1940–41 Boston Bruins season

The 1940–41 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 17th season in the National Hockey League, and they were coming off of a successful season in 1939–40, leading the NHL in points for the third season in a row, as they finished with a 31–12–5 record, accumulating 67 points. However, the Bruins lost to the New York Rangers in the NHL semi-finals, ending their chances for a second-straight Stanley Cup. This year, the Bruins repeated as regular-season champs and returned to the Final, and defeated the Detroit Red Wings four games to none to win the organization's third Stanley Cup.

1940–41 Boston Bruins
Stanley Cup champions
Division1st NHL
1940–41 record27–8–13
Home record15–4–5
Road record12–4–8
Goals for168 (1st)
Goals against102 (T-2nd)
Team information
General managerArt Ross
CoachCooney Weiland
CaptainDit Clapper
ArenaBoston Garden
Team leaders
GoalsRoy Conacher (24)
AssistsBill Cowley (45)
PointsBill Cowley (62)
Penalty minutesDes Smith (61)
WinsFrank Brimsek (27)
Goals against averageFrank Brimsek (2.01)

Regular season

Boston would have a slow start to the season, going winless in their first 4 games (0–2–2), and sat with a 6–7–3 record 16 games into the season, fighting with the Chicago Black Hawks and New York Americans for 3rd place in the league. The Bruins would then go on a record breaking unbeaten streak, as they would have a 15–0–8 record in their next 23 games, and sit in 2nd place to the Toronto Maple Leafs. After a 2–0 loss to the New York Rangers, Boston would finish the season 6–0–2 to pass the Leafs, and finish with the most points in the NHL for the 4th straight year. Boston had an amazing 21–1–10 record to close out the season.

Bill Cowley would lead the NHL in scoring with 62 points, as he scored 17 goals and added 45 assists. Roy Conacher led the Bruins in goals with 24, and added 14 assists for a career high 38 points. Eddie Wiseman and Bobby Bauer had productive seasons, earning 40 and 39 points respectively, while Milt Schmidt finished with 38. Team captain Dit Clapper led the Boston blueline with 26 points, while Flash Hollett led the Bruins defense with 9 goals.

In goal, Frank Brimsek had another outstanding season, winning 27 games, while earning 6 shutouts and posting a 2.01 GAA.

Final standings
National Hockey League
GP W L T Pts GF GA
Boston Bruins482781367168102
Toronto Maple Leafs48281466214599
Detroit Red Wings4821161153112102
New York Rangers482119850143125
Chicago Black Hawks481625739112139
Montreal Canadiens481626638121147
New York Americans48829112799186

[1]

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
         Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents
1940–41 NHL Records [2]
Team BOS CHI DET MTL NYA NYR TOR
Boston —4–2–23–0–55–2–17–0–14–2–24–2–2
Chicago 2–4–2—2–63–4–13–2–34–3–12–6
Detroit 0–3–56–2—4–3–15–1–23–2–33–5
Montreal 2–5–14–3–13–4–1—4–3–12–5–11–6–1
N.Y. Americans 0–7–12–3–31–5–23–4–1—1–6–11–4–3
N.Y. Rangers 2–4–23–4–12–3–25–2–16–1–1—3–5
Toronto 2–4–26–25–36–1–14–1–35–3—

Schedule and results
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPts
1November 3Boston Bruins1–1Montreal Canadiens0–0–11
2November 12Chicago Black Hawks6–5Boston Bruins0–1–11
3November 17Toronto Maple Leafs4–1Boston Bruins0–2–11
4November 19Detroit Red Wings4–4Boston Bruins0–2–22
5November 21Boston Bruins2–0Chicago Black Hawks1–2–24
6November 23Boston Bruins2–1New York Rangers2–2–26
7November 24Boston Bruins1–1Detroit Red Wings2–2–37
8November 26Montreal Canadiens3–2Boston Bruins2–3–37
9December 1Boston Bruins10–3New York Americans3–3–39
10December 3New York Americans2–6Boston Bruins4–3–311
11December 7Boston Bruins2–3Toronto Maple Leafs4–4–311
12December 8Boston Bruins2–3Chicago Black Hawks4–5–311
13December 10New York Rangers2–6Boston Bruins5–5–313
14December 17Toronto Maple Leafs2–5Boston Bruins6–5–315
15December 19Boston Bruins3–5New York Rangers6–6–315
16December 21Boston Bruins1–3Montreal Canadiens6–7–315
17December 22Boston Bruins5–3Detroit Red Wings7–7–317
18December 25New York Americans1–8Boston Bruins8–7–319
19December 27Boston Bruins3–3New York Americans8–7–420
20December 31New York Rangers2–2Boston Bruins8–7–521
21January 5Chicago Black Hawks2–2Boston Bruins8–7–622
22January 7Detroit Red Wings1–1Boston Bruins8–7–723
23January 11Boston Bruins2–1Montreal Canadiens9–7–725
24January 12Montreal Canadiens5–7Boston Bruins10–7–727
25January 16Boston Bruins2–2New York Rangers10–7–828
26January 18Boston Bruins1–0Toronto Maple Leafs11–7–830
27January 19Boston Bruins4–4Chicago Black Hawks11–7–931
28January 21New York Rangers3–4Boston Bruins12–7–933
29January 26Boston Bruins6–1New York Americans13–7–935
30January 28Chicago Black Hawks2–3Boston Bruins14–7–937
31February 2New York Americans1–4Boston Bruins15–7–939
32February 4Montreal Canadiens3–5Boston Bruins16–7–941
33February 8Boston Bruins3–2Toronto Maple Leafs17–7–943
34February 9Boston Bruins2–2Detroit Red Wings17–7–1044
35February 11Detroit Red Wings0–4Boston Bruins18–7–1046
36February 13New York Rangers3–5Boston Bruins19–7–1048
37February 15Boston Bruins5–0Montreal Canadiens20–7–1050
38February 18Toronto Maple Leafs2–2Boston Bruins20–7–1151
39February 23New York Americans1–3Boston Bruins21–7–1153
40February 25New York Rangers2–0Boston Bruins21–8–1153
41March 1Boston Bruins0–0Toronto Maple Leafs21–8–1254
42March 2Boston Bruins4–3Chicago Black Hawks22–8–1256
43March 4Chicago Black Hawks2–3Boston Bruins23–8–1258
44March 9Montreal Canadiens0–8Boston Bruins24–8–1260
45March 11Toronto Maple Leafs2–3Boston Bruins25–8–1262
46March 13Boston Bruins8–3New York Americans26–8–1264
47March 16Boston Bruins2–2Detroit Red Wings26–8–1365
48March 18Detroit Red Wings1–4Boston Bruins27–8–1367

