| 1948–49 NHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | National Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | October 13, 1948 – April 16, 1949 |
| Number of games | 60 |
| Number of teams | 6 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champion | Detroit Red Wings |
| Season MVP | Sid Abel (Red Wings) |
| Top scorer | Roy Conacher (Black Hawks) |
| Stanley Cup | |
| Champions | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| Runners-up | Detroit Red Wings |
| NHL seasons | |
The 1948–49 NHL season was the 32nd season of the National Hockey League. In a rematch of the previous season, Toronto defeated Detroit in the Stanley Cup Finals to win the championship.
A new rule, often called the "Durnan Rule", was introduced for the start of the season stating that goalies cannot be the captain or an alternate captain and wear the "C" or "A". Specifically, NHL Rule 14-D (today's rule 6.1) read: No playing Coach or playing Manager or goalkeeper shall be permitted to act as Captain or Alternate Captain.[1][2]
This rule was introduced because Bill Durnan, Montreal Canadiens goalie and captain, would frequently leave his crease to dispute calls with the referees. Opposing teams claimed that this would give the Canadiens unscheduled timeouts during strategic points in games. It would be another sixty years before another goalie would be captain. From 2008 until 2010, the Vancouver Canucks had Roberto Luongo as their captain, the seventh goalie to serve as a captain in the NHL. The rule remained in place, however, and Luongo could not 'act' as captain during games.
| 1948-49 National Hockey League | ||||
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity | |
| 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 | |
| Montreal Canadiens | Montreal, Quebec | Montreal Forum | 12,500 | |
| New York Rangers | New York, New York | Madison Square Garden | 15,925 | |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Toronto, Ontario | Maple Leaf Gardens | 12,586 | |
1948-49 NHL teams
Don Gallinger of the Boston Bruins, hopeful he could win an appeal of his suspension in the gambling scandal, finally admitted to gambling and was expelled from the NHL for life in September.
On October 8, 1948, the New York Rangers were due to start their season against the Montreal Canadiens, when the team suffered misfortune. Buddy O'Connor, Frank Eddolls, Edgar Laprade, Bill Moe, and Tony Leswick were travelling in their car from MontrealtoSaranac Lake, New York when their car was struck by a truck near Rouses Point. O'Connor suffered several broken ribs, Eddolls a severed tendon in his knee, Laprade suffered a broken nose, Moe had a cut in the head requiring several stitches and Leswick escaped with a few bruises.
On November 10, 1948, unseasonably warm temperatures caused a fog bank to occur inside the Boston Garden during a game between the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings. Referee Bill Chadwick abandoned the game after only 9 minutes of the first period due to poor visibility. The game was replayed the following night, with Boston winning 4–1.[3]
A league record of ten major penalties was set November 25, 1948, when 11,000 fans at the Montreal Forum witnessed a donnybrook. It started when the Habs' Ken Mosdell elbowed Maple Leaf Gus Mortson. Mortson retaliated by knocking Elliot de Grey down with his stick. Montreal's Maurice Richard then sprang onto Mortson's back and they fought, and then all hands joined in. Mortson, Richard, Toronto's Howie Meeker and Mosdell were banished with majors. Play had scarcely begun when Ken Reardon (Montreal) and Joe Klukay (Toronto) began fencing and Bill Barilko went at Reardon, while Klukay got into it with Billy Reay, and Hal Laycoe fought Garth Boesch. In the game itself, Turk Broda picked up his first shutout of the year as the Leafs won, 2–0.
Both Detroit and Montreal lost key players to injury this year. Montreal lost Elmer Lach with a fractured jaw when he collided with Toronto defenceman Bob Goldham, and Emile "Butch" Bouchard injured a knee. Detroit lost Gordie Howe, who underwent knee surgery.
Bill Durnan got hot in the second half of the season and recorded four consecutive shutouts, going 309 minutes and 21 seconds without giving up a goal. In all, Durnan had 10 shutouts and won his fifth Vezina Trophy in six years.
| GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 60 | 34 | 19 | 7 | 195 | 145 | +50 | 75 |
| 2 | Boston Bruins | 60 | 29 | 23 | 8 | 178 | 163 | +15 | 66 |
| 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 60 | 28 | 23 | 9 | 152 | 126 | +26 | 65 |
| 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 60 | 22 | 25 | 13 | 147 | 161 | −14 | 57 |
| 5 | Chicago Black Hawks | 60 | 21 | 31 | 8 | 173 | 211 | −38 | 50 |
| 6 | New York Rangers | 60 | 18 | 31 | 11 | 133 | 172 | −39 | 47 |
| Semifinals | Stanley Cup Finals | ||||||||
| 1 | Detroit | 4 | |||||||
| 3 | Montreal | 3 | |||||||
| 1 | Detroit | 0 | |||||||
| 4 | Toronto | 4 | |||||||
| 2 | Boston | 1 | |||||||
| 4 | Toronto | 4 | |||||||
| March 22 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–2 | 3OT | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 04:13 – Gordie Howe (1) | ||||||
| Maurice Richard (1) – 12:29 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third overtime period | 04:52 – pp – Max McNab (1) | ||||||
| Bill Durnan | Goalie stats | Harry Lumley | ||||||
| March 24 | Montreal Canadiens | 4–3 | OT | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | ||
| Gerry Plamondon (1) – pp – 04:23 | First period | 01:31 – Sid Abel (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Billy Reay (1) – pp – 04:46 Gerry Plamondon (2) – pp – 06:01 |
Third period | 00:50 – pp – Ted Lindsay (1) 16:49 – Sid Abel (2) | ||||||
| Gerry Plamondon (3) – 02:59 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bill Durnan | Goalie stats | Harry Lumley | ||||||
| March 26 | Detroit Red Wings | 2–3 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 10:41 – Ken Mosdell (1) 18:24 – Leo Gravelle (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gordie Howe (2) – 08:07 Gordie Howe (3) – sh – 15:03 |
Third period | 10:02 – Murdo MacKay (1) | ||||||
| Harry Lumley | Goalie stats | Bill Durnan | ||||||
| March 29 | Detroit Red Wings | 3–1 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| Red Kelly (1) – sh – 08:34 | First period | 04:43 – Leo Gravelle (2) | ||||||
| Gordie Howe (4) – 18:38 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gordie Howe (5) – 13:19 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Harry Lumley | Goalie stats | Bill Durnan | ||||||
| March 31 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–3 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Rip Riopelle (1) – 01:11 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 05:10 – Sid Abel (3) 16:28 – Gerry Couture (1) 17:00 – Gordie Howe (6) | ||||||
| Bill Durnan | Goalie stats | Harry Lumley | ||||||
| April 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 1–3 | Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Forum | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Gordie Howe (7) – pp – 12:56 | Second period | 06:41 – Gerry Plamondon (4) 08:44 – Maurice Richard (2) 09:56 – pp – 09:56 | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Harry Lumley | Goalie stats | Bill Durnan | ||||||
| April 5 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–3 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 03:17 – Gordie Howe (8) | ||||||
| Glen Harmon (1) – 06:33 | Second period | 12:10 – sh – Leo Reise (1) 18:46 – pp – Gerry Couture (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bill Durnan | Goalie stats | Harry Lumley | ||||||
| Detroit won series 4–3 | |
| March 22 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3–0 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| Harry Watson (1) – pp – 05:15 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Harry Watson (2) – 07:25 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| Max Bentley (1) – 07:50 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Turk Broda | Goalie stats | Frank Brimsek | ||||||
| March 24 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3–2 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| Ray Timgren (1) – pp – 03:36 | First period | 05:02 – sh – Woody Dumart (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 17:24 – Paul Ronty (1) | ||||||
| Harry Watson (3) – 10:57 Harry Watson (4) – 18:41 |
Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Turk Broda | Goalie stats | Frank Brimsek | ||||||
| March 26 | Boston Bruins | 5–4 | OT | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | ||
| Grant Warwick (1) – 09:56 Woody Dumart (2) – 17:16 |
First period | 08:46 – Ted Kennedy | ||||||
| Johnny Peirson (1) – pp – 13:53 | Second period | 14:15 – sh – Gus Mortson (1) 19:57 – Joe Klukay (1) | ||||||
| Ed Sandford (1) – 07:11 | Third period | 11:49 – Fleming MacKell (1) | ||||||
