1947-48 NHL season
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The 1947-48 NHL season was the 31st season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 60 games. 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.
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[edit] 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 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 first and only time in his career, failed to win the Vezina Trophy. Toronto's Turk Broda won the Vezina this season.
[edit] Final standings
GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold
National Hockey League | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Toronto Maple Leafs | 60 | 32 | 15 | 13 | 77 | 182 | 143 | 758 |
Detroit Red Wings | 60 | 30 | 18 | 12 | 72 | 187 | 148 | 593 |
Boston Bruins | 60 | 23 | 24 | 13 | 59 | 167 | 168 | 515 |
New York Rangers | 60 | 21 | 26 | 13 | 55 | 176 | 201 | 480 |
Montreal Canadiens | 60 | 20 | 29 | 11 | 51 | 147 | 169 | 724 |
Chicago Black Hawks | 60 | 20 | 34 | 6 | 46 | 195 | 225 | 572 |
[edit] Leading scorers
GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points, PIM = Penalties In Minutes
Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | Maple Leafs / Black Hawks | 61 | 27 | 29 | 56 | |
Max Bentley | Black Hawks / Maple Leafs | 59 | 26 | 28 | 54 | |
Bud Poile | Maple Leafs / 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 |
[edit] 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 |
[edit] Stanley Cup Playoffs
All dates in 1948
[edit] Playoff bracket
Semifinals | Finals | |||||||
1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4 | ||||||
3 | Boston Bruins | 1 | ||||||
1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4 | ||||||
2 | Detroit Red Wings | 0 | ||||||
2 | Detroit Red Wings | 4 | ||||||
4 | New York Rangers | 2 |
[edit] Semifinals
The first round of the playoffs saw third seed Boston Bruins matched up with first seed Toronto Maple Leafs and fourth seed New York Rangers against second seed Detroit Red Wings.
[edit] Toronto vs. Boston
Toronto beat Boston 4 games to 1. Still, the Bears kept the series pretty darn close — even the powerful Leafs couldn't deny it. Three of the five games were decided by one goal.
Boston Bruins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 24 | Boston Bruins | 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 5 | (OT) |
March 27 | Boston Bruins | 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 5 | |
March 30 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 5 | Boston Bruins | 1 | |
April 1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2 | Boston Bruins | 3 | |
April 3 | Boston Bruins | 2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3 |
Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 1
[edit] NY Rangers vs. Detroit
It looked initially to be a really close series as, after the Blueshirts lost the first two games, the Wings got their Production Line lazy. But as its wingers, Ted Lindsay and Gordie Howe, chose to keep up their rigid scoring as well as follow Lindsay's recent quote —
“In hockey, you have to be mean, or you get pushed around.”
[citation needed] —
Motown got their team pursuing Lord Stanley's Mug for the fourth time in six years.
New York Rangers vs. Detroit Red Wings
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 24 | New York Rangers | 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 | |
March 26 | New York Rangers | 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 5 | |
March 28 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 | New York Rangers | 3 | |
March 30 | Detroit Red Wings | 1 | New York Rangers | 3 | |
April 1 | New York Rangers | 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 3 | |
April 4 | Detroit Red Wings | 4 | New York Rangers | 2 |
Detroit wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 2
[edit] Stanley Cup Finals
The Stanley Cup finals were between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs, the two top seeded teams during the regular season. They were the only teams above .500 and were only five points apart in the final standings. A close match was expected from these two powerhouse teams, but Toronto swept Detroit in four straight and outscored them 18 to 7. Toronto only lost once during the playoffs with a record of 8 and 1.
Detroit Red Wings vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 7 | Detroit Red Wings | 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 5 | |
April 10 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4 | |
April 11 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 0 | |
April 14 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 7 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 |
Toronto wins best-of-seven series 4 games to 0
[edit] Playoff scoring leaders
GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points
Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ted Kennedy | Toronto Maple Leafs | 9 | 8 | 6 | 14 |
[edit] NHL awards
[edit] See also
- 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
[edit] References
NHL seasons |
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1943-44 | 1944-45 | 1945-46 | 1946-47 | 1947-48 | 1948-49 | 1949-50 | 1950-51 | 1951-52 |
Current teams: Anaheim • Atlanta • Boston • Buffalo • Calgary • Carolina • Chicago • Colorado • Columbus • Dallas • Detroit • Edmonton • Florida • Los Angeles • Minnesota • Montreal • Nashville • New Jersey • NY Islanders • NY Rangers • Ottawa • Philadelphia • Phoenix • Pittsburgh • San Jose • St. Louis • Tampa Bay • Toronto • Vancouver • Washington
Trophies and awards: Stanley Cup • Prince of Wales • Clarence S. Campbell • Presidents' Trophy • Adams • Art Ross • Calder • Conn Smythe • Crozier • Hart • Jennings • King Clancy • Lady Byng • Masterton • Norris • Patrick • Pearson • Plus/Minus • Rocket Richard • Selke • Vezina
Defunct and relocated teams: Atlanta Flames • California/Oakland Golden Seals • Cleveland Barons • Colorado Rockies • Hamilton Tigers • Hartford Whalers • Kansas City Scouts • Minnesota North Stars • Montreal Maroons • Montreal Wanderers • New York/Brooklyn Americans • Ottawa Senators (orginal) • Philadelphia Quakers • Pittsburgh Pirates • Quebec Bulldogs • Quebec Nordiques • St. Louis Eagles • Winnipeg Jets