1940–41 NHL season#Playoffs

In September 1940, International Ice Hockey Association president W. G. Hardy announced a new one-year agreement was reached with the NHL, who agreed to pay $250 for signing an amateur and another $250 if the amateur played in the NHL.{{cite news|title=N.H.L. Will Pay I.H.A. $500 Cash For Signing Up Amateur Players|date=September 13, 1940|newspaper=Lethbridge Herald|location=Lethbridge, Alberta|page=16 |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/sports-clipping-sep-13-1940-1471668/}}{{free access}} NHL president Frank Calder signed the new professional-amateur agreement in October 1940.{{cite news|title=Clubs Will Share Reimbursement Under This Plan|date=October 18, 1940|newspaper=Winnipeg Free Press|location=Winnipeg, Manitoba|page=20 |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/sports-clipping-oct-18-1940-1471816/}}{{free access}} The agreement also included allowing the NHL to sign a limited number of junior age players.{{cite news|title=Close Co-Operation Exists Between Hockey Organizations|date=January 2, 1941|newspaper=Winnipeg Tribune|location=Winnipeg, Manitoba|page=12 |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/sports-clipping-jan-02-1941-1472056/}}{{free access}}

The Montreal Canadiens had hit the bottom in 1939–40, and were in financial trouble. Frank Patrick decided to become an investor and governor for the team, and Tommy Gorman was hired as general manager. He hired recently released Toronto coach Dick Irvin to run the team. One of the first things Gorman and Irvin did was scout for players, and the Canadiens came up with Johnny Quilty, Joe Benoit, Elmer Lach and defenceman Ken Reardon. Bert Gardiner would be used in goal, replacing Claude Bourque and Wilf Cude. Murph Chamberlain was bought from Toronto to bolster the offence.

Quilty and Benoit came through, as did Toe Blake, but the Habs had a long way to go, finishing sixth. Quilty won the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie. In fact, before the season started, Coach Irvin handed a sealed envelope to a reporter of his guess who would win the Calder Trophy, and when the season ended, the reporter opened the envelope: Johnny Quilty was the choice Irvin made.

The Boston Bruins set a record 23 straight unbeaten games en route to a strong first-place finish at the end of the schedule. The Rangers, finished fourth after the previous year's Stanley Cup win and Dave Kerr was not up to his usual form in goal.

{{1940–41 NHL standings}}

{{6TeamBracket-Info |style=2

|RD1=Quarterfinals

|RD2=Semifinals

|RD3=Stanley Cup Finals

| RD1-seed1=3

| RD1-team1=Detroit

| RD1-score1=2

| RD1-seed2=4

| RD1-team2=NY Rangers

| RD1-score2=1

| RD1-seed3=5

| RD1-team3=Chicago

| RD1-score3=2

| RD1-seed4=6

| RD1-team4=Montreal

| RD1-score4=1

| RD2-seed1=1

| RD2-team1=Boston

| RD2-score1=4

| RD2-seed2=2

| RD2-team2=Toronto

| RD2-score2=3

| RD2-seed3=3

| RD2-team3=Detroit

| RD2-score3=2

| RD2-seed4=5

| RD2-team4=Chicago

| RD2-score4=0

| RD3-seed1=1

| RD3-team1=Boston

| RD3-score1=4

| RD3-seed2=3

| RD3-team2=Detroit

| RD3-score2=0

}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=New York Rangers

|team2=Detroit Red Wings

|stadium2=Madison Square Garden III

|stadium1=Olympia Stadium

|date1 =March 20

|score1 =1–2

|ot1 =1

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyr-vs-det/1941/03/20/1940030121#game=1940030121,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =14:39 – Carl Liscombe (1)

|1-3-1 =Lynn Patrick (1) – pp – 04:33

|1-3-2 =No scoring

|1-4-1 =No scoring

|1-4-2 =12:01 – Gus Giesebrecht (1)

|goalie1-1 =Dave Kerr

|goalie1-2 =Johnny Mowers

|date2 =March 23

|score2 =1–3

|home2 =2

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-nyr/1941/03/23/1940030122#game=1940030122,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =18:38 – pp – Babe Pratt (1)

