1940–41 NHL season
The 1940–41 NHL season was the 24th season of the National Hockey League. Seven teams each played 48 games. The Boston Bruins were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the Detroit Red Wings four games to none in the final series.
Regular season
Final standings
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold
| National Hockey League | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 27 | 8 | 13 | 67 | 168 | 102 | 246 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 28 | 14 | 6 | 62 | 145 | 99 | 306 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 21 | 16 | 11 | 53 | 112 | 102 | 337 |
| New York Rangers | 48 | 21 | 19 | 8 | 50 | 143 | 125 | 356 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 16 | 25 | 7 | 39 | 112 | 139 | 335 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 16 | 26 | 6 | 38 | 121 | 147 | 435 |
| New York Americans | 48 | 8 | 29 | 11 | 27 | 99 | 186 | 231 |
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| PLAYER | TEAM | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Cowley | Boston Bruins | 46 | 17 | 45 | 62 | 16 |
| Syl Apps | Toronto Maple Leafs | 41 | 20 | 24 | 44 | 6 |
| Gord Drillon | Toronto Maple Leafs | 42 | 23 | 21 | 44 | 2 |
| Bryan Hextall | New York Rangers | 48 | 26 | 18 | 44 | 16 |
| Syd Howe | Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 20 | 24 | 44 | 8 |
| Lynn Patrick | New York Rangers | 48 | 20 | 24 | 44 | 12 |
Stanley Cup playoffs
Playoff bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
| 1 | Boston Bruins | 4 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Boston Bruins | 4 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Detroit Red Wings | 0 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 | |||||||||||
| 4 | New York Rangers | 1 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Detroit Red Wings | 2 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Montreal Canadiens | 1 | |||||||||||
NHL awards
| O'Brien Trophy: | Detroit Red Wings |
| Prince of Wales Trophy: | Boston Bruins |
| Calder Memorial Trophy: | Johnny Quilty, Montreal Canadiens |
| Hart Memorial Trophy: | Bill Cowley, Boston Bruins |
| Lady Byng Memorial Trophy: | Bobby Bauer, Boston Bruins |
| Vezina Trophy: | Turk Broda, Toronto Maple Leafs |
All-Star teams
| First Team | Position | Second Team |
|---|---|---|
| Turk Broda, Toronto Maple Leafs | G | Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins |
| Dit Clapper, Boston Bruins | D | Earl Seibert, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Wally Stanowski, Toronto Maple Leafs | D | Ott Heller, New York Rangers |
| Bill Cowley, Boston Bruins | C | Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Bryan Hextall, New York Rangers | RW | Bobby Bauer, Boston Bruins |
| Sweeney Schriner, Toronto Maple Leafs | LW | Woody Dumart, Boston Bruins |
| Cooney Weiland, Boston Bruins | Coach | Dick Irvin, Montreal Canadiens |
First games
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1940–41 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start in playoffs):
- Max Bentley, Chicago Black Hawks
- John Mariucci, Chicago Black Hawks
- Joe Carveth, Detroit Red Wings
- Elmer Lach, Montreal Canadiens
- Ken Reardon, Montreal Canadiens
- John Quilty, Montreal Canadiens
- Chuck Rayner, New York Americans
- Bill Juzda, New York Rangers
Last games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1940–41 (listed with their last team):
- Paul Haynes, Montreal Canadiens
- Georges Mantha, Montreal Canadiens
- Hooley Smith, New York Americans
- Charlie Conacher, New York Americans
- Dave Kerr, New York Rangers