| 1937–38 NHL season | |
| League: | National Hockey League |
| Sport: | Ice hockey |
| Duration: | November 4, 1937 – April 12, 1938 |
| Season: | Regular season |
| No Of Games: | 48 |
| No Of Teams: | 8 |
| Season Champs: | Boston Bruins |
| Mvp: | Eddie Shore (Bruins) |
| Mvp Link: | Hart Memorial Trophy |
| Top Scorer: | Gordie Drillon (Maple Leafs) |
| Conf1: | Canadian Division |
| Conf1 Champ: | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Conf2: | American Division |
| Conf2 Champ: | Boston Bruins |
| Finals: | Stanley Cup |
| Finals Link: | 1938 Stanley Cup Finals |
| Finals Champ: | Chicago Black Hawks |
| Finals Runner-Up: | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Nextseason Link: | 1938–39 NHL season |
| Prevseason Link: | 1936–37 NHL season |
| Nextseason Year: | 1938–39 |
| Prevseason Year: | 1936–37 |
| Seasonslistnames: | NHL |
The 1937–38 NHL season was the 21st season of the National Hockey League (NHL). Eight teams each played 48 games. The Chicago Black Hawks were the Stanley Cup winners as they beat the Toronto Maple Leafs three games to one in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Bill Dwyer could not come up with the capital required to retain his team and the NHL took full control of the New York Americans.
The Howie Morenz Memorial Game, the NHL's second all-star game, was played November 2, 1937, and raised over $11,447, which, added to other contributions, established a fund of over $20,000 for the Morenz family. Prior to the start of the game, Howie Morenz's uniform and playing kit was auctioned and Joseph Cattarinich put down the winning bid of $500. The uniform was presented to Howie Morenz Jr. The NHL All-stars defeated a combined team of Canadiens and Maroons players 6–5.
In February 1938, NHL president Frank Calder terminated the professional-amateur agreement with the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) which limited signing contracts with junior ice hockey players. After a player suspended by the NHL was registered by a CAHA team, he met with CAHA vice-president W. G. Hardy without resolution, then told NHL teams that they could approach any junior player with a contract offer.[1] [2]
In September 1937, the NHL passed the 'icing' rule whereby teams could no longer shoot the puck the length of the ice to delay the game. Teams were allowed to continue to 'ice' the puck during penalties. The penalty shot was amended to remove the dots where the shot was to take place. Two new lines 30 feet from the goal were added instead. A player taking a penalty shot would start from the line closest to his own goal, skate with the puck and shoot before he crossed the penalty line nearest the opposition goal. After a puck was shot out-of-bounds, the location of the following faceoff was now to occur at the point where the shot was made, instead of where it exited the rink as was done until that time.[3]
| 1937-38 National Hockey League | |||||
| Division | Team | City | Arena | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian | |||||
| Montreal Canadiens | Montreal, Quebec | Montreal Forum | 12,500 | ||
| Montreal Maroons | Montreal, Quebec | Montreal Forum | 12,500 | ||
| New York Americans | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | 15,925 | ||
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Toronto, Ontario | Maple Leaf Gardens | 12,473 | ||
| American | Boston Bruins | Boston, Massachusetts | Boston Garden | 13,909 | |
| Chicago Black Hawks | Chicago, Illinois | Chicago Stadium | 16,000 | ||
| Detroit Red Wings | Detroit, Michigan | Detroit Olympia | 15,000 | ||
| New York Rangers | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | 15,925 | ||
Charlie Conacher was named captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and he had a big weekend at the expense of Chicago November 13 with a hat trick in a 7–3 win. He then scored 2 goals in a 3–3 tie. However, The Big Bomber ran into misfortune once more on November 18 in Montreal against the Canadiens when he dislocated his shoulder. The cycle of injuries had a cumulative effect on Conacher's nervous and physical condition and his doctor told him to retire from hockey. He did retire for the rest of the season, but would play again the next season, but was forever gone from the Leafs.
The New York Rangers lost their star center Neil Colville for a few games as the result of some horseplay that must have infuriated Lester Patrick. Defenceman Joe Cooper was pursuing a fad of slicing off neckties from teammates using a penknife. Colville threw up his hand only to receive a gash that required 11 stitches to close.
The New York Americans, with Ching Johnson and Hap Day to relieve Joe Jerwa and Al Murray on defence, were doing much better than usual. Earl Robertson, their new goaltender, was leading the Canadian Division in goaltending and ended up doing so at season's end. The Amerks also had Sweeney Schriner and Nels Stewart contributing in a nice way to the offence.