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =11:30 – Alex Shibicky (1)

|2-2-2 =Don Grosso (1) – 03:02

|2-3-1 =19:31 – Mac Colville (1)

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Dave Kerr

|goalie2-2 =Johnny Mowers

|date3 =March 25

|score3 =2–3

|home3 =1

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/nyr-vs-det/1941/03/25/1940030123#game=1940030123,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =Kilby MacDonald (1) – 15:25

|3-1-2 =11:38 – Bill Jennings (1)
19:48 – Jack Stewart (1)

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =No scoring

|3-3-1 =Neil Colville (1) – 19:51

|3-3-2 =09:39 – pp – Mud Bruneteau (1)

|goalie3-1 =Dave Kerr

|goalie3-2 =Johnny Mowers

|series = Detroit won series 2–1

}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Montreal Canadiens

|team2=Chicago Black Hawks

|stadium2=Montreal Forum

|stadium1=Chicago Stadium

|date1 =March 20

|score1 =1–2

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-chi/1941/03/20/1940030131#game=1940030131,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =Elmer Lach (1) – 08:14

|1-1-2 =16:21 – George Allen (1)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =No scoring

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =07:57 – Max Bentley (1)

|goalie1-1 =Bert Gardiner

|goalie1-2 =Sam LoPresti

|date2 =March 22

|score2 =3–4

|home2 =2

|ot2 =2

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/chi-vs-mtl/1941/03/22/1940030132#game=1940030132,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =08:01 – Joe Benoit (1)
14:02 – pp – Joe Benoit (2)

|2-1-2 =Cully Dahlstrom (1) – pp – 02:33

|2-2-1 =10:51 – Joe Benoit (3)

|2-2-2 =Joe Cooper (1) – 03:13

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =Mush March (1) – 10:13

|2-4-1 =14:03 – Charlie Sands (1)

|2-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie2-1 =Bert Gardiner

|goalie2-2 =Sam LoPresti

|date3 =March 25

|score3 =2–3

|home3 =1

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/mtl-vs-chi/1941/03/25/1940030133#game=1940030133,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =No scoring

|3-1-2 =14:56 – George Allen (2)

|3-2-1 =Joe Benoit (4) – 18:37
Ray Getliffe (1) – 18:58

|3-2-2 =12:11 – Cully Dahlstrom (2)

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =03:31 – Cully Dahlstrom (3)

|goalie3-1 =Bert Gardiner

|goalie3-2 =Sam LoPresti

|series = Chicago won series 2–1

}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Toronto Maple Leafs

|team2=Boston Bruins

|stadium2=Maple Leaf Gardens

|stadium1=Boston Garden

|date1 =March 20

|score1 =0–3

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-bos/1941/03/20/1940030111#game=1940030111,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =No scoring

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =15:33 – Flash Hollett (1)

|1-3-1 =No scoring

|1-3-2 =18:21 – Terry Reardon (1)
19:24 – Eddie Wiseman (1)

|goalie1-1 =Turk Broda

|goalie1-2 =Frank Brimsek

|date2 =March 22

|score2 =5–3

|won2 =1

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-bos/1941/03/22/1940030112#game=1940030112,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =08:13 – Eddie Wiseman (2)
09:47 – Milt Schmidt (1)

|2-2-1 =Gordie Drillon (1) – 02:33
Reg Hamilton (1) – pp – 07:30
Nick Metz (1) – 15:00
Nick Metz (2) – 15:47

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =Don Metz (1) – 01:44

|2-3-2 =04:00 – Eddie Wiseman (3)

|goalie2-1 =Turk Broda

|goalie2-2 =Frank Brimsek

|date3 =March 25

|score3 =2–7

|won3 =1

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-tor/1941/03/25/1940030113#game=1940030113,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =18:03 – Sweeney Schriner (1)

|3-1-2 =Milt Schmidt (2) – pp – 13:35

|3-2-1 =06:59 – Syl Apps (1)
12:46 – pp – Bucko McDonald (1)
17:36 – pp – Syl Apps (2)

|3-2-2 =Herb Cain (1) – 05:07

|3-3-1 =05:26 – Sweeney Schriner (2)
16:43 – Syl Apps (3)
17:05 – Nick Metz (3)

|3-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie3-1 =Turk Broda

|goalie3-2 =Frank Brimsek

|date4 =March 27

|score4 =2–1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-tor/1941/03/27/1940030114#game=1940030114,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =No scoring

