The 1945-46 NHL season was the 29th season of the National Hockey League. Six teams each played 50 games. The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup.

League Business

Synchronized red lights to signal goals were made obligatory for all NHL rinks.

It was rumoured in the press that Lester Patrick planned to retire as general manager of the New York Rangers. On February 22, 1946, he announced his retirement from the general manager position, however he would stay on as vice president of Madison Square Garden.

Regular season

Veterans came back to their teams this year, as World War II ended, but many found they could not regain their form. One who did regain his form was the man formerly known as "Mr. Zero" — Boston Bruins' goaltender Frank Brimsek. He was shelled in an 8-3 contest with Chicago, but got better game by game. The Bruins had first place at one point, then finished second. Brimsek made the Second All-Star Team as a result.

Max Bentley of Chicago led the league in scoring, and, because of the "Pony Line" including him, his brother Doug and Bill Mosienko, the Black Hawks were in first place at one point. But misfortune hit the Hawks when Doug Bentley injured his knee in a January 23 game and the team sagged.

Frank Patrick, former Pacific Coast Hockey Association president and former managing director for the NHL, suffered a heart attack and was not released from the hospital for several weeks.

A bombshell exploded on January 30, 1946 when defenceman Babe Pratt was expelled from the NHL for betting on games. However, he only bet on his own team and appealed his expulsion. On his promise he would not bet on any more games, he was reinstated. Pratt missed 9 games during his suspension.

Maple Leaf Gaye Stewart led the league in goals with 37, but Toronto finished fifth and missed the playoffs.

Bill Durnan equalled George Hainsworth's record of three consecutive Vezina Trophies and led the league in shutouts with 4.

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
Montreal Canadiens	50	28	17	5	61	172	134	337
Boston Bruins	50	24	18	8	56	167	156	273
Chicago Black Hawks	50	23	20	7	53	200	178	339
Detroit Red Wings	50	20	20	10	50	146	159	298
Toronto Maple Leafs	50	19	24	7	45	174	185	247
New York Rangers	50	13	28	9	35	144	191	285

Scoring leaders

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

PLAYER	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM
Max Bentley	Chicago Black Hawks	47	31	30	61	6
Gaye Stewart	Toronto Maple Leafs	50	37	15	52	8
Toe Blake	Montreal Canadiens	50	29	21	50	2
Clint Smith	Chicago Black Hawks	50	26	24	50	2
Bill Mosienko	Chicago Black Hawks	40	18	30	48	12
Maurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens	50	27	21	48	50

Stanley Cup playoffs

see 1946 Stanley Cup Finals

Playoff bracket

	Semifinals					Finals
	1	Montreal Canadiens	4
	3	Chicago Black Hawks	0
						1	Montreal Canadiens	4
						2	Boston Bruins	1
	2	Boston Bruins	4
	4	Detroit Red Wings	1

NHL awards

O'Brien Trophy:	Boston Bruins
Prince of Wales Trophy:	Montreal Canadiens
Calder Memorial Trophy:	Edgar Laprade, New York Rangers
Hart Memorial Trophy:	Max Bentley, Chicago Black Hawks
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy:	Toe Blake, Montreal Canadiens
Vezina Trophy:	Bill Durnan, Montreal Canadiens

All-Star teams

First Team	Position	Second Team
Bill Durnan, Montreal Canadiens	G	Frank Brimsek, Boston Bruins
Jack Crawford, Boston Bruins	D	Ken Reardon, Montreal Canadiens
Butch Bouchard, Montreal Canadiens	D	Jack Stewart, Detroit Red Wings
Max Bentley, Chicago Black Hawks	C	Elmer Lach, Montreal Canadiens
Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadiens	RW	Bill Mosienko, Chicago Black Hawks
Gaye Stewart, Toronto Maple Leafs	LW	Toe Blake, Montreal Canadiens
Dick Irvin, Montreal Canadiens	Coach	Johnny Gottselig, Chicago Black Hawks

Debuts

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1945-46 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Leo Reise, Chicago Black Hawks
• George Gee, Chicago Black Hawks
• Jimmy Peters, Montreal Canadiens
• Cal Gardner, New York Rangers
• Edgar Laprade, New York Rangers
• Tony Leswick, New York Rangers
• Jimmy Thomson, Toronto Maple Leafs

Last games

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1945-46 (listed with their last team):

• Herb Cain, Boston Bruins
• Mike Karakas, Chicago Black Hawks
• Carl Liscombe, Detroit Red Wings
• Earl Seibert, Detroit Red Wings
• Flash Hollett, Detroit Red Wings
• Mud Bruneteau, Detroit Red Wings
• Syd Howe, Detroit Red Wings
• Ott Heller, New York Rangers
• Lynn Patrick, New York Rangers
• Frank McCool, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Bob Davidson, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Sweeney Schriner, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Lorne Carr, Toronto Maple Leafs
• Mel Hill, Toronto Maple Leafs

See also

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• 1945 in sports
• 1946 in sports

References

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com

NHL seasons
1941-42 | 1942-43 | 1943-44 | 1944-45 | 1945-46 | 1946-47 | 1947-48 | 1948-49 | 1949-50

•  • [ e] National Hockey League (2007-08)
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