The 1944–45 NHL season was the 28th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams played 50 games each. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in seven games against the Detroit Red Wings.

League business In October 1944, Lester Patrick sponsored W. G. Hardy to become NHL president, replacing Red Dutton who wanted to step down. Patrick credited Hardy for being largely responsible for the current professional-amateur agreement between the NHL and the amateur associations in the International Ice Hockey Association, and said he was "temperamentally suited and has an excellent record as an executive of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association".

Regular season It was the year of the "Punch Line" as Rocket Richard scored 50 goals in 50 games, breaking Joe Malone's record of 44 goals, and when Richard scored his 45th, Malone was on hand to present him with the record-breaking puck. Richard had a five-goal, three-assist night against Detroit at the Montreal Forum on December 28, 1944. His centreman, Elmer Lach, though, won the scoring race with 26 goals and 80 points. Toe Blake finished third with 29 goals, 38 assists, and for the second time, an entire line finished first, second, third scoring. The previous time had been in 1939–40, when the Boston Bruins' Kraut Line of Milt Schmidt, Bobby Bauer and Woody Dumart accomplished the feat. Schmidt finished with 52 points in 48 games that year, and Bauer and Dumart 43 apiece.

Montreal dared not loan Paul Bibeault to Toronto again with his fine year the previous season and loaned him instead to Boston. But the Maple Leafs came up with a fine rookie named Frank McCool who won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's top rookie. For the first time, a team produced three consecutive top rookies. McCool and Chicago netminder Mike Karakas tied for the league lead in shutouts with four each.

Bill Durnan won his second consecutive Vezina Trophy with Montreal. Flash Hollett became the first defenceman to score twenty goals in one season.Hockey's Book of Firsts, p.23, James Duplacey, JG Press, The record would stand until Bobby Orr broke it several decades later.

A major trade that occurred this year was Chicago trading their great defenceman Earl Seibert to Detroit for Don Grosso, Cully Simon and Byron "Butch" McDonald. After team owner Frederic McLaughlin died, it was just a matter of time before Bill Tobin would trade Seibert, as the two did not get along.

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) Montreal Canadiens vs. (3) Toronto Maple Leafs

The Montreal Canadiens finished first in the league with 80 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs finished third with 52 points. This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams with Montreal winning two of the three previous series. They last met in previous year's Stanley Cup Semifinals where the Canadiens won in five games. Toronto won this season's ten-game regular-season series earning eleven of twenty points.

(2) Detroit Red Wings vs. (4) Boston Bruins The Detroit Red Wings finished second in the league with 67 points. The Boston Bruins finished fourth with 36 points. This was the fourth playoff meeting between these two teams with Detroit winning two of the three previous series. They last met in the 1943 Stanley Cup Finals where the Red Wings won in four games. Detroit won this season's ten-game regular-season series earning nineteen of twenty points.

Stanley Cup Finals

This was the eighth playoff meeting between these two teams with Toronto winning four of the seven previous series. They last met in the 1943 Stanley Cup Semifinals where Detroit won in six games. Detroit won this season's ten-game regular-season series earning seventeen of twenty points.

Awards +Award winnersO'Brien Cup:(Stanley Cup runner-up) Detroit Red WingsPrince of Wales Trophy:(Regular season champion) Montreal CanadiensCalder Memorial Trophy:(Best first-year player) Frank McCool, Toronto Maple LeafsHart Trophy:(Most valuable player) Elmer Lach, Montreal CanadiensLady Byng Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) Bill Mosienko, Chicago Black HawksVezina Trophy:(Fewest goals allowed) Bill Durnan, Montreal Canadiens

+All-Star teams First team   Position   Second teamBill Durnan, Montreal Canadiens GMike Karakas, Chicago Black HawksEmile Bouchard, Montreal Canadiens DGlen Harmon, Montreal CanadiensFlash Hollett, Detroit Red Wings DBabe Pratt, Toronto Maple LeafsElmer Lach, Montreal Canadiens CBill Cowley, Boston BruinsMaurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens RWBill Mosienko, Chicago Black HawksToe Blake, Montreal Canadiens LWSyd Howe, Detroit Red WingsDick Irvin, Montreal Canadiens CoachJack Adams, Detroit Red Wings

Player statistics

Scoring leaders Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes Player Team GP G A Pts PIM Elmer Lach Montreal Canadiens 50 26 54 80 37 Maurice Richard Montreal Canadiens 50 50 23 73 46 Toe Blake Montreal Canadiens 49 29 38 67 35 Bill Cowley Boston Bruins 49 25 40 65 12 Ted Kennedy Toronto Maple Leafs 49 29 25 54 14 Bill Mosienko Chicago Black Hawks 50 28 26 54 0 Joe Carveth Detroit Red Wings 50 26 28 54 6 Ab DeMarco New York Rangers 50 24 30 54 10 Clint Smith Chicago Black Hawks 50 23 31 54 0 Syd Howe Detroit Red Wings 46 17 36 53 6 Source: NHL

Leading goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts Player Team GP MIN GA GAA W L T SOBill Durnan Montreal Canadiens 50 3000 121 2.42 38 8 4 1Frank McCool Toronto Maple Leafs 50 3000 161 3.22 24 22 4 4Harry Lumley Detroit Red Wings 37 2220 119 3.22 24 10 3 1Connie Dion Detroit Red Wings 12 720 39 3.25 6 4 2 0Mike Karakas Chicago Black Hawks 48 2880 187 3.90 12 29 7 4Harvey Bennett Boston Bruins 24 1470 103 4.20 10 12 2 0Paul Bibeault Boston Bruins 26 1530 116 4.55 6 18 2 0Ken McAuley New York Rangers 46 2760 227 4.93 11 25 10 1

Coaches Boston Bruins: Art Ross Chicago Black Hawks: Johnny Gottselig Detroit Red Wings: Jack Adams 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 1944–45 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): Fern Flaman, Boston Bruins Murray Henderson, Boston Bruins Pete Horeck, Chicago Black Hawks Ted Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings Bill Ezinicki, Toronto Maple Leafs Frank McCool, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1944–45 (listed with their last team): Bill Thoms, Boston Bruins Cully Dahlstrom, Chicago Black Hawks Mush March, Chicago Black Hawks Johnny Gottselig, Chicago Black Hawks Kilby MacDonald, New York Rangers Bucko McDonald, New York Rangers Jack McLean, Toronto Maple Leafs John McCreedy, Toronto Maple Leafs

See also 1944–45 NHL transactions List of Stanley Cup champions 1944 in sports 1945 in sports

References

Notes

External links Hockey Database NHL.com