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =10:30 – Gordie Drillon (2)

|4-2-2 =Woody Dumart (1) – 07:15

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =Herb Cain (2) – 08:13

|goalie4-1 =Turk Broda

|goalie4-2 =Frank Brimsek

|date5 =March 29

|score5 =2–1

|ot5 =1

|won5 =1

|recap5 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-bos/1941/03/29/1940030115#game=1940030115,game_state=final

|5-1-1 =Lex Chisholm (1) – 04:58

|5-1-2 =14:16 – Pat McReavy (1)

|5-2-1 =No scoring

|5-2-2 =No scoring

|5-3-1 =No scoring

|5-3-2 =No scoring

|5-4-1 =Pete Langelle (1) – 17:37

|5-4-2 =No scoring

|goalie5-1 =Turk Broda

|goalie5-2 =Frank Brimsek

|date6 =April 1

|score6 =2–1

|won6 =2

|recap6 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-tor/1941/04/01/1940030116#game=1940030116,game_state=final

|6-1-1 =No scoring

|6-1-2 =No scoring

|6-2-1 =No scoring

|6-2-2 =No scoring

|6-3-1 =09:48 – Gordie Drillon (3)

|6-3-2 =Bobby Bauer (1) – 10:39
Herb Cain (3) – 12:00

|goalie6-1 =Turk Broda

|goalie6-2 =Frank Brimsek

|date7 =April 3

|score7 =1–2

|won7 =2

|recap7 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/tor-vs-bos/1941/04/03/1940030117#game=1940030117,game_state=final

|7-1-1 =Bucko McDonald (2) – 13:28

|7-1-2 =14:32 – Flash Hollett (2)

|7-2-1 =No scoring

|7-2-2 =No scoring

|7-3-1 =No scoring

|7-3-2 =14:17 – Mel Hill (1)

|goalie7-1 =Turk Broda

|goalie7-2 =Frank Brimsek

|series = Boston won series 4–3

}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Chicago Black Hawks

|team2=Detroit Red Wings

|stadium2=Chicago Stadium

|stadium1=Olympia Stadium

|date1 =March 27

|score1 =1–3

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/chi-vs-det/1941/03/27/1940030141#game=1940030141,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =19:59 – pp – Sid Abel (1)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =10:15 – Carl Liscombe (2)

|1-3-1 =Mush March (2) – 05:15

|1-3-2 =15:28 – Joe Fisher (1)

|goalie1-1 =Sam LoPresti

|goalie1-2 =Johnny Mowers

|date2 =March 30

|score2 =2–1

|home2 =2

|ot2 =1

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-chi/1941/03/30/1940030142#game=1940030142,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =04:02 – pp – Doug Bentley (1)

|2-2-2 =Alex Motter (1) – pp – 01:25

|2-3-1 =No scoring

|2-3-2 =No scoring

|2-4-1 =No scoring

|2-4-2 =Gus Giesebrecht (2) – 09:52

|goalie2-1 =Sam LoPresti

|goalie2-2 =Johnny Mowers

|series = Detroit won series 2–0

}}

{{main|1941 Stanley Cup Finals}}

{{NHLPlayoffs

|team1=Detroit Red Wings

|team2=Boston Bruins

|stadium2=Olympia Stadium

|stadium1=Boston Garden

|date1 =April 6

|score1 =2–3

|won1 =2

|recap1 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-bos/1941/04/06/1940030211#game=1940030211,game_state=final

|1-1-1 =No scoring

|1-1-2 =13:26 – Eddie Wiseman (4)

|1-2-1 =No scoring

|1-2-2 =14:45 – Milt Schmidt (3)