The Montreal Maroons, coached at first by King Clancy, settled into last place and president and general manager Tommy Gorman decided he would take over as coach. He did even worse and the fans stayed away. Although the team did badly, one highlight was an 11–7 win over their rivals, the Canadiens, and Baldy Northcott had a hat trick in the game. There seemed to be nothing Gorman could do to revitalize the team and at one stretch the team lost 8 straight games. On March 17, 1938, the Maroons played their last game against their rivals, the Canadiens.
Detroit was the shockingly bad team of the American Division. After winning the Stanley Cup in 1937, they were reclining in the cellar of the Division. They had one bright moment when Carl Liscombe set a record for the fastest hat trick to this time (since broken by Bill Mosienko). Liscombe scored three goals in 1 minute and 52 seconds in a 5–1 win over Chicago.
On March 17, 1938, Nels Stewart scored his 300th National Hockey League goal in a 5–3 loss to the Rangers.
The Cinderella story of the century was the Chicago Black Hawks who would barely make the playoffs but proceeded to defeat the Canadiens, the Americans and the Maple Leafs to win the Cup with the lowest regular-season winning percentage of any champions in the big-four major professional sports leagues of North America.
The New York Americans stunned the New York Rangers as Lorne Carr scored the winner in overtime in the third and deciding game.
The Canadiens beat the Hawks in game one of the quarterfinal, as Toe Blake had the hat trick. But Mike Karakas shut out the Canadiens in the second game and even though Georges Mantha appeared to win the game with a freak goal in game three, Earl Seibert kept the Hawks from losing with a goal late in the game, and then the Hawks won the series in overtime.
In an upset, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Boston in the Series A semifinal.
In the Series B semifinal, it was Chicago and the New York Americans, who beat Chicago in game one 3–1. Game two was a great goaltenders battle between Mike Karakas and Earl Robertson. It appeared that the Americans were headed to their first Stanley Cup Finals when Nels Stewart scored with seconds left in the game, but referee Clarence Campbell disallowed the goal, saying Eddie Wiseman was in the goal crease. Cully Dahlstrom scored the goal that saved the Black Hawks. In New York, the deciding game saw Alex Levinsky of Chicago score the go-ahead goal, but the red light did not go on. Investigation revealed that fans were holding the goal judge's hand so he could not signal the goal. Although the Amerks came close, they were unable to tie the score and the Black Hawks were in the finals.
See main article: 1938 Stanley Cup Finals.
See main article: 1938 Detroit Red Wings – Montreal Canadiens European tour. After the Stanley Cup Finals finished, the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Canadiens played a nine-game exhibition series in Europe, becoming the first NHL teams to play outside North America. Six games were played in the United Kingdom, three in France. The Canadiens won the series with a record of 5–3–1.
| Cully Dahlstrom, Chicago Black Hawks | ||
| Hart Trophy
| Eddie Shore, Boston Bruins | |
| Lady Byng Trophy
| Gordie Drillon, Toronto Maple Leafs | |
| O'Brien Cup
| Toronto Maple Leafs | |
| Prince of Wales Trophy
| Boston Bruins | |
| Vezina Trophy
| Tiny Thompson, Boston Bruins |
| First Team | Position | Second Team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiny Thompson, Boston Bruins | align=center | G | Dave Kerr, New York Rangers | |
| Eddie Shore, Boston Bruins | align=center | D | Art Coulter, New York Rangers | |
| Babe Siebert, Montreal Canadiens | align=center | D | Earl Seibert, Chicago Black Hawks | |
| Bill Cowley, Boston Bruins | align=center | C | Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs | |
| Cecil Dillon, New York Rangers Gordie Drillon, Toronto Maple Leafs (tie) | align=center | RW | ||
| Paul Thompson, Chicago Black Hawks | align=center | LW | Toe Blake, Montreal Canadiens | |
| Lester Patrick, New York Rangers | align=center | Coach | Art Ross, Boston Bruins |
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| PLAYER | TEAM | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 26 | 26 | 52 | 4 | ||
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 47 | 21 | 29 | 50 | 9 | ||
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 22 | 22 | 44 | 14 | ||
| Montreal Canadiens | 47 | 23 | 19 | 42 | 12 | ||
| New York Rangers | 48 | 21 | 18 | 39 | 6 | ||
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 17 | 22 | 39 | 8 | ||
| New York Americans | 48 | 21 | 17 | 38 | 22 | ||
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 14 | 24 | 38 | 14 | ||
| New York Rangers | 48 | 14 | 23 | 37 | 0 | ||
| New York Americans | 48 | 19 | 17 | 36 | 29 |
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1937–38 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1937–38 (listed with their last team):