Playoffs

In the playoffs, Boston would have a first-round bye, advancing straight to the NHL semi-finals, where they would face the second place Toronto Maple Leafs in a best of seven series. The Bruins finished 5 points ahead of the Leafs during the regular season. The series opened at the Boston Garden, with each team winning a game, before moving to Maple Leaf Gardens for games three and four. The Leafs took a 2–1 series lead with a big 7–2 victory, however, Boston evened the series up at two games each with a solid 2–1 win in game four. Game 5 shifted back to Boston, but it was Toronto who took a 3–2 series lead, with a 2–1 overtime victory. The series moved back to Toronto for the 6th game, and with Boston facing elimination, the Bruins would hold off the Leafs for a 2–1 win to force a 7th and deciding game in Boston. The Bruins once again would fend off Toronto, hanging on for a 2–1 win, to take the series 4–3, and earn a spot in the Stanley Cup final.

The Bruins opponent was the Detroit Red Wings, who finished the regular season with 53 points, 14 less than Boston. Detroit had defeated the New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks to earn a spot in the final. The series opened in Boston, with the Bruins winning the first 2 games by close scores of 3–2 and 2–1 to take a 2–0 series lead. The series moved to the Detroit Olympia for the next 2 games, but Boston would complete the sweep, winning games 3 and 4 by scores of 4–2 and 3–1 to become the first team in NHL history to sweep a 4-game series, and win their 2nd Stanley Cup in 3 seasons, and their 3rd in franchise history. It was also the last time the Bruins would win the Stanley Cup until 1970.

Boston Bruins 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 3
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1March 20Toronto Maple Leafs0–3Boston Bruins1–0
2March 22Toronto Maple Leafs5–3Boston Bruins1–1
3March 25Boston Bruins2–7Toronto Maple Leafs1–2
4March 27Boston Bruins2–1Toronto Maple Leafs2–2
5March 29Toronto Maple Leafs2–1Boston Bruins2–3
6April 1Boston Bruins2–1Toronto Maple Leafs3–3
7April 3Toronto Maple Leafs1–2Boston Bruins4–3

Boston Bruins 4, Detroit Red Wings 0
Main article: 1941 Stanley Cup Finals
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 6Detroit Red Wings2–3Boston Bruins1–0
2April 8Detroit Red Wings1–2Boston Bruins2–0
3April 10Boston Bruins4–2Detroit Red Wings3–0
4April 12Boston Bruins3–1Detroit Red Wings4–0

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Bill CowleyC4617456216
Eddie WisemanRW4816244010
Bobby BauerRW481722392
Roy ConacherLW412414387
Milt SchmidtC/D4513253823
Woody DumartLW401815332
Art JacksonC4817153210
Dit ClapperRW/D488182624
Flash HollettD419152423
Herb CainLW41810186
Des SmithD48681461
Terry ReardonC/RW34651119
Jack CrawfordD45281027
Mel HillRW415494
Jack ShewchukD202248
Gordie BruceLW80112
Red HamillLW80110
Pat McReavyC70112
Frank BrimsekG480000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Frank Brimsek304048278131022.016
Team:304048278131022.016

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Milt SchmidtC/D1156119
Eddie WisemanRW116280
Flash HollettD113478
Terry ReardonC/RW112466
Roy ConacherLW111560
Herb CainLW113255
Dit ClapperRW/D110554
Bobby BauerRW112240
Pat McReavyC112245
Woody DumartLW111349
Art JacksonC1113416
Mel HillRW81120
Jack CrawfordD110227
Des SmithD1102212
Frank BrimsekG110000
Gordie BruceLW20000
Bill CowleyC20000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Frank Brimsek6781183232.041
Team:6781183232.041

[3]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

References
  1. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  2. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. "1940-41 Boston Bruins Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
  4. "NHL.com - Trophies". Archived from the original on April 27, 2006. Retrieved August 22, 2007.
  5. "NHL.com - Trophies". Archived from the original on April 28, 2006. Retrieved August 18, 2007.
  • National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007
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