|1-3-1 =Carl Liscombe (3) – 10:55
Syd Howe (1) – 17:45

|1-3-2 =09:16 – Pat McReavy (2)

|goalie1-1 =Johnny Mowers

|goalie1-2 =Frank Brimsek

|date2 =April 8

|score2 =1–2

|won2 =2

|recap2 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/det-vs-bos/1941/04/08/1940030212#game=1940030212,game_state=final

|2-1-1 =No scoring

|2-1-2 =No scoring

|2-2-1 =No scoring

|2-2-2 =No scoring

|2-3-1 =Mud Bruneteau (2) – 02:41

|2-3-2 =13:35 – Terry Reardon (2)
17:35 – Roy Conacher (1)

|goalie2-1 =Johnny Mowers

|goalie2-2 =Frank Brimsek

|date3 =April 10

|score3 =4–2

|won3 =2

|recap3 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-det/1941/04/10/1940030213#game=1940030213,game_state=final

|3-1-1 =03:15 – Bill Jennings (2)
07:45 – Sid Abel (2)

|3-1-2 =Eddie Wiseman (5) – 03:57
Milt Schmidt (4) – 14:07

|3-2-1 =No scoring

|3-2-2 =Milt Schmidt (5) – 00:59

|3-3-1 =No scoring

|3-3-2 =Art Jackson (1) – pp – 17:20

|goalie3-1 =Johnny Mowers

|goalie3-2 =Frank Brimsek

|date4 =April 12

|score4 =3–1

|won4 =2

|recap4 =www.nhl.com/gamecenter/bos-vs-det/1941/04/12/1940030214#game=1940030214,game_state=final

|4-1-1 =10:14 – pp – Carl Liscombe (4)

|4-1-2 =No scoring

|4-2-1 =No scoring

|4-2-2 =Flash Hollett (3) – pp – 07:42
Bobby Bauer – pp – 08:43
Eddie Wiseman (6) – 19:32

|4-3-1 =No scoring

|4-3-2 =No scoring

|goalie4-1 =Johnny Mowers

|goalie4-2 =Frank Brimsek

|series = Boston won series 4–0

}}

Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Source: NHL{{sfn |Dinger |2011 |p=148}}

Note: GP = Games played; Min – Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts

• Boston Bruins: Cooney Weiland
• Chicago Black Hawks: Paul Thompson
• Detroit Red Wings: Jack Adams
• Montreal Canadiens: Dick Irvin
• New York Americans: Red Dutton
• New York Rangers: Frank Boucher
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Hap Day

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1940–41 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut 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

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

• 1940–41 NHL transactions
• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1940 in sports
• 1941 in sports

• {{cite book|title=Total Hockey |editor=Diamond, Dan |publisher=Total Sports |year=2000 |isbn=1-892129-85-X }}
• {{cite book |editor-last=Dinger |editor-first=Ralph |year=2011 |title=The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012 |publisher=Dan Diamond & Associates |isbn=978-1-894801-22-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/nationalhockeyle0000unse_u6g5 }}
• {{cite book |editor-last=Dryden |editor-first=Steve |title=Century of hockey |publisher=McClelland & Stewart Ltd. |location=Toronto, ON |year=2000 |isbn=0-7710-4179-9 }}
• {{cite book |last1=Fischler |first1=Stan |last2=Fischler |first2=Shirley

|last3=Hughes |first3=Morgan |last4=Romain |first4=Joseph |last5=Duplacey |first5=James

|year=2003 |title=The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League |publisher=Publications International Inc. |isbn=0-7853-9624-1 |ref={{harvid|Fischler|2003}}}}

• {{cite book |last=McFarlane |first=Brian |title=The Story of the National Hockey League |publisher=Pagurian Press |location=New York |year=1973 |isbn=0-684-13424-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/storyofnationalh0000mcfa }}

;Notes

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/nhl1927.html Hockey Database]
• [http://nhl.com/ NHL.com]

{{1940–41 NHL season by team}}

{{NHL seasons|1940}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:NHL, 1940-41}}

Category:1940–41 in Canadian ice hockey by league

Category:1940–41 in American ice hockey by league