| Woody Dumart (3) – 16:14 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Frank Brimsek | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| March 29 | Boston Bruins | 1–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| Johnny Peirson (2) – pp – 11:16 | First period | 03:18 – Fleming MacKell (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 10:30 – Sid Smith (1) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 15:17 – pp – Sid Smith (2) | ||||||
| Frank Brimsek | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| March 30 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3–2 | Boston Bruins | Boston Garden | Recap | |||
| Cal Gardner (1) – pp – 06:27 Ray Timgren (2) – 14:58 |
First period | 12:17 – pp – Grant Warwick (2) | ||||||
| Max Bentley (2) – 08:01 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 19:03 – Johnny Peirson (3) | ||||||
| Turk Broda | Goalie stats | Frank Brimsek | ||||||
| Toronto won series 4–1 | |
| April 8 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3–2 | OT | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | ||
| Max Bentley (3) – 13:15 | First period | 04:15 – pp – George Gee (1) | ||||||
| Jimmy Thomson (1) – pp – 16:02 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 13:56 – Bill Quackenbush (1) | ||||||
| Joe Klukay (2) – 17:13 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Turk Broda | Goalie stats | Harry Lumley | ||||||
| April 10 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3–1 | Detroit Red Wings | Olympia Stadium | Recap | |||
| Sid Smith (3) – pp – 08:50 Sid Smith (4) – pp – 09:56 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Sid Smith (5) – pp – 17:58 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 05:50 – Pete Horeck (1) | ||||||
| Turk Broda | Goalie stats | Harry Lumley | ||||||
| April 13 | Detroit Red Wings | 1–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| Jack Stewart (1) – 04:57 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Bill Ezinicki (1) – 11:02 Ted Kennedy (2) – 12:40 Gus Mortson (2) – 16:18 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Harry Lumley | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| April 16 | Detroit Red Wings | 1–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Maple Leaf Gardens | Recap | |||
| Ted Lindsay (2) – 02:59 | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 10:10 – pp – Ray Timgren (3) 19:45 – Cal Gardner (2) | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 15:10 – Max Bentley (4) | ||||||
| Harry Lumley | Goalie stats | Turk Broda | ||||||
| Toronto won series 4–0 | |
| Trophy | Winner |
|---|---|
| Calder Memorial Trophy: (Top first-year player) |
Pentti Lund, New York Rangers |
| Hart Trophy: (Most valuable player) |
Sid Abel, Detroit Red Wings |
| Lady Byng Trophy: (Excellence and sportsmanship) |
Bill Quackenbush, Detroit Red Wings |
| O'Brien Cup: (Stanley Cup runner-up) |
Detroit Red Wings |
| Prince of Wales Trophy: (Top regular-season record) |
Detroit Red Wings |
| Art Ross Trophy: (Top scorer) |
Roy Conacher, Chicago Black Hawks |
| Vezina Trophy: (Goaltender of team with lowest GAA) |
Bill Durnan, Montreal Canadiens |
Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roy Conacher | Chicago Black Hawks | 60 | 26 | 42 | 68 | 8 |
| Doug Bentley | Chicago Black Hawks | 58 | 23 | 43 | 66 | 38 |
| Sid Abel | Detroit Red Wings | 60 | 28 | 26 | 54 | 49 |
| Ted Lindsay | Detroit Red Wings | 50 | 26 | 28 | 54 | 97 |
| Jim Conacher | Detroit Red Wings / Chicago Black Hawks | 59 | 26 | 23 | 49 | 43 |
| Paul Ronty | Boston Bruins | 60 | 20 | 29 | 49 | 11 |
| Harry Watson | Toronto Maple Leafs | 60 | 26 | 19 | 45 | 0 |
| Billy Reay | Montreal Canadiens | 60 | 22 | 23 | 45 | 33 |
| Gus Bodnar | Chicago Black Hawks | 59 | 19 | 26 | 45 | 14 |
| Johnny Peirson | Boston Bruins | 59 | 22 | 21 | 43 | 45 |
Source: NHL[5]
Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts
| Player | Team | GP | Mins | GA | GAA | W | L | T | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Durnan | Montreal Canadiens | 60 | 3600 | 126 | 2.10 | 28 | 23 | 9 | 10 |
| Harry Lumley | Detroit Red Wings | 60 | 3600 | 145 | 2.42 | 34 | 19 | 7 | 6 |
| Turk Broda | Toronto Maple Leafs | 60 | 3600 | 161 | 2.68 | 22 | 25 | 13 | 5 |
| Frank Brimsek | Boston Bruins | 54 | 3240 | 147 | 2.72 | 26 | 20 | 8 | 1 |
| Chuck Rayner | New York Rangers | 58 | 3480 | 168 | 2.90 | 16 | 31 | 11 | 7 |
| Jim Henry | Chicago Black Hawks | 60 | 3600 | 211 | 3.52 | 21 | 31 | 8 | 0 |
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1948–49 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
The following is a list of players of note who played their last game in the NHL in 1948–49 (listed with their last team):
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| 1910s | |
| 1920s | |
| 1930s | |
| 1940s | |
| 1950s | |
| 1960s | |
| 1970s | |
| 1980s | |
| 1990s | |
| 2000s | |
| 2010s | |
| 2020s | |
The 2004–05 season was not played due to a lockout. | |
