The 1936–37 NHL season was the 20th season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Eight teams each played 48 games. The Detroit Red Wings were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the New York Rangers three games to two in the final series.

League business Frank Calder had been naming the top rookies commencing with 1932–33. This year, he commenced buying a trophy for the top rookie and Syl Apps was this year's winner.

The Great Depression continued to take its toll on the NHL. At the beginning of the decade there were ten teams and in the years since two teams had folded. It appeared like the New York Americans were to become the third team but the NHL took steps to prevent that from happening. Instead of letting the team cease operating because of money and ownership problems the league assumed control of the team for the 1936–37 season. It was then that team owner Bill Dwyer sued. A settlement then allowed for Dwyer to own the team, run by the NHL, and that Dwyer would be given a chance to pay back his debts.

The Montreal Maroons, short of money, had to sell their star and team captain Hooley Smith to Boston. It was hoped that Carl Voss of the former Eagles would fill in adequately for him, but he came down with influenza and was not much help. However, Bob Gracie started scoring and the Maroons almost nipped the Canadiens for first place in the Canadian Division.

Regular season

Highlights The New York Americans had started in first place, but then their players came down with influenza and the team went downhill. But the worst blow was when Roy Worters suffered a hernia and had to retire. Alfie Moore and Lorne Chabot were not adequate replacements and the Amerks finished last in the Canadian Division.

On November 16, 1936, Hal Winkler made his NHL debut for the New York Rangers and gained a 1–0 shutout over the Montreal Maroons. He was the first goaltender to have a shutout in his NHL debut.Hockey's Book of Firsts, p.19, James Duplacey, JG Press, The Montreal Canadiens had hit the bottom in 1935–36, and Babe Siebert was obtained to shore up the defence. But the most loved of all movements was buying Howie Morenz back from the Rangers. The Canadiens went from last to first in the Canadian Division. Morenz was just hitting his stride in January 1937, when tragedy struck. On one of his hurtling rushes, he was being checked by Earl Seibert of Chicago when his left skate got caught in the dasher of the end boards, and Morenz suffered a badly fractured leg. After suffering a nervous breakdown worrying about if he would be able to come back, more bad luck occurred. On March 8, 1937, X-rays revealed that Howie had blood clots in his healing leg. An operation was scheduled for the next day, but when Howie ate a light supper and told the nurse he wanted to rest, in falling asleep his pallor suddenly changed and the nurse knew something was wrong. A blood clot had stopped his heart, and attempts to revive Howie failed. News of Morenz's death shocked the hockey world, and thousands filed past his bier, many in tears, to pay their last respects.

Beyond Morenz's tragic mishap, it was an injury-filled year for many stars. Already suffering from a bad back, Boston's Eddie Shore suffered a broken vertebra that cost him the remainder of the season. Charlie Conacher of the Maple Leafs repeatedly injured his wrist, costing him much of the season, and was never the same player thereafter. A series of minor injuries precipitated Lionel Conacher's decision to retire at year's end, while Sylvio Mantha and Roy Worters suffered career-ending injuries. Other stars who missed several weeks of time or had season-ending injuries included Red Wings captain Doug Young, Larry Aurie, Russ Blinco, Buzz Boll, Pit Lepine, Dave Trottier, Toe Blake and Art Chapman.

With five games left to play, Chicago owner Frederic McLaughlin, a partisan of American-born players, decided to field an all-American lineup, the first time in major senior hockey that this was done. With incumbent Mike Karakas in goal, the Black Hawks signed Ernest Klingbeil and Paul Schaefer on defence, with a line of Milt Brink centering Al Suomi and Bun Laprairie. The team went 1–3 with the sextet in the lineup.

Detroit, led by Vezina Trophy winning Normie Smith, finished first in the American Division.

Final standings

Playoffs

Playoff bracket The playoffs were modified, replacing all two-game total-goals series with best-of-three series in the "lower repechage" portion of the bracket. The top three teams in each division qualified for the playoffs. The two division winners met in a best-of-five Stanley Cup semifinal series. The divisional second-place teams and third-place teams played off in a best-of-three series to determine the participants for the other best-of-three semifinal series. The semifinal winners then played in a best-of-five Stanley Cup Finals (scores in the bracket indicate the number of games won in each series).

