): John Quilty, Boston Bruins John Mariucci, Chicago Black Hawks Toe Blake, Montreal Canadiens Bryan Hextall, New York Rangers Phil Watson, New York Rangers Billy Taylor, New York Rangers Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs Nick Metz, Toronto Maple Leafs

See also 1947–48 NHL transactions List of Stanley Cup champions 1st National Hockey League All-Star Game National Hockey League All-Star Game Ice hockey at the 1948 Winter Olympics 1947 in sports 1948 in sports

References

Notes

External links Hockey Database