Quarterfinals

(A2) Boston Bruins vs. (C2) Montreal Maroons

(C3) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (A3) New York Rangers

Semifinals

(A1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (C1) Montreal Canadiens

(C2) Montreal Maroons vs. (A3) New York Rangers

Stanley Cup Finals

Awards The "Rookie of the Year" award now had a trophy, the Calder Trophy, for the first time.

Calder Trophy:(Best first-year player) Syl Apps, Toronto Maple LeafsHart Trophy:(Most valuable player) Babe Siebert, Montreal CanadiensLady Byng Trophy:(Excellence and sportsmanship) Marty Barry, Detroit Red WingsO'Brien Cup:(Canadian Division champion) Montreal CanadiensPrince of Wales Trophy:(American Division champion) Detroit Red WingsVezina Trophy:(Fewest goals allowed) Normie Smith, Detroit Red Wings

All-Star teams First Team   Position   Second TeamNormie Smith, Detroit Red Wings GWilf Cude, Montreal CanadiensBabe Siebert, Montreal Canadiens DEarl Seibert, Chicago Black HawksEbbie Goodfellow, Detroit Red Wings DLionel Conacher, Montreal MaroonsMarty Barry, Detroit Red Wings CArt Chapman, New York AmericansLarry Aurie, Detroit Red Wings RWCecil Dillon, New York RangersBusher Jackson, Toronto Maple Leafs LWSweeney Schriner, New York AmericansJack Adams, Detroit Red Wings CoachCecil Hart, Montreal Canadiens

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 Sweeney Schriner New York Americans 48 21 25 46 17 Syl Apps Toronto Maple Leafs 48 16 29 45 10 Marty Barry Detroit Red Wings 48 17 27 44 6 Larry Aurie Detroit Red Wings 45 23 19 42 20 Busher Jackson Toronto Maple Leafs 46 21 19 40 12 Johnny Gagnon Montreal Canadiens 48 20 16 36 38 Bob Gracie Montreal Maroons 48 11 25 36 18 Nels Stewart Boston Bruins/New York Americans 43 23 12 35 37 Paul Thompson Chicago Black Hawks 47 17 18 35 28 Lorne Carr New York Americans 48 18 16 34 22 Earl Robinson Montreal Maroons 48 16 18 34 19 Bill Cowley Boston Bruins 46 13 21 34 4 Source: NHL

Coaches American Division Boston Bruins: Art Ross Chicago Black Hawks: Clem Loughlin Detroit Red Wings: Jack Adams New York Rangers: Lester Patrick

Canadian Division Montreal Canadiens: Cecil Hart Montreal Maroons: Tommy Gorman New York Americans: Red Dutton Toronto Maple Leafs: Dick Irvin

Debuts The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1936–37 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs): Bobby Bauer, Boston Bruins Milt Schmidt, Boston Bruins Clint Smith, New York Rangers Bryan Hextall, New York Rangers Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs Gordie Drillon, Toronto Maple Leafs Turk Broda, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1936–37 (listed with their last team): Bun Cook, Boston Bruins Sylvio Mantha, Boston Bruins Andy Blair, Chicago Black Hawks Wildor Larochelle, Chicago Black Hawks Howie Morenz, Montreal Canadiens George Hainsworth, Montreal Canadiens Lionel Conacher, Montreal Maroons Alex Connell, Montreal Maroons Baldy Cotton, New York Americans Harry Oliver, New York Americans Lorne Chabot, New York Americans Roy Worters, New York Americans Bill Cook, New York Rangers Murray Murdoch, New York Rangers King Clancy, Toronto Maple Leafs Frank Finnigan, Toronto Maple Leafs

See also 1936–37 NHL transactions List of Stanley Cup champions 1936 in sports 1937 in sports

References

Notes

External links Hockey Database NHL.com